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Prototype Project Orthrus - Smallest SLI mATX case (V2)

TheClash

Trash Compacter
Nov 13, 2017
37
53
If it's the top gpu perhaps it's just the lower one heating it a bit... Doesn't explain why it's cooler at idol... However 1 degree is probably a tolerance thing.

Also is the hotter GPU second in the cooling loop? I'm no water cooling guy so not sure if position in cooling loop matters...
 
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robbee

King of Cable Management
n3rdware
Bronze Supporter
Sep 24, 2016
883
1,388
Yeah thats what I was curious about. Im going to have to check the water blocks because I've disassembled them numerous times. So I've got some checking to do.

Also the GPU that runs 10 degrees hotter at load, runs 1 degree cooler in idle. Doesn't make sense.

The second gpu in the loop would get cooled by water that is already heated up by the first gpu, explaining the difference, no? In idle, the delta between the die and water may be so small that the 1 degree could be within margin of error.
 

Soli

Case Bender
New User
Jan 9, 2018
2
0
I love this project, but for my own needs it's not really the (modern) SLI capability that is the crown jewel, but the ability to build a retro PC (with modern PCIe MBs) and have space for 4 extension cards. Voodoo2 SLI or Voodoo3/4/5, Soundblaster, Matrox Millenium,Gravis ultrasound, SB AWE32, retro network cards. All possible using various bridge adapters.

I have a big problem with the assymetric front panel. It reminds of the HP, and the logo in the front also destroys the cleanliness. Laser the logo in back or something. There's a reason Apple didn't put an Apple on the front of the iPhone, and that Samsung phones just recently have moved their logo to the back (although that was probably more because they were forced to because of the bezel). Good design should speak for itself, one does not need to scream out the designer.

I'd also like a clean plissé holes for ventilation, much like the DNK-Prime, although it would be understandable it might be up to the same standard seeing much of that case is machined from a solid blocks of alu.

I'd also like to base all front ports on keystone. Something like this would be badass:
cdn-reichelt.de/bilder/web/xxl_ws/E910/DELOCK_86275_4.png
 

BaK

King of Cable Management
Bronze Supporter
May 17, 2016
969
958
The second gpu in the loop would get cooled by water that is already heated up by the first gpu, explaining the difference, no?
If I remember well what I read when building my custom loop last year, water has the same temp anywhere in the loop.
 

AleksandarK

/dev/null
May 14, 2017
703
774
The second gpu in the loop would get cooled by water that is already heated up by the first gpu, explaining the difference, no? In idle, the delta between the die and water may be so small that the 1 degree could be within margin of error.
Order of a loop DOES NOT MATTER. Water temperature gets equalized in almost every part of the loop.
 

LukeD

Master of Cramming
Original poster
Case Designer
Jun 29, 2016
501
1,308
I love this project, but for my own needs it's not really the (modern) SLI capability that is the crown jewel, but the ability to build a retro PC (with modern PCIe MBs) and have space for 4 extension cards. Voodoo2 SLI or Voodoo3/4/5, Soundblaster, Matrox Millenium,Gravis ultrasound, SB AWE32, retro network cards. All possible using various bridge adapters.

Thanks @Soli , thats really interesting feedback.
I don't think the case looks retro though. I think it has more of a modern design.

I have a big problem with the assymetric front panel. It reminds of the HP, and the logo in the front also destroys the cleanliness. Laser the logo in back or something. There's a reason Apple didn't put an Apple on the front of the iPhone, and that Samsung phones just recently have moved their logo to the back (although that was probably more because they were forced to because of the bezel). Good design should speak for itself, one does not need to scream out the designer.

The asymmetric front panel is a unique feature. Most cases are symmetric and this is what helps this case stand out in my personal opinion.
Also with regards to the badge, the badge highlights the name of the project, nothing to do with me (the designer).
Apple and Samsung put logos on the back mostly due to the fact that the logo's wouldn't look good on the front, they'd have to be very small.
A lot of premium brands show their logos proudly. All car manufacturers: BMW, Mercedes etc ....
And even apple have MacBook logo on their screen on their laptop which is always in your face.

I'd also like a clean plissé holes for ventilation, much like the DNK-Prime, although it would be understandable it might be up to the same standard seeing much of that case is machined from a solid blocks of alu.
I'd also like to base all front ports on keystone. Something like this would be badass:
cdn-reichelt.de/bilder/web/xxl_ws/E910/DELOCK_86275_4.png

The latest revision does have all keystone ports (3 of them). Apart from the Power button.
 

Tamarinde

Efficiency Noob
Jan 30, 2018
5
3
I am sure you can take off the badge and modify it or replace it with one of your own.

Would you be able to make any estimates when the case will be released to the public?
 
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xSanchez78

Average Stuffer
Jan 15, 2018
57
56
Yeah order of the water cooling loop should not affect anything. Something may be wrong with the water block but I'm not too sure. It would be much nicer if the components were only at 70C, 80 seems a little to high for comfort but if you don't manage to fix it, I think it's doable.
 

ShieldSean

Cable Smoosher
Dec 23, 2017
9
14
I love this project, but for my own needs it's not really the (modern) SLI capability that is the crown jewel, but the ability to build a retro PC (with modern PCIe MBs) and have space for 4 extension cards. Voodoo2 SLI or Voodoo3/4/5, Soundblaster, Matrox Millenium,Gravis ultrasound, SB AWE32, retro network cards. All possible using various bridge adapters.

That whole idea doesn't very well fit into a small form factor. Especially when those old boards didn't have a lot of sensors to monitor and manage thermals, so it'd be awfully difficult to stack them very tightly into a tiny space.
 

kamil0099

Minimal Tinkerer
Feb 4, 2018
3
1
Hi, came from Linus video. Wonder when can I acquire this case and if u plan to create white version (or how to paint it^^).
Btw. can I use noctua dh-14 or 15, asus b350m motherboard? trying to assemble a pc, part by part due to money limitations but dunno if my config is any good. Thinking of big case but Yours got huge harm.
Thank u for great work!
 
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xSanchez78

Average Stuffer
Jan 15, 2018
57
56
Hey @LukeD I think I have found the perfect motherboard for this build. The Asrock X299E-ITX/ac. It's mini ITX of course but allows for quad channel memory using SO-DIMMs to save space, it has 3 m.2 slots, and it allows for the new Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X processors. I did a little research aswell and it supports PCIe bifurcation in it's BIOS into two x8 lanes, so it's literally perfect for this build. The only thing is, it would be really cool to stick an 18 core i9 processor in there but I'm not sure how thermals would be. I was personally going to try something a little less powerful, like a Core i7-7820X which is pretty similar to the i7-8700K except it has two more cores. Other than that it has 28 PCIe lanes which is perfect for the 16x slot and the 3 4x m.2 slots, and it's a good processor altogether of course. The one thing I'm concerned about though is that it has a TDP of 140 watts. I'm not sure if this is too hot for the single radiator and two GTX 1080 Ti's like I wanted, even if I delid the CPU and add some liquid metal or something. I'm curious on your opinion whether this processor would be too hot or not. Other than that, the processor and motherboard would be awesome for this build in particular, since this whole build theme seems to be overkill performance in a small form factor.

 

LukeD

Master of Cramming
Original poster
Case Designer
Jun 29, 2016
501
1,308
Hi, came from Linus video. Wonder when can I acquire this case and if u plan to create white version (or how to paint it^^).
Btw. can I use noctua dh-14 or 15, asus b350m motherboard? trying to assemble a pc, part by part due to money limitations but dunno if my config is any good. Thinking of big case but Yours got huge harm.
Thank u for great work!

I'm going to look into making a white version. Pending some samples, we'll see if it looks good or not ;)
The noctua dh14/15 are too tall. Max clearance is 54 mm for CPU cooler. You would have to go with something like: nh-l9a
You can use an asus b350m motherboard for sure :)


Hey @LukeD I think I have found the perfect motherboard for this build. The Asrock X299E-ITX/ac. It's mini ITX of course but allows for quad channel memory using SO-DIMMs to save space, it has 3 m.2 slots, and it allows for the new Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X processors. I did a little research aswell and it supports PCIe bifurcation in it's BIOS into two x8 lanes, so it's literally perfect for this build. The only thing is, it would be really cool to stick an 18 core i9 processor in there but I'm not sure how thermals would be. I was personally going to try something a little less powerful, like a Core i7-7820X which is pretty similar to the i7-8700K except it has two more cores. Other than that it has 28 PCIe lanes which is perfect for the 16x slot and the 3 4x m.2 slots, and it's a good processor altogether of course. The one thing I'm concerned about though is that it has a TDP of 140 watts. I'm not sure if this is too hot for the single radiator and two GTX 1080 Ti's like I wanted, even if I delid the CPU and add some liquid metal or something. I'm curious on your opinion whether this processor would be too hot or not. Other than that, the processor and motherboard would be awesome for this build in particular, since this whole build theme seems to be overkill performance in a small form factor.

a 140 watt TDP CPU + 300 watt TDP GPU's would be very hard to keep cool. The 8700k im using is 94 watt TDP and im struggling to keep that cool with 2 x 1080 ti's. If you wanted to put a Skylake-X CPU in this case I'd suggest air cooling the GPU's and just doing a 240mm AIO for the CPU.
Otherwise than that this is a great motherboard. Very tempting purchase :)
 

xSanchez78

Average Stuffer
Jan 15, 2018
57
56
Ok well I'm curious if delidding the cpu would help. I've seen on core i9's that you get a 20 degree temperature drop from doing that, so that might be something I have to try. And as long as temperatures don't go over 80C I think I'll be fine, because air cooling the GPU's is not something I'd want to try since that can lead to temperatures over 80C aswell. I think with some proper configuration though I could make it work out so it's something to think about. I'm not sure if you have the ability to test this out yourself but that would be cool if you did.

Also in one of Linus's latest videos, he showed that you can cool a 165 watt TDP cpu with a single 120mm radiator to less than 70C (after delidding and adding a better thermal compound). So if you think about it, a slightly cooler running cpu should cool even better with a single 120mm radiator, and so sharing a 240mm radiator with 2 GPU's may not be amazing temperatures but should in theory keep temperatures under 80C. Now delidding may not be something everyone wants to try, but this cpu/motherboard configuration is definitely worth experimenting with because if it does end up working out well, it's gonna be one hell of a computer.
 
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rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
2,675
2,799
Ok well I'm curious if delidding the cpu would help. I've seen on core i9's that you get a 20 degree temperature drop from doing that, so that might be something I have to try. And as long as temperatures don't go over 80C I think I'll be fine, because air cooling the GPU's is not something I'd want to try since that can lead to temperatures over 80C aswell. I think with some proper configuration though I could make it work out so it's something to think about. I'm not sure if you have the ability to test this out yourself but that would be cool if you did.

You might take a look at this if you are planning a delid of a i9, der8auer Skylake-X Direct Die Frame. Take a look at the video, I think if I was doing an i9 I would try this approach.
 

LukeD

Master of Cramming
Original poster
Case Designer
Jun 29, 2016
501
1,308
Direct-Die Frame is definitely the way to go but .... please remember that despite being able to cool a 140 watt TDP cpu with a 120mm cooler .... you still have 2 x 250Watt TDP GPU's to cool with the remaining 120mm (of a 240mm radiator?)
You could probably make it work if you load the GPUs ..... OR..... CPU at a time, but not both.

I'm reconfiguring my case now, to an mATX board with the fractal pump as that seemed to get better temps .... ive ordered parts for this but won't be done for another 2 or so weeks, but stay tuned, ill post more temps soon.
 

xSanchez78

Average Stuffer
Jan 15, 2018
57
56
Well I know that it would still only have another 120mm to cool the GPU's, but what I'm saying is it was a 165 watt cpu that cooled to 70C, so that 10 degree head room which would still provide acceptable temperatures plus the fact that the cpu I'm planning to use is only 140 watt TDP, there should still be enough cooling potential to make it work. Idk I'll find out I guess.
 

LukeD

Master of Cramming
Original poster
Case Designer
Jun 29, 2016
501
1,308
If you have a look at my PC Pro build in the build logs you'll see im cooling an OC'd 4.5ghz 8700k with a 120mm radiator but only 12.5 mm fan. That gets to around 80c. Fingers crossed it works. You can always get some super high RPM sunon fans but then it will sound like a jet engine ;)
 
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