You might want to trim that (sata?) Header going to the loadswitch from the dynamo. It looks bent and pressed against the meanwell.
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Yes indeed - the entire wiring needs to be rebuilt... the load switch cables are just about fitting lenght wise and hence under a lot of tension...
I completely missed your thread ! Glad the load switch is working nicely for you 
Works like a charm!I completely missed your thread ! Glad the load switch is working nicely for you
Update on the 24hr (well - turned out to be 27!) load test: Everything worked well, the GPU maxed at 83 degrees and stabilising between 78-79 degrees at 100% and a maximum core clock of 1886 MHz.
As indicated earlier, the HDPLEX PSU is getting quite hot - slightly north of what one would like to touch:
Now, that is a bit of a worry indeed, as looking at the CPU load graph of my Lumion test, things seem fairly calm there indicating that the test is mainly putting stress on the GPU (not a surprise when using a GPU renderer):
Keeping in mind that the already pretty warm HDPLEX is driving motherboard and CPU things might turn out interesting when running something CPU heavy...
The other end is pretty much OK - assume from previous measurements that the MeanWell is actually running cooler but picking up heat from the adjacent HDPLEX.
The readings on the bottom heat bridge of the GPU are pretty much consistent with what I get in Afterburner - hot but not too hot, so it seems that for the purpose of keeping the GPU reasonably cool the build pans out - despite the HDPLEX blocking one side of the 1080's design air flow (NB that this is measuring though the vent openings - it's NOT the surface temperature of the case).
So next up for testing will be putting some stress onto the CPU!
[EDIT]
And completely forgot about a word on noise: The Gigabyte 1080 Mini is clearly audible under stress. It's not precisely foreground noise level, but it produces a high frequency tone at full load that is present in the room. So one for later will be considering fan alternatives (that said, under full load one is likely to wear headphones anyway), either replacing the built-in 90mm fan with something by Noctua of similar dimensions, which will be a bit of a challenge as requiring a frameless fan, or going "naked" with a 120mm fan on top - which might have undesirable side effects on static pressure in absence of a shroud.
As indicated earlier, the HDPLEX PSU is getting quite hot - slightly north of what one would like to touch:
Now, that is a bit of a worry indeed, as looking at the CPU load graph of my Lumion test, things seem fairly calm there indicating that the test is mainly putting stress on the GPU (not a surprise when using a GPU renderer):
Keeping in mind that the already pretty warm HDPLEX is driving motherboard and CPU things might turn out interesting when running something CPU heavy...
The other end is pretty much OK - assume from previous measurements that the MeanWell is actually running cooler but picking up heat from the adjacent HDPLEX.
The readings on the bottom heat bridge of the GPU are pretty much consistent with what I get in Afterburner - hot but not too hot, so it seems that for the purpose of keeping the GPU reasonably cool the build pans out - despite the HDPLEX blocking one side of the 1080's design air flow (NB that this is measuring though the vent openings - it's NOT the surface temperature of the case).
So next up for testing will be putting some stress onto the CPU!
[EDIT]
And completely forgot about a word on noise: The Gigabyte 1080 Mini is clearly audible under stress. It's not precisely foreground noise level, but it produces a high frequency tone at full load that is present in the room. So one for later will be considering fan alternatives (that said, under full load one is likely to wear headphones anyway), either replacing the built-in 90mm fan with something by Noctua of similar dimensions, which will be a bit of a challenge as requiring a frameless fan, or going "naked" with a 120mm fan on top - which might have undesirable side effects on static pressure in absence of a shroud.
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I've posted this in a few other places too, but the fan on the e-gpu version of the gigabyte 1080 mini is very quiet and cools very well in my s4.
It's audible at 100%, but it never needs to run at that.
1440p maxed out Unigine heaven, it stabilizes at 1936 mhz, 900mv, 74c, 85% fan speed and I can't hear it at all unless I put my ear right up to the case.
I do run my s4 vertical though.
I just saw this awesome thread. I love your innovation, fearlessness, and tenacity. Congratulations on putting this together.
Senpai finally notices....I just saw this awesome thread. I love your innovation, fearlessness, and tenacity. Congratulations on putting this together.
Its really a great effort in cramming so much hardware in this much volume.
...yes, looks like acoustically the eGPU version has the edge over the standard one by a wide margin - and I started to look into what I can find out about it, coming across this thread here: Reading through it, it would appear that at least three eGPU cards had issues with the big fan starting to produce some sort of "rattle" after a short while. Leads me to wonder whether the fan only likes to run in vertical orientation (as intended in the gaming box - and in your case)...
Interestingly, I found that the eGPU 1080s are rare on eBay but cheaper to buy than the retail 1080, but given the reports above, I tend to consider stripping the retail card and fitting it with an aftermarket fan of similar size as the eGPU version. What is the diameter and height of the original fan that you have?
It's a slim 130mm fan. I don't have anything to measure the thickness, but I think it's around 15mm.
As for "rattling", if they mean it impacts the case, then yes, the card can sag enough in the S4 for the fan to clip the case a bit, but that was an easy fix, I just used some thread to tie the card to the hdd bracket by looping it around the sli fingers and the power plug. I can and have run the system on it's side with no issues, I just prefer vertical for the space efficiency and I don't have any feet for the case.
Thanks for the info! I have found a pretty similar solution with a 120mm Noctua slimline fan, will hopefully perform comparably- required some modding, will post an update soon...
Brief update re thermals:
To verify my concerns over the HDPLEX I have been throwing some CPU stress at the machine first using synthetic CPU stress, to then find out that the actual CPU usage is slightly higher running a memory stress test - getting me to 91 degC max:
To assess the worst case scenario, I now run Ugine Heaven at 4k fullscreen on extreme settings with the synthetic benchmark in the background which should max out all aspects of the system:
The CPU maxes at 93 degC, the GPU at 82 (with the core clock moving between 1633 and 1820Mhz, so I assume that at this point some sort of throttling kicks in...)
As predicted, the additional CPU loads further heats up the HDPLEX 160W AC-DC PSU, now getting me to rather impressive 63.6 degC surface temp, with the MeanWell at 48.6 (actually it will be cooler in isolation, as it attracts energy from the neighbouring HDPLEX):
This gives me to think about what I could do with the front bezel, being a missing part still - have something in mind and will post a sketch soon!
To verify my concerns over the HDPLEX I have been throwing some CPU stress at the machine first using synthetic CPU stress, to then find out that the actual CPU usage is slightly higher running a memory stress test - getting me to 91 degC max:
To assess the worst case scenario, I now run Ugine Heaven at 4k fullscreen on extreme settings with the synthetic benchmark in the background which should max out all aspects of the system:
The CPU maxes at 93 degC, the GPU at 82 (with the core clock moving between 1633 and 1820Mhz, so I assume that at this point some sort of throttling kicks in...)
As predicted, the additional CPU loads further heats up the HDPLEX 160W AC-DC PSU, now getting me to rather impressive 63.6 degC surface temp, with the MeanWell at 48.6 (actually it will be cooler in isolation, as it attracts energy from the neighbouring HDPLEX):
This gives me to think about what I could do with the front bezel, being a missing part still - have something in mind and will post a sketch soon!
Curiosity
Too busy figuring out if I can to think if I shoul
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Are you still running the stock voltage/frequency curve on the gpu? The gigabyte 1080 mini power throttles pretty fast and you can't go over 105% in msi afterburner. Try to get the voltage as low as you can, you'll get higher frequencies and better frequency stability, maybe better temps too.
I shunt modded mine just to see what I could do with it, Got a little more power out of it, but now I'm limited by the max voltage of 1.05v.
Your best bet with this card is to push the voltages as low as you can and aim for a steady ~1911 or 1938 mhz with the voltage under 1v. Anything more than that and you'll power throttle without a shunt mod. I normally run mine with a curve that peaks at 1911 mhz at .912 v for daily use. For benchmarking I can get up to 2038 mhz at .975v, but only after the shunt mod and I have had it crash in some games.
The GPU Thermal Throttles. You can use HWInfo to verify that.
Gigabyte GTX 1080 mini ITX really needs the back exhaust unobstructed to cool properly.
You should try with a custom GPU cooling solution.
Yes, as of now everything is running as out of the box. Once the hardware is completed, I’ll have to spend some time tuning things - and acquiring some critical knowledge in the field
thanks for the hints- will definitely give that a try
Yeah the GPU cooling will definitely need some work - also for acoustic reasons. Have something in the making that looks promising but isn’t fully tested yet; will post an update soon!
Next Update: Tidying up cabling. With all components where they belong, it's time to give the wiring a final pass - with this all of this here lined up for a comprehensive treatment:
After briefly considering whether it's worth keeping any of the components in their original state, I concluded that that would only be half the fun- so here we go, aiming for getting rid of as much unused cable length as possible!
First, a bit of shrink wrap cosmetics to the AC feed and power switch connector:
Next task is tackling the provisional sleeving of the HDPLEX power feed - and most importantly the way-to-white connector.
Having sore fingers from trying to find a black 3pin molex connector, I decided to rather stretch some good old shrink tube and coat it:
After a bit of back-and-forth I get to something like this which should be good for a confrontation with my hairdryer:
Now, that looks much better:
Tackling the other end, the DC side needs to become much shorter to connect cleanly to the 160W direct plug - a bit of cutting and crimping...
...and the HDPLEX is good to go back into the case:
On the other end I decided to completely re-do the AC connector side and replace the terminals with the fork for the two PSUs (previously I had no fitting ones and had to solder-in the AC fork)... allowing for a bit of cosmetics to the cables...
...and to properly crimp on some molex pins:
After some more shrink-tubing I get a second almost-black connector...
...that goes back into the case to connect to the HDPLEX PSU:
Next: Trimming the CPU power feed to length - again leaving a little extra lenght to account for cables mysteriously shrinking when putting them in place...
To ensure that I'm not messing up the polarisation (that would be certain death to the board), I use coloured shrink tubing to keep track of the single wires after cutting and crimp on the new terminals pair-by-pair...
...eventually resulting in this:
As I want to minimise cable clutter, I will attempt to get all eight wires into a single sleeving, making it a rather thick package to squeeze through the expandable sleeve. To avoid the sharp atx terminals to get stuck when pulling them through the sleeving, I cover them with a bit of shrink tubing...
...and double check polarisation before fitting a new connector:
The result is pretty compact...
...fitting nicely length-wise...
...but unfortunately being a tad less flexible than necessary, not really fitting between the direct plug AC-AC and the side panel - ouch!
Trimming back the sleeving a bit should solve the problem and allow for a sharp bend at the direct plug end...
...and fitting in the remaining space between direct plug and case.
That's better.
Now, the feed to the direct plug psu will need to be trimmed to measure - I start by cutting the cables to length...
...and then crimp on terminals to fit a new plug.
You can see the finished direct plug feed cable in the background below - the last remaining item is the load switch in the foreground. Originally designed by @aquelito to feed two 12V devices, I start by removing the existing output leads...
...and then replace them by a single output, using flexible black silicone cables. I'll keep the thick red power feed and trim it...
...to fit the desired position of the switch: Idea is to screw it to the bottom of the case, fitting into the gap between GPU and main board using the extra length of the screws that are fixing the 120mm fan bracket from the other side; a single M3 nut (centre of image)...
...and some shrink wrap as a flexible bracket should do the trick - with a hole punched into the shrink wrap coat with the tip of a soldering iron:
To not shrink away my brand new mounting hole I insert a blind screw before heating the switch...
...resulting in this part which oddly resembles something from the matrix.
Second part of the load switch is the negative terminal which is a pretty straightforward assembly of five silicone wires soldered into a ring terminal on one, and crimp-on ATX terminals on the other end:
Fitting everything into the case to confirm cable lengths... looks about right!
And as a finishing touch I shrink-wrap the golden HDMI blind plug which is not really fitting the colour scheme of the case...
...et voila - black is beautiful!
All connected...
...and ready to go!
Admittedly this one is competing for the longest post of the year- thanks for the patience if you made it until here!
Up next: Tackling that GPU fan...
After briefly considering whether it's worth keeping any of the components in their original state, I concluded that that would only be half the fun- so here we go, aiming for getting rid of as much unused cable length as possible!
First, a bit of shrink wrap cosmetics to the AC feed and power switch connector:
Next task is tackling the provisional sleeving of the HDPLEX power feed - and most importantly the way-to-white connector.
Having sore fingers from trying to find a black 3pin molex connector, I decided to rather stretch some good old shrink tube and coat it:
After a bit of back-and-forth I get to something like this which should be good for a confrontation with my hairdryer:
Now, that looks much better:
Tackling the other end, the DC side needs to become much shorter to connect cleanly to the 160W direct plug - a bit of cutting and crimping...
...and the HDPLEX is good to go back into the case:
On the other end I decided to completely re-do the AC connector side and replace the terminals with the fork for the two PSUs (previously I had no fitting ones and had to solder-in the AC fork)... allowing for a bit of cosmetics to the cables...
...and to properly crimp on some molex pins:
After some more shrink-tubing I get a second almost-black connector...
...that goes back into the case to connect to the HDPLEX PSU:
Next: Trimming the CPU power feed to length - again leaving a little extra lenght to account for cables mysteriously shrinking when putting them in place...
To ensure that I'm not messing up the polarisation (that would be certain death to the board), I use coloured shrink tubing to keep track of the single wires after cutting and crimp on the new terminals pair-by-pair...
...eventually resulting in this:
As I want to minimise cable clutter, I will attempt to get all eight wires into a single sleeving, making it a rather thick package to squeeze through the expandable sleeve. To avoid the sharp atx terminals to get stuck when pulling them through the sleeving, I cover them with a bit of shrink tubing...
...and double check polarisation before fitting a new connector:
The result is pretty compact...
...fitting nicely length-wise...
...but unfortunately being a tad less flexible than necessary, not really fitting between the direct plug AC-AC and the side panel - ouch!
Trimming back the sleeving a bit should solve the problem and allow for a sharp bend at the direct plug end...
...and fitting in the remaining space between direct plug and case.
That's better.
Now, the feed to the direct plug psu will need to be trimmed to measure - I start by cutting the cables to length...
...and then crimp on terminals to fit a new plug.
You can see the finished direct plug feed cable in the background below - the last remaining item is the load switch in the foreground. Originally designed by @aquelito to feed two 12V devices, I start by removing the existing output leads...
...and then replace them by a single output, using flexible black silicone cables. I'll keep the thick red power feed and trim it...
...to fit the desired position of the switch: Idea is to screw it to the bottom of the case, fitting into the gap between GPU and main board using the extra length of the screws that are fixing the 120mm fan bracket from the other side; a single M3 nut (centre of image)...
...and some shrink wrap as a flexible bracket should do the trick - with a hole punched into the shrink wrap coat with the tip of a soldering iron:
To not shrink away my brand new mounting hole I insert a blind screw before heating the switch...
...resulting in this part which oddly resembles something from the matrix.
Second part of the load switch is the negative terminal which is a pretty straightforward assembly of five silicone wires soldered into a ring terminal on one, and crimp-on ATX terminals on the other end:
Fitting everything into the case to confirm cable lengths... looks about right!
And as a finishing touch I shrink-wrap the golden HDMI blind plug which is not really fitting the colour scheme of the case...
...et voila - black is beautiful!
All connected...
...and ready to go!
Admittedly this one is competing for the longest post of the year- thanks for the patience if you made it until here!
Up next: Tackling that GPU fan...
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