K39 Build

[hellotimmutton]

Terribly unexciting build, but AFAICT there's no other K39 builds here so thought people might find it interesting. The last image contains the tower I've been using the last 3 or 4 years.

Still waiting on screws for the SSD and a shorter SATA cable before fully buttoning it up, plus considering making some changes.

Case: K39 from taobao
PSU: 400W delta flex, modded to be modular
MOBO: MSI b450i ITX
CPU: Ryzen 1600
GPU: MSI 1070 Aero
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaw 2x8gb 3200mHz
Storage: Samsung 960 evo 500gb m2 nvme & Samsung 860 evo 1tb

Pros:

• Tiny
• Looks awesome

Cons:

• Painful to build in, needs a couple extra mm here or there
• PSU is bloody loud
• GPU now runs a couple degrees warmer than open air, enough for the fan to turn on every so often
• m2 ssd and pch both run hot, but they did even when it was open air

The thermals aren't terrible, but its warm enough to concern me, and I'd like it to run cool for less fan noise anyway. Considering a bunch of different options to solve that:

• heatsink for m2 - because its behind the mobo, there'll be zero airflow so not sure it will do much
• Liquid metal - will need to confirm both heatsinks are nickel plated copper
• Backplate for GPU - will likely suffer the same issue as the m2 heatsink
• Drill holes in the front - would likely improve airflow considerably

Keen on hearing any other ideas on heat. Not sure where on the mobo the PCH is, guessing its already covered by a heatsink.

Would also love to swap a noctua 92x14 fan on the GPU so they match, not sure whether that would help or hurt heat dissipation

 

[tinyitx]

...
m2 ssd and pch both run hot, but they did even when it was open air
...

First off, welcome to the Forum!

I think the PCH is covered by the stock heatsink right above your NH-L9a in the second picture.
And, the M.2 SSD is, more or less, exactly on the opposite side of the motherboard.
If both of them are hot even when the case is opened, it might mean that they needs direct active cooling.

As you can see, both are very near to the top of the K39 case. And, the case top panel has many vent holes.
So, maybe you can install a few small slim fans (say, 40x40x20 fans) to the top panel to provide ventilation over them. Say, like the 2 beige fans in the drawing below.
I guess, even with a small airflow will reap big thermal benefit. Of course, if you add a heatsink for the M.2 SSD, it will be more happy.

 

[hellotimmutton]

@tinyitx thank you probably should have started with the whole "long time lurker first time poster" thing, although its probably a little cliche

Out of curiosity, I sat 2x80mm exhaust fans on top of the case and the temp of the ssd dropped 3 degrees, however the pch remained unchanged and gpu has been very slowly creeping up in temp.

As a side note since you seem to be familiar with this build, any idea what the stock fan in a dps 400ab is? Apparently I might be able to swap out the fan to quieten it

 

[cleveland]

and gpu has been very slowly creeping up in temp

That's a 150W TDP card, in a restrained venting space. What do you expected? If active cooling didn't help at all, then it's time for you to undervolt and underclock the shit out of it,

 

[tinyitx]

As a side note since you seem to be familiar with this build, any idea what the stock fan in a dps 400ab is? Apparently I might be able to swap out the fan to quieten it

Actually I am not that familiar with this build at all. I just look at the internals and make some suggestions accordingly.

Proceed with caution to do a fan mod to the PSU. The fan must be controlled either by wattage usage/temp level requirement to provide enough cooling. Wiring a different fan to reduce the noise can be quite tricky. No experience here.

 

[hellotimmutton]

That's a 150W TDP card, in a restrained venting space. What do you expected? If active cooling didn't help at all, then it's time for you to undervolt and underclock the shit out of it,

I expected it to happen, was just relaying what I observed

Proceed with caution to do a fan mod to the PSU. The fan must be controlled either by wattage usage/temp level requirement to provide enough cooling. Wiring a different fan to reduce the noise can be quite tricky. No experience here.

Yeah im scared to mess with electronics. perhaps I could pay someone to do it. would have to identify one that had a similar static pressure but lower db