Thoughts towards ultimate SFF X299 build...?!?

[Boil]

@K888D @Kmpkt

Alrighty then...!

With the announcement of the marvel that is the ASRock X299E-ITX/ac motherboard, I have dreamed up the following:

ASRock X299E-ITX/ac motherboard
Intel Core X i9-7800X CPU (6c/12t) - or probably the i9-7820X, for the Turbo Boost Max 3.0
Noctua NH-D9L CPU cooler
Corsair Vengence DDR4 RAM (64GB total / 4@16GB SO-DIMMs / 2666 / CAS 18)
Three (3) Samsung 1TB 960 EVO PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe M.2 SSDs (one for Boot / OS / Apps / Games, two for RAID storage; UNLESS the MB would allow for a RAID 5 between the three SSDs)
Zotac GTX 1080Ti Mini GPU
Noctua NF-A15 chassis fan (main intake fan / 140mm x 25mm with 120mm mounting pattern)
Four (4) Noctua NF-A9 chassis fans (92mm x 25mm chassis fans / two set as rear exhaust & two set as intake for GPU)
KMPKT / HDPlex PSU solution (KMPKT Merge, Dynamo & Dynamo Mini / two HDPlex 300w AC-DC units)
Custom length cables

I would house all this in a modified LZ7 chassis... This would be the existing comer pieces for the LZ7, with custom sized & vented panels to increase the depth & width of the LZ7, making it a one-off LZ9...?

The shroud & fans would be stripped from the 1080Ti Mini, and the GPU chamber of the chassis sized just so to snug the dual NF-A9s between the dual 92mm Radial vents & that nice flat heatsink on the GPU...

I feel this could be the ultimate SFF X299 build; massive horsepower in a 9 liter package, with ample air-cooling all around...

The only thing that could make it better would be an all copper NH-D9L CPU cooler...!

I link the posts I have made today regarding same in the various threads about some of the key components to this fever dream:

LZ7 - Quiet Mini Gaming Cube with internal SFX PSU

KMPKT Dynamo DC-12V

And link to main posting about the ASRock X299E-ITX/ac motherboard:

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/t...tx-ac-mini-itx-x299-quad-channel-memory.2255/

 

[Biowarejak]

Well in theory you could buy an LZ7, take some measurements and get an LZ9 cut for yourself. Or get one of us on the forum who are experienced in CAD to mock it up. I'd be happy to help get the design done but this'd be a very expensive endeavor for you.

 

[Boil]

Well in theory you could buy an LZ7, take some measurements and get an LZ9 cut for yourself. Or get one of us on the forum who are experienced in CAD to mock it up. I'd be happy to help get the design done but this'd be a very expensive endeavor for you.

That was my thought, custom panel templates sent to Ponoko for laser cutting from 3mm & 5mm acrylic...!

Since the height of the chassis would not increase at all, the existing LZ7 corner pieces should work just fine; praises towards the modular aspect of the LZ7 chassis design...!

I would project the cost of the panels themselves to be equal to purchasing a second LZ7 chassis...? And the parts list for the build itself would not be cheap, probably around US$4K, NOT including the initial LZ7 chassis purchase nor the custom panels...

I would definitely need to get all the parts together & the intial LZ7 chassis to make proper measurements for the panels & get the correct spacing for snugging in the replacement GPU intake fans & the proper spacing for the KMPKT / HDPlex PSU array...

Not that I am looking to do this anytime soon, but a vision of what could be possible...!!!

I will most likely acquire a LZ7 when they become available again, do a modest build:

ASRock H270-ITX/ac MB
Intel Core i5-7600 CPU
Cryorig C7 CPU cooler
16GB G.Skill NT-series DDR4 RAM (2 @ 8GB DIMMs/ 2400 / CAS 15)
500GB Samsung 960 EVO SSD (M.2 / PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe)
EVGA GTX 1060 SC Gaming GPU (6GB GDDR5 RAM)
Cryorig XT140 chassis fan (140mm x 13mm with 120mm mounting pattern)

Then down the road see about (hopefully) getting a second set of corner pieces & gather up the X299 parts & start measuring twice before sending off templates to be cut once...!!!

 

[Biowarejak]

That was my thought, custom panel templates sent to Ponoko for laser cutting from 3mm & 5mm acrylic...!

Since the height of the chassis would not increase at all, the existing LZ7 corner pieces should work just fine; praises towards the modular aspect of the LZ7 chassis design...!

I would project the cost of the panels themselves to be equal to purchasing a second LZ7 chassis...? And the parts list for the build itself would not be cheap, probably around US$4K, NOT including the initial LZ7 chassis purchase nor the custom panels...

I would definitely need to get all the parts together & the intial LZ7 chassis to make proper measurements for the panels & get the correct spacing for snugging in the replacement GPU intake fans & the proper spacing for the KMPKT / HDPlex PSU array...

It would likely be something similar to the cost of a second case, especially if you're having someone else do the CAD work.

 

[Boil]

Secondary thoughts...

Increase the width as needed to have dual 120mm x 25mm fans (Noctuas, of course) as the front intake (but still allow the GPU to exhaust out the front with a vent sized for the end of the GPU heatsink)...

Then flip it all on its side (GPU down), with increased height on the HiFi feet (20mm...?) to allow sufficient intake for the GPU fans...

Even measuring as a bounding box (including the taller HiFi feet), this should still be at no more than 10 liters (presenting the LZ10 ITX Tower, folks...), which I would find TOTALLY acceptable for a SFF X299 HEDT workstation / gaming & streaming rig...

 

[Boil]

More thoughts, because Recirculating Heated Air...

Whether regular orientation or tower orientation; the GPU venting out the front just may feed its hot air to the single 140mm or dual 120mm intake fans...

So, best for airflow configuration may need to have the PSU components mounted on the front panel & a single 140mm fan on the side panel location for intake (this of course would become the top panel in ITX Tower orientation)...

Even then there could be some recirculating from the GPU exhaust to the main intake, so the regular horizontal orientation may be the way to go...

But I like the idea of dual 120mm intakes, it would definitely assure a positive pressure system ( dual 120mm intakes versus dual 92mm exhausts; not taking the extra positive pressure of the dual 92mm GPU intakes into the equation at all)...!

Plus, it gives that wind tunnel airflow; intake thru the front of the chassis, pass thru the CPU cooler, & exhaust out the back of the chassis...

Thoughts towards this aspect of the chassis (vertical versus horizontal chassis orientation & overall airflow re-circulation)...?!?

 

[Biowarejak]

I would personally opt for the prior LZ9 idea, and use the same airflow configuration as the original. Keeps the ramifications minimal. But then the i9's are rumored to have MASSIVE TDP's, so you'd really want an AIO at minimum...

 

[Boil]

I would personally opt for the prior LZ9 idea, and use the same airflow configuration as the original. Keeps the ramifications minimal. But then the i9's are rumored to have MASSIVE TDP's, so you'd really want an AIO at minimum...

According to Noctua, the NH-D9L is rated for 140 watts on the 2011 socket, and that is with a single fan mounted...

One can add a second NF-A9 fan to the front of the heatsink (so, fan > heatsink > fan > heatsink), increasing the cooling capacity (and also increasing the overall wind tunnel airflow)...!

 

[Biowarejak]

According to Noctua, the NH-D9L is rated for 140 watts on the 2011 socket, and that is with a single fan mounted...

One can add a second NF-A9 fan to the front of the heatsink (so, fan > heatsink > fan > heatsink), increasing the cooling capacity (and also increasing the overall wind tunnel airflow)...!

AFAIK, adding fans increases static pressure, but not airflow. And the rumored TDP brought up on The WAN Show was almost 200 watts. Worst case scenario? That's true, and at stock. If you're going for a "Highly Expensive PC" build, I'd just assume you're wanting to overclock

 

[Boil]

Base parts needed to develop templates for this engineering exercise would be a LZ7 chassis, the motherboard, the GPU, the PSU components, & the intake / exhaust fans...

So to make / have made templates & panels cut would be under US$2K...

Then one would need to add in the cost of the CPU, CPU cooler (and second fan), RAM, M.2 SSD(s), & custom cables; about another US$3K if you go with the i9-7820X, max out the RAM, & go with three 1TB 960 EVO M.2 SSDs...

 

[Boil]

AFAIK, adding fans increases static pressure, but not airflow. And the rumored TDP brought up on The WAN Show was almost 200 watts. Worst case scenario? That's true, and at stock. If you're going for a "Highly Expensive PC" build, I'd just assume you're wanting to overclock

Rumors I am seeing show the i9 range going from 140W to 165W...

And in a 9 or 10 liter build, I would be more than happy with stock / turbo'ed clock speeds on both the the CPU & GPU... Note I am also including 'stock' speed RAM, nit going for overclocking that either...

Although that Turbo Boost Max 3.0 is looking good, but that would require going from the i9-7800X (6c/12t / 140W / 3.5GHz base clock, probably 4.0GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0) to the i9-7820X (8c/16t / still 140W / 3.6GHz base clock & 4.5GHz Turbo Boost Max 3.0 clock rate on the top 1 or 2 cores)...

Just might be worth the extra couple hundred bucks for the Turbo Boost Max 3.0 & the two extra cores (4 extra threads) that come along with the i9-7820X...!

 

[Biowarejak]

Base parts needed to develop templates for this engineering exercise would be a LZ7 chassis, the motherboard, the GPU, the PSU components, & the intake / exhaust fans...

So to make / have made templates & panels cut would be under US$2K...

Then one would need to add in the cost of the CPU, CPU cooler (and second fan), RAM, M.2 SSD(s), & custom cables; about another US$2.7K if you max out the RAM & go with three 1TB M.2 SSDs...

I can't say for certain but that sounds about right.

I believe the i9-7800K is at a lower TDP, I believe the TDP increases across the SKU range / as the core count increases...?

And in a 9 or 10 liter build, I would be more tan happy with stock / turbo'ed clock speeds on both the the CPU & GPU... Note I am also including 'stock' speed RAM, nit going for overclocking that either...

That makes sense

 

[Boil]

First off, I realized I am using the wrong naming scheme for the i9 CPUs; they are "X" class CPUs, not "K" class...!

So, corrections have been made throughout this thread...

Now, if one wanted to go Total Baller, one could go with three 2TB 960 PRO M.2 SSDs & the i9-7920X (12c/24t / keeping to the 140W TDP / unknown at this point base clock, but rumored to have the same 'best 1 or 2 cores' Turbo Boost Max 3.0 clock rate of 4.5GHz); this would have a $ / liter ratio of US$1K / liter (assuming the 10 liter bounding box measurement with vertical chassis orientation)...!!!

 

[cmyk78]

This sounds great, but I would recommend going with the NH-U9S instead of the NH-D9L. The NH-U9S is nearly 100 grams heavier than the NH-D9L with a higher fin count to boot. Additionally the NH-U9S is 15mm taller, but maintains compatibility with the LZ7. When installed on my 6700k it is still shorter than my Gigabyte 1070.
You can look to my build log to see the fitment.

 

[Boil]

This sounds great, but I would recommend going with the NH-U9S instead of the NH-D9L. The NH-U9S is nearly 100 grams heavier than the NH-D9L with a higher fin count to boot. Additionally the NH-U9S is 15mm taller, but maintains compatibility with the LZ7. When installed on my 6700k it is still shorter than my Gigabyte 1070.
You can look to my build log to see the fitment.

I have looked at that build before, looking forward to seeing it without the PSU hanging out the back...!

I would have to agree about the NH-U9S, more mass in the heatsink is good, and a second fan can still be added for push/pull (as you have done)...!

Final note for the 'evening'...

I really, Really, REALLY hope ASRock includes RAID 5 ability across the three M.2 slots; this would give a damned nice 2TB 'system drive' to work with...!

 

[|||]

I really, Really, REALLY hope ASRock includes RAID 5 ability across the three M.2 slots; this would give a damned nice 2TB 'system drive' to work with...!

I am thinking it depends on whether the M.2's are hanging off of the CPU or the chipset. If they go to the chipset, it supports Intel RST. The CPU, however, does not have any hardware RAID support that I know of (unless it is brand new and not touted).

Anyways, I had already passed a question like this to the guys at Computex to ask...we'll see what they back with.

 

[tomnyamkun]

You've got a big dream inside a small chassis!

Just my opinion, wouldn't it make more sense using a 140mm radiator instead of the noctua?
As you make a longer side panel, it should now fit a 140mm radiator outside the case.

For bonus, you can use an sfx power supply instead of an external brick

 

[Boil]

You've got a big dream inside a small chassis!

Just my opinion, wouldn't it make more sense using a 140mm radiator instead of the noctua?
As you make a longer side panel, it should now fit a 140mm radiator outside the case.

For bonus, you can use an sfx power supply instead of an external brick

If I went AIO, I would want it internal,so an even wider or deeper chassis; and I would feel compelled to go with the Zotac GTX 1080Ti Arctic Storm Mini (I believe it is a Ti model; the article on the SFF Network states 1080, but the pic clearly has the "Ti" on it...) which would need space for a second AIO & might require increasing the height because of the fittings... Now, getting custom panels is one thing, but needing taller corner pieces would be a whole other issue...

As of the PSU assembly, no external power brick, all internal...

 

[WillBlackstone]

If I went AIO, I would want it internal,so an even wider or deeper chassis; and I would feel compelled to go with the Zotac GTX 1080Ti Arctic Storm Mini (I believe it is a Ti model; the article on the SFF Network states 1080, but the pic clearly has the "Ti" on it...) which would need space for a second AIO & might require increasing the height because of the fittings... Now, getting custom panels is one thing, but needing taller corner pieces would be a whole other issue...

As of the PSU assembly, no external power brick, all internal...

Nah its a Ti fo sho

 

[tomnyamkun]

If I went AIO, I would want it internal,so an even wider or deeper chassis; and I would feel compelled to go with the Zotac GTX 1080Ti Arctic Storm Mini (I believe it is a Ti model; the article on the SFF Network states 1080, but the pic clearly has the "Ti" on it...) which would need space for a second AIO & might require increasing the height because of the fittings... Now, getting custom panels is one thing, but needing taller corner pieces would be a whole other issue...

As of the PSU assembly, no external power brick, all internal...

Cool, that make sense!
Such as shame that the 1080ti arctic storm is such a tall card.

Ahhh, I just see the HDPLEX AC-DC unit, that make sense now.
I wish you good luck in the journey