SFFPC Case Style

  • Sandwich
  • Classic
  • Tower
  • APU (CPU Only)

CPU Cooler

Most SFF case will have limited clearance for CPU cooler, causing limited air cooling selection. If your CPU have TDP higher then 65 W, I would recommend you water cool your CPU.

Air Cooling

Make sure you double check your CPU cooler clearance height before purchasing a CPU cooler. Most sandwich layout case will have a tighter tolerance for CPU cooler height than classical layout. Popular CPU cooler are:

  • Noctua NH-L9i
  • Noctua NH-L12
  • Noctua U12a

Water Cooling

Check what size of radiator your case support. Most case will support up to 240 mm length radiator, some will even support 280 mm. Buy the biggest radiator that will fit into your case. Also take into consideration the depth of the radiator, some case will limit your GPU space if it’s deeper.

The size of your GPU

What GPU are you planning to get?

  • 3 slot
  • 2 slot
  • SFF Graphic Card
  • No GPU (APU build)

Most sub 10L cases will not support 3 slot card, your best bet is to stick with a larger case.

APU case are quit rare, in some build you even need to use flex ATX or pico power supply due to the small size. Some warning about flex ATX, due to the small fan it may get quite loud under loud.

Power supply (PSU)

Most case require SFX (Small Form Factor) Power supply, it can accommodate up to 750w so should be enough for most gaming focus build.

ATX power supply: some case allow the use of ATX power supply but we still recommend using SFX power supply since ATX power supply come in different sizes and due to the large foot print it will make cable routing difficult. Also most ATX power supply come with longer cable to it’s harder to fit into the case.

SFX-L power supply: a longer SFX power supply, it’s not common any more, just get a regular SFX power supply.

Storage

NVMe ssd will be the best choice. Using 2.5 inch ssd drive is also fine but you need to route more cables. Most case will don’t support 3.5 inch hard drive.

Portability

If you want to carry your case in your backpack, you need to look into sub 10L volume case, 10L plus case are harder to fit into a backpack.

Building Difficulty

Small case is harder to build in but it isn’t too bad, give yourself plenty of time to work on your build patient is all you need. Cable routing can be quite challenging for smaller case as well, custom cable will be your best friend if you want a clean and neat build.
Try to put build outside the case first, it will make it easier to debug any problem you encounter.

Fan

Airflow layout matters a lot in SFFPC build, it directly affect the performance and noise level of your build. Try experimenting with different layout, most sff case will benefit from all exhaust layout, give it a try.

Motherboard

Check for the clearance of CPU cooler, ITX motherboards heat sink are getting larger, make sure the motherboard will fit your cooler.

Component Availability

Keep in mind that some SFF components are harder to find and may requires pre-order or long order queue, plan accordingly. I’ll give some recommendation bellow on cases that’s easier to find.

Popular easy to purchase SFFPC cases recommendation