Couple comments on aspects of the build - first, I really dislike that FWD didn’t pick an existing cooling system mount. Having their heat sink just chewing up most of the vertical space in the case is a big downer. I can’t even use the case’s horizontal PCI mount (which would also let me fit in the x4→x16 riser we need!) because the stupid heatsink is in the way. Would be much better to have the option of either mounting a lower-profile solution like a blower fan or an AIO.
Honestly, for me the two big misses in the FWD motherboard are the custom heatsink and the closed-ended PCIe slot. Almost every aspect of the build was complicated by these two limitations. I want to support Framework, I like their philosophy as a company, but this was a huge miss and is probably the main reason that I will jump ship to Minisforum for any new Strix Halo cluster builds once their BD395i MAX (page 26) comes along. BUT this could be saved by an aftermarket solution for the heatsink, because that would allow us to use better cooling (blowers/AIOs) while simultaneously using an x4→ x16 riser (fixing the closed-ended PCIe slot) and situating the PCIe card horizontally as is common in 2U setups. Two birds, one stone. But needs an aftermarket solution.
Anyway, enough ranting about FWDs tying my hands wrt cooling and PCIe cards. Since vertical space is at a premium in 2U and I can’t just “drill holes” in my 2U case lid because it will be right under another case, I wanted a lower-profile fan on the stock (ugh) heatsink. Tried the Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM, it was fine but it’s CFM & static pressure (55 CFM/1.53mm H2O) was under the Framework recommendation (>= 60 CMM/2.0mm H2O).
Eventually found the ThermalRight TL-B12015 Extrem low-profile fan which has much better numbers (83 CFM/3.4mm H2O) and that was a definite improvement under load vs the Noctua. Noise is great, temps dropped noticeably, very solid product. PSA: don’t be like me and first get the non-Extrem version by accident.
The front fans that came with the case were non-PWM, and largely crap. I tested a variety of the Arctic server fans (10K/7K) but settled on the P8 Max (5k) as the best combination of performance and noise. Even though this thing is going in a rack in the garage, noise is a small concern, and the 10k server fans were just insanely loud. And even taming the speed w. fan curves, the server drives were just way noisier at the same speed AFAICT, with either the same or worse cooling performance vs the P8s.
Moving on from cooling - headers & USB. This case’s internal front headers are fundamentally mismatched with what the FWD offers. I rigged up the power/reset switches/LEDs fine, but the USBs are currently disconnected. I need to find the right combination of type-E-to-USB-2 adapters, or just rip-and-replace the control board on the front of the case in favor of a more modern one. Fixing that + adding back the wi-fi antennas is a project for another week.
Lastly - power cables. The FWD stock PSU is nice, but the cables assume the placement is to the right of the motherboard, not to the left as it is in many other mini-ITX cases. It took a little bit of searching to find the right extension cables, the dual goals being “as short as possible” and “as flexible as possible” so the space between the motherboard and the front fans is unimpeded.
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