Dan A4-SFX V3 / 9700K / RTX 2080 Ti

[Dhommi]

Hi all,

Being a long time lurker around these here forums, I just wanted to share my first ever SFF build with you all.

It's been a really fun process searching for and picking out parts and building in such a small enclosing. I'm loving my A4.

CPU: i7-9700K (Stock)
CPU Cooler: Alpenföhn Black Ridge
MOBO: Asus ROG STRIX Z390-I GAMING
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Windforce OC
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB 3000MHz DDR4 CL15
PSU: Corsair SF600
Storage: Samsung 970 PRO 1TB NVMe M.2

I just finished the build so these are the initial temps.

Temps idle:
CPU: 33°
GPU: 42°
SSD: 38°
MOBO: 36°

Temps Gaming (PUBG @ 1440p):
CPU: 75°
GPU: 83°
SSD: 57°
MOBO: 56°

Avg fps: 176

It will not be used for anything more taxing than gaming, so I wont be going through CPU intensive benchmarks, but I would like to play around with limiting the TDP of the CPU.

Even though 75° isn't too bad, the sound is currently like a jet engine when in-game.

 

[Gautam]

Beautiful build. The Black Ridge really suits the case well.

 

[dumplinknet]

The black ridge was just recalled. They're all defective. Even Dan announced it .

 

[Desertf0x9]

I have a similar build but with a 9900k and a 2080 ti turbo which was a lot cooler than my gigabyte windforce. Glad to know the Black ridge will fit with the motherboard, mine came as well but I'm going to hold off installing it cause of the defect. Your temps are quite good all things considered. I have noctua instead the silent wings 2 you have. How do you like it and any reason why you picked it over the noctua?

 

[Dhommi]

Beautiful build. The Black Ridge really suits the case well.

Thanks!

The black ridge was just recalled. They're all defective. Even Dan announced it .

Yeah, found out right after I had finished the build. I have contacted the retailer and will get a replacement around January/February. But I am actually surprised that the temps are as good as they are.

I have a similar build but with a 9900k and a 2080 ti turbo which was a lot cooler than my gigabyte windforce. Glad to know the Black ridge will fit with the motherboard, mine came as well but I'm going to hold off installing it cause of the defect. Your temps are quite good all things considered. I have noctua instead the silent wings 2 you have. How do you like it and any reason why you picked it over the noctua?

I picked the Silent Wings solely because I was going for an all black/gun metal build - but it's dead quiet, so I am happy about performance as well. The Black Ridge actually doesn't fit the Strix Z390-I out of the box. I had to introduce it to a grinder in order to shave some of the fin array off and make it fit.

 

[Rander]

Hello.

Nice build!

One question... the Silent wings fan is pushing air out of tha case? Is that a better config than pulling air into?

Bye!
Rander.

 

[RicardoSFF]

This beautiful!! Thank you so much for making a post! After a long time deciding if this is how I would do my build, I decided that it is! With some minor differences (Noctua fans and Asus GPU).

Did you test the system with Prime95? (And I know the cooler is defective, but even defective, temps are not bad)

And would it be possible to put a 120mm fan on top of the cooler with the shaved fins? (without a side panel, I plan on going dual fan, one NF-A9x14, and one NF-A12x25).

 

[Dhommi]

Hello.

Nice build!

One question... the Silent wings fan is pushing air out of tha case? Is that a better config than pulling air into?

Bye!
Rander.

Thank you. The fan is pulling air into the case as I wanted to create something that at least resembles airflow. So fresh air from sides and bottom and hot air out on top. At least that was the thought behind it.

This beautiful!! Thank you so much for making a post! After a long time deciding if this is how I would do my build, I decided that it is! With some minor differences (Noctua fans and Asus GPU).

Did you test the system with Prime95? (And I know the cooler is defective, but even defective, temps are not bad)

And would it be possible to put a 120mm fan on top of the cooler with the shaved fins? (without a side panel, I plan on going dual fan, one NF-A9x14, and one NF-A12x25).

Thank you very much.

Like I wrote in my initial post, then I did not test with CPU benchmarks as I will only use this project for gaming and normal office work. But im pretty certain that this specific CPU would get too heated.

I am actually not sure if it would be possible to use the fan clamps for a top fan seeing as the part of the fin array I removed is where one of the clamps would be mounted. Alternatively you could try to mod the IO shield on the mobo instead - keeping the Black Ridge intact.

 

[Rander]

Hello again.

@Dhommi can you explain more how you modified the fins of the black ridge? Have you extra photos?
I have the same board and I'm considering to buy the black ridge, but don't want to modify the motherboard.

Also... if possible, do you think it's a good idea to have 2 fans, the 92mm bottom and a 120mm on top, on a pull/push configuration?

Bye!
Rander.

 

[patthetan]

OP's suggested workaround for the I/O shield works. I did the same and bought the Alpenföhn Black Ridge
and the Asus ROG STRIX Z390-I GAMING and only realised too late that they don't work out-of-the-box. You can (non-destructively) remove the heatsink near the I/O by unscrewing a few screws from the motherboard to make it work.

 

[RicardoSFF]

OP's suggested workaround for the I/O shield works. I did the same and bought the Alpenföhn Black Ridge
and the Asus ROG STRIX Z390-I GAMING and only realised too late that they don't work out-of-the-box. You can (non-destructively) remove the heatsink near the I/O by unscrewing a few screws from the motherboard to make it work.

Is the heatsink for the VRM under the I/O cover the same as in the Z370-I?

 

[Boratsu]

Hi guys, I have a similar build. The big problem is that my mobo gets hot and wifi and network card shuts down. CPU (65C) and GPU(60C) temps well within norm. Anyone having similar problems?

 

[patthetan]

Is the heatsink for the VRM under the I/O cover the same as in the Z370-I?

I'm not sure, but an article on KitGuru has shown the MB without the heatsinks for the VRM.

Hi guys, I have a similar build. The big problem is that my mobo gets hot and wifi and network card shuts down. CPU (65C) and GPU(60C) temps well within norm. Anyone having similar problems?

I haven't found any issues so far (haven't done anything too intensive though). Idling at room temp (airconditioned room to 21C) - CPU temps around 40C. I did get idling temps around 60C when I had the heatsink back on and the CPU cooler not sitting properly.

Also noticed a boost to wifi signal by about 1 bar with the antenna vs without. Sorry, can't really help with this one.

 

[Boratsu]

Yeah, wifi and/or network are fine when idle. When I start BF5 or about any game after around 10 min minutes wifi will start cutting out and eventually even the utp connection will fail. A couple of minutes after I exit a game, they will reconnect. Meanwhile the CPU and GPU are well within tolerance and gaming is no problem at all, even on ultra settings.

 

[Germanese]

Hi guys, I have a similar build. The big problem is that my mobo gets hot and wifi and network card shuts down. CPU (65C) and GPU(60C) temps well within norm. Anyone having similar problems?

Are you running the same cooler ?
I think there is a Recall on them, the heat-pipes don't make 100% contact to the base.