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Comment by dreen | Hacker News Reader

I've been considering small ATX gaming build but Im really worried it will heat like crazy after a while, even if it doesnt have 80 cores. Am I completely wrong?

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The site claims:

> The Ampere Altra Q80-28 SoC with 80 cores runs at 2.80 GHz and consumes around 175 Watts.

175w is nothing to scoff at, but also isn't completely ridiculous. GPUs will end up consuming more than that in a typical ATX gaming machine.

If the case has the headroom to fit a decent cooler, a smaller case sounds almost better, as one intake and one exhaust fan would be more than sufficient to continually exchange the volume of air within the case?

Yeah that makes sense, but since Im talking about a gaming build I would think theres not much space left after you put the GPU in which is the main heat source, thus making airflow difficult

That concern came to mind as I was typing my comment, it doesn't take too many other bits in the case to really compromise airflow. Again assuming it would even have space for the yacht that modern GPUs have become.

There are really neat ITX case layouts that use PCIE riser cables to mount the GPU in a separate chamber, or behind the motherboard (https://i.ytimg.com/vi/v4dtjsJEFQw/maxresdefault.jpg).

Even ITX cases without riser cables end up positioning the GPU right at the bottom of the case, so it gets fresh air (https://cdna.pcpartpicker.com/static/forever/images/userbuil...)

Neat! Thanks!

Though my inner troubleshooter is thinking "oh man more connections to re-seat"

Haha you're not wrong! It's another potentially incompatible part, especially now as PCIE generations change. People will upgrade their GPU and suddenly won't have any video output because it's a gen. 4 motherboard talking to a gen. 4 GPU over a gen. 3 riser cable.

That said, you really only run into that kind of stuff when you're entering hobbyist mode. If what someone wants is a compact gaming PC, there are cases like the CoolerMaster NR200 (https://i.redd.it/fq9y7mevznb71.jpg) which are affordable and just as easy to build in as any mid-tower. The only difference is you'll be using a mini ITX motherboard, and an SFX power supply.

I've built a few small form factor gaming PCs over the last 5 or so years. The heat produced is directly proportional to the power consumed.

If you're worried about your components overheating in a small case, there are absolutely ways to cram a ton of performance into a small package. You can fit top of the line gaming hardware in as little as 10-15 liters of case volume.

If you're worried about your PC becoming a space heater, you'll need to go with less power-hungry components, but you can still absolutely build a tiny and capable gaming PC.

I've got an AMD Zen Threadripper (1st generation) with 180W of TDP.

If I'm doing something computationally expensive, I can feel the room heatup for sure: just 2 degrees F in practice (~1C or so). Enough to notice + enough to see it in my thermometer I keep in my room... but not enough to be worried about anything.

And honestly, I don't spin up all 16c/32 threads that often.

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