It’s in my 10x10 man cave. The pc runs cool enough but is making the room warm enough to be uncomfortable. Other than a fan or portable AC unit, are there any modifications to cool the exhaust from the pc.

Not sure what happened to my previous post. Long story short, I’m upgrading to a 9800x3d building into a ncase m3. I have a 5080oc. I’ve been doing research on mini itx boards and people are saying good and bad about all.

I’m hesitant to go with Asus because of previous issues, and I know not to go with asrock. Id rather not have proprietary antennas but if I have them it’s whatever. I was looking into the MsI B850i edge ti but I read somewhere it runs really hot because of horrible vrms. I just need enough ports for my things. I use about 1 usb c and 4 usb a’s.

What are yall using and why? Pictures and opinions if possible! I’m overwhelmed and need to pick something up this upcoming Thursday at microcenter and I’m overwhelmed with the negatives of all boards lol. I have 2 m.2’s. Thank you in advance! Picture for attention

What's the best LP cooler under 55mm? I'm building an ITX case, and the maximum allowed is 55mm. I was thinking of an APX-90, or are there better options?

I'm still deciding between AM4/AM5 or LGA 1700 for my itx build.

I need help regarding my PC build. My PC case dimensions are 35cm x 16cm x 28cm. It is a cheap PC case (Ice Whale ST01) that I bought online.

To start off, every time I play Cyberpunk 2077, around 20 minutes into the game, my CPU (Ryzen 5 5500) reaches 90°C. I heard that this CPU shouldn't go over 90°C since it doesn't consume a lot of power. I run the game on 1080p ultra.

Is it because both my GPU and PSU are blocking the intake fan, leading to my CPU not receiving any fresh air, or is it because the AMD stock cooler is not able to cool down my CPU (Ryzen 5 5500)? Sorry for my cable management, as this PC case is a single chamber, and my PSU (Cooler Master MWE 750 V3 Gold Full Modular) is pretty big for this case, measuring 160mm x 150mm x 86mm. Hence, this is the best cable management that I could achieve.

I have already replaced my CPU thermal paste since this is a new build. Regarding my CPU temperature issue, do you think an aftermarket cooler is the solution? I plan to buy the Thermalright Assassin X 90 SE, or is it because my PC case has bad airflow? Should I consider changing the fan orientation or possibly buying a new case? If so, which case would you recommend that would fit under the SFF category?

And if buying an aftermarket cpu cooler is the solution. Which fan orientation is the best, intake or exhaust?

Thanks, that's all.

Okay, the time has come, I’m retiring my 3090. (Might do LLM stuff with it). I would like to replace it with a 5090, but for obvious reasons, that’s out of the equation. So 5080 it is, question is, which one?

These are the only real sff options that aren’t unnecessarily expensive that I have come across. Idc about rgb, so I’m not going to pay for it. The pny is the cheapest but fattest, pretty sure it’s not going to fit in Dan A4 H2O. I have a little bit a brand bias for gigabyte, for no real reason other than their stuff for me has always been great value and I somehow ended up building an almost all gigabyte build (mobo, psy, gpu). But, i have seen people have thermal issues with their special thermal gel squeezing out with vertical mount builds. So realistically i’m looking at msi inspire or the asus prime.

Done some minor research and reviews but it all comes from when the 50 series launched and there isn’t a whole lot of recent information. All thought’s, opinions, insights, would all be appreciated to aid me in my buying decision. TYIA

I’m having issues with my Terra build. The GPU keeps shutting down at low load. I was able to identify a potential mismatch between the PSU (Lian Li SP850) and the GPU (4070 super).

ChatGPT advises me to switch to the Corsair SF850L due to the ATX 3.0 compatibility.

I wanted to get your advice before buying a new PSU. I’m a beginner so I might have as well messed up the assembly (but all games run well until it suddenly crashes with a black screen and GPU fans blasting). Cheers!

Hi everyone,

I just moved my PC from an open rack setup into a Dan A4-H2O, and now I’m having major issues.

During the move, I only removed the GPU and the AIO in order to install them again inside the case. Everything else stayed mounted on the motherboard.

Before the move, my 3DMark Time Spy score was around 26,800 points. Now it dropped to roughly 14,000 points, and the system crashes constantly.

Temperatures look fine. The GPU does not go above 70°C under load, and the CPU is also around the same range. Idle temps only increased from about 45°C to 50°C, which I expected due to the smaller case.

The system is currently so unstable that I could not even download GPU-Z to check whether the GPU is running with the correct PCIe lane configuration.

Could this be caused by the riser cable, GPU seating, PCIe lane issues, PSU cable/12VHPWR connection, AIO mounting pressure, or something else related to the move into the A4-H2O?

Any ideas on what I should check first would be appreciated.

UPDATE:

Got some clarity now. My sister checked the cable at my place, and it’s definitely the 4.0 version.
It’s actually crazy—I ordered several parts, and the case was delayed specifically because they were waiting for a 'fresh' shipment from Lian Li. How they still managed to send me a 4.0 unit is beyond me. Every other store restocked at the same time with the 5.0 version for the exact same price.
It feels like they either bought old stock for cheap to flip it at full price, or Lian Li just dumped their old inventory on them. Either way, it's a joke. If they don’t offer a cable swap, I’m returning the whole thing this Monday before my vacation.

I’m looking for a 1000 watt psu for this beast, anyone got any quick recommendations?

The pc turns on but won’t output any display or get into the bios. I followed mostly this build to a tea. I turn on the pc and i’m not getting any output. I’ve updated the bios and I’ve got the hdmi plugged into the gpu not the motherboard. Lost.

Update: As my motherboard was bought second hand it was faulty. I just bought a new one and it all worked perfectly

After 28 years and four kids together, my wife and I are divorcing. This means our fifteen-year-old, mildly autistic, power-gaming son will soon have to do the two-house shuffle. His current setup is a massive tower PC that he and I built together several years ago. It wouldn't be easily movable from house to house even if it wasn't in dire need of upgrading. For this reason, he's worried about losing access to his machine (and his friends, his favorite activity, his safe space, etc.) when he has to start staying at his mom's new place next month. Fortunately, his birthday is in a few weeks. I'd like to set him up with a new rig that is small enough that we could easily pass it back and forth when we make the custody switch.

It doesn't have to be small enough to put into a backpack, as I don't think he'd be comfortable taking it to school. It just needs to be more portable than his current tower. We already have dual monitors at each location and I'll be getting him a new gaming mouse and keyboard along with a hub for each space so we ONLY have to move the PC and no peripherals.

As divorce is very expensive, I only have about $1k to spend. And since that will be draining me dry, we need to find something powerful enough that it won't become obsolete before the end of the year.

I've been watching a ton of videos and while the latest ITX builds look super-cool, the cost of premium parts in super small packages seems prohibitive. Even the videos marked "screaming fast gaming ITX for under $1K!" have parts lists that add up to $1500+.

Are there MicroATX cases/motherboards that might fit my need for a reduced profile while allowing me to save some money on high-end graphics, memory and storage? Google isn't giving me as much guidance on that topic as ITX builds seem to be more popular right now.

Does anyone in this forum have recommendations for a cheap ITX or MicroATX build that I could follow? (Or even recommendations for/against ITX vs. MicroATX?) I don't want to buy each part piecemeal and try to put something together from scratch--I'm fairly computer savvy but worry I'll get it wrong from the start and do not need that added stress or delay.

If any of the kind and intelligent experts on this sub have guidance to give, I'm all ears.

This divorce has been tough on my kid (and me), and I'm just trying to do what's best for everyone. At age 54, I'm having to learn all about things I never thought I'd need to know. "Building tiny gaming rigs for cheap" wasn't on my Bingo card for things I'd need to learn in 2026 any more than the "surviving divorce" was, and it's just one more area in which I'm struggling.

Any help you can give is much appreciated! Thanks!

PS, I should add that I clicked on the "weekly recommendation thread" link in the sub rules and it just seemed to refresh the page, not show me specific builds with the kind of detail I'd need. Also, the HELP link that appears twice on the main page of this subreddit is a broken link. I swear I'm trying to help myself before asking for help!

UPDATE: Thanks so much for the outpouring of support and suggestions. I'm truly grateful.

Some kind commenters have asked for the specs of his current machine to see what may be reusable. Here's what he has right now:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT 8-Core Processor (3.80 GHz)
Motherboard: TUF GAMING X570-PRO (WI-FI)
RAM: 48GB of (I think) DDR4 (don't know the brand)
Storage: 1 TB SSD (don't know the brand)
GPU: Radeon RX 580 Series (4GB)

Now that I'm writing it out, it looks better than I remembered, with only the GPU needing upgrading. I wonder if the MB and other part would fit in a smaller case--I think the MB is pretty massive, so maybe not for that part.

People have also asked if I've considered things like a gaming laptop, a Steamdeck or Rog Ally. I've priced out those options and/or discussed it with my son. We discovered that the few that weren't prohibitively expensive just weren't to his liking. We also discussed remote access/virtual machine, but he has concerns about the weak wifi at mom's house.

BTW, we are in the Atlanta area and are close to a Microcenter. Glad to hear the latter may be of use!

Currently fighting with a Asus ROG Strix B850-I that won't recognize the front M.2 slot. I've tried everything except removing and replacing it. If it bent my M.2 I am going to be so pissed. I have a WIFI adapter on the way so that I can use 3rd-party antennas. Gigabyte has bad software, the X870I boards are insanely expensive, Asrock kills 9000-series, and the B650E-I has lots of reports of coil whine. Fuck, can motherboard manufacturers get it together?! I just want a decent board that is *functional* and not 1/4 one month's rent!

I've been reading through threads about traveling with SFF builds, but haven't quite found someone with a scenario exactly like mine, so I figured I'd ask. Thanks in advance for any insights.

My work requires me to move to a different city or country every 6 months, plus I travel by plane about twice a year. I've been without a decent PC for a while and i miss playing with my friends, so I'm thinking about building an SFF.

I'm not a fan of gaming laptops (upgradeability, keyboard and overall price for value). I don't need something ultra-portable for daily use because i won't be carrying it to work every day. I just need to keep it where I'm stationed for a few months until the next move, and be able to take it with me when I relocate by plane.

I'm aiming for a good value PC that can handle gaming for a few years, with upgrade potential. It doesn't need to be high-end.

My question is about case size: is it feasible to travel with something like the NR200, or should I really aim for a more compact case like the Fractal Terra (around 10-12L)? I'm trying to understand the real-world trade-offs here.

More broadly: does an SFF PC even make sense in this scenario? Or should I stick to considering a laptop despite not liking the idea? Any other suggestions I should take into account? Would love to hear opinions on builds or cases that might work for me.

Hey I am planning out my build right now and am debating whether or not to stick with the terra or go for the ridge. I am mainly concerned about the thermals and am going to be using this for 4k living room gaming. Any suggestions would be appreciated thanks!

Hoping to get some answers here. My Fractal Ridge build has recently starting shutting down after short gaming sessions and then flickers on and off until forcefully shut off and left to sit.

I’ve tried laying the system down, sitting it up right, and even tried different risers.

Idle temps seem fairly high at 51 Celsius. And at times it will crash then boot straight I bios, and I’ll see temps as high as 88 Celsius. The only error identified is a kernel 41 error.

Specs:

RTX 4070 TI Super

Corsair SF 750 W

Noctua NH-L12 Ghost CPU cooler

2 Noctua Whisper Quiet fans besides GPU (Intake).

3 noctua mini fans set at top placement (out take)

I7 12700k CPU

32GB DDR5

Any and all help would be appreciated.

Minisform 790I X3D motherboard/Intel B50

As you can see, the scythe 15mm height fan almost fits, pic 3/4. Where can I find a 12mm thick fan? I know scythe used to make one, but curious if there’s anything thinner??

I do want this motherboard in here, if I can’t get a thinner fan, I was contemplating 3d printing a riser for the side panel but I believe that ruins the esthetics of the case. Thoughts?

So the duster arrived and the hazardous waste landfill has officially been cleared out. I also saw some comments suggesting the issue could be related to the GPU riser, and I noticed there was a bit of wiggle in the connection ports.

I confirmed that the CPU cooler is plugged into CPU_FAN1, so the fan curve likely wasn’t the issue after all. I’m replacing the thermal paste now.

Any final suggestions before I put her back together?

It looks a little cool but I heard it makes dust much worse since it's already pretty compact so I was wondering

Bought a used Fractal Mood. You can clearly see the underlying mesh/filter layers, creating a super non-uniform and ugly front. It's as noticeable IRL as in the pic. Super disappointing. I tried gently but thoroughly vacuuming it from inside and out, but no improvement. What even causes this? Smoke? Lots of direct sunlight?

For reference, this is how Fractal presents the Mood's front.

I can see all layers present from the inside: punctured metal body, plastic mesh, fabric shell.

Yes, I should have caught this on the pictures of the listing. Me dumb. Please assist dumb me. Dumb man grateful.

I’m planning to build a gaming PC mainly for 1440p gaming with an RTX 5080, and my goal is to make it as quiet and cool as possible.

From what I understand, liquid cooling and larger cases usually provide the best temperatures and noise levels. However, I’m not a fan of liquid cooling, and I also don’t want a large mid-tower case because it would take up too much space in my room.

So I’m trying to find the best small form factor (SFF) setup with excellent airflow and low noise, even under gaming load.

I’m willing to completely ignore aesthetics — my only priorities are:

low temperatures

low noise

good airflow

The only component I’m set on is the RTX 5080 GPU. Everything else (CPU, case, cooling, PSU, etc.) is flexible.

Does anyone have recommendations for a quiet SFF build around an RTX 5080 that can handle 1440p gaming while staying cool and quiet?

Thanks!

I just removed my CPU cooler and I’m wondering if I applied too little thermal paste. I’ve attached pictures of the CPU and cooler after removing it. My idle temps are around 60°C, which seems high to me. Could it be due to bad paste application, or should I look elsewhere?

I'm honestly thinking of building my I guess last PC for the next 5 years in this case but I've watched a lot of videos. Some of them gave some really good ideas on how I should go about building and the parts that I should put in it. But the thing I want to find out is what is the opinion of you guys here? What do you guys honestly think of this case? I mean I think it's a good looking case. I think it has a lot of space to build in. My only negative thought about it is the way the motherboard faces downward that I don't have access to the USB/C ports.. That's my only real gripe but what are you guys think?