Question Hello! Please help with my new built-in-desk PC!

Apr 23, 2024
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I've been working on this build for a couple of years now, postponing it a couple of times, and now after so much time I really don't want to give up, even though I maybe should :)

Here's the deal, I've left an empty top shelf on my desk, with a window on top, big enough to fit my PC in it. I want to be able to slide it open, so everything has to be attached to it, which means I can't put any fans/radiators on the sides. Which makes using AIO very difficult. The specs are listed below, and my questions are:

Am I going to be able to cool the 7900X with this setup, or should I choose something else? I was thinking 5950X, but I'm using this PC for 3D/animation/rendering only, and 7900X seems to get a bit better scores. Or maybe you can recommend something else in a similar price range? My first idea was 7950X (with RTX 4060), but I was told I wouldn't be able to cool it with air. That's why I went with a weaker CPU and better GPU.

I'm pretty confident this setup and layout could work, but I'd love to hear your opinion, as this is my first build and there are probably a lot of things I could've done better/differently. Thanks!

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (or 5950X, or something else?)
ASROCK X670E PG Lightning
KINGSTON FURY 32GB Beast DDR5 6000MHz CL36
ADATA 1TB XPG Gammix S70 Blade M.2 PCIe M.2 2280
THERMALRIGHT Phantom Spirit 120 SE
ARCTIC COOLING P14 PWM x3 (front two and one at the back)
EVGA SuperNOVA P6 850W
NVIDIA RTX 4070 12GB

Here are the images of how it should look like:
https://ibb.co/28M1Nvg
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

If you had the PSU around where the GPU is but drawing air from the front of the desk with the cables exiting the top would mean that eh PSU is fed with cooler ambient air. That might impeded with your PSU cable lengths.

The build will work with those components, o doubt though I'd opt to get a small form factor chassis(downsize the build a little) and show it off atop your desk if I were you. Just to point out, the desk PC idea was back when components weren't so hot headed, now we're looking at watercooling to tame temps or huge tower coolers, like we did back in the late 90's/Early 2000's.

My 2 cents.
 
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Mar 31, 2024
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An AIO radiator doesn't need to be installed on the side. The biggest obstacle for an AIO is be the distance from the block to the nearest fan. It's possible to use an AIO heathsink fan as exhaust but obviously CPU temps are going to climb higher, faster.

Anecdote: I got a miniITX in a 222mm x 176mm x 276mm case. It has a intake single fan, 120mm, which has also the radiator for the AIO I'm using. The case doesn't have an active exhaust unless you count the PSU. The PSU is a regular ATX sized one on the top of the case, upside down because I still had hopes of using a SFX in the future thus didn't want to cut the back of case to fit the plug of the ATX PSU.

I also work with 3D, sculpting, marvelous design, lots of photoshop, this kind of thing. The parts are old, the GPU was already mid-to-low range when I bought it (GTX 1060 6GB), so everything tends to run cooler. Ambient temperatures here are consistently over 30ºC for several weeks a year. The GPU and the NVMe installed in the underside of the mobo are the hottest parts, peaking at 80ºC. They're also the parts that benefit the least from the radiator-warmed air intake and the PSU drawing air out. I rely so much on the GPU nowadays that the CPU is always pretty cool.

My GPU fans face the side of the case, which has vents. I'm concerned that in your project the fan that's blowing air in the GPU direction is too far to feed it cool air properly, besides having the airflow disrupted by the PSU exhaust. You work with 3D, I expect the GPU to run hot. You might want to install a smaller intake fan on the back close to the GPU to ensure it's receiving ambient air.
 
Apr 23, 2024
3
0
10
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

If you had the PSU around where the GPU is but drawing air from the front of the desk with the cables exiting the top would mean that eh PSU is fed with cooler ambient air. That might impeded with your PSU cable lengths.

The build will work with those components, o doubt though I'd opt to get a small form factor chassis(downsize the build a little) and show it off atop your desk if I were you. Just to point out, the desk PC idea was back when components weren't so hot headed, now we're looking at watercooling to tame temps or huge tower coolers, like we did back in the late 90's/Early 2000's.

My 2 cents.
Thank you for your reply!
I'm pretty much stuck with the dimensions I have which don't allow almost any wiggle room. I tried rotating the motherboard, but then the GPU blocks everything. I'm also thinking about adding one more fan to that CPU cooler, just for good measure.
 
Apr 23, 2024
3
0
10
An AIO radiator doesn't need to be installed on the side. The biggest obstacle for an AIO is be the distance from the block to the nearest fan. It's possible to use an AIO heathsink fan as exhaust but obviously CPU temps are going to climb higher, faster.

Anecdote: I got a miniITX in a 222mm x 176mm x 276mm case. It has a intake single fan, 120mm, which has also the radiator for the AIO I'm using. The case doesn't have an active exhaust unless you count the PSU. The PSU is a regular ATX sized one on the top of the case, upside down because I still had hopes of using a SFX in the future thus didn't want to cut the back of case to fit the plug of the ATX PSU.

I also work with 3D, sculpting, marvelous design, lots of photoshop, this kind of thing. The parts are old, the GPU was already mid-to-low range when I bought it (GTX 1060 6GB), so everything tends to run cooler. Ambient temperatures here are consistently over 30ºC for several weeks a year. The GPU and the NVMe installed in the underside of the mobo are the hottest parts, peaking at 80ºC. They're also the parts that benefit the least from the radiator-warmed air intake and the PSU drawing air out. I rely so much on the GPU nowadays that the CPU is always pretty cool.

My GPU fans face the side of the case, which has vents. I'm concerned that in your project the fan that's blowing air in the GPU direction is too far to feed it cool air properly, besides having the airflow disrupted by the PSU exhaust. You work with 3D, I expect the GPU to run hot. You might want to install a smaller intake fan on the back close to the GPU to ensure it's receiving ambient air.
You might be right... I think I'll include a space for a small intake fan at the back, but first I'll try the current setup and see what happens. I'm also thinking about offsetting the right front fan to get it a bit higher above the PSU.
Thank you for your reply!