For the NZXT H9 I feel it is better suited to an AIO, though I would go with a 420mm to keep in line with the 140mm fans. It simply looks odd without three 140mm bottom fans, three 140mm side fans and a 420 AIO.
Air cooling with just the supplied fans is a mixed bag, as so much air is simply going in and out the roof. If you do three exhaust in the roof it robs an air cooler, if you leave the bottom unpopulated it looks like you never finished building the case.
Another alternative is the NZXT H6, smaller more convenient footprint, takes a 360 AIO and three 120 side intakes, with two 140 bottom intakes.
There is no need for a Gen 5 NVMe. Especially no need for an NVME heat sink on the main drive with modern motherboards.
If it's only gaming then an X870E offers you no gains for a lot more money. So I would recommend a B850 and put the savings towards a 5080. The 5080 gives a larger FPS boost than the 9800X3D can, yet the 9800X3D actually stretches it's legs more with the 5080 as it's a little constrained with the 9070xt and 5070ti unless you only play a few specific CPU heavy titles. I can't remember the last time I seen my CPU doing anything commendable durring gaming, though I tend to game at 4k with 160fps lock on a 160hz screen.
With such a system case and cooling become as much aesthetic as performance, something like a Lian Li 217 or Antec Flux with a Thermalright Peerless Assassin or Phantom Spirit or a basic 360 will be topping the cooling charts while remaining reasonably quiet, with the NZXT H6 and H9 being in the same league but suited to 360 and 420 AIO's respectively.
If you plan on only gaming and zero SDD or HDD, again it's hard to recommend an ATX motherboard.
For purely gaming I would be wanting a 9800X3D/5080/5090 today with a B850M micro-atx motherboard and 32gb DDR5 and a 4tb Gen 4NVMe.
I like specific brands and will often overspend on the motherboard. Below is simply a representation of the sort of build I would want if purely gaming at 1440p and 4k. I only have an H9 as I plan to use a 12 or 16 core CPU with two SSD and two HDD with the case dimensions fitting on a rack shelf, the H6 is a white build based on a 12core CPU to mainly do DAW work, my H3 was intended for a budget gaming build which went sideways due to DDR pricing.
You could save £90 by changing from the Asus Tuff Gaming to the Sapphire Nitro+ Motherboard.
You could go with the Phanteks Amp GH1000 PSU and save £10 and have nicer looking cables.
You could save money with an Arctic 240 AIO or air cooler, and cheaper case fans.
I personally feel the NZXT is the best MicroATX case if your only going to build a gaming machine using nothing more than a 9800X3D with a couple of NVMe drives. You can deck it out with an Arctic Freezer 36 or Thermalright Peerless Assasin and Arctic case fans, or an AIO and any fans you desire, I hate RGB and like quiet, so Arctic, BeQuet and Noctua are usually my preference, but recently it's all been Arctic.
My H3 was paired with an Arctic Freezer 36 with two P14 fans up front, a single P12 in the roof and single P12 in the rear, with two P12 slims on the PSU shroud. The H6 is awaiting three BeQuiet Pure wings High Speed white 140mm side fans and a white BeQuiet 360 AIO to replace the black Silent Wings 240 AIO. The H9 has six P14 Pro Reverse 140mm fans for bottom and side, with three P14 140 roof fans and an Arctic Freezer 36 CPU cooler as a temporary set up still to be built. Initially I was going with a BeQuiet Silent Loop 420 AIO with six BeQuiet Silent Wings Pro 140mm fans for low noise, but with the low cost of Arctic during the sales I ended up with ten P14 Pro PWM and six P14 Pro Reverse PWM in discounted multipacks. The BeQuiet are nice fans, but I want to see how quiet the P14 Pro's can run, and there is not a lot of choice with reverse blade, I know it's simply looks, but I don't like RGB, and this at least will let me build initially to see if I decide the case works as a blackout build or not. the H6 in white without RGB is I feel lacking, and I am inclined to think these goldfish cases may well not be suited to blackout builds.
My basket at OcUK:
Total: £2,661.72 (includes delivery: £0.00)
