PC advice please...

[burger1]

For small cases:
cooling (and upgradeability like adding more fans), cooling fan locations, is the case getting airflow over the ram, cpu, gpu etc....
orientation of the hard drive if it's a mechanical hard drive (not side ways)
power supply cooling (does it have fan holes in the right places, top mount vs bottom), and replacement (it may be costly)
front cables and hook ups as usual (usb types, slot types, etc...)
Mainboard type and what you can fit on it (expansion slots, video card sizes, cpu cooler sizes, # of ram slots, number of hdds you stuff in it, etc...) A regular mainboard might not fit. Not sure about io plates fitting at the back?
cable management for power supply cable (are you going to have a hunk of cables sitting in the middle blocking air flow and other stuff)
optical drive slot yes/no?
Fake grills is also a thing. Like fans mounted behind a solid surface that do nothing but spin.
Performance might also be reduced compared to a full size build. Generally smaller is lower performance.
There's also portable cases like lan party cases. I guess you could hook up a tv and tote along a keyboard/mouse, etc...
smaller main boards might also lack stuff like cooling fan hook ups, etc...


Basically look up reviews for small factor or micro/mini atx cases on newegg, amazon or other popular companies. If you do see a case maybe see if there's youtube videos of a build with it or a review.

[Mightysword]

The computer does not have to be on the table. Under (on floor or hanging), behind, on the side of table. Out of sight can improve the "Concorde tuning" too.

And this is an important thing that I think a lot of us forgot is NOT a thing. Your tower/box doesn't have to be on the table next to the monitor like a typical lab/office set up, or under the table next to your feet. Get some long cable, extension for the display device and kb/mouse (or go wireless with them). The tower for my PC is actually about 5-6feet from where I'm sitting.

[greypanther]

Lots of very useful information and points raised, thank you all.

I have to admit that I had not even considered moving the tower elsewhere, other than the floor. ( Which does not appeal. )

[Chips]

Here's a different approach. You wanted more desk space, less clutter, it'd still possibly be cheaper to get awesome desktop pc and a better desk to sit the machine under, or next to, or ... just get longer cables so it doesn't clutter the actual usable deskspace by locating the machine box further away. Could be fixed horizontal under desk, or next to it, or on the side... you get the idea. Instead of going small form factor, just re-locate the actual box somewhere and wireless keyboard/mouse/long cable monitor connection hidden away.

Or for a completely different way to the same end - a gaming rig that sits in a cupboard / convenient location - and you use home stream to play it on a laptop, or one of those tiny factor desktop pc's (akin to gigabyte brix esque machine) which is just vesa mounted behind the monitor on your desk; no actual clutter at all yet still able to play games with ease (may be limited based on platform). The gaming rig does the effort, the other machine simply displays it and relays your controls.

For what that's about see something like: https://www.pcworld.com/article/3198089 ... where.html

I've never tried it, but first thought was you could have awesome desktop AND a relatively under powered laptop to get your play anywhere and started googling. I've zero idea how effective it is, but I'd be amazed if there weren't videos on youtube about it all.