Swing and a miss. Let's create a new mini ITX box and:
*Use a full ATX power supply when 1000w SFX supplies exists and wuld allow for better cooling *Use a standard ITX I/O layout then push a proprietary motherboard *Use a X300 chipset that only has PCIe 3.0 and restricted USB availability *Doing ANY of this when aftermarket B450/B550 ITX boards have existed for years *Releasing this in 2022, when intel is offering PCIe 5.0 and AMD wil offer the same at the end of the year with AM5.
ATX supplies are indeed cheaper. Looks like the case dimensions also meant that an SFX supply would not save any volume without lowering available GPU Z-height. Same with the extended motherboard (looks like a short DTX): with case volume constrained by desired GPU length support, you can either waste that board area or add components to it (the board need to go all the way to the front for the front panel connectors).
If they'd gone the Deskmini route and moved the GPU slot to the rear of the board, that would have enabled a back-to-back packaging that could have reduced volume, but not by all that much. once you accommodate a standard cooler or relocate the PSU.
"wasting' that area would allow for the use of standard ITX components isntead of creating a product that will be e-waste if anything happens to the board. No better then the garbage sold by dell and HP.
The SFX supply would allow for a greater CPU cooler height, and there is notable room above the GPU brackets. There are already pelnty of cases that use ITX, ATX PSUs, and have enough z height for kingpin style cards. It'd be nice to have a case that is actually small and uses normal Z height and SFX parts for thsoe of us that want a small box.
The board mounting holes are standard ITX, if the board dies and for whatever reason you decide you simply MUST keep the case, then you can swap in an ITX board and only lose the stock front panel connectors (you could use the extra space to add independently wired front-panel port connectors if you wanted, those are readily available).
An SFX power supply isn't just slightly more expensive, on the consumer end a decent one is usually double the price of a standard ATX. I can't believe they would be spending double on each unit, but 25 to 50% more wouldn't be unimaginable. Why spend more and either have to pass on the cost or eat it, when you could just use a regular ATX PSU and have slightly less space or make it slightly bigger.
It makes sense for a niche product. There are a ton of 10+L mini ITX cases on the market already, but very few sub 10L. In a case this small using full ATX PSUs makes no sense.
Not sure where you are seing double either, where are you seeing price gaps that big? a 600w 80+ gold PSU, for instance, costs $85 average for ATX and $99 for SFX. The gap is even smaller if you want 80% platinum, where a SFX platinum can be had for $140 and ATX at best is $125. And these are consumer prices, not OEM prices, which would be even closer.
Why spend more? Well in a case like this the PSU is right above the CPU. Using SFX would allow more clearance for a larger quieter CPU cooler, and part of why SFX PSUs ar eexpensive is they are niche, if more case makers used them the price would come down.
It's a confusing product, for sure, but... Find me a mITX mobo and case that is under 8L in size, supports four DDR4 slots, and still uses an ATX or SFX PSU. It is, probably, cheaper than what you can build with B660 mITX or B450 mITX, thanks to using cheaper ATX sized PSU, and proprietary mobo. And it still has a PCIe X16 slot for a graphics card upgrade, if you can ever find one. You can even use an SFX to ATX PSU bracket, if you want to use a taller CPU air heatsink
With that said, their Jupiter lineup is the better, and more interesting product line. This DeskMeet line feels like it is more suited for businesses, and the used upgradable business PC market.
PCIe 5.0 is worthless (the x4 dedicated SSD lanes on Intel are strictly PCIe 4.0 only, anyways) & PCIe 4.0 SSD's have ZERO real world advantages over a quality 3.0 drive in an SFF PC. The ONLY place you'd notice a difference is in a literal storage benchmark. Also, you can use AMD CPU's just fine... If you actually knew how to read you'd realize this case supports discrete graphics.
The penultimate paragraph mentions a USB-C port on the rear I/O panel, but the specifications chart doesn't. Is there a 2nd USB-C port on the rear (or anywhere) or is there only one on the entire computer?
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TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, January 18, 2022 - link
Swing and a miss. Let's create a new mini ITX box and:*Use a full ATX power supply when 1000w SFX supplies exists and wuld allow for better cooling
*Use a standard ITX I/O layout then push a proprietary motherboard
*Use a X300 chipset that only has PCIe 3.0 and restricted USB availability
*Doing ANY of this when aftermarket B450/B550 ITX boards have existed for years
*Releasing this in 2022, when intel is offering PCIe 5.0 and AMD wil offer the same at the end of the year with AM5.
FreckledTrout - Tuesday, January 18, 2022 - link
Not using a SFX supply seems odd. There must be a reason. I wonder if they can get a full ATX power supply for cheaper?edzieba - Tuesday, January 18, 2022 - link
ATX supplies are indeed cheaper. Looks like the case dimensions also meant that an SFX supply would not save any volume without lowering available GPU Z-height. Same with the extended motherboard (looks like a short DTX): with case volume constrained by desired GPU length support, you can either waste that board area or add components to it (the board need to go all the way to the front for the front panel connectors).If they'd gone the Deskmini route and moved the GPU slot to the rear of the board, that would have enabled a back-to-back packaging that could have reduced volume, but not by all that much. once you accommodate a standard cooler or relocate the PSU.
TheinsanegamerN - Wednesday, January 19, 2022 - link
"wasting' that area would allow for the use of standard ITX components isntead of creating a product that will be e-waste if anything happens to the board. No better then the garbage sold by dell and HP.The SFX supply would allow for a greater CPU cooler height, and there is notable room above the GPU brackets. There are already pelnty of cases that use ITX, ATX PSUs, and have enough z height for kingpin style cards. It'd be nice to have a case that is actually small and uses normal Z height and SFX parts for thsoe of us that want a small box.
edzieba - Wednesday, January 19, 2022 - link
The board mounting holes are standard ITX, if the board dies and for whatever reason you decide you simply MUST keep the case, then you can swap in an ITX board and only lose the stock front panel connectors (you could use the extra space to add independently wired front-panel port connectors if you wanted, those are readily available).jtd871 - Tuesday, January 18, 2022 - link
Agree. Seems mostly pointless as motherboards, components and cases for SFF/ITX builds with better AMD chipsets are seemingly readily available.artk2219 - Tuesday, January 18, 2022 - link
An SFX power supply isn't just slightly more expensive, on the consumer end a decent one is usually double the price of a standard ATX. I can't believe they would be spending double on each unit, but 25 to 50% more wouldn't be unimaginable. Why spend more and either have to pass on the cost or eat it, when you could just use a regular ATX PSU and have slightly less space or make it slightly bigger.TheinsanegamerN - Wednesday, January 19, 2022 - link
It makes sense for a niche product. There are a ton of 10+L mini ITX cases on the market already, but very few sub 10L. In a case this small using full ATX PSUs makes no sense.Not sure where you are seing double either, where are you seeing price gaps that big? a 600w 80+ gold PSU, for instance, costs $85 average for ATX and $99 for SFX. The gap is even smaller if you want 80% platinum, where a SFX platinum can be had for $140 and ATX at best is $125. And these are consumer prices, not OEM prices, which would be even closer.
Why spend more? Well in a case like this the PSU is right above the CPU. Using SFX would allow more clearance for a larger quieter CPU cooler, and part of why SFX PSUs ar eexpensive is they are niche, if more case makers used them the price would come down.
meacupla - Tuesday, January 18, 2022 - link
It's a confusing product, for sure, but...Find me a mITX mobo and case that is under 8L in size, supports four DDR4 slots, and still uses an ATX or SFX PSU.
It is, probably, cheaper than what you can build with B660 mITX or B450 mITX, thanks to using cheaper ATX sized PSU, and proprietary mobo.
And it still has a PCIe X16 slot for a graphics card upgrade, if you can ever find one.
You can even use an SFX to ATX PSU bracket, if you want to use a taller CPU air heatsink
With that said, their Jupiter lineup is the better, and more interesting product line.
This DeskMeet line feels like it is more suited for businesses, and the used upgradable business PC market.
TheinsanegamerN - Wednesday, January 19, 2022 - link
The ITX standard onyl allows for 2 memory slots. Do you really need 128GB of RAM in your ITX build? 2 slots can handle 64 GB.you want a case that can fit an ITX board with a SFX PSU? It's the one in the article.
I dont see hwo designing a proprietary motherboard is cheaper then using one that ALREADY EXISTS.
Cooe - Wednesday, January 19, 2022 - link
Going X300 means they don't have to include a separate chipset (as they would with B450/550), ya dumbass... -_-"X300" just means the CPU is operating in chipset-less SOC mode like EPYC.
SarahKerrigan - Tuesday, January 18, 2022 - link
The term "X300 chipset" - when the X300 platform is defined by the absence of a chipset - will never not be weird.LAN__mine - Wednesday, January 19, 2022 - link
I don't understand. Who needs four sticks of RAM and a PCIe slot, but DOESN'T need or want:*High-end IO
*Fast storage if they're using AMD
*anything more than an APU on AMD
*PCIe 4.0 or 5.0
Who is this for?
TheinsanegamerN - Wednesday, January 19, 2022 - link
People who like proprietary poorly thought out e waste but dont want to buy a dell g5 or HP tower.Cooe - Wednesday, January 19, 2022 - link
PCIe 5.0 is worthless (the x4 dedicated SSD lanes on Intel are strictly PCIe 4.0 only, anyways) & PCIe 4.0 SSD's have ZERO real world advantages over a quality 3.0 drive in an SFF PC. The ONLY place you'd notice a difference is in a literal storage benchmark. Also, you can use AMD CPU's just fine... If you actually knew how to read you'd realize this case supports discrete graphics.mooninite - Wednesday, January 19, 2022 - link
Where's the 2.5GBe NIC? What's with a 1GBe NIC? This is 2022.wpcoe - Thursday, January 20, 2022 - link
The penultimate paragraph mentions a USB-C port on the rear I/O panel, but the specifications chart doesn't. Is there a 2nd USB-C port on the rear (or anywhere) or is there only one on the entire computer?