Small Form Factor Build Planning! Help!

Sleep_e_ · May 16, 2020

Budget (including currency): < $1k-*ish*

Country: US

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Streaming games(the following and ACNH), Rainbow Six Siege, Apex, LoL, high refresh-rate gaming

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc):

Hello everybody! So I have a computer with still pretty decent parts for a computer thats a few years old, and to try to minimize the cost, I'd like to try to reuse some of the parts I have, but I'm not against the idea of swapping a lot of parts!

My current build (apologize for the lack of branding, ngl I don't know what all of the brands are):

CPU: i7-7700K

Cooler: Coolermaster AIO 240 or 280mm

Motherboard: absolutely no clue but its an ATX

RAM: ??? DDR4 32gb 3200 Mhz

Storage: Two 500gb SSD's with a 1TB HDD

GPU: Gigabyte GTX 1080

PSU: No clue but I know its a 550W 80+ Bronze certified one

Currently running a 27" Acer monitor at 2K 144Hz, but I do plan on either getting another monitor, or getting 2 new monitors in my one's stead.

I also anticipate getting an external streaming device, like the elgato HD60S, or HD60 Pro if it can fit into a small form factor build.

(I don't have my computer since I'm in the process of moving, and my moving company has my computer with them at the moment. Once I figure out the specific components, I will be sure to revise or update this post!)

I've been looking at the Velkase 5, Ncase M1, and Dancase A4 as cases that I'd like because of their small form factor. Those are the only cases that I've seen that have the capability of fitting full size GPU's while keeping a very small case size. Although those cases aren't easy to get right now, I'm anticipating the Velkase 5 which will sell in June.

I KNOW I will have to get a new motherboard, but I've been watching a lot of videos lately that anticipate a new chipset that will be better than the current chipsets on the market, but I haven't been "in the know" in the computer world for a few years. With that new chipset release, I'm sure I will probably want to get a new CPU because of the new chipset, or just better CPU's released since the 7700k. That being said, I'm prepared to get a new cooler based on the CPU or case size change as well. I also know, that I would probably need to get a new PSU for certain cases, specifically the Velkase 5, but I have not clue where to start.

All in all, I just don't know what CPU/Motherboard combo would be good in a mini-ITX or similar form factor for this kind of build. Really, I'd just like to keep my GPU unless it'd be better for me to upgrade, but I think the 1080 still holds very fairly in most of todays games.

I have some experience in computer building, nothing crazy, but I can definitely "Lego" and maneuver pieces where they need to be if the build is extremely tight.

I move around quite a lot, and a smaller computer that is still very capable would make moving around quite a bit easier. Please help!~

brob · May 16, 2020

With small form factor builds the actual case choice is critical. Without knowing the gpu model it's pretty hard to make any sort of suggestion.

Sleep_e_ · May 17, 2020

4 hours ago, brob said:

With small form factor builds the actual case choice is critical. Without knowing the gpu model it's pretty hard to make any sort of suggestion.

GeForce GTX 1080 G1 Gaming 8G is the model that I have