Structural inventory of ITX chassis Which one is the perfect choice

Mainstream ATX chassis for so many years, its internal structure has not undergone essential changes: "the upper power supply to the lower design"; "increase the independent power position"; "cancel the hard disk cage, eliminate the optical drive position, increase the available space", if a 20-year-old DIY player crossed to today, installed in the current ATX2.0 chassis, I believe it is still a familiar operation.

Compared with the ATX chassis, the ITX chassis takes a completely different development route. Due to the small size of the ITX chassis and the limitations everywhere, if the internal structure is not "thinking", just like the small house does not make full use of various spaces, the storage ability is undoubtedly greatly reduced. Therefore, when manufacturers develop ITX chassis, they often "open their brains", and various innovative structural design solutions continue to pour out, which can be described as a hundred flowers. So what are the mainstream ITX chassis structures now? How does it affect our installation decisions, hardware compatibility, hardware cooling, and host value?

● Early ITX chassis structure: simple and rough

At the beginning, everyone's idea was relatively simple, directly "the tower ATX chassis became smaller, didn't it become an ITX chassis"?

Take the ITX chassis above as an example, the feature of this structural design: the power supply is placed on the left side of the motherboard. This does reduce the size of the chassis, but there are many problems. For example, the power supply is too close to the motherboard, the heat sink requirements are extremely demanding, the general 50-60mm air cooling can not be installed, and can not install a separate graphics card. The structural design of this early ITX chassis was simple and rough, and it was difficult to meet the needs of ITX players, and it has been eliminated.

On the basis of the above structure, the evolution is this structure: directly increase the height of the chassis, put the power supply on, do not have to squeeze the motherboard tightly, the radiator support is also much looser, can install some tower air-cooled or 120 water-cooled, short graphics card can also be installed close to the bottom of the box. However, this structure is somewhat "inverted", the chassis becomes taller and larger, close to the original ATX chassis, and the space is still particularly crowded, which is obviously not an excellent structural solution for ITX players who pursue individuality.

● "Deepening" of compromise: ITX chassis structure is reasonable

After continuous innovation, a structure similar to the ITX chassis in the picture above appeared: no height was increased, but the depth was increased, and the internal layout became more reasonable. First of all, the power supply is hung in the front of the chassis; the graphics card can be liberated in length, which can support more than 300mm length; through the conversion kit, the graphics card can also be mounted vertically; and 240 water cooling can be installed... This already meets the installed needs of mid-to-high-end platforms. This ITX chassis is also called "Max Mini", slightly larger, not blindly pursuing the ultimate compactness, but on a compact basis, providing better compatibility and thermal performance.

● Compromise "heightening": ITX chassis is more compatible

The structure represented by this ITX chassis is "heightened". However, its height is different from the simple and rough way of raising it before. This is also called three-dimensional ITX chassis, using a compact vertical design, the graphics card is hoisted in a vertical way, the graphics card is independent, the space is more generous, and it can be installed with a 324mm full-size graphics card, compatible with 140 integrated water cooling.

There is also this similar structure of THEX chassis, as shown in the figure, more compatible, can be equipped with 330mm graphics card and 280mm integrated water cooling.

At present, the design of such a structure is relatively new and the compatibility is strong, but the internal structure is complex, the manufacturing cost is high, and the price is naturally expensive. Graphics cards also need to use conversion kits to connect the motherboard, so that the already troublesome ITX installation, adding more trouble, the current structure of this structure of ITX chassis is not particularly many.

● Son of The Version: A4 Structure?

Having said all that, it's time to play in A4. This is an innovative structure that many veteran ITX players are more admired. In 2016, foreign brands took the lead in launching the A4 chassis, so small that players shouted: cow batch. Its structural feature is that the motherboard and the graphics card are placed back-to-back, and the power supply can be placed on the side of the motherboard to maximize the use of space. The graphics card is placed on the back, which can install three high-end graphics cards, and the top can be installed with 240 water cooling to meet the installation needs of high-performance platforms. And its volume is only 11 liters, can you bear it?

A4 box structure pursues the ultimate compactness, although the compatibility is powerful, but there are still requirements for hardware, players from the choice of hardware, to each installation step when installing, must do their homework, planning in advance, otherwise it is easy to make a wrong step. In addition, there is a drawback, this small box has no side penetration, and the hardware inside is not visible outside.

● This innovative ITX structure, I also saw for the first time...

Finally, this ITX structure scheme introduced to you may subvert your cognition: the original ITX chassis can also be designed in this way, which is a bit interesting!

It is the "slash youth Mini ITX chassis" to be launched by Xingu, which adopts the "hyperboloid glass design" for the first time, which is visible on three sides and has a clear view of the internal hardware, which solves the pain points of the ITX chassis sealing, which is very suitable for the desktop. Its volume is only 19.7L, although it is not as extreme as the A4's 11L, but the volume is also small enough.

Back to the theme - the internal structural design. Different from the ITX chassis structure mentioned above, in the "slash youth", the motherboard is installed upwards (horizontally mounted), the graphics card is installed vertically (vertical mounting), and two 12cm fan positions are reserved at the bottom position, which can install 240 integrated water cooling. The use of space is relatively reasonable, and the effect is very cool, with hyperboloid glass, this may be the highest value ITX chassis?

Its disadvantage lies in the compatible length of the graphics card, only 200mm, can only install ITX single fan graphics card, such as RTX 3050, 3060 this level of ITX graphics card. If the configuration requirements are higher, then this ITX chassis is not suitable.

The structural design of the ITX chassis has no "routine" to follow, And Xingu's innovation is indeed a bit subversive, although there is still room for improvement, but such an innovation can already give praise. At present, this chassis has not been officially listed, and after the listing, it will send you a detailed evaluation, so stay tuned.

● Summary:

The structure of the ITX chassis is constantly evolving, and each structural solution is not perfect, each has its own advantages and disadvantages. If I had to vote on which ITX chassis was more structured to meet my personal installation needs or aesthetics, I would vote for A4 and Slash Youth. In particular, the slash youth of Xingu is on the table, and it is not the face value? Don't ask me how I know, because I've seen someone else post a rendering of the table.

Beautiful or not, see for yourself: