Streacom DB4 Music DAW and CAD Machine

[7string]

Hello. 1st post in this super cool forum. I have some questions regarding a fanless Streacom DB4 build. I don't game but I will use it for music production and CAD. Primary use will be recording guitar while sitting in close proximity to the case, so I'm hoping the fanless approach will help with the EMI interference common with fans and guitar electronics. It also has to run AutoCad and Revit when I get some freelance work. For music I use a bunch of 3rd party plug ins that simulate drum sets and guitar amps and effects, which can be CPU hungry. I typically don't overclock.

I plan on drilling additional holes in the bottom of the case and making a new top lid with a bunch of holes and possibly a single 120mm fan in case of emergencies. I'm also willing to mod the heatpipe config similar to the build logs on this forum.

Parts List:
Streacom DB4 case with optional LH-6 CPU add on and GPU heatpipes
Intel i5 8400 (65W) or possibly the i7 8700T (35W)
AsRock Z390 Phantom Gaming mITX motherboard (for the Thunderbolt 3)
Silverstone 450W Nightjar Fanless PSU
nVidia Quadro P2000 5GB video card (75W)
Corsair LPX 16GB DDR4-3600 PC4-28800 RAM
Samsung EVO SSD's (2) 2-1/2" (1) m.2
-1 for system, 1 for audio files and drawings, and 1 for drum samples
LG 32" 4K monitor or possibly a 2nd Dell 30" U3017 (1600p)

The main question is it possible to shoehorn this power supply behind the motherboard without adding too much to the heat output? Or any other concerns? I plan on modding the mounts to put it up against the side panel.

I am considering delidding the CPU and using Liquid Metal paste. Thoughts? Or any other advise would be appreciated.

 

[calvinpp]

DB4 looks really cool. I've never seen one in person though but had considered it before I found this forum.

If you were considering using a lot of VST plugins perhaps you'd want to get a beefier CPU? I had the 8400 and used Native Instruments plugs along with U-He plugs and it brought it to its knees once I ran multiple tracks

LH-6 CPU looks like it could support 105w CPU's so you could theoretically fit a faster intel in there without issues.

I am guessing that you are picking this Z390 board for the Thunderbolt 3 board for your audio interface? If you don't overclock anyway, might as well save a few bucks and go for the Z370 board since it is around $30-50 cheaper on average and throw that towards the CPU.

Corsair SF450 is pretty quiet too and the fan never turns on even when running a daw or intensive plugin, only time it would start to rev is when gaming and at half the price, I'd consider it instead.

Great time to buy SATA 2.5" SSDs right now and for audio purposes, NVMe brings little to no benefit if just storing/streaming samples.

 

[7string]

Thanks Calvin. Good points. I should go i7-8700 then. With the non K version I will still have some cooling headroom. My experience with the VST plugins has been that my old junker Q9550 could handle everything I threw at it. I figured I'd be even better off with modern parts. I use Superior Drummer, Helix Native, and guitar Rig 5 with various compressors, etc.

My interface is a Native Instruments KA6 USB 2.0. I would like to upgrade to TB but right now need thunderbolt for docking. I'm getting a new company laptop with a TB dock.

 

[TinyAudio]

Don't delid and ruin warranty. Undervolt first.

 

[7string]

TinyAudio, thanks for the good advice. Sorry for the late reply. I went with an i5 8600K. I found Intel's XTU and dropped it to .045V offset so far. I have all the parts and will be putting it in the case this weekend. Got distracted building my wife a mATX Ryzen and revamping my old 6700K machine to semi-passive. (By undervolting )