SFFPC wiki

So you've just stumbled upon the Small Form Factor PC community, and are interested in getting started. But there's so much information available, and looking at the Community spreadsheet can be really daunting. So here is a brief guide and FAQ for newbies who are looking into getting started with SFFPCs.

The most common definition of a SFF PC is a system with a total volume of less than 20 liters. However, for the purposes of this subreddit, any build focused on space efficiency, or packing a lot of power into a small space, is welcome.

This subreddit isn't really the best place to learn the basics if you're brand new to PC building. There are fantastic resources over at /r/buildapc, including their wiki) which is a great place to start when it comes to understanding the basics of PC building. Almost all that information applies to SFF PCs, just… smaller. If you have specific questions around parts compatibility for SFF PCs, search the subreddit to see if its been asked and if not, feel free to ask in the sticky thread.

It depends on your parts and their age. Most often, the parts that make it difficult to downsize are your Motherboard and Power Supply (PSU). 99% of SFF cases require the use of a Mini-ITX motherboard (often abbreviated to just ITX), which are very small boards (170mm x 170mm square) usually with a single PCIe slot. If your existing PC uses an ATX form factor motherboard, there's still hope for you but your options are much more limited. Look into the Sliger Cerberus X or the SFFtime P-ATX or N-ATX.

Alternatively, if you want to keep your ATX board, you can look at r/mffpc for larger case, with a focus on space efficiency still.

Finding ITX motherboards for older CPUs (especially Intel ones) can be very expensive. You may get lucky on eBay or /r/sffpcswap, or you may find that keeping your i7-6700K or 7700K is more expensive than just buying a new board.

If you have a large PC today, you probably also have an ATX Power Supply, which is much larger than the smaller SFX PSUs that are commonly required for SFF PC cases. While there are some cases that support ATX Power Supplies, SFX units provide many more options. Cases that support full-sized ATX PSUs would be the Silverstone SG lineup of cases, or the Cooler Master NR 200 with the 3d-printed bracket. Some SFF cases also come with power supplies included, like the NZXT H1.

Good cooling depends mostly on airflow, not size. An oven will still be an oven regardless of how big it is. But a well ventilated case will still have very good thermals. This is also why many SFF cases use perforated panels instead of glass. It helps with air intake.

There's smallformfactor.net and its dedicated forum, as well as some great YouTube channels focused on SFF PCs like Optimum, Gear seeker, hardware Canucks, The Tech Buyer's Guru, and even LinusTechTips does cool SFF PC stuff every now and then. The subreddit also has a weekly rotating sticky for Case & Parts Recommendations where you can ask questions. You can also join our Discord!

Building a small PC from scratch requires some planning first. Because of its niche nature, it can be a bit more difficult to get things rolling. As we often say, plan twice, build once.

• What do you want from the PC

The first thing to think about is what you want to do with the PC. Do you want to play games ? To do some content creation ? Some specific use case ? Some basic office work ? This will greatly impact how to pick components later so this must be defined as well as possible.

• What is your budget and what do you need with said budget

How much money can you throw at the PC, and do you need anything else like peripherals, monitors, specific devices, ….

• How comfortable are you with building small or cramped

The densest case can be tricky to build in because you have limited space for your fingers to actually handle the parts once inside. You also have limited options because of size clearance and compatibility.

Once all this has been defined, you can start the planning of your build. When in doubt, don't hesitate to reach out to the community for advices, help, or recommandations. Many specific details are not mentionned and are known by users after experiencing it first hand.

In conclusion, if you do decide to embrace the madness with all of us here, we want to welcome you and ask that you make sure you read our community rules before posting. Check the rotating sticky thread if you have simple questions, refer to the community spreadsheet, and please use the search function to see if your question has been asked! You can also join our Discord if you'd like to chat more real time.