Building My Studio Workstation — The Small Form Factor Beast This one’s been a long time coming. I finally pulled the trigger on a dedicated workstation for the studio, and since I document the things I build here, it felt right to log this one too — even if software and silicon isn’t quite the same as a laser-cut enclosure or a 3D-printed part.
The constraint I set for myself: keep it small. The Lian Li A3 caught my eye — 13.4 × 6.7 × 14.1 inches, which is genuinely compact for what I was trying to fit inside it. The chassis does a lot of the heavy lifting on airflow if you work with it instead of against it, so component placement mattered from the start.
The Components For the processor I went with the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D — 12 cores, 3D V-Cache, and no regrets. Paired it with 64GB of DDR5 at 6000MHz, which removes RAM from the list of things I ever need to think about. Storage is a pair of 1TB Crucial Gen4 M.2 SSDs — one for the OS and apps, one for project files and assets.
The GPU is an ASUS TUF Gaming RTX 4080, which was the tightest part of the fit. It cleared the case, but barely — exactly enough room for airflow to do its job without any creative modification. Cooling is handled by an NZXT Kraken Elite 360mm AIO on the CPU, with Noctua NF-P12 redux fans rounding out the case airflow. Tying it all together on the motherboard side is an MSI MAG B850M Mortar — a solid AM5 mATX board that fits the compact build philosophy without sacrificing connectivity. Power comes from a Corsair 750W Gold ATX 3.0 unit.
Cable Management and Fit Cable management in a case this size is where you either win or lose the build. Velcro and zip ties throughout, everything routed before the GPU went in. The result is clean enough that I’m not embarrassed to have it on the bench.
The Result The machine is quiet, fast, and handles whatever I throw at it — video work, 3D modeling, generative stuff. Mostly it just gets out of the way, which is exactly what a good tool should do.
Build Summary Case: Lian Li A3 (13.4 × 6.7 × 14.1”) CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D (12-core, 3D V-Cache) RAM: 64GB DDR5 @ 6000MHz Storage: 2× 1TB Crucial Gen4 M.2 SSD GPU: ASUS TUF Gaming RTX 4080 Motherboard: MSI MAG B850M Mortar (AM5 mATX) CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken Elite 360mm AIO Case Fans: Noctua NF-P12 redux PSU: Corsair 750W Gold ATX 3.0
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