The PC is changing
Entry posted by Josh ·
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PC towers have been about the same since they became popular in the 1990's, replacing the previous horizontal form factor:
Cases have gone from beige to black, but very little else has changed.
PC towers tend to be designed for the old ATX style motherboards, which were first introduced in 1995:
PC cases are still designed primarily for this form factor, ignoring the fact that many internal components have changed.
- The sound and ethernet card are now typically built into the motherboard.
- Motherboards that support full-power components can now be purchased cheaply in the Mini-ITX form factor, with an area of just 6x6 inches.
- Hard drives have shrunk in size.
- 3.5" floppy drives are long gone, yet most cases still include a slot for these.
- Optical drives aren't even necessary anymore, although they are still the most cost effective and reliable solution for data backup.
- Graphics cards, unlike other components, have gotten bigger, hotter, and thicker. I'm not sure a GPU can even be referred to as a "card" any more. With giant heat sinks, they're more like a "graphics block".
Clearly, an update to the desktop form factor is needed to respond to these changes. There's been a lot of interesting developments in desktop / home theater miniaturization, which involves making a PC with "good enough" specs and a much reduced form factor. The Steam Machines have driven some of this interest, but it's been going on for a while. The utlimate result of this trend is the Gigabyte Brix Pro. Any smaller than this, and it would be a choking hazard:
What about the full-size desktop PC though? Can we find a design that uses full-size components, but packs it into a form factor more suitable for modern hardware design? I set out the following critera when starting this project:
- The case must support a full-size PSU and GPU.
- The GPU must be easily accessible for quick changing.
- At least two hard drives and an optical drive.
- Airflow sufficient for the big hot PSU and GPU it would contain.
Most Mini-ITX cases are designed for small home theater setups, and do not support full-size components. A few can accommodate a full-length GPU, but do not support adequate cooling or power requirements. The Antec ISK600, for example, is a disaster waiting to happen, with a closed side blocking airflow to the GPU:
Other cases may have adequate cooling, but are too tightly packed for frequent GPU switching:
The Bitfenix Prodigy is one popular case I considered, but it's not much smaller than a micro-ATX tower. When you consider the wider footprint of the case, the space savings are debatable:
In the end, there was only one case that offered the hardware support, cooling capacity, and ease of access I was looking for. I give you the Cooler Master Elite 130:
This case packs all my previous components into a volume a little smaller than a breadbox. The lack of a heavy steel case makes the machine much lighter, and the low profile feels safer than a heavy tower I am afraid could tip over at any minute. The GPU and PSU have better access to cool air from the exterior, and a large fan in the front blows air through the entire machine. An optical drive fits seamlessly into the case, under which is a clever mechanism for an SSD to hang sideways.
On the down side, the front of the case under the optical drive is a mess of cables that impede airflow from the front fan. Removing the GPU requires a stick to press the release latch. Removing the SSD requires removal of the PSU, unless you have a very short screwdriver. I also broke the USB pins on my Zotac motherboard, but it's only $50 to replace.
As an added bonus, my motherboard has built-in wifi connectivity. Coupled with the extreme portability of this unit, I am sure that will come in handy at some point.
The net result is that my desktop PC is now portable in a way it's never been before. I could realistically take this with me on a weekend trip or to a LAN party, whereas I would never consider doing this with my tower. At last, we're seeing real technological innovation that isn't just a reduction of capabilities, but a real move forward towards something that was better than the old way.
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