This is my first SFF build using Ryzen 9 5950X & RTX 3090 in the Streacom DA2 chassis. It took a bit more than a year to put together (on and off) but now I have finally managed to get all of it to work.
Assembled
Components
The layout of the system is pretty standard. However, the motherboard has been modded to remove its default heatsink; the MOSFETs/Chokes are now cooled passively with small heatsinks and the X570 chipset is cooled with a Koolance CHC-122 block.
This is the view from the side of the system with the DA2 backplate removed.
Closer shot of the motherboard from a previous iteration during modding. Removal of the default heatsink from ASRock allows usage of space above the MOSFETs/Chokes and this allows an additional 10/13mm tube to fit through. The Quantum Velocity CPU block is mounted here. However, instead of using the rubber pad included by EK, 2 * 1mm nylon standoffs are used on each corner to allow clearing certain ICs mounted on the back of this board.
Barrow Thread Reducers are used with the Koolance 90° Fitting to allow additional fittings to clear the screw heads… This allows additional usable height within the system and the reason will become apparent quite soon.
The 3090 being cleaned. I am not quite impressed with PNY’s choice of thermal pads as they have basically all crumbled. Ample use of isopropyl alcohol was required to clean all of this off.
The 3090 with the Quantum Velocity block mounted. This is pretty standard but the EK-FC Terminal Rotary 90° is used instead of the default terminal. This is because the default terminal would require usage of 90° fittings and could jeopadise compatibility of the build with a 280mm side radiator.
In stability testing it soon became apparent that the back side of the 3090 can be extremely hot. To combat this issue I have chosen to add a Monarch X4 memory block to the backside. Due to the system being a small form factor build, a proper solution such as EK’s active backplate or the full cover backplate water block from MP5Works would not fit, as both would require downgrading the side radiator from 280mm to 240mm. This block is fixed to the backplate purely with adhesive thermal pads. Later in the build one of the fittings was changed to an elbow fitting to achieve lower clearance.
Sideways view of the Monarch X4 block on top of the backplate in the built system. By ensuring that the chipset block was connected with Koolance 90° fittings an additional 5mm clearance was made available, thus the X4 block will fit.
The GPU is supported with a custom mechanism to ensure that it does not sag or cause the bracket to deform over time. The whole GPU assembly is quite hefty.
This is the side radiator assembly affixed to the chassis with standard vertical rails. The pump is fixed with a 140mm EK-UNI bracket to the radiator via 4 Singularity Computers 140mm rails. The radiator’s fins are slightly inset from the frame and this fact is exploited. The pump is fixed to the bracket which uses up this space and moves the pump closer to the radiator (so the fans cool the pump indirectly). An Offset Rotary Fitting was also used on one end to ensure that the tube stays as close to the radiator as possible, and allowing the other tube to fit within the same space… Further, a small extender was used to trap air as liquid returns to the pump.
The DDC pump was modded with Koolance brackets (part of the heatsink pack) and the OCLabs top. This top was specifically chosen, as it was the thinnest. A custom cable sleeve was also used; additionally the cabling was redone so all 4 wires are connected to a fan header instead of 2 to a Molex receptacle and 2 to a fan header.
A quick comparison between EK X-TOP and the OCLabs top explains why the latter is a good choice… The only downside is that the latter comes with untapped holes and you need to tap the holes yourself.
A custom power extension cable was used in lieu of the bundled cable. This cable is much lower profile and allows more usable free space, which will become apparent shortly.
When assembled, the protruding part of the side radiator assembly fits into the space between the SFX PSU and the motherboard. The rest of the OCLabs top basically touches the PSU (less than 1mm clearance). An alternative solution would be to mount the pump behind the GPU, but that would not be compatible with a longer card.
All components shown. Note that in the final version the pump inlet area was slightly modified to allow air to be trapped in the right place. To reduce the amount of tubing, a crossflow radiator was installed on the top to feed the CPU.
The side radiator assembly could be installed quite easily with 2 quick disconnect fittings in place. The radiator was mounted in this manner, however, in order to accommodate the tubing running from the Chipset block to the GPU block, which can be seen in the final assembly. Said tube was held in place with friction, aided by a few machine screws. Further, to allow proper positioning, the fans are first fixed to the radiator with short M4 screws and tightened with a small hex key, then the vertical mounting rails are fixed directly to the fans. Therefore it is theoretically possible to move the radiator further up if required (which would require swapping the lower 2 screws to M3 due to how the vertical rails are designed).
Enjoy
Assembled
Components
- Streacom DA2 Chassis + additional mounting rails
- ASRock Phantom Gaming ITX/TB3
- AMD Ryzen 9 5950x
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090
- Corsair Vengeance LPX (2 * 32 GB)
- Corsair SF750
- Koolance Elbow 90° Fittings
- Assorted Fittings from Corsair, Barrow, EKWB
- Hardware Labs Black Ice Nemesis GTS
- XSPC TX240 Normal
- XSPC TX240 Crossflow
- EK Quantum Velocity CPU Block (Intel mount)
- EK Quantum Vector RTX 3080/3090 Block
- EK-FC Terminal Rotary 90°
- EK-RAM Monarch X4 Block
- Koolance CHC-122 Chipset Block
- EK DDC 3.2 PWM Pump
- Koolance Heat Sink for PMP-400 Pump (HTS-PMP400)
- OCLabs Pump Top
- EK-UNI Pump Bracket 140mm
- Singularity Comupters Mounting Rail 140mm * 4
- Aqua Computer OCTO
- Aqua Computer Flow Sensor
- Aqua Computer RGBpx Strips
- Noctua NF-A14 IndustrialPPC Fans * 2
- Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM chromax.black.swap Fans * 4
- Alphacool ES Quick Release Fittings * 2
- Assorted heatsinks from AquaTuning UK
- XSPC 10-K temperature sensors
- Custom power extension cable from China
The layout of the system is pretty standard. However, the motherboard has been modded to remove its default heatsink; the MOSFETs/Chokes are now cooled passively with small heatsinks and the X570 chipset is cooled with a Koolance CHC-122 block.
This is the view from the side of the system with the DA2 backplate removed.
Closer shot of the motherboard from a previous iteration during modding. Removal of the default heatsink from ASRock allows usage of space above the MOSFETs/Chokes and this allows an additional 10/13mm tube to fit through. The Quantum Velocity CPU block is mounted here. However, instead of using the rubber pad included by EK, 2 * 1mm nylon standoffs are used on each corner to allow clearing certain ICs mounted on the back of this board.
Barrow Thread Reducers are used with the Koolance 90° Fitting to allow additional fittings to clear the screw heads… This allows additional usable height within the system and the reason will become apparent quite soon.
The 3090 being cleaned. I am not quite impressed with PNY’s choice of thermal pads as they have basically all crumbled. Ample use of isopropyl alcohol was required to clean all of this off.
The 3090 with the Quantum Velocity block mounted. This is pretty standard but the EK-FC Terminal Rotary 90° is used instead of the default terminal. This is because the default terminal would require usage of 90° fittings and could jeopadise compatibility of the build with a 280mm side radiator.
In stability testing it soon became apparent that the back side of the 3090 can be extremely hot. To combat this issue I have chosen to add a Monarch X4 memory block to the backside. Due to the system being a small form factor build, a proper solution such as EK’s active backplate or the full cover backplate water block from MP5Works would not fit, as both would require downgrading the side radiator from 280mm to 240mm. This block is fixed to the backplate purely with adhesive thermal pads. Later in the build one of the fittings was changed to an elbow fitting to achieve lower clearance.
Sideways view of the Monarch X4 block on top of the backplate in the built system. By ensuring that the chipset block was connected with Koolance 90° fittings an additional 5mm clearance was made available, thus the X4 block will fit.
The GPU is supported with a custom mechanism to ensure that it does not sag or cause the bracket to deform over time. The whole GPU assembly is quite hefty.
This is the side radiator assembly affixed to the chassis with standard vertical rails. The pump is fixed with a 140mm EK-UNI bracket to the radiator via 4 Singularity Computers 140mm rails. The radiator’s fins are slightly inset from the frame and this fact is exploited. The pump is fixed to the bracket which uses up this space and moves the pump closer to the radiator (so the fans cool the pump indirectly). An Offset Rotary Fitting was also used on one end to ensure that the tube stays as close to the radiator as possible, and allowing the other tube to fit within the same space… Further, a small extender was used to trap air as liquid returns to the pump.
The DDC pump was modded with Koolance brackets (part of the heatsink pack) and the OCLabs top. This top was specifically chosen, as it was the thinnest. A custom cable sleeve was also used; additionally the cabling was redone so all 4 wires are connected to a fan header instead of 2 to a Molex receptacle and 2 to a fan header.
A quick comparison between EK X-TOP and the OCLabs top explains why the latter is a good choice… The only downside is that the latter comes with untapped holes and you need to tap the holes yourself.
A custom power extension cable was used in lieu of the bundled cable. This cable is much lower profile and allows more usable free space, which will become apparent shortly.
When assembled, the protruding part of the side radiator assembly fits into the space between the SFX PSU and the motherboard. The rest of the OCLabs top basically touches the PSU (less than 1mm clearance). An alternative solution would be to mount the pump behind the GPU, but that would not be compatible with a longer card.
All components shown. Note that in the final version the pump inlet area was slightly modified to allow air to be trapped in the right place. To reduce the amount of tubing, a crossflow radiator was installed on the top to feed the CPU.
The side radiator assembly could be installed quite easily with 2 quick disconnect fittings in place. The radiator was mounted in this manner, however, in order to accommodate the tubing running from the Chipset block to the GPU block, which can be seen in the final assembly. Said tube was held in place with friction, aided by a few machine screws. Further, to allow proper positioning, the fans are first fixed to the radiator with short M4 screws and tightened with a small hex key, then the vertical mounting rails are fixed directly to the fans. Therefore it is theoretically possible to move the radiator further up if required (which would require swapping the lower 2 screws to M3 due to how the vertical rails are designed).
Enjoy
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