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Ok so here is the current issue. In my apartment my computer is located in my bedroom. It is a i5 2500k cpu with an amd hd7950 and a asrock extreme 4 motherboard.
My GF is moving in soon and I will be moving my PC to another room. But my router and cable modem will stay in my bedroom. So I wanted something wireless, and wanted to go with something that takes up less room than my NZXT phantom case. I didn't plan on ordering anything yet but the other day my machine blue screened and then messed up every windows service and rendered the machine unreparable. So I figured I might as well order now since I will be reinstalling windows. Samsung magician says my SSD is still good so I am hoping the failure wasn't due to the drive going bad.

Well anyway this led me to order the parts for a mini-ITX machine.
Corsair obsidian 250d
Asus Z87I-Deluxe LGA 1150 Intel Z87 Mini ITX Motherboard (this has AC wireless which should help in speed going from wired to wireless)
Haswell i7- 4770k
I will be keeping my same samsung 830 series ssd and my video card.

Will I notice any drop in performance going to a mini-itx PC?
Last time I used one I remember being upset with its power.

I don't think a single bluescreen is going to make your computer "unrepairable". It might indicate some sort of hardware problem, but you're giving up mighty easily. I'll take the old "damaged" hardware off your hands.

As far as the Mini-ITX system, there's nothing about the size of the board that makes it inherently slower. Manufacturers often build small systems with low-end CPUs to reduce heat and power requirements. Whatever you used probably just had a weak CPU.

The Egg wrote:

I don't think a single bluescreen is going to make your computer "unrepairable". It might indicate some sort of hardware problem, but you're giving up mighty easily. I'll take the old "damaged" hardware off your hands.

As far as the Mini-ITX system, there's nothing about the size of the board that makes it inherently slower. Manufacturers often build small systems with low-end CPUs to reduce heat and power requirements. Whatever you used probably just had a weak CPU.

The blue screen caused files to be lost and they could not be covered. It was not able to be repaired using windows 8 repair disk , it could not be restored, or refreshed. It was dead.
That being said, I know the hardware wasn't the issue. I already sold the motherboard and CPU. The only reason I got a new one is because I need to take up less space and wanted a mini-itx set up.
It was going to happen with in a month anyways I just did it now since I would be reinstalling windows anyway.

Gandolf wrote:

Samsung magician says my SSD is still good so I am hoping the failure wasn't due to the drive going bad.

Gandolf wrote:

The blue screen caused files to be lost and they could not be covered. It was not able to be repaired using windows 8 repair disk , it could not be restored, or refreshed. It was dead.

I wouldn't put too much stock in a harddrive diagnostics, in my experience they've only ever confirmed what I already knew or suspected, whereas they've given me false negatives numerous times...

Honestly, it's extremely unlikely that Windows 8 crashed so spectacularly. If you are missing files and neither system restore nor externally-booted repair could fix it, it's almost certainly something hardware-related. I'd cast a long look at that SSD, and I'd run memtest all night on the memory too (which I noticed you didn't sell...).

Glorious wrote:

I'd cast a long look at that SSD, and I'd run memtest all night on the memory too (which I noticed you didn't sell...).

Highly recommend you do this, even though you bought a new mobo and CPU.

Gandolf wrote:

Will I notice any drop in performance going to a mini-itx PC?

If all the components are the same (besides a smaller mobo) then performance would inherently be unchanged. Mobos don't do anything significant for the performance of a PC at stock or near-stock speeds. The only noteworthy differences between just about every motherboard on the market are: size (# of expansion slots), OC-friendly / higher quality components, and added features (eSATA, PLX chip, # SATA ports, built-in WiFi, etc). The size of a motherboard alone doesn't affect the performance of the system. Having a smaller mobo will only really limit how many expansion cards you can strap onto it (aka. 1 with mITX).

Gandolf wrote:

Last time I used one I remember being upset with its power.

The system you're referring to probably had low-power components (like Egg said) to either 1) keep heat in check for a case that had poor ventilation, or 2) reduce system cost. If it didn't have an SSD, that would obviously adversely affect your opinion of responsiveness since you're used to running on an SSD in your "main" system.

Like others said, a decent mini-ITX mobo will give the same performance at stock clocks and voltages.

That corsair 250D case is big for a mini-ITX case and its bigger than some of the compact micro ATX cases out there.
The Cooler Master Elite 130 is about 30% smaller than the 250D and alot cheaper. The downside is that it doesn't look as nice, and the thermals are probably worse.

Also if you don't have small-ish hands and are not used to building mini-ITX systems, it may be a challenge to get all the wiring neatly routed, and the components installed correctly. If you made a mistake and something isn't hooked in early on, you'll have to remove components to be able to get you hand in there.

I am a bit wary of the ssd as well. It is a few years old now. Is there any software test I can run on it to test it out?

The Corsair Obsidian mini-ITX case is bigger than micro-ATX cases from other manufacturers.

How long is your particular Radeon HD7950 card? That will determine which mini-ITX cases meet your requirements.

JustAnEngineer wrote:

The Corsair Obsidian mini-ITX case is bigger than micro-ATX cases from other manufacturers.

How long is your particular Radeon HD7950 card? That will determine which mini-ITX cases meet your requirements.

I already ordered the obsidian, I guess it could be cancelled since it isn't released yet. But I really have been blown away by previous obsidian cases and I really do like the looks and layout of this one. I think I will be ok with it being a bit bigger.

Back to the ssd issues. There seems to be a ton of errors in my administrative events. I just did a fresh install on my old setup yesterday just to have a computer to use for a week or two. But the mountain of erros building up make me think there is another issue with this system.

what sort of errors are you getting?
The main thing with that case is that it is wide. just as wide as some full size towers.

Gandolf wrote:

Back to the ssd issues. There seems to be a ton of errors in my administrative events. I just did a fresh install on my old setup yesterday just to have a computer to use for a week or two. But the mountain of erros building up make me think there is another issue with this system.

Could be a loose/bad cable. I broke the SATA finger off my SSD the other day (whoops) and it still works but for a short time I had the cable loose because of it and saw things exactly like that.

What would be the best air cooled solution for the cpu that will fit in this case?

3.7" is the technical max height, so you won't be fitting any tower-style HSFs in there. TR stuffed a Noctua NH-C14 into theirs though. That may not be the most cost-effective cooler, but it's most likely one of the best that will fit. That case is begging for an AIO.

I wasn't expecting a 80 dollar cooler haha.
Is there anything sub 50?

Off the top of my head. Make sure the one you choose will fit on your mobo (clearance around the socket) and over your RAM.

I do like that corsair liquid one. just still undecided

$46 Scythe Big Shuriken 2.B
$50 CoolerMaster Seidon 120V
$58 Silverstone NT06-Pro
$65 CoolerMaster Seidon 120M

Is the Seidon 120V older or newer than the 120M? Either way, I got a Seidon 120M for $25 (after MIR on a great sale) and was disappointed by how stiff the hoses were (120V looks like the same hoses as the 120M). Good thing it was cheap.

I have no experience with the new Corsair hoses (smooth & rubbery like on the H50/H55 etc) but they look MUCH more flexible than my Seidon 120M. Hint: the hoses in the Seidon 120M pictures are straight for a reason. For the same price, I'd put up with the slightly more difficult Corsair mounting system.

I just finished sticking a Corsair H100i into a Corsair 350D and the new Corsair cases are pretty much designed around the ability to utilize Corsair water coolers. If you can afford to water cool I'd go that route.

I ended up going with this.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835181030

Eeesh, you could have gotten the H60 for $55 after MIR from today until Feb. 13. Hopefully you didn't pay $80 for yours.

Legit Reviews managed to cram a H100 into the 250D.

DPete27 wrote:

Eeesh, you could have gotten the H60 for $55 after MIR from today until Feb. 13. Hopefully you didn't pay $80 for yours.

When I ordered it I got it from amazon for 60 bucks.

McGavin wrote:

Legit Reviews managed to cram a H100 into the 250D.

That is pretty crazy

Considering that the mini-ITX Corsair Obsidian 250D is bigger than other manufacturers' micro-ATX cases, there's a lot of empty space.