Small form factor PC

2024-04-26

I built a small form factor PC. The build is based on the Minisforum BD790i which has an AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX. This CPU is physically identical to the desktop 7950X, but has lower power and slightly lower clock rate, meaning it draws about half the power while delivering 90% of the performance.

Parts used (except the LEGO Porsche and the purple puppy)

Component	Name
Motherboard + CPU	Minisforum BD790i (AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX)
GPU	Asus ProArt Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super
SSD	Crucial P3 Plus 4 TB
RAM	Crucial RAM 96 GB (2 x 48 GB) SODIMM
PSU	Corsair SF750
Case	KXRORS S300
Fan	Thermalright TL-B12 Extrem
PCIe Riser	Some random one (Jectse on Amazon) 200 mm dual reverse PCIE 4.0
12VHPWR cable	Another random one (JOYJOM on Amazon)

Table 1 List of parts.

Putting it together was pretty smooth. The GPU just barely fits if I force it in. Otherwise, I’d have to remove one of the panels of the case, which is slightly more work.

The 120mm x 25mm Thermalright fan fits perfectly (i.e. barely) in the case. It’s also loud since it goes up to 3000 rpm so I had to change the fan settings in BIOS (which doesn’t let me do a detailed fan curve). For any given RPM, it is quiet compared to the competition (roughly the same as the Arctic P12 Max and Noctua A12x25 according to some reviews).

Left side inside. Look at the tight fit for the GPU.

It works pretty well. The temps are about 90 degrees C for the CPU when all cores are under maximum load (compiling C++). Framerates are great on Helldivers 2.