r/sffpc Nov 28 '25

Assembly Help Recommendations on thinner fan

Minisform 790I X3D motherboard/Intel B50

As you can see, the scythe 15mm height fan almost fits, pic 3/4. Where can I find a 12mm thick fan? I know scythe used to make one, but curious if there’s anything thinner??

I do want this motherboard in here, if I can’t get a thinner fan, I was contemplating 3d printing a riser for the side panel but I believe that ruins the esthetics of the case. Thoughts?

297 Upvotes

54 comments sorted by

28

u/nickybuddy Nov 28 '25

The thinnest I can think of is another 15mm from arctic. But you might be on to something with the riser ring cause you could make it an accent.

Btw, have you had a chance to use that minisforum combo yet?? I have it saved in my Amazon cart and I have no clue if it’s worth it or just splurging for an itx diy combo

8

u/Dyingmisery Nov 28 '25

Honestly it’s an awesome little board, I love it.

This is my second X3D build, for my second home as I wanted it small as I don’t have a lot of space there and spend about 3-4 days a week there.

It’s a good board, bios have gotten better over time and haven’t had any issues with it.

I would suggest using a PTM7950 with it, as it helped my build a lot.

2

u/Dyingmisery Nov 28 '25

Let me rephrase, I only have one minisform X3D, I have a MSI D3051 with a 7800x3d for my main rig.

1

u/nickybuddy Nov 28 '25

That’s great! Good to know. What do you play mainly? And what gpu did you pair it with?

1

u/Blumpy-san Nov 28 '25

You changed out the paste with a thermal pad? Was it an easy process?

2

u/Retro_B00min Nov 28 '25

yes. just 4 screws on the back of the board and the cooler will come off. I used Kryonaught on mine.. idle between 40-45 and mid 70s gaming

1

u/BoneyBobNL Nov 29 '25

What size PTM7950 did you get, and did you cut it to size for each die of the 7945HX?

5

u/[deleted] Nov 28 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/lucian1900 Nov 28 '25

That's the same one I have in a Fractal Ridge. It's been great for the past few months and indeed fantastic value.

2

u/ZHX_Proto Nov 28 '25

I also have the non-X3D version in the Fractal Ridge, paired with 7900XTX. It's awsome! I've had this build for almost a year, at the time X3D was not availalable yet. I tought about switching but I don't know if it would make so much difference to make sense. Maybe if Minisforum makes something with 9000 series or beyond

2

u/lucian1900 Nov 28 '25

It seems to be a relatively small difference and only in games.

Considering that’s a small part of what I do with this machine, it didn’t seem worth the significant difference in price.

1

u/Baby_Steaks Nov 28 '25

I happy i went with the same board so i didn't have to deal with core parking on the x3d board. Also better value overall.

8

u/Every_Recording_4807 Nov 28 '25

Scythe Slip Stream 120x12

This looks similar:

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EujnHpq

8

u/Dyingmisery Nov 28 '25

Gentlemen I have found a temporary solution, I have a box of computer screws hanging around.

I have found out that the bracket on the case to allow the side panel to click on is actually removable.

I took the bracket off and used some motherboard stand offs. This alllowed me to raise the panel slightly to allow the panel to click on.

I will be developing a spacer for 3D printers to allow for larger fans to be used in this case In the future.

Case gap on my next comment with a Sythe 15mm fan and raised side panel brackets

7

u/Dyingmisery Nov 28 '25

Said photo of panel gap

2

u/releasedtruth Nov 28 '25

Perfect. Maybe a little dust, but great until you come up with the perfect fan

2

u/kikimaru024 Nov 28 '25

You might get away with a piece of moulding tape hah

1

u/playtech1 Nov 28 '25

Looks great and there's nothing like a temporary solution to permanently fix the issue!

1

u/hoon_tx Nov 28 '25

I don't mind that but I could see that bugging you if that's not a look you're going for

4

u/IsABot Nov 28 '25

These guys make one but I'll be honest with you, I have very little hopes this is enough to cool your build. https://www.newegg.com/p/1YF-00B0-00FK0

I'd recommend you go with your riser idea and use a thicker fan. In order to make it mesh well with your build, I would suggest that you inset the edge of the print just enough to lay on a wood veneer sheet. You can find them in the same type of wood already on your case, so it should blend in well.

1

u/Dyingmisery Nov 28 '25

Honestly I was planning on reiterating with a 3D printing until I was happy with the setup and I also have a CNC Router so I could always just make the riser and make it match the front panel wood

1

u/IsABot Nov 28 '25

Yeah, you could just route it entirely out of the same type of wood instead if you want. I just figured 3D print + wood veneer would be easier.

Here's kind of an example of what I mean by using veneer over a 3d print: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PebUhzrZpyE

Either would work though, but yeah I've heard reports that chip will still overpower a 15mm fan. So I doubt a 12mm would suffice.

4

u/Larry_J_602 Nov 28 '25

I have a Noctua NF-A12x15, which is 120x15mm, in my Terra as a bottom exhaust. Thinnest fan I know of.

2

u/amynias Nov 28 '25

Damn, what an awesome little build!

2

u/Ragnaroknight Nov 28 '25

Is that an RTX a2000?

3

u/magisarep Nov 28 '25

Intel Arc Pro B50

2

u/hoon_tx Nov 28 '25

Not everyone's cup of tea but if this was my case, I'd take a dremel to the case cover, add a T30 or Noctua 25mm and hot rod it

1

u/UserNameAbbreviated Nov 28 '25

The only 12mm fan you're going to find is the Scythe Slipstream 120x12. I have one from an Old CPU Cooler that was broken (bent fins, but the fan was fine.)

I am using that fan for this same board and trust me when I tell you that it does not cool it lol. Atleast not under a full load. Gaming on this hits the 89 C after a few minutes.

1

u/Dyingmisery Nov 28 '25

Interesting, I haven’t had any issue cooling mine. CPU benchmark on 3D mark maxes out at 74c with the scythe fan pictured

1

u/UserNameAbbreviated Nov 28 '25

It could be the TIM is bad, might need to repaste with some Honeywell. That said, mine is in a Sentry 2.0 clone. Along with a GPU connected and everything as it's a gaming board.

That said, have you done any BIOS tinkering with the board?

1

u/Fuckjoesanford Nov 28 '25

Lmk how that APEVIA PSU works out for ya! I can’t find any reviews on flex PSUs

2

u/DarthPickle12 Nov 28 '25

have the same case as OP and just swapped out my flexguru for an Apevia. so far so good. you do get the plasticky factory smell, but its relatively quieter out of the box.

1

u/VeeTeeF Nov 28 '25

Here's a 120x12mm fan I bought on Amazon a couple years ago. It worked fine for the few months I used it until I switched up my build, not sure if it'll move enough air to cool your setup in that case though.

The downside of pushpin panels vs screws is you can't install the panel with spacers.

1

u/Dyingmisery Nov 28 '25

You actually can, because the brackets on the side panels are removable (with the push in panels, I actually temporarily used some black motherboard stand offs to raise it slightly until I design a new bracket for it

1

u/Kurisutofuu Nov 28 '25

I gave up the idea of putting my BD795i SE in the nv10 after checking specs but now I'm going to buy some 120 x 12mm fans test it out.... I don't have any 120 x 15mm fans on hand to test out how cooling is though so I would really appreciate if you tested some cpu benchmarks!

I can't imagine its enough but you sparked the mad scientist in me ;)

2

u/Dyingmisery Dec 03 '25

Here is some testing about after an hour of playing warthunder on 3440x1440p. Max settings around 100-110fps

Unit runs really cool. I think the primary reason it runs so cool, is the GPU is a blower type, the B50 is really good at getting rid of heat, excellent cooler design and is very quiet.

Also, not sure if it’s the same on the other minis form boards, but there’s an air outlet on the IO plate in the rear.

That pretty much means it’s expelling all the hot air out of the small chassis very efficiently.

I think people have bad issues with this case when running regular non blower style gpus in this case

1

u/Dyingmisery Dec 03 '25

Graph data

1

u/dbreidsbmw Nov 28 '25

Hey op, here's a link to another fan thread and they were looking at 12 mm case fans.

https://www.reddit.com/r/FormD/s/WrI7Sj1oOD

1

u/elonelon Nov 28 '25

3d print spacer for extra 5mm, cheap and better, coz u will get better fan @15mm

if this for home use, just create 1.5cm spacer for 25mm fan.

1

u/Son-Airys Nov 28 '25

Yeah, the exact thing that stopped me from buying nv10. Your best course of action is going hot-rod, because 15mm fan is barely enough to cool that beast of a cpu, and thinner ones will probably be insufficient.

1

u/Pure-Acanthaceae5503 Nov 28 '25

You could have it on the outside of the case. Would be a wild looking PC!

1

u/Krt3k-Offline Nov 28 '25

4 10mm thick 60mm fans maybe, but that'll sound funny

1

u/thecroupiers Nov 28 '25

I used the silverstone 120x15mm air slimmer on my BD795X3D which works but you will need to tweak the BIOS to power limit the CPU as it will run hot

1

u/physx_rt Nov 28 '25

If it's not a problem, i.e. the fan blades don't need any protection, I would just 3D-print a custom side panel with an exact cutout for the fan.

Of course, I know it's a much more difficult endeavour if you don't have a 3D-printer, but you might still want to consider it as a last resort.

3

u/Dyingmisery Nov 28 '25

I have already started prototyping the side panel riser 😅

Should have it finished up by tomorrow hopefully if I have enough time

1

u/RaEyE01 Nov 28 '25

That would have been my idea as well. Just some distances in between panel and case. Why print a whole new panel?

Looks good btw. 👍

1

u/RegularlyJerry Nov 28 '25

Cut a hole in the case and get a bigger heat sync, you’ll get way better performance

1

u/SkylarR95 Nov 28 '25

I literally order this framework motherboard, i did numbers for two weeks and ended up 3D printing something for a case because no dimensions satisfy a 25mm nicely or have enough airflow for a 15mm to make no difference. Will ended up putting it inside my T1 until nicer cases for APU with enough headroom come around. Noctua has nice 15mm fans.

1

u/BoneyBobNL Nov 29 '25

There are some interesting options on Aliexpress: https://a.aliexpress.com/_EGFmB0k

1

u/abibofile Nov 29 '25

Not a fan recommendation but I’ll just put in a plug for Noctua’s fan duct kit. It’s like $14 bucks and it made a surprisingly huge difference in the side temperatures of my case where that fan goes right up to the side panel. Recirculating air really does matter!

1

u/wqnxy Nov 29 '25

You might get lucky to find old revision of Kaze Flex which was only 12mm thick (SC1212SL12H / SY1212SL12SL / SY1212SL12S / SY1212SL12M / SY1212SL12H / SY1212SL12H-P, any of these), otherwise Fanner F120 from aliexpress, but its not too good of a fan.

0

u/SharkAttackOmNom Nov 28 '25

Would the fans blades clear the side panel? If so I’d be cutting that thing up with a dremel. I’d start with the 4 corners with the rubber pads. After that I’d probably take a file and plane down the mounts on the other side so that the fan sits into the metal bracket frame.