If it looks thermally constrained, it is and should be avoided.
Many cases on the market are subpar, subjecting your components to excessive heat and potentially shortening their lifespan or even causing system crashes.
Avoid cases lacking an open mesh front panel to ensure adequate airflow. The prevalence of early component failures in gaming desktops often stems from inadequate ventilation due to closed-off or glass front panels.
Inadequate CPU Cooler
If the CPU is locked (AMD non-X or Intel non-K) then low end air cooling is all that is required. The stock cooler is sufficient.
For quieter operation, recommend upgrading the cooler.
If the CPU is unlocked (AMD X or Intel K) then water cooling is recommended, and your highest attainable clocks will be limited by the cooler chosen.
High-end air cooling also works well, however it lowers the gap required for age induced performance degradation, which is an inevitable development.
If budget constrained, choose a less critical important component to reduce budget on or get a locked processor.
Unlocking CPUs demands more than just paying their premium price; it necessitates additional investment in adequate cooling, airflow, and power.
Unless gamers are ready to allocate resources for these essentials, opting for locked CPUs is often a more practical choice.
Doing so also frees up your parts budget for more impactful choices like a better GPU or larger SSD.
Having an over-spec CPU cooler means you can run the fans on a much quieter fan curve, and allows for a full fan stop at idle to minimize dust collection, which is not possible with air cooling.
The trusted brands are Arctic and Corsair
Except NZXT M22 or any pump-in-rad designs.
Most inexpensive AIO brands have reliability issues, slow (1-2 month) warranty service time, and should be avoided.
Water cooling also has the advantage of significantly higher thermal mass as well as dispersion of heat away the other hot neighboring components.
Your power supply includes at least two PCIE power cables.
Use one entire cable for each power connector on your GPU.
Do not use the pigtail connector on each PCIE power cable.
See photo below for example.
Improperly Installed M.2 SSD
Your motherboard includes the standoffs and screws needed to fasten your M.2 style SSD(s) to the board in the original box. The standoffs and/or screws usually do not come affixed to the board.
Don’t remove the SSD stand-off and use it as a way to fasten it to the board. This is a very common mistake and can cause the board, SSD, or both to short out including loss of data. ⚠️Never install a SSD like this.
The SSD must also have a heatsink attached. If your board didn’t include one then buy one or your drive with throttle, have a decreased lifespan, or short out against the motherboard.
Mr. Robot