What size is right for YOU?? 

Threadripper times two 👀

Oddly specific. hehehe

@Matuse Super slow-mo Pong videos never looked so smooth!!

Many years ago I actually did a double tower build, but side by side rather than on top.. Left side was a conventional style mid-tower with 3x GPUs, loaded up with HDDs and all the water cooling going into the back wall, through to the other side. Right side was another of the same case but effectively hollowed out and the window moved to the outside, and this one housed the PSU, radiators, pump/res Imagine a LianLi PC-08, but much uglier and not very practical

Thermaltake makes a case (W200 I believe) that should be able to do just that.

a lan party in one case

@@ThePlacemat Four gamers, one case. Or two gamers, one streaming computer, one server host.

If love to see where he puts all those power supplies. Sounds like a cool build

and only use sff parts

I bet he will do it! He has enough stuff around to make a great content video and thinking of it might be usefull in day to day use like i sometimes use 2 computers at the same desk ..hmm typing this i think i just got gived myself a ideea for saving space...

Is that not the true, I miss Frys, I which there was a Microcenter near me.

That's what we get for shopping online to save $20 on a build.

​@@UnknownMoses I assume you are in Phoenix

Glad I've got two microcenters and a b&h nearby 😎

Have a look at compact mATX if you're looking for a proper sweet spot of small size vs minimal constraints on components.

@@ryanokeefe12 Matx is the sweet spot for most people. But those of us who are strapped for budget have to buy the motherboard which is cheapest, size regardless, and select a cheap or used case for it, not the other way around.

@@curvingfyre6810 Hence why I said mATX is the sweet spot for smaller form factor.. mITX is far more expensive than mATX.

Small midtower's are nice.

Or just buy a super size atx tower and use THAT as your desk?

I like ITX builds. But, you pay a premium for the form factor. Especially for optimized, boutique cases.

Can confirm. N200 3090 FE 12900k 280mm aio And 4 other fans So much in such a small package.

It's easy to cool (air or water) a 3080 and 5900x in a Nr200p at this point and that's a very easy size to work with. Not too big, not too small.

I'm looking at building an ITX build, myself, specifically for a home server, used for media serving, and data backup, but in a different version than what most would think of. What's different, is that I want to put it into a 1999 iMac bubble Mac AIO machine, which is currently gutted, including getting rid of the CRT monitor from the inside, to make more room for the components, and more room for less heat as well, while attaching a portable monitor to the front... Also, it'll probably be an AMD APU build, so that'll help as well, with the heat, as there won't be an extra graphics card putting heat into the system... It will look crappy on the outside, I'm sure, since it's an old machine, that doesn't look shiny like in the pictures, but at least it's a good test machine, to see if the idea might work, after which I can get something like the see-through graphite version, instead of the current one which is a see through blue color, which I don't specifically like

Wallet

SSF builds don't have to be difficult to work with, just chose a decent case rather than try to cram everything into half the area of a shoe box.

@@jameslewis2635 true but building something powerful and crammed in a small package like the geeek a30 or velka 5 can be very fun to build if you don't mind the challenge

Trouble is that good mATX boards are getting pretty hard to find. It is sadly falling out of favour.

@@philallen7626 that's what I thought as well but the recent z690m mobos are promising

Thing is it can also be quite hard to find a compact case that’s only slightly bigger than itx that would fit an matx board. the only one I have seen that would tick the most boxes imo is the meshify c

This right here, not too big and not too small. Easy to work with and plenty big enough for good airflow. The Goldilocks of PC cases.

Agree! I can never understand why people choose huge full-tower cases when they barely have any thermal benefits over mid-towers.

@T.C. B Agreed. I went with an mATX case, specifically the thermaltake s100, because it is white and tempered glass and like you say; big enough to hold what I needed and fairly portable, it was also within my budget and fairly cheap actually.

Moving my 5000D Airflow is definitely a chore... Another build I did in a Compact mATX case was a breeze to transport though.

@@tars3249 I love how easy it is to move around the mATX cases.

I've long been a fan of mATX.

Yeah, CPU and GPU innovations (at the layman's level) basically consist of "number go up".

Please do a thirty second video on it!

Are you also really tiny IRL?

@@CODA96 Why yes I am how did you know? :)

@@Landjrin It was the first image popping up in my mind, some gnome holding an ITX System in his hands, which just looks normal sized for everyone else 🤣

​@@CODA96XDD

yea those super tall cases were called MAXI cases... and there were MIDI and MINI -= well that's how I was taught :)

Was it a Chieftec CS 901 by chance? I have still its predecessor with three holes cnc-milled in the top. Yes, it was for a 360 rad. 😁 Nowadays I going towards sff-builds with good airflow.

3.5 disks were not called floppy disks. That name was reserved for the 5.25 disks. The 3.5 were called diskettes. Hell I remember the old punch cards and 8 inch disks we had to use. Fun times indeed.

Having three Corsair 1000D's I can safely say that you really don't need that many rads for a dead silent build. It sounds sick though! I've always been too much of a chicken to build a custom loop... My newest gaming rig case is the Corsair 5000D mid-tower. CPU is water cooled by an AIO but my RTX 3090 Strix is fan cooled, yet all I hear is the card whining. I did change all fans except the GPU to run at ~800 RPM unless shit's getting toasty and I never really hear them. Even with a custom quite fan curve my i9-12900K stays cool enough during stress testing.

@@m4ster_root Yeah you're right the cooling is way overkill even for a silent build. But it's fun to design and build nonetheless. I have a 3090 with active backplate to watercool the back of pcb vram modules, plus a 5950x of a CPU, and the thermal paste is now the bottleneck in terms of cooling lol. Yeah can't solve the coil whine. I limit fps when gaming to my monitor's max refresh rate so it doesn't always run at full power that seems to help just a little. Edit: You might want to also keey an eye out on the VRAM temp if you run your GPU at low fan speed. RTX 3090 is notorious for having hot VRAM at the back of the PCB.

@@m4ster_root with regards to custom loops start with soft tubing. And old parts

I've got a Thermaltake View 71 with dual 420mm rad loops (1 loop for CPU, 1 loop for GPU). It's pretty quiet and even when the fans ramp it's just a gentle whooshing sound. It weighs a TONNE with all that glass and water, though.

I built my first computer when I was 13 in 1997, the only thing I didn't do that my dad did was install the CPU. My second computer in 2002 is the only desktop I have ever purchased that I didn't build myself. That was a Dell Dimension 8200 pentium 4, geforce 4 TI 4800, top of the line then lol. Besides a laptop, netbook, and tablet I have built all of my computers and a couple friends computers. Having wasted all that time, I am very interested in buying one of those tiny computers by beelink or NUC or something. It would never be my gaming rig, but man are they small with very impressive hardware and able to upgrade ram and storage.

"but also more practical" How is a smaller case that is more challenging "more practical"? My view of practical / practicality involve convenience, usefulness and sensibility. Being limited on component choice, component placement and cooling when compared to other form factors, I don't see building in SFF as being practical. Fun, challenging, interesting, sure, but not practical.

@@racerex340 Practical is a very subjective word. Maybe they are living in a tighter space or maybe they travel and bring their machine with them. Yes, there is not much expandability but not everyone needs that.

@@i_am_macgyver84 I think I was being a little pedantic.

I get the appeal, but I'm all about dual chamber cube cases now. Just buy parts and put them in without concern of running out of space or future expandability. Also, I've always put my cases on the floor or on a low shelf under the desk. Also, also, the cube shape is easy to lug around and can chill riding in the passenger seat without much fuss.

I have the same tower and also hate cramped building.

@@slaaneshgod HDD were my biggest PITA the ribbon of power connectors colored sata cables etc....just ruining the aesthetic/flow of the build...HDD cages/locations etc and plug access when trying to troubleshoot drives too....fkn nightmare. So glad i tore mine out and chose not to ever use a HDD again outside of external drives. Running an itx build got me used to it...then going back to fulll...and having to rip my cage out to fit a front mount arctic push pull 280. Had me happy i had rear panel 2.5" mounts tool less too...and a hinge back panel so i can access them with ease. Sometimes updates/bios/chipsets make certain programs run finicky which is nice having a duel boot system or a secondary drive i can just plug in to enable duel boot.

I don't have big hands and I only use full because it is just easier to work with. I had the coolnaster storm trooper window too.

Antec NX200M is a amazing case!

I'm also getting the 4000d but I'm not sure if the 4070 ti will fit in the case with my z790

Nice, always have wanted a small case then new computer time comes and I buy some stupid large tower, small is cool.

I have a Silverstone RVZ01. I first built it in 2014. I liked it so I built in in again. Its not flashy, but I like that I can put it behind my monitor and it doesn't take up any more space on my desk. I feel like these days, unless you are going really high spec and plan to overclock etc., mini ITX is all you need.

Sorry it's an old comment. Is your itx water cooled or air?

@Ivan Nierez it's watercooled. I managed to fit a 280mm aio in it. Works pretty well

Superior SFFPC!

I went the opposite direction. I started with a Raven 2 and now I have a mid-tower.

Yep had the same problem went from Full Tower to Mid + Custom Loop and it wasnt enough space (IMO) to proberly hide and organize all the mess. Went for Full Tower again.

I have the 4000D airflow and I love it.

I have one and it's perfect

Yup I'm in the same position, I've been waiting to get another gpu to make a mini itx build.

I also have a 500D. I recently bought a Revolt 3 case and built a SFF build just to do it. Now I have a travel PC lol

If you want to try mini Itx, go with the nr200, and stay away from vertical cases unless you want to go through hell for your first Itx pc.

Same here,large and bulky cases rules!

Yes, I love the large in your face cases.

Agreed. The ITX case options at reasonable prices has come a long way. SFX power supplies are at a bit of a premium, but got damned the boards are ridiculous. I'd love to build a simple little 12300k iGPU rig for a minecraft server but the cheaper board for it is basically still an enthusiast board and coast way more then the processor. Makes it impossible to justify

Do you recommend that case? Because I just discovered them the other day and Amazon has a gorgeous Hot pink one and I'm in the process of building a PC and I have a Corsair carbide Delta mid tower which I'm sure will be nice when I actually get to installing everything (waiting for a GPU 🤦🏼‍♀️) but I saw those cases and I really liked the look and now I'm thinking about going to an itx build.

@@YouMadBr0Br0 In principle I do recommend it, yeah! It is relatively small compared to something like a Fractal Design Define Nano S, so it can be a little bit finnicky to build in, but in general it worked well for me. One thing I do remember was having a bit of trouble mounting my 2.5" SSD on the PSU bracket, but that wasn't major. Double-check your cooler height, though! I had to change my Noctua U12S for a L12s that I will be kitting with a NF-A12x25 for more air flow. I have two 120-mm intake fans at the bottom blowing straight into the GPU, one (filtered) 92-mm rear intake with a RPM-reducer cable getting some extra air to the CPU and then two top exhausts. Also using the tempered glass sidepanel. I might recommend an SFX-L PSU because of their lower fan RPMs, if you care about noise.

"rear 92-mm fan as intake" this is mind blowing to me. I have 23 fans in my case not including CPU/GPU fans. 3 of which are 120mm, 20 are 140mm :D I have an ultra super mega tower case (thermaltake core w200) and it's 2 PC's in 1 haha. Also it's near impossible to cable manage. Omfg it's hard. I need about a dozen cable extensions to cable manage properly and NO. I already spent as much on the case as I did fans and fan controllers. Bottom/front fans in, top/back fans out. It's big enough to BE my desk.

@@taxa1569 Sounds like you need a separate PSU for just your fans 😂

@@taxa1569 I should perhaps clarify that I also have 2x120 mm as intake on the bottom and also as exhaust up top, it's just that I use the rear 92-mm spot for intake rather than exhaust, because otherwise the CPU would have to breathe GPU exhaust only.

Have you found a good full tower?

Yes, I went with a Fractal Torrent. Awesome case !@@awesomeruben

Phanteks cases !

You still play older games on physical media, or what is that optical drive for?

@@MrShadow1617 games on physical media, music and video on physical media, and also burning a disc from time to time. Mostly it's for nostalgia though.

@@matthewparker9276 I do it for archival purposes

I got a bluray drive, because I forgot that the Bluray Disc Association seems to think that just because you paid for the disc, and the reader, doesn't mean you're not some filthy pirate, so fork over for those aacs keys too, which makes playing brurays a pain in the arse.

@@TailsGuy72 yeah, having an optical backup of finished creations is a nice peace of mind option to have in storage.

gotta love MAME. I'd like to build myself an arcade cabinet, but unfortunately don't have the room.

Maingear makes the best small pcs

all ive learned in my experience is...unless youre gaming in 4k....where a 12400 is a great NEW solution that is budget oriented towards affording a 4k capable gpu....Any other cpu...like a k series or zen3....will require a custom loop for ideal thermals and clocks...to actually get the most out of the GPU. Or else theres a fall off point. Where cost comes into play be it VIA custom loop or generally A good performing SFX psu like corsair. Where you wouldnt need that level of PSU/12v performance with a 100-150w gpu or a non OC heavy oc oriented cpu. The second i try to incorporate a 200w+ gpu or a high boosting cpu into the equation on a duel load...it gets troublesome/expensive to remedy. As fun as it is to build and benchmark.

i swear with each gen leap it amazes me how much YIELD they get out of that small of a PCB/power envelope.... my buddy has a 2 fan 3060 and i just blows me away that it accomplishes with 170w compared to the 150w 1070 they sold to upgrade. Hell even laptops with their 120-140w "big boi" gpus have proven how well these various newer gpus operate compared to previous gen.....right up to the desktop cards...talking sub power level operation like 50% or less..or scenarios where you add a frame cap to a game....watching how my 3070 strix runs vs the 2080ti strix it replaced(at a considerably less cost). With the same frame caps across various pve/single player titles....way less watts overall and insanely better thermals/noise. I bet youre pretty stoked on that 5L build its power and noise of operation too withthose frame yields. IT really is just amazing to benchmark on a system that small and quiet vs what a 2070 or 2070S would be like in ITX. As if the pcb would even be small enough.

Why are you so obsessed with going small on a desktop? Its not a laptop. It just stays under your desk for years and no one is going to regularly see your "cute and small" system.

@@angrysocialjusticewarrior true, why do you care? pls elaborate. if you have nothing to add other than blatant general knowledge Go post this on some SFF vids see if you gain anymore knowledge about something you have no interest in since its worth your time...OOOOOH Senpai my bad DID you want me to care back my bad G>.< so sorry youre BIG D pc is so Gangster g. Its under your desk and nobody looks at it and it goes bleep bloop the end

@@angrysocialjusticewarrior If you read what I said, I do regularly attend LAN parties, people do see my small build. I like that it's small enough to fit in a backpack.

I got all my pc parts today and I want someone to help me figure out what case to get u mind helping ?, I got a tuf gaming 660-plus wifi motherboard with a c7 12700,kranken x53 Rgb cooling system and a rtx 3070 ti gigabyte

ive got the same case curently but removed all the main HDD drives (using m.2 drives). opened up the case so much and allowed for much better airflow. granted i also have a front mounted 280mm corsair aio

Fractal Design Big tower here too, theyre fairly priced and you can fit anything in there

sff

Think I saw a cougar case called a "darkblade" or something along those lines. I was thinking of getting it because it seemed like it'd be very great for air flow and cooling. Glad to see someone else is liking a case from the same brand

I just looked into this, The CoolerMaster 935/915 looks like an insane case. Very neat concept.

@@Tadders it just needs a modern take on it :) all that radiator support with current and next gen hardware would be a godsend.

filters out the wazoo, positive air flow, and place it in an easily accessible spot.

12 years is solid, dude. I'm with you: I pick out cases that I know will last a decade.

Affordable too, but I might be spoiled for weight by my aluminum itx case, it feels so heavy to me.

I love the define 7, tis an execellent case.

The O11 air mini can fit ATX and a 280mm rad inside as I recently swapped to that from a 4000D

I made the same choice for the same reasons.

Yeah, too little coverage of rack cabinets such as the 2U ATX cabinet I will use in a moment. It has survived a complete motherboard replacement from AMD to Intel after a failure and still has the same PCIe 8x card in the big slot and embedded graphics for emergency access.

holy crap, its 500 bucks? jfc!

@@ElfGreatTree yeah my build isn't for the weak willled😅

I agree, I want to be able to expand and change components through time.. just look how big the new 40 series gpu's are. What do you have for cpu, gpu and Mobo?

@@petergriffin383 I have a 5950x, X570 Godlike, and a 3090 so far. Thinking about adopting ddr5, but not sure yet.

@@theonlyone38 Nice.. I'm still researching which components I want, this will be my first gaming pc and I don't want to buy a pre built

cool, so not even moving to clean it after it suck itself full of dust ?

I finished my new build just a month ago and i'm also using the Corsair 7000D. It's a f***ing beast that fits two 420mm radiators in a push/pull configuration without looking overstuffed.

@@hksp of course there will be exceptions, O_o... But for sure not a setup to carry along with to a friends house or move between offices on the regular. Yes, I can pick it up alone. Do I want to? NO, its DAMN heavy.

@@xsyst90 yes, indeed a beast. And that 1.2mm steel used to construct it, really adds up fast to how it's much heavier than it looks at first glance. Really like the modularity too, since I still had old 3.5 mechanical drives, which this case can take 6 off! With more mounts for additional SSD's...

The exat same thing i did xD

I've usually had the big towers. Right now I'm considering building a secondary computer in the NZXT H1 v2. It looks really, really good imo. My primary computer is in a Fractal Define 7 XL though.

@@illyont I recently built my wife a computer in the Thermaltake Tower 100. It's a very nice case, and while not as small as the H1 it was my first forray. I want to do something smaller next haha. Have fun with it!

It’s cool if you have a small form factor lifestyle. I found being home with such small computers causes more headaches than admiration of a console sized PC.

I have the H1 V1 with a new riser, fan mods and a mini screen mod, and it’s amazing! I’m running a full balls to wall build (5800X + 3080) and it can most certainly handle it with decent temps. Though the Revolt 3, meshlicious and NR200P max are also great options! They’re cooler by 5-7c but don’t look as cool :p

I like my H1 a lot but I am switching to a lian li mid tower this month. I like to tinker with my PCs and the H1 is kind of a build it and don`t touch it kind of PC.

exactly and in reality you still have to "set" yourself up for upgrade path if its ultimately the intent of the end user to have a"better" pc tomorrow. The best they can do to "SHAVE" costs towards those upgrades is a tower that has enough room for a bigger gpu/airflow.....buy a bigger/better psu outright instead of 2 down the road via gpu upgrade.....and a good mainboard that will subplant proper power/performance via vrm and said "better" psu once a larger core/power envelope or unlocked cpu is upgraded...then that eliminates having to buy a new board an potentially "faster" ram....once "upgrade" bridge is crossed....or else most ppl building "budget" oriented builds will have to buy a new cpu/psu/gpu/ram which really doesnt justify the "budget" build in the first place...im talking strictly ppl with intent of upgrading or upgrading once they generate a lil more income....Id suggest to them waiting 1-2m into purchasing in order to add those "FUNDS" towards a better mainboard/ram/psu. Bc at least even with a non k cpu...they can run xmp/oc ram, also tweak their turbo boost duration etc on intel up until upgrade time. If i have samaller or less....my gpu upgrade then becomes limited to pcb size....and cpu may need a custom loop to cool bc of upgrading...especially in the case of ITX/sff. There really isnt any money saved if some of these ppl that didnt plan their build right wind up having to buy double of half ther parts/builds bc of bottlenecks etc with a gpu upgrade. With added emphasis on PSU quality/performance and vrm/board quality.

I'm the storage guy for my family too. Redundant storage is essential. I have at least 3 copies of my family photos and videos at any given time, not including cloud storage that adds two more copies for the photos.