Building your own PC can be a very worthwhile task, especially since you can customize almost every aspect of it. Gaming PCs are no exception, and there’s a ton of great stuff you can put together into your dream setup, from the best motherboards to the latest graphics cards.
While some gamers may prefer a traditional tower PC build that can accommodate future components and changes, small form factor builds can also be turned into quite powerful gaming PCs, despite their small size. Of course, some liberties have to be taken when choosing your components, but if you keep all of this in mind, you can create a great gaming PC that’s a fraction of the size of a normal PC.
What is a Small Form Factor PC?
A Small Form Factor PC (or SFF for short) is, as the name suggests, a much smaller PC than your regular PC. SFF PCs have been on the market for years and are often used for things like media center PCs, thin clients, or any scenario where space is limited but you still want a full-fledged working PC. SFF builds have their own advantages and disadvantages, and it’s important that you keep them in mind before embarking on your own build.
First, SFF PCs are quite compact and suitable for when you don’t want to take up too much space with a beefy PC. Some SFF boxes are as big as a modern game console and can easily be stored near your TV or placed on your desk with very little effort. They’re also much more portable than their larger PC siblings, so if you need to move your PC quickly, you can just unplug your external cables and move your PC to its new home.
On the other hand, due to the small build space, you need to be careful with the components you choose. Some SFF cases only allow certain sizes of GPUs or CPU coolers, so it’s important that you properly research the components that will fit your case. Another important thing to keep in mind is cooling – the smaller space usually means you can fit fewer fans in, so expect slightly higher than normal temperatures when using your SFF PC.
Those points aside, it’s an exciting journey to build your own SFF PC, so we’ve rounded up our favorite components for building our own SFF gaming PC. We wanted to create a PC that was not only compact, but also had great hardware that could handle all the games we wanted to play.
Here’s what happened in our version of SFF Gaming PC:
SFF Case – Lian Li Q58
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The first thing to settle is your SFF case, and here we’re using Lian Li’s recently released Q58 PC case. large and a 240mm AIO CPU cooler. It has glass and mesh panels on both sides that can be swapped out for an all-glass or all-mesh look on one side, and also includes a handy RGB and fan power hub that makes it easy to connect all your fans. and other components in one place.
Processor – Intel i5 11600K
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While 12th generation Intel processors are already in the market, we are still fans of the performance available in the Intel i5 11600K. It has great overclocking potential if you want to exploit it further down the line, and can handle a variety of tasks – from powering up your games to making sure video editing is a breeze.
Motherboard – Gigabyte Z590I Vision D
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Since our PC case is white, we figured we’d go with a white motherboard as well, and the Gigabyte Z590I Vision D is a perfect fit. It has excellent connectivity for storage, offers support for 10th and 11th generation processors, and offers a good amount of connectivity with USB Type-A and Type-C ports and built-in Wi-Fi.
RAM – G.Skill Trident Z Royal Elite 3600 CL16-19-19 (16GBx2)
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We’re big fans of G.Skill’s RAM, not only for its performance, but also for its fantastic designs. This particular module offers excellent overclocking performance and full RGB control. XMP 2.0 support also means it will work well with our Intel processor to keep things running as smoothly as possible.
Storage – WD_Black SN850 + SN750SE
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The WD_Black series of drives are a great choice here due to their gaming performance. For the OS drive, we use the SN850 in an M.2 PCIe 4.0 slot for the fastest boot times and overall performance. The secondary SN750SE (opens in a new tab)The drive will be used for game storage only, ensuring that our main operating system drive doesn’t fill up too quickly with programs and files.
CPU Cooler – EK-AIO 240 D-RGB
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This particular AIO cooler fits neatly into the top of our case and will help keep our processor cool under heavy loads. It’s also able to sync with the motherboard’s RGB options, making it easier to control for the best visuals. When choosing a CPU cooler for an SFF case, you need to make sure it will fit snugly without any bends in the pipes, otherwise it will drastically affect the efficiency of your setup.
GPU – Colorful iGame GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Vulcan OC 8G-V
While this GPU is certainly a beast of a card, it pretty much makes the necessary clearance for our case. The PCIe 4.0 riser cable included in the case means we’ll be able to vertically mount this GPU and slide its screen up to check GPU and CPU temperatures at any time. This card can easily handle any game you throw at it, with smooth 1080p and 1440p frame rates every time. Again, make sure the GPU you select strictly adheres to your case size restrictions.
Power Supply – FSP SFX Dagger Pro 850W
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For an SFF build, you’ll need a small but mighty power supply to power everything. We chose the FSP SFX Dagger Pro 850W PSU for our build for several reasons. First of all, it’s incredibly small and can fit in our PC case without any compromise. It is also completely modular, so we only have to connect the cables that we are actually going to use. Finally, it’s quiet, features reliable Japanese electrolytic capacitors, and has 80 Plus Gold certification for exceptional reliability and performance in your SFF build.
Put it quite
When building an SFF PC build, you should keep in mind that you have even less space to maneuver things around. It is important that you try to install your AIO heatsink and fans first, then check that the CPU block aligns properly with your motherboard. Once you’ve settled that, you can then remove the AIO again and insert the motherboard and PSU (don’t forget the connections) with your CPU, RAM and storage already plugged in. You can then securely screw onto your CPU block and ensure that the AIO pipes are not bent at tight angles which would put pressure on them.
At this point, it’s worth booting up to see if everything lights up and you get into the BIOS. Of course, you can also check all of this outside of the case, but sometimes a build can work outside of the case and then disappear once you’ve installed everything inside. If you manage to get into the BIOS, the biggest hurdle is over. If you just get a black screen, check the error lights on your motherboard (refer to the manual which will tell you where those lights are), reseat your RAM or try with a single stick, and make sure all your connections for power and monitor are secure.
Once you’ve shut down your PC after a successful boot, you can finally install your GPU and start tidying up your cables a bit. Vertically mounting a GPU can get a bit tricky, especially with a riser cable, so take your time and take it easy. Then connect your monitor cables to your GPU and reboot. If all is well and you can get into BIOS or Windows setup, you can start putting back the case and last minute cable ties and screws.
After installing Windows, installing your games, and updating everything, it’s finally time to sit down and enjoy your new SFF gaming PC. It’s crazy how something so small can still be so powerful, but it sure is a great sight to behold. Be sure to run a number of games or benchmarks and keep an eye on your temperatures – if things seem to be a bit toastier (we’re talking 50C+ when idle), you may need to rethink your airflow setup or double-check that your AIO is working properly. Ideally, you’re looking at CPU temperatures of 40°C or lower at idle for an SFF build, and up to 65°C when gaming.
Once everything is set up to your liking, you can then show off your brand new SFF build right on your desktop, thanks to its small footprint. Spice up your RGB lighting, stick stickers on your case (like we did) and just stand back to admire your handiwork. An SFF gaming PC is definitely something to consider as a compact (and even portable) gaming solution that can be easily tucked away or take pride of place on your desk.
