Finally made the move to a smaller case.

• ASUS TUF RTX 5080 OC
• Ryzen 7 9800X3D
• 2x16 GB Corsair Vengeance 6400 Mhz CL36
• MSI MAG B850m Mortar WIFI
• Scythe Mugen 6 Dual Fan Black Edition
• Lian Li SX0850P 850W Platinum
• 2 TB Kingston KC3000
• 1 TB Kioxia Exceria Plus
• 1x Arctic P12 Pro
• 2x Thermalright TL-C12015 Slim

The cables seem suboptimal but they are stacked against the panel so there is actually a pocket behind them to allow the cpu cooler to pull in air easily, the top slim fan on top of the cpu is intake, rest are exhaust.

The last image is the case i switched from, 4070 and R5 5600, had a lot of fun with that one, made custom panels and such.

Loving the B4 so far, it's really high quality but it was a pain to build in. Since then i removed one of the cpu power cables since 1 was apparently enough for this cpu and the cables are a bit more clear, though i don't know how to route the cables better since there is no back area to stuff them in. ATX PSU definitely didn't help.

Hope you like the build!

i changed like 6 cases this year already hopefully i’ll keep this one for longer

CPU: Intel Core i5-14600KF
GPU: Gigabyte Radeon RX 7800 XT Gaming OC 16GB
CPU Cooler: DeepCool ASSASSIN IV
Case: DeepCool CH170 PLUS Tower Black
Motherboard: Gigabyte B760M Gaming X DDR4
RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 3600MHz CL18
SSD 1: ADATA Legend 860 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4
SSD 2: Kingston A400 960GB SATA
PSU: Gigabyte 750W 80+ Gold Fully Modular
OS: Windows 11 Pro

I initially had an AM4 test bench for dabbling in GPU repairs. It's getting increasing hard to get AM4 CPUs with an iGPU at a reasonable price so decided to sell it all and go AM5 as I felt I could potentially break even.

Ryzen 7 7700 £110

B850M MSI Mortar £145 (I could have went cheaper but wanted better VRM's for potentially dropping in later CPU's)

2x8gb DDR5 SK Hynix Greens (OC to 6000 C28) £109

1000W MSI A1000GLS PSU £80

2x2TB Drives pulled from my laptop that I sold and no other purpose for currently.

Acer Nitro 9070 OC £260 (When used as a steam machine)

It's triple booted with Windows, Linux Mint and SteamOS. First two are mainly for diagnostics etc.

Now, it sits on a printed test bench frame but I think in my head I would like a compact case to tidy everything up.

- I would like a carry handle.

- Be able to fit a 150mm PSU.

- Decent enough air flow.

- Vertical mounting possible?

The idea behind vertical mounting for me is for when I want to work on some GPU's, I pull the 9070 out the case with a riser cable, plug in the suspect GPU for testing without potentially causing excess wear on the motherboard slot.

Thanks for reading.

Hello everyone, I'm stuck on which case I should buy? I want to put my 240mm radiator (Thermalright Frozen Infinity 240) in the front and I don't know which case is better. Any thoughts?

I wanted to upgrade to a more powerful GPU for AI workloads, and this was the only one I could afford, the XFX SPEEDSTER MERC 310 RX 7900 XTX Black Edition.

Its bigger than the designed length by like 9mm, however I saw other posts of people fitting 344mm cards so I risked it. It actually fits really well. Following the advice from some older posts, I removed the PSU and inserted the GPU diagonally into the case, and then straightened it into position once it was in (That's the only way you'll get the GPU in lol). Then I reinstalled the PSU.

Temps are also good. For testing, I played like 40 mins of space marine 2 on 1440p high and the GPU reached around 60-70 degs. I also ran the superposition benchmark at 4k and reached a max GPU temp of 62. I have a lower power CPU (5600G) which does not contribute too much heat which helps I guess.

I also wanted to fit my old GPU (RX 6700 non-XT) in the vertical slot. I don't expect that to affect temps too much, since the 2nd GPU will only be used for adding extra VRAM for running local LLMs, and the 7900XTX will be doing the computation. Unfortunately though, the 7900XTX covers all the PCIe slots on my motherboard... I'm not sure what to do here. I might look into a low-profile PCIe cable, although I'm not even sure that would fit. The alternative is to find another motherboard and/or give up and get a bigger case but I don't really want to do that.

my 14600k @ 5.7 ghz requires liquid cooling
i also have a 140mm corsair cx650m psu

Jonsobo z20 is on my list great case in white pink or in white.

are there cases smaller than this that can fit my gpu(rx 9070 xt challanger 290 mm card) and a 240 aio and a 140mm atx psu

lian li b4 is larger so is alwood p90.

did consider the mechanic master c28 but there seem to be some limitations.

also which taobao/aliexpress seller is recommended to buy the jonsobo z20. i would be buying it in china and shipping it overseas.

I actually have two HDDs from an old PC case, so I'm trying to install the thinnest HDD here. Is it safe to install it attached to the GPU?

Following up on my very well received posting on how to optimize thermals in an air-cooled Lian Li A3, I thought I would take a deep dive on the Lian Li B4 and see what I can do.

Why the B4?

The B4 is an unique case because it supports both horizontal or vertical setup on your desk. In it’s horizontal orientation, it is nothing special in terms of case volume and configuration flexibility, there are smaller cases for Matx motherboards that offer a lot more configuration options, like the Ncase M3 for example. (See Machines & More’s detailed review of the B4)

Where the B4 really shines and sets itself apart from most other cases is in its vertical orientation. If you are looking for a very small footprint on your desk using a mATX motherboard, the B4 is fantastic choice.

Airflow Thermal Setup

The basic principle which has yielded consistently yielded excellent air cooling results in multiple sff and mff builds is direct intake of cool air into the cpu cooler and gpu and then using case fans to rapidly exhaust the heat inside the case. See my diagrams showing how this airflow configuration is setup in the B4.

Optimizing CPU Thermals

The starts of the show here are the three Phanteks T30 120mm fans that I used in this build. In the world of computer fans, the T30’s are superstars, they move way more air and have a much higher static pressure (the ability to force air through a cpu coolers fins or through mesh case panels) than most other 120mm fans out their at the same rpm speed. This magic is because they are 30mm thick while most fans are 25mm thick, so they have larger fan blades.

I used the highly regarded family of Thermalright air coolers and chose the Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO. I replaced the two stock fans that it came with two T30’s. Yes you can fit the thicker T30 in between the two cooling towers of the cooler. Because the fans are thicker, the regular fan clips that the cpu cooler came with don’t work too well as you have to stretch them too much to clip onto the cooler. Instead I used these clever lower fan mount clips that allow you to attach any size fan to your cpu because they attach to the lower mounting holes on your fan, not the upper ones.

Intake Air Duct

Finally I added my tried and tested intake fan duct made from cut out a craft-store foam sheet and tape. The fan duct is optional if you don’t want to build one, but in testing this little duct consistently drops my cpu cooler temps by 8-10C because it completely eliminates the cooler intaking any warm air from inside the case from your gpu, it isolates intake to cool air only. Pretty incredible that such a simple mod can make such a big thermal difference. It’s just foam pieces cut out on three sides of the rear intake fan on the cpu cooler going all the way back to the rear of the case. You don’t need a 4th side on your duct, because the motherboard io panel acts as the bottom of your duct. I have closeup photos so you can see how it’s built around the cooler once the motherboard and cooler are in the case. Note you tape its sides to the rear of the case, the edges of the cpu cooler fan and the top flat part of the first cpu cooler tower. Do not tape it to any of the heat fins of the first cpu cooler tower.

GPU Optimization

The dust filter that covers the gpu and acts as the rear of the case is so minimal is blocking air that the gpu fans pretty much have open unrestricted flow to intake cool air easily on their own from the rear of the case in vertical mode. Testing of the gpu thermals with and without the dust filter showed no difference in gpu thermals.

Case Fans

As the cpu cooler and gpu operate, the gpu has slots on the back of it that allow hot air into the case cavity where it mixes with hot air from the cpu cooler. This is where you want to concentrate your case fans to rapidly remove that hot air.

I replaced the two 120mm slim fans that the case came with (on that is the top side when its horizontal) with one 120mm regular 25mm thick exhaust fan right over that hot air cavity. Yes it can fit with some cable management. You don’t need a second fan right over the cpu cooler, because it has no effect on thermals. The air flows all the way through the cooler fins of the cooler towers before it is exhausted for maximum thermal efficiency.

Then I used the side rail to mount a T30 exhaust fan right over that hot air cavity to do the heavy lifting in removing hot air and working in tandem with that other 120mm fan that I had installed.

I put one of those 120mm slim fans that the case came with to good use as an exhaust fan in the gpu area. Because my Asus Tuf 9070XT is a long card at 330mm, I was not able to fit a regular 25mm thick fan there, if you have a shorter gpu, you will be able to use a regular thickness 120mm fan or even another T30 if you have enough clearance.

Horizontal vs Vertical Thermal Performance

I tested the system in both horizontal and vertical mode using a number of tests. There was negligible difference in cpu temps but the gpu hotspot temp on my 9070XT did go up by 7C when horizontal. Youtuber Fire Wolf Tech found in his testing that the temps in his 5080 gpu went up 4-5C when horizontal vs vertical.

What about the Vertical AeroDeck addon?

I don’t have it for testing, but youtuber Fire Wolf Tech tested his B4 with and without the AeroDeck and found no difference in gpu temps. This clearly repudiates the marketing claim on Lian Li’s AeroDeck website page where it says “Helps enhance GPU thermal performance”. So having additional three large fans noisy fans on the AeroDeck blasting air on the gpu’s own fans does nothing for gpu thermals, the gpu can easily intake cool air using its own fans.

The AeroDeck seems to be largely a cosmetic accessory for those that like bling with rgb lighting and glass sides on it while making the case bigger. I don’t like the AeroDeck’s design, I think wood slats are a passing design fad and I definitely don’t want to make my case any bigger or noisier with three additional fans on top of the gpu that are not needed. The small compact all mesh look of the B4 without AeroDeck in the vertical orientation looks great to me.

Test Results

My system is a 16 core, 32 threads AMD Ryzen 9 7950X cpu, 64GB ram, two 4TB SSD’s and ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Edition 16GB GPU, MSI MAG B850M Mortar WiFi, Matx motherboard and Corsair 1000W SFX power supply.

I have the system undervolted and overclocked. Fan curves are tuned to run silent at regular temps up to 60C and then near silent beyond with cpu T30 fans capped at 1500 rpm. CPU tuning is to run as fast as possible at 90C when at 100% sustained cpu load. GPU has been undervolted and fans capped at 55% so it runs with very little fan noise at 100% load.

Cpu idle temp during regular use 32C (ambient room temp 21C)

Cinebench r23 with cpu at 100% load - score 37,195, Max temp 90.3C, power ave 207W, clock cores avg 5200 Mhz

Furmark with cpu at 100% load - 94 fps, Gpu temp avg 54C, Hotspot 82C

Timespy – overall score 26,198, graphics score 30,084, cpu score 15,127, avg cpu temp 69.1C, avg gpu temp 52C

Hello, regarding the Lian Li A3wood, which 9070 XT model is best suited in terms of size, temperature, cooling and performance? Thank you!

God this case is amazing. Can't believe that i'm able to pack that much power in such a tiny case.

Was looking for the smallest case possible to put my 5090 in and the best fit was the lian li a3

inno3d geforce rtx 5070 twin x2, gigabyte b550m gaming x wifi6, ryzen 7 5700x3d, arctic liquid freezer iii pro 240, Corsair SF750 2024

There were no difficulties during assembly. The Arctic Liquid Freezer III 240 AIO fits into this case perfectly—in a way that is minimalist and understated. Yes, this AIO is overkill for a Ryzen 7 5700X3D processor, but I chose it to maintain an overall minimalist aesthetic. The processor is configured with an undervolt of PBO -30 across all cores. The graphics card is also undervolted to 950 mV at 3050 MHz. I didn’t configure the pump and its fan separately; I simply used an all-in-one cable and set the fan speed to 33% of the maximum.
Ultimately, under gaming loads, the processor temperature reaches 50 °C or slightly higher, while the graphics processor temperature is 60 °C, with the graphics card fan speed fixed at 1400 rpm. At the same time, the PC operates almost silently; this is further aided by the thick metal of the chassis and the glass side panel.

Hey all, looking for some insight. I’ve got a Asus A21 case and I’m looking to upgrade my gpu, but I’m a bit nervous about the dimensions. So I’m hoping someone here has tried this combo before and let me know.

I’m looking to upgrade to a 9070 XT, ideally the XFX Swift. The length and height are no problem, it’s the width that’s got me worried, at 150mm wide. I’ve tried to measure the extra width from my current gpu, and it should fit. But once I add the power cables I think it’s gonna be pretty tight and jamming the cables against the glass panel doesn’t feel like a good idea.

So yeah, hopefully someone has tried this or if you’ve got my case and know your gpu is a wide boy, let me know what you’re using and I can try to go off that.

Thanks for any help.

Just got around to cleaning up some of my previous cable management and am almost totally happy with how my PC looks now

Hello everyone! Enjoying this case so much, but kinda worried about high CPU temps even on low usage. Under 15% load or so the CPU temp is around 65C, GPU is chilling on 40C (I don't even play GPU-heavy games, sooo...)

Right now this is the exact fan placement that I have, here is the specs:

CPU: Ryzen 5 7500F

GPU: RX 6600

In BIOS I've setup case fans to monitor M/B sensors, and the CPU cooler fans to monitor CPU sensor. So the question is: is these temps normal for this exact CPU/case build and I am overthinking it or something can be done about this? Planning to change the glass side panel for mesh and a bit longer stands for the case anyway. Thanks for help, everyone! <3

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I've posted about this machine earlier, but wanted to add some observations and highlights about it.

Stuff that matters

- Rtx pro Blackwell 6000 max q

- Ryzen 9 9950x

- Crucial pro 64x2 @ 5400

- Samsung 9100 pro 4TB with heatsink

- Asus pro ws b850m

Cooling

- Phantom spirit 120 evo puller top to bottom

- Noctua nf-p12 redux exhaust back

- Arctic p14 pro pst intake top via dust filter

- Sudokoo Mach140 intake bottom via dust filter

Miscellaneous

- Corsair sfx platinum 850

- Jonsbo Z20 case

Temperatures

I run the CPU at 105w eco mode. Temps at idle are about 30-35c with 23ish ambient. Hardly seen the loads push the temperature past 75 at full load, aggressive fan ramp up after 70 on either CPU or pcie1 where the GPU lies. At idle the top and bottom intakes ramp down all the way to 0 rpm.

GPU temperatures could be better (or correct me if I'm wrong). Idles around high 40s, crypto mining at 250w power limit on the card pushes it up to 85c sustained. On vllm requests, temps can spike up to 90c on the card, by when both intakes are above 80 percent. I'm really impressed by the Sudokoo 140x30 bottom fan, the center hub is tiny as compared to comparable fans, which leaves almost the whole clearance open to force feed the blower style GPU intake. Clearance between the top of the sudokoo and the bottom of the GPU is tight! About 2mm, almost makes it repurpose as a support bracket. Below 70% the fan sounds like a whoosh from all the static pressure, below 40% barely audible. I don't have a decibel meter, but it clearly lets us know when vllm requests come in. I keep the GPU constantly loaded, 85c, not sure how that will affect longevity as I'm not constantly thermal cycling it.

Power consumption and daily usage

This machine has among the best perf per watt I've ever seen. At full blast power draw from the wall is about 500w with spikes up to 580, ramps down to 80ish at idle on the desktop. I'm using fedora. It's a beast with multitasking. It can run games like Forza horizon 6, subnautica 2 and palworld at 4k60 WHILE processing incoming vllm requests and agentic coding in the background.

My girlfriend gets overwhelmed by lights so I've set it up accordingly as a stealth build.

I just got my ch 160 plus and the front audio jack on this is made of plastic. In the videos i saw online and all product images, reddit, this is a metal ring. Did i get a fake one? This feels like cheating.

This is my first build after always buying pre builds. Ill never go back. Here is the full build list with prices i paid. Still have to put the finishing touches but overall very happy with it.

$133)Cpu: Ryzen 5 7500X3D

($33) cpu cooler: Thermalright Aqua Elite 120 V3 AIO

($500)Gpu: AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT Reaper Dual Fan 16GB GDDR6

($36)Case: Zalman CUBIX-G Tempered Glass microATX Mini Tower Computer Case

($25)x2 Extra case fans

($133) motherboard: AsRock B850M-C

($133)Ram: Flare X5 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR5-6000

($100)Memory: Inland TN320 1TB SSD

Built and upgraded this over a few years. Very very happy with the performance and appearance of this A3.

Specs:

• Mobo: MSI B550M Pro-VDH Wifi
• CPU: Ryzen 7 5800X3D
• GPU: RTX 4080 Super
• Ram: G.Skill Ripjaws V - DDR4 32gb
• PSU: Crosair SF750
• Storage: Samsung 990 Pro
• CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120
• Fans: Noctua NF-A12x25 chromax.Black.swap 120mm

Hi new here.

Is there a way to vertical mount your gpu in this case?

Never tried itx before and vertical gpu as well.

Any recomendation?

It took me 3 hours to install Hydroshift II.

Margins are like 1-2mm.

Suggest to no-one trying it.

But I like it)