Hi everyone!
A lurker here until now, I've finally finished my SFF build.
Ryzen 2400g, no GPU, Sharkoon QB one, and a modified Be Quiet 240 watercooling loop.
This is likely going to be my workstation for a while.
I got this case for cheap, I liked it and it kinda defined the build. It's got mounting holes for a 240mm rad, so I decided to make it water cooled. A radiator that large meant I could go with low RPM fans and ultimately, a very quiet system.
PSU choice was tricky. I really wanted a 12V solution with a DC-DC converter, but power connector location on B450 motherboards meant inductors of the converter would touch the outer RAM stick, not something I'd want to see. The case is meant for ATX or SFX PSUs, but neither option was particularly appealing. What I got instead was Be Quiet TFX2.
BQ TFX2 is a single-rail 12V supply with built-in DC-DC downconverters. The primary stage has claimed efficiency of ~90%, similar to Meanwell RPS series. It's much larger than RPS-200 and larger than RPS-300, but also much less crowded.
It's overpowered for the purpose, this system should not draw much more than ~100W or so. But it was easily available, reasonably cheap, and reading through the datasheet for RPS-200, I realized I could probably run it without the noisy 80mm fan — as long as I keep the temps in the case under control.
The board also happened to fit the case very well (with a 3D-printed support bracket).
The wires were shortened to size, and I dropped wire count for low-voltage lines. A very conservative estimate for current capability of a 18AWG wire is 7A, and there were something like five of them for the +5V and no less than four on +3.3V. No way this system would draw anything close to 30A on the +5V line.
The thinner bundle got somewhat manageable, but still extremely unpleasant. I really need to figure out something with DC-DC boards.
For cooling, I got BQ Silent Loop 240, for two reasons: standard G1/4 threads, and the small integrated pump. And it's supposedly quiet. Standalone pumps I could get were too large and too powerful for this case.
Now whatever little knowledge I have about water cooling (and water heating for that matter) tells me AIO without a reservoir is a bad idea. It can be done, but it's tricky, and it wouldn't fit in this layout anyway. Air has to be kept out of the pump if I want it to run quiet. There are numerous reports about BQ pumps making noises, and all of them have AIR IN THE SYSTEM written all over.
So I got some G1/4 fittings and mounted a Barrow L50-60 reservoir right onto the rad.
Stock BQ Pure Wings (~1800RPM max) got replaces with the slowest Scythe fans (~900RPM max) to reduce the noise further.
I though I would re-use BQ's tubing and the original compression fittings, but the tubes turned out to be of unusual size and couldn't be cut. So I ended up using 8/12mm silicone rubber tubing on 10/13mm Barrow fittings.
This layout should leave enough free air in front of the fans to make sure they work efficiently. The rule of thumb I've heard is one fan diameter of free air, but with 30mm rad and 25mm fans and the boards it just wasn't going to happen. Well, at least I've got like half of that.
Fans located like that also make sure any air that gets heated inside the case gets pulled out of the case quickly, and never recirculates inside. Cold air gets drawn from the bottom, front, right and possibly top sides of the case, and exits through the rad and through the left panel.
The cooling system turned out to work really well.
Idle: 32C, 1500MHz, fans 500RPM, barely audible.
Full CPU load: 55C, 3750MHz, fans 850RPM, some fan hum
It doesn't really want to go above 55C, and goes back to mid-30s quickly once the load is removed. I did not test iGPU loads yet however. The iGPU here could easily produce about as much heat as the CPU cores.
PSU seems to be working well with this kind of almost-passive cooling. The large radiator stays around 40-45C at all loads, and the hottest element turn out to be the transformer at 55C or so.
Pump noise is almost non-existant at 1700..1800 RPM, but turns into audible whine at 2200..2300 which is the top speed for this pump. Side note: ASRock's board config tool sucks.
The assembled case is REALLY HEAVY for its size. I mean, it's not exactly unexpected, but still.
A lurker here until now, I've finally finished my SFF build.
Ryzen 2400g, no GPU, Sharkoon QB one, and a modified Be Quiet 240 watercooling loop.
This is likely going to be my workstation for a while.
I got this case for cheap, I liked it and it kinda defined the build. It's got mounting holes for a 240mm rad, so I decided to make it water cooled. A radiator that large meant I could go with low RPM fans and ultimately, a very quiet system.
PSU choice was tricky. I really wanted a 12V solution with a DC-DC converter, but power connector location on B450 motherboards meant inductors of the converter would touch the outer RAM stick, not something I'd want to see. The case is meant for ATX or SFX PSUs, but neither option was particularly appealing. What I got instead was Be Quiet TFX2.
BQ TFX2 is a single-rail 12V supply with built-in DC-DC downconverters. The primary stage has claimed efficiency of ~90%, similar to Meanwell RPS series. It's much larger than RPS-200 and larger than RPS-300, but also much less crowded.
It's overpowered for the purpose, this system should not draw much more than ~100W or so. But it was easily available, reasonably cheap, and reading through the datasheet for RPS-200, I realized I could probably run it without the noisy 80mm fan — as long as I keep the temps in the case under control.
The board also happened to fit the case very well (with a 3D-printed support bracket).
The wires were shortened to size, and I dropped wire count for low-voltage lines. A very conservative estimate for current capability of a 18AWG wire is 7A, and there were something like five of them for the +5V and no less than four on +3.3V. No way this system would draw anything close to 30A on the +5V line.
The thinner bundle got somewhat manageable, but still extremely unpleasant. I really need to figure out something with DC-DC boards.
For cooling, I got BQ Silent Loop 240, for two reasons: standard G1/4 threads, and the small integrated pump. And it's supposedly quiet. Standalone pumps I could get were too large and too powerful for this case.
Now whatever little knowledge I have about water cooling (and water heating for that matter) tells me AIO without a reservoir is a bad idea. It can be done, but it's tricky, and it wouldn't fit in this layout anyway. Air has to be kept out of the pump if I want it to run quiet. There are numerous reports about BQ pumps making noises, and all of them have AIR IN THE SYSTEM written all over.
So I got some G1/4 fittings and mounted a Barrow L50-60 reservoir right onto the rad.
Stock BQ Pure Wings (~1800RPM max) got replaces with the slowest Scythe fans (~900RPM max) to reduce the noise further.
I though I would re-use BQ's tubing and the original compression fittings, but the tubes turned out to be of unusual size and couldn't be cut. So I ended up using 8/12mm silicone rubber tubing on 10/13mm Barrow fittings.
This layout should leave enough free air in front of the fans to make sure they work efficiently. The rule of thumb I've heard is one fan diameter of free air, but with 30mm rad and 25mm fans and the boards it just wasn't going to happen. Well, at least I've got like half of that.
Fans located like that also make sure any air that gets heated inside the case gets pulled out of the case quickly, and never recirculates inside. Cold air gets drawn from the bottom, front, right and possibly top sides of the case, and exits through the rad and through the left panel.
The cooling system turned out to work really well.
Idle: 32C, 1500MHz, fans 500RPM, barely audible.
Full CPU load: 55C, 3750MHz, fans 850RPM, some fan hum
It doesn't really want to go above 55C, and goes back to mid-30s quickly once the load is removed. I did not test iGPU loads yet however. The iGPU here could easily produce about as much heat as the CPU cores.
PSU seems to be working well with this kind of almost-passive cooling. The large radiator stays around 40-45C at all loads, and the hottest element turn out to be the transformer at 55C or so.
Pump noise is almost non-existant at 1700..1800 RPM, but turns into audible whine at 2200..2300 which is the top speed for this pump. Side note: ASRock's board config tool sucks.
The assembled case is REALLY HEAVY for its size. I mean, it's not exactly unexpected, but still.
