Log Portable workstation: A4 H2O w/ 280 radiator

[RAAM]

Edit: looks like I was typing while you posted your last message or I just did not see it

I like the looks of those feet, might have to look for some or similar, goes nice with the case.

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Glad you found something you can get quickly and takes care of the issue

I just measured the height on mine, 17mm, seems tall enough but 3cm might even be better.

I had issues with the AIO fan/riser rubbing but when I had to move the cable directly behind the MB, which I need to open up and make sure not touching anything sharp, it fixed it so hopefully lasts long term. Also part of why I wanted to keep this cable is how more open it is to air flow than the ribbon style cables.

I am busy on the car, not nearly as easy or fun at 72 as it was when much younger, physically and mentally, dual overhead cam, variable valve timing, bucket valve lash adjustment, getting all perfectly aligned being very critical. Not much energy to play with my great computer project I am having so much fun building.

Rick

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

Ordered a 20 cm ( + 4) 90° angled riser. Hopefully its more flexible than the 20 cm straight one I already got. At best, this is going to fix all issues, because else I have to either get another 15 or 20 cm reverse dual riser cable.

Sadly, the search for the best option, ie. a 30 or at least 25 cm reverse dual riser cable (25 cm = the cable itself, excluding the connectors) has been fruitless so far.

cu, w0lf.

 

[RAAM]

I feel your pain, I just could not find the right riser cable or card combo for what I wanted to try. I lucked into a solution that is more than good enough for my actual needs and way beyond that level of use I will every put the system through besides benchmarks and it passes all of them.

Good luck!!!

Rick

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

I feel your pain, I just could not find the right riser cable or card combo for what I wanted to try. I lucked into a solution that is more than good enough for my actual needs and way beyond that level of use I will every put the system through besides benchmarks and it passes all of them.

Good luck!!!

Rick

Yeah, in theory, the riser-ipede should do, I just want to avoid issues with important components like fans or the backside m2 pressing on the joint connection of the riser cables.

Might also try one of the 20 cm dual reverse PCIe 3 riser cables I got, just to see if it works better in mitigating this issue. But first we gonna see if the 90° angled one is gonna fix this.

cu, w0lf.

 

[RAAM]

You will figure it out I am sure, obviously you are determined to do so, that is the most important aspect in achieving anything

Rick

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

After removing the riser-ipede, it looks like as a regular sized 140 mm fan would fit on the radiator behind the mainboard. So I did a thing: Ordered a second SW 4 Pro 140 ... AND 2x SilverStone Shark Force 140 ARGB

And then, when things finally come together, we gonna test. Also, because there seems to be no proper test of the Shark Force 140 ARGB around (at least I couldnt find anything .. written; there was some chinese / japanese? video on youtube, but it doesnt show any proper numbers).

At least spec-wise, the Silverstone SF 140 ARGB look VERY intriguing, ESPECIALLY for ARGB fans. Up to 120 CFM with a max noise level of 38 db? Lets see if this is true or just exaggerations (or simply the numbers of the non-RGB fan copy + pasted to the ARGB version). But a promised "0-db" mode and "just" max 2200 rpm, PLUS the same modular cable management as the small (40 + 60 mm) or slim fans (140 mm) .. well, that might still "reign supreme" even if the fans dont keep up the promised massive throughput

TL;DR: We'll see when things arrive, somewhere around the middle of upcoming week.

cu, w0lf.

 

[RAAM]

The SF 140 sure seems a very capable high flow and pressure fan, love the modular plugs as well!
Silverston SF 140 ARGB, hope this helps

Looks like a good test to do, the Siverstone has higher rated flow and pressure but both are great.

The Arctic BioniX I F140 I picked has much lower air flow and pressure. Looks like I need to get new fans. The BioniX are super quiet which I like but I am having some temp issues, why testing bottom mounted fans.

I think I just have to order the fans now instead of later. I am starting to get a good pile of fans here I will not really need but I will put some to use in key areas of the RV as it gets damp in the winter, rebuilding all the cabinets for good air flow, well placed fans running low speed would be a great addition.

Thanks for posting this info

Rick

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

The SF 140 sure seems a very capable high flow and pressure fan, love the modular plugs as well!
Silverston SF 140 ARGB, hope this helps

Looks like a good test to do, the Siverstone has higher rated blow and pressure but both are great.

The Arctic BioniX I F140 I picked has much lower air flow and pressure. Looks like I need to get new fans. The BioniX are super quiet which I like but I am having some temp issues, why testing bottom mounted fans.

I think I just have to order the fans now instead of later. I am starting to get a good pile of fans here I will not really need but I will put some to use in key areas of the RV as it gets damp in the winter, rebuilding all the cabinets for good air flow, well placed fans running low speed would be a great addition.

There was this "Fantilator" project by some folks at CERN (also know as "onlyfans" tongue-in-cheek joke), who started with a bunch of assorted 80 and 92 mm fans in the summer, for having a bit of air going in the room, and expanded it over a few years drastically to, I think the last version was 64 fans or so?

The site is still available on the Internet Wayback Machine:

Fantilator Page

They even created a custom linux-based OS for the Arduino controller of the fans, which they called FantilatorOS

cu, w0lf.

 

[RAAM]

Very cool

I just check that out and watched the video of them running, looks like they were having great fun doing this "project" :

Thanks, I love fun stuff like this!

I reminded me of a few fairly crazy things I have seen over the decades....

One was taking four 750cc Kawasaki 3 cylinder 2 stroke engines and making it a flat 12 with 12 expansion champers, excruciatingly loud and obnoxious but very compact, low to the ground and low weight. It went into a mid offset engine circle track race car, all sheet metal chassis design, and went out to race against big Chevy v8's in a very fast series of short track racing. It blew away the other cars but would upset the series so badly it was immediately banned. Chevy race engines sure sounded better, by a huge margin and even smelled better.

I had a Honda VFR750 V4 way ahead of it's time Sport Touring bike that sounded like a highly tuned 10,000 RPM V8, 104 HP. I had ideas of merging two together to put into a Miata, tiny, light, 208 HP is plenty in the right car....

Rick

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

Very cool

I just check that out and watched the video of them running, looks like they were having great fun doing this "project" :

Thanks, I love fun stuff like this!

I reminded me of a few fairly crazy things I have seen over the decades....

One was taking four 750cc Kawasaki 3 cylinder 2 stroke engines and making it a flat 12 with 12 expansion champers, excruciatingly loud and obnoxious but very compact, low to the ground and low weight. It went into a mid offset engine circle track race car, all sheet metal chassis design, and went out to race against big Chevy v8's in a very fast series of short track racing. It blew away the other cars but would upset the series so badly it was immediately banned. Chevy race engines sure sounded better, by a huge margin and even smelled better.

I had a Honda VFR750 V4 way ahead of it's time Sport Touring bike that sounded like a highly tuned 10,000 RPM V8, 104 HP. I had ideas of merging two together to put into a Miata, tiny, light, 208 HP is plenty in the right car....

a popular one is transplanting the 2JZ instead, no?

As we've gone down the off-topic lane, here are two builds I followed being done in the past. I think those two, aside of that particular ratsun that I cant seem to find anymore, where the first I stumbled upon when looking into build threads - CAR build threads, that is:

1. Nimiks 2CV Ferrari - only a few blog posts of that time (2009) remain, but its still epic, crossing a Citroen 2CV body with a Ferrari F355 chassis + motor. Guess I found it via Build Threads (that site is still up, but nothing happened since 2023).

Somewhat current video:


2. VW Lupo twin 24V V6 - AFAIR it was two engines combined. Also found via Build Threads, somewhere around 2009:

Original post: http://build-threads.com/build-threads/vw-lupo-twin-engine/

Decent vid on YT:


cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

But lets not digress too much. I kinda figured out a solution for my "how to mount the radiator" issue, aside of 90° brackets that somehow have to be very long but still fit inside the case: Mount the radiator onto the side panel.

For this I'd fetch a Meshroom S or Meshlicious side panel and cut it to fitting dimensions, then either move the existing Lian Li holding pins to the proper positions, or replace it with something simple like screws. Or be complicated, two screws and four neodym magnets.

Got inspired by RelaxSFFs recent build that features exactly that, a modified Meshroom S / Meshlicious side panel:



I've already been contemplating using a white Meshroom S side panel for my originally planned S400 liquid cooled build, so I know the weight and potential modification options already, but I wouldnt have thought it would be a thing for the A4-H2O. On the other hand, its basically both manufactured by Lian Li, so might have been a logical option - but I just didnt see it

So basically, mount the AIO to the meshi side panel, and create a second side panel for the MB + PSU side as well, because that side needs better air flow with the riser cable routed over the CPU water block. That could either be done using a second Meshroom side panel or via 3d printing. The second option would have the advantage of being more light-weight and maybe being able to incorporate fan mounting holes for 40 / 50 / 60 mm fans.

cu, w0lf.

 

[RAAM]

Those are some pretty crazy builds, I appreciate all it takes to do something like that and I have worked on a few getting pretty nuts but now I just want simpler things in life.

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Back to computers, RelaxSFF does fine work indeed, I love the cables the most and I have experience in high end car audio comp wiring so know it takes a lot of time to do such nice work.

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Seems you are on the right track to sort your mounting and air flow issues

Rick

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

Just arrived: 2x Silverstone Shark Force 140 ARGB.

Those things are .. really really something. Solid AF, heavy duty, and the modular cable system is just swell. Both normal PWM and ARGB connector are modular, so you can leave out ARGB if you dont need it, and then add it later etc. pp. Also all of it is daisy-chainable.

I already got the Silverstone Air Blazer RW for the AIO of my S396, which are quite solid, but this is another level. Build quality and the modular cable system can easily compete with the other fan that was deliveried, too, ie. the be quiet Silent Wings 4 Pro 140.
I am sooo tempted to build with them first and say goodbye to the SW 4s, but I want to test the new system with the "base updated" radiator configuration first.

So off goes the Slimmer 140, on goes the second SW 4 Pro 140.

cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

And it looks like as if I still cannot build. *sighs*
The fan radiator screws of the Silent Loop 2 are gone.
Where to?

To a good place.

But I wont be able to replace (=exchange) them soon (at least not within this week), so I just had to order another bunch of screws. Going with the Alphacool ones, because thats the ones most easily available.

Just gotta finish somewhat working on ONE (this) system, before returning to the other one, and replacing the fan screws with the extra long ones I've already received about two months (?) ago. Those keep the fans + radiator attached to the case, so some washers (I had ordered 100 in black and another set in "clean" aka default steel) are going in-between, to avoid tapping the radiator.

BTTW: For now I'm using 2 screws per fan, just to keep them in place. New fan radiator screws arrive on Friday. Meh.

cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

Now that I've received the "missing" radiator screws, I was able to finish installing the second SW 4 Pro.

Spoiler: There was one parcel that was quite inane though

... plus one total utter joke: Got delivered an empty parcel, ie. it contained an EMPTY Alphacool plastic bag, and Amazon doesnt offer the choice of "return money because the product package is empty". Guess thats how you make money nowadays, its been just 4 euro, but I wonder what would have happened if I had ordered multiple packages of thin air?

Next topic: I need a horizonal GPU bracket. So I looked up vertical GPU brackets, and found one that might fit. Its 4,7 cm "tall", 12 cm long on the PCI slot side, and then about 14 cm length on the "here sits the riser" side. IDK if this is going to work out, might use this as a blueprint / template for a 3d printed GPU bracket / combined bracket. Because this would indeed work, but the bracket by itself isnt attached anywhere - hence the GPU would still be able to move (or in this case, move together with the GPU bracket).

So there is a need for some kind of attachment or mounting mechanism or option. Either on the front of the AIO / fan compartment, or the back, or maybe the middle cross section.

cu, w0lf.

 

[RAAM]

I agree, dang nice fans indeed! I like the SF 140's so much I just ordered two 120mm ones for the GPU cooling Now I will have enough fans to build a few computers but just going to use some around the RV for air circulation behind cabinets, behind bed, etc and the rest will list locally for sale.
Still using cloth electrical tape to secure and seal things, liking it so much I might just keep using it instead of making mounts.

Dang pesky screws, I lost a set of specialty screws for a different project right after they arrived in the mail when I opened the box outdoors to show my neighbor the part, looked for an hour for them, was about to do some
serious research to find some to buy. Luckily they were right where I set them down in an unlikely place...

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

New insights: The radiator screws supplied for most AIO radiators seem to be M3.5, NOT M3, like the ones available for most normal radiators.

Was suspecting this when one of the additionally bought M3 radiator screws from Alphacool didnt 100% catch the thread, so to speak (whatever its called in English), when I was turning the fans in their orientation by 180° horizontally, so that the cables exit at the bottom and not at the top.

Just now I compared them both with my digital caliper, and yeah, 3.48 mm for the original AIO radiator screws, and 2.78 mm for the Alphacool screws, at least at the threading (which is the most important part, obviously).

I semi-fixed that issue by moving one of the originals to the other fan, but its a not so nice thing to find out. I'm wondering now if the 35 mm alphacool screws I've ordered for the S396 build are even going to fit or if I gonna run into the same issue. Because if I've had known that from the start, I might have used them first. Because then the radiator mounting holes might still be "pristine" and able to take the M3s instead the slightly bigger M3.5s.

Guess we gonna see and learn ... might have to buy regular 35mm M3.5s instead *sighs*

cu, w0lf.

 

[RAAM]

Not quite standard parts between manufacturers it seems. One can make up the difference if screws are a bit to small or holes stripped out a bit. In construction wood shims, in wood working wood toothpics and both use wood glue, works very well when the screws are installed right away. I have used metal shims on metal, plastic on plastic, even the cloth electrical tape can work very well and in some cases exceptionally well. Then again, I do prefer properly fitting screws whenever possible.

When I got the Fractal Ridge case it was used and in great shape overall but the stock 140mm fans screws holes were stripped out a bit. As a temp fix I just inserted some small zip ties in when installing the screws then clipped off the ends when done, they held very well.

Rick

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

I have used metal shims on metal, plastic on plastic, even the cloth electrical tape can work very well and in some cases exceptionally well. Then again, I do prefer properly fitting screws whenever possible.

What would you use as a shim in this case? I do have the knowledge and mostly also the skills, but I'm missing a lot of tools; primarly because of limited space (where to put a PROPER drill press or a sheet metal brake?).

cu, w0lf.

 

[RAAM]

I understand, I sold a lot of my larger fabrication tools we went full time in RV. Then sold more after we decided to not have a house again. I still have enough for smaller things but in storage and bring them back and forth when I can and work under a canopy outside, not so great in bad weather but love working outside.

Things that would work or should, or might....in descending order, I am sure there are more.
-Heat shrink tubing, shrunk onto the screws might be best solution
-Heat shrink tubing on screws, not shrunk
-Electrical tape wrapped around screws
-Tie wrap pieces, one or two, in the holes first then the screws, harder to trim though
-Other plastic that is pliable enough to mesh with the threads
-Cloth electrical tape around screws, might actually be one of the better solutions.

Let us know if one of these works for you

Rick