Production Lazer3D HT5 - Low Profile APU Case

[nubbins]

Did a HTPC/on-the-go build in the HT5. It's got big shoes to fill as it's essentially replacing my NCASE air travel rig, but so far the portability is wonderful.

CPU: Ryzen 4650G
Cooler: NH-L9x65
Board: B550I Aorus Pro AX
RAM: Patriot Viper Steel 4133CL19 @ 4000 16-16-16 or 4200 17-18-18 depending on where I am
Storage: 256GB PM981
PSU: HDPlex 200W AC-DC + 200W DC-ATX, mounted with 3M tape
Fans: 2 x NF-A8

Tried using a NH-L12S but the fan pushes against the rear I/O shroud and it can't fit in the other orientation because HDPlex. A8s are quiet at higher speeds but the L9x65 is a lil louder than I remember my first one from 2015 was.

I honestly wish I could get a side panel with a 92mm-sized cutout so I can use one of my much better 25mm NF-A9s instead of the NF-A9x14 on the L9x65. I only need 3mm more.

 

[Valantar]

Did a HTPC/on-the-go build in the HT5. It's got big shoes to fill as it's essentially replacing my NCASE air travel rig, but so far the portability is wonderful.

CPU: Ryzen 4650G
Cooler: NH-L9x65
Board: B550I Aorus Pro AX
RAM: Patriot Viper Steel 4133CL19 @ 4000 16-16-16 or 4200 17-18-18 depending on where I am
Storage: 256GB PM981
PSU: HDPlex 200W AC-DC + 200W DC-ATX, mounted with 3M tape
Fans: 2 x NF-A8


Tried using a NH-L12S but the fan pushes against the rear I/O shroud and it can't fit in the other orientation because HDPlex. A8s are quiet at higher speeds but the L9x65 is a lil louder than I remember my first one from 2015 was.

I honestly wish I could get a side panel with a 92mm-sized cutout so I can use one of my much better 25mm NF-A9s instead of the NF-A9x14 on the L9x65. I only need 3mm more.

Kevin (@K888D) can whip up a custom side panel for you if you want. I've ordered two so far, one with my original purchase and one later Didn't charge much for it either!

 

[Valantar]

Did a HTPC/on-the-go build in the HT5. It's got big shoes to fill as it's essentially replacing my NCASE air travel rig, but so far the portability is wonderful.

CPU: Ryzen 4650G
Cooler: NH-L9x65
Board: B550I Aorus Pro AX
RAM: Patriot Viper Steel 4133CL19 @ 4000 16-16-16 or 4200 17-18-18 depending on where I am
Storage: 256GB PM981
PSU: HDPlex 200W AC-DC + 200W DC-ATX, mounted with 3M tape
Fans: 2 x NF-A8


Tried using a NH-L12S but the fan pushes against the rear I/O shroud and it can't fit in the other orientation because HDPlex. A8s are quiet at higher speeds but the L9x65 is a lil louder than I remember my first one from 2015 was.

I honestly wish I could get a side panel with a 92mm-sized cutout so I can use one of my much better 25mm NF-A9s instead of the NF-A9x14 on the L9x65. I only need 3mm more.

Oh, and I just realized that you must be Tabascosauz from over on TPU Welcome, I guess! This also reminds me that I have to actually get my own build log done, or at least post some pics of the finished build. I'm still waiting on one of my custom side panels (sadly seems to have gotten lost in shipping; I blame Covid and Brexit), but the current state of affairs is still pretty good.

 

[K888D]

Did a HTPC/on-the-go build in the HT5. It's got big shoes to fill as it's essentially replacing my NCASE air travel rig, but so far the portability is wonderful.

CPU: Ryzen 4650G
Cooler: NH-L9x65
Board: B550I Aorus Pro AX
RAM: Patriot Viper Steel 4133CL19 @ 4000 16-16-16 or 4200 17-18-18 depending on where I am
Storage: 256GB PM981
PSU: HDPlex 200W AC-DC + 200W DC-ATX, mounted with 3M tape
Fans: 2 x NF-A8

Tried using a NH-L12S but the fan pushes against the rear I/O shroud and it can't fit in the other orientation because HDPlex. A8s are quiet at higher speeds but the L9x65 is a lil louder than I remember my first one from 2015 was.

I honestly wish I could get a side panel with a 92mm-sized cutout so I can use one of my much better 25mm NF-A9s instead of the NF-A9x14 on the L9x65. I only need 3mm more.

Love the milk ha, thanks for sharing!

 

[mishmash]

Here is my "parts bin" build - I had 90% of the parts, just added the case and SSD. I made something with a bit of graphical grunt for certain programs that my laptop won't run, and also dual boot windows/linux. Plan is to undervolt the non-K processor, and overclock the GPU. I don't know if I can get XMP on my motherboard to work, we'll see.

• i7 4770, 16G RAM, Asus H97i-plus ITX motherboard, Intel wifi card
• Crucial NVMe 1TB (running at PCIe x2 speeds, motherboard limit)
• Shadow-rock LP cooler, with 10mm fan to meet case limits
• Asus GTX 1650 GPU, noctua fans with zero rpm mode. Note that the fans are not fixed...they are interference fit using their rubber bumpers!
• HDPlex 400W DC-ATX with Dell 240W PSU brick

 

[Factor Jay]

Here is my "parts bin" build - I had 90% of the parts, just added the case and SSD. I made something with a bit of graphical grunt for certain programs that my laptop won't run, and also dual boot windows/linux. Plan is to undervolt the non-K processor, and overclock the GPU. I don't know if I can get XMP on my motherboard to work, we'll see.

• i7 4770, 16G RAM, Asus H97i-plus ITX motherboard, Intel wifi card
• Crucial NVMe 1TB (running at PCIe x2 speeds, motherboard limit)
• Shadow-rock LP cooler, with 10mm fan to meet case limits
• Asus GTX 1650 GPU, noctua fans with zero rpm mode. Note that the fans are not fixed...they are interference fit using their rubber bumpers!
• HDPlex 400W DC-ATX with Dell 240W PSU brick

Looking ace!

 

[K888D]

Here is my "parts bin" build - I had 90% of the parts, just added the case and SSD. I made something with a bit of graphical grunt for certain programs that my laptop won't run, and also dual boot windows/linux. Plan is to undervolt the non-K processor, and overclock the GPU. I don't know if I can get XMP on my motherboard to work, we'll see.

• i7 4770, 16G RAM, Asus H97i-plus ITX motherboard, Intel wifi card
• Crucial NVMe 1TB (running at PCIe x2 speeds, motherboard limit)
• Shadow-rock LP cooler, with 10mm fan to meet case limits
• Asus GTX 1650 GPU, noctua fans with zero rpm mode. Note that the fans are not fixed...they are interference fit using their rubber bumpers!
• HDPlex 400W DC-ATX with Dell 240W PSU brick

This looks great, thanks for sharing!

How are the temps and performance/noise levels with those custom fan setups?

 

[mishmash]

This looks great, thanks for sharing!

How are the temps and performance/noise levels with those custom fan setups?

I'll report back once I've got my fan curves and volting/clocking sorted. I was aware that the cooler height is not ideal due to air turbulence at the grill with the fan being so close. The aim is to have the CPU fan run at silent speeds for general workloads (browsing, youtube) and then allow it to ramp for gaming. This i7 is a 84W CPU so I'm hoping I can get some good undervolts to drop temperatures.

 

[hermigua]

Hi,

thanks to @mishmash this is an absolutely amazing system with an interesting graphics card configuration.

Today is my big "introduction round": i.e. here is my "winter system" with an external graphics card and now at this point my "summer system" again, because I won't be playing extensively at this time of year.

Configuration is also the creamy Lazer 3D HT5 Stealth with
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G,
Thermalright AXP-100 Full Copper & SilverStone FW124-ARGB,
Gigabyte B550I AORUS Pro AX,
Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro SL DDR4-3600 32GB,
WD Blue SN550 2TB and
PicoPSU-150-XT!

Many greetings
Eddie

P.S.: I'm new here: can I only use the sources mentioned to insert pictures directly into the post ("Media" function), so I can't upload anything here...?

 

[mishmash]

P.S.: I'm new here: can I only use the sources mentioned to insert pictures directly into the post ("Media" function), so I can't upload anything here...?

I use imgbb for my pictures.

Undervolting/overclocking results are in!

I will put it in text, rather than the table just in case the images get auto-deleted from image hosting sites.
Noise perception rating is subjective. <3 silent, need to put your head 20cm from case to hear fan barely. 4-7 is quiet, 8-10 is audible, with 10 being max speed.

Stress testing was done using Stress in CPU-Z. Temperatures monitored in OpenHWMon, Unigine Valley for the GPU benchmarking.

CPU (GPU fans are off for all tests):

Test run desc.	Fan speed idle (Noise perception/10)	Fan speed stress (Noise perception/10)	Idle T (degC)	Stress T (degC)	Power CPU package (W)	Changes	Remarks
Base config	646 rpm (3/10)	980 rpm (7/10)		56.5	50.3		Did not check idle T, no XMP. "Silent"option selected in BIOS
Final voltage	779 rpm (6/10)	911 rpm (7/10)	34.5	51	40	XMP enabled; -120.1mV core and cache, -90mV iGPU	VID at load = 0.8820V
Final with new curve	550 rpm (2/10)	600 rpm (3/10)	38.0	61.5	41.1	BIOS custom fan curve	20C = 20% 50C = 24% 75C = 100%

As you can see - my heatsink is very oversized, even with the lower rated fan. This means I had a lot of temperature head-room to allow the temperature to drift during idle and even stress test. This resulted in near silence, even with all cores sitting at 100% load.

GPU testing:

Score	FPS average	GPU OC	Mem OC	Testing temperature	Remarks
2287	54.7	+0 MHz	+0 MHz	65	Base config, stock Asus curve
2469	59.0	+150 MHz	+350 MHz	64	Final OC config
				80	Final OC with new fan curve (see below)

Final fan curve:

• 30C = 15%
• 65C = 16%
• 75C = 20%
• 83C = 24%
• 88C = 40%
• 89C = 63%
• 90C = 100%

Again, as I have oversized the fans I have the luxury of some thermal head room, allowing me to slow down the fans. I found with the zero rpm mode I now have some hysteresis. Asus allows the card to reach up to 60C before engaging the fans, MSI afterburner does not allow me to set 0 rpm past 50C. So I have set a 15% for the low temperature ranges. The fans cannot be heard at all from this speed, so I am satisfied with that, and should keep things cool during summer also.
During GPU benchmarking the new fan curve turned the fans down from 100% - which was heard in the next room, to something much quieter (but still audible if you are in the same room).

Overall now at idle if I really strain myself I can maybe hear the fans from about 50cm away.

I'm quite pleased with the result! It is quite a silent system, with the only audible noise when I am stress testing the GPU. I suspect if I fire up a 3D CAD program or a basic game the GPU fans should not ramp significantly.

 

[K888D]

I use imgbb for my pictures.

Undervolting/overclocking results are in!

I will put it in text, rather than the table just in case the images get auto-deleted from image hosting sites.
Noise perception rating is subjective. <3 silent, need to put your head 20cm from case to hear fan barely. 4-7 is quiet, 8-10 is audible, with 10 being max speed.

Stress testing was done using Stress in CPU-Z. Temperatures monitored in OpenHWMon, Unigine Valley for the GPU benchmarking.

CPU (GPU fans are off for all tests):

Test run desc.	Fan speed idle (Noise perception/10)	Fan speed stress (Noise perception/10)	Idle T (degC)	Stress T (degC)	Power CPU package (W)	Changes	Remarks
Base config	646 rpm (3/10)	980 rpm (7/10)		56.5	50.3		Did not check idle T, no XMP. "Silent"option selected in BIOS
Final voltage	779 rpm (6/10)	911 rpm (7/10)	34.5	51	40	XMP enabled; -120.1mV core and cache, -90mV iGPU	VID at load = 0.8820V
Final with new curve	550 rpm (2/10)	600 rpm (3/10)	38.0	61.5	41.1	BIOS custom fan curve	20C = 20% 50C = 24% 75C = 100%

As you can see - my heatsink is very oversized, even with the lower rated fan. This means I had a lot of temperature head-room to allow the temperature to drift during idle and even stress test. This resulted in near silence, even with all cores sitting at 100% load.

GPU testing:

Score	FPS average	GPU OC	Mem OC	Testing temperature	Remarks
2287	54.7	+0 MHz	+0 MHz	65	Base config, stock Asus curve
2469	59.0	+150 MHz	+350 MHz	64	Final OC config
				80	Final OC with new fan curve (see below)

Final fan curve:

• 30C = 15%
• 65C = 16%
• 75C = 20%
• 83C = 24%
• 88C = 40%
• 89C = 63%
• 90C = 100%

Again, as I have oversized the fans I have the luxury of some thermal head room, allowing me to slow down the fans. I found with the zero rpm mode I now have some hysteresis. Asus allows the card to reach up to 60C before engaging the fans, MSI afterburner does not allow me to set 0 rpm past 50C. So I have set a 15% for the low temperature ranges. The fans cannot be heard at all from this speed, so I am satisfied with that, and should keep things cool during summer also.
During GPU benchmarking the new fan curve turned the fans down from 100% - which was heard in the next room, to something much quieter (but still audible if you are in the same room).

Overall now at idle if I really strain myself I can maybe hear the fans from about 50cm away.

I'm quite pleased with the result! It is quite a silent system, with the only audible noise when I am stress testing the GPU. I suspect if I fire up a 3D CAD program or a basic game the GPU fans should not ramp significantly.

Thank you for providing such a detailed write-up of your performance numbers, I really enjoyed reading about the process you went through to tune the system to your noise/performance preferences.

It's very satisfying to see the HT5 being used to it's full potential, it was originally designed to provide a good balance between thermal/noise performance and size, I think you've hit the nail on the head with this setup.