Log 3950x 6900xt FormD T1 build - EK 240AIO

[DrLeroy]

So I think I have finally got my current system to its 'final' state, at least until a 5950x becomes more readily available, and I can justify the upgrade from the 3950x. . . unlikely.
Have just finished playing CyberPunk 2077 at 3840x1600 with every setting maxed out (which is beyond ultra, there are a few settings you can set to Pysco) and it has performed really well.
the case I have set up in 3 slot mode, as 6900xt is a 2.5 slot card, keen for a gen 4.0 riser cable though given I am locked at 3.0 right now, with a 4.0 riser I can try SAM on the 3950x (bios update includes this for 3000 series) and possibly get another boost. but for now, high 50's low 60's in 2077 maxed out at 3840x1600 is fine for this type of game for me with freesync, and other games I play are maxed out at well over 100+ fps, things like CS:GO and League of legends in the 300's and pub high 100's around 170-180fps so happy days.

Specs:
CPU: 3950x
MB: Asus X570-i Strix
RAM: Team Group T-Force 64gb kit 2xz32gb 3200mhz @CL16
GPU: Asrock Reference 6900XT
SSD1: Samsung 960Evo 500gb (Boot)
SSD2: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 2TB (Games, VMs, Working files etc)
PSU: Corsair SF600 Gold
Cables: PSlate Customs unsleeved blacks cables
Cooling: EK 240AIO with 2x Noctual NFA12x15 Chromax fans + 1x A4x10

some lame photos:

some commentary if you care:

Case: not 100% as good as the hype around it would have suggested, its a great case, don't get me wrong, it just didn't fill me with the same joy as getting my old Dan A4 did, its a much better-looking case though for sure. I miss my front USB port, as I used that a lot for working from home, ill just have to wait and see if the teased new front panel with this gets released if not ill go back to a USB hub on the desk I guess. The quality of the case is great overall. solid case, but a bit overhyped, and I guess all the delays just kinda made it not as special. still happy with it though.
oh, and I just wish I had an easy way to block the 3rd slot with an IO cover, there is no way to hold it in place. .. that is a tad annoying.

CPU: set to auto with PBO, sees 4.25ghz most of the time in games and peaks higher quite often, max temp I've seen has been 77c with the EK240AIO in a 35c room (summer here in Australia and my office has no air conditioning[you can see the broken unit on the balcony outside in one of the photos haha])

MB: the onboard fan is noisy, probably my main gripe with this board, I added a 40mm Noctua I had spare to the nvme area which aids in airflow around the MB that you loose with an AIO pump, this made a big difference to the onboard fan noise.

ram: its a 3000 kit running at 3200, i was having some crashes at 3600 and with my CPU set to Asus advanced boost, I changed both and crashes seem to have gone, may try and get it back up to 3600 at some point, but not sure if its really worth?

GPU: Well chuffed with this one, it feels good to have an AMD GPU again since my 5970 Eyefinity 6 to my 7970 days, my 1080 and 1080ti were good cards sure, but like my ryzen cpu's was happy to be back on AMD once again, something always just sits better with me on AMD gear, probable stems from my earliest computer being a K6 I guess, then into Durons, then athlons, and my skt 939 based shuttle X pc which was my last AMD main rig before going to intel for a while, GPU wise the AMD cards always offered good value for money to me, and the 6900xt is not there on value for money i guess when compared to the 6800xt, though i still feel comfortable with the cost of the card and the performance I have from this. again, well chuffed. oh and freesync (gsync on my freesync display never worked well, this is a dream, auto-enabled and has been so smooth)

SSDs: the Samsung boot SSD is from my olf Ryzen 7, 1080ti 32gb ram build, so it's a bit old these days, I may replace it with another SX8200 2TB, but for now it is doing its job fine. the SX8200 drive is awesome though, runs cool even on the rear side of the mainboard with a 2mm aluminum plate, around 5c cooler under load than the Samsung on the front side

PSU: another layover from my old ryzen 7 machines, will replace this with the SF750 platinum at some point in the near future, not that the SF600 has given me any issues, but given I have only been gaming not working on this system for over the holidays I've not put the GPU and CPU under stress together yet, which is where I believe I will see this one hit its limits. the SF750 is hard to get at the moment also with the rise in popularity of SFF systems, all my local retailers are out of stock.

Cables: These cables are great, though the 24pin I feel could have been done a tiny bit better, as in with shorter one side for a cleaner curve, however, 120% better than the stock PSU cables, and more than happy with, I may correct this myself if I can be bothered.

Cooling: I am about 75% happy with the cooling here, the AIO keeps the CPU temps acceptable with low noise, but the AIO tubes are not routed that well, the swivel ports on the block cannot be rotated to be where I would like them without causing a twist in the tube, and then one of the tubes does press against the GPU a slight amount, I guess this is why it's not a recommended option. also, the led's on the block get very warm but meh to that.

 

[thelaughingman]

thank you for sharing! your build is pretty much the dream for many right now. I really want that 6900XT but settle for a 2080ti while waiting for this madness to calm down.

about the case, I share some of your feeling as the A4 was my first SFF case (been dreaming about it since v1 years back) so fully aware that there will always be a negative bias towards all other cases that come after. the T1 is most definitely over-hyped, but also because of the hype that there will be a v2.0 with much needed design improvements (I really hope so). unfortunately all accessories planned for v1.1 is not going to happen because of the focus shift to v2.0 so you'd better get a USB hub

I'm the using the Impact board now, which has the same VRM/PCH fan config as the X570I Strix and the tiny fans bug me also. VRM is very cool so it doesn't spin up but PCH temp - OMG it reaches 70C easily and that fan ramps up to 4000-4500RPM and I can hear an annoying buzzing sound

 

[DrLeroy]

thank you for sharing! your build is pretty much the dream for many right now. I really want that 6900XT but settle for a 2080ti while waiting for this madness to calm down.

about the case, I share some of your feeling as the A4 was my first SFF case (been dreaming about it since v1 years back) so fully aware that there will always be a negative bias towards all other cases that come after. the T1 is most definitely over-hyped, but also because of the hype that there will be a v2.0 with much needed design improvements (I really hope so). unfortunately all accessories planned for v1.1 is not going to happen because of the focus shift to v2.0 so you'd better get a USB hub

I'm the using the Impact board now, which has the same VRM/PCH fan config as the X570I Strix and the tiny fans bug me also. VRM is very cool so it doesn't spin up but PCH temp - OMG it reaches 70C easily and that fan ramps up to 4000-4500RPM and I can hear an annoying buzzing sound

you can find them, I was just lucky with the 6900xt one came up and I was able to grab it at retail price.

Hmm, perhaps I should just get a V2.0 and pass my current T1 to my partner, as she now has my A4, its a bit frustrating if those parts are not going to come for the v1.0 now though as the usb c port front panel was one of the selling points for me, thinking I could just get this later, oh well.

 

[AlexTSG]

@DrLeroy Just saw your profile picture when you replied to my other PCIe cable related post.

I see you have an EK-AIO 240, and I just posted a thread trying to find out if anyone had used one and what they though of it (In the NCASE sub-forum).

So, any issues or problems, or should I go and buy one immediately?

EK just released an RGB-less "Basic" version which is the one I'm planning to get.

 

[DrLeroy]

@DrLeroy Just saw your profile picture when you replied to my other PCIe cable related post.

I see you have an EK-AIO 240, and I just posted a thread trying to find out if anyone had used one and what they though of it (In the NCASE sub-forum).

So, any issues or problems, or should I go and buy one immediately?

EK just released an RGB-less "Basic" version which is the one I'm planning to get.

I wish they had the rgbless version when I got mine, though I do like white lights in my case to throw light over my desk when at night, have my colour temp matched to the dow firing led's on my monitor. the fan were a throw away for me though as I needed the slim noctuas, so I am also not sure of performance with stock fans.

it seems pretty decent, though the pump is noisier than the last AIO I ran(deep cool in my Mrs in win A1 before I gave her my Dan A4), but probably on par with my old Corsair(evolv Shift i ran for a bit), I ran a few years ago id say.

cooling performance on the 3950x seems okay to me so far, in the T1 the rad temp is affected a fair bit by GPU temps though. I would say it would be even better in a Ncase.

 

[AlexTSG]

Thanks for the feedback.

This would be my first foray into water cooling, and up till last week I was going to pickup the black Noctua U9S, but at $90 the U9S with an extra fan is almost the same price as the EK-AIO.

Aside from paranoia about water leaks, I was concerned about pump noise, as the U9S would be completely silent for low intensity tasks like browsing, watching videos, etc.

However, when it comes to outright cooling performance it's no contest. Even with a second fan attached the U9S just isn't going to come close to the cooling of a 240mm AIO, and while that won't matter too much for the Ryzen 5 3600 I'll be using now, it's going to make a difference if I pick up a 5900X later in the year.