DOES GOING SMALL MEAN RUNNING HOT?
Is downsizing your next workstation worth it, or will a compact build come at a cost? At OSHKO, this is a question we regularly hear from clients considering compact builds, especially when comparing them to mid tower options like our Creator Pro. How much performance and thermal efficiency do you really sacrifice when downsizing?
To find out, we assembled two identical systems in different form factors: one using our Creator Pro mid-tower workstation built in a Fractal Define 7 case, and the other a Mini-ITX system housed in a Tera case, configured for use as a discreet conference room PC. Both systems were then put through the same rigorous real-world performance and thermal efficiency tests.
THE TESTS
To gauge real‑world productivity performance, we used the following benchmarks:
- Cinebench R23 (Single Core, Multi Core)
- Blender BMW (CPU)
- PCMARK10 (Video, Render, Photo)
- 3DMark (Speed Way, Time Spy, Port Royal)
- 7 Zip (Compression, Decompression)
THE BUILDS & SETTINGS
The tests were performed by machines equipped with:
- AMD RX 9070 XT 16GB
- AMD Ryzen 7 9700x
- 128 GB DDR5 5600 MHz RAM
TESTS RESULTS
CINEBENCH R23 – SCORES: MID-TOWER LEADS IN MULTI-CORE
Multi‑core: the mid-tower system reached 20 352 points, whereas the Mini-ITX system reached 19 947 points, 1.99 % lower than the mid-tower score.
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Single‑core: the mid-tower system obtained a score of 2 207 points, while the Mini-ITX system recorded 2 204 points, making it 0.14 % less performant.
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CINEBENCH R23 – FREQUENCIES: MID-TOWER FASTER IN MULTI-CORE, TIED IN SINGLE-CORE
Multi‑core: the mid-tower system sustained 4 600 MHz, whereas the Mini-ITX system sustained 4 500 MHz, a 2.17 % drop from the mid-tower frequency.
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Single‑core: both systems recorded 5 500 MHz, resulting in no measurable difference.
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CINEBENCH R23 – TEMPERATURES: MINI-ITX RUNS HOTTER IN BOTH MULTI AND SINGLE CORE
Multi‑core: the mid-tower system registered 61 °C, whereas the Mini-ITX system registered 88 °C, 44.26 % hotter than the mid-tower temperature.
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Single‑core: the mid-tower system stabilized at 58 °C, while the Mini-ITX system reached 75 °C, 29.31 % hotter than the mid-tower baseline.
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BLENDER BMW – CPU: MID-TOWER FINISHES FASTER, ITX RUNS HOTTER
Render time: the mid-tower system completed the render in 1 minute 56.92 seconds, while the Mini-ITX system completed it in 1 minute 58.75 seconds, making it 1.57 % longer than the mid-tower.
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CPU temperature: in the corresponding temperature measurement, the mid-tower system reached 60 °C, whereas the Mini-ITX system reached 84 °C, an increase of 40 %.
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PCMARK 10 – PRODUCTIVITY: MINI-ITX EDGES AHEAD IN ALL TASKS
Photo: the Mid-tower system reached 31 403 points, whereas the Mini-ITX system reached 31 895 points, 1.57 % higher than the Mid-tower result.
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Rendering: the Mid-tower system obtained 30 714 points compared with 31 019 points for the Mini-ITX system, a difference of 0.99 %.
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Video: the Mid-tower system recorded 8 954 points, while the Mini-ITX system achieved 9 088 points, a 1.50 % increase from the Mid-tower baseline.
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3DMARK – SCORES: MINI-ITX SLIGHTLY AHEAD ACROSS THE BOARD
Speed Way: the Mid-tower system reached 6 266 points, whereas the Mini-ITX system reached 6 354 points, 1.40 % higher than the Mid-tower result.
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Time Spy: the Mid-tower system achieved 24 265 points, compared with 24 517 points for the Mini-ITX system, a difference of 1.04 %.
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Port Royal: the Mid-tower system scored 18 087 points, while the Mini-ITX system recorded 18 168 points, 0.45 % higher than the Mid-tower baseline.
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3DMARK – GPU TEMPERATURE: MINI-ITX RUNS HOTTER IN ALL TESTS
Speed Way: the mid-tower system registered 52 °C, while the Mini-ITX system reached 58 °C, 11.54 % hotter than the Mid-tower temperature.
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Time Spy: the mid-tower system registered 53 °C, whereas the Mini-ITX system registered 56 °C, 5.66 % hotter than the Mid-tower temperature.
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Port Royal: the mid-tower system registered 52 °C, while the Mini-ITX system reached 58 °C, 11.54 % hotter than the Mid-tower temperature.
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7 ZIP – GIPS SCORES: MID-TOWER LEADS IN BOTH COMPRESSION AND DECOMPRESSION
Decompression: the Mid-tower system reached 126.715 GIPS, whereas the Mini-ITX system reached 122.031 GIPS, 3.70 % lower than the Mid-tower baseline.
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Compression: the mid-tower system achieved 108.849 GIPS, while the Mini-ITX system recorded 105.694 GIPS, 2.90 % lower than the Mid-tower baseline.
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CONCLUSION: MINI-ITX MATCHES IN PERFORMANCE, MID-TOWER WINS ON THERMALS
Now lets focus on answering our question regarding performance and thermal efficiency. Performance wise, the Mini-ITX system came out ahead in application benchmarks like PCMark10 and 3DMark, while the Mid-tower Creator Pro led in sustained multi-core CPU workloads like Cinebench R23 and Blender. In both cases, the margins were typically under 2 % or slightly above, which is narrow enough that results could be influenced by component-level variance or the natural margin of error in benchmarking.
Where the differences became most apparent was in thermal efficiency. The Mini-ITX system consistently ran hotter than the Mid-tower across all tests, but the impact was more pronounced on the CPU side. CPU temperature differences ranged from 29.31 % to 44.26 %, as seen in Cinebench R23. In contrast, GPU temperature differences were smaller, ranging from 5.66 % to 11.54 %, as seen in 3DMark tests.
In summary, the Mini-ITX form factor offers comparable day-to-day performance in most workloads but comes with a clear thermal trade-off. That said, its portability is unmatched, compact enough to carry under one arm. For users with constrained space, a need for mobility, or clean desk setups, it’s a viable option, especially for light or mixed usage. For heavier, sustained workloads or thermally demanding environments, the Mid-tower remains the more robust and scalable choice.