geerlingguy/mini-rack

3U-4U Desktop with GPU

Open

#250 opened on Sep 20, 2025

View on GitHub
 (10 comments) (0 reactions) (0 assignees) (87 forks)github user discovery
help wanted

Repository metrics

Stars
 (3,613 stars)
PR merge metrics
 (PR metrics pending)

Description

Goal:

  • Mount a functional, full power workstation/gaming PC inside of a 10in mini rack

Initial brainstorming

  • Mounting an itx board is relatively easy
  • Needs full height GPU
  • Deskpi racks have a vented top, so that is the target. Airflow potential on three sides of the system
  • A 240mm radiator could be mounted venting out the top for CPU cooling, or mounted to the back/front via zipties. Top is ideal.
  • SFX or SFX-L PSU could also vent out the top mounted in the front corner. FlexSF would not be enough power I think?
  • The GPU is the real issue. A double slot card would technically fit, however there would be issue with the fit. The problem is that a double slot card would have only a very small gap between the rack sides and the fans, and I don't want to cut holes for that.
  • A gpu riser could be used to mount the card vertical in parallel to the CPU radiator, a nice case would be good but I guess the card could be zip-tied to the top. A blower style card might be better but those are rare these days and unlikely to be short enough.

I did a quick search and didn't find anyone going all the way.

There is also a chance I do a normal SFF build and just set it on top outside of the rack 😅

Contributor guide

Research direction
Research commercial 3U 4U rackmount cases that support full height GPUs and ITX motherboards; consider GPU riser cable and mounting orientation for airflow.
Tech stack
None
Domain
infrastructure
Issue type
Research
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
4
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
Over 1 week
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Mostly clear
Prerequisites
Hardware assemblyPC building
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
15