Stalled kees KogelMier - a tiny powerhouse

[QinX]

I've been anticipating the new build from Linus with 7 R9 Nano's

I expected it to have dual PSUs but strangely this rig runs of 1 EVGA 1600W PSU.
His quick napkin math says 1500W or more power draw. But based on my findings it would be 7x400=2800W.
I think the only way that this system is working the way it should is because each Nano peaks at different moments.

 

[jeshikat]

"7 Gamers, 1 CPU", computer has two CPUs...still cool though

The 7-way single-slot custom terminal EK made for them in sweet. Hopefully that'll encourage them to make a 2-way one for use with PCIe splitters or a hypothetical enthusiast Mini-DTX board.

Edit: So later in the video he's pulling 1540W from the wall running Heaven. Assuming 92% efficiency at that load then that's ~1420W DC.

 

[QinX]

They probably are not seeing and massive peaks because of the big secondary caps inside the PSU itself. those probably are handling the ms spikes to 400W/500W.

 

[|||]

Even though I'm not that much of a fan of LTT product reviews (too much subjectivity) they do do some off-the-wall things occasionally that are interesting. I would guess they have that computer hooked up to a dedicated 20A circuit breaker, so it wouldn't be constantly tripping it.

When Thermaltake had a bunch of modders doing stuff with their Core X9, I envisioned how I could cram 8 systems into one of those cases running off a single PSU and have a LANparty rig.

 

[rawr]

Looks sick from what I've seen. Looking forward

 

[QinX]

Over the weekend I took a little detour from kees KogelMier and made Formica, Wood Ant.

I'll have some more information soon, but my system is currently running inside of it
Dimensions(HxW): 8.77*20.2*31.3=5.54L

 

[jeshikat]

Neat! How long does it take to cut out all those vents?

 

[QinX]

In total the machine had to work for roughly 30 minutes. I'm considering changing the bottom vents. They look nice, but since you don't see them I wonder if it's worth the time.

 

[Phuncz]

Very nice ! I wonder if using different woods you get better "resolution" with the laser engraving. I see some flaws at the edges of the engravings that seem to be random, giving me the idea it's the material and not the laser.

 

[QinX]

There is a honeycomb mesh underneath the wood to support it. that are the black spots you see everywhere. It where the laser hit the honeycomb after cutting through. I'm going to make another one with some modifications that will also be sanded and oiled, that should give a different result.

I'd like to have the top side facing out, but with the way the parts are hammered together it might not be an option. The laser cuts in a slight V-shape so the bottom side has smaller openings.
I could do a two-sided cut, but I'd have to make sure I get the alignment right when I flip a panel.

 

[iFreilicht]

Very cool! I wonder how a wooden version of the case would be adopted by users.

 

[QinX]

Very cool! I wonder how a wooden version of the case would be adopted by users.

The plan for the case itself is to have a wooden front/top panel option. The 5mm alu would be replaced with 4.7mm cherry plywood, and could be custom cut/engraved to what to buyer wants. But I'm fairly tempted to have an all wood version.

 

[BirdofPrey]

How is disassembly when you need a hammer to put it together?

 

[QinX]

How is disassembly when you need a hammer to put it together?

Hahaha, now that I read it that way I should expain. The front, side and rear are hammered together and are locked with friction, I have to see how long this lasts, wood lives. I might add a dab of glue if need be.

You remove the bottom panel and mount everything from that opening.

 

[iFreilicht]

The plan for the case itself is to have a wooden front/top panel option. The 5mm alu would be replaced with 4.7mm cherry plywood, and could be custom cut/engraved to what to buyer wants.

That seems to be a common idea with small cases with a prominent bezel. @Josh | NFC mentioned it in a video for the S4 Mini and I changed a small detail of my case to allow for the same. Wood is a wonderful material

 

[QinX]

Just a small little update on Thermals and coolers.
I've been doing a lot of rendering with Formica and it seems to hold up really well.
The blower fan is very present and with the way ASUS handles fan control it can be very annoying, Goes from 3000RPM to 3500RPM and back again every 10 seconds.
There seems to be a little bit of throttling I think on the VRM as the CPU is switching between 1.12V 4.2GHz and 1.02V 4.0GHz, I'll have to test with a fan directly blowing on the VRMs.

I'm running a 4790K with a -0.05V offset in the BIOS.
The Intel HTS1155lp is originaly designed to handle up 65W TDP, but it is handling the 4790K respectably, but the VRMs are not getting adequate cooling it seems because of the heatsink.
Normally you'd have fan blowing down onto the motherboard gives the VRM extra heat dissipation.

I'm looking into getting some LP CPU Coolers for testing and with LP I mean VLP. None of these Cryorig C7 and Noctua L9i Behemoths .

Here is my list so far, based on Cooler height and pricing.
Akasa AK-CC7122BP01 Low Profil (26mm Height, No TDP specified)
Gelid Solutions Polar 1U Low-Profile (27mm Height, 65W TDP)
Gelid Solutions Slim Silence i-Plus (28mm Height, 82W TDP with good ventilation else 65W)
Silverstone NT07 (SST-NT07-115X) (23mm Height, 65W TDP)
Silverstone Argon SST-AR04 (23mm Height, 65W TDP)

These range between €10 and €30 and would be candidates for KogelMier, there is just enough space underneath the GPU it seems, but that is what I would like to test.

Any other Coolers that might be interesting that are <28mm?

I've had HWiNFO64 running for the past hour and here is a screengrab of the program.
You can see that the Maximum temperatures are very toasty, but the Average is respectable considering the heatsink and CPU in play.

 

[iFreilicht]

Good progress there! Keep in mind that wood is a bad heat conductor, so hot air that is trapped inside can't dissipate its heat through the panels. An Aluminium version of this case might give you slightly better temps.

I can't recommend the SST-AR04. It seems to disregard some of the component height restrictions around the CPU socket, on the ASUS Q87T I tested it on, it only fit in one orientation, but blocked four of the five internal USB2 headers. Not as relevant for your case as it was for my application, but on other boards, it might not fit at all.

 

[jtd871]

SPCR once reviewed a tiny cooler called the Reeven Vanxie. Not sure if it meets your size criterion, but could be worth looking up the review.

 

[QinX]

Good progress there! Keep in mind that wood is a bad heat conductor, so hot air that is trapped inside can't dissipate its heat through the panels. An Aluminium version of this case might give you slightly better temps.

I can't recommend the SST-AR04. It seems to disregard some of the component height restrictions around the CPU socket, on the ASUS Q87T I tested it on, it only fit in one orientation, but blocked four of the five internal USB2 headers. Not as relevant for your case as it was for my application, but on other boards, it might not fit at all.

That is something to take into account, did it perform to your liking? I've got the Q87T and a H81TN to check it out on.

SPCR once reviewed a tiny cooler called the Reeven Vanxie. Not sure if it meets your size criterion, but could be worth looking up the review.

At 34mm it's a little too big, most of these cooler aim to stay under the IO shield height.

I've seen some ID-Cooling coolers I'd like to test but they are hard to get.

 

[iFreilicht]

That is something to take into account, did it perform to your liking? I've got the Q87T and a H81TN to check it out on.

As the covered USB ports were crucial, I didn't bother testing it, sorry.