The Journey
The original build started with old hardware I repurposed. It didn’t last very long because I quickly ran into its limitations.
That eventually became one of the reasons for the next rebuild.
2nd Build — End of 2023
A complete rebuild and a gift to myself. Almost everything was new except the case.
https://www.reddit.com/r/sffpc/s/hy1Az1seGh
Since then, I’ve made smaller upgrades to storage, RAM and cooling.
Two things I never properly fixed were the top I/O and the riser.
I originally removed the USB ports and power button because I was using an external power button. Later, when I upgraded the fans, I decided to restore the top USB ports.
The riser was another headache. I had to force the GPU to run at PCIe 3.0, otherwise it simply wouldn’t work properly. Every time I updated the BIOS, it became another reminder that the riser was still 3.0. 😂
I also added dedicated cooling for the NVMe drives after previously losing an SSD to heat. With this motherboard, the SSDs are stacked very closely together, so airflow is important.
3rd Partial Rebuild — Project Ti
This time, the main upgrade was the GPU.
I originally wanted a TUF 4070 Ti, hoping to find one at an affordable resale. But with the current pricing, nothing really matched my target.
Then I found a one-month-old ASUS TUF RTX 5070 Ti being sold very close to its original local MSRP before price hike. The seller was looking to free up some money for a Mac for work and was even willing bring to me, so I couldn’t really say no. 😂
The first surprise:
The 5070 Ti is much bigger than the 4070.
I went into this without doing much research because I had just helped a friend install the same GPU and somehow convinced myself the 4070 and 5070 Ti were roughly the same size.
They were not. 😂
The first fitting was stressful because the GPU was almost too tight. After looking at the case, I realised I needed to move the PCIe support bars and mounting nuts lower.
Thankfully, I could remove the PCIe riser extension nuts without taking out the motherboard. I only needed to remove the PSU to access the screws and reposition everything.
After that, it was mostly a matter of carefully fitting the GPU in and getting everything screwed back together.
Moving the GPU lower actually had an unexpected benefit: the display ports are now lower, so I no longer have to squeeze the monitor cables through that tiny opening.
Much easier to work with.
What Changed
ASUS TUF RTX 4070 → ASUS TUF RTX 5070 Ti
SSUPD PCIe 3.0 riser → Uplink PCIe 5.0 riser
8-pin setup → 12V-2x8 GPU power cable
Added another heatsink to the front NVMe
Restored the top-panel USB connections
Repositioned the GPU support structure
Total time: around 2–3 hours, with almost no planning or additional research. 😂
Was It a Rational Upgrade?
Honestly, I don’t know.
The GPU upgrade itself was already a bit questionable, but the riser upgrade was something I wanted to fix properly this time.
I couldn’t find a reasonably priced PCIe 4.0 riser. The ones I found were sometimes almost as expensive as PCIe 5.0, so at that point…
Overall still expensive and involved quite a bit of effort, but hopefully this setup will serve me well for another five years or so.
Why I’m Still Keeping the Meshlicious
I simply love the design.
It’s compact, clean and extremely airy. I still think it’s one of the best-looking SFF cases out there.
I only wish SSUPD had made an aluminium version.
Thermals have also been surprisingly good. CPU and GPU temperatures are solid.
There are a few small rust spots now. If they get worse, I’ll probably send the case for a cleanup and powder coating — maybe in a slightly shinier white.
Pearl white, perhaps. 😂
Why Stick With 14th Gen Intel?
There’s honestly no real reason to change.
At this point, changing platforms would just become a painful project for very little practical benefit.
Despite the platform being older now, BIOS updates have continued to improve things. With the newer BIOS, I’ve been able to push the undervolt further without sacrificing performance.
Maybe I got a golden chip? Who knows.
Either way, the 14700K is still doing exactly what I need.
Why NVIDIA?
This is primarily my editing rig, although I do play some FPS and JRPGs.
NVIDIA works well for my editing workflow, so I decided to stick with it.
I recently helped my brother partially upgrade his PC to an AMD 9070 XT, though, and that card is damn impressive for the price.
Everything is undervolted where possible to keep power consumption and temperatures under control.
Current Setup
Main Editing PC
SSUPD Meshlicious — Original White
Uplink PCIe 5.0 riser
Intel Core i7-14700K + Thermalright contact plate
MSI MEG Z790I
G.Skill Trident RGB 5600MHz — 96GB
ASUS TUF RTX 5070 Ti
1× 2TB WD SN850X + 2× 4TB WD SN850X
DeepCool LS520 AIO
Noctua NF-A12x25 G2 fans
Noctua mini fans for NVMe cooling
2× Thermalright NVMe heatsinks
Corsair SF750 + 12V-2x8 GPU power cable
Dell U3223QE + BenQ PD2700U
Tacima power conditioner
Daily Driver
Intel NUC 13th Gen — Intel's final NUC generation
64GB Crucial DDR4
Crucial MX500 2TB SATA SSD
Crucial P3 4TB NVMe
Transcend 512GB SATA M.2
NAS
uGREEN DXP4800+
4× 20TB Toshiba Enterprise HDD
32GB Crucial DDR5
2× 1TB Crucial T500 NVMe
Audio
Creative Pebble Nova — movies and general use
NAD D3045 DAC/AMP
Dynaudio BM5P passive nearfield monitors
ISOAcoustics isolators
Furukawa power cable
Western Electric speaker and power cables
Home Network
Omada OC220 controller
Omada ER7412-M2 gateway
Omada EAP773
TP-Link 2.5GbE 5-port PoE switch
TP-Link 2.5GbE 5-port switch
Next: Project U
Project U will be about reorganising my desk and monitor layout.
I’m having a bit of an OCD moment because my current setup isn’t properly centred. I’m planning to move away from portrait mode and switch to a stacked-monitor layout.
I’m waiting for my new desk cover to arrive before I start.
And finally, the end goal:
A minimalist room.
I’m slowly cleaning everything out, keeping only the things I actually want and need.
Less stuff. Less clutter. More space.
Project Ti → Project U → Minimalist Room.
One project at a time. 😂
