Help/Spec Check for a Powerful Small Case Gaming Machine

Jenz

Jenz

Jenz

Associate
Joined
14 Aug 2005
Posts
430
Location
Northampton
Hi I am wanting to build a new physically small gaming machine. My gaming is 100hz/1440p Ultrawide for the most part.

I'm a nvidia gpu/amd cpu fan. I use a lot of storage for my work. The case needs to be small as my desk is in an alcove and must sit on my "largish" desk.

This is where I am at at present:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £3,038.91 (includes shipping: £13.20)​

​

One x4 M2 and one x3 M2.

Thoughts? Budget is upto £3.5k inc VAT and I will be getting OC to build and supply so Windows 11 is also needed.
Thanks Neil.
 
be quiet! SFX-L Power 600W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply
CA-13A-BQ
£100 (incl. VAT)
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AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core 4.7GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail
CP-3CB-AM
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Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM Chromax Black Swap Fan -120mm
FG-07J-NC
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Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 3.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive
HD-23Z-SA
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Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)
AC-000-AC
£8 (incl. VAT)
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In genreal your spec is very good but couple of points you may want to consider. You are paying a lot of money for an AIO that you will barely see, if it was on display more I would have no issues but with it being so hidden why not save close to £100.
PSU, in general Bequiet make excellent psus but you will be using 70%+ whilst gaming and isn't it just a 3 year warranty with that unit ?. Can get Platinum 700/750w from Silverstone and Corsair for just £20 more so there are options with higher capacities. I personally would go with the Corsair even though it has the smaller 92mm fan.
 
you can get the RM850x for £110..new 2021 version..think up to 450w draw the fans don't even spool up so runs silent. Arctic Silver is what I used ages ago but I was advised against. It's conductive so if you spill any can fry your motherboard. if you want to stick to arctic get MX-5, which is there most up to date thermal paste, or mx-4..non conductive so if you make a mess not too worry, and also lasts so don't need to reapply every year or so. I went with NT-H2 in the end myself

Also a board to consider
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £194.99 (includes shipping: £0.00)
​
 
I’d probably consider a water cooled graphics card as that will be generating 2-3 times the heat of the CPU.

For the motherboard I’m currently leaning toward a Asus ROG crosshair viii impact X570 for my build. It has a PCI-E gen 4 extension card for a pair of gen 4 NVME drives and active VRM cooling that I think could be an issue in most ITX cases with a high end graphics card.
 
Haz123 said:
He needs SFX psu Craig, that one is ATX so too large for his chosen case.
Click to expand...
blimey, forgot was small build as started reading you post:cry:. Thanks, am getting old. What's the airflow like in a case like that with glass both sides? Will it get toasty? last bit personal curiosity as never built in small case
 
I have never built an ITX system either. That case looks to have 2 fans on bottom and AIO rad exhausting at the top so would create a wind tunnel effect. Cannot really see how close the glass is to the gpu fans but that does concern me. I woul dnot want to put an Intel system into that case for sure.

Lot more planning needed for ITX and like Jigger mentions actively cooled VRMs are sometimes preferable.
 
Jenz said:
Thanks all. Sounds like I need to rethink the case :D
Click to expand...

I’m looking for graphics cards with a blower style HSF to keep the heat out of the case. Probably in vane as the Nvidia fan girls moaned so hard about them no company seems brave enough to build one, but right now, that is exactly what Ampere needs to deal with stupid amount of heat it dumps into the case.
 
Jenz said:
Thanks all. Sounds like I need to rethink the case :D
Click to expand...
FWIW I know cases differ heavily, but I have a similar style Jonsbo case, it's tiny for an mATX case, but follows this 'wind tunnel' type design. 3070ti never goes over 73 degrees at full load and I haven't played around with undervolting or fan curves yet, completely stock, so it might be alright in that case. The actual footprint of this case over the ITX one you selected is actually smaller by a couple of mm! A4 = 169mm wide, 340mm deep. V9 = 165mm wide, 337 deep.

 
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Defy Belief said:
FWIW I know cases differ heavily, but I have a similar style Jonsbo case, it's tiny for an mATX case, but follows this 'wind tunnel' type design. 3070ti never goes over 73 degrees at full load and I haven't played around with undervolting or fan curves yet, completely stock, so it might be alright in that case. The actual footprint of this case over the ITX one you selected is actually smaller by a couple of mm! A4 = 169mm wide, 340mm deep. V9 = 165mm wide, 337 deep.

Click to expand...
That is very close to what I am wanting to achieve. May I ask the spec and cooler?

My other thought based on feedback here so far was Lian Li O11 Mini?
 
Jenz said:
That is very close to what I am wanting to achieve. May I ask the spec and cooler?

My other thought based on feedback here so far was Lian Li O11 Mini?
Click to expand...
It's a 10400f, cooled by a raijintek m9 plus. You could get a chunky top down cooler like a dark rock tf though!

The o11 is still a huge case BTW, not mini at all :p

Note though that with the case, gpu selection will be slightly limited, they can't be really tall which some are nowadays.
 
Jenz said:
My other thought based on feedback here so far was Lian Li O11 Mini?
Click to expand...

The Lian Li O11 are lovely cases. I have a Dynamic alongside me at moment but the O11 mini is more a small ATX or Giant ITX case rather than small form factor. If the dimensions of the mini fit into the gap you need it to then it would serve you well and you can fit in almost any cooler or gpu.

I did not dislike the case you chose, I was however concerned with the fans being so close to the glass. Without actually having the case and your chosen gpu in hand it is hard to see what sort of gap there would be for air to get into the fans and cool the gpu. There are cases with mesh sides that avoid that issue.

If I was going SFF I would most likely use this case.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lian...-4.0-tempered-glass-case-black-ca-79p-ll.html

Mesh and glass at side to showcase the components and still let the gpu get airflow. One downside to this is to use a 240 AIO you have to use a SFF psu, I suppose with Ryuzen 5800x you could use a 120 AIO or even tower cooler and then use a standard ATX psu. Also not totally sure all AIO 3070/3080 will fit in this case, nothing is ever simple it seems.
 
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011 mini can fit a full ATX board in it, so although small compared to it's brothers, wouldn't say it's tiny. Love the case though
O11D-mini-5slot.png
 
Haz123 said:
The Lian Li O11 are lovely cases. I have a Dynamic alongside me at moment but the O11 mini is more a small ATX or Giant ITX case rather than small form factor. If the dimensions of the mini fit into the gap you need it to then it would serve you well and you can fit in almost any cooler or gpu.

I did not dislike the case you chose, I was however concerned with the fans being so close to the glass. Without actually having the case and your chosen gpu in hand it is hard to see what sort of gap there would be for air to get into the fans and cool the gpu. There are cases with mesh sides that avoid that issue.

If I was going SFF I would most likely use this case.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lian...-4.0-tempered-glass-case-black-ca-79p-ll.html

Mesh and glass at side to showcase the components and still let the gpu get airflow. One downside to this is to use a 240 AIO you have to use a SFF psu, I suppose with Ryuzen 5800x you could use a 120 or even tower cooler and then use a standard ATX psu. Also not totally sure all AIO 3070/3080 will fit in this case, nothing is ever simple it seems.
Click to expand...

I love that Q58x4. like the fact from reviews you can swap the glass and mesh around to any combo, and comes with riser 4 cable inside also...just hasn't arrived yet so can't actually get hold of it. Other option is the SSupd case, who are an offshoot of Lian Li(well from youtube I just seen). Glass on one side, mesh the rest. Think there's another forum member just bought this to do a build...trying to find thread again. This one below has the gen 4 riser included

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va9hNekSA9M&ab_channel=Bitwit

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £160.49 (includes shipping: £10.50)
​
 
Haz123 said:
The Lian Li O11 are lovely cases. I have a Dynamic alongside me at moment but the O11 mini is more a small ATX or Giant ITX case rather than small form factor. If the dimensions of the mini fit into the gap you need it to then it would serve you well and you can fit in almost any cooler or gpu..
Click to expand...

did you say you have the dynamic XL? Had it delivered and was going to build (in the black one) but switched to the 5000x when got it for £120 on a deal (my build cost was beginning to spiral and had a panic moment). Still have lagging regret over that but not a lot I can do? Do you have a pic? Would love to see build(if you have the time of course)
 
I have the standard O11 Dynamic not the XL




Could never get the lights to work on gpu block and fans at bottom were making a grinding noise so pulled plug to stop them. Am considering getting new gpu block and maybe moving card lower to mount it to bottom of the case like it is intended to be but I am in the thinking phase at the moment. I want to redo the tubing and make it more elaborate at the front so lots to do when I have time.

Edit - Not much of a photographer , hopefully this one is clearer.

 
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Haz123 said:
I have the standard O11 Dynamic not the XL




Could never get the lights to work on gpu block and fans at bottom were making a grinding noise so pulled plug to stop them. Am considering getting new gpu block and maybe moving card lower to mount it to bottom of the case like it is intended to be but I am in the thinking phase at the moment. I want to redo the tubing and make it more elaborate at the front so lots to do when I have time.

Edit - Not much of a photographer , hopefully this one is clearer.

Click to expand...
Looks stunning to me. Wish I'd stuck with the XL. OCuk had an offer incl the riser adaptor, and as I pondered the black or silver, offer ended the following morning..waited a month or so before they admitted it was a lian li promotion and unlikey to return..never mind. ordered the black anyway then saw the 5000X on a special so bought that as well. Couldn't take out box's or wouldn't get a full refund on whichever one I sent back so just opted for the cheaper case( though seeing as needed to get a commander pro for the fans to all work, don't think would have made much of a difference in the end. Not that I'm complaining as 5000x looks great..Wish the side window wasn't quite so tinted though(on my case). Hard to make out the mobo, esp below the gpu
I'm not brave enough to try full water cooling yet...maybe next time..thanks for pics. Looks awesome.

Appologies @Jenz for hijacking thread for a bit
 
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