Log My SFF builds / journey

thelaughingman

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Jul 14, 2018
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so freaking customs sent a paper letter today asking for more info about the 6900 XT waterblock before they can process it. guess they don't know what the heck is a waterblock. and given it will take them 5-10 working days to do their job, seriously, it will be 2022 before I can start building in the N-ATX 😤😤😤

on the other hand, my current build looks like this:


From top to bottom: Phanteks T30, Noctua NF-A12x25 Chromax, and Arctic P12 PWM PST. Story goes at one point I had 10x A12x25s, yes 10. Then I got bored of the browness and sold them all, bought some P12s for p/p and was happy for a few days. Then those crazy e-commerce sales and voila, T30 and A12x25 Chromax happened.
 
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thelaughingman

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Jul 14, 2018
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Made some progress today with the L5 build - motherboard, DC-ATX power and case fans are in place.


RAM is on the way, got a cheap 2 x 16GB Gskill Ripjaws V 3200 CL16 kit and AC-DC brick is also on the way, got the recommended 192W ones from mini-box. And will recycle a Samsung OEM M.2 NVME gen3 drive from an old build. A couple of things still missing:
  • Cooler: really wanted a Noctua L12S but it can only accommodate LPX RAM with the fan below the heatsink, Scythe Big Shuriken 3 it is going to be
  • CPU: Ryzen 5 5600G seems to be the sweetspot right now
  • GPU (maybe): do I really need a GTX 1650 LP? Or more accurately, should I splurge on one LOL
Without a GPU the bottom of the case is really empty, maybe I can just cram the brick in and make it brickless?
 
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thelaughingman

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Jul 14, 2018
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Finally got time and got ALMOST everything needed to get my build into the N-ATX. Been a long time coming but it is worth it! Here's the semi-final build

14.5L build with mDTX board, 360 radiator, SFX-L PSU and a thickboi D5 pump-res combo.
Everything is super tight, and by tight I mean touching each other such that's there's no wiggle room at all. The water flow is as following:
  • From pump outlet (left) into CPU inlet (bottom), then CPU outlet (top), passes through 1 in-line temp sensor and into GPU inlet (left)
  • Then GPU outlet (right), passes through the Koolance water flow and temp sensor combo into the radiator inlet (top)
  • Coming out of the radiator outlet (bottom), passes through another in-line temp sensor and into the pump inlet
So in total I have 3 sensors monitoring water temps coming out of CPU, GPU and radiator and as of writing with 30C ambient my water temp is stable at 36C 38C, at 100% CPU load + 100% GPU load it could get to 45C 56C. When I say ALMOST, there are a few things I still need to sort out
  1. Cutting the stock GPU bracket in half to have a single slot bracket
  2. Getting cables made for the 3x 8pin GPU - the stock cable is too long and too stiff to make it work, thus I'm not closing the right panel at the moment and just let it hanging all out so I can use my build
And a few more pics to show the dry fitting and all the clearance, I meant lack of clearance to be exact LOL

 
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thelaughingman

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Jul 14, 2018
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so I came home for Lunar New Year celebration and this is what I brought back to add to my dad's corner


The L5 snuck into the corner perfectly and freed up a lot of space on the desk for him (replacing the Dan-A4 that I left for him a year ago). The spec is nothing too fancy but also would last him a long time I feel
  • 5600G + Scythe Big Shuriken 3 - got the combo used for cheap
  • X570i Aorus Pro Wifi+ 32GB Ripjaws V DDR4 3200C16 - also used stuff on bargains
  • 512GB Samsung OEM NVME Gen.3 - recycled from my previous builds
  • Lone L5 + Arch Daemon 200W + Mini-box 192W brick - the most expensive parts of the build LOL
 
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thelaughingman

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Jul 14, 2018
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RIP my 6900XT.

Was getting flickering issue after returning from the holiday. Since yesterday cannot get past initialization - Boot LED stays White with Q-Code 9E. Plugged in my backup RX480 and everything just works. 😭😭😭
 
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