Looking for some advice from the experts!

[Gamblegray]

Good Afternoon,

Hello all! I have been lurker between here and the reddit page for some time now. I have finally decided to bite the bullet and turn SFF. I really need some advice on what parts i will need to piece this all together.

I currently have a desktop and i am hoping to salvage many of the parts to do this on a budget. I have also ordered a new GPU.

Ok so the parts i have to work with are -

1. ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 2070 Super EVO
2. i7 6700k LGA1151
3. Corsair Dominator DDR4 2x8GB Platinum
4. Corsair RM550X
5. NZXT X52 AIO

Does anybody have a MOBO and Case recommendation that will work with the above?

Any other hardware i should look into? Fans / Cables? Hard drives?

Also, what is a reasonable temperature range to aim for with no overclocking?

Apologies if this is a bit vague or demanding. I really am a novice and want to get this right within a small budget.

Appreciate any help!

 

[AlexTSG]

Welcome to SFF!

Looking at your existing parts, the ATX power supply is likely to be your biggest problem, as that eliminates a lot of your case choices. Most SFF cases support the smaller SFX, or SFX-L PSUs only. However, Fractal Designs recently released ERA case may work for you. There's a review of it on the main page.

https://smallformfactor.net/reviews/fractal-designs-era-chassis-review/

While you can fit an ATX power supply into smaller cases like the NCASE M1, doing so would prevent you from using your 240mm AIO or the RTX 2070.

So, if you want a smaller case, you may want to look at an SFX PSU like the Corsair SF600.

As for a motherboard, you'll need a Mini ITX that supports your existing CPU, so something with a Z170 chipset should work. Availability on those could be a problem, and I'll leave it to someone else to recommend something. I haven't worked with any of the motherboards for that CPU generation.

Fans and cabling, and the temperatures you'll see, are going to be highly dependent on the case you choose, so I'd figure that out first, and then look at the relevant posts on these forums for advice as to what works well. As a general rule when it comes to case fans the Noctua range all come highly recommended, and in a smaller case you'll want to get your airflow as good as possible to keep both temperatures and noise as low as possible.

 

[akisu]

As your GPU is almost 27cm long maybe something in sandwich style (like A4-SFX) could be a compact option. You can find a lot of options here.

 

[Gamblegray]

Ok great, i will look into the sandwich style. My main concern is getting a case that will fit the chunky GPU, the watercooler is a bit bulky also.

 

[rfarmer]

Most Sandwich style cases won't be able to fit your Asus 2070 as they only fit dual slot cards, the ones that do don't have AIO support. You would be able to fit both in the Ncase M1, which is a very versatile case but you will need a SFX PSU. As far as motherboards go you will need either a z170 or z270, you will have to source one of these used and older itx boards sometimes demand a premium price. Check ebay something like this Asus z270 Strix would be a good board if you can get it for a decent price. The Asus z170i Pro Gaming was one of the best boards from that chipset.

 

[Gamblegray]

I really like the look of the Ncase M1 that is exactly what i am after. I had not considered there would be PSU constraints. There seems to be a few suitable ITX Asus boards on Ebay so I will keep an eye out for a good deal.

Thanks for the advice, very helpful!

 

[rfarmer]

I really like the look of the Ncase M1 that is exactly what i am after. I had not considered there would be PSU constraints. There seems to be a few suitable ITX Asus boards on Ebay so I will keep an eye out for a good deal.

Thanks for the advice, very helpful!

I had a Gigabyte z170 in my Ncase back in 2016 with a 6700k, it is a decent motherboard but doesn't handle high overclocks well. 4.5 GHz it was fine but if I tried 4.7 or 4.8 it got a bit flaky. The Asrock z270 Fatality is also a fairly decent board. One thing to note though is the new Ncase comes with usb c front panel connector and the only one of these motherboards that have the 20 pin connector is the z270i Strix.

 

[ermac318]

I really like the look of the Ncase M1 that is exactly what i am after. I had not considered there would be PSU constraints. There seems to be a few suitable ITX Asus boards on Ebay so I will keep an eye out for a good deal.

Thanks for the advice, very helpful!

Honestly I would consider upgrading the CPU and Motherboard. For a couple reasons:

1. The 6700K is getting very long in the tooth for modern games. I'm assuming games because of the 2070, but the same would be true for professional apps. Many games are targeting 6 or 8 cores for their performance these days. For example, in GamersNexus testing of Red Dead Redemption 2, there were scenarios where a 7700K encountered significant slowdowns because of lack of threadcount.
2. Used z170/z270 seem to be very expensive. Because Intel punitively changes motherboard sockets and chipsets seemingly every other refresh, the used boards can get expensive because if you have an old CPU you have no other choice.

Consider something like a Ryzen 3600 with a B450 board for a very cost-effective upgrade.

The above notes about PSU are absolutely spot on. You will want to replace that with an SFX unit, and then many cases become options. According to the NCase GPU Compatibility list, your GPU should fit, along with your 240mm AIO. Your other option would be the Sliger SM580, which is a sandwich case with space for 3 slot GPUs and an AIO in the top.

 

[akisu]

Honestly I would consider upgrading the CPU and Motherboard. For a couple reasons:

1. The 6700K is getting very long in the tooth for modern games. I'm assuming games because of the 2070, but the same would be true for professional apps. Many games are targeting 6 or 8 cores for their performance these days. For example, in GamersNexus testing of Red Dead Redemption 2, there were scenarios where a 7700K encountered significant slowdowns because of lack of threadcount.

Consider something like a Ryzen 3600 with a B450 board for a very cost-effective upgrade.

The above notes about PSU are absolutely spot on. You will want to replace that with an SFX unit, and then many cases become options. According to the NCase GPU Compatibility list, your GPU should fit, along with your 240mm AIO. Your other option would be the Sliger SM580, which is a sandwich case with space for 3 slot GPUs and an AIO in the top.

I don think the cpu is an issue. It has 8 Threads which is currently very fine in all kind of games. I am not sure if the 118 FPS (from the 7700K) from GamersNexus are significant slowdowns. Also the lowest FPS look very fine. The 3600 had 121 FPS which is only 3 FPS more. The situation looks different if you see the data for the i5 with 6 threads or less.

 

[Gamblegray]

I have tracked down a new z270i Strix for £85 so think i will stick with the processor for now, it will be my next upgrade though. Just need to order a Ncase M1 and SF600 and I should be cooking with gas.

Looking at fans currently, the Noctua 12As seem to be really popular. I might grab some short braided cables to go with.

I currently have a NZXT HUE+ connected to the X52, a 140mm fan and two LED strips. Not sure if there will be a need for that with this case? Maybe some nice lights peering through the perforations. Do they still do the clear side panel? I have tried tracking one down but no joy so far.

Thanks again.

 

[rfarmer]

I have tracked down a new z270i Strix for £85 so think i will stick with the processor for now, it will be my next upgrade though. Just need to order a Ncase M1 and SF600 and I should be cooking with gas.

Looking at fans currently, the Noctua 12As seem to be really popular. I might grab some short braided cables to go with.

I currently have a NZXT HUE+ connected to the X52, a 140mm fan and two LED strips. Not sure if there will be a need for that with this case? Maybe some nice lights peering through the perforations. Do they still do the clear side panel? I have tried tracking one down but no joy so far.

Thanks again.

That is a really good deal on the Strix, I would grab it. You can run the LED if you want, I have seen many people do it. There is no mounting for a 140mm fan in the Ncase, 120mm side and bottom and 92mm on the back. There will be a glass side panel available but you can't use it with the side bracket for your radiator.