[SOLVED] Mini ITX with short low profile graphic card

[Foobrother]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advises.
I would like to fully rebuild my mini-itx machine which is getting really old. Since I don't rebuild my machines often I tend to make strong specs which can keep up for a few years to run most of the apps/games.
My mini-itx case is a Lian Li PC-Q07B. I really like its design/look and would like to keep it. Here are the specs:

- Case Type: Mini Tower
- Dimensions: (W)193mm x (H)290mm x (D)208mm
- Front bezel Material: Aluminum
- Side Panel: Aluminum
- Body Material: Aluminum
- 5.25" drive bay (External): 1
- 3.5" drive bay (External): None
- HDD bay: 1x 2.5" + 1x 3.5"
- Expansion Slot: 1
- Motherboard Support: Mini-ITX (170mm x 170mm)
- System Fan (Front): None
- System Fan (Top): None
- System Fan (Rear): None
- I/O Ports: USB2.0 x 2
- Maximum Compatibility: VGA Card length: 180mm / PSU length: 140mm / CPU cooler height: 70mm

The big advantage of this case is that you can fit a standard PSU (preferably modular to avoid having cables everywhere).

Here is what I have in mind:

• Intel chipset with i7 or i9
• Probably nvme m.2 SSD for Windows 10 and a 2.5" one (1TB) for various local storage (or another nvme m.2 if I have second slot and similar price).
• Graphic card (has to be 18cm/7inches long max and with a single slot)
• 16GB+ of RAM

- In terms of budget I don't have one. But I think if will be limited by the hardware we can fit in the case!

• I'll have a couple 3 external HDDs connected in USB3 which I use mainly for backups
• I'll have a single screen connected on HDMI Display Port
• I'll have an USB3 Hub connected to it too

I think the main challenge is to find a powerful graphic card which fits into the this case (has to be 18cm/7inches long max and with a single slot).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Foobrother]

Thanks for your input guys!
I've watched quite a few videos and read a lot of stuff about this case.
For the riser cable many people have installed RTX 3000 GPUs using the out of the box riser cable and apparently without any issue. So I'll take the risk and if I have an issue I'll switch the BIOS setting manually to PCIe Gen 3 or get a new PCIe Gen 4 riser cable.
For the safety risk, I've seen this video, it was indeed an issue until 1 or 2 months ago. Now they "worked around" the issue by replacing the metal screw of the riser cable by a plastic one. So it should be fine now

I've now adjusted my config:

CPU: Intel Core i5-10600K 4.1 GHz 6-Core Processor (£226.75 @ Technextday)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z490I AORUS ULTRA Mini ITX LGA1200 Motherboard (£205.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory (£151.58 @ Novatech)
Storage: Samsung 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£99.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£155.13 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3070 8 GB EAGLE Video Card (£612.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £1452.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

But I've noticed in the spec of the Gigabyte Z490I AORUS ULTRA motherboard the following:

1. Intel® Core™ i9/i7 processors:
   Support for DDR4 5000(O.C.)/4933(O.C.)/4800(O.C.)/ 4700(O.C.)/ 4600(O.C.)/ 4500(O.C.)/ 4400(O.C.)/ 4300(O.C.)/4266(O.C.) / 4133(O.C.) / 4000(O.C.) / 3866(O.C.) / 3800(O.C.) / 3733(O.C.) / 3666(O.C.) / 3600(O.C.) / 3466(O.C.) / 3400(O.C.) / 3333(O.C.) / 3300(O.C.) / 3200(O.C.) / 3000(O.C.) / 2933 / 2800 / 2666 / 2400 / 2133 MHz memory modules
2. Intel® Core™ i5/i3/Pentium®/Celeron® processors:
   Support for DDR4 2666/2400/2133 MHz memory modules

https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/Z490I-AORUS-ULTRA-rev-1x/sp#sp

https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Memory/_mb_memory_z490i-aorus-ultra_201012.pdf

With i5 CPUs it only supports 2666MHz for the RAM?! If that's right, does it have a big impact on perf if the RAM is running at 2666MHz rather than 3200 or 3600?

I was also considering the MSI MEG Z490I UNIFY motherboard. But it just has a PCIe Gen 3 (not good if I want to buy a Gen 4 riser cable) even if it's been released a month after the Gigabyte?!
However it seems to support RAM with higher frequency (3200, 3600, +):
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MEG-Z490I-UNIFY/Specification

MSI MEG Z490I UNIFY Mini-ITX Gaming Motherboard (10th Gen Intel Core, LGA 1200 Socket, Dual M.2 Slots, Thunderbolt 3 Type-C, Wi-Fi 6)

Powered by Intel 10th Gen Core processors, the MSI MEG Z490I UNIFY (mini-ITX) begins its dark conquest with a design made to accomplish any task with cruel efficiency. Connect to ultra-fast networks with 2.5G LAN and Wi-Fi AX. Move bulky files faster with

www.msi.com

 

[Vic 40]

With i5 CPUs it only supports 2666MHz for the RAM?!

That is only with the locked cpu's not a "K" one.

 

[tennis2]

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...0600k-processor-12m-cache-up-to-4-80-ghz.html
i5-10600K = 2666MHz on any non-Z series mobos.

AFAIK (And correct me if I'm wrong), you can exceed the ark listed memory frequency even on non-K CPUs as long as you have a Z-series mobo. The K just denotes that the CPU core frequency multiplier is able to be changed. That's not the same as memory ratio.

 

[Vic 40]

No you're right, don't know what i was thinking typing that.