[Help] Efficient way of air cooling Threadripper 3990x on a 32x32cm confined space?

[Zophiekat]

I've got a custom pc project for a PC that's dedicated for Heavy 3D Workloads and thats pretty small and compact with a neatly custom case. problem is, is that im unsure if a chasis this small would heavily impact on thermals since ill be using a Threadripper.

- In the pictures below I hid some of irrelevant stuff that wouldnt affect temperatures such as wires

- case is 32x32cm in volume and 36x36cm in surface (will be made out of aluminum)

- the case has a "lid" that can be lowered down and open the pc to ease managing insides
- power supply is upside down, this is because of the GPU exhaust placement for heat being dissipated at the bottom towards the desk absorbing the heat, so having the PSU fan facing up means it wont take the hot air being emitted at the bottom, right?

- reason why i have the Motherboard sideways instead of layed up is for space and visibility reasons, on a case this size, i wouldnt be able to connect all the cables having the IO facing towards the sides of the case. id also like to keep it this way since i can keep a minimalistic look while keeping the cables discrete

- Fans the case currently has: (fan blowing directions are marked with an arrow and a squiggle)
Two 40mm intake,
Three 80mm intake (one pointing towards CPU),
One 120mm intake above CPU (potentially being occluded by RAM sticks)
Two 120mm exhaust (placed below GPU's exhaust

so ideally, what would be the best fan placement to have in this scenario? also, what kind of Heat Sink would cool it down best?
im willing to make changes on the design if im literally cooking alive my CPU, but the Case size is something id be hesitant to change about, im also willing to work on a custom loop to water cool if that would be the best for this PC in particular although im not entirely sure how that would work with this kind of lid.
Any help is highly appreciated

[Mateyyy]

Sounds like an interesting project.

I should probably look at the pictures a little longer to tell for myself, but have you checked whether an NH-U14S would fit? The DRP4 is quite a bit bulkier, whereas the U14S is mostly just tall and that doesn't look like a problem in your case (specifically it is 165mm in height).

[Zophiekat]

11 minutes ago, Mateyyy said:

have you checked whether an NH-U14S would fit? The DRP4 is quite a bit bulkier, whereas the U14S is mostly just tall and that doesn't look like a problem in your case (specifically it is 165mm in height).

made a layout for it and it fits! only problem though is that it will cover up most of the glass panel's view

[Mateyyy]

38 minutes ago, Zophiekat said:

made a layout for it and it fits! only problem though is that it will cover up most of the glass panel's view
[...]

Hm, the way you've shaped it makes it look more like a DRP4 - the U14S is actually quite slim.

I can't think of any downdraft air cooler out right now that's compatible with sTRX4, so other than this you'll probably have to look either at AIOs or doing a custom loop.

[Zophiekat]

1 hour ago, Mateyyy said:

Hm, the way you've shaped it makes it look more like a DRP4 - the U14S is actually quite slim.

I can't think of any downdraft air cooler out right now that's compatible with sTRX4, so other than this you'll probably have to look either at AIOs or doing a custom loop.

oh, if its slimmer i guess theres no problem with visibility. someone on reddit commented that having anything smaller than 120mm fans would make little to no difference on cooling and that i should probably stick with just 120mm. would u agree with that?

[Mateyyy]

48 minutes ago, Zophiekat said:

someone on reddit commented that having anything smaller than 120mm fans would make little to no difference on cooling and that i should probably stick with just 120mm. would u agree with that?

The tiny 40mm fans probably won't do much for your general airflow (and they also tend to be quite whiny and/or loud), but I'd leave the 80mm fans in.