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Prototype Oki-Doki : a GPU bifurcation and watercooling dedicated case, from 9 to 14L
- Thread starter aquelito
- Start date
@Thehack : nope ! Pump and fans will be powered by the Dynamo so I cannot let it always powered-on.
My motherboard doesn't have an option to disable onboard power when the system is powered off.
Speaking of power supply, as I wrote previously, I used only one ring terminal to power both the Hdplex and Dynamo.
It may be worth to use at least one ring terminal for each DC board ?
Here is a picture of the wires.
@Link1712 : thanks for your suggestion. That's actually what I'm doing but with an internal AC-DC power supply ! Except I do the contrary : one PSU, two DC boards.
I have a Meanwell RPS-400-24 powering two DC-DC boards, namely an Hdplex 250 for the system and a Dynamo 360 for both GPUs, pump and fans.
I first tried pure 12V with a Meanwell EPP-400-12 powering a G-Unique and a custom load switch but my motherboard did not like that combo...
Anyway, I could have a look to your DC board and it looks like similar to a Picobox X7-ATX-500, right ?
Back to the build, this morning I took some quick pics of the build filled with hardware.
Density-wise I would say it's not too bad
No 24-pin nor 8-pin cables yet (three of them) ; I'll have to very carefully plan the final build steps.
Between 2 and 4 mm clerance between each layer of this tight sandwich.
Interesting view showing :
- The three different hardware pieces holding the case together.
- My favourite piece : the bracket supporting the riser and GPU brackets at the same time.
- The alu piece sandwiched between the radiator and fans, critical for the case rigidity and focusing the BeQuiet fans air flow, which have an unusual shape.
My motherboard doesn't have an option to disable onboard power when the system is powered off.
Speaking of power supply, as I wrote previously, I used only one ring terminal to power both the Hdplex and Dynamo.
It may be worth to use at least one ring terminal for each DC board ?
Here is a picture of the wires.
@Link1712 : thanks for your suggestion. That's actually what I'm doing but with an internal AC-DC power supply ! Except I do the contrary : one PSU, two DC boards.
I have a Meanwell RPS-400-24 powering two DC-DC boards, namely an Hdplex 250 for the system and a Dynamo 360 for both GPUs, pump and fans.
I first tried pure 12V with a Meanwell EPP-400-12 powering a G-Unique and a custom load switch but my motherboard did not like that combo...
Anyway, I could have a look to your DC board and it looks like similar to a Picobox X7-ATX-500, right ?
Back to the build, this morning I took some quick pics of the build filled with hardware.
Density-wise I would say it's not too bad
No 24-pin nor 8-pin cables yet (three of them) ; I'll have to very carefully plan the final build steps.
Between 2 and 4 mm clerance between each layer of this tight sandwich.
Interesting view showing :
- The three different hardware pieces holding the case together.
- My favourite piece : the bracket supporting the riser and GPU brackets at the same time.
- The alu piece sandwiched between the radiator and fans, critical for the case rigidity and focusing the BeQuiet fans air flow, which have an unusual shape.
I would use at least two ring terminals.
I was asking that because if you were okay with letting the 12V sit, you can use a Pico/G-Unique with an SFX psu turned on. That would give you better power density than the Meanwell and two power boards.
You are adding an additional fan as well to keep the power board cool right?
And man you live dangerously, water all around the power distro. One leak and say good bye to it.
I was asking that because if you were okay with letting the 12V sit, you can use a Pico/G-Unique with an SFX psu turned on. That would give you better power density than the Meanwell and two power boards.
You are adding an additional fan as well to keep the power board cool right?
And man you live dangerously, water all around the power distro. One leak and say good bye to it.
For some reason, my load switch seems to have an issue with my G-Unique, at least with that particular motherboard.
I guess I could try a PicoPSU 160-XT instead of the G-Unique but I'm not sure it can handle this build (which needs around 200W at full load with the GPUs ideling).
No room for an SFX PSU unfortunately.
And yes I have a 140mm blowing onto the Meanwell PSU.
I'll have to carefully monitor two of them fittings
I guess I could try a PicoPSU 160-XT instead of the G-Unique but I'm not sure it can handle this build (which needs around 200W at full load with the GPUs ideling).
No room for an SFX PSU unfortunately.
And yes I have a 140mm blowing onto the Meanwell PSU.
I'll have to carefully monitor two of them fittings
For some reason, my load switch seems to have an issue with my G-Unique, at least with that particular motherboard.
I guess I could try a PicoPSU 160-XT instead of the G-Unique but I'm not sure it can handle this build (which needs around 200W at full load with the GPUs ideling).
No room for an SFX PSU unfortunately.
And yes I have a 140mm blowing onto the Meanwell PSU.
I'll have to carefully monitor two of them fittings
I meant forgo the load switch. I'm going to experiment loading an SFX psu with a pico. That should theoretically be possible. But it does mean you don't have loadswitching.
Also some motherboards have the 12V rail connected to the fan. So if 12V is applied, it latches and keeps the load switch in the on position.
The proper way to actually implement a load switch is to have a separate standby circuit on the plug in DC board. The stand by circuit would take the 5V standby from the PSU, and pass it to the motherboard. Motherboard turns on, grounds the 5V, psu turns on, pushes 12V out to the rail. Motherboard turns off, 5V rise back, psu into standby mode.
As far as I know, no circuit works like this. It can be designed. I emailed minibox who owns the patent for pico. Their patent covers the design of the plug in DC board and I don't see a way to get around it until it runs out. Probably why they're the only official seller in regulated states. HDPLEX uses a 19V design that circumvent that. They said we need a MOQ of 2500 to get a custom design. FFS.
There's also the possibility of a manual switch.
Yes that power supply is similiar to the X7. We had that custom made and payed a whopping 350 USD for two samples. We had those custom made for our prototype case but due to design changes we can't use them anymore. So now we have two Psu's and a pair of Power bricks not in use sitting here
We tried the X7 before and it kinda worked, although we had the last piece of the old version so there was quite the coil whine. So another wasted pair of Powerbricks there, now with a 7.4x5.0 connector ._.
You could say we had some hard luck...
We tried the X7 before and it kinda worked, although we had the last piece of the old version so there was quite the coil whine. So another wasted pair of Powerbricks there, now with a 7.4x5.0 connector ._.
You could say we had some hard luck...
Your image isn't showing. Can you fix it or give us a manual link. I'm interested in seeing it.Yes that power supply is similiar to the X7. We had that custom made and payed a whopping 350 USD for two samples. We had those custom made for our prototype case but due to design changes we can't use them anymore. So now we have two Psu's and a pair of Power bricks not in use sitting here
We tried the X7 before and it kinda worked, although we had the last piece of the old version so there was quite the coil whine. So another wasted pair of Powerbricks there, now with a 7.4x5.0 connector ._.
You could say we had some hard luck...
Thats the PSU And these are our power bricks
The PSU measures 108x180mm
I don't want to cloud up this thread but I'm interested in who designed it. I'm going to create a new thread so we can discuss it.
Im new to this Forum but i didn't even give you feedback to your case. Seriously, if i was into multi gpu setup, this would be my dream case. Good job, seriously! I know the hassle of going through this, to always worry and tinker if it is going to work out the way you want etc. In our 'Case' (i know im funny ) we are still in tinkering with the design and registering a patent so still long way to go. Love mini gpu's that are watercooled, so gotta love what you did there ^^
) we are still in tinkering with the design and registering a patent so still long way to go. Love mini gpu's that are watercooled, so gotta love what you did there ^^
@Thehack : I prefer to use a load switch between the 12V supply and the GPUs, just in case they do not like being powered when the system is OFF.
Regarding the way the load switch has been designed, let me quote the designer :
Regarding my shut down issues (anything using 12V would remain powered on, even fans connected to the mobo), I do not know if it's the G-Unique not turning off properly or the motherboard having the 12 rail connected to the fan, as you suggest.
What I could try is to connect the load switch directly to a G-Unique Molex instead of the motherboard fan header ?
Speaking of 12V open-frame PSUs, what do you think of this one ? Shitty ripple at 12V but good hold-up time :
http://www.eospower.com/WLC550.aspx
I can get for 100€ in France.
Anyway, I've chosen to go back to wide-input solutions and @Kmpkt Dynamo Mini would be a no-brainer if it was a tad smaller...
@Link1712 : I had the X7 too, as well as some serious coil whine !
Thanks for your feedback. In such small spaces, the limiting factor is clearly the power source. Any help is appreciated.
Regarding the way the load switch has been designed, let me quote the designer :
Regarding my shut down issues (anything using 12V would remain powered on, even fans connected to the mobo), I do not know if it's the G-Unique not turning off properly or the motherboard having the 12 rail connected to the fan, as you suggest.
What I could try is to connect the load switch directly to a G-Unique Molex instead of the motherboard fan header ?
Speaking of 12V open-frame PSUs, what do you think of this one ? Shitty ripple at 12V but good hold-up time :
http://www.eospower.com/WLC550.aspx
I can get for 100€ in France.
Anyway, I've chosen to go back to wide-input solutions and @Kmpkt Dynamo Mini would be a no-brainer if it was a tad smaller...
@Link1712 : I had the X7 too, as well as some serious coil whine !
Thanks for your feedback. In such small spaces, the limiting factor is clearly the power source. Any help is appreciated.
Luckily, the 600W psu has no coil whine whatsoever, even under full load of gpu and cpu.
The giant transformers you can see on the side are made here in germany so they don't whine at all.
Haha, hopefully we wont make an exception ^^My riser and load switch have been designed and build in Germany
Germans have often proven to be pioneers in the SFF quest !
Some progress : I swapped the EK Thermosphere for some nice Bykski full-cover waterblocks.
$48 a piece when ordered straight from Bykski !
Very responsive and nice people to deal with.
For instance, they shipped the wrong bridge but sent a new one in 3 days time.
They have confidence in their products.
The bridge was a bit of a pain to install due to the brand new joints not easily fitting their print.
Other than that, nothing to report.
The two Bykski blocks are much heavier that the previous Thermosphere.
The aluminium bracket on the left will bear most of the weight as the GPU will be vertically oriented.
This makes one sturdy block, much easier to manipulate in small volumes.
$48 a piece when ordered straight from Bykski !
Very responsive and nice people to deal with.
For instance, they shipped the wrong bridge but sent a new one in 3 days time.
They have confidence in their products.
The bridge was a bit of a pain to install due to the brand new joints not easily fitting their print.
Other than that, nothing to report.
The two Bykski blocks are much heavier that the previous Thermosphere.
The aluminium bracket on the left will bear most of the weight as the GPU will be vertically oriented.
This makes one sturdy block, much easier to manipulate in small volumes.
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Some custom cables and some more tests. The BeQuiet! Silent WIngs 3 High Speed are dead silent at 5V.
And after a 8 hours marathon...
Adibou v2 has proven to be a real nightmare to build. Key components are not easily accessible and you have to plan very carefully in which order plug that wire, fix that screw, etc.
Otherwise you'll spend lots of time redoing what yoiu have already done 10 times...
The worst is that filling the loop is very tricky, if not impossible... I did not anticipate how difficult that would be.
I'm a bit at loss here...
Next time I feel inspired, I won't listen ahah !
And after a 8 hours marathon...
Adibou v2 has proven to be a real nightmare to build. Key components are not easily accessible and you have to plan very carefully in which order plug that wire, fix that screw, etc.
Otherwise you'll spend lots of time redoing what yoiu have already done 10 times...
The worst is that filling the loop is very tricky, if not impossible... I did not anticipate how difficult that would be.
I'm a bit at loss here...
Next time I feel inspired, I won't listen ahah !
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So, after the V2 build "failure", I changed things a bit and finished building Adibou V3 yesterday.
First, I turned the pump around and repurposed the bottom plate.
The EK SBAY is now fixed to it using four silent-blocs I had.
The loop order is now : pump > rad > GPU > CPU > rad > pump.
@BaK I took the opportunity to switch to Norprene tubing ! Really glad I did, both for the look and flexibility.
The whole matte black theme makes the Bykski water blocks shine even more.
@Testifier : by simply moving the pump, I now have room for a SFX PSU
The bad news is that I sold my SF600 the very day I finished this prototype.
The 24-Pin cable is still making things very difficult as I have very little room for fingers.
Waiting for @Thehack distro board to make things a little easier.
After a successful 12h leak test I finally fired up the engines... and it works great !!
With the fans @5V (1000 RPM, almost silent), temps are not bad.
> Running OCCT Linkpack and Octane render on both GTX 1070 simultaneously (10 minutes) :
CPU : 64°
GPU 1 : 42°
GPU 2 : 41°
> Running CPU-Z bench and Valley bench (one hour) :
Yesterday was the warmest day of the year so far (30°C at the end of the afternoon)
Next steps : design the final case !
First, I turned the pump around and repurposed the bottom plate.
The EK SBAY is now fixed to it using four silent-blocs I had.
The loop order is now : pump > rad > GPU > CPU > rad > pump.
@BaK I took the opportunity to switch to Norprene tubing ! Really glad I did, both for the look and flexibility.
The whole matte black theme makes the Bykski water blocks shine even more.
@Testifier : by simply moving the pump, I now have room for a SFX PSU
The bad news is that I sold my SF600 the very day I finished this prototype
.The 24-Pin cable is still making things very difficult as I have very little room for fingers.
Waiting for @Thehack distro board to make things a little easier.
After a successful 12h leak test I finally fired up the engines... and it works great !!
With the fans @5V (1000 RPM, almost silent), temps are not bad.
> Running OCCT Linkpack and Octane render on both GTX 1070 simultaneously (10 minutes) :
CPU : 64°
GPU 1 : 42°
GPU 2 : 41°
> Running CPU-Z bench and Valley bench (one hour) :
Yesterday was the warmest day of the year so far (30°C at the end of the afternoon)
Next steps : design the final case !
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I'm really interested in the twin 240 rads running 5V fans. This will probably one of the quietest dual GPU rigs around, all in a very tidy package. Wishing you luck!
Thanks for your support !
The rig is indeed pretty quite with the fans at 5V.
Running them at 7V is not very interesting.
I noticed a 3° temperatures drop only (vs. 5V), while the fans produce much more noise !
OCCT Linkpack and Octane render on both GTX 1070 simultaneously (10 minutes) :
- Fans @ 7V :
CPU : 61°
GPU 1 : 39°
GPU 2 : 38°
- Fans @ 5V :
CPU : 64°
GPU 1 : 42°
GPU 2 : 41°
The rig is indeed pretty quite with the fans at 5V.
Running them at 7V is not very interesting.
I noticed a 3° temperatures drop only (vs. 5V), while the fans produce much more noise !
OCCT Linkpack and Octane render on both GTX 1070 simultaneously (10 minutes) :
- Fans @ 7V :
CPU : 61°
GPU 1 : 39°
GPU 2 : 38°
- Fans @ 5V :
CPU : 64°
GPU 1 : 42°
GPU 2 : 41°
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