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S4MAX: Brickless S4M w/ 3090 FE and R9 5950x - 800W, 5l, water cooled

petricor

Airflow Optimizer
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May 12, 2018
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What are the options for CPU blocks with side ports currently? Alphacool 1U?
Not many when I have been looking into it - there is the current EK Annihilator series designed for larger server sockets coming at a similarly low profile as using G1/8 - that said, they can be modified to fit LGA 1151 with a drill and some screws. And yes, the Alphacool 1U series, too - but coming at significantly more height as using G1/4 threads. In my view G1/4 is overkill for almost any pc application; systems are rarely bottle necked by flow rate, and looking at data centre applications with really high heat turnover, piping is typically 6mm ID which is a match for G1/8.
 

petricor

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May 12, 2018
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I did it - my R9 3950x and 2080ti found their way to the eternal bidding grounds!

Just too much exciting stuff coming out these days to not tweak my "stage 2" project to allow for some upgrades...
Have parked my custom part order for the time being as shipping cost is significant and I only want to fork that out once- my plans for the chipset don't change, but a new GPU will require a different solution as anticipated for the 2080ti to make full height ram modules fit...

I'll follow up with a few posts on the other parts that I had planned to get made whilst working on my new configuration!
 

Ezzoud

Caliper Novice
Mar 25, 2018
28
7
You should also check out the upcoming 5600xt. Promising better single core performance than anything else on the market and also runs cooler then the 3950x. Its a great chip but youre running on a tight cooling budget, it could give your gpu upgrade more headroom. Ive also seen people drop 7-8 degrees using liquid metal tim instead of regular paste cpu on the same watercooling system. Since your allready running such a balling system, why not go for liquid metal on cpu/gpu, thatd be one of the least nervewrecking things about this build. Maybe you can even get the the Nortbridge temps under control using liquid metal under its heatsink. I know liquid metal can short components but if you take the right measurements it shouldnt be a problem for you.
 
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NinoPecorino

Tweezer Squeezer
Platinum Supporter
Nov 24, 2017
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that's very good to know! Cheers!
How did you get hold of an Annihilator? Do you stock them?!

i wish!

i'm sort of an obsessive when it comes to tracking down hardware. so when you said they were out of stock everywhere, i just had to do some deep digging. i could only find three, globally. i'm planning on comparing the xpx 1u and the annihilator to see if the 3mm difference is worth it for my build. if you need another annihilator, just let me know.
 
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petricor

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May 12, 2018
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i wish!

i'm sort of an obsessive when it comes to tracking down hardware. so when you said they were out of stock everywhere, i just had to do some deep digging. i could only find three, globally. i'm planning on comparing the xpx 1u and the annihilator to see if the 3mm difference is worth it for my build. if you need another annihilator, just let me know.
Let me know how the comparison pans out! Do you have a thread on this here?
 

petricor

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May 12, 2018
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Great build, wish u luck on phase 2 . i had a sort of a noob question, is there an aftermarket product that would have compatible intake from the 800 watt psu that you're using to outtake compatible with the hd plex direct plug-in and other needed connectors
Hey there,
Unlike the HDPLEX, the Supermicro PSU produces server-spec, clean 12V power, so you can directly feed your GPU and your board’s 12V connector from it, and use a (comparably cheap) pico plugin ATX PSU for the ATX Power Feed- no other transformer required, and less space consuming.

However, note that the Supermicro PSU requires some modding to start up- this is what half of this thread is about, you should be able to piece the steps together from it.

And whilst at it, you might as well go for a slightly more sophisticated setup and try modding a Pico PSU like described here to onboard 5V standby power from the Supermicro and allow for the Power Supply On (/Off) Signal to be passed through to it.

Also, @Thehack has developed a 12v plug in doing that pretty much out-of-the-box if you want to get away with less modding!
 

NinoPecorino

Tweezer Squeezer
Platinum Supporter
Nov 24, 2017
506
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Let me know how the comparison pans out! Do you have a thread on this here?
i'll let you know as soon as i get the results. i've started and stopped and changed this build so much that i never wanted to start a build thread. i'm probably going to be close to finished by december. that's when i plan on a small build thread.
 
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winejug87

Minimal Tinkerer
New User
Nov 3, 2020
3
1
Your ambition to cool the X570 chipset with something else matches my own ambition. Of course I'm in an air cooled case and looking at using a downdraft CPU cooler like the Loctua, so an aftermarket heatsink might work. Your mockup to transfer the heat towards the outside of the case in impressive! How did you attach the little copper VRM heatsinks to the VRMs? I tried thermal tape but couldn't get them to stick.
 
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petricor

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May 12, 2018
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Your ambition to cool the X570 chipset with something else matches my own ambition. Of course I'm in an air cooled case and looking at using a downdraft CPU cooler like the Loctua, so an aftermarket heatsink might work. Your mockup to transfer the heat towards the outside of the case in impressive! How did you attach the little copper VRM heatsinks to the VRMs? I tried thermal tape but couldn't get them to stick.
It's thermal tape, indeed, and once the heatsinks stick, they don't like to be touched... I basically need to replace the tape whenever they come loose. I use .25mm 3M - it's not ideal, but it works... I wish there was something with a more reliable bond out there!
 

petricor

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May 12, 2018
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@petricor how is that fan on the radiator? Is it any better than the cryorig?
I couldn't note any performance difference; that said, I did not test it for long before ridding myself from my 3950x and 2080ti. But overall, it is more silent than the Cryorig (it spins slower), so, if that's a factor, the answer is: Yes!
 

harveyy_sh

Chassis Packer
Nov 14, 2020
14
7
I couldn't note any performance difference; that said, I did not test it for long before ridding myself from my 3950x and 2080ti. But overall, it is more silent than the Cryorig (it spins slower), so, if that's a factor, the answer is: Yes!

thanks! I’m working on a dual 280mm inside a 9.5L case and I need 15mm fans bc there’s no xspc tx280 that I could couple with full fans. So I was wondering if they would perform well on rads.
 

winejug87

Minimal Tinkerer
New User
Nov 3, 2020
3
1
It's thermal tape, indeed, and once the heatsinks stick, they don't like to be touched... I basically need to replace the tape whenever they come loose. I use .25mm 3M - it's not ideal, but it works... I wish there was something with a more reliable bond out there!

Next time you get a chance to work on this, measure the mounting holes for the VRM heatsink. I'll try to google some things and see if a solution can't be found.

Additionally, it's entirely possible you could just take the original heatsink and cut it down to size.
 

winejug87

Minimal Tinkerer
New User
Nov 3, 2020
3
1
Were you able to get a heatsink solution figured out for the motherboard's VRM and SB? Glad to hear you're still working on it, when you didn't post for awhile I got worried 😅 lol