Question In your opinion, what is the best ITX case in terms of thermal performance for a high end build ?

[Aayden98]

I've recently gone down a rabbit hole with ITX builds trying to find the best case for thermal performance to fit my current hardware.

I've always been a fan of ITX cases, and recently decided to bite the bullet and do my first ITX build with the NR200 case from Coolermaster. Initially, I started with a R7 5800x, ROG Crosshair Impact motherboard and a TUF 3090ti GPU. The EVGA CLC 280mm AIO that I ordered was very snug inside the case, and that just didn't do it for me. I decided to try air cooling, and found a cheap used air cooler online that I swapped out for the AIO and stuck two of my noctua fans on. Then came my next issue. The beefy VRMs on the motherboard meant that I couldn't screw down the air cooler properly. I realise I probably should have done my research before buying the air cooler, so that's on me.

About a week later, my mate offered to sell me his 12900KF 4000D build for a very good price. I'm well aware of the cooling limitations of ITX, as well as the heat that the 12900KF produces, but for the price I couldn't say no. I sold my old motherboard, cpu and other parts I didn't need, and currently have the 4000D with the 12900KF and 3090ti. I was able to find a good deal on a z690 ITX DDR4 board so I could reuse my ram.

Now to present day. My ITX itch still hasn't been scratched and I want to have another go at it. I've still got the NR200 on hand and also a Fractal Torrent Nano. I'm still open to other case ideas however (Meshroom S seems like a good contender).

Am I being completely naive thinking I'm going to be able to effectively cool a 12900KF in either of these cases? My primary use is gaming, so the 12900KF is complete overkill, but I don't really want to change CPUs as I'm gonna hold out until Ryzen 7000 series are a lot cheaper and do an upgrade to DDR5.

This is how I see my options:

1. NR200 - 12900KF with 280mm AIO swapped out with Noctua fans

2. Fractal torrent nano - 12900KF with Thermalright frost commander 140 (I have this cooler on hand)

3. Buy a 12400f for cheap and flip the 12900KF, use that until I upgrade to AM5 in a year or so.

4. Invest in another ITX case that suits my needs (least favourable option).

Any recommendations are appreciated! Please don't comment on how much of a bit stupid money waster I am - I already know 🤣

 

[Aeacus]

Money wasted aside, your biggest mistake in building mini-ITX build, is having components 1st and then trying to find a PC case where to fit all of them. Proper mini-ITX build starts with PC case 1st and then you'll combine and try to fit different hardware into it, not vice-versa.

In terms of cooling, best use case would be;
* Torrent Nano (due to better fan support)
* Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE to cool the CPU (since it's king of air coolers), pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/hY...sassin-120-se-6617-cfm-cpu-cooler-pa120-se-d3
* 2x 140mm font intake + 2x 140mm bottom intake + 1x 120mm rear exhaust. Preferably where fans are:
140mm - NF-A14 industrialPPC-3000 PWM
120mm - NF-F12 industrialPPC-3000 PWM
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/ntXfrH,Mb4gXL/

If you were to run all fans at full tilt (3000 RPM), you'd have extreme positive pressure since Torrent Nano is poor PC case in terms of cooling, especially since it only has one 120mm fan mount for exhaust. But it would also be the best what you could achieve in terms of cooling. Noise wise... well, who cares. Question is about cooling, not the noise.

 

[geofelt]

The torrent nano would, by far be the better performer.
But, at 14.72" x 8.74" x 16.42" it is a bit larger than the NR200 at 11.50" x 7.28" x 14.80"

Because your use is for gaming, and not multithreaded batch apps, I don't think you will have a cooling issue using a good air cooler.
The included 180mm front intake fan will supply all the fresh air intake that you could ever want.

I love ITX builds and have done several.
I had a i9-12900K that needed a home. I installed in a lian li PC-Q08 with a single 140mm front intake.
Because the available cooler height was limited, I bought a RH1 laminar flow cooler that is the stock cooler for a 14500.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/docs/processors/laminar-coolers.html
I ran the cpu-Z stress test with some degree of success.
Yes, there was some throttling in two cores, but the pc kept running.
This is normal operation. I could not determine how often the throttling happened, nor the duration.
My normal workload is not demanding.
You may want to read this article on running a 13900k with less than top end coolers:
https://www.tomshardware.com/features/intel-core-13900k-cooling-tested

 

[Aayden98]

Money wasted aside, your biggest mistake in building mini-ITX build, is having components 1st and then trying to find a PC case where to fit all of them. Proper mini-ITX build starts with PC case 1st and then you'll combine and try to fit different hardware into it, not vice-versa.

In terms of cooling, best use case would be;
* Torrent Nano (due to better fan support)
* Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE to cool the CPU (since it's king of air coolers), pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/hY...sassin-120-se-6617-cfm-cpu-cooler-pa120-se-d3
* 2x 140mm font intake + 2x 140mm bottom intake + 1x 120mm rear exhaust. Preferably where fans are:
140mm - NF-A14 industrialPPC-3000 PWM
120mm - NF-F12 industrialPPC-3000 PWM
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/ntXfrH,Mb4gXL/

If you were to run all fans at full tilt (3000 RPM), you'd have extreme positive pressure since Torrent Nano is poor PC case in terms of cooling, especially since it only has one 120mm fan mount for exhaust. But it would also be the best what you could achieve in terms of cooling. Noise wise... well, who cares. Question is about cooling, not the noise.

The biggest limiter to start out with was my 3090ti. I could sell it and get a smaller card but the 4000 series just isn't worth it for me currently.

I think I'll be best off using a 12400f until I switch to AM5, the cooler I have should be more than enough for that.

 

[Aayden98]

The torrent nano would, by far be the better performer.
But, at 14.72" x 8.74" x 16.42" it is a bit larger than the NR200 at 11.50" x 7.28" x 14.80"

Because your use is for gaming, and not multithreaded batch apps, I don't think you will have a cooling issue using a good air cooler.
The included 180mm front intake fan will supply all the fresh air intake that you could ever want.

I love ITX builds and have done several.
I had a i9-12900K that needed a home. I installed in a lian li PC-Q08 with a single 140mm front intake.
Because the available cooler height was limited, I bought a RH1 laminar flow cooler that is the stock cooler for a 14500.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/docs/processors/laminar-coolers.html
I ran the cpu-Z stress test with some degree of success.
Yes, there was some throttling in two cores, but the pc kept running.
This is normal operation. I could not determine how often the throttling happened, nor the duration.
My normal workload is not demanding.
You may want to read this article on running a 13900k with less than top end coolers:
https://www.tomshardware.com/features/intel-core-13900k-cooling-tested

I've just ordered a thermalright peerless assassin from amazon, so now I've got a cooler that will fit in both my ITX cases I'll test temps with the nr200 and see how I go. I also have the frost commander 140 but I think that'll be cutting it for clearance in the NR200. I've read that some people have fit them in though.

 

[Aeacus]

I also have the frost commander 140 but I think that'll be cutting it for clearance in the NR200. I've read that some people have fit them in though.

Frost Commander 140 is 158mm tall, NR200 supports up to 155mm. But since side panel is thin metal, it can touch and bend out a bit, when slotted into place. But that can put too much pressure on CPU and can lead into other (more severe) issues.

I've just ordered a thermalright peerless assassin from amazon, so now I've got a cooler that will fit in both my ITX cases I'll test temps with the nr200 and see how I go.

👍