Need suggestion: mini itx gaming mobo

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killdrith

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Jan 8, 2006
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I've used a few mini itx boards for random things - Car PC, HTPC's for people.. but I haven't used this form factor for a gaming machine. Does anyone have some suggestions for a recent ITX intel based mobo?

I've been looking around myself so I'd like to compare with what some people's suggestions are.

Thanks in advance
 
I like the ASRock Z87E-ITX because its the only 1150 socket itx board with an mSATA slot for an SSD.

I don't use optical drives, and only use a single mass storage drive in my systems, so this one feature will mean i won't have ANY power or data cables in my entire case except for the 2 motherboard power cables, and possibly a PCI-E power cable for the graphics card.

It also means i wont need a case with drive bays, so i can fit this system into a much smaller space.
 
Those are indeed the 2 most popular boards on the Amazon ITX page.

A little more detail is that I plan on taking this box with me on the go every weekend. It will not have any optical drives and will sport a single SSD.

Thanks for the opinions so far.
 
I would say the ASRock Z87E-ITX if you need mSATA (like I do) or MSI Z87I Gaming (btw, that's the letter "i" not number 1).

The ASRock Z87E-ITX is also significantly cheaper than the MSI or the ASUS impact as other recommend.

IMHO, the MSI board is a better buy than the impact. But I'm not looking at either because I need the ASRock's currently consumer unique mSATA feature. (Only other mITX boards with mSATA comes from embedded solutions stores that you have to special order.)
 
If you are looking to overclock, I've always been a fan of ASUS boards, especially the Impact and Gene lines.
 
killdrith said:
Does anyone have some suggestions for a recent ITX intel based mobo?
Click to expand...

Not rocket science. Choose exactly the same as if you were choosing an ATX motherboard. Socket 1150 if you are going with a graphics card. Z series chipset if you are overclocking. Look at specs to see if one board has a feature that you really want. Choose based on your price point. Done!
 
Zap said:
Not rocket science. Choose exactly the same as if you were choosing an ATX motherboard. Socket 1150 if you are going with a graphics card. Z series chipset if you are overclocking. Look at specs to see if one board has a feature that you really want. Choose based on your price point. Done!
Click to expand...

Well no kidding.
What a person is really asking about anything they haven't done before is whether or not a particular product has a particular draw back that isn't obvious. Or maybe a pro - like what CHANG3D is saying about mSATA.
 
I'd grab the new Gigabyte B85 itx board, it has an mSata slot at 6gb/s and a mini pcie slot for wifi/bluetooth.
Pair it with a Xeon and a decent GPU, then you've got a killer workstation/gaming pc :)

^you can't overclock tho :/

Oh and the CPU is in the center of the board unlike their Z87/H87 itx boards.
 
Black5Lion said:
I'd grab the new Gigabyte B85 itx board, it has an mSata slot at 6gb/s and a mini pcie slot for wifi/bluetooth.
Pair it with a Xeon and a decent GPU, then you've got a killer workstation/gaming pc :)

^you can't overclock tho :/

Oh and the CPU is in the center of the board unlike their Z87/H87 itx boards.
Click to expand...

B85 is a bit cheaper than the others which is nice. Looks like the trade off is less support for higher frequency memory.
What advantage does a centered CPU have?
 
Black5Lion said:
I'd grab the new Gigabyte B85 itx board, it has an mSata slot at 6gb/s and a mini pcie slot for wifi/bluetooth.
Pair it with a Xeon and a decent GPU, then you've got a killer workstation/gaming pc :)

^you can't overclock tho :/

Oh and the CPU is in the center of the board unlike their Z87/H87 itx boards.
Click to expand...

oooh, that looks nice, just saw it. funny but i didnt consider upgrading my rig (hate both 3770 and DH77DF) because i didnt like any of the mobo offerings.. you sure it runs Xeons? i know in theory it should run, duh :D
 
killdrith said:
B85 is a bit cheaper than the others which is nice. Looks like the trade off is less support for higher frequency memory.
What advantage does a centered CPU have?
Click to expand...

Usually you will have less problems getting a hsf to fit without hitting other things. Meaning you have a larger variety of hsf to choose from that fits.
 
D4rkn3ss said:
oooh, that looks nice, just saw it. funny but i didnt consider upgrading my rig (hate both 3770 and DH77DF) because i didnt like any of the mobo offerings.. you sure it runs Xeons? i know in theory it should run, duh :D
Click to expand...

disregard this post, theres a Z one. man am i outdated huh. found someone to buy both 3770 and DH77DF for more than i paid for (got the mobo for free on a deal, thats why im using it..)
 
Black5Lion said:
I'd grab the new Gigabyte B85 itx board, it has an mSata slot at 6gb/s and a mini pcie slot for wifi/bluetooth.
Pair it with a Xeon and a decent GPU, then you've got a killer workstation/gaming pc :)

^you can't overclock tho :/

Oh and the CPU is in the center of the board unlike their Z87/H87 itx boards.
Click to expand...

Nice find, i do like Gigabyte as a company more than ASRock, i think i'll be grabbing this board now instead.

Plus its cheaper, i can get it either with or without a WiFi module, the socket is in the center, and the mSATA slot is on the front and so is more easily accessible when the motherboard is installed in the case.
 
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