Yeah, you’re right. Threadrippers are definitely not the right approach here.
I’m seeing relatively the same multithreaded performance from a i9 14900K as a Ryzen 9 7950X and the 14900K has a solidly higher single-threaded performance according to cpubenchmark.net
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html#desktop-thread
Great point, it’s not so clear cut of a lead. 14900K wins in price, but I haven’t factored in the cost of the mobo that might even out the total cost.
A case like Silverstone Alta G1M would let me fit a 360mm water cooler in there, but the build is starting to get larger and larger :P A lower TDP would need smaller coolers and fit smaller cases like you said.
I can fabricate a handle for it, and I’m considering perhaps smaller cases that I could stuff a 360mm cooler into where a GPU would be. e.g. Mechanic Master C30pro (aside from the glass…). As long as the case can handle a long enough GPU, it would fit a 360mm radiator (~400mm long) and I could bolt it to the side panel and cut some ventilation. Sadly many of the cases out there seem to be tempered glass side panels… can’t cut/drill that!