[USER=15974]@Jetpaction[/USER] thanks for the info. I did consider the bracket, however doing a little bit of searching before the build (I'm unable to find the reference right now), allegedly the bracket doesn't fit with this 2.7 slot card, even in the lowest setting. Considering the front IO is struggling for clearance, I'd tend to agree, there isn't much space there. I'm definitely looking at replacing the GPU fans with 2x 120 mm fans as you suggest, and by the looks of the clearance, the support bracket won't be needed in that configuration.
I finally got to power it on this afternoon, and everything seemed to work nicely. Had a bit of a heart in mouth moment, but thankfully I hadn't fully plugged the display cable all the way into the screen and the motherboard POST LEDs all turned off indicating a successful boot. I think I'll just get it up to speed with the platform, pay off the credit card I used to buy the hardware on the post-Xmas sales and then pick up some Noctuas and some better power cables once I've got an idea of baseline performance. Currently the rad is sitting on the desk not mounted to the side of the case.
The build certainly required patience and determinism, but in a way the process was cathartic now that it's all working at the end. I'm impressed you can pack this much into an enclosure a pinch smaller than a Razor Core X, although the cost is significantly higher, having an eGPU on the laptop would have limited the card over TB3 with the increase latency, and then the CPU would have potentially started being a bottle neck.
I had some issues with the SPD detection for these GSkill modules, they're not on the vendor qualified list, so I guess that's to be expected. Setting the Strix X570-I to overclock mode and manually configuring the timings seemed to do the trick though and I've had no issues since. I now have Ubuntu 19.10 loaded with the latest nvidia drivers running and everything seems to be working as expected which is a relief. After transferring Witcher 3 and giving it a run on Ultra, confirming GSYNC is finally working, everything seems to be looking positive for this build.
As I expected, the AC and the air purifier in the room make enough noise to make the machine in it's current configuration effectively silent, I will still need to see how it sounds when I close it all up with the radiator bracket in situ and when winter rolls around the ambient noise will be lower so that will be the real test.
I'll post an update when I get around to buying a couple of Noctuas and test out the bottom mounted configuration for the GPU.
