Completed The MI-6 Microtower Case: Performance in 6.7L

TheHig

King of Cable Management
Oct 13, 2016
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To add to this having a stand alone top plate that is vented will be great for those pushing top performance/Heat.
 
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Revenant

Christopher Moine - Senior Editor SFF.N
Revenant Tech
SFFn Staff
Apr 21, 2017
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4.70 GHz. I am using mine at the motherboards defaults which are 4.30 to 4.70 GHz with adaptive voltage which is no higher than 1.20v. These setting I find plenty fast and I really like the temps. Idles at 31C and max I see, other than stress testing, are low 60C.


Wait...something isn’t right here. The 8700K should max out at 4.3GHZ on all cores when stock. 4.7GHZ is a single core. What are you using to load the CPU to 100%?
 

rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
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I ran this test and posted over on [H]ard this morning. I have a delidded 8700k. 4.30 GHz at 1.15v. I ran prime 95 version 26.6 with large FFT for 20 minutes, ambient temp was 22C.

74C max single core temp in both tests, moving the top panel over didn't improve my temps at all.
 

rfarmer

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Jul 7, 2017
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Wait...something isn’t right here. The 8700K should max out at 4.3GHZ on all cores when stock. 4.7GHZ is a single core. What are you using to load the CPU to 100%?

You are right 4.30 GHz was on all cores, 4.70 GHz was single. I was using Prime95 and the testing was done at 4.30 GHz.
 

firewolfy

Master of Cramming
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Nov 12, 2015
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EDIT -- OVERCLOCKING TEST INVALID, SEE POST 769.

Ok, I ran my i7-6700K 4-core with a bit of overclocking. Here are the results:



I didn't bother trying to OC any higher than 4.3. Looks to me like the limitation is the CPU cooler, -can't get below 90C.

Bottom line: MI-6 works great at stock CPU settings. For OC, I'm going to have to get busy on an add-on top to hold an AIO radiator/120mm fan.
 
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ignsvn

By Toutatis!
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Apr 4, 2016
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Bottom line: MI-6 works great at stock CPU settings. For OC, I'm going to have to get busy on an add-on top to hold an AIO radiator/120mm fan.

I tend to agree with this statement. Temps are quite reasonable for such a small case.

My high temp is probably a minority, and there are lot of things can be done to improve it, like:
- Adding case fans
- Tidying up cables
- Reseating the CPU cooler
- Change CPU fan orientation to push air out (if necessary).

Now I'm waiting for weekend to come.. :)
 

rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
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I tend to agree with this statement. Temps are quite reasonable for such a small case.

My high temp is probably a minority, and there are lot of things can be done to improve it, like:
- Adding case fans
- Tidying up cables
- Reseating the CPU cooler
- Change CPU fan orientation to push air out (if necessary).

Now I'm waiting for weekend to come.. :)

I was going to suggest reseating the heatsink. I used to have a i5 4600 and it was a pretty cool running chip, never got near that high max temps.
 

ignsvn

By Toutatis!
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Apr 4, 2016
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I was going to suggest reseating the heatsink. I used to have a i5 4600 and it was a pretty cool running chip, never got near that high max temps.

Yeap.. Either that, or tidy up the cables & add case fan, because I have a feeling that, in my case, hot air is circulated inside for far too long.

Oh the pun LOL.
 
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Boil

SFF Guru
Nov 11, 2015
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...an add-on top to hold an AIO radiator/120mm fan.

I would try an add-on that allows dual 92mm fans (or a single 120mm fan) up top for exhaust first...?

Might be more a need to evacuate hot air itself rather than automatically jumping to an AIO solution (and the added volume from a 50mm + addition)...
 
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firewolfy

Master of Cramming
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Nov 12, 2015
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I would try an add-on that allows dual 92mm fans (or a single 120mm fan) up top for exhaust first...?

Might be more a need to evacuate hot air itself rather than automatically jumping to an AIO solution (and the added volume from a 50mm + addition)...
The problem is that a shuriken with its slim 120mm fan at 100%, with no case covers at all could not cool the cpu when overclocked. The Shuriken had all the cool air it wanted. A higher flow hs fan would help.

EDIT I'll try a 120x25 fan next.
 

Boil

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Nov 11, 2015
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Now I wonder about a 120mm AIO up top & a solid panel (or a window...?) on the CPU side, so all air in from the bottom fan would funnel straight up over the motherboard & exit thru the AIO radiator/fan...?!?

Do you think the length of AIO tubing might be an issue...?
 
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rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
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This is why I delidded my 8700k. My original plan was to use an i5 8400 for this build, but then I got a chance to buy a brand new 8700k for $250 and couldn't pass it up. I knew though that I would have trouble cooling it so I knew I had to delid. I am very anal about CPU temps and knew I wouldn't be happy with 80C temps while gaming. My test results prove to me that you can run a 8700k in this case, if you delid.

Going into this build you need to have reasonable expectations of what you want and what the available hardware can do, if you are unwilling to delid you need to look at alternatives like a non k 8700 or a 8700t. The same applies to the 6700k/7700k to a lesser extent, you can run stock clocks fine but if you want to overclock you need to think about a delid. I am sure if Fire delidded his CPU his temps would be fine.

I have followed both the Dan A4-SFX and Sentry threads since the cases were released, I have seen those owners try everything short of putting ice in the case trying to keep their 6700k/7700k cool. They just refuse to admit that you can't cool those CPUs well with a 50mm heatsink.

I don't think you need to add an option for a 120mm AIO, I just think people need to build sensibly.
 

ignsvn

By Toutatis!
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Apr 4, 2016
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...I have followed both the Dan A4-SFX and Sentry threads since the cases were released, I have seen those owners try everything short of putting ice in the case trying to keep their 6700k/7700k cool. They just refuse to admit that you can't cool those CPUs well with a 50mm heatsink.

I don't think you need to add an option for a 120mm AIO, I just think people need to build sensibly.

Again I agree with what @rfarmer said above.. SFF is always about finding a good balance between performance & volume. Compromise must be made somewhere.
 

firewolfy

Master of Cramming
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Nov 12, 2015
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Now I wonder about a 120mm AIO up top & a solid panel (or a window...?) on the CPU side, so all air in from the bottom fan would funnel straight up over the motherboard & exit thru the AIO radiator/fan...?!?

Do you think the length of AIO tubing might be an issue...?

Yeah, I'm sure the tubing will be ridiculously long!

A post I just did over on [H]:
EDIT -- OVERCLOCKING TEST INVALID, SEE POST 769.
Ok, for fun I ran a couple tests with a 120x25 CPU fan instead of the standard 120x12.


25mm fan is about 2-3 mm too tall to fit the cover on it, so this was just 'For Science!'
 
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firewolfy

Master of Cramming
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Nov 12, 2015
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Thanks for everyone's feedback and thoughts on this OC cooling issue. With the latest testing I think the dead horse has been beaten quite enough.

So I'm not going to develop with the new 'high-flow' top plate idea. There is no benefit after all, -the standard top has all the ventilation needed for a <68mm HS/fan combo.
 
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Boil

SFF Guru
Nov 11, 2015
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Thanks for everyone's feedback and thoughts on this OC cooling issue. With the latest testing I think the dead horse has been beaten quite enough.

So I'm not going to develop with the new 'high-flow' top plate idea. There is no benefit after all, -the standard top has all the ventilation needed for a <68mm HS/fan combo.

But are you going to develop a top that will fit a 120mm AIO...? Then one could squeeze a X299 system into the MI-6...!
 

rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
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Any of you guys wanting to do an AMD build the new Asrock X470 ITX/ac is available at Newegg, only itx I see so far.

Oops spoke to soon, release date 5/1/18 but available for pre order.
 

ignsvn

By Toutatis!
SFFn Staff
Apr 4, 2016
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Running Prime95 for 30 mins, I got 92C max temp.

My CPU was a Haswell 84 watt chip, ambient temp was around 27-28C. CPU cooler was NH-L12, single bottom fan at 1700 rpm.

No case fans installed at the moment.

Thinking back, maybe I was too optimistic about the ambient temp.. It was more about 29-30C. Soo normalized to 21-22C, the CPU temp was about.. 90C? Still hot, I know.

Anyway, I did a test again, this time without the top & side plates. Ambient temp more or less the same, 28-29C. Same test, Prime95, Small FFT, just that this time I ran it for 25 mins because the temp did not rise any further.

This time, my max temp was 81C.

Other than installing 80mm slim fans and tidying up cables, do you guys think reversing the NH-L12 bottom fan (so it would blow air out instead of sucking in) is a good idea?