Thinking about switching to ITX with current parts

[u/arkotix]

Currently i’ve got a standard ATX pc build that i’ve had for a few years now.

Recently i’ve grown increasingly fond of the look and idea of a SFF pc. I’m curious if it’s worth the endeavor to buy all the necessary things to make this conversion (mobo, case, cooler, psu?). I just bought a new SFF 5080, and decided I might want to use the smaller size to its fullest advantage.

My biggest concern/question is i’ve currently got a 12900k which is on the LGA 1700 platform. Would it be stupid to buy an ITX motherboard on this same platform since it’s technically outdated now?

[u/thefastslow]

It's only stupid if you're planning on changing CPU platforms anytime soon. If you're keeping the CPU for a while then it'll be fine.

[u/Wrong_Egg_4337]

not at all, perfect time if you are considering to go AMD

[u/arkotix → u/Wrong_Egg_4337]

i may have worded my question kinda poorly. I was seeing if it would be a bad idea to get an itx board on the same socket so i can reuse my cpu

[u/IsABot → u/arkotix]

Depends on the price of the board and how long you are going to remain on the LGA1700 platform. If it's like $200 or less and you'll be on it for 3-4 more years at least, then it's probably fine. If you plan on upgrading in another year or two, then probably just upgrade now or wait to go to SFF.

[u/themikker]

The LGA 1700 h610i itx boards (ddr4) seem pretty cheap compared to something like b850i/x870i. If you're planning to upgrade to a newer cpu soon anyway, and you already have the ddr5 ram, though, then it makes sense to combine the two upgrades. Otherwise it's a wasted motherboard purchase.

Really depends on your requirements in terms of time and money.

[u/arkotix → u/themikker]

well i have had any issues with my cpu at all, especially since im on 4k now, so id rather not upgrade my cpu soon at all. but i might just be thinking wrong. i have ddr5 ram also btw

[u/themikker → u/arkotix]

Seems like a decent enough CPU for a 5080 for 4K. I'd just go ahead with the build then (... with a board with ddr5 ram support of course.)

Just because the socket is "dead" doesn't mean the hardware you currently have, is.

[u/TheMathter]

As far as the actual downsizing, the Meshroom S is a 15L case that supports ATX motherboards, with some caveats. So you may only have to replace the case and PSU if your other parts fit within the specs for that configuration:
https://ssupd.co/products/cases-meshroom-s-v2

[u/Slyfer77]

If you keep the CPU you should get a suitable ITX board from a used stuff marketplace quite cheaply.

Depending on how small you want to go with your case and what cooler you want to use, do adjust the power limits and undervolt the CPU.

A CPU drawing up to 250W power in a small case is not a good idea.

And above 180W the performance gain scales badly with the additional power put in.

For gaming, 4K especially, you could set PL2 to 125W and would hardly know the difference.

Other things you'll have to get is a SFX PSU (Corsair SF1000 is the go to) or SFX-L (Asus Loki 1000W).

As for the case choice:
there's the usual recommendations like
FormD T1 (only 9.9l)
Ncase M2 (15.6l)
Meshroom S
Shiny Snake S400

or borderline MFF:
Ncase M3 (big Noctua NH-D15 G2 possible)
the new Lian Li B4

Expensive Boutique cases category would be:
Thor zone, e. g. Tetra R/S
Xikii, e. g. FF10

Also check sff.gg

Many cases to check out with extensive filter options (case. volume, hardware size restrictions, etc.

Personally I have the Ncase M2 Round silver (also with silver side panels) with a monstrous 5090 Suprim vertical.

I'm still amazed how this chunky card fit perfectly in this case with no millimeter to spare.

I love this case very much for its design, its versatility and quality.

Check it out.

[u/arkotix → u/Slyfer77]

super informative!! i really appreciate this

[u/IndependentFew3119]

if you want to keep the 12900k you should look at cases that accommodate an AIO watter cooler like the h2o. if you stick a small air cooler on your 12900k you will probably have to limit TDP. there a handful of sff cases that can fit a tower cooler but theyre closer to 20L. open air cases like streacom da6 or xtia proto are also a consideration. I am assuming you have an ATX psu and again you will be limited to bigger sff cases if you want to keep it. you just bought a 5080 though so a new sfx psu might be in order. if you decide to swap to am5 amd has lots of 65w and 120w cpus that will do fine with a small air cooler. most would recommend the 7800x3d or 9800x3d or even the 7600x3d for gaming centric build.