r/MiniITX

Hi everyone,

I'm in the middle of my first SFF build and could use some advice from anyone who's built in the NCASE M3, especially in the inverted layout.

Specs:

Case: NCASE M3

Motherboard: MSI MPG X870I Edge Ti WiFi

GPU: XFX Mercury RX 9070 XT OC

I've attached a few photos.

In the first photo you can see the GPU is resting on the motherboard's rear I/O heatsink. Even with that support, the card still sags slightly.

In the side photo you can see the GPU isn't level. If I lift it into the correct position, it's simply too heavy and drops back down by itself.

Since this is an inverted build, I can't use something like the Lian Li anti-sag bracket because the GPU is mounted at the top of the case instead of the bottom.

I'm trying to find the cleanest long-term solution.

Would you:

Suspend the GPU from the top panel using fishing line or thin steel wire?

Use a PCIe riser cable and vertically mount it somehow?

Fabricate or 3D print a custom bracket?

Attach some sort of support directly to the top frame of the M3?

Is there another solution I'm missing?

I'd really appreciate photos if anyone has solved this on an inverted M3 or another inverted SFF case.

Thanks!

Finally put together an SFF build after years of debate and research. I managed to cram in the PNY Slim 5080 OC which left just enough room for a slim 120mm exhaust fan up top. X870I Gigabyte ITX board is interesting but for the price you can’t really beat it.
I got TeamGroup TCreate Expert 48gb sticks at a nice 32mm height and coupled with the 5080s 40mm thickness I was able to get the NHL12S X77 Noctua cooler to fit with a 25mm Arctic P12 running as intake on a 7800x3D with Thermal Grizzly PTM sheet.
Lian Li’s SP1000P was a godsend for the performance and the budget. $185 for the white model and it’s everything anyone would need. Manually tuned the ram and set voltages for the cpu with a -30 all core and temps are mostly in the 60s while gaming for both the CPU and GPU, have not ran too many CPU tests yet.
I plan to map out potential spots for 40mm Noctua fans to have extra exhaust as there seems to be room.

Hello friends,

Just like a lot of us, I was originally planning to buy the new Steam Machine, but after seeing the pricing and the hardware, I was honestly pretty disappointed. I wanted something that could truly replace a high-end gaming PC in a console-sized package, and it just didn’t feel like enough for the money.

Then I stumbled across this on Facebook Marketplace for $1,300.

Specs:

Intel i5-14400
Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB
32GB DDR5-6000 CL30
MSI B760I Edge WiFi (ITX)
Corsair SF750 Platinum
Fractal Ridge case
500GB NVMe SSD

The estimated build value is around $2,000, and even looking at current used prices, it seemed like a fantastic deal.

I had him run 3DMark before buying it. CPU peaked at only 74°C, there was no thermal throttling or power limiting, and everything checked out.
The plan is to drop in a 2TB SSD that I bought before the AI craze, install SteamOS and use it as a living room console.

Feeling like I absolutely scored.