Advice for a Secondary SFF build.

xaldub

xaldub

xaldub

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18 Feb 2007
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I'm considering building a secondary PC ( small form factor ) to replace my PS5 Pro for couch / living room gaming. However, I'm not familiar with small form factor components so thought I'd enlist your help.

I don't have any particular budget in mind. The build would be purely for gaming and as this PC would be in my living room I'd like something discreet without any RGB lighting etc. In terms of performance I want it to be capable of running modern AAA games at a stable 4K/60 fps with some RT ( using AI upscalers ). The TV display it would be attached to is HDMI 2.1 compliant and supports 120 Hz/VRR.

I do have some spare parts from previous non-SFF builds I could use eg. 1 x 1TB WD SN850 NVMe drive, Corsair RM750i PSU ( but I'm guessing this would be too big for SFF ? ). I also have a 5800X3D and 32GB DDR4 but I'd prefer this new build to be on the AM5 platform.

Thanks in advance.
 
Prices have gone crazy with memory being triple the cost , storage and GPU climbing so I would reuse what you have and put your money into a GPU as 4k gaming you want at least a 5070ti or 9070xt.

Otherwise Xbox or PlayStation is a cheaper alternative.
 
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mickyflinn said:
Prices have gone crazy with memory being triple the cost , storage and GPU climbing so I would reuse what you have and put your money into a GPU as 4k gaming you want at least a 5070ti or 9070xt.

Otherwise Xbox or PlayStation is a cheaper alternative.
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I don't wish to be part of their walled ecosystems and already have a large library of games on Steam. Any thoughts on suitable cases, mobo, PSU etc ?
 
without knowing your budget i would recommend exactly what i have for my secondary rig, which incidentally, is also paired with my 50 inch 4k tv
so, basically a 7800x3d, 32gb ram and a 9070 (non-xt)
the reason why i would suggest a 7800x3d and a 9070 (non-xt) combo is because they are the most power efficient (cpu/gpu) of the lot

xaldub said:
1 x 1TB WD SN850 NVMe drive, Corsair RM750i PSU
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i would still reuse these.
the rm750i is pretty long, so you'd need a bigger itx case or a matx build
 
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xaldub said:
I don't wish to be part of their walled ecosystems and already have a large library of games on Steam. Any thoughts on suitable cases, mobo, PSU etc ?
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PSU is fine.

Gigabyte B550I AORUS PRO AX ITX Motherboard is a solid choice as long as the32gb is 2 x 16gb sticks.

GPU as above or even a 5080 depending on budget..

Case will need to be able to take an ATX PSU and GPU length needs to be considered unless you go matx.

 
xaldub said:
I also have a 5800X3D and 32GB DDR4 but I'd prefer this new build to be on the AM5 platform.
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These parts are more than sufficient for 4K/60, obviously AM5 would be nice, but with it being £300+ just for 32GB DDR5 alone, seems like a luxury upgrade and there are no real gains unless you step up to a 7800X3D or better compared to entry-level AM5.
 
Tetras said:
These parts are more than sufficient for 4K/60, obviously AM5 would be nice, but with it being £300+ just for 32GB DDR5 alone, seems like a luxury upgrade and there are no real gains unless you step up to a 7800X3D or better compared to entry-level AM5.
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that being said, and as someone who has used both the 5800x3d and the 7800x3d in the same SFF case...i would not want a 5800x3d as a HTPC/living room pc
the 5800x3d's power density is just too high. even with a sensible curve, the fans ramp up and down far too often and would be extremely distracting

honestly would take the opportunity to sell the 5800x3d/32gb ddr4 whilst the prices are crazily elevated to hop onto a 7800x3d system...which is basically what i did... :cry:
 
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Tetras said:
These parts are more than sufficient for 4K/60, obviously AM5 would be nice, but with it being £300+ just for 32GB DDR5 alone, seems like a luxury upgrade and there are no real gains unless you step up to a 7800X3D or better compared to entry-level AM5.
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mickyflinn said:
PSU is fine.

Gigabyte B550I AORUS PRO AX ITX Motherboard is a solid choice as long as the32gb is 2 x 16gb sticks.

GPU as above or even a 5080 depending on budget..

Case will need to be able to take an ATX PSU and GPU length needs to be considered unless you go matx.

Click to expand...
Quite like this case ( mATX ) : https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lian-li-a3-matx-md-white-cas-lia-03651.html

Any tips / advice for cooling using a smaller case ?
 
Tetras said:
Lian Li have a bunch of layout tables on their website, but from what I can remember:
- Longer PSUs can impact the max GPU length, because they extend down into that part of the case.
- Longer AIOs can impact the max GPU length, because the PSU can't be pushed so far up if the AIO takes that space.
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Thanks, I'll have a look on their website for some example layouts.
 
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