Log Walrus WS — 2.6L Ryzen workstation with RTX A2000 and optimized cooling

[morj]

Hi!

It's this time of the year again: I'm building a new PC, of course it should be smaller than the previous one.

Current draft bullet points:

• 2.7L case
  (projected dimensions with lazer-cut 1mm top and bottom panels around 242.46mm * 176.15mm * 63mm = 2.69L)
• 0.3L passive 12V power brick
• Internal 12V plug PSU with custom wiring
• Thermalright AXP-90 Full X47 CPU cooler
• Ryzen 5900X or 5950X
• RTX A2000
• @REVOCCASES 20mm custom A2000 heatsink for 2x60mm fans
  
  

Prototype photos (probably I'll be printing some kind of a stand 'cause I like vertical orientation):

Airflow concept:

PSU concept:

I'm using a Rgeek 450W plug in lieu of Archdemon, needs custom wiring since the current one collides with the front panel:

Case is currently work in progress, will be posting more and updates on wiring and GPU modding later down the road.

Potential issues: can't seem to find a suitable PCI 4.0 riser so far, using short 3.0 riser I had lying around.

Would love to hear feedback on this project!

 

[Valantar]

This looks great! Genuinely curious about power though - what type of profile are you applying to the CPU to avoid it melting your PSU? 192W isn't much when you're looking at a 144W CPU + VRM losses, motherboard, fans, and a 70W-ish GPU.

 

[morj]

This looks great! Genuinely curious about power though - what type of profile are you applying to the CPU to avoid it melting your PSU? 192W isn't much when you're looking at a 144W CPU + VRM losses, motherboard, fans, and a 70W-ish GPU.

I'd probably run the CPU with 70-90W power limit depending on the real power numbers. Will see how much headroom I will get when a provisional config will be ready. I have no budget for the CPU yet, have to sell some stuff first.

UPD: the fans will draw about 5W combined in this build when all running at full speed.

 

[morj]

This looks great! Genuinely curious about power though - what type of profile are you applying to the CPU to avoid it melting your PSU? 192W isn't much when you're looking at a 144W CPU + VRM losses, motherboard, fans, and a 70W-ish GPU.

BTW, real world power draw for 5900X was around 133W stock as measured by Gamers Nexus, with an undervolt we are looking at something more manageable. I assume with undervolt and power limits it can achieve decent chunk of its stock performance.

 

[robbee]

Very nice!! Will be keeping a close eye on this one. Too bad I'm short on time these days because I would've loved to build with @REVOCCASES his heatsink concepts too. Still very happy to see this come to life though!

Have you considered going with an internal brick? Meanwell has some nice options with their UHP and LSP line up which wouldn't add a lot of volume if you put them in the front of the case.

By the way, what riser are you looking for? Just a hort flexible riser or would you prefer a PCB riser for some extra support?

 

[Valantar]

BTW, real world power draw for 5900X was around 133W stock as measured by Gamers Nexus, with an undervolt we are looking at something more manageable. I assume with undervolt and power limits it can achieve decent chunk of its stock performance.

Anandtech pegged theirs at 142W - notably not under an all-core load, but rather at 100% load on 8 cores, with all-core dropping to 129W. Guess that's the nature of a highly dynamic clock scaling algorithm with a many-core CPU.

I'd probably run the CPU with 70-90W power limit depending on the real power numbers. Will see how much headroom I will get when a provisional config will be ready. I have no budget for the CPU yet, have to sell some stuff first.

UPD: the fans will draw about 5W combined in this build when all running at full speed.

That sounds sensible. And yes, fans don't consume much, I just mentioned them as they're one of the few low-power draws still left in a system like this. 5w peak for those + 5-9W for an m.2 + maybe 10W for the motherboard and 6-10% of the CPU's power draw for VRM losses and things start adding up quickly. Of course this is all worst case scenario/full load, which is unlikely in real life. Still, Ryzen 5000 has such great power tuning abilities (and scales so well at low power!) that I have no doubt you'll be able to tune it to perform great.


Oh, btw, what is the case made from? Acrylic?

 

[ignsvn]

of course it should be smaller than the previous one.

That's the spirit

 

[Valantar]

That's the spirit

While I agree, that approach has me worried for the next generation

 

[morj]

Oh, btw, what is the case made from? Acrylic?

Currently 3D printed with PLA, but corner cubes will allow replacing all the panels with lazer-cut 1mm steel (or 2mm alu).

 

[morj]

By the way, what riser are you looking for? Just a hort flexible riser or would you prefer a PCB riser for some extra support?

Flexible riser since the GPU is offset towards the motherboard.

 

[morj]

Small update:

I tested the fan mount, not without issues: mounting this standoffs (used as M3 nuts) is very fiddly and apparently the motherboard is not exactly 170mm so I have like 0.5mm tolerance issue when closing the panel next to the fans. I guess I'll have to file down either the fan frames or the motherboard

 

[morj]

Have you considered going with an internal brick? Meanwell has some nice options with their UHP and LSP line up which wouldn't add a lot of volume if you put them in the front of the case.

I have considered an internal brick, but for my scenario I'd prefer to have 2 bricks (one at home and one at work) so I can move the workstation around more easily. Maybe later I will do a brickless revision (with higher volume and with higher CPU cooler clearance).

 

[Valantar]

Currently 3D printed with PLA, but corner cubes will allow replacing all the panels with lazer-cut 1mm steel (or 2mm alu).

Ah, that explains the 3D features I was seeing. I couldn't see any of the tell-tale lines of a 3D printed case, so I couldn't be sure. 1mm steel sounds ... well, sturdy!

 

[morj]

Ah, that explains the 3D features I was seeing. I couldn't see any of the tell-tale lines of a 3D printed case, so I couldn't be sure. 1mm steel sounds ... well, sturdy!

Yeah, there are some 3D features like a provisional GPU shroud (to direct airflow), but they can be converted to separate parts that will be screwed to the panels. I need to research the actual materials, maybe 1mm steel will be overkill. On the other hand, 1mm alu might be too flimsy. Going 1mm is tempting because it can make the case 63mm thick instead of 65mm thick.

 

[BaK]

I'm using a Rgeek 450W plug in lieu of Archdemon, needs custom wiring since the current one collides with the front panel

You could add some liquid tape on the naked wires for extra safety.

 

[morj]

You could add some liquid tape on the naked wires for extra safety.

Thanks! Noted, ordered. The actual solder joints are on the other side. I will show them once I solder all the needed wires.

 

[morj]

Update: managed to solder all the required 16AWG wires to the PSU. Half-decent job at best, but this will do, probably having double 16AWG is overkill for total 200W, so not worried yet. My soldering has improved towards the last joints, but still not ideal.

 

[Vir]

Your projects are always fun to read about!

 

[BaK]

My soldering has improved towards the last joints, but still not ideal.

They look quite good, just a bit much solder I would say.

A proper solder joint is smooth, shiny and looks like a volcano or cone shape. You want just enough solder to cover the entire joint but not too much so it becomes a ball or spills to a nearby lead or joint.

How To Solder: A Complete Beginners Guide - Makerspaces.com

Learn how to solder w/ proper soldering techniques. In this tutorial we explore soldering irons, soldering stations, types of solder, desoldering. PDF ebook

www.makerspaces.com

Not that I'm particularly good at that, but removing the soldering iron upward, sort of licking the wire with it, helps having a nice volcano shape.

 

[Valantar]

They look quite good, just a bit much solder I would say.

A proper solder joint is smooth, shiny and looks like a volcano or cone shape. You want just enough solder to cover the entire joint but not too much so it becomes a ball or spills to a nearby lead or joint.

How To Solder: A Complete Beginners Guide - Makerspaces.com

Learn how to solder w/ proper soldering techniques. In this tutorial we explore soldering irons, soldering stations, types of solder, desoldering. PDF ebook

www.makerspaces.com

Not that I'm particularly good at that, but removing the soldering iron upward, sort of licking the wire with it, helps having a nice volcano shape.

In this case there doesn't seem to be enough wire sticking through to form that volcano shape, which might be the "issue" here (not that it's likely to be an issue). These joints look like the wire was cut pretty short before soldering, while AFAIK best practices are to put quite a bit through then crop down to a sensible length after soldering. I doubt it matters in this case, but as you say, there looks to be a tad too much solder on there, which would probably have been avoided if working with longer wires.