Log Streacom FC8α × AMD 5700G : a 65W fanless APU build

[APU_enthusiast]

I am posting my build here and also on r/sffpc .


photo: @newcyp


CPU: AMD 5700G
RAM: Corsair Dominator Special Edition
SSD: WD SN750
MB: ASRock B550M-ITX/ac
PSU: Mini-Box 150W kit
TIM: Panasonic EYG-R 0.25 mm
case: Streacom FC8α

The 150W power supply has been working reliably for me, but I recommend a higher-rated power supply, because 5700G reviews have reported system power consumption exceeding 150W.


Because there are no fans or other peripherals, the inside is very spacious.


The rear panel of the case supports installation of a smaller DC plug as shown in this picture. Streacom Nano160 is one power supply that would be installed this way. I 3D-printed a mount so that the case would also support a larger DC plug. I made the model available online.


I am using a Noctua NM-AM4-L9aL9i Mounting Kit to prevent the heatsink mounting mechanism from bending the motherboard. Installation can be done without it.


I am using washers to allow the heatsink mounting screws to be installed more easily. Again, installation can be done without them .


I brought it along with me on a trip and enjoyed some quiet computing .


The system easily handled gaming and office productivity tasks. To use it as a dedicated, heavy-workload machine, I would need to place it in a room where the temperature is lower.

Here are my thoughts that made me want to do this build and share with you. A fanless small form factor machine with eight Zen 3 cores became possible with the release of 5700G. The graphic performance improvement over existing DIY integrated graphics is a welcome addition that makes gaming and other graphical tasks more viable. Streacom FC8α is a good match for 5700G as both have nominal rating of 65W.

Here are some 5700G reviews if you are interested .
Anandtech
HEXUS

 

[BaK]

Nice build!

photo: @newcyp

I really dig the two first photos, great shots!

Because there are no fans or other peripherals, the inside is very spacious.

Spacious indeed, plenty of room for an internal 12V PSU!
But the extra heat will probably be hard to be handled passively...

 

[APU_enthusiast]

Nice build!


I really dig the two first photos, great shots!


Spacious indeed, plenty of room for an internal 12V PSU!
But the extra heat will probably be hard to be handled passively...

Thank you! That space near the front panel really is asking for a PSU. I imagine attaching the PSU to the case with a TIM could make it work.

 

[tinyitx]

AMD lists the max temp of 5700G as 95C.
Now, I see the 20-min Aida64 test stressed the CPU to 96C. Did the CPU throttle?
And, for real world gaming and productivity, temp should be much lower than 96C. Do you have a figure for this?

23C ambient temp is quite cool for me as a room temp. Is your room purely a/c cooled? I mean, if there a ceiling fan or a room fan to provide some kind of air movement in the room. I imagine, if the heatsink of the F8Calpha enclosure gets a little help from nearby/surrounding air movement instead of purely depending of natural convection, the cooling power might be noticeably enhanced?

 

[BaK]

I imagine attaching the PSU to the case with a TIM could make it work.

That's what I did with my B01T3 build (see sig), but the system temperature must be impacted with this heat source inside the case.
I got decent temps but there are 2 fans into my case that can deal with the added heat from the PSU.

 

[APU_enthusiast]

AMD lists the max temp of 5700G as 95C.
Now, I see the 20-min Aida64 test stressed the CPU to 96C. Did the CPU throttle?
And, for real world gaming and productivity, temp should be much lower than 96C. Do you have a figure for this?

23C ambient temp is quite cool for me as a room temp. Is your room purely a/c cooled? I mean, if there a ceiling fan or a room fan to provide some kind of air movement in the room. I imagine, if the heatsink of the F8Calpha enclosure gets a little help from nearby/surrounding air movement instead of purely depending of natural convection, the cooling power might be noticeably enhanced?

I ran 20 minutes of UNIGINE Superposition (although not a real game) in the same 23°C ambient and got 66°C CPU, 59°C PCH, and 57°C RAM. (I couldn't get the motherboard to report VRM temperatures.) I tested the system with Noctua NH-L12S before putting it in the case. The case achieved 99% of the active cooling performance in 3DMark Time Spy and 98% in PCMark10. For Cinebench R23 nT and blender classroom CPU, there were 7% drops. It was in an office building where I work which has central HVAC. So the case is quite happy with gaming and productivity, but if I need to crunch some serious numbers, I would need to give it some help with a room fan or something, like you mentioned . Thanks for the suggestion!