Hello Guys,
I hope you are all well.
I promised myself I would write this post about my build, since I came here looking for info, that would be my contribution to this awesome forum, and if it can help some people looking for answers it would make it a useful contribution.
So here is a quick history of the project:
September 2017:
October 2017:
November 2017 – Mid January:
February - May 2018:
May - July 2018:
Bought a holesaw of the correct dimension and I will try to do that myself with the help of a friend of mine that has many tools.
The idea would be to get my computer elevated a bit, with a DJ console stand like this : https://www.ebay.com/p/Odyssey-LSTA...Stand-With-Clamps/1500114890?iid=390943614242
Having the two fans screwed on the bottom, outside the case.
I mean it doesn't really shudowns, but my screen are going black, my sound is going away, but everything else looks like running. Fans are spinning, all LEDs are on like they would normally.
I'm not quite sure what could it be, so any help would be appreciated, but it tend to appear more often when I play, even if it also does when I am not.
I can't stop my pc or reset it when it is in such state, and I must pull out the power plug.
Here is what I tried so far:
- removing one ram stick
- Having all components outside the case and an external clip fan blowing cool air on them
- Changed the cable of my graphic card.
And issue still occurs.
August 2018:
What a month! And it's not even over yet when I write those lines.
I kept on looking for the source of my problem, trying to take components off and plugin them in one by one. Power supply, Ram, Graphic card.
And by doing this, I accidentally burnt my Graphics card.
I saw the smoke and the smell. It was not correctly plugged in.
I still hate myself for that. Can't get warranty to work since I scratched it here and there when trying stuff.
Re-order a new one, but a Geforce 1050Ti SC this time. Could not afford just to get the same one again for a stupid mistake, so I'll punish myself this way.
I finally found out what was the issue. I mean, I know it was something software related. My PC turning itself down randomly while used, was coming from something software related.
Having the new card in, the shutdown issue was still happening. So I though, could it be software related? I therefore let my PC on, while in the BIOS. After a few hours PC was still on, so I went on and format and reinstall a different copy of windows.
After that I installed drivers one by one, by testing carefully for a few hours after each install if the bug came back.
It did not. So my PC is now stable.
I proceeded with adding the two 140mm Fans at the bottom, you can see pictures below.
We drilled with a holesaw of 5 1/2" it was quite a tough work, but stabilizing the case while doing so helped a lot.
We did not have these bigs drills, so it was somewhat long, but the results are quite neat.
I also smooth the edges to make them less sharp.
When installing it all together, I made sure to organize how I could the cables and taped the sided grids that are in the case, to avoid airflow perturbation.
Finally I put the vented top panel on, and had a few tests.
First of all, it's not too noisy, even with these two fans at 100%, so I will let them always at max speed.
GPU temp is going from 27 (idle) to 80 (full load) - Slightly less hot than it used to be, specially when idle (cooler than room temperature!)
CPU temp is going from 30 (idle) to 60 (full load) - A bit hotter than it used to be.
Motherboard temperature does not exceed 55, which is way cooler than it used to be.
Next thoughts and reflections, or pending upgrades:
You find below a couple of pictures that I took here and there, sorry about the lack of quality, light and ordering.
I can post some more if you need.
If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask.
Also, If you have any suggestions or advises regarding the build, I’m all ears.
Edits List:
I hope you are all well.
I promised myself I would write this post about my build, since I came here looking for info, that would be my contribution to this awesome forum, and if it can help some people looking for answers it would make it a useful contribution.
So here is a quick history of the project:
September 2017:
[*]I decided I wanted to build something small, to eventually carry it out here and there
[*]After analyzing several cases, Jay from ‘Tek everything’ sold me the MC600 from logic supply
[*]I researched for some details about this case and came across SFF, I was looking for some already made builds by people and information to answer my question/doubts.
[*]After analyzing several cases, Jay from ‘Tek everything’ sold me the MC600 from logic supply
[*]I researched for some details about this case and came across SFF, I was looking for some already made builds by people and information to answer my question/doubts.
Got all the specs of my build nailed down:
- Biostar Racing X370 GTN
- M2 SSD Samsung 250gb
- EVGA 1060GTX 6GB
- 2x8GB of Gskill Trident Z RGB
- Ryzen 1700
- ArchDaemon power supply from @guryhwa from this forum, after considering many options
- Have a build black and orange themed.
- Doing some custom cabling works
- Doing some custom painting works
- Both cpu and gpu facing top, so that I would optimize airflow and heat
- Drill holes so that heat would get out from there.
- Started ordering the various parts
- Motherboard did not work, so I sent it back, and changed my mind for an Asus ROG Strix X370-i that I ordered from the UK, as it was, at the time, not really widely available.
- Finally received everything, so I built the machine up.
- Made some tests and benchmarks here and there to make sure everything was ok and stable.
I was not really available a lot to continue working on my project, specially when an issue appeared:
- My ArchDeamon died on me. The brick was ok, so I sent back the unit to Guryhwa to get it replaced or fix.
- Meanwhile, I wanted to use my computer so I looked for a cheap alternative. I therefore went for a Dynamo power supply from SFF Labs. Aside for being nice looking, the unit did not fit my needs. I was using it with an old 200W brick, but the output power was not enough, and my computer was turning off during intensive gaming. The unit was also a bit bigger than ArchDaemon, and also hotter.
- I was happy to receive my ArchDaemon back and functionning
- Air cooling:
Bought a holesaw of the correct dimension and I will try to do that myself with the help of a friend of mine that has many tools.
The idea would be to get my computer elevated a bit, with a DJ console stand like this : https://www.ebay.com/p/Odyssey-LSTA...Stand-With-Clamps/1500114890?iid=390943614242
Having the two fans screwed on the bottom, outside the case.
- New problem appeared:
I mean it doesn't really shudowns, but my screen are going black, my sound is going away, but everything else looks like running. Fans are spinning, all LEDs are on like they would normally.
I'm not quite sure what could it be, so any help would be appreciated, but it tend to appear more often when I play, even if it also does when I am not.
I can't stop my pc or reset it when it is in such state, and I must pull out the power plug.
Here is what I tried so far:
- removing one ram stick
- Having all components outside the case and an external clip fan blowing cool air on them
- Changed the cable of my graphic card.
And issue still occurs.
August 2018:
What a month! And it's not even over yet when I write those lines.
I kept on looking for the source of my problem, trying to take components off and plugin them in one by one. Power supply, Ram, Graphic card.
And by doing this, I accidentally burnt my Graphics card.
I saw the smoke and the smell. It was not correctly plugged in.
I still hate myself for that. Can't get warranty to work since I scratched it here and there when trying stuff.
Re-order a new one, but a Geforce 1050Ti SC this time. Could not afford just to get the same one again for a stupid mistake, so I'll punish myself this way.
I finally found out what was the issue. I mean, I know it was something software related. My PC turning itself down randomly while used, was coming from something software related.
Having the new card in, the shutdown issue was still happening. So I though, could it be software related? I therefore let my PC on, while in the BIOS. After a few hours PC was still on, so I went on and format and reinstall a different copy of windows.
After that I installed drivers one by one, by testing carefully for a few hours after each install if the bug came back.
It did not. So my PC is now stable.
I proceeded with adding the two 140mm Fans at the bottom, you can see pictures below.
We drilled with a holesaw of 5 1/2" it was quite a tough work, but stabilizing the case while doing so helped a lot.
We did not have these bigs drills, so it was somewhat long, but the results are quite neat.
I also smooth the edges to make them less sharp.
When installing it all together, I made sure to organize how I could the cables and taped the sided grids that are in the case, to avoid airflow perturbation.
Finally I put the vented top panel on, and had a few tests.
First of all, it's not too noisy, even with these two fans at 100%, so I will let them always at max speed.
GPU temp is going from 27 (idle) to 80 (full load) - Slightly less hot than it used to be, specially when idle (cooler than room temperature!)
CPU temp is going from 30 (idle) to 60 (full load) - A bit hotter than it used to be.
Motherboard temperature does not exceed 55, which is way cooler than it used to be.
Next thoughts and reflections, or pending upgrades:
Lid/Panel customization.
I now have a working build, but it tends to get pretty hot inside if I close the lid.
I am a bit hesitant on the below options.
Customize the panel by cutting 80% of it off and mounting some plexiglass sheet to replace the cut part.
The idea was to turn that plexiglass into a grid to have some passive heat extraction, and having the possibility to look at the inside.
Cutting two slots on the panel that will allow me to mount two extracting fans to dissipate the heat.
As of now, I matured a bit the second idea.
I'm thinking of setting up two 140mm fans on both sides of the case. They will be blowing cool air on CPU and GPU areas. The two 60mm will take care of extracting the air.
The only drawback I can see would be the fans' thickness. I don't think I will be able to screw them on the inside of the panel, as they are 2.5cm thick. They would end up touching the hardware, or I will not be able to close the panel.
So, I think I will end up screwing them on top of the lid, even if that will most likely look ugly.
In a perfect world, I would find a way to bend a bit the panel up on both CPU and GPU zones, like two chimneys, so it will give me more room, and a nice air corridor to disperse the cool air everywhere. But I'm struggling to find a metal worker that could help me out with this in my area.
If someone among you guys have the skills and setup for that, let me know.
I got myself a vented grid for my top panel, and will get these two fans screwed at the bottom, so this is sorted.
- GPU 'stabilizer'
Currently, my GPU is not screwed on my back plate or anywhere, so by default it moves a lot when you plug cables in or out for instance.
I found a way to secure its position. I used a ‘block’ made with cardboard wrapped into electrician tape to make the GPU stable and not moving. You will see it in the pictures, it's the red thingy.
But I really need to find a nicer/safer solution for my GPU. As this was meant to be temporary, but I could not figure another way to do it just yet. I have to say, I still need to think this through entirely. This didn’t look easily screw-able.
If any of you have some suggestions, they are more than welcome.
- Optimizing Airflow
In order to do so, I'm planning to make a few tests.
First of all, I think I will try to reverse my noctua CPU fan, and make it extract hot air, to throw it out of the case. I've read that this setup is not the recommended standard, but I think this could work well with my actual airflow setup being bottom to top. Plus the vented grid window, is probably not helping at the moment to get cool air in. Plus the air being taken at the moment is most likely hotter than the one at the bottom.
Secondly, I may try to reinstall the two 60mm fan to bring some more fresh air in next to GPU.
Finally I will also try to 'seal' all the holes and little spaces which could hamper the airflow.
- PC Stand
Currently, my PC is standing on piles of books, which is just a temporary solution to test the setup, and to make it work properly. I gave up the idea of using a DJ Stand, and I will rather make one of my own with copper pipes cut and glued together with fittings.
- DustProofing
I've already added some dust filters outside of my bottom fans, but I'm planning to setup one large below the top panel vented window.
- Cable management
I'm gonna start to think about this soon, but currently it is quite messy, and I have many cables all over the place. I'm gonna remove the LNA Noctua gave me to start. That will help having more room, and better temps if not too noisy.
You find below a couple of pictures that I took here and there, sorry about the lack of quality, light and ordering.
I can post some more if you need.
If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask.
Also, If you have any suggestions or advises regarding the build, I’m all ears.
Edits List:
1st Edit: added my progression and finally managed to embed a few pictures.
2nd Edit: added my progression.
Changed pictures for more accurate ones.
Hid some of the previous progression
Changed pictures for more accurate ones.
Hid some of the previous progression
Last edited:
