Antimemetic: Fully Passive GTX 1080, SFF, Scratch-built

NYCesquire

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Apr 17, 2016
23
55




START HERE: Antimemetic is a scratch-built, fully-fanless, 0-Decibel, passively cooled gaming PC enclosure lovingly hand-crafted by me here in a small New York City apartment. This is a build log continued from a thread that started on few other places, including RIGHT HERE AT THIS LINK Click there to read the history. After a long hiatus, I'm picking back up. Here's the latest...


Admit it, you thought I had given up, didn't you? Here's the story: I got busy with work, time passed. I started building the GPU cooling solution (which is complete - as demonstrated by the screenshot above) then three things happened:



1) I started getting into the SFF forums and well... I decided that Antimemetic was just too damn big. So much wasted space on the inside! I am not an SLI guy, so why bother with four heat sinks anyway? Where am I going to find the space for the gull wings in my tiny apartment?

2) I realized that copper wouldn't match my new office decor.



Most importantly:



3) I decided I wanted to keep it, not sell it, and I still wanted to automate it.



So I completely redesigned the thing! No copper. No hinges. Instead, low key stealth:



















From the top:







And from the bottom:







Here we are without one of the heat sinks:







And without the other:







Here's a sense of size:







With a case this tiny, it'll actually be quite difficult to maneuver around inside. It is only 100mm from the inside of one heat sink to the inside of the other. Indeed, the entire width of the case, heat sinks included is less than 165mm...



SO HOW ABOUT WE AUTOMATE IT

















The automation separates the heat sinks by a total of 200 mm for a total of 300mm of space inside to work. It is driven by a single large linear actuator. You can see the two rods that will push the heat sinks out. They ride on a set of drawer slides:







Let's be honest with each other though: These heat sinks are monstrously heavy. There's no guarantee that the slides will support the weight without sagging or otherwise falling apart. If, in the sad face case, the automation is unsuccessful, It'll be a dark day, but I will settle for this alternative:









An even tinier, but much simpler and sturdier case.



Next up, an in-depth description of the cooling solution (with pictars). I'd love your feedback!
 

Sicaris

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Dec 6, 2016
115
69
This looks great, I liked the previous version but you are correct about the size. I'm really looking forward to seeing how you construct the heatsinks, I feel like passive cooling is beyond my capabilities right now but perhaps having seen you demonstrate...
If anything I prefer the second case, it looks cleaner, I know it doesn't have the flair of self opening but how often are you actually going to open it?
 
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Gadgety

Chassis Packer
Feb 12, 2016
14
8
I like the design. I was looking forward to the gullwing version, though, and I was wondering if it was going to work. The engineering questions remain with the new project. BTW, what do the heat sinks weigh?
 

ricochet

SFF AFFLICTED
Oct 20, 2016
547
345
I too loved the original copper theme you had going there... maybe you can add some copper highlights to this slightly different design?
 
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craigbru

Cramming big things in small boxes since 2006
LOSIAS
Jul 2, 2015
343
839
Very cool! I wouldn't consider a project that only started last year, as you giving up. Anyone knows me, truly understands how long a project can remain in limbo, haha.

I do like the redesign, and I certainly understand building around your needs. Sometimes revisions are inevitable. Although it's hard, you're better off making the changes than finishing a project and then wishing you'd done something different.

I also agree with ricochet. A few copper accents, even small ones, would add a nice contrast.
 
Last edited:

NYCesquire

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Apr 17, 2016
23
55
You folks are the best.

@Gadgety The heat sinks weigh almost 9 lbs each.

As to the decorative aspect - I'm having some trouble myself, frankly. My priorities were functionality and simplicity, not decoration. I'd welcome any designs you might be interested in sketching out!
 

NYCesquire

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Apr 17, 2016
23
55


Enough with design. Let's talk engineering. This is how I am cooling the GPU, which is an EVGA 1080 Super Clocked. First, I start with the HDPlex H5 GPU heatsink system. Shout out to the folks at
for hooking me up with a few at a discount. They advertise the device as only being able to dissipate 95 watts. In truth, the block and eight heat pipes can dissipate significantly more than that. Much, much, much more than that. They are just hooking it up to the modest heat sinks on the side of their H5 Chassis, which limit the cooling capability. I don't have that problem. I'm drilling into 300mm beast. Behold:





For the evaporator end (the end mounted to the GPU) I use two of the base H5 units back to back, sandwiching eight of my own 6mm heat pipes within.





For the condenser end (the end mounted to the heat sink), I use the full h5 unit with the base and fins. Grease them up nicely:




et voila, the complete GPU core cooling system:



It raises the card off the heat sink enough to leave vertical room for the power connector, PCIE extender, board components, etc.

Add a big block of aluminum to connect the VRM to the heat sink:







Drill the necessary holes to securely attach said big block of aluminum to the heat sink (rube-goldberg-esque drill press setup incoming):



Add some standoffs for ensuring good mounting pressure:



And you have (what might be?) the world's first passive cooling for the Nvidia GTX 1080:



No fans, no water, no pumps, nada.

Here's a vertical shot:



and here we are testing on the frankenbench (sorry for potato quality):



Speaking of testing... RESULTS ARE GOOD. In my ambient room temp of 24 degrees C, here's temps after browsing in chrome for an hour or so:



And of course, the temps that matter - after an hour or so of Heaven:



1911 is the boost clock I was getting with stock cooling, so there's no loss due to the cooling solution. You might note, though, that it is thermal throttling (pink bars). Indeed, all GTX 1080s will keep clocking up until they either throttle due to max voltage or max thermals. So, I may not have lost any performance, but my headroom for overclocking is probably diminished considerably, unless I'm willing to push past 84 degrees. Right now, I'm happy with it. I have some ideas to revamp the cooling solution, in which case I may subject it to the 1080ti when it's released. Guess we'll wait and see

Next up, the CPU cooling solution! Until then, what do you think? As always, I welcome your feedback.
 

Ceros_X

King of Cable Management
Mar 8, 2016
748
660
That is pretty awesome! Do you think longer heat pipes (as you obviously have room to let them sprawl) would have helped with cooling at all?
 
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jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
Silver Supporter
Feb 22, 2015
4,969
4,780
What did you do to get the standoff height correct to avoid bending the PCB or cracking the GPU die?
 
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ImperialAlex

Trash Compacter
Sep 2, 2016
38
53
Wow, this is a pretty mind blowing thread to watch. How much is this system dependant on being "out in the open"?
I.e. how would this perform if you faced it against a wall/into a corner?
 
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Knolly

Chassis Packer
Jan 12, 2017
16
25
I really dig this project.

Just to make sure I understand your intent... Is the idea with automating it that at a certain temperature it would separate for better airflow? Or is it just automating it for working inside the PC because it would look cool?
 
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NYCesquire

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Apr 17, 2016
23
55
That is pretty awesome! Do you think longer heat pipes (as you obviously have room to let them sprawl) would have helped with cooling at all?

I could probably improve the cooling capacity by adding a third contact plate to the heatsink, which would likely need extended heat pipes. Really, though, the gain would be negligible compared to spreading the heat to the rest of the aluminum. I mean look, I'm only making contact with like 1/8 of the heat sink. Increasing cooling capacity is not a heat sink size problem; it's a heat spreading problem.

Extremely interesting thread... more, more, more! Cheers.

Thanks! More incoming.

Very nice ! What are the dimensions and thermal resistance of the aluminium extruded panel ?

The panel is from Heatsink USA. It's roughly 12" x 14" and thermal resistance is approximately .85 C/W per every 3 inches. Here is a link: http://www.heatsinkusa.com/12-000-wide-extruded-aluminum-heatsink/

What did you do to get the standoff height correct to avoid bending the PCB or cracking the GPU die?

careful measurement... and then careful trial... and then abundant error. Thankfully the gpu die and mosfets are roughly coplanar.

Wow, this is a pretty mind blowing thread to watch. How much is this system dependant on being "out in the open"? I.e. how would this perform if you faced it against a wall/into a corner?

I don't know, actually. Further testing will tell...

I really dig this project.

Just to make sure I understand your intent... Is the idea with automating it that at a certain temperature it would separate for better airflow? Or is it just automating it for working inside the PC because it would look cool?

I've tortured myself about this issue (about as much as one can torture one's self about such an issue) throughout the build process. The original intent was indeed to automate it for airflow and for work space and because it would look cool. All three. As I continue work, though, much of that has lost its shine. I'm compelled to simplicity. For that reason, I'll probably just have a simple manual hinge.

Hey, at least the cooling works :)
 

NYCesquire

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Apr 17, 2016
23
55




The GPU side is complete now, and performing famously. Let's talk CPU/Mobo/Ram, power supply and SSDs. I've made a motherboard tray out of black acrylic. Here we are cutting it to size:









And cutting a notch for it to slide cleanly into the aluminum extrusion







Drilling each motherboard and SSD standoff







Here we are all laid out







Here, you can see how the tray slides cleanly into the extrusions that hold the case together. Also, you can see the placement of the PSU above where the SSDs will sit







The CPU, an 88 Watt part (4690k) is connected to the heat sink with six heat pipes, all with only minor bending:







It looks almost organic, doesn't it? Note the reflections that look like kinks. It's not really kinked much at all actually. Just bright lights.



Here we are all sealed up







and on the desk plugged in and running (a sketchup model of itself!)







Not bad for zero fans! It's under 80 degrees with your usual (non Prime95 voltage voodoo) stress testing and runs under 60 degrees in Heaven and in games. Thoughts? Feedback?



...For those who want to know about totally unrealistic, "never happen in the real world" scenarios, here we are under Prime95's ridiculous stress test in a very warm (25c) room.



 

|||

King of Cable Management
Sep 26, 2015
775
759
FYI

Seasonic said:
For Seasonic Fanless Series, the power supply unit must be mounted into the computer case with the ventilation top cover facing UPWARD in order for the hot air to rise. If you are installing your fanless power supply into the top section of your case, it is recommended to mount the power supply with the ventilation top cover facing UPWARD only if there is enough space (at least 5 cm) available between the ventilation side and the metal plate of the case, or if the computer case has special honeycomb ventilation panel on the top side. In case there is not enough space to ensure proper ventilation upwards, your fanless power supply needs to be mounted with its ventilation top cover facing DOWNWARD.

I don't want you to burn out your PSU :)