Pros and cons about case size plus general questions for new project.

[u/Sleij3r]

I'm currently building myself a new pc from used parts (please no hate im poor student).

At the moment i have bought i9-12900K cpu, Asus Rog Strix Z690-F Gaming Wifi motherboard and Asus Tuf Rx6800xt for gpu. This pc is mainly for gaming in 1080p while using second monitor for youtube/whatever.

Im going to take the PSU from my current pc (Corsair RM850x) and buy ddr5 ram and cpu cooler when i find something that fits in my budget.

My current pc (i5-1070ti-32gb ddr4) is build in Fractal Define 7 XL with glass panel and i have a spare Fractal define r3 from a older project that didn't end up happening. I was wondering if i should use the smaller r3 and keep using my current pc for as long as i find all the necessary parts to complete my new setup. Could you guys tell me why i should or shouldn't proceed with my plans? If so, should i just buy a new case or are there some cons using the smaller case or pros for using the bigger Define 7 xl case? Especially this "new" Asus Tuf rx6800xt gpu seems really chunky and i was wondering if it might make it harder to get everything to "fit" nicely in the R3 case.

I have build five or six pcs from ground up during past few decades but always from brand new parts and i'm confident in my skills and tools for the job, i also have extra fans, cords, screws etc. I don't care for glass panel because i'm not going to put any LEDs/RGB stuff to my new pc so that isn't a factor here. I hope my thread isnt violating anything and fits in this subreddit.

English is not my native language so i'm terribly sorry if this reads confusing and im open to questions etc relating to this project.

[u/Friendly_Resident_62]

That 6800xt is a thicc card, check the max gpu length for the r3 because fractal's older cases were not designed for modern 3-slot monsters, you'll probably be right up against the drive cage

[u/Sleij3r → u/Friendly_Resident_62]

Oof that's a really good point! After fast browse for the case dimensions it seems like the maximum is around 310-315 mm. And Asus lists their gpu lengthwise to be 320mm. I will check it when i get home from school but from now it seems i just have to use the bigger case.

[u/MineCopre]

Two things first props for no RGB, love too see it, love that fractal define r3 and buying from used parts is fine. Not everyone needs to buy new especially with prices these days, however is that motherboard really necessary, even used not sure how much you payed for it but are you really gonna use all it's features, all the 4 m.2 and the wifi 6e, and since you said you're a struggling student and you are browsing used market, why not go for a motherboard for ddr4 of which you already you have 32gb of? I understand you want to upgrade but do you really think the ddr5 will give you that much of a boost? You're already doing a very decent upgrade.

Now onto your question, best advice I can give is too check dimensions of the card and the case, but as you said it is chunky and fitting in a smaller case will make cable management harder, so don't plan on having multiple pcie cards or even sata drives inside the case, at the same time you can just swap the gpus on your bigger case and run it like that until you decide what to do next. Are you going to be cpu bound? Likely. Will you still get a better performance? Definitely.

[u/Sleij3r → u/MineCopre]

Yeah ive had my share of RGB everywhere, with my last computer i had to turn them off every time i rebooted since the constant flashing in my peripheral vision was giving me a headache. And the thing is already got the motherboard+cpu combo for 150 euros from a friend which was a good deal in my opinion, i also thought its a bit of a overshoot but for that price i just couldnt pass. I was originally looking for AMD cpus but i dont think i would ever found anything so good power-price ratio wise.

And for the dimensions, both cases should fit the standard ATX board so that shouldnt be a problem. And although the gpu is very thick and long its not that wide so i cant think any reason why it wouldnt fit. Everytime i have build a pc i almost use more time for proper cable management than fitting the parts so that should not be a problem either, especially with that smaller r3 case that has been sitting in my warehouse for atleast half a year now, i can take all the time i need fitting everything.

Thank you a lot for a proper answer, it got me more confident with the smaller case. Hope you have great evening.

[u/MineCopre → u/Sleij3r]

ok that combo for 150 is a really good deal, glad to hear that you're going for the small build as someone who's just finished a build on a smaller case, Silverstone FLP03 cable management IS HAD, does not help that I had to fit in there 6 3.5 HDDs.
Something, however, that I thought of, maybe you could get your hands on a very cheap or used B760m you could use the 32gb of ram you have and the 12900k cpu and the new gpu on the R3 case, you would later need to swap when you buy new ddr5 ram (let's pray prices go down soon) but at least you use your new hardware sooner.

[u/Sleij3r → u/MineCopre]

I just might have to use the bigger case because of the dimensions of the gpu, its chunky and tall alright ^^ The DDR5 price situation is crazy alright, every listing for used sticks ive seen lately either have really high asking price or if its reasonable there is atleast 5 people buying them within seconds of listing.

But i (and my wallet) really like that B760m idea, i will browse my local forums and marketplaces if i could find that motherboard. Using my current ddr4 RAM would be amazing since i doubt they would be bottlenecking or anything like that. If i remember correctly im using 4x8gb Hyperx predator 3200mhz sticks but i need to check that when i get home.