Can I reduce my Case size to make it more living room friendly?

kinger8938

kinger8938

kinger8938

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Without changing any other components, can I put what I currently have in to a smaller form factor case?

I use my PC as a gaming console effectively. It hides behind my TV but means i need the TV quite far away from the wall.

Considering wall mounting so would like something a little more visually appealing as it will then be on show.

I have an M-ATX B450 MAX board, will get specifics in a bit.

Rtx 2060 super

3600 CPU, AMD heatsink

1 normal HDD and one ssd

Thanks for any advice given, if its not really possible without major hardware chabged I'll leave it be :)
 
Trig said:
What case do you have currently and what model of 2060 do you have, both will be important for people to answer the question properly due to card length and wanting to know where you are coming from size wise..

As you know I went from the Node 804 to the 304, but that's a switch from mATX to iTX, something that's not ideal or cheap if you want to keep as much of what you have as possible..
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Sorry the card is an EVGA 2060 Super, the case is a Coolmaster Master box lite 3
 
Quartz said:
Something like a Siverstone ML03/04 or GD06 would mean you could have it under the TV.
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I think I like that idea, something more horizontal or small cube like. Our current TV unit is fairly generous in terms of depth and width of the compartments

Thanks for all the suggestions all,

Sill check one of these out now

Any note worthy things to be away of?
 
My only concern is they seem to be aimed more at HTCP builds rather than being used for Gaming?

Will have to check cpu cooler height and GPU length I suppose?

My 3600 gets quite hot as it is but from what I can tell it's not a concern yet, but wouldnt want it getting much warmer
 
McPhee said:
Pretty much.

MATX is a dead format. And HTPCs, as a concept, pretty much died when streaming took off. So you won't find a lot of recent information about repurposing these cases as gaming cases. As such, you'll have to do the legwork.

Things to look for:
  • Ventilation. Take the GD05, as an example. Clearances are fine. But it was designed for TV tuner cards, not GPUs. The CPU area is well catered for, with 2x 120mm intakes and 2x 80mm exhausts. But the expansion area? 1x 120mm intake fan. No exhaust. And basically no ventilation. So unless you fancy modding the case, it won't work.
  • CPU cooler clearance. But TBH this isn't likely to be a huge drama. A Noctua L9i or Cryorig C7 will handle a stock clock 3600 without any major drama.
  • GPU clearances. These will be tight, for the same reasons as the ventilation situation; these cases weren't designed for modern GPUs. Worth noting that you need to factor in space for GPU power connectors. But 180° adapters can be bought for a few quid, somewhat negating this problem.
  • Space and ventilation in your TV unit. You could have excellent cooling and still have high temperatures if the case is too tight a fit. Same goes for hot air being recirculated within the cabinet; it'll ruin even the best planned builds. So you need to think about this. Is there adequate space around the PC case, particularly where the fans are? How are the intakes and exhausts set up? Is the exhaust air leaving the cabinet, or getting pulled back in by intake fans?
To be honest though, the best advice anyone could give you is to seriously consider swapping to an ITX motherboard. It unlocks better case choices which are more suited for what you're looking to do (e.g. Silverstone SG13 and RVZ, Fractal Design Node series). And you'll find plenty of advice on these cases. Far less chance of running in to problems.



You're using the stock cooler at the moment though. So plenty of scope for improvement.
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Thanks! I think if it boils down to changing the board etc for now I may just leave the idea behind and live with how I have it. It's not terrible but could be better. I was just thinking if I could find a say £50-60 case to better suit the situation then I'd give it a shot.

Is there any performance decrease by going with an ITX board? Are they limited in some way?

Thanks for the advice
 
I think to make this work suggestions above are correct. I would need to go for an ITX board and go from there.

Not sure if it's worth it to me or not, it would make the TV unit a bit tidied but vs the cost in may hold off
 
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