Question Digital Artist, Ai enthusiast, Should I upgrade? mATX to Itx SFF ?

[Rascalbandit]

Hello, I currently have a 5700g, B450 mATX, 16gb, and in the last few months bought a dual fan rtx 3060 12gb and upgraded from a tiny DIY case to SAMA IM01.

My question is about upgrade path, I don't game a ton, but have been playing with Ai more and more. I want to downsize my computer into a smaller custom case with a SFX PSU and a single fan 3060 12gb, with an eventual plan to get a 4060 Ti 16gb when the price drops and some show up on the used market.

My question is, Should I stick with this computer since it works and just forget how big the SAMA IM01 case is, with the plans on shrinking the size of the computer when AM5 Itx motherboards become more reasonable. OR would buying a B550 ITX motherboard for about $160 and swap the double fan for single fan 3060 now be the right time to do so? Also would it be worth getting a B550 motherboard that uses DDR5 for use in Ai?

My ultimate plan is to shrink this computer as small as I can again because I move a lot and either keep it as a small server down the road, or to just sell it as a whole computer in 5 years that is easy to ship due to small size, then buy a whole new AM5 setup or whatever awesome SFF computers are on the market.

Another reason I want to go b550 now is because my gigabyte monitor requires b550 to run the software for this ultrawide I purchased. also Wifi-6 on b550 would be nice to try.
All opinions very much appreciated

 

[Aeacus]

My ultimate plan is to shrink this computer as small as I can

Two options:
* buy a laptop
* buy a dedicated mini PC

Further reading about mini PCs: https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-windows-mini-pcs

Going with mini PC route is far less hassle than shrinking your micro-ATX setup down to mini-ITX.

If you want to go even smaller than what mini PCs sizes are (it is possible), then you're looking towards top-tier smart phone. Current day high-end smart phones are quite powerful since they essentially are PCs (CPU, RAM, GPU, storage, OS). They are also very small and come with built-in display (touchscreen). Also, i see no reason why one can't code AI when using smart phone. Most smart phones already use ample amounts of AI code in them.