Dang I didn't even notice the notches, does that metal bracket thats screwed in just needs to be flipped then?
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Production SENTRY 2.0: Evolution of console-sized gaming PC case
- Thread starter ZombiPL
- Start date
It was making contact and holding the pci slot in place so o figured it was good enoughI have no idea which way did you mount it, but probably it's the opposite way. The whole point is for it to have a solid mounting to the case body
Is it possible to cool a 10700k with a black ridge and maybe a 120mm fan in the Sentry? Thinking about this setup. With intel the RAM speed isn't that important and you can get vlp ram cheap with 2933mhz.
Wouldn't really expect that to work honestly - that's a 125W TDP CPU and that 125W is probably without turbo. There's no silver bullet for that.
Also what kind of cheap VLP ram you are talking about? I'd love to test that out.
Hi everybody,
I got my Sentry now and installed my system and build a custom fan duct for the CPU. I also installed two additional Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilentFan XS2 with dimensions 50 mm x 50 mm x 10 mm. They just barely fit in this case with a Gigabyte B450 I Aorus Pro WiFi. And the results are rather good. First some pictures: with and without the modifications
Without modifications
open
closed
With modifications
open
closed
Now for the temperatures, fans speeds, and clock speeds I used HWiNFO64 with the case closed. I used 12 instances (one per Thread of my Ryzen 1600 AF (which is almost identical to a Ryzen 2600)) of Memtest since I'm optimizing my memory timings at the moment. I let that running for like ten minutes until everything was heated up. Values were then averaged over a few more minutes.
So in general the clock speed is a bit higher and the fan speed slower. Since the two small fans are really silent the whole system is also quieter. But the most important thing for me is that every single temperature, that HWiNFO64 can show, is lower...even for the GPU which has gotten its own shroud. The new fans are directly blowing at the NVMe SSD and its temperatures are down by 15 °C. Most other temperatures don't show these big differences but are still well below the unmodified system. In particular the VRM and VR Loop temperatures which are important for system lifespan are down by 7 °C.
So in general I can really recommend buildung a shroud because I think that is the bigger factor compared to the two additional fans. Also it is really not that difficult. Try to widen the area where it has contact with the side panel to improve the airflow through the holes by having more of them.
Alexander
I got my Sentry now and installed my system and build a custom fan duct for the CPU. I also installed two additional Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilentFan XS2 with dimensions 50 mm x 50 mm x 10 mm. They just barely fit in this case with a Gigabyte B450 I Aorus Pro WiFi. And the results are rather good. First some pictures: with and without the modifications
Without modifications
open
closed
With modifications
open
closed
Now for the temperatures, fans speeds, and clock speeds I used HWiNFO64 with the case closed. I used 12 instances (one per Thread of my Ryzen 1600 AF (which is almost identical to a Ryzen 2600)) of Memtest since I'm optimizing my memory timings at the moment. I let that running for like ten minutes until everything was heated up. Values were then averaged over a few more minutes.
| without modification | with modification | |
| CPU clock speed | 3542 MHz | 3569 MHz |
| CPU Fan speed | 2584 RPM | 2243 RPM |
| CPU (Tctl/Tdie) | 74.5 °C | 68.6 °C |
| CPU Die (average) | 74.5 °C | 68.6 °C |
| System1 | 63 °C | 52 °C |
| Chipset | 65 °C | 52 °C |
| CPU | 66 °C | 60 °C |
| VRM MOS | 75 °C | 68 °C |
| VSOC MOS | 74 °C | 68 °C |
| PCIEX8 | 36 °C | 32 °C |
| Temperature 2 | 43 °C | 38 °C |
| System2 | 44 °C | 39 °C |
| VR Loop (4x) | 78.0 °C | 70.9 °C |
| Drive Temperature | 60 °C | 45 °C |
| Drive Temperature 2 | 61 °C | 45 °C |
| Drive Temperature 5 | 71 °C | 54 °C |
| GPU Temperature | 50 °C | 47 °C |
So in general the clock speed is a bit higher and the fan speed slower. Since the two small fans are really silent the whole system is also quieter. But the most important thing for me is that every single temperature, that HWiNFO64 can show, is lower...even for the GPU which has gotten its own shroud. The new fans are directly blowing at the NVMe SSD and its temperatures are down by 15 °C. Most other temperatures don't show these big differences but are still well below the unmodified system. In particular the VRM and VR Loop temperatures which are important for system lifespan are down by 7 °C.
So in general I can really recommend buildung a shroud because I think that is the bigger factor compared to the two additional fans. Also it is really not that difficult. Try to widen the area where it has contact with the side panel to improve the airflow through the holes by having more of them.
Alexander
I mean this RAM Kingston VLP Ram I don't know about tax/fee in Poland but if it's the same in Germany than this is really cheap.
I made a mistake, I thought this is 2933Mhz Ram but it is only 2666mhz. From what you read or hear you can overclock these easily, hope these reviews don't all have golden chipsets and we get not that good ones
Yeah as I said I made a mistake.
Wow is tech generally more expensive? In Germany this is 80€ for 16gb and as I said you can overclock and tweak them up to 3200.
Wow is tech generally more expensive? In Germany this is 80€ for 16gb and as I said you can overclock and tweak them up to 3200.
Some of the more specialised stuff, like this kind of memory sticks for example, isn't going into distribution outside euro zone, I think, and there are stores that sell those directly from german distribution here, but it's simply that they order stuff there and mark up the price and add shipping to that as well.
So getting hands on black ridge, other various coolers and ITX-sized GPUs right away when they are released means paying extra for getting them from german distribution here or ordering them directly from a store abroad.
So getting hands on black ridge, other various coolers and ITX-sized GPUs right away when they are released means paying extra for getting them from german distribution here or ordering them directly from a store abroad.
I have 2 of these, 1 with hynix cjr dies, 1 with nanya dies (the new ones are all nanya). I managed to overclock it to 3600 cl18 at 1.38V and despite them being different dies it works flawlessly. using it with a black ridge and a 120mm noctua fan on my 3800x. works perfectly fine.
the only issue you can run into with your intel rig is that the pcie riser might not fit because the cooler is so large. on am4 boards only the gigabyte itx boards work with the black ridge, because they are the only ones that have the socket up high enough to clear the pcie slot.
Did you overclock this by using XMP profile and overriding clock/voltage or there's more tweaking this? Also on which board/chipset?
I haven't played much with memory overlocks on ryzen because with first ryzen playing around manually(according to online recommendations how to do this) with memory bricked few of the kits we had.
they dont come with any xmp profile, they only have jdec standard speeds. so I had to do this manually. I am using the x570 aorus board from gigabyte, because only gigabytes am4 boards fit in the sentry with the riser and the black ridge cooler. The timings I am using are 18-20-20-20-46 at 1.38V
I might have to go to custom cable lengths eventually. Had to redo cabling 2-3 times, and honestly I'm still not completely satisfied with my work. I don't think I did completely terribly for my first SFF build though.
Basically with Ryzen's behavior, thermals in a case like this are gonna be a challenge when running anything but stock. For testing purposes, just to experiment with how thermals are in this case and test Ryzen's capabilities (this is my first Ryzen chip), I did manage to get a very small overclock, stable on Cinebench R20 (but fails instantly with Prime95 - temps jump right above 90+ when doing small FFTs).
4.2 GHz @ 1.16 Vcore - 3797 Multicore Score, Temp max of 85 degrees.
In gaming, I haven't seen temps for the 3600 in this case go above 73 degrees yet. Also the 2070 Super FE is actually really quiet and cool, and I barely notice the fan noise. I haven't seen the 2070 super temps in games go above 75.
Haven't tried compiling any FPGA code yet, so that will be the next thing on my list.
Gigabyte's B550 ITX board is super nice, but they really messed up the m.2 cooling. Basically theres a big slab of metal attached to the lower metal blocks that connect to the heatpipe on the board. But theres no thermal pad at all for the bigger piece that doesn't attached (see the pictures with the big aorus logo on it). The m.2 drive does have its own dedicated heatsink with a thermal pad, but the upper block is completely useless without a thermal pad to connect to the m.2 heatsink and actually seems to hurt thermals.
I went ahead and removed it.
Basically with Ryzen's behavior, thermals in a case like this are gonna be a challenge when running anything but stock. For testing purposes, just to experiment with how thermals are in this case and test Ryzen's capabilities (this is my first Ryzen chip), I did manage to get a very small overclock, stable on Cinebench R20 (but fails instantly with Prime95 - temps jump right above 90+ when doing small FFTs).
4.2 GHz @ 1.16 Vcore - 3797 Multicore Score, Temp max of 85 degrees.
In gaming, I haven't seen temps for the 3600 in this case go above 73 degrees yet. Also the 2070 Super FE is actually really quiet and cool, and I barely notice the fan noise. I haven't seen the 2070 super temps in games go above 75.
Haven't tried compiling any FPGA code yet, so that will be the next thing on my list.
Gigabyte's B550 ITX board is super nice, but they really messed up the m.2 cooling. Basically theres a big slab of metal attached to the lower metal blocks that connect to the heatpipe on the board. But theres no thermal pad at all for the bigger piece that doesn't attached (see the pictures with the big aorus logo on it). The m.2 drive does have its own dedicated heatsink with a thermal pad, but the upper block is completely useless without a thermal pad to connect to the m.2 heatsink and actually seems to hurt thermals.
I went ahead and removed it.
Anybody know if there is ANYONE who makes a shorter USB 3.0 cable?
As stiff and long as the front panel USB is, it's kind of a cabling nightmare, but I've had no luck finding anything when I looked, but it's hard to sort through all the the junk results. The one cable I found that wasn't 50cm was 60.
As stiff and long as the front panel USB is, it's kind of a cabling nightmare, but I've had no luck finding anything when I looked, but it's hard to sort through all the the junk results. The one cable I found that wasn't 50cm was 60.
Damn, I was really hoping the hivemind might know about some secret seller, but that's at least helpful.
Seems all the motherboards these days have the USB 3.0 right up at the front there in cable management hell, and I was thinking I might cut custom power cables even to cut down on routing difficulties. I mainly use my USB ports for charging stuff, though, so I might just try replacing the ports with USB 2.0, and given that I keep my PC on a short shelf on the floor, the USB placement is kinda bad for me anyway.
I was actually trying to decide between that Gigabyte board or the ASRock B550 Phantom.
Seems all the motherboards these days have the USB 3.0 right up at the front there in cable management hell, and I was thinking I might cut custom power cables even to cut down on routing difficulties. I mainly use my USB ports for charging stuff, though, so I might just try replacing the ports with USB 2.0, and given that I keep my PC on a short shelf on the floor, the USB placement is kinda bad for me anyway.
I was actually trying to decide between that Gigabyte board or the ASRock B550 Phantom.
I think that two or three motherboards out there have USB 3.0 header placed in different places like for example gigabyte's B350 itx board.
I remember that there was also a board that had this header somewhere between the chipset and audio connectors housing at the back, so the cable is this long essentially because there were supposed to be boards like that and you'd have to go around the cooler and memory somehow to get there.
We could think about making the cable really short and angled if the orientation of the header was standardised, but it's not.
My biggest issue with this cable though is that huge plug. I hope this standard dies soon and get replaced by two Type-E headers on motherboard so we can have both two type-A and type-C connectors natively on the front panel without usb hub shenanigans.
I remember that there was also a board that had this header somewhere between the chipset and audio connectors housing at the back, so the cable is this long essentially because there were supposed to be boards like that and you'd have to go around the cooler and memory somehow to get there.
We could think about making the cable really short and angled if the orientation of the header was standardised, but it's not.
My biggest issue with this cable though is that huge plug. I hope this standard dies soon and get replaced by two Type-E headers on motherboard so we can have both two type-A and type-C connectors natively on the front panel without usb hub shenanigans.
Yeah, the skylake board I have in my Node 202, the USB 3.0 is near the back and the cable's connector housing is touching my C7.
I definitely agree with you on the plug. it's a huge pain in the ass, and I've managed to bend a few pins plugging and unplugging front panel cables, because it's fragile as well as fat and stiff. To be honest, I am somewhat concerned the cable might put stress on the socket when everything is packed inside and the lid is closed.
If you ever do another revision of the Sentry, would a PCB front panel connected with an extension cable be something to consider? Extension cables tend to have a lot more variety of lengths and straight vs right angle, and I've seen adapters to go between 19-pin and Type-E
I definitely agree with you on the plug. it's a huge pain in the ass, and I've managed to bend a few pins plugging and unplugging front panel cables, because it's fragile as well as fat and stiff. To be honest, I am somewhat concerned the cable might put stress on the socket when everything is packed inside and the lid is closed.
If you ever do another revision of the Sentry, would a PCB front panel connected with an extension cable be something to consider? Extension cables tend to have a lot more variety of lengths and straight vs right angle, and I've seen adapters to go between 19-pin and Type-E
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