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Stalled DICE CASES - FLOW : expandable SFF case for watercooling enthusiast (built in distroplate)

ermac318

King of Cable Management
Mar 10, 2019
655
510
Old post...
...refers to the first prototype:


...the combo should be:

This:
This:
an this:
so 6mm extender coming up from the rad, 12mm from the distro?
 

D10S

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Feb 4, 2018
123
121
"should be so"...
...to be honest made that 1 year ago...
The combo look like this,
remeber that this is attached to 240 rad...
btw a bunch of extender and angled 2x45 always solve everything !

Take this opportunity to thank @diceboii13 ,
best package ever received!
(and the message inside is gorgeous)

 

kosta

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Oct 27, 2019
119
70
Got the Aquacomputer Quadro so I am able to measure the water temps now. Here are some measurements after 10 minutes of Cinebench


Tdie remained steady around 68 throughout but I believe this is the threshold where the 5900x stops boosting so not sure if this behavior is good or bad. Water temps increased by 5 degrees over 10 min. Is that reasonable or should I revisit my CPU block installation? :)
 
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ThisIsForBruce

Trash Compacter
Mar 25, 2020
36
34
so 6mm extender coming up from the rad, 12mm from the distro?
The rad is not in a fixed position. If can be moved forward and aft. Almost like a rail, but a slot cut into the bottom/top frame. In other words, you could just move the rad to the fittings. Multiple combinations should work.
 

ThisIsForBruce

Trash Compacter
Mar 25, 2020
36
34
Finally leak testing overnight. 🤞🏼🤞🏼
+ my ghetto setup for powering the pump without messing with the PSU. It’s 12v Ac/Dc from an old fan to a buck converter hooked to the pumps power wires. I drop it to like 8v and let the pump run overnight.
 
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kosta

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Oct 27, 2019
119
70
Whoah, that's a pretty intense setup! What is that array of tiny fans behind the GPU for? You seem to have replaced the PSU fan with a noctua, but those things don't look quiet :D
 

ThisIsForBruce

Trash Compacter
Mar 25, 2020
36
34
Whoah, that's a pretty intense setup! What is that array of tiny fans behind the GPU for? You seem to have replaced the PSU fan with a noctua, but those things don't look quiet :D
Here It’s 3 dual ball bearing 40x28mm 18.5k rpm Delta fans attached to an Alphacool 1u triple 40mm radiator wrapped in sound dampening foam. Its crammed in between the GPU, exhausting out of the 3 slot GPU mount on the rear. I took the fans apart, lubed the ball bearings & spring so the fans are quieter. They don’t spin until the system is hot, and when they do the fans only spin to 15%. They only turn on when I’m gaming (with headphones) so I don’t hear it.
 
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kosta

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Oct 27, 2019
119
70
That's some serious patience, fair play. I would break everything if I attempted something like that. 😬

BTW, how come your flow meter is not spinning in the video? I am pondering about getting a flow sensor because it's hard for me to evaluate how to translate the spinning of the wheel into a flow rate :) When I set the pump to about 1000rpm it spins very slowly, I can see the fins rotating clearly. Not sure if that's sufficient for good thermal capture.
 

ThisIsForBruce

Trash Compacter
Mar 25, 2020
36
34
That's some serious patience, fair play. I would break everything if I attempted something like that. 😬

BTW, how come your flow meter is not spinning in the video? I am pondering about getting a flow sensor because it's hard for me to evaluate how to translate the spinning of the wheel into a flow rate :) When I set the pump to about 1000rpm it spins very slowly, I can see the fins rotating clearly. Not sure if that's sufficient for good thermal capture.
Pretty sure my distro plate screws are too tight or the wheel is backwards. Can’t tell, but I’m leaving it until I feel like taking the front cover off...
I have a flow meter at the very end of my loop, before the distro input port for my flow rate. It lets you control the system much more precisely with a digital flow meter + aquaero. Add a temp sensor (I run 2) and you can do some really cool stuff with Aquaero software like calculate wattage output/dissipation in real time.
 
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kosta

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Oct 27, 2019
119
70
It lets you control the system much more precisely with a digital flow meter + aquaero. Add a temp sensor (I run 2) and you can do some really cool stuff with Aquaero software like calculate wattage output/dissipation in real time.
I'm a sucker for these types of metrics so I think I might pull the plug on a flow sensor. I'm already controlling the fan speeds with the water temps (with aquasuite) so this seems like the logical progression!
 
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Gilles3000

Airflow Optimizer
Oct 6, 2018
241
246
I'm a sucker for these types of metrics so I think I might pull the plug on a flow sensor. I'm already controlling the fan speeds with the water temps (with aquasuite) so this seems like the logical progression!
Yep, water temp really is the only sensible metric to control your fan speeds by.

Flow rate isn't quite as essential imo, I generally just setup my pump speed by letting my loop reach full load equilibrium. Then drop the the pump speed till the temps start going up, then increase it a bit again to have some margin.
But its nice to know for maintenance, if your flow rates start dropping significantly, its probably a good indication your loop is clogging up or the pump is failing.
 
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222Rn

Minimal Tinkerer
New User
Jul 20, 2020
4
2
I've managed to get it running. Took a while due to my motherboard RMA. Cabeling is well.. in progress. FYI it is possible to fit higher GPU than specified. At least as long, as you are willing to drill your brand new case. But taking the GPU supply into consideration, I really had no choice.
 
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Whippler

Trash Compacter
Nov 11, 2019
42
51
Finally got it running. Had a bad PSU which was quite unpleasant. Hit some quick Cinebench runs just for fun. 77c after 16 runs. VRMs don’t go over 53c and chipset is mid 40s. Nothing is tuned yet. Good luck to everyone still building.

So whats up with the built in spinner not spinning :/
 

kosta

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Oct 27, 2019
119
70
I'm not thrilled with the Optimus water block... Last night I tried Prime95 torture test and the CPU (5900x) started throttling above 80C while water temps were around 40 which seems like a large discrepancy. Increasing pump speed did nothing. I tried applying thermal paste twice, once with Kryonaut and the other time with Kingpin paste, but results were pretty much the same. I ordered a Heatkiller pro block and liquid metal compound. I will try to swap that in and also install the flow meter while I'm at it. Will report if the temperatures are any better with that combination.
 

srekal34

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Oct 1, 2019
132
127
40 degrees water temp is very high from just cpu. 40 degree delta for 7nm cpu is perfectly normal. It's your radiator that is too weak, not the cpu block.
 

kosta

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Oct 27, 2019
119
70
40 degrees water temp is very high from just cpu. 40 degree delta for 7nm cpu is perfectly normal. It's your radiator that is too weak, not the cpu block.
Interesting... I have 2x240mm HWlabs radiators which are way more than needed for just a CPU. I could ramp up the fans, but I prefer silent operation and since I have norprene tubing I'm more than happy to let the water temps rise up to 50C. If the heat transfer between the block and water is effective I would expect water temps to rise well above 40C before the CPU hits its thermal threshold. So my primary suspect is the block.
 
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srekal34

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Oct 1, 2019
132
127
But you have to understand that 40 degree delta between cpu and water is normal for zen 3. You wont find the block thats much better. You should focus on lowering water temp.
With 420 rad for 9900k and 3080 i have about 14 degree delta water temp(39 total water temp), but thats pulling 500watts, not 150 as in your case.