Selecting a PSU for Skylake mini-itx gaming build in Cougar QBX

ferengitarian

Honorable
Nov 26, 2013
12
0
10,510
tl;dr version: I need a recommendation for a good 450+W PSU for a mini-itx gaming rig in a particularly small case

Hi folks! Long time listener, second or third time caller! I'm looking to build a reasonably beefy Skylake mini-itx system. Here are the components, they will be inside of a Cougar QBX case. No ODD, HDD, or 2.5" drives. Just a mobo, m.2 SSD, CPU, ram, and a video card.

Ignoring the components themselves (I'm not looking for a discussion on what CPU/GPU or how much RAM), I'm looking for a PSU to power them. I'm looking for a PSU that will effectively power those components (450W+) while working within the space constraints. (I don't plan on making any major changes over the course of the system's life that will impact power consumption, so it just has to power the current build).

The case I want is particularly small. Consequently, there are a few twists:

1. The qbx can accommodate an ATX PSU, but only up to 3.39" x 5.51" x 5.91", and, viewed with fan on the left, the third prong in the three-prong socket must face up, left, or right, but not down.

2. While the qbx can accommodate longer video cards & PSUs, they block airflow from the front/bottom of the case to the motherboard (longer PSUs block the front fan, longer video cards block both bottom fans instead of just one). I don't know if that matters, but if it does, I'd like to know

Has anyone made a reasonably powerful build in a Cougar QBX (450+ watts)? Does anyone have experience with gaming mini-itx builds, particularly with in smaller cases? Are there any particularly good SFX PSUs?

I'll take recommendations for similarly sized mini-itx cases if you insist, but I'm insistent on a smaller mini-itx case. i don't want 2 optical drives and 3 HDDs and 4 SSDs, I want the smallest case that can host beefy hardware.