micro or mid ATX format?

[anothergunnut]

I am thinking about building my first computer and am trying to decide on what size format to use. I immediately thought a mid ATX in a Corsair 400R case but then realized that was probably bigger than I need. The Corsair tower is fairly tall which limits my placement options.

I'm planning on an I5-4430, a Z87 based motherboard, a SSD, 8mb ram, a DVD burner, possibly a HDD in addition to the SSD, and possibly a dedicated graphics card like a HD7870. I don't plan on adding any cooling. The basic configuration is probably more than I need since I'm not a gamer but, like my guns, it's not always about what I need.

What would be the potential issues if I went with a micro ATX motherboard and case? What are the best reasons for going with the larger format?

[dynamomark80]

cooling would be the biggest issue in small cases. I always look for cases that have psu on the bottom with venting so the air comes in from the bottom and goes straight out the back not to the inside of the case.

other then that you want to get a good flow through the case to keep that cpu and vid card cool. this depends on how and where you place the unit. I prefer to draw air into the case from the front as I always keep that facing an open area and then vent the exhaust air to the rear and or top of the case.

so for the Corsair Carbide Series 300R case looks good @ $80. it fits a long vid cards, tool-less drive bays and cable routing built in. It as what is needed for sure. vents right by the video card that is great. I would probably add a fan up front to help get cool air in and set the rear fan to exhaust air out. A really nice case if you like to keep your options open to upgrading to liquid cooling or a few more drives. this is strictly a function over form case but they do offer a windowed version if you want a lil more wow factor

[NoSpam]

if you're not a gamer, you can save yourself $200 by skipping the HD7870. The onboard graphics available today will handle 99.9% of normal video needs today.

I have a full tower 6-core PC that i use for gaming and running VM's, but my daily most used PC is a tiny mini-ITX multimedia system. It's the size of a Xbox and does everything except for gaming.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0035FIS2O/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[the86d]

You can't go wrong with a standard 4u 19" Rackmount ATX case...

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=19%22+ATX+rackmount&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.X4u+19%22+ATX+rackmount&_nkw=4u+19%22+ATX+rackmount&_sacat=0

Stack-em-deep...

[Brianguy]

will everything fit in a micro case? some vid cards are quite large