Smallest form factor for specs

[slowpoke]

Been out of PC building for a while, need to replace my current rig with something much smaller than what it is now but due to budget constraints keeping to as low spec (in modern tech sense) as possible.
Current rig is i7-2600k, 16gb ram, gtx970, all super chunky parts in Antec 900 case, with ALL of watercooling hanging outside the case (yep, bit of a frankenstein, what with tubes/res/pump/rad outside )
Main consideration being proper graphics card at least of gtx970 capability. My machine is mostly used for coreldraw/gimp/running-a-laser-cutter(lightburn). I do game on occasion but nothing that requires rtx or any of that nonsense(PoE, D2-3, indies, occasional older AAA games (borderlands2-3)).
I want something that does this in as small form factor and as cheap as possible. NO LAPTOPS Cube/slim desktops.
A nudge in the right direction, anyone ?

 

[lsg1r]

Technically you could go all the way down to m-itx and one of the 'sandwich cases' (dan case a4 for example) but if it was me I'd go matx with air or aio cpu cooling. Still relatively compact but easier to work in and usually cheaper on the motherboard side of things.

As to specs there's nothing particularly hardcore about your requirements so it's more down to budget etc.

 

[slowpoke]

Looked at the prices for SFF cases - NUTS!!! 150-250 quid for a bit of tin ? holy ****... (rant over.).

How would Ryzen APU (3700-5700) build stack up against dedicated gtx970 (or 980ti that i have on the shelf here).
Considering SFF and dedicated graphics what sort of psu would fit/run 980ti in that space ? Presently 970 runs on 550W (corsair?) psu, but that is chunky ATX.

At present considering just making my own acrylic case, looking for good examples of diy laser cut cases etc...

Fished out a slimline case from my parts corner, not sure anything with dedicated chunky gfx will fit into it, though...

 

[tamzzy]

are you just going to rehouse your current build? if so, it's a waste of time, money and effort in the vast majority of cases (haha pun)

 

[mickyflinn]

gtx 970 at least twice as much performance

 

[slowpoke]

are you just going to rehouse your current build? if so, it's a waste of time, money and effort in the vast majority of cases (haha pun)

Not rehousing. Just thinking of building something SFF sized to fit same sort of performance with cheap'ish components. Never built anything smaller than a mid tower, so no idea how to go about it. And in this economy buying 200 quid case is definitely a no from me
As for effort, not a problem. Lasercutting all sorts of things, might as well make a case (if i can find a good set of plans to work on).
Also need to figure out power requirements for whatever cpu and chunky 3fan 980ti. Thermals not much of a problem as rig usually sits idle'ish, but good graphics needed for what i do (tried integrated intel, oof... not that it doesnt work but, still, oof...)

 

[BUDFORCE]

I (briefly) looked into doing this before, but it all ended up looking very expensive.

You do really do pay a premium for the smaller hardware, and as a natural side effect end up with a lot less spec.

That being said, would be a fun project, and you could build a really nice and pretty small/portable PC, and there is a fair bit of skill/planning in getting small components all to fit into a tiny case.

But I guess the only limited advice I could give if you want to try it, is start case first, that'll usually give you the maximum size specs for each component, then you go through the components accordingly.

 

[lsg1r]

Looked at the prices for SFF cases - NUTS!!! 150-250 quid for a bit of tin ? holy ****... (rant over.).

In all honesty case prices in general are pretty pricey these days, custom pc's are unfortunately seen as 'luxury' items, especially mitx, these days and material costs don't help at the moment either. It's also why I suggested matx over mitx, they're usually a bit cheaper.

And just wait until you look at 'good quality' fans I ended up spending as much on my case (o11 evo) and fans (10x noctua) as some people put up as a budget for a whole pc......

I'd argue it's cheaper to buy a case than make it yourself though (I've been tempted to design one to get the 'perfect' case for a home server....protocase has a tool to design them), especially when you can get some good cases (matx size) for well under £100.

The 980ti seems to be around 250w draw so you could likely get away with a 650 range... (I've seen some prices cheaper outside of OCUK so shop around on these)

 

[slowpoke]

To be honest i've no idea of actual form factor to go for. However my thinking process is as follows - standard size psu (cheaper, need ~650W ?), standard size gpu (3 fan, full size 980ti), smallest ryzen mobo (3700-5700) i can muster, lo-prof cpu air cooler. I have plenty of good quality fans that are on my watercooling setup now (4x140mm variable speed (switchable), 1x200mm variable speed fan off antec 900, couple of old noctua/frozer cpu coolers with fans), all super quiet on medium setting and not too bad on high.

Starting to think flat design low cube, with 2x 140 fans out front and monster 200mm fan on top to deal with thermals.
It looks like i will be designing something custom after all. Still looking out for premade cases for something like this.

Need to check out protocase, thanks for that.

Just need to get rid of this monstrosity:

 

[lsg1r]

snip

Honestly, I'd just go for something like the below, it would save you a lot of hassle imo. Grab a matx motherboard (I've got a matx msi b550 mortar wifi with a 5950x in it's slot) for 120ish max.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/kolink-citadel-mesh-micro-atx-case-black-ca-051-kk.html - 345mm gpu length + bigger cpu cooler height at 190mm, so no need for low profile
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/frac...i-dark-tg-micro-atx-case-black-ca-081-fd.html - 315mm gpu length

The other option is a 'open' wall mounted system, it seems to be in vogue at the moment.

 

[KompuKare]

If you can live with having to get a short (under 200mm) GPU, then something like an ASRock DeskMeet X300 might work:

https://www.asrock.com/nettop/AMD/DeskMeet X300 Series/index.asp

Tiny 8 litre box. Should be around £200 or so and comes with case + mobo + PSU.

 

[slowpoke]

If you can live with having to get a short (under 200mm) GPU, then something like an ASRock DeskMeet X300 might work:

https://www.asrock.com/nettop/AMD/DeskMeet X300 Series/index.asp

Tiny 8 litre box. Should be around £200 or so and comes with case + mobo + PSU.

Nah, i got too many full size GPUs laying about to justify splashing for yet another one. Got 2x970s and one 980ti. Need to reuse either one 970 or 980ti (980ti prefered ).

Honestly, I'd just go for something like the below, it would save you a lot of hassle imo. Grab a matx motherboard (I've got a matx msi b550 mortar wifi with a 5950x in it's slot) for 120ish max.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/kolink-citadel-mesh-micro-atx-case-black-ca-051-kk.html - 345mm gpu length + bigger cpu cooler height at 190mm, so no need for low profile
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/frac...i-dark-tg-micro-atx-case-black-ca-081-fd.html - 315mm gpu length

The other option is a 'open' wall mounted system, it seems to be in vogue at the moment.

Gpu i got here is 3 slot Zotac 980ti, about 320mm long. 970's i got are 2 slot, but i want to use 980ti, because its a waste to just keep on a shelf. Also, yeah, i might do a wall mount, but as i'm about to move house its not most practical thing Thanks for the case suggestion, looks good, but need to look at builds using it (what with 3 slot card and all that).

 

[lsg1r]

Gpu i got here is 3 slot Zotac 980ti, about 320mm long. 970's i got are 2 slot, but i want to use 980ti, because its a waste to just keep on a shelf. Also, yeah, i might do a wall mount, but as i'm about to move house its not most practical thing Thanks for the case suggestion, looks good, but need to look at builds using it (what with 3 slot card and all that).

Being matx cases they have 4 'pci' slots so a 3 slot gpu should be fine, the kolink one has a little more space length and width wise so you shouldn't have any issue with the gpu side of things. The fractal is likely a little too small for that gpu.