My system is headless. For remote access, it has Win 12 Pro, which has remote desktop built-in. The OS is unlicensed, but I still get security updates. Just have to live with a small, semi-transparent watermark on the desktop.
For me it was convenience. The shorter runs were individual, the longer distance cameras was a single run to a POE switch, so I had short runs to that.
I'd definitely go with a a shorter cooler. I'm using an i5-12500 with a Noctua NH-L9x65 low-profile cooler. Works great. I also have two 1TB 2.5 drives, but those are only used with cameras that capture when motion is detected, which isn't very often, so are generally low use. No issues though.