Why build a full-height monolith when you
can build a high-end PC in a pint-sized chassis? We rounded up a load of
decent-spec mini-ITX cases and motherboards to find the best kit
Size isn’t everything, as the saying goes.
In fact, more and more mini-ITX products are being released, enabling us to
build small PCs without compromising on hardware choices, overclocking ability
or cooling. However, since mini-ITX was previously the preserve of low-power
boards based on VIA EPIA, Intel Atom or low-power AMD CPUs, there’s confusion
over whether mini-ITX is a genuine high-end contender, or a small
featherweight.
For this reason, we’ve gathered three of
the most highly spaced mini-ITX Z77 motherboards, as well as four compatible
cases, to find the ideal combination for building a compact, powerful PC. We’ll
prove you don’t need a full-sized board to achieve high-end overclocks, or a
colossal case to accommodate an ambitious cooling setup, and we’ll even show
you how to build a mini-ITX PC too.
How we test
To test the motherboards, we used an Intel
Core i7-3770K CPU, a GeForce GTX 680 2GB and 4GB of Patriot 1,600MHz DDR3
memory. To test performance, we ran the CPC Media Benchmarks suite, alongside
our own Arma II benchmark, before overclocking the boards and testing again.
To test the cases, we fitted them with an
Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe, along with an Intel Core i5-2500K overclocked to 4.4GHz,
using a vcore of 1.3V. Alongside this, we used a 140mm Enermax Eco 82+ 620W
PSU, a GeForce GTX 570 1.3GB and 2GB of Kingston 1,600MHz DDR3 memory. To cool
the CPU, we used a Zalman low- profileCNPS8900CPU cooler. Meanwhile, the GTX
5701.3GB's cooling fan was locked at 70 percent speed, and the system was
placed under thermal load using a combination of Prime 95 and Unigine's Heaven
graphics benchmark.
Motherboard results
Gimp image editing
·
Asus P8Z277-I Deluxe: stock speed: 1,824;
overclocked: 2,379
·
ASRock Z77E-ITX: stock speed: 1,775;
overclocked: 2,330
·
Zotac Z77-ITX WiFi: stock speed: 1,772;
overclocked: 2,351
Handbrake H.264 video encoding
·
Asus P8Z277-I Deluxe: stock speed: 3,241;
overclocked: 4,249
·
Zotac Z77-ITX WiFi: stock speed: 3,114;
overclocked: 4,243
·
ASRock Z77E-ITX: stock speed: 3,079;
overclocked: 4,250
Multi-tasking
·
ASRock Z77E-ITX: stock speed: 1,566;
overclocked: 1,921
·
Asus P8Z277-I Deluxe: stock speed: 1,564;
overclocked: 1,977
·
Zotac Z77-ITX WiFi: stock speed: 1,530;
overclocked: 1,923
Overall
·
Asus P8Z277-I Deluxe: stock speed: 2,210;
overclocked: 2,868
·
ASRock Z77E-ITX: stock speed: 2,140;
overclocked: 2,834
·
Zotac Z77-ITX WiFi: stock speed: 2,139;
overclocked: 2,839
Intel SATA 6Gbps read (MB/sec)
·
Asus P8Z277-I Deluxe: stock speed min: 556
·
ASRock Z77E-ITX: stock speed min: 555
·
Zotac Z77-ITX WiFi: stock speed min: 552
Intel SATA 6Gbps write (MB/sec)
·
Asus P8Z277-I Deluxe: stock speed min: 528
·
ASRock Z77E-ITX: stock speed min: 526
·
Zotac Z77-ITX WiFi: stock speed min: 514
Arma II: Operation Arrowhead
·
Asus P8Z277-I Deluxe: stock speed min: 129fps,
stock speed avg: 135fps; overclocked min: 146fps, overclocked avg: 162fps
·
ASRock Z77E-ITX: stock speed min: 123fps, stock
speed avg: 135fps; overclocked min: 137fps, overclocked avg: 161fps
·
Zotac Z77-ITX WiFi: stock speed min: 122fps,
stock speed avg: 134fps; overclocked min: 131fps, overclocked avg: 136fps
Case results
CPU delta T (°C)
·
BitFenix Prodigy: 43
·
Fractal Design Node 304: 46
·
SilverStone FT03-Mini: 48
·
Lian Li PC-TU200: 49
GPU delta T (°C)
·
BitFenix Prodigy: 48
·
Fractal Design Node 304: 58
·
SilverStone FT03-Mini: 58
·
Lian Li PC-TU200: 63
Cases
|
|
BitFenix Prodigy
|
Lian Li PC-TU200
|
Fractal Design Node 304
|
SilverStone FT03-Mini
|
|
Price (inc VAT)
|
$98
|
$212
|
$108
|
$155
|
|
Supplier
|
www.overclockers.co.uk
|
www.specialtech.co.uk
|
www.ebuyer.co.uk
|
www.scan.co.uk
|
|
Manufacturer
|
BitFenix
|
Lian Li
|
Fractal Design
|
Silverstone
|
|
Dimensions (W x D x H, mm)
|
250 x 340 x 310
|
220 x 360 x 320
|
250 x 374 x 210
|
189 x 235 x 397
|
|
Case volume (liters)
|
26.35
|
25
|
19.5
|
17.6
|
|
Materials
|
Steel, plastic
|
Aluminum
|
Steel, plastic
|
Aluminum, plastic
|
|
Available colors
|
Black, white
|
Black, silver
|
Black
|
Black, silver
|
|
Empty weight (kg)
|
6.69
|
3.49
|
4.83
|
4.41
|
|
Features
|
|
Front panel ports
|
2 x USB 3, microphone, headphone
|
2 x USB 3, eSATA, microphone, headphone
|
2 x USB 3, microphone, headphone
|
2 x USB 3, microphone, headphone
|
|
Supported motherboards
|
Mini-ITX
|
Mini-ITX
|
Mini-ITX
|
Mini-ITX
|
|
External 5.25in bays
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
|
External/internal 2.5in bays
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
|
External/internal 3.5in bays
|
5
|
4
|
6
|
1
|
|
Number of expansion slots
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
|
Max CPU cooler height (mm)
|
160
|
80
|
165
|
78
|
|
Max graphics card length (mm)
|
330
|
300
|
310
|
254
|
|
Max PSU length (mm)
|
160
|
140
|
160
|
SFX PSU only
|
|
Extras
|
Fyberflex handles
|
4 x hot-swap 3.5in bays, top-mounted
handle
|
None
|
None
|
|
Cooling
|
|
Fans mounts
|
2 x 120 or 1 x 140/180/200/230mm front, 1
x 120/140mm rear, 2 x 120mm roof
|
1 x 140mm front
|
2 x 92mm front, 1 x 120mm/140mm rear
|
1 x 140mm floor
|
|
Fans supplied
|
1 x 120mm front, 1 x 120mm rear
|
1 x 140mm front
|
2 x 92mm front, 1 x 140mm rear
|
1 x 140mm floor
|
|
Dust filters
|
Yes (removable)
|
Yes (removable)
|
Yes (removable)
|
Yes (removable)
|
|
Fan controllers
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
Motherboards
|
|
ASRock Z77E-ITX
|
Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe
|
Zotac Z77-ITX WiFi
|
|
Price (inc VAT)
|
$185
|
$219
|
$185
|
|
Supplier
|
www.overclockers.co.uk
|
www.dabs.com
|
www.ebuyer.com
|
|
Manufacturer
|
www.asrock.com
|
http://uk.asus.com
|
www.zotac.com
|
|
Dimensions (mm)
|
170 x 170
|
170 x 170
|
170 x 170
|
|
Features
|
|
Chipset
|
Intel Z77
|
Intel Z77
|
Intel Z77
|
|
RAID
|
0, 1, 5 and 10 via Intel Z77
|
0, 1, 5 and 10 via Intel Z77
|
0, 1, 0+1, 5 via Intel Z77
|
|
Audio
|
8-channel HD audio via Realtek ALC898
|
8-channel HD audio via Realtek ALC898
|
8-channel HD audio via Realtek ALC898
|
|
Fan headers
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
|
Ports
|
|
Storage
|
2 x SATA 6Gbps, 2 x SATA 3Gbps, 1 x eSATA
3Gbps
|
2 x SATA 6Gbps, 2 x SATA 3Gbps, 2 x eSATA
3Gbps
|
2 x SATA 6Gbps, 2 x SATA 3Gbps
|
|
Audio
|
4 x surround audio, optical S/PDIF out
|
3 x surround audio, optical S/PDIF out
|
4 x surround audio, optical S/PDIF out
|
|
LAN
|
1 x 10/100/1000
|
1 x 10/100/1000
|
2 x 10/100/1000
|
|
WiFi / Bluetooth
|
V / X
|
V / V
|
V / X
|
|
USB 2 / USB 3
|
6 / 6
|
8 / 6
|
8 / 4
|
|
HDMI / DVI / DP / mini-DP
|
1 / 1 / 1 / 0
|
1 / 1 / 1 / 0
|
2 / 0 / 0 / 1
|
|
Overclocking control
|
|
Base clock (max)
|
150MHz
|
300MHz
|
300MHz
|
|
CPU multiplier
|
16x-63x
|
36x-63x
|
0-255x
|
|
CPU voltage (max)
|
1.7V
|
1.99V
|
+0.3V
|
|
RAM voltage (max)
|
1.8V
|
2.135
|
1.8V
|
|
CPU PLL voltage (max)
|
N/A
|
1.9V
|
N/A
|
|
VCSSA (max)
|
1.208V
|
1.56V
|
N/A
|
|
Cooling
|
|
Chipset
|
Heatsink
|
Heatsink
|
Heatsink
|
|
VRMs
|
Heatsink
|
Heatsink
|
Heatsink
|
|
Extras
|
|
|
Fan control and monitoring software
|
WiFi GO!, AI Suite, USB BIOS Flashback
|
USB 3 breakout adaptor
|
