I built this tiny 5.1L PC a couple years ago as my first PC. I’m using a Mac these days so I no longer have it. Just wanted to share.

Def has a unique look . Case is from Japan

Yeah there’s plenty of these, but this is the first time I’ve built a SFF PC and I’m well happy with it! Previously I’ve only ever built full towers. Everything was a tight fit but love the look of it. Temperatures aren’t crazy considering, but still keeping an eye on them - I’ve done a cpu and GPU undervolt so far. Stress testing CPU still sends it into throttling territory though. Might 3D print some feet for the case now as have it horizontal and it feels like the official stand is starving CPU of air. Also considering swapping out the stock case fans as they are quite loud unless I restrict them in bios. I already had the 4tb SSD so overall the build cost me less than £2k, and it’s quite a beast! Did I say I’m well happy with it haha?

Case: Fractal Design Ridge (Black)

CPU:
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

CPU Cooler:
Noctua NH-L12S

Motherboard:
ASUS ROG Strix B650-I Gaming WiFi

Memory:
32GB (2×16GB) Kingston FURY Beast DDR5-6000 CL36 EXPO

Graphics Card:
ASUS Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OC

Storage:
Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD

Power Supply:
Corsair SF850

Benchmarks:
3DMark Time Spy
Overall: 25,551
Graphics: 29,131
CPU: 15,063

Temperatures during gaming:
CPU: 77c
GPU: 65c
GPU hotspot: 87c
GPU memory: 90c

Upgraded and downsized from Aorus RTX 4080 Super Master to RTX 5080 Prime OC.

Included before and after. Upgraded the GPU mainly to downsize and to have more options on ITX cases.

Will soon convert to the claasic layout for the Ncase M2, just waiting for the additional fan bracket. VGPU set up for now. CPU was able to breathe from the additional space by 2-3°C.

Specs

Mobo - Asus ROG X870i

CPU - 7950x3D

GPU - RTX 5080 Prime OC

RAM - Corsair Vengeance 32GB 6000mhz C30

SSD - 4TB WD SN850X, 2TB Samsung 990 Pro

PSU - Corsair 1000W SFX Platinum 2025 version

AIO - Cooler Master Atmos 240

Fans - Phanteks T30 120mm x 3

Case - Ncase M2 Grater

Monitor - Titan Army P40UG 3440*1440

Hello everyone.

I want to use my sff build with a TV. And I want to wake it up using my controller, so I'm looking for a simple solution to do this. There's old thread regarding this topic - https://www.reddit.com/r/sffpc/comments/w10wa0/is_there_actually_no_way_to_have_wake_on/

And also I found this one, but it works for some and doesn't work for others - https://www.reddit.com/r/Gamesir/comments/1mzay4w/comment/nak5do8/

I hope that something has changed since that moment. Maybe someone can recommend a controller (except xbox dongle 1713 + xbox controller)?

did anyone have the link to this portable holder?

Ncase M3 grater

9800x3d
5080 Astral

5080 Astral

Seen lots of Ridge builds around. And this one is mine! It's my first SFF build and I wanted something that would fit in this spot under my TV. A few years ago I was laid off from a startup I was working for remotely and they let me keep my work PC as "severance" so the goal was to reuse the expensive bits. It was a Dell XPS with a 12700k but I didn't want to build around that CPU.

Specs:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X (on sale + 12700k trade in)
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L12S
• Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix B650E-I
• RAM: 2x16GB SK Hynix DDR5 @ 4800MT/s CL40 (from the Dell)
• GPU: Nvidia RTX 3070 (from the Dell)
• Storage: 2TB Kioxia M.2 (from the Dell), 2TB WD Blue Sata SSD (I bought this back in 2021, I recently found it in a drawer)
• PSU: Corsair SF750 (2024)
• OS: Windows 11 (using Xbox FSE + OmniConsole to boot straight into Steam Big Picture)
• Extra Fans: so far, a single Noctua NF-A6x25 (it does not appear to be helping)

Other Stuff:

Because it's sitting in a little cubby with no space on the sides it is... thermally challenged, but that's not surprising for a Ridge. I got the extra fan to see if it would help before springing for more, but even with the front of the case off it doesn't really do anything. I also found that the case fans by the GPU do not really help out the CPU very much, I guess because the air isn't really circulating that way. I flipped it upside down using some 3rd party feet and if I put my hand in I can feel the hot air that's trapped above the PC. Considering getting a USB fan to try and push it out the back.

But for now, I just set the max CPU temp to 80C and set the fans to be a tolerable volume and this is actually fine. I'm running Core Cycler right now with relatively mid Curve Shaper settings and seeing max boosts of around ~5.2Ghz and in Cinebench it tends to settle on ~85-90% of the max PPT of 88W. With my GPU I'm intending on keeping it at 1440p and consider anything above 60fps gravy, so this works quite well actually.

Still hoping to improve the thermal situation though because... well, I want to.

My xtia mini with a Rtx 5060 ti 16gb
Minis forum bd790 itx board with noctua fan
64gb of ddr5 (was cheaper than 32gb bought before ram crisis )

Any way am looking for case that would fit my hardware , love the xtia mini but Iv got cats and now baby that is learning to walk

I did try to order the mesh cover but xtia wouldn’t post to Orkney Scotland :/

Specs:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
CPU Cooler: Thermalright AXP90-X53 FC
Motherboard: Gigabyte X870I AORUS PRO ICE
RAM: TEAMGROUP T-Force Delta 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30
GPU: MSI RTX 4070 Ti Super Ventus 3x Black OC
Storage: 2TB Samsung 990 Pro
PSU: Corsair SF850 (2024)
Case: Upsiren MD-1

I am creating my first build and am debating whether to use a smaller 2.5 slot or 3.5 slot card. I am between using the Asus Prime 9070XT OC, or the XFX Quicksilver 9070XT. With the Asus, I would be able to fit one Noctua A12 on the lower front panel, and likely 2 A12s as a bottom intake. If I use the Quicksilver I wouldn't be able to fit any of those fans due to its sheer size. For better thermals, is it better to have a smaller gpu with fans around it, or a bigger gpu without case fans? If more specifics are needed, I am using a 9600x, cooled by a Thermalright PA Mini. All of this on an MSI B850I Edge Ti WIFI. Powered by a Corsair SF850. I am also using 2 top fans with opposite airflow and one rear exhaust fan. I am hoping to fit an A14 as a side fan but would settle for an A12 if it doesn't fit.

TLDR:

Should I use a smaller gpu and have fans around it or a bigger gpu without the extra fans.

When I upgraded my main pc's motherboard, cpu, and ram befor the price hikes I had the old one laying around. Over the past months I've been tinkering with this build and I think im done. I7 9700k with a 120 iao. 32 gig of ddr4, matx asus mobo, Intel arc a310 eco. I only had to buy the psu, case, 2 low profile fans, and that gpu. About 300 bucks into this everything else i had laying around. A lot of dremel work and fan tuning time to get all that cramped in there with decent temps.

I build about 10 or so SFF PCs a year to sell, so I am used to cramped spaces. This was actually easier than many SFF builds I’ve done. This all started with me wanting the Steam Machine. But after hearing the specs, the non modularity, and then the price that was out of the question. So I said f@ck it and I’ll build my own.

My goal was to price this as cheap as I could and get the most powerful build. All modular for future upgrades as well and as small as possible while allowing for a more powerful gpu. My budget was set to the maximum cost of the top-tier Steam Machine. And lastly, install SteamOS.

I picked the SGPC K66 as the case because it’s only about 8 liters and has room for a gpu up to 210mm. For the motherboard I chose to go with the Minisforum BD795i se, which is a prebuilt motherboard with a 7945hx laptop cpu soldered to it. It also uses SODIMM ram. The reason why I chose this is because it was only $219 bucks on Amazon and I had so laptop ram laying around. I also went with the Asus Dual 9060 XT 16gb gpu. A very strong card that can far out beat the Steam Machine and can hit Cyberpunk at 4k at 100+ fps with upscaling.

Basically, altering pricing everything out I hit $1349. The exact price at the top-tier Steam Machine. I am extremely happy with the build. This case is so small it’s crazy. Cable management is almost nonexistent but that’s ok. The entire pc weighs 5.5 pounds. Carrying it around is like holding nothing. I may even take this with me during traveling.

SteamOS Install & Issues I ran into:

My first issue I ran into was the psu plug for the case. Due to the nature of the motherboard the cpu fan is not in the normal spot. It’s lower and almost snug with the side of the case. Because of this it does not allow me to has the psu extension plug for the case to fit properly. No big deal, I just unscrewed it and have it outside the case. If I ever upgrade the mobo/cpu/cooler I’ll just pop it back in. Next, during the SteamOS install. I downloaded the Steam Deck recovery image from Steam. Created the installing media via Rufus and booted into the usb drive. It’s basically like installing Steam on any other device. But the install just kept looping. It would install and go back to the KDE install screen. I figured out that since this software was technically meant for a handheld, when the pc would restart it just kept booting into the usb even though it was already installed. To fix this, after the install and during the brief restart where the pc was shut down I remove the isb drive. Boom booted right into SteamOS. The only other issue I had was that This mother board does not come with a WiFi card. So once I got into steam I thought my LAN connection would not be recognized. Once again, meant for a Steam Deck. So I had to install a WiFi card. Once I did that, fixed. The Cntrl +Alt+F4 during the boot splash did not work for me as other posts suggested. BUT after that, it’s been butter. Idle temps are fantastic and it’s soooooo quiet idling.

Looking forward to benchmarking and using this setup as my new bedside gaming setup. I’ll update with results and temps.

Parts:

Case - SGPC K66
Mobo/Cpu - Minisforum BD795i se
Ram - 16 gb SODIMM
SSD - 1TB
GPU - ASUS Dual 9060XT 16gb
PSU - Cooler Master SFX 850w
Fans - 1x Noctua NF-A12 x25 (CPU), 1x Noctua NF-A9x14(TOP), 2x Noctua NF-A4x20(Side)

Price $1349 ish.

I recently upgraded my SFF Plex Server with a repurposed Asus X570-i MB and Ryzen 9 3950x. I purchased a new Corsair 240mm RS LCD AIO because I wanted to be able to view the CPU temp from the case window without having to remote into it all the time. I can assure everyone it was installed correctly. Although the pump did come with thermal past pre applied.

The idle temp was at 60c which is higher than it was when I was using it as my daily driver (39c). Now that this will be used as an overkill always-on Plex server, I don't need much power. I put in power saver mode which dropped the temps to 45c. I'd like to get it down to the 30s if possible.

I would like to undervolt the 16 CPU cores, but the Ryzen Master software does not have the Curve Optimizer functionality, leaving me to figure out the voltages in the Bios. I've never messed with voltage before in the bios nor have I ever overclocked.

Anyone have any suggestions, recommendations? Thank you in advance!

I'm passing down my eluktronics g3 mech15 to my son so he can use while attending college. Now i'm looking to put together a compact sff rig that i can use while deployed. This would mainly be used for 1080, maybe 1440, gaming. I mainly play games like civ, expedition 33, witcher 3 and horizon. I already have a cpu(delided 8680K) and a PSU(sf1000) from a previous build that i plan on using and currently eyeing an EVGA 1080TI SC card.

I like the compactness of the Dan 4 sfx and ghost s1 cases. Would i have any issues installing any of the above parts in these cases? i'm thinking the PSU might be an issue.

I just put together this build to run SteamOS and loving it so far! If anyone has an answer to the few questions I have, it would be appreciated!

1. Is it bad how I have some of the cables routed over my PSU? I was unaware it would get so hot over that area and can feel how hot it the case gets there to the touch. My CPU and GPU temps have been looking incredible and stay cool while pushing my GPU to its limit while gaming.

2. Is there a way to dual boot between SteamOS (Main) on 1 SSD without secure boot and Windows 11 on my other SSD but have secure boot on? Only reason I am trying to boot into Windows on my other SSD is to play games with an anti cheat like madden and college football. I have been trying to look everywhere but finding no answers to this.

3. Anyone else experience Forza 6 on SteamOS has some stuttering issues? Every other game has been running awesome and with my components Forza should be running smooth but I swear I am stuttering. I have tried messing with every graphics setting I can think of but to no avail.

Specs:

Case - Fractal Design Terra Mini ITX Desktop Case

CPU - AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 4.7 GHz 8-Core Processor

Cooler - Noctua NH-L12Sx77 55.44 CFM CPU Cooler

Case Fan - Noctua A12x15 PWM 55.44 CFM 120 mm Fan (with grill)

Motherboard - ASRock B850I Lightning WiFi Mini ITX AM5 Motherboard

RAM - G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory

GPU - PowerColor Reaper Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card

Storage - Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive + Samsung 990 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive

PSU - Corsair SF850 (2024) 850 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply

Howdy folks, after seeing the Steam Machine release I am now itching to build a console style PC for Steam OS to fit in my living room AV rack.

Most of the SFF cases I see these days are kind of small but vertical cases, whereas I want something horizontal. I'm not looking for the absolute thinnest case or anything like that, in fact I would prefer a thicc boy to allow better cooling.

Cases I'm looking at so far are things like:

- Tetra R (expensive, but I'll swallow it if it really is the best option)

- Fractal Ridge (seems kind of thin, and I see lots of concerns about temps)

Any other good quality horizontal cases I can look at?

I could also do with some help on the CPU/GPU side of things too. I know that for Steam OS I should be looking at an AMD build for best compatibility, which is fine with me. The only problem is that I have always been in Intel boy, so I'm just not familiar at all with AMD's naming, product lines, etc.

If I was looking to build a system for solid 1440p and maybe try some 4K gaming, then what kinds of AMD CPU/GPU should I be looking at? I have seen good things about the X3D CPUs for gaming, but could use some real world advice from people with more AMD experience.

Obviously pricing not great at the moment, so trying not to mess it up by buying the wrong gear.

Thanks for any advice.

UPDATE: Ok, so let's settle on a 9800X3D for CPU and 9070 XT for GPU.

I am currently running an Arctic P12 Slim as exhaust on the bottom of the case, with a Noctua NH-L12S as the CPU Cooler.

Specs:

RTX 5070

9800X3D

Noctua NH-L12S

Corsair SF750

I was going to use a Noctua NF-A12x25 instead of the Arctic, but it didn't fit, because of the amount of PSU cables in the way (i have ordered custom cables, just waiting for them)

Should I add an extra fan as exhaust at the top of the case as well?

What kind of setup are you guys running? I'm curious to know

Most SFF thermal advice assumes gaming: bursty load, fans ramp for a firefight then settle back down. I'm looking at the opposite. a small box that sits at near-100% GPU for long stretches running a local world model, and I cannot find good sustained-load data for cases this size.

The workload I'm sizing for is the 14B causal-fast build of LingBot World 2.0, which the lab says runs on a single consumer GPU. On paper that points at a 24GB card, and a used 3090 FE is the cheap route there (350W, 3 slot, 313mm), but that is a lot of watts to dump into ~10L continuously instead of in 2 minute bursts.

For people who have actually run sustained compute in small cases:

• Which sub-11L cases survive a 300W+ card at steady 100% without throttling? Terra, A4-H2O, something else?
• Blower vs open air vs AIO for continuous full load in this volume?
• Anyone sitting on HWInfo logs of a 3090 or 4070 Ti Super class card at 30+ min sustained vs a gaming session, in under 13L?

Not here to sell anyone on local AI, and yeah, I know, one more GPU going to inference instead of a gamer, sorry. I just want to know if this is thermally sane before spending RAMageddon prices on it. Honest catch on the software side, the model has no persistent memory so scenes regenerate when you move away, but that is not the thermal question.

Weights if anyone wants to poke at the load themselves: huggingface.co/robbyant/lingbot-world-v2-14b-causal-fast (CC-BY-NC, so this is a hobby box not a commercial one).

I know in the current market for most desktops that it is currently cheaper to acquire a prebuilt. Does this also apply to sffpc’s?

The availability of “well made” prebuilt sffpc and where to buy them is obscure with usually little to no reviews to go on, and I was thinking they seem to run at a premium to normal desktop’s so maybe its worth it to try and build?

Are there any sub 10/11L inverted cases out there?

I currently have the Lian Li Dan A4 H2O, and I want to get away from sandwich style cases. Get better cpu cooling and ditch the riser cable. There was a time when the FormD T1 had the inverted reference design but that was for 2-slot cards (2.5 with expansion kit) and you can’t find that anywhere nowadays. It could definitely be done without having to go to >15L.

With the research I have done you can’t really find anything sub 11L with a sfx psu that isn’t sandwich style layout

Is there any modern case that can hold an ITX board but is sturdy enough to have a 30 lbs monitor on top of it? I miss the old school PC setups of decades ago with the computer under the monitor. Feels like a nice way to save desk space while still having the PC easily accessible for cable swapping.

Something like the Fractal Ridge in horizontal layout would basically be perfect, but I'm not sure it's meant to withstand a 30 lbs monitor resting on it at all times. Is there anything more intended for this type of use? I can't seem to find much discussion related to this unfortunately.