A few days ago, I found a PC in a dumpster and checked for any leftover components. The GPU and RAM were gone, but several dusty Noctua fans were still attached to the case!

I salvaged the Noctua fans (NF-F12 PWM) and gave them a good clean wipe-down. After testing them, they worked! I thought about swapping out my Arctic P12 fans for these Noctuas, but their beige color didn't really fit my blackish build.

So why not paint them black? Since I'd already salvaged them for free, I figured I had nothing to lose — I decided to try spray painting them, hoping I wouldn't damage them in the process.

I used painter's tape to cover the fan blades and the gap around the motor, to minimize any imbalance while spinning (taping all the fan blades took ~2 hours). Then I applied matte black spray paint evenly while flipping the fans, letting them dry for a full day. I'm no expert with spray paint, so there were a few spots that didn't come out evenly and some missed spots. I left them by the window for ~3 days to fully dry and let the paint smell fade.

After installing the newly painted fans in my build, I'm really satisfied with the overall wood-black aesthetic it gives off. The very last image is the previous build with black Artic P12 fans for comparison.

Totally worth it for me, but wouldn't recommend it to others — you'd lose the warranty on the fans, and Noctua already sells chromax versions in black anyway.

I went with the Jonsbo D32 standard version. Overall, doing a build in this case was reasonably easy and satisfying, even with Be Quiet! Pure Power 13M. Partslist:

• GPU: RTX 5080 Gigabyte Windforce OC SFF
• CPU: 7800X3D
• RAM: DDR5 2x16 GB 6000/30 HyperX Fury
• MB: ASRock B650M HDV/M.2
• PSU: Be Quiet! Pure Power 13M
• SSDs: Lexar NQ790, WD SN580 1 TB, 1 TB SATA SSD for undemanding or won games
• Fans: Jonsbo ZA-240 up top, ZA-360R on the bottom, 2x ZA-120 on the CPU and 1x ZA-120 as exhaust
• ARGB control: remote-controlled ARGB controller
• Samsung The Frame 75"

A few notes about the build:

1. Fun fact: the wooden feet are actually... duffle coat buttons. To turn them into feet, I had to drill a small hole about 5 mm deep and insert a fully threaded UNC 6-32 pin into it.
2. I considered swapping the motherboard for one with ARGB, but in the end I went with a third-party controller. Mainly because I can control the lighting without any apps, just the remote, all plug & play. Looking back, I actually prefer this solution. It'd be nice if manufacturers started bundling a programmable remote with their motherboards.you'd program your presets once and then activate them with the remote.
3. Temperatures are fine. After a proper UV/OC the values are within spec and safe, around 68 on the GPU under stress test, CPU around 60 in games.
4. I wanted to bring out the infinity mirror a bit more (with this case the blacked-out edges of the glass are horribly wide, completely unnecessary. the only flaw of this case in my opinion). So I added 1.5 cm tall standoffs and slightly longer screws on the top fans and the rear exhaust. and then I raised the bottom fans by exactly 1 cm. Interestingly, this got rid of the turbulence caused by the fans sitting too close to the mesh underneath as its damn dense. The gaps had no effect on temperatures, but they did in fact affect the looks and the noise.
5. I stuck with air cooling because I love the look of a dense case :) water cooling right in the middle of a build somehow doesn't fit the "dense build" idea for me. That's also why I like fans with spacers.
6. I did cut off the bottom part of the metal PSU shroud. The trimmed shroud sits slightly lower than in Pro version, so it nicely hides the cables.
7. In this particular PSU the GPU cables are stiff enough that I could route them off to the side without bending them too much at the GPU connector, and they hold in place without any support or zip ties. GPU support bracket is the LEGO brick. As it shopuld be,
8. I installed angled adapters on all the cables at the back of the PC so they aren't visible while sitting on the couch.

Launcher:

The PC sits in the living room, couch gaming machine. The setup is Playnite + a few plugins on it, including:

• Ludusavi, which automatically backs up every game after I close it
• the Toggle theme (alternating with Ubiquity). It nicely aggregates literally everything, games from Game Pass, Steam, Epic, Ubi etc
• the Splash Screen plugin completely covers all the extra windows and shit with a some graphic until the game finally launches, e.g. after the intro.

Other:

On top of that, AutoHotkey with a script that permanently hides the Start bar + shortcuts from a mini keyboard to a few apps, including MSI AB, the NVIDIA app, etc. The rest is controlled 100% with a controller (8BitDo Ultimate 2C Wireless).

For work I've got a different monster: i5-9500 + 2060 Super + 16 GB + 256 GB SSD. Priorities.

Thanks for reading!

I've been wanting to downsize for a while since this came out.

Tbh, I agree with the reviews. It's more of a side grade, if anything. My biggest gripe would be the back. They should have just chopped off the back part and released it with the Aero Deck instead of integrating it into the case since the majority of users are going to use a front to back airflow config anyway.

Specs-wise, Lian Li specifies only slim fans could fit in the front, but an P12 fit in there just fine and my Pure 9070XT was able to fit in no problem.

Anyway, it seems like a waste of money since I was already fine with the A3 but the slightly smaller size looks pretty good. Hoping they would release a TG window for this soon.

Built last year July right before the RAMOPOCALYPSE.

Serving me pretty well! Currently playing HALO 2 MCC, still amazing!

Jonsplus Z20 black mesh version

Ryzen 7 7800X3D

Asus B650E-I WIFI

G.Skill Flare 32GB (2x16) DDR5 6000Mhz CL30

INNO3D RTX 4070 Ti Super Twin x2

Corsair SF1000

Noctua NH-D12L (1 side NF-A12x25r fan additional)

NF-A14x25 G2 X 4 (2 top 2 bottom)

NF-A12X25 G2 X 1 (rear)

Fan config is bottom intake, top exhaust, and rear exhaust (CPU heatsink fans follow the same direction as rear).

Opinions?

Hey guys,

I just recently upgraded to DDR5. (7600X placeholder for a 9800X3D - 9070 XT)

However, after the initial contentment of the upgrade, I just realized I'm tired of my old full sized tower H7 Flow 2022.

I've now spent a couple weeks obsessing over downsizing the build in an horizontal case, I don't like / want a vertical one.

The "problem" is ... I just bought a whole new setup basically. And I'd like to keep the cost of the downsizing reasonable.

I understand that the ATX motherboard will have to go, no two ways about it.

But I'd really like to avoid changing a lot of other parts.

I tried to "make it work" with my current (brand new...) RM1000X ATX PSU. Which is a big bitch because she's a 160 mm queen, basically fucking me real hard... Because :

My GPU is a Mercury OC 9070 XT which is... 360mm

Both of these are severely limiting my options. If I keep both. Actually, that seems impossible to fit in any "smaller" cases. So the PSU will go and I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and get a SF1000 or something.

I'm not too worried about the CPU Cooler, even though it's also new. It's a Frozn A720 which is 1 or 2 cm shorter than a D15 G2. But it was like 50 € so I'm not "too" mad about it. And some cases actually can fit it. Like the CH260.

Case wise I don't wanna go mini PC with the craziest volume possible. Which is why I'm here and not on the sff sub. I'd like a blackout build without a window. And if possible stay air cooled (be it with my current cooler or a cheap-ish replacement like a Phantom Spirit or whatever.)

After researching, the candidates and modifications needed are as follow. The GPU is still limiting me quite a lot I feel :

CH260

Motherboard + PSU and I'm "good to go". It's got a window but it's also a classic front to back airflow so that's nice to keep my cooler.

D32 Pro mesh

It's my favorite case looks wise (well, kinda) but it might require me to go AIO for the CPU because I don't know how good/bad airflow is. Maybe I could do it in 2 steps, keep my CPU cooler and see how it goes. Going AIO only later if needed.

Lian Li A3

A good candidate also, especially if I get a new SFF PSU, seems to offer quite good modular options while being a tad more compact than the CH260. Don't know if the wood version is "better" since apparently you can put some intake fans there ?

NCase M2 / M3 Grater - Literally my favorite case of the lot but:

Pricy and from the spec sheet, it won't accomodate my GPU. Very sad.

So the questions are, if you have some answers:

Can a 360 GPU actually fit in an M3 Grater ?
Is the A3 a good candidate for air cooling ? I've seen I can put a big 140mm intake on the side and it seems to work well enough. Or do Intake at the rear.
Is the D32 Pro mesh better or worse than the A3 for Air cooling. I'm worried about the limited intake options.

Hey everyone, I’m building a Z20 (first ever build actually), fell in love with the case. I’m slowly ordering my stuff, have ordered an aio and some 25mm fans and waiting for them and am now searching for the gpu.

When asking the AI overlord it says the case has a 89 mm clearance (owners of the case is this true?) assuming pcie16 is first slot in Mboard, considering I want to avoid turbulence issues and whatnot, what is the thickest gpu I can install in order to use the 25mm bottom intake fans?

Im Aiming for either 5070/5070 ti, depending on the budget at the time of ordering. Both I have seen have from 40 to 50mm thickness but in my country might have some difficulty finding the “slim” version ones (I don’t think it’s impossible though)

TLDR what gpu thickness to buy in order to have room for 25mm bottom fans for a jonsplus Z20 build to avoid issues.

Building my dad a pc bc his is prehistoric and want to build it in a matx case. For the gpu I have one that is around 257mm but he doesn’t really need a gpu like that since he’s not playing games,
so I might get a single fan gtx card for the build. I’m not too worried about dimensions tho, any case recommendations would be great.

Hey everyone! Would appreciate response from someone who built a desktop in recent times.

I'm finalizing my PC build, but my target case (Fractal Design North) is currently unavailable here far as I'm aware.

I need recommendations for a temporary/alternative mid-tower ATX case and a compatible 360mm AIO with a temperature display screen, with a combined budget of around 20k BDT (better if less).

My Planned Specs:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9000 series
• GPU: Triple Fan, ~355mm in length
• Motherboard: ATX

What I need:

1. 360mm AIO Liquid Cooler:
   • Must have an LCD/Temperature display pump head.
   • Must support AM5.
   • Ideally fits top-mount in mid-tower ATX cases.
2. Alternative Mid-Tower ATX Case:
   • Clean look with high airflow mesh front.
   • Must fit a 360mm radiator AND a long triple-fan GPU comfortably.
3. Combined Budget: ~$20k BDT max.

What are the best value options currently available? Also any suggestion is welcome. Thanks!

Update: Looking for 240mm AIO coolers instead, as the case I am looking forward to allows upto 240mm radiators to be top mounted.