High Core Count, Multi GPU, Small Form Factor, Workstation - Cerberus X

[Jorgejones96]

My Kimera Industries / Sliger Cerberus X 7980XE 1080Ti SLI Workstation.

General Specifications and 24/7 Overclocks.

Intel Core i9-7980XE Skylake X 18-Core Processor. Overclocked to 4.4GHz (8 AVX Offset) at 1.20V -75mV Adaptive.

HyperX Fury 64GB (4 x 16GB) DDR4 2400MHz Memory. Overclocked to 3466MHz at 1.40V

SLI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition 11GB. Undervolted to 1800MHz at 850mV.

Test fitment of the beQuiet Silent Loop 240mm AIO with Seasonic Prime Ultra 1300W Platinum PSU. Easily clears the CPU block, and is a 1mm from the top of the fittings and tubing.

This is the only AIO with a nickel plated block you can use with an ATX power supply mounted above the motherboard.

I specifically needed it to be nickel plated to prevent degradation of the block when using liquid metal with Der8auer’s Direct Die Frame.

Post delid of my 7980XE. All old silicon was removed, the PCB was polished clean with paper towel, and the SMDs were coated with liquid electrical tape.

Everything installed, including the Bluetooth/Wifi M2 card, as the EVGA X299 Dark does not come with it onboard or preinstalled.

Cable and tubing management. There is around 1-2mm clearance between the front intake fans and the 1080 Tis. I have also managed to make enough room between the power supply and front intake to mount four 2.5 inch HDDs off the side bracket, which will be perfect for a RAID10 array.

Close up of the cable and tubing management. I have made an order for custom length braided cables. However, I am unsure if I will use them at this stage.

You can also see that the top slim 120mm exhaust is very close to the power supply and motherboard. There is about 1mm of clearance. I had to remove the clips on the 8-Pin EPS connectors as they were in the path of the fan blades.

Side hinged bracket installed. Highly recommend getting it if you order a Cerberus case, regardless of whether or not you plan on mounting anything on it. It adds rigidity to the case, which i felt was necessary with this much hardware installed.

Front and side panel removed. Motherboard cutout was perfect for me to install Der8auer’s Direct Die Frame. I did however have to loosen the motherboard screws slightly to get enough clearance between the motherboard and case.

Two 140mm Noctua Industrial fans mounted in the bottom. The feet had to be removed to mount the fans as they were covering the outer corners.

Black machined handle and perforated top panel. The handle is of high quality and is strong enough to hold the entire weight of the PC. The handle mount also allows for a 120mm fan to be installed.

I will be adding four 1TB SSDs in RAID10, and a 970 Pro 512MB. I’ve ordered the chrome feet, chrome handle, and a walnut top panel. I plan on modifying the top panel with perforated holes under the handle so I can still have a 120mm slim fan mounted there to keep the VRM cool.

Hardware, Materials, and Specifications. Prices are in AUD.

1 Intel Core i9-7980XE Skylake X 18-Core 2.6 GHz LGA 2066 165W BX80673I97980X Desktop Processor $2732.07

1 EVGA X299 DARK, 151-SX-E299-KR, LGA 2066, Intel X299, SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.1, USB 3.0, EATX, Intel Motherboard $749

1 HyperX Fury 64GB (4 x 16GB) DDR4 2400MHz DRAM (Desktop Memory) CL15 1.2V Black DIMM (288-pin) HX424C15FBK4/64 (Intel XMP, AMD Ryzen) $1059.98

1 Seasonic PRIME 1300W 80+ Platinum Power Supply, Full Modular, 135mm FDB Fan w/Hybrid Fan Control, ATX12V & EPS12V, Power On Self Tester, 12 yr Warranty, SSR-1300PD $419

1 SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2 2280 250GB PCIe Gen3. X4, NVMe 1.3 64L V-NAND 3-bit MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-V7E250BW $99

4 SAMSUNG 850 PRO 2.5" 1TB SATA III 3D NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7KE1T0BW $1276

1 SAMSUNG 970 PRO M.2 2280 512GB PCIe Gen3. X4, NVMe 1.3 64L V-NAND 2-bit MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-V7P512BW $229

2 Noctua NF-A14 iPPC-3000 PWM, 140mm PWM,AAO Frame Technology and SSO2 Bearing Fan $77.9

2 Noctua NF-F12-3000 PWM 120mm 3000 RPM 43.5 dBA 4-pin SSO2 $69.74

1 der8auer Skylake-X Direct Die Frame $119

1 der8auer Delid Die Mate X $149

2 NVIDIA 900-1G611-2550-000 GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition DirectX 12 11GB 352-Bit GDDR5X PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $2198

1 NVIDIA GeForce GTX SLI HB Bridge, 4-Slot 900-12232-2500-000 $40

1 Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 Desktop Kit 802.11ac 2x2 WiFi Bluetooth $35

1 be quiet! Silent Loop 240mm Liquid CPU Cooler $169

1 KIC11X Window + Vented, Right Panel Vented, Machined Chrome Handle, Machined Chrome Feet, Walnut Top Panel $502.10

1 Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut Thermal Compound 5g $45

1 Liquid Electrical Tape/Thread Locker - Black $16.95

 

[Jorgejones96]

Build log update 1.0

Replaced the black perforated top panel with the walnut one. I now cant use my top 120mm exhaust fan which is situated right above my VRM. The VRM temperatures on my x299 Dark have increased by around 13 degrees. However, there is no thermal throttling and are running within spec.

Very happy with the addition of the chrome handle and feet. Works well with the power switch, black of the case, and the walnut top panel.

3D printed 2.5in SSD/HDD mounts. This will allow me to stack up to four drives on top of each other, and mount them between my power supply and front intake.

Build is almost complete. Just waiting on the four drives for the RAID10 array and custom length braided cables. Ill post another update once the rest of my parts are in, and will do a full system max overclock and run some benchmarks.

 

[Jorgejones96]

Build log update 1.1

Had to remove the beQuiet Silent Loop all in one liquid cooler. It started making a very loud vibrating noise, as if the pump was running dry. Luckily it had a fill port. I opened it and topped it up with deionised water. The photo is of the 7980XE die with liquid metal not yet cleaned off.

After clearing the liquid metal off you may notice some slight imperfections on the die. I believe the liquid metal degraded the impurities in the die. The beQuiet coolers nickel plated block still had a mirror finish with no signs of degradation. Doesn't seem to effect the chips temperatures.

 

[Jorgejones96]

Build Log Update 1.2

Purchased a 970 PRO for my work drive where all my applications will be installed. The 970 EVO is the boot drive.

Also purchased an 860 EVO 1TB and two 850 PRO 1TB drives. I was unable to mount the drives directly onto the side bracket as they were not long enough to reach the top and bottom of the frame.

I used a 2.5in drive mounting bracket from Sliger. It’s a very tight fit. I will have to modify the 3D printed SSD stackers to work with the mounting bracket. Next update I’ll upload some photos of the modified SSD stack for the RAID10 array, and some system benchmarks / overclocks.

 

[Jorgejones96]

Build log update 1.3

Finally have all four drives. Two 850 Pro drives and two 860 EVO drives, stacked using the 3D printed 7mm drive stackers.

The Cerberus mounting bracket was used over the top of the 3D printed stackers and secured to the second drive.

I’ve done most of the benchmarks now that I have all my hardware, and will be uploading them over the next few days.

 

[Jorgejones96]

Build log update 1.4

7980XE running on stock clocks, and memory also at stock speed of 2400MHz CL15. 3.4GHz on all cores when running the Cinebench benchmark and reaching a score of 3404, and giving a peak core temperature of 48 degrees Celsius.

With memory overclocked to 3466MHz Cl16 and 7980XE remaining on stock clocks it reached a score of 3420 and a peak temperature of 53 degrees Celsius. That is a 0.5% increase Cinebench performance with the memory overclock, which is almost negligible.

4.9GHz on all 18 cores, memory overclocked to 3466MHz CL16. Managed a Cinebench score of 4875 with a peak temperature of 104. This was basically the only run I got without thermal throttling so I won’t even bother trying for 5GHz without a custom loop. This is almost a 14% increase in performance in Cinebench.

 

[Jorgejones96]

Build log update 1.5

I have run all the benchmarks for my drives. It’s unnecessary but i thought it would be interesting to see the performance change with the RAID10 array. I’ve just posted the benchmarks below so you can make your own observations.

Samsung 850 PRO 1TB Crystal Disk.

Samsung 860 EVO 1TB Crystal Disk.

RAID10 array with two 850 EVO and two 860 PRO 1TB solid state drives Crystal Disk.

Samsung 970 EVO 250GB Crystal Disk.

Samsung 970 PRO 512GB Crystal Disk.

 

[TheHig]

Killer build my friend! Outstanding.

 

[Drnrcr]

Beautiful build. Super impressed

 

[Jorgejones96]

Build log update 1.6

Currently have a predicament. Out of impulse I purchased a 2080 Ti Founders Edition and am now selling my 1080 Tis. So I won’t be able to provide thorough benchmark for my 1080 Ti cards in SLI. However, I have done a Uniengine Heaven Benchmark just for a quick comparison to the 2080 Ti.

I will also have to place another order for custom cables as the 2080 Ti has two 8 pins, whereas the 1080 Ti has a 6 pin and an 8 pin.

I was unable to get the second 2080 Ti as the clutch went in my card, so maybe in a few weeks.

 

[nemesis429]

What are the GPU temps like?

Also, impressive build .

 

[Jorgejones96]

What are the GPU temps like?

GPU temperature run sub 80 with a custom fan curve and undervolted to 850mV at 1800MHz Core. The top card thermal throttles unless you open up the temperature limit or crank the fan to 100%. Can't expect much more though, as there is no exhaust fan in my case and its eating hot air off the bottom card and 7980XE's AIO.

Also, impressive build .

Thank you!

 

[Jorgejones96]

Build log update 1.7

1080 Ti SLI got a score of 6906 and the 2080 Ti 5476 score. Basically dropped around 22% performance, which I’ll more than make up with a second 2080 Ti. Screenshots and clockspeeds are listed below.

Unigine Heaven Benchmark with Nvidia 1080 Ti Founders Edition SLI 1800MHz core, stock memory, at 0.850mV.

Unigine Heaven Benchmark with Nvidia 2080 Ti Founders Edition 1800MHz core, stock memory, at 0.850mV.

 

[SushiOne1]

Were there any limitations selecting an EATX motherboard with this case?

 

[bubbl3]

Were there any limitations selecting an EATX motherboard with this case?

If you don't install a PSU or radiator in the front you can fit up to a 328mm wide board ( EATX should be 305mm wide, the Z390 Dark for example is 304.8mm https://www.evga.com/products/pdf/131-CS-E399-KR.pdf ), this of course introduces some cooling limitations so plan your build carefully.