SFF Gaming rig... AIO/Watercooling required?

Removed User 345456 · 21 Jun 2022 at 00:22

It does tempt me to build a mini itx build and a nice small case but I really don't want nor like water and electrics and have very bad luck haha!

I could buy the best of the beat aio or whatever and mine would leak and someone with the crappest Chinese Ali express one wouldn't!

Could I get away with just getting an amazing similarly priced hsf setup instead?

Or am I doomed to throttling cpus and gpus and mad amounts of heat?

If so I'll just forget it and stick to a mid size tower under the desk I guess.

Defy Belief · 21 Jun 2022 at 17:06

Well what case are you thinking about using? Will be a big factor as to what hardware you can put it in without throttling etc.

McPhee · 23 Jun 2022 at 01:02

Water cooling just allows for the same amount of cooling potential in a smaller package. You can go SFF and use air. But you either need a larger case, or a weaker CPU (and/or you need to underclock/undervolt to reduce thermal load).

The smallest case with worthwhile air cooling is the Ncase M1, using the Noctua D12L or C14S (or the upcoming Dancase C4-SFX, which is smaller) or for something cheaper, the Cooler Master NR200. Smaller than those, you're looking at relatively weak CPU coolers, e.g. the Noctua L9i.

Removed User 345456 · 23 Jun 2022 at 10:28

was going to get an nr200p with a sycthe mugen 5 rev.b but I think I'm just going to stick with a smaller tower now tbh and run fans a bit less. it's under the desk anyway so doesn't matter too much. I just like the sff look haha.