The Future of Mini-ITX

[IM2L844]

I'm bored.

Lately, for some unknown reason, I've had a bug up my a** to build a small form factor (Mini-ITX or Micro-ATX) computer, but I'm not given to submitting to impulsive behavior. I'm not a tactical thinker. I'm more the strategic planner type. I research, analyze, speculate, budget, weigh options and plan for multiple scenarios. Drives my wife nuts, but that's just my nature.

The more information I gather, the more comfortable I become. I don't like putting the cart (shopping cart in this case) before the horse. So I've begun to formulate a plan. Given the market trends toward smaller and more energy efficient components, I've decided to start stashing discretionary funds into a metaphorical coffee can between now and my 2016 birthday (October), bide my time and see what develops. I figure I can squirrel away about 3 Grand by then without feeling the sacrifice too much. I am not wealthy, but I am fairly disciplined when it comes to budgeting money.

Now, I fully expect ASUS to commit a division of it's 3,000 Research & Development engineers to assist me in this endeavor and instruct them to get on the horn with G.Skill, Intel and NVIDIA so as to coordinate efforts on my behalf. I'm thinkin' maybe a Maximus VII Impact designed to accommodate DDR4, a Skylake K chip and Maxwell gm117 architecture, but we'll see what they come up with. Who knows? October 2016 is a long time from now in tech years. Maybe SST-MRAM will be mass produced by then. That could put a new spin (pun intended) on everything.

Any brave guesses on what to expect between now and Q4, 2016 as far as components for a quiet, cool running, energy sipping, powerfully versatile computer build in a small package goes?

[Arne_Saknussemm]

They recently invented a new version of the internet...where not only are you linked by the net but able to use the computing resources of the net so any old cheapo low power chip when connected to millions more gives you super computer power...so you'll really only need to think about what displays you want....big screen in the home... portable screen, maybe 2 sizes, phone and tablet, for out and about....a window on the cloud.

Hardware will be so passé...;)

[a5cent]

IMHO you forgot to mention the most important thing, namely how you will be using your PC (HTPC, Gaming, Video Production, CAD/Rendering workstation, NAS or mass storage, as a Steambox, etc) and what areas of computing technology you are interested in, because discussing everything probably isn't viable and likely also of little interest to you. 😄

Here is my simple rundown:

• CPU technology will continue to improve, but primarily in terms of performance/watt. The performance of a single CPU core in 2016 is unlikely to be even 15% faster then a single core in current CPUs. However, six core CPU's will slowly filter down into the mainstream performance market (Core i7's), but will be of little to no benefit to the average consumer.
  
• DDR4 memory is nice, but here too the focus is on mobile. It won't be faster, but the same amount of memory will get by with less power.
  
• The GPU folks will also be focusing on performance/watt more than anything else. The primary mechanism by which GPUs have provided us with annual performance improvements were process shrinks. The rate of advancement in that area has already considerably slowed during the last two years. During the next six months we will finally get GPUs built on the 22nm node, but that will then be with us for quite a while, meaning the GPU's coming out in 2016 won't be notably faster than those that are just around the corner.
  
• nVidia gsync will be very popular by 2016 and be the single best reason to get a new monitor.
  
• Water cooling will become a lot more mainstream, primarily due to the availability of more affordable, no-hassle, all-in-one, closed loop systems for both CPU and GPU. This will no longer be solely the domain of the serious overclocker, but also for those who want high-performance and close to silent systems.
  
• Storage performance will still be constrained by the limited bandwidth between SSDs and the PCIe bus. I'm still hopeful Asus will at least solve it for their mini-ITX boards (by supporting the m.2 form factor at PCIe 2.0 x4), but who knows. I've written about this in a lot more detail here. I hope SATA Express fails, or that the industry at least comes to their senses and realizes that they are pinching pennies in the wrong places. The industry needs to adopt either PCIe 3.0 x2 or at least go to PCIe 2.0 x4 as the standard SSD PCIe interface. Currently, everything looks like it's headed towards PCIe 2.0 x2.
  
• By 2016 we will have PCIe 4.0, but nobody will notice the difference, as the problems aren't with the PCIe bus but with the connections to the peripherals.
  

[IM2L844]

They recently invented a new version of the internet...Hardware will be so passé...

Fantastic. How do I overclock it? 😛

[Chino]

IM2L844 wrote:
Fantastic. How do I overclock it? 😛

[Arne_Saknussemm]

Unfortunately by then the Government will probably OC for you...for your safety and convenience...

[Arne_Saknussemm]

LOL Chino 😄

[IM2L844]

Chino for the thread's winning comment!

IMHO you forgot to mention the most important thing, namely how you will be using your PC

I didn't forget. I intentionally left it out. I don't want a specialty machine. I want a top notch Swiss Army Knife of computing potential. I just like to build stuff. I might give it to my daughter for her Christmas/25th Birthday present.

[Chino]

IM2L844 wrote:

I didn't forget. I intentionally left it out. I don't want a specialty machine. I want a top notch Swiss Army Knife of computing potential.

I thought you'd never ask, mate. Check our this little baby! And it's just under 4K USD!

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($312.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Eisberg 120L Prestige 60.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($155.02 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VI IMPACT Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2933 Memory ($750.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($507.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Samsung EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($507.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX Titan Black 6GB Video Card ($1039.99 @ B&H)
Case: Inwin 901 Mini ITX Tower Case ($190.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($269.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $3955.89

[abvolt]

wow Chino I'd like one of those myself, really like the mini's