Suggestions for reducing size of current PC

[beyondinfinity]

To give better idea of my space constraints since one of you asked about which dimension I wanted reduced, here are some pictures. I definitely need to slim it down, or get a tall cube like the Silverstone FT03 mini so I can put it in a corner.

 

[trents]

Is that a baseboard heater at the bottom of the wall?

How wide is the wall panel to the right of the chair? Is that a possibility for locating the case? See my green highlighting.

 

[Woomack]

If you think about a new rig then I would consider:
- Ryzen 2600 or something similar as it heats up less than Intel and offers great performance in lower price
- B450 ITX mobo, they're cheaper than anything from Intel
- RTX2060 EVGA, ~3 slot ITX size card, really good performance, not loud and keeps ~170W under load so can be installed in small cases ... but need mATX case or ITX with +2 slots on the bottom/side
- New Corsair SFX PSU are rated Platinum 80+, simply up to 50% load they run passive, above that are still really quiet, 450W unit is more than enough for above components and will be quiet

I used to switch ITX rigs with EVGA GTX1060 ITX 6GB which is good enough for most new games. The only issue was that I had to set fans at ~33% to keep it quiet and so it wouldn't throttle much in the same time. If you have no problems with additional manual settings in Windows then this card is also good for gaming and should be in much lower price right now.
Just to add, my GTX060 ITX overclocks about as high as top full size GTX1060 ... I just don't do that just to keep it quiet. There are no problems with power section.

Micro ATX motherboards are cheaper than ITX but even if you wish ITX size motherboard then I recommend small micro ATX case. It's because you can install larger CPU cooler and next to graphics card will be better airflow. It causes that you can actually build really quiet and small PC.
Here you have one example of cheap and good looking mATX case where you can install SFX PSU (so it takes less space and offers better airflow) and larger cooler:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...ek&cm_re=raijintek-_-9SIA66Z38G3943-_-Product

 

[beyondinfinity]

Is that a baseboard heater at the bottom of the wall?

How wide is the wall panel to the right of the chair? Is that a possibility for locating the case? See my green highlighting.

No base heater. The dark lines are bars that are part of the desk side wall is approx. 20in deep and width of space is approx. 34in

 

[Bill_Bright]

As a side note, kudos for using a decent UPS with AVR!

I see your pain now. You have no room for your legs. And you have no room for a wider desk - at least not if it must go in that spot in that room.

It is easy to see by the space on either side of the 5 1/4 inch bays that that is a wide case - confirmed from the P160's specs showing 8.1" wide.

I still think with some careful homework, you can find a slimmer mid-tower case. I suspect even 1.5 to 2 inches narrower would make a huge difference. That said - once again, that FD Node 202 will certainly support a large graphics card - but will greatly limit future options.

Are you still going to be in that room in 2 or 3 years?

 

[trents]

Can you give us a budget?

I would advise going with the mATX form factor board and a slimmer case that will still accommodate a standard size PSU and full height GPU. As Bill_Bright said, even 1.5" additional clearance to the side will make for a considerably more comfortable work station environment. The biggest problem will likely be cooling the CPU if you have it significantly overclocked. You wouldn't be able to reuse the big honker Noctua you presently have in a slim case. Is the CPU overclocked? If not, then a more modest cooler would suffice.

 

[beyondinfinity]

As a side note, kudos for using a decent UPS with AVR!

I see your pain now. You have no room for your legs. And you have no room for a wider desk - at least not if it must go in that spot in that room.

It is easy to see by the space on either side of the 5 1/4 inch bays that that is a wide case - confirmed from the P160's specs showing 8.1" wide.

I still think with some careful homework, you can find a slimmer mid-tower case. I suspect even 1.5 to 2 inches narrower would make a huge difference. That said - once again, that FD Node 202 will certainly support a large graphics card - but will greatly limit future options.

Are you still going to be in that room in 2 or 3 years?

I'm not sure how long I'll be there, but I have a lot of space elsewhere in the room, I was deliberate in placing the computer in that spot when I found that desk on amazon that fit perfectly. Because it's actually a bedroom and wanted space for other things. In any case I've looked at a lot of cases and the slimmest one I found for full Atx is the Thermaltake core g3, but I wasn't impressed with the build quality from what I saw on YouTube, not to mention people comaining about problems with pcie riser.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I was deliberate in placing the computer in that spot when I found that desk on amazon

Well, if you are not limited to that room location, then simply moving the desk to another spot in the room that would allow to put the computer case on the outside of the desk (like your UPS) will maximize your leg room and won't cost you a cent. My concern is the P160 is actually an excellent case. While it doesn't support USB3.0 in front, that is minor.

 

[trents]

What about something like this:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAD6F6K30377 Uses a standard ATX PSU
https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Gef...=GTX+1050ti+low+profile&qid=1549646953&sr=8-1 (Not that far from the GTX 1060 performance).

With an HTPC case like this you might be able to set the monitor on top of it and economize on space.

But again, if you are overclocking the CPU there is not room for a beefy air cooler.