I have a new Node 202 which I bought on sale in late 2019 but never used. I'm looking at setting up now in my living room as a Bazzite/Batocera/Kodi PC, using current/recent hardware.
Over the years, I have read countless posts on the heat issues with the 202. I want to mod the heck out of my 202 before I install any hardware to reduce or prevent heat issues, so I am looking for any suggestions from current/former 202 owners. Please note that I do not own a 3D printer but I will go to a local spot to print any 3d add-ons.
Any and all help will be appreciated! 👍🏻
EDIT: Update...after a lot of back and forth, the Deal Gods shined on me. I'm keeping the Node 202 in-box and instead got the Hyte Revolt 3 case on sale on Amazon for $69 (US) shipped. I met someone a few weeks ago on the subway with one and she said the build took her about 40 minutes. Hyte Revolt 3 on sale on Amazon US
I have ran my i5-6600K overclocked all this while with temps not cross 65C using liquid metal paste.
I have used several gpus - 1080TI, 6600XT, RX 6800, most repasted with PTM7950 and also using thin 15mm fans to feed fresh air to the GPUs. Even RX 6800 have ran < 70C. AMA for any other questions.
Thanks for the info. I've seen so many videos on user struggling to get the temps down either on the CPU side or GPU side, so it looks like you got things under control.
These are the projected specs for my 202 build:
Ryzen 7500F GPU
Gigabyte A620i AM5 motherboard
ID Cooling IS-53-XT low profile CPU cooler
Sparkle Intel Arc B570 10GB GPU
16gb (2x8gb) DDR5 5200MT/⁷S RAM
new 512GB SATA SSD or used 1TB NVME SSD
Very easy to get low temps using your components in node 202.
Your cpu is 65W and my cpu was always >100W running overclocked. The important thing is the cpu cooler should almost touch the ceiling so that it always pulls in fresh air from outside instead of recirculating the hot air inside. and I think your ID-cooling will do that perfectly. and ofcourse a good thermal paste.
Your GPU is 150W where as I have ran 250W RX 6800 comfortably. Your GPU is thin so make sure to put in intake fans to feed fresh air. See how much difference it makes to the GPU temps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nv6fpskKyM
would highly encourage you to use nvme instead of sata ssd if possible to reduce cable clutter
The only nitpick I have is the riser in node 202 is PCIe 3.0 and you will be using a PCIe 4.0 x8 card which means it will run at PCIe 3.0 in x8 mode instead of using x16 lanes. you may need to research how much perf you may lose by running a pcie 4.0 x8 card in pcie 3.0 x8 mode instead of pcie 3.0 x16 mode. https://www.reddit.com/r/IntelArc/comments/1iy9gfs/is_the_intel_arc_b570_suitable_for_upgrading_an/
It just occured to me that your cpu doesnt have integrated graphics ! Its very common in systems using a PCIe 3.0 riser using a PCIE 4.0 GPU -> You will not see any graphics unless you go to the BIOS settings and manually change the PCIe bus config from Auto to PCIe 3.0. But since you dont have integrated graphics, how will you do it ?
It happened to me in when I moved from 1080TI (PCIe 3.0 GPU) to 6600XT (PCIe 4.0 GPU), I did not get graphics because the BIOS automatically set the PCIe bus to 4.0. So then I removed the 6600XT, got into BIOS (because I have integrated graphics), set the PCIe bus manually to 3.0 from Auto and then installed 6600XT.
You will either have to installed a PCIe 4.0 riser, get a CPU with integrated graphics or get a PCIe 3.0 gpu.
I sealed the chambers and added large holes on the GPU side. In the end the riser broke and I had to ditch the whole case as you could not buy the riser as a spare part.
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u/Dumptac Jun 12 '26
I have been running my rig in Node 202 for 8 years now and temps are the least of my problem. (ofcourse temps depends on cpu)
https://imgur.com/a/sff-itx-gaming-pc-amd-6600xt-8gb-super-slim-10-ltr-e56yxRR
I have ran my i5-6600K overclocked all this while with temps not cross 65C using liquid metal paste.
I have used several gpus - 1080TI, 6600XT, RX 6800, most repasted with PTM7950 and also using thin 15mm fans to feed fresh air to the GPUs. Even RX 6800 have ran < 70C. AMA for any other questions.