How to optimally allocate the space left by a smaller gpu.
I will soon be building in the T1. I’ve made an effort to buy components that are tried and tested, so I can follow other builds for help. However, because I intend to continue using my 3070FE, which is a relatively short two-slot card, I have more configuration freedom than most of the builds I’ve seen elsewhere. I’d really appreciate some help navigating how to allocate that extra space, and feel particularly stuck on the following two matters:
Airflow: with the 3070FE, only the fan furthest from the mobo is flowthrough. Therefore, considering the gpu exhaust will not be blowing against the motherboard, would a gpu offset be entirely superficial? Research has led me to believe that offsetting the PSU from the spine is the difference maker with cards like mine. With this in mind, should I be minimising gpu space, such that it sits flush with the panel, and I have extra space for the PSU offset and AIO tubing, or should I still be looking to space out the GPU somewhat? In essence, which slot mode will be optimal for my card’s semi-flowthrough design?
Cable management: Whilst researching, I’ve come across numerous people who say that the combination of AIO tubing and stock cables is a nightmare to build with, and hurts airflow. It seems, however, that my relatively small gpu could help here. Would building with increased motherboard clearance alleviate this? I’ve also seen people with smaller gpus make use of the gap beside their card for cabling, which maybe means I do want to add space to the gpu compartment after all. Which slot-mode will make cable management easiest and most optimised?
Finally, will additional standoffs be required for any of the configurations I should be considering?
Thank you to anyone who takes the time to answer :)
My specs:
7800x3d
CM Atmos
Corsair SF1000
ASUS B650e-i
RTX3070FE
32gb Kingston Fury
1tb m.2
Ncase T1 2.5