Yellow, big brain PC users 🖖
I’m traveling and moving a lot for quite a while now, and getting a rig was never part of my plan
But recently I realized I can get a mini-itx and bring it anywhere I want
Looking for your advices and build configurations
I want it to be like top, but without it just be overpriced. I don’t care for LEDs, as small and as powerful as possible, high-mini-atx-end 😄
Thank yowoou
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My rig inside my sturdy ncase M1 has been serving me well for 5 years. It features a full size GPU (gotta precisely check the size) and water cooling. Also two 2,5 inch drives SSD/ HDD and an M2 stick. 16 GB RAM Intel i5 on an Asus MB. Also it has 2 big and one small fan. Never had any overheating issues.
It fits into a large backpack. Also goes well in a suitcase. Going by car, PC, monitor plus peripherals fit into a collapsible crate.
Tbh it has not traveled as much, since even though it is portable, it’s annoying to unplug everything. It sits on my desk, which is nice for removing the cables. Also for height-adjustable desks.
Check the reddit sub https://old.reddit.com/r/sffpc/
I have a A4H2O that has a 5800X3D, 3080 Ti, 6TB NVMe, and 64gb of RAM. It’s fantastic for everything I throw at it. CPU cooling is always a challenge.
Full size GPU is a probably a little bit too much for me 😔 I was actually able to find one a4h2o in my area, but this is pretty massive for what I want, it’s like a full size PC I want something more compact, so I will never have to think that I need to sell it because of moving to another country or changing lifestyle
You should look into a Velka 3.
I had a prototype version that had a 2600X, 2060, and 32gb of ram. Biggest pain in the ass to build in, but it’s as small as my hand.
I’m right now looking at something that is just 5cm bigger on one side than Velka 3 (I can’t find Velka around me)
Edit: I missed that it’s even a bit smaller on other sides, and in total a bit less liters
Where are you located? I could be a proxy for you since I have access to both US and EU postal services.
I’ve done it for a few people already.
Vietnampost 😎 no chance to deliver anything here The customs here are so strict + corrupted they usually charge anyone 50-100-200% tax on everything, especially electronics
I can personally vouch for the Cooler Master NR200. Its super nice to build in and very versatile with PSU and GPU configuration.
The version I built for a friend had a 5600x and a 6700xt and absolutely zero issues with cooling.
Other than that, same thing others are saying, start with the case and power supply and then work backwards.
Start with the case, pick one or a few you like the look of, then look up builds on pcpartpicker and/or youtube.
Optimum Tech has a good roundup video of the good SFF cases that exist, and has reviews for each of them, as well.
I’m assuming you want to air-cool, IMO water cooling tiny cases is just a pain, but it can be necessary to fit the rad sizes required for hotter CPUs.
From there, pick the gpu next, look up what the max size of the GPU is for the case, and pick the best card that still fits. If you can’t find something you like, find another case.
Pick a motherboard, this is easy, any itx will work. Make sure it has an M.2 slot and grab one of those for storage. If you need multiple terabytes, 2.5" sata ssds or even hdds are worth considering, if on a budget.
After that, pick the CPU cooler and CPU together, making sure the cooler can fit by checking the max height. Deliberately going for a low TDP chip here will let you get away with a low profile cooler without having to push the fans into loud rpms. Noctua has a handy lookup table where you can view which chips can be effectively kept in check by which coolers, and how well.
Last, figure put your system wattage and pick an SFX power supply. Watch out here, some cases require you to use a “smaller” SFX psu, as their lengths can vary.
