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Desktop computers still represent the best value for money when it comes to how much performance you get for every Dollar you spend. However, more and more users prefer the small footprint and portability of a laptop. If your laptop hardly ever leaves the house, you may however be better off with a Mini ITX PC.
Never Heard of You
What’s “Mini ITX”? I hear you ask. Well, there are various standards for the size and layout of a computer’s motherboard – the component that all the other parts attach to. Mini-ITX is one of the smallest of these standards.
If you want to build a computer in one of the many tiny Mini ITX PC cases you have to use a Mini-ITX motherboard as the basis of your system.
But Why?
So why should your next PC be a Mini ITX PC? In this article I’m going to give you a few (in my opinion) compelling reasons to consider these tiny desktop computers for yourself. Of course, they aren’t right for everybody, but by the end of this piece you should know what camp you fall in.
Space Saver, Not Invader
The biggest (or perhaps smallest) reason to have a Mini ITX PC is the small size of these systems. PCs have long ago ditched need for big hulking tower cases, but that’s still the perception a lot of people have.
If you’ve adopted a laptop as your main computer, but mainly use it on a desk anyway, then a Mini ITX computer represents a better deal, since it mostly uses standard desktop parts.
Why is that good? Well, it means that spec-for-spec a Mini ITX computer is cheaper than a laptop. So for the same money you can get a better machine or you can save money for the same performance.
(Almost) No Compromises
The next reason relates to what I just mentioned. The higher up you go in laptop specifications the more rapidly the prices climb. Laptops that use high-end CPUs and GPUs are prohibitively expensive, hot and noisy.
These sorts of machines are only suitable for a very small subset of consumers and they already know who they are.
So if you need top-tier performance, but also want something small, Mini ITX is perfect.
In the past the tiny systems could only hold low-end parts suitable for basic home entertainment computers, but thanks to advances in technology the latest and greatest performance parts will work just fine in them.
Extreme Measures
There is no reason you couldn’t build an absolute monster of a computer into an ITX case. For example, here we have Linus from Linus Tech Tips shoehorning a 22-core CPU and a GTX 1080 into such a computer.
Sure, this is hardly typical, but unless you need multiple CPU sockets and multiple top-tier GPUs, there’s no performance hit for Mini ITX PC membership. If you’re willing to pay for it.
The Rule of Cool
Computer cases have become more and more creative, but ATX cases are just variations on the same old rectangular box. It doesn’t matter how much perspex or LED lighting you put in, they are usually boring.
Mini ITX cases, on the other hand, let case designers run wild. Just look at this awesome case from
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