I originally posted in /r/PcBuildHelp in this thread, but was told to ask here.

I’m about to replace my 9-year old FX-8350 system with a new build:

  • CPU: Ryzen 9 5900X
  • Motherboard: Gigabyte X570S Aorus Elite AX rev1.1
  • GPU: XFX Speedster Merc 319 (Radeon 6950XT)
  • Case: GameMax Dragon Knight m902

The new case has 3 5.25 drive bays, one of which will be occupied by an optical drive.

My current rig has one of these. I initially set the fan speeds to 100% and left it like that ever since, but I’ve become accustomed to having the temperature display even though the panel only reads from its own sensor positioned between the CPU cooler and the top case fans.

There are a scant few similar options now, but I don’t like the aesthetics of their displays.

I’ve seen modern builds (especially with NZXT cases) with HDMI or USB driven screens behind the glass side panels, basically I’d like to put something like that in my unoccupied external drive bays.

The intent is to have CPU & GPU temps, CPU load, RAM usage, and other hardware stats on this display.

I’ve been through Matrix Orbital, Crystalfonts, New Haven Display, BuyDisplay, and Orient Display, and know which models will physically fit. I’m leaning toward a unit (non-touchscreen) that connects to a separate driver board with a ribbon cable to avoid space issues dealing with comparatively bulky cables coming out of the side of the module.

Then I started looking for mounting solutions. Mountain Mods makes aluminum 2x bay covers, but I lack the means to easily mod them. The easiest option seems to be getting one of these, removing the 3.5" drive tray & fan, and modifying the front bezel.

Based on the hardware I have (motherboard is backordered on NewEgg, everything else is here), a USB-driven display may be the only option… I don’t think I’ll have any internal HDMI outputs to plug this into.

Oh, and I’ll be running Ubuntu or Mint, so I might need some pointers on setting up such a display from within the OS. This new machine will only ever experience Windows in a VM, maybe.

Is this a good plan? Are there any kits or build guides out there I wasn’t able to find? Any other vendors or components I should look into?

It’s kind of surprising that manufacturers have never offered a solution… I’ve found forum posts asking about doing exactly this dating back to 2012.