Log Trouble picking a case...mATX / ITX

kewtz

Efficiency Noob
Original poster
Jul 10, 2020
7
1
I know this is SFF oriented but there are a lot of smart people here.

I plan on doing a new PC build by end of year that is high-end. My gpu of choice on paper is a 3080, I think it would pair nicely with a 3900x for my use case but I'd like to see what AMD has coming next for Ryzen.

Anyways, I'm hoping for a smaller case with great thermals. I don't care so much about ALL THE RGB but a few accents won't hurt.
Really the most important thing is the front panel. I need a case that at a minimum has USB input and a headphone jack.
I'd like to do custom loop at some point if it matters, but not at the start. Fan cooling will probably be the reality.

I've looked at the following so far:
- NZXT H1; will probably be too toasty
- Cooler Master NR200P; really concerned about thermals with the 3080 cooling design, and no AIO on top...
- Sliger SM580; prefer horizontal mount based on new cooling design of 3080
- Fractal Design 7 Compact; I know this isn't SFF but I really like their product (I'm coming from a Fractal Design 4 which is massive)
- NZXT h210i; probably won't get this

So, are there cases that I'm missing? I know I prefer a SFF case, but it doesn't need to fit in coke can, just something smaller that has good thermal with USB and headphone jack up front.
 

MeltedCactus

Trash Compacter
May 7, 2017
39
49
I have built in a D-Frame Mini, Ncase M1, and Sliger Cerberus X. I would look at the regular Cerberus. The build quality is top notch and it's easy to build in. Plenty of fan layout configurations to either run a front to back or bottom to top air flow scenario. Also, any particular reason for a headphone jack? You're better off getting and external DAC or plugging into the back of your mobo.
 
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kewtz

Efficiency Noob
Original poster
Jul 10, 2020
7
1
I have built in a D-Frame Mini, Ncase M1, and Sliger Cerberus X. I would look at the regular Cerberus. The build quality is top notch and it's easy to build in. Plenty of fan layout configurations to either run a front to back or bottom to top air flow scenario. Also, any particular reason for a headphone jack? You're better off getting and external DAC or plugging into the back of your mobo.

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll take a look at review on YT.

I switch between desktop speakers and wired headphones frequently (several times a day); my PC is currently on the floor and it's super easy to plug in the headphones which disables the desktop speakers until I want to switch back.
It's convenient because I don't have to get up, I just lean over and plug/unplug. I'd like to keep something like that. If an external DAC could accomplish this as well (for example plug the speakers and headphones into the DAC, both 3.5mm connection), that would be fine.

I also realized the NCase M1 also would fit the use case.
 

Skripka

Cat-Dog Perch Manager
May 18, 2020
443
543
There's an entire rainbow of choice out there these days. You mentioned the bigger name relatively-common (for SFF anyway) ones already...there's also the entire Taobao rabbit hole which has both mini-towers as well as more sandwich options. If you peruse this sub you'll see many more options out there....only really limiter is needing a headphone jack as many eschew it.

Depends on your budget and comfort level. We really won't know how 3080 behaves until we have them RTM; and of course there's the FE versus AIB cards as well.
 

zk2004mb

Average Stuffer
May 23, 2020
58
32
If you don't care about the "non-optimized" size of NR200, I highly recommend you get it. The NR200, not NR200P. The NR200 is basically an enlarged Ncase M1 with some wasted space on the top with two extra fans. Also if you want to use the 3080FE then you better get an AIO or go custom loop.
 

murtoz

Cable Smoosher
Aug 27, 2017
10
5
I switch between desktop speakers and wired headphones frequently (several times a day); my PC is currently on the floor and it's super easy to plug in the headphones which disables the desktop speakers until I want to switch back.
I too frequently switch between speakers and headphones, but I use software for this. I basically use nircmd to switch and ahk to assign a hot key to that so that hitting winkey+a toggles between speakers and headphones. For details on how, see this link.
For this to work your speakers and headphones need their own entries in the windows playback devices and I am not sure all onboard sound would list this seperately. I have my headphones on a separate usb amp.

Apart from that I would second the sliger cerberus, absolutely love mine.
 

kewtz

Efficiency Noob
Original poster
Jul 10, 2020
7
1
If you don't care about the "non-optimized" size of NR200, I highly recommend you get it. The NR200, not NR200P. The NR200 is basically an enlarged Ncase M1 with some wasted space on the top with two extra fans. Also if you want to use the 3080FE then you better get an AIO or go custom loop.

I'll take a look, I agree the glass panel (while sexy) isn't going to support ideal thermals based on the vids out there.

I think an AIO will be required (I'm leaning towards a 3900x at the moment) but I do want to see how the 3080 cooling works out in real life. I'd also like to top mount the AIO versus side mount.
 

zk2004mb

Average Stuffer
May 23, 2020
58
32
I'll take a look, I agree the glass panel (while sexy) isn't going to support ideal thermals based on the vids out there.

I think an AIO will be required (I'm leaning towards a 3900x at the moment) but I do want to see how the 3080 cooling works out in real life. I'd also like to top mount the AIO versus side mount.
Based on my experience, side mount in SFF is acceptable as the air doesn't need to travel a long distance before getting out from the top panel. I'm using Ncase M1 with side rad so I'm pretty sure about it. In NR200, it's even better because you can mount 2 fans on the top to help ventilation.
I'm a bit pessimistic about 3080 because.......320W in a standard two slot size? I highly doubt nvidia can handle this.