Small Form Factor "Gaming" PC Thread (AKA HTPC)

Bomblord · Jan 13, 2020

Greetings Resetera, I have something to report. There is a lack of information regarding small form factor PC's on this forum and seemingly the internet at large despite me (and as I've noticed several others) having an interest in it. You can find scattered pockets of interested people all over the place and they have questions but very few have the answers. I think having a small stylish computer in your entertainment center is

Alright, now that I have your attention. I've poured more hours into scouring websites for information about these danged things than I'm willing to admit. I've thought about a few ways to break this down but I think I'm going to do it by price and by type.

Also to lay down some ground rules for my listings (feel free to discuss things that are not this but I had to narrow my list somehow)
- Every listed option here meets a minimal level of gaming performance: Esports style games at a minimum 1080p locked 30 (Overwatch, CSGO, Rocket League, etc)
- No laptops and the like: That violates the aesthetic just as bad as a full sized tower.
- I'm not listing a case that can't be purchased new from a reputable source: There are lots of options for cases but the problem is most tend to be quickly discontinued after a short run.
- Max 10 liters
- No used stuff: used prices fluctuate and listing something today it can literally be gone or at a different price tomorrow
- No Intel integrated graphics
- All listed prices are at the time of writing if I find out a change it will be updated accordingly.
- All prices are USD

CASES
INWIN Chopin (no GPU slot) $80

Asrock Deskmini A300W (barebones includes A4 Socket (AMD) MOBO, Wifi, and external power no GPU slot) $150

Fractal Design Node 202 (full sized GPU's) $80

Velkase 3 (Supports "half" width GPU's) $80

https://www.velkase.com/products/velka-3

<$500
The budget category. Don't expect anything incredible out of this but at the same time 720p low should be achievable in most games.
ASRock AMD Ryzen Embedded CPU

Price $399 on Newegg

Hp Pro/EliteDesk (Ryzen)

$399 BH Photo Video
Rzyen 5 2400GE
8GB RAM
256GB NVME SSD

Lenovo Thinkcentre Tiny (Ryzen)

~$500 Lenovo
Up to Ryzen 5 3400GE
Up to 32GB DDR4 RAM

$500-$1000
There are actually some nice options in this range

Intel Nuc Mainstream G (Radeon Mobile GPU barebones)

$562.30 BH Photo Video

Hp Pro/EliteDesk (with DGPU)

$922 BH Photo Video

Lenovo Thinkcentre Tiny (with DGPU)

~$900 on Lenovo currently sold out

Zotak MAGNUS EK3105T (barebones needs ram and hdd)

$599 Kit BH Photo Video

HP Z2 Mini G4 Workstation (Nvidia Quadro P600)

$959 HP

$1000+
"High end" expect to play most games at least medium-high at 1080p 60 or better
Intel Nuc Extreme

$867.34 BH Photo Video

Zotak Magnus EN72070V

$1849 BH Photo Video

Zotac MEK MINI

$1300 BH Photo Video

HP Z2 Mini G4 Workstation (Nvidia Quadro P1000)

$1329 BH Photo Video

Concepts/Unreleased
New Intel Compute Unit PC's (Razer, NUC, etc)
Alienware UFO? (As this is a concept a proper docking solution may sway me to include this)
Zotac Zbox Nano (Ryzen)

Feel free to let me know anything that I missed!

FAQ
Q: What do you consider "small form factor"
A: It's a broad category but I think anything "console sized" or smaller that fits in an entertainment center comfortably. If you want a hard number the Sentry 2.0 at 12L and about about as large as I'm willing to call "small"
Q: Why don't you just put a full sized PC in your entertainment center?
A: What kind of entertainment center do you own oh strawman? Really though, I have seen something akin to this and many people myself included find placing a full sized PC next to our entertainment center at best garish and at worst a horrible tripping hazard. If you can work your full sized desktop into your living room setup more power to you.
Q: Is there really a "tiny PC tax"
A: There isn't a literal tax on it but yes, and it's awful. The smaller the case the more they seem to charge for it and the components that fit in it.

jwk94 · Jan 13, 2020

Oo this is relevant. What's a good, small case I can use that will fit a 5" blu ray drive?

Lump · Jan 13, 2020

Does the Corsair One count? It's probably what I'd get if I was swimming in cash and wanted to hook up something to my home theater.

Bomblord · Jan 13, 2020

Lump said:
Does the Corsair One count? It's probably what I'd get if I was swimming in cash and wanted to hook up something to my home theater.

Can you run it laying down?

DaCocoBrova · Jan 13, 2020

Are eGPUs ready for primetime yet?

Bomblord · Jan 13, 2020

DaCocoBrova said:
Are eGPUs ready for primetime yet?

The ryzen embedded I linked is pretty decent. You can also get it in the udoo bolt maker board.

Deleted member 42472 · Jan 13, 2020

Probably violates the letter, if not the spirit, of the thread but I recently (order months ago) bought and built a mini-itx ryzen 5 3400g PC to drive my TV and do some light gaming in the living room.

Haven't done a proper stress test of it yet as it was more an experiment to get comfortable with AMD's current suite of products before I "upgrade" my desktop in a few years (and to play with an APU before the product line is fully dead). But very nice and blows my old nvidia shield out of the water as win10 apps and websites tend to be a LOT better than their android tv equivalents.

Am starting to realize a problem though: We are starting to reach the point where a 4k tv is a reasonable purchase. In theory there should be minimal issues with rendering at a lower resolution when I game but it has been years (decades?) since I had to do that.

---

What I will say for anyone building their own: I had never done a mini-itx build before and learned a LOT of lessons as part of this. Even ignoring the somewhat obvious (in hindsight) ones like "think through everything before tightening any screws", I think the biggest thing is that the geometry of the tubes (AIO water cooler) and vent locations means that I am almost definitely running my cooler in a degraded state as the only way to fit it in was to flip around which side the fan and radiator were on.

From limited testing and monitoring it seems fine (enough airflow to dissipate the heat) but I could imagine that causing issues if you actually got into the range where you are relying on that cooler due to a mix of overclocking and long gaming sessions.

Bomblord · Jan 13, 2020

Gundato said:
Probably violates the letter, if not the spirit, of the thread but I recently (order months ago) bought and built a mini-itx ryzen 5 3400g PC to drive my TV and do some light gaming in the living room.

Haven't done a proper stress test of it yet as it was more an experiment to get comfortable with AMD's current suite of products before I "upgrade" my desktop in a few years (and to play with an APU before the product line is fully dead). But very nice and blows my old nvidia shield out of the water as win10 apps and websites tend to be a LOT better than their android tv equivalents.

Am starting to realize a problem though: We are starting to reach the point where a 4k tv is a reasonable purchase. In theory there should be minimal issues with rendering at a lower resolution when I game but it has been years (decades?) since I had to do that.

---

What I will say for anyone building their own: I had never done a mini-itx build before and learned a LOT of lessons as part of this. Even ignoring the somewhat obvious (in hindsight) ones like "think through everything before tightening any screws", I think the biggest thing is that the geometry of the tubes (AIO water cooler) and vent locations means that I am almost definitely running my cooler in a degraded state as the only way to fit it in was to flip around which side the fan and radiator were on.

From limited testing and monitoring it seems fine (enough airflow to dissipate the heat) but I could imagine that causing issues if you actually got into the range where you are relying on that cooler due to a mix of overclocking and long gaming sessions.

4k is the new 1080p. I was planning on getting a cheap TV to mount in the den but ended up grabbing a 4K just because it was so inexpensive. I almost exclusively run 1080p and lower content on it.

Did a mini-itx build once and the case was very poorly thought and layed out. It hurt, physically, getting components in and out and even something as simple as swapping ram required complete disassembly.

Rizific · Jan 13, 2020

Was gonna ask in the pc build thread but this place seems a bit more appropriate. I'm looking to build a work pc that will consist of a ryzen apu (3200g) in a mitx chassis. I'm looking to keep cost and size down as much as possible. I was considering the cougar qbx but even that looks like a waste of space as I'm not using a gpu. Then I started to consider these htpc cases. Any recommendations on a cheap case?

hikarutilmitt · Jan 13, 2020

Bomblord said:
4k is the new 1080p. I was planning on getting a cheap TV to mount in the den but ended up grabbing a 4K just because it was so inexpensive. I almost exclusively run 1080p and lower content on it.

Did a mini-itx build once and the case was very poorly thought and layed out. It hurt, physically, getting components in and out and even something as simple as swapping ram required complete disassembly.

Such is the problem with running ITX. I still prefer ti for my form factor, but I'm toying with the idea of my next build, whenever that is, going back to micro-ATX but getting the smallest non-tower case I can get.

OTOH, it feels like ITX is starting to get more attention and thus more cases that are better thought out. That Fractal node 202 has my attention, but it seems slightly limited regarding the cooler height, just form looking at it. there also aren't a lot of places for bigger fans to keep it cool but also quiet, which is my other major want.

They're a bit more "boxy" but the Fractal Node 304 offers some nice room and the Nod 804 is bigger and supports micro-ATX.

Bomblord · Jan 13, 2020

Rizific said:
Was gonna ask in the pc build thread but this place seems a bit more appropriate. I'm looking to build a work pc that will consist of a ryzen apu (3200g) in a mitx chassis. I'm looking to keep cost and size down as much as possible. I was considering the cougar qbx but even that looks like a waste of space as I'm not using a gpu. Then I started to consider these htpc cases. Any recommendations on a cheap case?

Probably the best one in this thread is the Asrock Deskmini A300W in the OP. It supports Ryzen APU's (exclusively) and it's super small form factor. It's $150 for the kit which includes Mobo, Wifi, Power supply, and case. You need to supply storage, RAM, and CPU.

The Stealth Fox · Jan 13, 2020

I paid the NCASE M1 tax so I could go with enthusiast components. I don't regret it. Case of the forever...

Get a noctua u9s with a 3700x and no more worrying. Then follow a spec sheet online and choose your favorite graphics card.

fourfourfun · Jan 13, 2020

Fantastic. Been wanting this sort of thread to follow.

maximumzero · Jan 13, 2020

The InWin Chopin is fucking hot and I've almost pulled the trigger on a build so many times before I came to my senses and I realized the last thing I need right now is to be adding another platform to those available to me.

iareharSon · Jan 13, 2020

In terms of emulators, what consoles would I be looking at with a Ryzen APU?

Bomblord · Jan 13, 2020

harSon said:
In terms of emulators, what consoles would I be looking at with a Ryzen APU?

3400G is the top end available. With an overclock expect everything up to Gamecube/Wii flawlessly barring emulator issues

- Most but not all PS2 will work as PCSX2 is just a super single core hungry application. Additionally the PCSX2 team has been struggling to get AMD to properly implement some driver stuff they need.
- 3DS is a no go unless they've made some major performance improvements since the release of the 3400G
- It actually does manage some PS3 games alright.
- Cemu (wiiU) will be hit and miss depending on the game

Ganzzor · Jan 13, 2020

Cool, I have been fascinated by SFF PCs lately and atm I'm building a High-end ITX PC and I'm just waiting on my Ghost S1 case to finish it.

Dezzy · Jan 13, 2020

I used the Fractal Design Node 202 to build a PC for Batocera Linux (like retropie for PC) and I like it. It's a little bigger than the current consoles, but it allows a good size GPU so you aren't limited to small GPUs or APUs.

MrKlaw · Jan 13, 2020

I have a thinkcentre - they were on sale so it was about half that price I think. I literally just use it as a Plex server as it can handle transcoding. Never thought they would be good as the actual HTPC too.

mattant · Jan 13, 2020

A trip to https://www.reddit.com/r/sffpc will open your eyes wide open and pull you down a deep rabbit hole!

Currently running a 9700k and a 2080ti in an Ncase m1. Yes it is 12.7L but that is definitely still SFF, the thing is tiny. The community considers anything >20L SFF.

You are missing many of the high end popular SFF case choices, Dan Case A4, Loque Ghost S1, Nouvolu Steck, etc etc etc.

Thoroughly endorse this endeavour!

Bomblord · Jan 13, 2020

mattant said:
A trip to https://www.reddit.com/r/sffpc will open your eyes wide open and pull you down a deep rabbit hole!

Currently running a 9700k and a 2080ti in an Ncase m1. Yes it is 12.7L but that is definitely still SFF, the thing is tiny. Such a cool machine.

You are missing many of the high end popular SFF case choices, Dan Case A4, Loque Ghost S1, Nouvolu Steck, etc etc etc.

Thoroughly endorse this endeavour!

Thank you, I appreciate it :D

I'm aware of some (but not all) of those cases but I can't find anywhere they are for sale.

TheCongressman · Jan 13, 2020

I just put together a 3600 build with a Silverstone SG13 case. I already want to go smaller, but every decent looking case is wayyyy more than I want to spend. Not only that, but they're all on back order and never available.

shadowhaxor · Jan 13, 2020

Very nice thread and I'd love to contribute as well. Other than my main gaming PC, I've been a fellow member of the HTPC/SFF scene. What started out as an HTPC for my living room as turned into a 4K gaming beast, packed into a smaller case Fractal Design Core 500 case. Currently rocking an AMD Ryzen 7 2700x, mITX board and an RTX 2080 Super. Stays cool and kicks ass in most games at 1080p/1440p, and most 4K games. Plus its travel-size, I can take it to conventions when I go.

I would have gone smaller, but I needed a case for a full-size GPU and AIO cooler. I really want the Loque Ghost S1 or Dan Case A4 , but those are mighty expensive.

Bomblord said:
Can you run it laying down?

Nope, it has vents on both sides. It can only be stood up unless you lay it on some sort of bracket/stand.

Nzyme32 · Jan 13, 2020

I just switched out of my Silverstone RVZ02 SFF build for a mATX rig.

Will be building a new SFF machine with the lovely Lian Li TU2 soon though - in the black brushed colour rather than silver, but you get the idea. Also love the collapsible handle for portability.
Also ideal for air cooling accommodation with enough filtration and clearance to function adequately

Wraith · Jan 13, 2020

While it's probably not small enough to really fit the discussion here... what I've been wanting is an HTPC-style Micro-ATX case, but there's hardly anything out there. Just two old Silverstone models and that's it. There are a bunch of Micro-ATX towers of varying sizes, and a handful of shoebox and cube cases, but haven't really settled on any of these.

The Aerocool Playa Slim is kind of interesting, as a very small Micro-ATX case (~11L), though only fits low-profile GPUs. There are finally a handful of low-profile GTX 1650's out there (better than a 1050 ti, worse than an RX 570).

So I'll probably end up going with a small tower (or sticking with an old ATX case I've already got), which is easier for building, but not exactly media center friendly.

tommyv2 · Jan 13, 2020

SG13 + water cooling.

Let's do this.

Bomblord · Jan 13, 2020

Speak of the devil ASROCK literally announces a new Ryzen 2400/3400G 1 liter PC today

Not a huge fan of the look but the size is right

PapaGoob · Jan 13, 2020

I guess mine doesn't technically meet the requirements of the OP, but it's pretty close. Just built this a few weeks ago. The case is an InWin A1 Plus.

ShinobiOfTheWind · Jan 13, 2020

You guys should check out the Velka 3 and Velka 5 cases from Velkase. This thing basically got me interested in SFF builds that I'm going nuts to build one ASAP and take it wherever I want.

The case alone is $80, without the PCI-E riser which costs another $40 (assuming they're both in stock), so it's kinda on the pricier side for SFF cases.

But just look at this 4L compact monster lol

and this thing can house a frickin' 2070 mini inside. Can't even imagine what Ampere would bring in to the table (no pun intended) with their jump to 7NM+ and it's massive efficiency jump that would result in far more faster 3*** series cards than a 2070.

Bomblord · Jan 13, 2020

Giggzy said:
I guess mine doesn't technically meet the requirements of the OP, but it's pretty close. Just built this a few weeks ago. The case is an InWin A1 Plus.

Feel free to show off all manner of small form factor builds (FYI it looks awesome even if I can't see the inside xP). There are just way too many options to make recommendations in the OP if I don't lay down some kind of requirements.

daybreak · Jan 13, 2020

Ganzzor said:
Cool, I have been fascinated by SFF PCs lately and atm I'm building a High-end ITX PC and I'm just waiting on my Ghost S1 case to finish it.

This case is on my list for my computer refresh this year, whenever I get around to updating my motherboard and CPU. It's gorgeous, but so pricey.

LightKiosk · Jan 13, 2020

I invested money into a Limestone Louqe Ghost S1 for a case to keep long term and it was so worth it.

You also have more affordable options like the Nouvolo Steck. SFF is a great little pocket of the PC building world and I love that it's getting more attention.

After all, do computers really need to be as big as they typically are?

asmith906 · Jan 13, 2020

One of the reasons I haven't moved my pc into a smaller case is because sfx psu prices right now are insane

Bomblord · Jan 13, 2020

Nzyme32 said:
I just switched out of my Silverstone RVZ02 SFF build for a mATX rig.

Will be building a new SFF machine with the lovely Lian Li TU2 soon though - in the black brushed colour rather than silver, but you get the idea. Also love the collapsible handle for portability.
Also ideal for air cooling accommodation with enough filtration and clearance to function adequately

Gorgeous build thanks for sharing!

turbobrick · Jan 13, 2020

I needed a smaller pc to carry over to friends house, and it only needs to play league of legends or cs:go, so it didn't need to be powerfull. What I did is I bought a refurbished HP 8300 elite SFF. Its not super small, but smaller than the average atx tower. It has a 3rd gen i5 and 8gb of ram, and it only cost me $120. I then put a gt1030 and a 256gb ssd in it and it plays non demanding games really well.

What I got for $120

upgrades. I wanted a low profile gtx 1050 or 1050ti, but computer isn't rated for the power they need through the pcie slot. The gt1030 works well enough though.

Its a nice portable pc that I can take places and cost me under $300

Bomblord · Jan 13, 2020

turbobrick said:
I needed a smaller pc to carry over to friends house, and it only needs to play league of legends or cs:go, so it didn't need to be powerfull. What I did is I bought a refurbished HP 8300 elite SFF. Its not super small, but smaller than the average atx tower. It has a 3rd gen i5 and 8gb of ram, and it only cost me $120. I then put a gt1030 and a 256gb ssd in it and it plays non demanding games really well.

What I got for $120

upgrades. I wanted a low profile gtx 1050 or 1050ti, but computer isn't rated for the power they need through the pcie slot. The gt1030 works well enough though.

Its a nice portable pc that I can take places and cost me under $300

Not HP but I got a literal wall lined with Dells of that exact same size. I've sold a few to friends/acquaintances and they do the same thing and throw a 1030 and an SSD in it. That combo makes a solid mid-range gaming PC as long as the CPU is a 3rd/4th gen i5 or newer.

h0mebas3 · Jan 13, 2020

Nice thread OP. I really want a Dr. Zaber case, but I missed the kickstarter. Hoping to find something similar or I'll just have to wait...

ThereAreFourNaan · Jan 13, 2020

Ganzzor said:
Cool, I have been fascinated by SFF PCs lately and atm I'm building a High-end ITX PC and I'm just waiting on my Ghost S1 case to finish it.

In mid December I helped a friend build in one. R7 3700x + rtx 2070. Runs great, looks sexy. It's heavier than you expect because all those components are cramped into such a small thing lol. You normally assume small = very light.

Dr Doom · Jan 13, 2020

Bookmark for future reference

SiG · Jan 13, 2020

Subscribed to hell and back! The very first PC rig I've personally assembled was a Mini-ITX, as it has been my dream to design a PC in the same beautiful design as the Mac G4 Cube (say what you will about it, the thing was distinct). Although I haven't succeeded in that endeavour as of yet, its hard for me to look back at MicroATX cases given the amount of space you save (and less places to use you can duster on).

I say its possible to cram the same power of a Full ATX into the size of a MiniDTX/ITX. The only limits are your ingenuity!

Edit: My vote for cases go to the InWinA1 Plus and the Spartex OSMI. Yeah, the Skyreach S4Mini to me is like the pinnacle of small form factor, but the above two are still great, stylish cases with manageable cable management, options, and great airflow.

copelandmaster · Jan 13, 2020

Three (really 4) new Zaber Sentry 2.0-style cases are in the works.

Zaber beats all of them in size to cpu/gpu performance ratio, but you can't beat shit when you have no stock! All of them need riser cables. Pretty sure all of them can accommodate some kind of watercooling.

There's a ton of timeline stuff in each thread (lots of work in progress changes), so pop over there to see everything.

The Sliger Console/Conswole (yup)
-Console is 2 expansion slots, Conswole is 3 expansion slots
-Console is 1L bigger than Sentry, Conswole is 1.75L smaller than a Ncase M1 (but their footprint* is way better than an Ncase)
-Both The Console and Conswole have the GPU airflow capability of the Node 202, by allowing you to slap 2x 15mm(sole) or 2x 25mm(swole) behind the gpu (needs to be a 2 slot gpu). Intake or Exhaust.
-Conswole is the only one of the 4 that can fit a Noctua NH-L12s or L9x65. The rest use L9a tier coolers.
-both can only fit one SSD, for some reason. I think this is weird, but the swole's specs aren't as up to date
-there might be a video coming from Hardware Canucks this month, maybe
-~~these are the closest to release/pre-order,~~ ~~maybe~~ probably the next in line for order

The Salvo Studios 402
-3 expansion slots
-replaces the 401, but is bigger. 401 is discontinued.
-can fit at least 2 SSDs under the psu without needing a smaller gpu
-Similar GPU airflow capability to the console/swole (kind of, read the thread)
-can fit a single fan AIO w/ a reduced length GPU (read thread)
-3rd closest to release/pre-order

The SFFtime P-ATX
-3 expansion slots
-Can fit EATX, ATX, mATX, mDTX, mITX
-Bigger than the other 3, like a pizza box
-A manual has been released. Read that to find out all the facts (i.e, full fan capability, concession with each mobo size)
-can fit a single fan AIO w/ a reduced length GPU (read thread)
~~-perhaps the 2nd closest to release/pre-order~~ White Model is currently Available for order as of 1/17/2020

A full size comparison

Yeah but with these smaller console size cases it makes it much easier.

Size comparison (all in the horizontal orientation)

Mainstream:(WxHx D)

rvz03: 382 x 105 x 364mm, 14.6L

Ml08: 380 x 87 x 370mm, 12L

Node 202: 377 x 82 x 330mm, 10.2L

Boutique:(WxHx D)

Sliger console: 356 x 68 x 343mm 8.3L

Sliger conswole: 356 x 90 x 343mm, 11L

sentry 2.0: 340 x 66 x 310mm, 6.9L

savlo s402: 368 x 78mm x 327mm, 9.4L

P-atx: 343 x 72 x 380mm, 9.4L

Gaming console: (WxHx D)

Xbox one: 330 x 79 x 274, 7.1l

Xbox one s: 295 x 64 x 230, 4.34L

Xbox one x: 300 x 60 x 240, 4.32L

PS4: 305 x 53 x 275mm, 4.45l

PS4 slim: 288 x 39 x 265mm, 2.97L

PS4 pro: 327 x 55 x 295, 5.3L

so a fair bit smaller than the rvz03, :)

Edit: added p-atx case

Other stuff, from r/sffpc
Spreadsheet of Recommended Components For SFF beginners , Reddit Thread
SFF Case List , Reddit Thread

Bomblord · Jan 13, 2020

copelandmaster said:
Three (really 4) new Zaber Sentry 2.0-style cases are in the works. Zaber beats all of them in size to cpu/gpu performance ratio, but you can't beat shit when you have no stock! All of them need riser cables. Pretty sure all of them can accommodate some kind of watercooling.

There's a ton of timeline stuff in each thread (lots of work in progress changes), so pop over there to see everything.

The Sliger Console/Conswole (yup)
-Console is 2 expansion slots, Conswole is 3 expansion slots
-Console is 1L bigger than Sentry, Conswole is 1.75L smaller than a Ncase M1 (but their volume is way better than an Ncase)
-Both The Console and Conswole have the GPU airflow capability of the Node 202, by allowing you to slap 2x 15mm(sole) or 2x 25mm(swole) behind the gpu (needs to be a 2 slot gpu). Intake or Exhaust.
-Conswole is only one of the 4 that can fit a Noctua NH-L12s. The rest use L9a tier coolers.
-both can only fit one SSD, for some reason. I think this is weird, but the swole's specs aren't as up to date
-there might be a video coming from Hardware Canucks this month, maybe
-these are the closest to release/pre-order

The Salvo Studios 402
-3 expansion slots
-replaces the 401, but is bigger. 401 is discontinued.
-can fit at least 2 SSDs under the psu without needing a smaller gpu
-Similar GPU airflow capability (kind of)
-3rd closest to release/pre-order

The SFFtime P-ATX
-3 expansion slots
-Can fit EATX, ATX, mATX, mDTX, mITX
-Bigger than the other 3, like a pizza box
-A manual has been released. Read that to find out all the facts (i.e, full fan capability)
-perhaps the 2nd closest to release/pre-order

A full size comparison

Other stuff, from r/sffpc
Spreadsheet of Recommended Components For SFF beginners , Reddit Thread
SFF Case List , Reddit Thread

Wow awesome thanks you for this! Hopefully they come to fruition in a larger market.

Threadkular · Jan 13, 2020

Been using an Ncase M1 V5 for a couple years now and love it. Current components are a Noctua U9S, RTX 2080, Ryzen 1800x, and 600w sfx psu.

Incubuster · Jan 14, 2020

I just built my first ITX system using the nzxt h210. Got a pretty sizable upgrade from my previous 6600k build from a few years back. New system is a 3700X, X570-i strix and couple nvme drives. Needless to say, I'm loving it. I wanted to go sff with the Dan case or the ghost s1 but availability and pricing is a big issue I've noticed(sff premium sucks). I also wanted to reuse some of my parts like my psu and gpu for now. Should be interesting to see how the itx scene expands this year with more and more cases coming out. I wouldn't mind migrating this system either in the future once the right case comes along.

Delio · Jan 14, 2020

Man looking at these they are cool. I really need a PC upgrade and the most gaming I do is Sims or something like Cities Skyline. Could these mini pcs work there?

Bomblord · Jan 14, 2020

Delio said:
Man looking at these they are cool. I really need a PC upgrade and the most gaming I do is Sims or something like Cities Skyline. Could these mini pcs work there?

Sims will run on an expired potato. Cities Skyline requires more power but it will run on many of the listed.

FinKL · Jan 14, 2020

This is right up my alley, even though I swore against them in 2012. The new nvme hard drive types can save some room and now the AMD APU's are as beastly as ever that you can skip a video card.

Anyone have experience with Pico Power Supplies or this case? I'm thinking of making a super tiny build using these:

https://www.amazon.com/MITXPC-MX500-Industrial-Mini-ITX-WallMount/dp/B01B575EMA

Scared enclosure is not gonna be able to house proper cooling, but still want it tiny.
Pico Power Supply
But I'm not sure is 160w is sufficient for a Ryzen APU. Also, I feel like the pico power supply isn't beefy enough to run 24/7 but I'm not sure as I can't find a lot of info on those pico power supplies

iareharSon · Jan 14, 2020

If I'm wanting to run Nintendo N64 (I know N64 emulation is a bit of a crap shoot) and Dolphin (moreso Gamecube than anything else) emulators, in a console sized case (Mini-Atx) for as cheap as possible - what components am I looking at?

Bomblord · Jan 14, 2020

FinKL said:
This is right up my alley, even though I swore against them in 2012. The new nvme hard drive types can save some room and now the AMD APU's are as beastly as ever that you can skip a video card.

Anyone have experience with Pico Power Supplies or this case? I'm thinking of making a super tiny build using these:

https://www.amazon.com/MITXPC-MX500-Industrial-Mini-ITX-WallMount/dp/B01B575EMA
Scared enclosure is not gonna be able to house proper cooling, but still want it tiny.
Pico Power Supply
But I'm not sure is 160w is sufficient for a Ryzen APU. Also, I feel like the pico power supply isn't beefy enough to run 24/7 but I'm not sure as I can't find a lot of info on those pico power supplies

I've seen cases like that where you have to provide your own Pico Power Supply/converter for a laptop power supply and it's always scared me off. 90% of that is the price (Pico Power supply and a relevant charger adds up) but also I'm worried about voltages or something not matching up (which seems unlikely) and frying components or not providing enough power.

Bomblord · Jan 14, 2020

harSon said:
If I'm wanting to run Nintendo N64 (I know N64 emulation is a bit of a crap shoot) and Dolphin (moreso Gamecube than anything else) emulators, in a console sized case (Mini-Atx) for as cheap as possible - what components am I looking at?

Even intel integrated graphics can handle that just pick something you like basically. I'm looking here on ebay and I'm seeing some super small form factor business PC's for <$100 that would be perfect for that.

Small Form Factor "Gaming" PC Thread (AKA HTPC)

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