At first, let me define what I mean for 'budget built' in this context.
- It will be budget in the sense of my utmost limit expenditure on this built is 1200 USD, preferably spending ~1000 dollars if possible.
- As it sounds tough, actually my current usage configuration is not that much demand. And I already acquire a monitor, so I have more room for some pricey components (esp. case).
-Although I've considered some upgrades, my optimal customization will be mid-high level at most. Because my gaming preference is more story/narrative-driven RPG (like dragon age, skyrim, the witcher, etc.) than of high-framerate demanding fps titles. And my other possible hard usage will be data analysis & visualization software for my academic work in next year (when I start doing graduate thesis), maybe along with a bit of coding. So the sensible upgrade will be 6 cores CPU like Ryzen 4600-ish and nextgen GPU that equivalent to 2070 and 5700XT product line for 1440p gaming
You can read more about my circumstances and reasons to build sff-pc in my introduction thread here.
Here my current line-up components
CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3100 - Can't find the stock of Ryzen 3300X anywhere, but well I think 3100 is already enough for my current usage.
M/B: Gigabyte B550I AORUS PRO AX - Maybe little overspending, but necessary to Ryzen 4000 and PCIe 4.0 GPU upgrade.
GPU: ZOTAC GeForce GTX1660 Super Twin Fan - Well, one of the most compact mid-high card for now, seems temperature-wise overall too.
Ram: CORSAIR Vengeance LPX Black 3200MHz 16GB - Not the fan of RGB and overclocking much, just the little heatsink is enough.
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 PRO M.2 512GB - (Optional) with the extra 2.5" 1TB SSD if I still have enough budget left after buying other components.
I can buy these components on the local online vendors for around 770 USD, so I have the budget left for 230-400 USD for chassis, PSU and cooling system spending (incl. shipping cost).
Okay, so let go into the crucial part of this tread.
My preference case specification
- Less than 12L, more toward to this limit, more slim design wish for compactibility. Also, shouldn't be heavy that much.
- Can be mount in both vertical and horizontal orientation would be great, but I guess this flexibility is limited to console design.
- Prefer air-cooling system, would be great if it designs to separate CPU & GPU airflows and can prevent dust.
- PCIe 4.0 riser cable compatibility, which is fatal for the case that comes with custom riser cable. But maybe more tricky than I know.
- I gaming with the headphone, so unless the noise isn't going to penetrate through it, less my concern.
Well, the cases that I consider now are console design like SLIGER CL530, Skyreach 4 mini (but with PSU configuration of this case will raise my spending too much, so...), Sentry 2.0 which had already run out of stock, maybe SFF Time P-ATX can be a valid choice too, and compact vertical case like Velka series.
Actually, you can suggest other out-of-this-guideline cases that I can temporarily use for months before can get my hand on the better case (and of course, the temporary one will be sold). But please keep in mind about the compatibility of PSU and cooling system throughout the chassis.
Thanks in advance for your opinions!
- It will be budget in the sense of my utmost limit expenditure on this built is 1200 USD, preferably spending ~1000 dollars if possible.
- As it sounds tough, actually my current usage configuration is not that much demand. And I already acquire a monitor, so I have more room for some pricey components (esp. case).
-Although I've considered some upgrades, my optimal customization will be mid-high level at most. Because my gaming preference is more story/narrative-driven RPG (like dragon age, skyrim, the witcher, etc.) than of high-framerate demanding fps titles. And my other possible hard usage will be data analysis & visualization software for my academic work in next year (when I start doing graduate thesis), maybe along with a bit of coding. So the sensible upgrade will be 6 cores CPU like Ryzen 4600-ish and nextgen GPU that equivalent to 2070 and 5700XT product line for 1440p gaming
You can read more about my circumstances and reasons to build sff-pc in my introduction thread here.
Here my current line-up components
CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3100 - Can't find the stock of Ryzen 3300X anywhere, but well I think 3100 is already enough for my current usage.
M/B: Gigabyte B550I AORUS PRO AX - Maybe little overspending, but necessary to Ryzen 4000 and PCIe 4.0 GPU upgrade.
GPU: ZOTAC GeForce GTX1660 Super Twin Fan - Well, one of the most compact mid-high card for now, seems temperature-wise overall too.
Ram: CORSAIR Vengeance LPX Black 3200MHz 16GB - Not the fan of RGB and overclocking much, just the little heatsink is enough.
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 PRO M.2 512GB - (Optional) with the extra 2.5" 1TB SSD if I still have enough budget left after buying other components.
I can buy these components on the local online vendors for around 770 USD, so I have the budget left for 230-400 USD for chassis, PSU and cooling system spending (incl. shipping cost).
Okay, so let go into the crucial part of this tread.
My preference case specification
- Less than 12L, more toward to this limit, more slim design wish for compactibility. Also, shouldn't be heavy that much.
- Can be mount in both vertical and horizontal orientation would be great, but I guess this flexibility is limited to console design.
- Prefer air-cooling system, would be great if it designs to separate CPU & GPU airflows and can prevent dust.
- PCIe 4.0 riser cable compatibility, which is fatal for the case that comes with custom riser cable. But maybe more tricky than I know.
- I gaming with the headphone, so unless the noise isn't going to penetrate through it, less my concern.
Well, the cases that I consider now are console design like SLIGER CL530, Skyreach 4 mini (but with PSU configuration of this case will raise my spending too much, so...), Sentry 2.0 which had already run out of stock, maybe SFF Time P-ATX can be a valid choice too, and compact vertical case like Velka series.
Actually, you can suggest other out-of-this-guideline cases that I can temporarily use for months before can get my hand on the better case (and of course, the temporary one will be sold). But please keep in mind about the compatibility of PSU and cooling system throughout the chassis.
Thanks in advance for your opinions!
