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0 pointswishinghand6y ago0 comments

I’ve been trying to upgrade my desktop since the motherboard is dying and I’ve found that small factor pc (SFFPC) components are rarer and at even more of a premium than usual. Most commenters in various forums chalk it up to the plague, so now I’m hoping once the next generation of CPU, motherboard, and GPUs come out things won’t be as scarce.

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6 comments · 2 top-level

filoleg6y ago· 2 in thread

Interesting you mention this, because I noticed a surprising surge out of nowhere among my friends, who suddenly all decided to build a SFPC. Despite none of them ever being interested in SFPC and all of them running mid/full-towers prior.

None of them are first-time PC builders tho, so it might have something to do with lockdown-induced boredom, and my friends deciding to challenge themselves to build a SFPC. As it sounds like a major pain and challenge compared to even a mid-tower (according to those of them who have already finished).

sq_6y ago

I won't be building a new computer for a few more years, as I currently can't justify the cost of replacing my build, but when I do it'll almost certainly be a SFF build.

I've seen a number of people who have built tiny custom cases, and the challenge of both building something like that and getting everything to fit in it is super enticing. Definitely seems like the challenge and cool factor of fitting tons of power into something tiny is making a lot of people consider such builds over traditional mid or full tower machines.

wishinghandOP6y ago

For me it was because I’m moving soon and wanted to have a smaller computer to move. The shortages put a stop to that though.

winter_blue6y ago· 2 in thread

> I’m hoping once the next generation of CPU, motherboard, and GPUs come out things won’t be as scarce

New desktop Intel 10th Gen CPU are actually coming out pretty soon. It's got a new socket (LGA 1200), so new motherboards are coming out for it as well.

It's only marginally faster on single thread benchmarks than the Ryzen 3000s (ie Zen 2) chips, and consumes a lot energy.

Also, Intel is still using their circa-2104/ancient 14 nm process for these desktop 10th Gen chips, which is quite disappointing. No Ice Lake 10 nm desktop chips yet.

wishinghandOP6y ago

I was most likely going to stick with and AMD CPU, the intel power consumption and price per performance is a bit high for me. I’m mostly developing javascript and gaming so ultra high cpu performance isn’t as necessary.

winter_blue6y ago

> javascript and gaming

Both of which are heavily impacted by single-thread performance. So getting a high single-thread perf CPIU would be a good thing to do.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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6 comments · 2 top-level

filoleg6y ago· 2 in thread

sq_6y ago

I won't be building a new computer for a few more years, as I currently can't justify the cost of replacing my build, but when I do it'll almost certainly be a SFF build.

wishinghandOP6y ago

For me it was because I’m moving soon and wanted to have a smaller computer to move. The shortages put a stop to that though.

winter_blue6y ago· 2 in thread

> I’m hoping once the next generation of CPU, motherboard, and GPUs come out things won’t be as scarce

New desktop Intel 10th Gen CPU are actually coming out pretty soon. It's got a new socket (LGA 1200), so new motherboards are coming out for it as well.

It's only marginally faster on single thread benchmarks than the Ryzen 3000s (ie Zen 2) chips, and consumes a lot energy.

Also, Intel is still using their circa-2104/ancient 14 nm process for these desktop 10th Gen chips, which is quite disappointing. No Ice Lake 10 nm desktop chips yet.

wishinghandOP6y ago

winter_blue6y ago

> javascript and gaming

Both of which are heavily impacted by single-thread performance. So getting a high single-thread perf CPIU would be a good thing to do.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse