True, but it's slow progress. I can't imagine who's holding it up with over-thinking!
Ok, I've got the GPU block sort of built. There's no actual card in it but it's got a PCIE plate and it's spaced out to about the right thickness. It's main function is to test the
upright GPU bracket fits as expected and where things will end up. I found that the card was rather wobbly being held solely by the PCIE plate and with the PCIE ribbon flapping in the breeze secured only by being plugged onto the PCIE blade on the card. Now there is a supplied steadying bracket and it has loads of different options for spacing and thickness but it looks like....well, it's not pleasing to the eye! So I made a 3D-printed block to screw to the fan plate (that sits behind the GPU) and the PCIE ribbon's PCB then screws down to. That helped a lot and you can just about make it out in this pic:
As stands, the card is aligned far more to the left than I had in my head. At first it didn't fit and I thought I'd have to bring it forward a slot - which I didn't want to do as that would write off using that grommet for bringing the ATX power cable through. By swapping the G1/4 stop plug that was in the back of the block for a flush plug (you can see it in the top slot in the pic above) that made it fit. There's nearly 9mm of clearance between the GPU's terminal block and the glass!
I'm still not that happy with it though. There's not a lot of room to get the DisplayPort cables out of the card and through the case - where I have the bracket currently, it blocks most of the hole for that (can't see it in this pic but it's below the rubber grommet). It might help if I raise it up the case but then I'm going to find the PCIE misses the grommet. The bracket also sticks up (towards the camera) beyond the motherboard tray and I have stupid plans to fill that space with distro plate. So I think I'm back to modelling with the aim of completely replacing the GPU mount.
Also on the PCIE ribbon front, my current ribbon for the 10Gbe NIC is a PCIE3 x16. I need PCIE3 x4 but could only find x16 or x1. Now, two things have happened: I just found a PCIE4 x4 ribbon in the right length and also Realtek have released a new 10Gbe chipset, the RTL8127. It's not massively available but it can be imported for just over £40. So what, why is that of interest? Well, two reasons. One is that it's a PCIE4 card and it's on an x1 width - so I could run a significantly more tidy x1 ribbon which would be a massive improvement over the x16 with six chunks of cable. The other is that it's supposed to be significantly more power-efficient and that means lower heat - which, give the proximity of the GPU ribbon passing overhead, could be relevant. It also apparently supports Wake on LAN (which the Intel one's deliberately don't - too much heat produced when there's no cooling in sleep)...but that's a problem I've already solved with ESP32's. And I'll keep that solution because it also means I have a remote power button and status LED on top of the desk. Darn it, I think I've just talked myself into it *facepalm*