Specs:

Case:
Velka-5 rev 3.0
Price: 170 EUR + 43 EUR taxes
The smallest case I was able to find that can fit a 240 mm radiator.
Cpu:
Ryzen 9950x tray
Price: 513 EUR
Amazon
At work I often compile large projects and run heavy tests, so CPU performance was the main goal of this build.
Ram:
Kingbank 2x48gb 6400 ddr5
Price: 360 EUR + 20 EUR taxes
Aliexpress
64 GB would probably be enough for my use cases, but I wanted some headroom. When prices started going up, I managed to grab this kit for a reasonable price.
Motherboard:
ASUS ROG STRIX B650E-I GAMING WIFI
Price: ~220 EUR
Amazon
I also considered B850 boards, but there might be driver issues on Linux (especially Wi-Fi 7), and most of them use custom Wi-Fi antenna connectors. Decided to stay with B650.
Nvme:
WD Black SN850x 2tb
Price: 149 EUR
Amazon
Nothing special — just a fast and reliable drive.
Fans:
2X SilverstoneSST-AS120B
Price: 30 EUR
Amazon
Probably not the best slim fans for radiators, but they are relatively quiet and feel well built.
PSU:
Enhance ENP-7660B - 600W Flex ATX
Price: 170 EUR
I also considered a 450 W unit, but it wasn’t available. 600 W is overkill for this build, but my main concern was keeping the PSU cool and quiet.

Build process

The initial idea was to flip the motherboard so that the CPU pump and memory would face the radiator. This could improve airflow for the fans and also help cool the RAM, VRM, etc.
Unfortunately, this isn’t possible in the Velka 5 because of the frame layout.
1.
Just making sure that main components works as expected
2.
Trying to fit all components into the case:
At this point I realized that the radiator fittings were too tall, so I had to order lower-profile ones.
3.
Final assembly
After getting the PSU and low-profile fittings:
one of the hardest things was removing all the air from the system
Applied the Thermal Grizzly KryoSheet thermal pad
Finally assembled everything — total weight is almost 5 kg.

Performance & tuning

The goal was to maintain high sustained CPU performance within the thermal limits of a very small case.
Memory: EXPO @ DDR5-6400, later switched to EXPO II
PBO: enabled
Curve Optimizer: all-core –20
Under heavy load the CPU can sustain ~200 W for 5–10 minutes, after which power decreases smoothly without hard throttling or clock oscillations.
The thermal limit is left at 95 °C, which works well with this cooling setup.
The system is stable under sustained load.
Next step - add OCULink to connect eGPU