Log S396 Streaming System

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

Maybe I should call it the S396? Cause its ~96% of the S400 v2, at least when I'm finished with it, including the top hat.
Or just call it S300 GTI like a VW Polo GTI; cause custom modified for liquid cooling in Germany

cu, w0lf.

 

[ignsvn]

Maybe I should call it the S396? Cause its ~96% of the S400 v2, at least when I'm finished with it, including the top hat.
Or just call it S300 GTI like a VW Polo GTI; cause custom modified for liquid cooling in Germany

cu, w0lf.

S396 definitely sounds interesting.

On a different note, you know you can buy various sanding/filing bits for your Dremel right

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

S396 definitely sounds interesting.

On a different note, you know you can buy various sanding/filing bits for your Dremel right

I know, but the classic "proven and true" methods as of filing and optionally sanding down per manus are my preferred choice.

I did found out about the "conical" sanding/grinding bit eventually, which I might use for the slightly rageddy first handle screw hole, which was slightly damaged when doing my first tries with the regular cutting discs.

In the nearby future I might use other bits, but I have to test them all out properly beforehand. No use in scratching up everything

cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

Wanted to replace the fans on the Silverstone Vida 240, before final installation of the CPU block. But: It looks like the Silverstone Air Blazer 120 (RW) might actually be slightly better than the P12 Max?

Guess I gonna have testing rounds .. *sighs*

cu, w0lf.

ps: *sighing* because replacing fans in this setup is not as easy as with others.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

BAAAD news: The tubes of the Vida 240 are so horribly inflexible and un-bendy, that one cannot do stuff that has been done with a lot of other setups, eg. in the A4-H2O.

The CPU block connectors fit only in one direction, and thats with the tubes going over the SSD covers. VRM is out (slightly too tall) and the IO alu block is way too big, and yeah, even my LPX RAM is way too tall. If the case had a different layout, say, the PCI connector to the bottom, all would be cool. But with this?

Looks like as if I have to cut another hole in the top frame.

OR move the PSU to the other side, because else everything is filled with really rigid, inflexible tubes

cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

<rant>

At this point, I'm really disappointed by the Silverstone Vida 240. Even the Arctic Liquid Freezer 2 is more flexible and easier to set up .. and the be quiet Silent Loop 2, which is a 280 mm AIO, is even more flexible ..

The disadvantages compared to most other AIOs are:

a) tube connector placement on the rad: most AIO rads I've seen have the ports located either inner or outer central, while the Vida 240 rad has its located to one side; this blocks it from properly installing it on any kind of top, and most side-panels, you can basically onyl install it "hanging" downwards, plus the additional refill port is perfectly misplaced as well .. No such issues with eg. the LF 2 or the SL 2!

b) tubes by itself are extremly rigid and inflexible, bending is worse than with the LF 2

c) the CPU block doesnt feel like it was made for current mainboards, esp. NOT ITX / SFF; eg. with most current ITX boards, except for some very reduced ones, the placement of the block is only possible with the tubes going above the m2 locations

d) To make it work, I still have to add a spacer of about 8 - 10 mm. Currently, thats the 1x1x1 neodym cubes I bought a few months ago. All summed up that turns into roughly 6 cm of height. "Advantage" of thin rad vaporated instantly.

The only advantages it got going for itself are: very thin rad, thin fans with still lots of power + pump built into the rad (although with that garbage CPU block, I dont see any advantage over a regular block + pump combo).

Just for comparison, I did a quick mockup test with the SL 2 280 ; and yeah, that one wouldnt have any issues with tube bending!It would also fix any "higher loop" issue etc. instantly. Strongly consider going for a Silent Loop 2 240 now.

Yes, its about 300 more weight, but with this setup? Doesnt really matter, the Fractal Design Ion SFX Gold is already such a brick with over 1.2 kg .. might replace it with the Corsair SF600 - less weight, true SFX form factor, and similarly good cables. *sigh*

If Fractal Design would just build a true SFX-sized PSU - expect for the size and weight, the Ion+ 650 Gold is realllly good. Has been performing ultra-reliable and ultra-silent so far, cables are very nice and so good to work with, length is almost perfect for most SFF cases, and so on. I mean, if it didnt weight as much as it does rn, I would actually still be ok with SFX-L, too.

</rant>

Ok, enough ranting!

Going to move the PSU to the other side, so that I at least temporarly get a properly running system!

cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

After further investigation - with this particular AIO, flipping the case might actually do the trick.

Meaning: One needs to cut a hole into the bottom of the case.
Now I'm just gonna prepare and do that. First disassemble the partially assembled contents, then test / mock fit parts, and do the cutting (again). Also, still on the same case. In theory, there shouldnt be any issues with flipping it and adding the secondary top frame on top, as planned.

Might even be an advantage, as the bottom part has larger holes plus pre-drilled mounting holes for fan attachment, and the holes are going completely to all sides.

Well, we'll see

cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

So I did cut a nice big rectangular hole in the bottom of the case on Sunday.

Am putting together the system again. And gotta say: Using the bottom as top is a better approach. Not only do you get better access, at least with the Vida 240 tubes, but also you get 120 mm fan holes to mount the AIO directly to the case. My current setup is now: Bottom = top frame => 25 mm fan => AIO rad. Using the long screws supplied, all fits perfectly.

The "rolling in" - like a cinnamon roll - of the CPU block / tubes is working out as planned.

Another few steps further towards a working system

cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

On another note: Yes, the case supports both SFX and SFX-L power supplies, but for the love of Goth, get an SFX PSU! Its no issue in the S400, but in the S300 its a huge PITA!

The Fractal Design Ion+ is great, but its "less than regular" location of the power connector leads to a lot of issues,
Namely the main issue is: Had to replace the PSU extension cord with the one supplied with the S400, because the one for the S300 is not flexible / long enough. To make it fit properly without breaking apart the extension cord, one has to point the PSU fan inside the case!

.. which I probably still have to do, because the tubes are clashing with the MB ATX power connector

Hence the very next step, after getting the system done and running again, is ordering a TRUE SFX power supply (plans are either Corsair SF600 or Seasonic SGX 650). Except if one would be able to get proper cables for the FSP Dagger Pro. Because although its a solid PSU, those cables are one of the worst I've ever seen - including non-modular PSUs.

cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

Current case dimensions including radiator + fans: 24 * 13.5 * 31.2 ~= 10.11L
At the end it probably is gonna be around 24.5 cm, because there is still the top hat to add.

cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

IT. IS. ALIVE!
And about 5 - 10° C cooler in idle than before!

I even was able to close the side panels, without any bending or wobbling issues.

Going to test it today with mixed load on Twitch.

cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

I've just ordered the SeaSonic SGX-750. Should arrive tomorrow, and then its replacement time!
And also, adding of the additional fans, wiring up of the ARGB stuff, and maybe figuring out which direction to go with the radiator mounting.

About the latter: Ordered a few bits of 3mm and 2mm wood slats (DIN A4 sized), which would be used both for mounting the fans to them (and thus, the radiator), but also for mounting the whole assembly to the case.

The Dremel is probably gonna cry tears of joy because its gonna do 120 mm donuts in wood and not steel for a bit

cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

SGX arrived yesterday, and albeit its cables are rather stiff, they are not as horrid as the ones of the FSP. Also, no issues with bending them around. Alas, the next upgrade is gonna be custom cables, at least for the mainboard and ESP (and maybe GPU).

Seriously: If you consider building in the S300, get yourself a (true SFX!) PSU with superb cables, either custom cables from the start, or at least something on the level of the SF750. The S400 still lets you get away with SFX-L and stiff cables, but in the S300 its going to be a total PITA (or more like: PITF = Pain In The Fingers). Oh, and also: SFX has the advantage that, when you forgot to click the on-off-switch into the "on" position, you still are able to fumble it to "on" when going through the GPU side. THAT IS NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE with SFX-L.

TL;DR: Safe your fingers, reduce your stress level permanently, and get a true SFX PSU

Onto another topic:

60 mm fan would fit, if it was a slim one, eg. 15 or 10 mm. 25 mm doesnt work. Instead, we went for 80 x 15 mm (Thermalright TL-8015) on top of the CPU water block, kinda like a hybrid setup.
... and maybe later on gonna test some of the 40x10 fans I got sitting around, too.

cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

Forgot to mention I dropped a few more images at my insta (including a short video clip):
Thats with the case already flipped upside down, the radiator etc. completely assembled, but still with the SFX-L PSU.


cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

Added the third Silverstone Air Blazer 120RW that I had still sitting around (originally bought for testing purposes), to the GPU side. There is just about 1ish cm between GPU and start of the fan left, so it sits pretty flush.

Temps in mixed workload improved by 5 C, on full it "just" jumps between 58 and 60 C, but the VRM and NVMe temps dropped by about 3 - 4 C. I changed the case fan curve a bit, slightly more aggressive, but it doesnt seem to make any difference. As a final test, I might either add 2x 60 to the mainboard side, or a slim 120 or 92 mm fan underneath the PSU, just to see if there is any difference in temps.

My personal guess would be: No, at least not with the slim fan underneath the PSU. With the 60 mm fans, there might be a slight improvement of the mainboard components.

cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

On that "feet underneath" topic: I'd love to aquire something akin to what is seen over at r/sffpc with the BeamCase - foldable feet


cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

Also, looks like Louqe is back in business. Sadly, way too late for my purposes. I'm basically doing the same, but with an 8.1L case that weighs just 2.1 kg. And when I'm finished, its still going to be smaller than the Ghost S1 Mk III + large top hat.

cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

Although this project looks like its stalled, it isnt.
Just going much more slowly, because of work.

Depending on my level of "miffedness" with Intel, this project might be repurposed for the future main system, and its current components may instead be moved over to the sleeper build I'm currently preparing

cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

Sleeper = Lenovo M73 SFF.

Acc. to this post on r/sffpc, these cases fit snuggly inside a regular kallax shelf.
So I tested it and can say: Yes. If you remove the 3ish mm feet, it does. BOTH vertically AND horizontally.

The S396 is currently sitting ON TOP of a Kallax shelf to the left of me. Meaning, its current contents, ie. my streaming system, should in the nearby future sit in a sleeper PC thats sitting INSIDE the top shelf or so.

And yeah, as much as I like the A4-H2O, its just too heavy for my tastes. The S300 is, all in, approx 2 kg, while the A4-H2O officially weights 2,9 kg. My S396 mod makes the case weight approx 1.7 kg. When I'm done with the top hat, it should be still slightly below 2 kg. So thats nearly 1 kg less to schlepp around. Estimated weight is going to be approx 5.6 kg. Might increase a bit, because IDK the weight of the SF850, but hopefully its still below massive dumbells like the FSP 850 or the Ion+ 650.

SF850? Well, yeah, I want to have an (almost) silent system. I've compared the Cybenetics report of the SF850 to the one for the SF750 (2024) and the SF1000, and according to that, the PSU should be unhearable most of the time (230V).

System should, under normal circumstances, never exceed 500W. I'd guess mixed load should be around 150 - 200W, at idle maybe 70 - 80ish.
Going to run the 7950X in either regular or a manually tuned 105 Eco mode. Acc. to tests, the Inno3 4070 never exceeds 180W.

cu, w0lf.

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

Some more changes: S396 is for now kind of on hold. Might use it for my main system, depending on how other things turn out. Temp-wise, its awesome. Just finishing it is kind of a bummer.

Next big change:
Its current "inhabitant" is going to be moved to the SGPC K39 Lite, which I've ordered today, and should arrive tomorrow. Also ordered: Gigabyte RTX 4060 LP.

Plans are:
- Using the HDPlex GaN 500 for now - to be eventually replaced by the HDPlex GaN 250
- Either doing a "classic" air-cooled setup, maybe even with a non-riser situation (move the MB tray to the back)
- Or getting a 120 AIO which would be fitted to the bottom, then turn the case upside down; depends on the actual space dimensions available in the case

Future endeavours include replacing the Intel system with AM5, either 7700X or 7900, and the Intel system is then gonna be donated to one of my younger siblings (probably the "oldest" of my younger sisters). Because of the abundancy of cases I own by now, that might actually be in the S396, but could also be in the Meshi or the second S400 V2

cu, w0lf.