I'm on the hunt for the smallest possible case and motherboard setup that is also practical. I need to fit a powerful RTX 5080, two M.2 SSDs, and a compact water cooler. My goal is to build a rig that is small, powerful, and quiet. Any recommendations would be appreciated!
3 Answers
You should browse the sffpc community for some design ideas! I have an RTX 5090 paired with a 9800x3d on an Asus ROG STRIX X870-I in an Ncase M2, using a Noctua slim fan instead of water cooling. It's performing really well and stays nice and quiet too.
Have you checked out the Ncase M2? It supports water cooling, and while you could go smaller with a sandwich-style small form factor case, those typically need slimmer air coolers. The new Dan cases are also designed in a sandwich style and can fit an AIO cooler quite well!
Wow, those cases look amazing! They aren't much more expensive than my current Corsair case. Thanks for the tip!
If your priority is silence, going for a compact case might not be the best option. Do you really need to go that small?
I have limited space, and my room is packed as it is. A smaller case is definitely more manageable, but I don't want something huge unless I suddenly become a full-time streamer, which feels unlikely right now! Haha.
I didn't know about that subreddit! The Ncase suggestion is great. I’m okay with either water or air cooling as long as I can keep the noise levels down.