My build dilemma (Ok, not a dilemma, but advice requested)

Howdy, guys and gals.

I am kind of a goofy individual and always feel the need to be tinkering with stuff. So I have seen some micro builds recently and have fallen in love with them. The problem is, I recently (mid 2013) built a new desktop and am not entirely sure which direction to go in. So here I am requesting some advice from you all.

My current build:

Mobo: Z87 Pro LGA 1150 Asus
Proc: i7 4770k
Cooling: H100i Corsair
RAM: 32 Gb corsair Vengance
PGU: EVGA 780 GTX Super Clocked ACX (non ti) in SLI
PSU: Corsair TX850M
Case: Fractal Design R4
A couple of SSDs and a 1TB drive for random game storage, etc.


Link of my current build to see the space I am using up, etc: http://i.imgur.com/8vd3b7A.jpg


What I would like to do:

I would like to move into a Corsair 240 air potentially as I am a huge fan of the smaller foot print (I have a tiny office) and am unsure where to begin.

I know I would need a new mobo for sure to make this happen, as my current mobo isn't a Micro ATX and wouldn't fit in this case.

My other concerns are the GPU's I own. 2x780s with those ACX coolers on them seem like they would be far too cramped and run rather hot in such a small case. I have seen others running SLI cards in this case but they were using 9 series cards and also had reference coolers on them, so all the heat was getting blown out the back vs. into the case. My thought here was I could sell them both off and go with 970s in sli, 980s in sli, or maybe just pick up a Titan X (I have a discount code given to me that would allow me to pick one up for roughly 850). I also know that dropping down to a single card would cut down on my power consumption by quite a bit (hey, energy costs a ton in Colorado ), but I am rather spoiled by the horse power.

Option 2: Settle for a middle of the road scenario and build a Corsair 540 and keep everything I have, while eventually updating my GPU's for scratching the upgrade itch. I really love the 780's for the power, but love the 9 series tech and have really been looking for a reason to upgrade. I can pick up the latest GPU and get these 780s to a new home while they are still worth something is my thought here. The only issue is, I am not getting that small form factor I desired to begin with.


So, TLDR:

If I go with a Corsair 240, and decide to get an LGA 1150 board that will fit it (MicroATX), do I attempt to cram both 780's in SLI inside this case, or pick up a Titan X, or SLI 970s/980s? I get a nice discount on an X is the only reason I am considering it at all, btw.

or

Deal with the small office space issues, get a Corsair 540 case and just upgrade the GPU's? (Not my first choice, but maybe the most logical)?

Thanks for reading my first world problem's rant! I hope a few of you can steer me in the right direction.

 

I like the idea of micro builds. I personally would not do a sli micro build unless it was going to be water cooled. I would do a micro build with a single fast gpu button satisfy my needs it would have to be a Titan x.
If you want sli non reference cards go with atx board and try to find one that has the sexism pcie slot that is triple spaced away so you have more air flow between the cards.
My air540 for example had a Asus rampage IV black MB and at the time two Evga kingpin cards. That extra slot space really helped a lot with air flow and gpu temps.
If non of that is a option but you want sli just stick with reference cooler. Save yourself some money, you can still overlock the crap out of them and will run a little cooler if you got the sli sammy going on.

That's just my two cents..

 

If you can cool it, sli 980s are faster than a titan x, but otherwise, on a small build I agree with pathfindercod, that a single powerful gpu is the way to go. Also this month supposedly we are getting the r9 390 and 980 ti reveals, so I'm waiting to see which of those gpus look best before deciding on anything. From what I've seen an sli 240 would be toasty though.

 

How small of an office space? Honestly I don't understand why this is ever an issue, you can get longer cables or extensions etc. The only reason I go for specific cases is because of how they look. More and more I am realizing that I don't actually have to look at my PC, I can get a simple $40 device that will allow me to start up my PC from S5 state with any IR remote, with any motherboard. Which will allow me to put it pretty much anywhere, run a few USB extensions and out of sight out of mind.

I've been building small computers for the last few years and I'm sick of it. I wouldn't go for a small build if I ever planned on putting anything larger than GTX 750 in my computer.

 

Went ahead and grabbed the titan x. So far this baby is humming right along and is staying very cool. I'm impressed with this cases cooling. I'll add a pic tomorrow.

 

Good choice... >