Small Form Factor - Lian Li TU150 (ITX) Build

[AGGELOS_970]

Budget (including currency): ~1600 EUR

Country: Greece

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Gaming

Parts: 

• Case: Lian Li TU150
• CPU:  Ryzen 5 5600x (when available)
• MB:    MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge Wi-Fi
• RAM: 16GBs 3200 or 3600MHz
• GPU:  RTX 3070 or RX 6800 (when available in reasonable prices)
• PSU:  Be Quiet SFX L Power 600W
• Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 500GB and Samsung 860 QVO 1TB
• CPU cooler: Noctua NH-U12A or Noctua NH-D15 Black 
• Case fans: Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM

 

I really like the idea of building a SFF gaming rig. At the same time I want it to be reasonably quiet. The Ryzen 5 5600x is a 65W TDP chip so I think I'm going to be covered here in terms of cooling and noise especially with the Noctua Coolers.

The GPU is the one that I'm most worried about. The RX 6800 is a 250W TDP card while the RTX 3070 is 220W TDP.

The case has perforated holes right below the GPU and you can also put two more 120mm fans. Depending on how thick the card is you can put normal ones or slim fans.

The PSU wattage I think it will be enough for the system. The next upgrade in my country is the Corsair SF750 Platinum which is 70 Euros more.

I know this hardware fits the case. I'm mostly worried about how noisy it will be. I really like the system to be quiet during load. Not silent but quiet. The Noctuas have a good reputation in both cooling and noise.

[BrickedKeyboard]

I considered this case for my own build.  Here's the things I don't like about your build:

   1.  That is not a SFF case, it is 23.8 liters.  SFF is arbitrary <20 liters.

   2.  Despite it being a 'MFF' case, it only supports SFF PSUs.  

   3.  I don't like MSI as a brand for motherboards as some statistics show they fail more often.

Everything else is ok.  For your specific situation I recommend you: 

                1.  switch motherboards to (gigabyte, asus, or evga).  

                2.  Use a NR200(P) as your case

                3.  Air cool with the Scythe Fuma 2.  This cooler is only $60, is only slightly worse than Noctua, and for your lighter thermal load with the 5600x I expect it will do just as well as the bigger coolers.

[AGGELOS_970]

10 minutes ago, BrickedKeyboard said:

I considered this case for my own build.  Here's the things I don't like about your build:

   1.  That is not a SFF case, it is 23.8 liters.  SFF is arbitrary <20 liters.

   2.  Despite it being a 'MFF' case, it only supports SFF PSUs.  

   3.  I don't like MSI as a brand for motherboards as some statistics show they fail more often.

Everything else is ok.  For your specific situation I recommend you: 

                1.  switch motherboards to (gigabyte, asus, or evga).  

                2.  Use a NR200(P) as your case

                3.  Air cool with the Scythe Fuma 2.  This cooler is only $60, is only slightly worse than Noctua, and for your lighter thermal load with the 5600x I expect it will do just as well as the bigger coolers.

I've seen the NR200. It's an interesting case but I'm not a fan of the looks. Also it's not available in my country. I'm pretty much set on the case.

Officially the Lian Li TU150 supports SFX-L power supplies. And I've seen some people use the exact same unit with no issues.

The Noctua choice of cooler is due to the perfect reputation of the brand in terms of performance at very low noise levels at all RPM. And I'm pretty sensitive in whine like sounds. It's overkill I would guess for the 5600x since it's only a 65W TDP chip but it's chosen mostly for the fact that the fans won't need to spin as fast.

The 2nd fan of the cooler will be removed from the CPU tower and positioned right next to it, to the back of the case as exhaust. So I won't need to buy another NFA12. One more NFA12 will be added in the front as intake.

As for the MSI motherboards, their VRMs designs are one of the best with boards like the tomahawk. B450 and B550 respectively. These statistics are quite old as well so I'm not really sure what they're worth now. 

I don't have any experience with MSI though. I might look more brands as well but it's the cheapest B550 ITX in my country with some decent VRM heatsinks. The rest of B550 ITX boards that are available in my country are the: Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX, Asus Rog Strix B550-I Gaming and Asrock Socket B550 Phantom Gaming.

[BrickedKeyboard]

2 minutes ago, AGGELOS_970 said:

I've seen the NR200. It's an interesting case but I'm not a fan of the looks. Also it's not available in my country. I'm pretty much set on the case.

Officially the Lian Li TU150 supports SFX-L power supplies. And I've seen some people use the exact same unit with no issues.

The Noctua choice of cooler is due to the perfect reputation of the brand in terms of performance at very low noise levels at all RPM. And I'm pretty sensitive in whine like sounds. It's overkill I would guess for the 5600x since it's only a 65W TDP chip but it's chosen mostly for the fact that the fans won't need to spin as fast.

The 2nd fan of the cooler will be removed from the CPU tower and positioned right next to it, to the back of the case as exhaust. So I won't need to buy another NFA12. One more NFA12 will be added in the front as intake.

As for the MSI motherboards, their VRMs designs are one of the best with boards like the tomahawk. B450 and B550 respectively. These statistics are quite old as well so I'm not really sure what they're worth now. 

I don't have any experience with MSI though. I might look more brands as well but it's the cheapest B550 ITX in my country with some decent VRM heatsinks. The rest of B550 ITX boards that are available in my country are the: Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX, Asus Rog Strix B550-I Gaming and Asrock Socket B550 Phantom Gaming.

In my country - in fact using the VRM tier list on these forums - the Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX is the best choice.  It's relatively cheap and has good VRMS.  I will say that when I did cryto mining, at least for the (intel, years ago) boards I was using, the Gigabyte boards were outright a better choice vs MSI.  

With that said, if these are the best you can do with your local price lists, it's not a 'bad' build, just not optimal by what is available here in the USA.

[AGGELOS_970]

11 hours ago, BrickedKeyboard said:

In my country - in fact using the VRM tier list on these forums - the Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX is the best choice.  It's relatively cheap and has good VRMS.  I will say that when I did cryto mining, at least for the (intel, years ago) boards I was using, the Gigabyte boards were outright a better choice vs MSI.  

With that said, if these are the best you can do with your local price lists, it's not a 'bad' build, just not optimal by what is available here in the USA.

I did a bit more research on the Gigabyte vs the MSI board. As I understand the Gigabyte has a better power delivery design. But they are very close with the MSI board. Heard people preferring the Gigabyte BIOS as well. The Gigabyte is pretty much the same price as the MSI in my country. I really like it but the only downside that kind of bothers me is that it doesn't have a front USB Type C header. So that will put the Lian Li's front Type C to waste  

[vsral]

16 hours ago, AGGELOS_970 said:

 

The 2nd fan of the cooler will be removed from the CPU tower and positioned right next to it, to the back of the case as exhaust. So I won't need to buy another NFA12.

 

I tried this as well, but cpu temps were even slightly worse in that configuration.

With the rear fan of the cooler mounted, I think it really helps with removing the heat from the cpu cooler (remember: very high density cooling fins) while it still blows hot air out of the case.

NH-U12A: on my 2700x (same heat output as a 3900x as I see when in some reviews) running boinc full load it's relatively quiet, on a 65W tdp CPU it will be near inaudible.

 

BTW, this is my PC: This is my PC: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/rYWbt6

[AGGELOS_970]

27 minutes ago, vsral said:

 

I tried this as well, but cpu temps were even slightly worse in that configuration.

With the rear fan of the cooler mounted, I think it really helps with removing the heat from the cpu cooler (remember: very high density cooling fins) while it still blows hot air out of the case.

NH-U12A: on my 2700x (same heat output as a 3900x as I see when in some reviews) running boinc full load it's relatively quiet, on a 65W tdp CPU it will be near inaudible.

 

BTW, this is my PC: This is my PC: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/rYWbt6

Ok I'll keep that in mind. Nice build you got there.

How are the GPU temps and noise? Also how well are the fans on the bottom helping out the GPU compared to stock? I've seen some people say that the bottom fans don't do that much for the GPU and at the same time you add more noise.

[vsral]

The 1660 Ti is only a 120w card, so not extremely noisy anyway.

 

About the bottom fans:

- Saw some stuff as well that they could possibly 'suffocate' the GPU, but thats when you take 25mm fans on a 2.5 slot gpu (no space in between).

- Do do result in more total air intake into the case. Saw a video review lately that they made a couple degrees difference on CPU temps (lower/better temps that is).

- But I do think you also have to take into account the dimensions of the card (very wide / long cards will 'obstruct' the upward wind path.  A smaller 'standard pci slot wide card will let a lot of air pass upwards.

- I do have dust filters on the bottom (see pictures), so they help overcome the added resistance of those as well.

Noise: If I stop the bottom fans, the fans on gpu will rev higher which makes for a more annoying noise.

 

Are they really nessecary? No

Do I like them? Yes. Also just for having more visual Noctua diarrea brown in the case