Ryzen 5 3600x on a Mini-ITX case - dumb idea?

I’ve been organizing and selling some hardware lately and i came across my barely used CM HAF Stacker 915R case i had stashed, fully boxed, into my wardrobe.
It immediately sparked me that i missed that thing, it was easy to carry around, spacious for the graphics card and had a 5.25" bay, perhaps i should use it again.
In order for me to be able to use it, the only two things i have to change in my system is my motherboard and CPU cooler, however the ones i already own are high quality items and i’m a bit reluctant to let them go.
I also run a Ryzen 5 3600x CPU, which as we learned in this post, is one warm mofo.
So, should i go back to ITX, or give up?

ITX isn’t the problem here, the fact that the 915R puts the PSU right above the CPU … is.

What if redirect the heat of the CPU to the side, with an AIO like the H80i?

If you have one, you could try that. If you don’t have one already … flip the case and get something different.

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I used to have one, but not currently.
The problem with the other cases is that they don’t fit my AMP Extreme RTX 2070, so yeah, i might just give up and stay on ATX.

What about the sister model, the 915F? That one routes power through the case and puts the PSU in the front underneath the optical bay.

There’s one for sale on Mercado Livre, but the owner doesn’t seem to be responding.

What if, you treat the case like a server?
Look at the airflow pattern, reverse the red arrows and ditch the CPU fan!
image

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Fit a 4U copper heatsink and call it a day? lol

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List of coolers that should work:

Brand Name Hight (mm) Note
Rajintek Pallas 120 68
Noctua NH-L12S 70
Thermalright AXP-100 68 Also as “full copper” version fwiw
Scythe Big Shuriken 3 69
BeQuiet ShadowRock LP 75.4

Ok, but did you notice the power supply goes on the top and the motherboard at the bottom of the arrows, like this?


You can also face the power supply fan up since the case has a mesh top, so it doesn’t interfere with the CPU cooler.

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No I did not notice that. CM’s documentation on the case sucks!

How are fan placements on the sides? Because then you could just force air to escape in the back (static preasure in the case).

That would’ve worked on the 915F model @noenken mentioned.
It has 3 fans slots on the sides, you can use 2 of them with slim fans and 1 with a normal fan.

I really think the F model would be the way to go. You could even drop the NF-U12A on the CPU because the PSU is out of the way.

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And apparently I got a buyer for the 915R, if i want to sell, local guy wants it

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Could also DIY the case completly :stuck_out_tongue:

Well, there you go. :smiley:

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Yeah, i’ll hunt something else entirely lol

Would the stock cooler from a 3800x be of any use to you? I still have mine BNIB from my recent build if you want it.

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Would be of extreme usefulness, but unfortunately i’m situated in Brazil :pensive: