Small Form Factor The gradual move to SFF

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by silk186, 3 Oct 2018.

  1. silk186

    silk186 Derp

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    I have experiencing stability issues with my previous build. All of a sudden my computer would lock up with anything more demanding than shovel night. The day before this started I had been playing long sessions of NieR - Automata. I tried many games and eventually benchmarking software to confirm.

    Old build:
    • i5-2500k @ 4.4 stock voltage w/ CM Hyper 212+
    • Gigabyte GA-Z68-UD3H-B3
    • ADATA DDR3 1866 2 x 8GB
    • Samsung 830 256GB + 3 x 3tb HDDs
    • MSI 280x 3GB
    • Corsair RM650
    • CM Storm Enforcer
    I did a deep clean and replaced the CPU TIM which helped a bit.
    I picked up a Gigabyte RX 480 G1 Gaming 8G from @shoxicwaste but that didn't resolve the issue.
    I tried a GPU only benchmark and it seemed stable.
    I ran memtest86 and the RAM seems fine.

    I met @BeauchN locally for a coffee and pickup up some hardware from him.
    i7-6700k
    Noctua NH-L9i w/25mm thick Noctua fan
    ASUS Z170i Pro Gaming
    Corsair Vengeance LED 16gb (2 x 8GB) 3000MHz C15

    I played Ni no Kuni II Revenant Kingdom the first night and it crashed before long - I was a sad panda. The next two days I played GTA V and it was awesome with the CPU and GPU upgrade. Now I'm happy, blaming the first crash on a lack of QC.

    New build:
    • i7-6700k w/ Noctua NH-L9i (25mm Noctua fan)
    • ASUS Z170i Pro Gaming
    • Corsair Vengeance LED 16gb (2 x 8GB) 3000MHz C15
    • Samsung 830 256GB + 3 x 3tb HDDs
    • Gigabyte RX 480 G1 Gaming 8G (232mm)
    • Corsair RM650 (150 mm)
    • CM Storm Enforcer
    What now?
    I will be keeping an eye out for a suitable case that fits 3x 3.5" HDDs.
    I was hoping for 32GB DDR4 so I will keep an eye out for some on the marketplace.
    I'm also looking for a cheap 500GB M.2 NVMe drive like the Intel 660p
    Upgrade cooling to allow overclocking after I get a case sorted.

    Case:
    I have had some offers but I'm looking for something that can fit everything
    • Storage: 1x2.5” + 3x3.5”
    • GPU: 232mm
    • PSU: 150 mm
    According to this SFF PC Cases my best options are:
    Questions:
    My case has 4 fans, 1xCPU fan and 3 case fans. The trouble is that the MB only has 3 headers. I know that I can get a splitter for the fan header but will it have an issue running 2x 200mm fans?

    I'm looking for an empty motherboard case for my old board before my kid gets a hold of it. I've found that the anti-static bags are cheap enough on ebay.

    Have I missed any cases that I should consider?
     
    Last edited: 3 Oct 2018
  2. Zoon

    Zoon Hunting Wabbits since the 80s

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    The Core 500 may struggle with your 150mm PSU - you have about 170mm clearance including the cables so it is a tight fit for the bend in the cables. I had to buy a 140mm PSU to make it fit right in the end. Good case though.
     
  3. silk186

    silk186 Derp

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    That's good to know. The PSU has modular cables so it should fit. I'm not against buying another PSU as this one more than five years old. But I haven't seen many PSUs that are 140mm.
     
  4. BeauchN

    BeauchN Multimodder

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    Hey @silk186, great to hear its all running fine.

    Thinking about it, you could also look at something like the Lian Li PC-Q25. That would hold all the HDDs and kit you've got, though finding one may be a challenge
     
  5. silk186

    silk186 Derp

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    It is a very nice case. Now that my system is stable I can take my time upgrading the rest of the system.
     

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