Log Sliger SM550 - Compact & Quiet Gaming HTPC

[MarcParis]

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SM550+ : Switching to Ryzen 7 1700X & CPU Air Cooler (IS-60)
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Following a pretty complex process I finally decided to update my Sliger SM550+ using my "unused" Ryzen 7 1700X.
Indeed, they are a lot of reasons : AMD AM4 ecosystem, Ryzen 7 1700X has no need of delidding IHS, 8 cores / 16 threads, similar gaming performances as core i7 4770K at same clock speed, nvme 2280 4x gen 3 access, etc...
But, to be honest, the main idea was to test (at reasonible costs) if Sliger SM550+ was truly capable to replace my beloved Cerberus-X...
To achieve this feat, I definitely needed to test cpu air cooler, in order to reach this "silent" area while on low load/idle.

Taking opportunity of amazon second hand Asus Rog Strix B450-i Motherboard + discount on Corsair lpx vengeance 16Go (3200 MTS @16-18-18-36...not brilliant vs my b-die flare-X 3200 MTS @ 14-14-14-34) I pushed "buy" button..

As cpu air cooler I chose ID-Cooling IS-60 (v2 with AM4 support and screws for fans of 15mm or 25mm)

Time to see if Asus B450-I is compatible with IS-60...

It's a pretty tight fit...but it fits with no issues!


As it was a second hand motherboard, I decided to test (bios post basically) it before assembly in SM550+.
For that I used my 2013 AMD R9 290X (with its waterblock, but no water), good old Seasonic 650w psu..

And bios posts on first attempt! The only default I found was a bent pin on USB 3.0 that I managed to unbend it easily.

Now time to move to Sliger SM550+!

Before one short word about dissambly of Asetek 645LT...well it went like a charm as I followed optimised process flow (secret is to make sure waterblock, psu connector and radiator are free to move/pivot.)

Afterwards assembly in SM550+ using cpu aircooler was very easy (only tricky part to plug power buttong connector).
Thumb up also for Asus B450-i layout, placing all connectors to motherboard edge.
I switched also to dual 120mm at bottom, placed as exhaust.

One word about fan that comes with IS-60. To be honest it's not bad at all, but its bearings were making some noise (on cpu load) compare to Noctua NF A12x15, thus I replaced it by Noctua quite quickly.

Now question is : Is SM550+ compatible with standard IS-60 (with its screws, it's reaching 57mm height)....

Yes it's compatible...SM550+ rules!!!

Enough of assembly, time to test this setup!
Here is component list :

• CPU : AMD Ryzen 7 1700X stock (my previous OC experience with this chip demonstrates little to no interest in OC)
• RAM : Corsair Vengeance LPX sold as 3200MTS @16-18-18-18-36 @1.35v...however, knowing Zen 1 chip I was expecting hard times to get 3200MTS, especially as my corsair sticks were not using b-die...but at the end I managed to get easily 3200MTS @18-18-18-18-36 @1.38v...no cold boot issues. Even if timings are not great compared to my Flare-X b-dies, main point was to reach 3200MTS to force FCLK to 1600Mhz (infinite fabric).
• Motherboard : Asus Rog Strix B450-I (all led desactivated)
• CPU cooler :
  • Thermal paste : Noctua NT-H2
  • Heatsink : ID-cooling IS-60 v2 (AM4 support)
  • Fan : Noctua NF A12x15
• Bottom Fans : Fractal Design Venturi HP-12 PWM (placed as exhaust, calibrated to spin at 650rpm around)
• PSU : Corsair SF450
• Storage :
  • Samsung 840 Pro 240Go (Sata)
  • Crucial MX500 1To M.2 (put in Startech 2.5" box) (Sata)
• GPU : MSI GTX 1070 Gaming X

Let's answer main question : do i reach silent computer under light load/idle? YES, YES and YES!!!!
What is noise on CPU heavy load? Well completely fine, audible but fan is reaching 1500 rpm for 68.3°C on T die!
Here is my standard Intel Burn Test 2.54 :

Here also, very interesting comparison on 3D MARK Time Spy, using same GPU but with different CPU :
Core i7 4770K (3.5Ghz) vs R7 1700X (Stock)

Core i7 4770K (3.5Ghz) vs R7 1700X (Stock) vs R7 1700X @4Ghz (Cerberus-x, Noctua C14S dual NF A14-2000rpm)

From this comparison I noticed :

• R7 1700X boosts up to 3891Mhz at stock (please note it boots at 3.5Ghz all cores)
• Core i7 4770K has advantage on Graphic test 2 whatever overclocking is applied on R7 1700X
• Loved that +96% bump on CPU bench..

To finish with benchmarks here is a screenshot from Gears 5 :

Final toughts

ID Cooling IS-60 with SM550+ is a wonderful combo (similar level as Loque Ghost S1 + Noctua L12).
At the beginning I was planning to still use Asetek 645LT as cpu cooler, but I was surprised by silent operation during windows 10 installation.
On top of that, while gaming, air cooler are better suited than asetek 645LT as they have access to fresh air (@3lfk1ng demonstrated it during its SFF cases battle)
At the end I didn't came back to Asetek 645LT as I knew it would have been worse on idle/low load noise.

Also note that audio output from this Asus B450-I was pretty good, nothing to complain versus my Asus Crosshair VI Hero. And it was definitely WAY better than my Asrock Z97e ITX/AC.

What are next steps ?

• As I'm reaching silent area on idle/low load I can hear new noise...and first one to complain is Corsair SF450. Its fan is just horrible. Its bearing is starting to make some noise... For HTPC it's ok (as it's pretty far), but If I were supposed to replace my Cerberus-X I'll stick to my SX-800 LTI, SFX-L psu. Definitely I'm disappointed by quality of Corsair SF series PSU.
• ID cooling IS-60 is imposing some restrictions on RAM and Motherboard choice. For X570 mini ITX MB, at least Aorus X570-I pro is compatible with IS-60 :
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• In terms of motherboard, I will wait for fanless gen 4 version. But main point is to have 2 m.2 nvme/sata slots without reducing bandwidth of main PCIe port (Asus B450-I is close but the 2 m.2 slots are reducing main pcie to 8x)
• Sliger SM series is still missing Gen 4 riser..

Conclusion is that SM550+ is clearly able to replace Cerberus-X, even if you add some small compromises during the process...headaches for @TheHig and me (and possibly @Wolfe1 )will start again I'm sure..

PS : Cats have already chosen their prefered case !

 

[rfarmer]

Very nice, glad the IS-60 worked so well. One nice thing about your panel mod is being able to use the round headed screws.

 

[Wolfe1]

As always great write up, can’t wait to build my own!

Any reason why you are particularly concerned with running the main In pcie x8? It seems in anything I look at that only a 2080 ti is currently (and just barely) saturating a full 8x lane.

As for your dissatisfaction with the corsair SF series im guessing its the wires of the gold series? Hoping to have much better luck with the individual sleeved cables in the newer platinum.

 

[Tashi]

Maybe it is time to replace every fan to a Noctua fan.

 

[Allhopeforhumanity]

Looks great!

Seeing the round headed screws stick out a little bit reminds me of my Big Shuriken 3 that I have in my Steck with the same A25x15. With the Scythe mounting screws atleast, I found I was able to counter sink the holes in the fan by ~4mm so that the heads were flush with its top surface. This took care of them sitting against the side panel and any vibration they would have otherwise imparted.

 

[MarcParis]

Very nice, glad the IS-60 worked so well. One nice thing about your panel mod is being able to use the round headed screws.

Yes very useful. M3 flat head screw is also working as you mentioned..
Tip from @Allhopeforhumanity is also working even if it scratches a little bit fan.

As always great write up, can’t wait to build my own!

Any reason why you are particularly concerned with running the main In pcie x8? It seems in anything I look at that only a 2080 ti is currently (and just barely) saturating a full 8x lane.

As for your dissatisfaction with the corsair SF series im guessing its the wires of the gold series? Hoping to have much better luck with the individual sleeved cables in the newer platinum.

Thanks!
In fact I prefer flat psu cable for sff. Even platinum sf psu are sharing same fan as gold sf, however fan control system has been completely revised.
Personally I will surely give a try to season if sfx l psu, at least, when my sf 450 fan will become berserk.

Maybe it is time to replace every fan to a Noctua fan.

Well I love my fractal design hp12...and after I can also use my gentle typhoon..

Looks great!

Seeing the round headed screws stick out a little bit reminds me of my Big Shuriken 3 that I have in my Steck with the same A25x15. With the Scythe mounting screws atleast, I found I was able to counter sink the holes in the fan by ~4mm so that the heads were flush with its top surface. This took care of them sitting against the side panel and any vibration they would have otherwise imparted.

Yes great advice. That makes 3 ways to fit IS-60 in SM550 : mod panels, m3 flat head screw and drill through fan..

 

[MarcParis]

Here are SFX-L PSU that will be great candidates for my SM550+ build :

• Silverstonetek NightJar 450W : fully Passive unit taking advantage of nearby fans. That will be the most daring choice..
  
  
• Seasonic SGX 650 or Fractal Design Ion 650 : 10 years warranty. Only gold certification.
  
  
• SX-800lti : Titanium certification, passive till 160w
  
  

I must say that NightJar could be the one.. To be studied..

ps : i can also simply replace corsair SF fan with noctua nf A9-14.. (have 3 available lol..)

 

[TheHig]

Conclusion is that SM550+ is clearly able to replace Cerberus-X, even if you add some small compromises during the process...headaches for @TheHig and me (and possibly @Wolfe1 )will start again I'm sure..

Yeah the 3900x Meg Ace etc in my Cerberus X runs beautifully, is perfectly stable and a tad overkill for my needs TBH so... Probably time tear it all down and start over! ?

However the x79 setup that I use for couch gaming and HTCP is a power pig and obviously much larger by comparison. All I need is the SM550.. Honestly I'll end up caving on this sooner or later!

As four your PSU options you show -I think the NightJar is very interesting as 450w is plenty for even upper mid range builds these days. Fanless PSU is so appealing since all the other fans in a system can be tuned.

 

[MarcParis]

Yeah the 3900x Meg Ace etc in my Cerberus X runs beautifully, is perfectly stable and a tad overkill for my needs TBH so... Probably time tear it all down and start over! ?

However the x79 setup that I use for couch gaming and HTCP is a power pig and obviously much larger by comparison. All I need is the SM550.. Honestly I'll end up caving on this sooner or later!

As four your PSU options you show -I think the NightJar is very interesting as 450w is plenty for even upper mid range builds these days. Fanless PSU is so appealing since all the other fans in a system can be tuned.

Good experiment will be to check if IS60 could handle heat from R9 3900X..
Let us know what you will do at the end..

Definitely NightJar is my current preferred choice for my HTPC. But I'm always scared of electric noise..

However I need to deep dive into my GTX 1070 fan noise. As my setup is so quiet I can hear now some friction noise coming from both fans of my GTX 1070. I tried them manually and noise is coming from them. I also teste my GTX 1080 ti, but only one is making this noise.
I guess it will be soon time of fixing/replacing gpu fans..

 

[Scottland]

Do you think the IS60 will tolerate larger ram (45mm)?

Now I've got the Asetek mounted in the SM560 which arrived today, the radiator fan I think is struggling to push enough air through - temperatures about about 10°C above open air temps - fortunately GPU temps are about the same though

 

[MarcParis]

Do you think the IS60 will tolerate larger ram (45mm)?

Now I've got the Asetek mounted in the SM560 which arrived today, the radiator fan I think is struggling to push enough air through - temperatures about about 10°C above open air temps - fortunately GPU temps are about the same though

Nope is-60 is almost imposing vengeance lpx. However you try to remove heatsink, at least on one stick.

What cpu do you want to cool? What motherboard?

 

[Scottland]

Only a 3600, temps were great out of the case. I did have to remount the cooler a few times when fitting into the case, so I might try and remount/repaste to make sure it's right.

Also ordered a thermalright axp90 from China, so will see what that's like when it eventually arrives

 

[MarcParis]

Only a 3600, temps were great out of the case. I did have to remount the cooler a few times when fitting into the case, so I might try and remount/repaste to make sure it's right.

Also ordered a thermalright axp90 from China, so will see what that's like when it eventually arrives

Yes axp90 should perform as cryorig c7.
If you are applying same mod as i did on panel you should be able to fit 25mm fan on it
What is your motherboard?
Edit : axp90 could be life saver of am4 aircooler in sm series as you can choose heatsink orientation.. with 25mm fan just behind panel, it should be great.

Where did you get you axp-90? Seems difficult to get

 

[Scottland]

It's an ASRock B450 ITX board, I don't think there should be any clearance issues on the board - it's just my ram @ 44mm that's the issue. I'll carry on tinkering, it's part of the fun

 

[MarcParis]

It's an ASRock B450 ITX board, I don't think there should be any clearance issues on the board - it's just my ram @ 44mm that's the issue. I'll carry on tinkering, it's part of the fun

sure IS-60 works with it..

 

[rfarmer]

It's an ASRock B450 ITX board, I don't think there should be any clearance issues on the board - it's just my ram @ 44mm that's the issue. I'll carry on tinkering, it's part of the fun

I'm using the IS-60 with the same motherboard, no problems.

 

[MarcParis]

I'm using the IS-60 with the same motherboard, no problems.

Globally question is about removing/replacing heatsink on ram..

 

[MarcParis]

@Scottland thanks to this topic https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/thermalright-axp90.11795/post-178567 AXP-90 won’t fit inside sm550 with 25mm fan as its heatsink is 33mm tall...seems very hard to fit in sm550 even with my mod on panel..

 

[MarcParis]

@Scottland thanks to this topic https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/thermalright-axp90.11795/post-178567 AXP-90 won’t fit inside sm550 with 25mm fan as its heatsink is 33mm tall...seems very hard to fit in sm550 even with my mod on panel..

My bad. axp-90 cannot be oriented properly on am4 socket... Same issue as c7... Heatsink oriented to ram and rear i/o.... Sorry

 

[MarcParis]

Well headaches SM550 vs Cerberus-X are starting again...
I guess only missing item for SM550 is gen 4 riser. Do you know if riser installed is easily replacable? I’ve looked quickly at mine but I just saw rivets