I updated my wife’s mini-ITX existing build around August 2022 – everything is new except the case. Her previous build (link) was an i7-7700K with an EVGA CLC120mm AiO cooler mounted at the front (push/pull), and an EVGA GTX 980Ti SC (which I later upgraded to an EVGA 2070 Super). This new build is an i7-10700K with RTX 2080Ti. Part of the reason for upgrading was that the old i7-7700K was not compatible with Windows 11, so eventually I was going to have to do it anyway.
I initially built this new rig with a couple of 80mm fans at the back and the same model 120mm AiO in push/pull at the front, but since the new CPU runs a bit hotter, I decided to try squeezing in a side-mounted 240mm AiO instead. I wasn’t sure 240mm AiO would fit in the Corsair 250D with everything else, but it did – just! (see pics). Used the bequiet! SilentWings3 high speed PWM fans; 2 x 120mm on the radiator, and a 140mm at the front for air intake. Really like these SilentWings3 fans – they run very quietly yet have decent static pressure for the radiator.
Went with the Corsair H100X AiO instead of the EVGA CLC240 AiO for 2 reasons;
(1) the Corsair has side-mounted movable tubing coming from the CPU block compared to the EVGA having top mounted non-movable tubing where clearance might have been an issue, and
(2) the Corsair 100X was on sale at the time. 🙂
Unfortunately the ICX GPU coolers are not ideal in SFF cases since they basically just throw all the hot air back into the case, so I went with the best blower style GPU available, which was the EVGA RTX 2080Ti – if EVGA had made a 3000 series GPU with a blower style cooler I would have grabbed it, but the RTX 2080Ti is still a solid performer.
The rig sits inside a the same modded desk as her previous build, with the vent I installed at the front for clean air intake and a bunch of exhaust holes in the back and sides at the rear. I also added a large side vent positioned exactly where the 240mm radiator exhausts so that the hot air is expelled out of the desk space completely. Seems to work well. CPU idles slightly over 30°C with ambient room temp at 78°F. The last photo is a gif showing desk door open/closed.
The Corsair 250D case normally has a flat front panel. I purchased the custom front panel with all the holes in it from MNPCtech.com and the case gets much better airflow as a result. I really like the Corsair 250D for mini-ITX builds, it’s a very well thought-out case, just a shame they stopped making them a few years back, although this build does looks a little messy inside – not a lot of room for cable management!
Managed to get +220 clock speed and +1100 mem on the 2080Ti, with everything else at stock clocks. Pretty good for a 2080Ti card with an old-style blower cooler in a SFF case! 3DMark results as follows:
Time Spy score 14,628 (link)
Port Royal score 9,532 (link)
Nice little mini-ITX build, and a significant upgrade from the i7-7700K + 980Ti SC build.
Parts used:
Intel i7-10700k CPU @ 5.1GHz (link).
Corsair H100X 240mm AiO water cooling (link).
EVGA RTX-2080Ti Gaming (p/n 11G-P4-2280-RX) with the blower style cooler @ 2.1GHz (link).
Corsair Dominator Platinum RAM, 32GB (2 x 16GB) @ 4000MHz (link).
be quiet! SilentWings3 high speed 120mm PWM fans (link) (model BL070 x2 for radiator, model BL071 for front intake).
ASUS Strix Z490i mini-ITX motherboard (link).
EVGA Supernova 1000 T2 PSU (link).
Corsair Obsidian 250D mini-ITX case, black (link).
Samsung 970 EVO Plus (500GB) m.2 NVMe primary drive (link).
Samsung 860 EVO (1TB) secondary drive (link).
ASUS PB278Q 27″ (2560×1440) monitor (link).
Phanteks Halos 140mm RGB fan frame (for some bling) (link).
Glorious GMMK full size keyboard with Gateron Brown switches (link).
Glorious Model O Minus wired mouse (link).
Here’s some photos:
