We’ve decided to build our next hotbox in a mini-ITX form factor. This will be an epic build featuring the Ryzen 9 7950X and Radeon RX 7900 XTX. We’re wondering if we can integrate all this metaphorical and literal power into the compact Cooler Master NR200P case. In theory, the full load on the GPU and CPU could generate around 600W in this tiny case. For cooling, we decided on a compact dual tower with 6×6 mm heatpipes – the Thermalright Peerless Assassins 120 SE ARGB. It has a cooling potential of over 200W, so it might be just enough for the Ryzen 9 7950X even with only one fan. To provide additional cooling for the Radeon RX 6900 XT, we added two Scythe Slip Stream Slim 120×12 mm 1200 RPM fans to supplement the two 120×25 fans that came with the case.
After completing the build, we needed to adjust some of the Ryzen 9 7950X settings. Firstly, the motherboard set the memory controller speed as half the physical clock speed of the RAM we used, so we had to adjust it to a 1:1 ratio. Otherwise, gaming performance may suffer. Secondly, we set the power limits of the CPU to 125W TDP/162W PPC (maximum power consumption allowed), instead of the original 170W TDP/230W PPC. Although we seemed to lose about 4% of maximum multithreaded performance in a single run of Cinebench, in reality, in extended load, there was almost no difference in performance. Additionally, the CPU temperature remained below 90 degrees, which is still not great but is within the range of what we typically expect to see for desktop CPU temperatures.
On the other hand, the temperature of the Radeon RX 7900 XTX is great, as it benefits from the direct flow of cold air from the Scythe Slip Stream Slim fans.
We think this is an impressive system and not quite our usual compact hotbox. 🙂
