Question NR200 BUILD OPINIONS

[Mylastnametoday]

I will use this PC exclusively for programming. The most intensive tasks will be compilation, running OS/VMs/text editors/web browsers and testing my software. The iGPU will drive at most two 4K monitors.
I don't like upgrading often, because I have a preference of keeping my systems for longer, especially when I am programming and don't really need the bleeding edge components all the time. It helps with stability, there are less issues with drivers and so on.

This is the build pcpartpicker link

The fan configuration:
1)2 Bottom fans intake.
2)2 Top fans exhaust.
3)Rear fan intake or remove it completely.
4)CPU cooler rear fan intake, the other fan exhaust.

The price is different than the one on pcpartpicker.com:
1)I got the 12700 for the price of the 12600K.
2)I got the NH-U12A for its regular price, but still for 10$ less than in most shops.
3)I got the ROG STRIX B660-I GAMING WIFI for the price of the B660M-A PRO WIFI DDR4.
4)I got the 32GB Kingston 5200MHz/CL40 DDR5 RAM for the price of a basic 32GB DDR4 kit (not Samsung B Die).
5)I got the FireCuda 530 for the price of the 970 Evo Plus.
6)I got the NR200 for half its regular price.
7)I got the SF750 for 10$ less due to issues with delivery.
8)I got the 5 pack Arctic P12 PWM PST, so it's a little bit cheaper than getting the fans separately.

Some issues with the parts I see:
1)The board doesn't allow BLCK.
2)I won't be able to use the side bracket with the NH-U12A.
3)The RAM is a low end DDR5 kit (I had no DDR4 RAM available before buying).
4)Arctic P12 PWM fans might be loud.

What I could do in the future:
1)Get a 4TB Gen. 4 SSD with heatsink and mount it on the back of the board and use the FireCuda 530 as boot drive.
2)Get some SATA SSDs
3)Sell my current RAM kit and get a Hynix Die RAM kit.
4)Replace the Arctic P12 PWM fans with the Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM fans
5)Optionally I could buy some decent GPU with at least 10GB VRAM and maybe deshroud it if it makes sense.

Other than that, that's all I have to say about the build.

Any opinions ?

 

[Lutfij]

Where are you located? Do yo have access to the NR200P Max ? I would advise against stuffing fans into a small form factor case and try working with a minimal number of fans.

 

[Mylastnametoday]

Where are you located? Do yo have access to the NR200P Max ? I would advise against stuffing fans into a small form factor case and try working with a minimal number of fans.

I have no access to the NR200P Max.

Edit:The only thing I could still do is sell the NR200 case, since I cannot return it and get the Lian Li O11 Air Mini.

With the Lian Li O11 Air Mini, I have the ability to use mATX boards. My preference when it comes to motherboards has always been ASUS, since nothing from them has failed on me. I could return the B660-I STRIX and get the B660-G STRIX.
When you use a full sized ATX board then the case becomes hard to work with and you lose some fan config options.
I believe that returning the SF750 PSU and buying an ATX PSU would make no sense (I can still cancel the delivery and get Seasonic Focus PX-750 or Corsair RM750x), I would just use the SFX bracket that comes with the PSU to mount it in the case.

If I did that the build would look like this pcpartpicker link

Since the case comes with 3 fans preinstalled, I would keep them stock and use 3 Arctic fans at the top exhaust and 2 Arctic fans at the bottom intake. CPU cooler rear fan intake, the other fan exhaust.

And pretty much that's the most I can do. I would unfortunately lose some money by doing so, but if it's going to help with longevity and temperatures, then I can by all means do it.

Another option is getting a DDR4 board with DDR4 RAM, but since I already have DDR5 RAM it probably makes no sense and it's too much of a hassle to return it, on top of that I have the possibility to get better DDR5 RAM in the future.

So, all in all, it's either I go with what I currently have or switch to the O11 Air Mini case with the B660-G board.

Other B660 mATX DDR5 boards available to me are:
1)B660M Mortar WIFI
2)B660M-A PRO WIFI
I am sceptical when it comes to customer support from MSI and the B660M-A PRO WIFI has no IO shield, so it's a pass. The Mortar is what I would go for if not the ASUS B660-G, although it uses Realtek instead of Intel, so that's also a pass, because of driver issues with Realtek that I always have (the price difference between the two is 25$ anyways).

I don't like Gigabyte and ASRock products.

 

[Lutfij]

I was concerned about the limited space in the NR200 and the fans inside it, not the cooler and the R200P Max does have everything you need out of the box, inclusive of short PSU cables. The build you had originally isn't bad, maybe keep the fans purchase off the table for now, see how temps go for you while on the Noctua cooler and then add the fans in as a later investment.

The Lian-Li option only means you have more room to work with, and ofc the air has a little more distance to travel meaning your fans can operate at a lower RPM when compared to the NR200...and ofc less noise eventuially.

 

[Mylastnametoday]

I was concerned about the limited space in the NR200 and the fans inside it, not the cooler and the R200P Max does have everything you need out of the box, inclusive of short PSU cables. The build you had originally isn't bad, maybe keep the fans purchase off the table for now, see how temps go for you while on the Noctua cooler and then add the fans in as a later investment.

The Lian-Li option only means you have more room to work with, and ofc the air has a little more distance to travel meaning your fans can operate at a lower RPM when compared to the NR200...and ofc less noise eventuially.

I am concerned about everything being a very tight fit in the NR200.
The Lian Li O11 Air Mini was my first choice and I don't mind having a bigger case, it means more upgradeability. Frankly, a lot of people told me that they have switched from O11 Air Mini to NR200 and they regret their decisions, although they have 12900K and RTX3080, so quite power hungry components.
The Arctic fans are very cheap, so no worries.

Could you recommend:
1)good ATX or mATX boards with Intel WIFI and Intel Ethernet for the 12700 ?
2)reliable ATX PSU ?

 

[Lutfij]

The board you got is good, actually! If you look through this lineup, the other boards are Realtek based NIC. Same story with the PSU as well, you actually get a SFX>ATX PSU mounting bracket

 

[Mylastnametoday]

The board you got is good, actually! If you look through this lineup, the other boards are Realtek based NIC. Same story with the PSU as well, you actually get a SFX>ATX PSU mounting bracket

I could actually save some money and get a Seasonic PX-750 or Corsair HX750 (they are cheaper than the SF750). I go for Platinum efficiency, because the price difference between Gold and Platinum is negligible compared to 1 year of electricity cost.

How about the B660-F motherboard ? Look

 

[Lutfij]

I was looking at a 550W unit since you don't need a discrete GPU(provided you don't want to add one in the future either)...even looked into the Fractal Ion+ 2 Platinum 560W.

Your build is growing in size as this thread is progressing. It's up to you actually

 

[Mylastnametoday]

I was looking at a 550W unit since you don't need a discrete GPU(provided you don't want to add one in the future either)...even looked into the Fractal Ion+ 2 Platinum 560W.

Your build is growing in size as this thread is progressing. It's up to you actually

Thanks for the help. I did a lot of research in the past few weeks.

Actually, I decided to return the DDR5 RAM and get DDR4 instead, mostly due to it being more stable and there are far more motherboard options. SFF is attractive, but I won't risk going that route, especially since it's my first build.

Today I decided to check my warranties via official websites and everything seems to be alright. I did it just in case, because sometimes people get scammed, especially when they get something for a way lower price than in most official retail shops.

The only boards that are in my budget and meet my requirements are the H670 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4, ROG STRIX B660-A GAMING WIFI D4 and the Z690 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4. I can get the MSI boards directly from Amazon and the B660-A from a local retailer, so there are no problems. I have the 12700, so I cannot OC, but I am still considering the Z690.

For the RAM, I really don't know which kit to pick, all I know is that I need at least 32GB.

I am also looking at different PSUs from Tier A, mostly at their cables, for example the Corsair RMx and HX are no go, because I don't want to pay for the premium cables, I would like nice cables in the price of the PSU and instead of getting separate cables, I could get a bigger PSU. I believe that most of the PSUs in Tier A are going to perform similarly, there is of course a possibility of me getting a bad unit, but I don't worry too much about that.

After I decide on and order the motherboard, RAM and PSU, I am going to go through all the cases that I like the most and order one of them. I pretty much look only at the most popular/recommended cases and the only thing that differs besides the form factor (some are taller, some more cubical etc.) is the number of fans and dust filters I get out of the box and I will probably get a case that has the most decent ones, but first I want to finally get the major components.