Yep that's what I've been taught to do.
Besides what you say, I guess here the big 16AWG wires plus trying to stay low didn't help getting a nice volcano shape.
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Log Walrus WS — 2.6L Ryzen workstation with RTX A2000 and optimized cooling
- Thread starter morj
- Start date
Besides what you say, I guess here the big 16AWG wires plus trying to stay low didn't help getting a nice volcano shape.
My issue here was that 16AWG was a bit too tight for the holes in the PCB, so I cut them a bit shorter to make it less flexible (to get it through). But I haven't thought about passing through a long chunk of a wire, then cutting it.
Update: GPU modding.
Finally received the heatsink and backplate from @REVOCCASES. Superb machining, plenty of fasteners, beautiful copper patina on the backplate.
GPU disassembled and all cleaned up.
Using provided large thermal pad for the backplate, 2.5mm Thermalright Odyssey for the memory, 1mm EK to combine with 2.5mm for the VRMs.
Slightly damaged the thermal pad while trying to re-apply it.
That patina.
Primed and ready (forgot to take a photo with TIM applied to the die).
Beautiful.
But chonky:
Installed (I will bend the GPU backplate in the final build. Copper is pretty malleable).
Test run with Flex ATX PSU:
Next up: hurdles with the fan curve. The GPU runs very cool in a stress test (well under 70°C), but the fans are currently at 100%. I will workaround it with hooking up the fans to the mobo, see next post about fan curve for explanation.
Finally received the heatsink and backplate from @REVOCCASES. Superb machining, plenty of fasteners, beautiful copper patina on the backplate.
GPU disassembled and all cleaned up.
Using provided large thermal pad for the backplate, 2.5mm Thermalright Odyssey for the memory, 1mm EK to combine with 2.5mm for the VRMs.
Slightly damaged the thermal pad while trying to re-apply it.
That patina.
Primed and ready (forgot to take a photo with TIM applied to the die).
Beautiful.
But chonky:
Installed (I will bend the GPU backplate in the final build. Copper is pretty malleable).
Test run with Flex ATX PSU:
Next up: hurdles with the fan curve. The GPU runs very cool in a stress test (well under 70°C), but the fans are currently at 100%. I will workaround it with hooking up the fans to the mobo, see next post about fan curve for explanation.
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Update: GPU modding.
Finally received the heatsink and backplate from @REVOCCASES. Superb machining, plenty of fasteners, beautiful copper patina on the backplate.
GPU disassembled and all cleaned up.
Using provided large thermal pad for the backplate, 2.5mm Thermalright Odyssey for the memory, 1mm EK to combine with 2.5mm for the VRMs.
That patina.
Primed and ready (forgot to take a photo with TIM applied to the die).
Beautiful.
But chonky:
Installed (I will bend the GPU backplate in the final build. Copper is pretty malleable).
Test run with Flex ATX PSU:
Next up: hurdles with the fan curve. The GPU runs very cool in a stress test (well under 70°C), but the fans are currently at 100%. I will workaround it with hooking up the fans to the mobo, see next post about fan curve for explanation.
Looking great and I'm happy the cooler mod works well for you!
If you'd like to give it a personal finish, I made some tests with "exhaust pipe spray paint" - works pretty good and gives the cooler a nice matt black finish.
Quick update: I have a bit of setback, my AXP-90 Full Back doesn't quite fit on the ASRock motherboard. There is a slight clearance issue with the heatpipes against main VRM heatsink (like 0.3mm or so, could have dremeled out probably) as well as the cooler backplate (the "intel" backplate is somewhat obstructed by the chips on the back of the board).
In order to mitigate this issue I will move to X570/B550 board with normal AM4 mounting holes with PPLANE (or similar) 90 bracket. Unfortunately I will have to wait about 10-15 days for this bracket to arrive.
Here is a great post explaining this bracket, I should have done the research earlier:
https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/thermalright-axp90.11795/post-247342
Here is a great post explaining this bracket, I should have done the research earlier:
https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/thermalright-axp90.11795/post-247342
Update about the fan curve. So the minimum fan duty on RTX A2000 is 3000 RPM. No driver, no custom curve in Afterburner can mitigate this. So I will be running the fans off the motherboard via fan control utility. To test out the fan curve and PSU tweaks I have built this contraption with Cryorig C1 as CPU cooler since my AXP-90 doesn't fit the ASRock board (still waiting for another one).
I have set a linear fan curve for the 60mm fans in fan control and got this results:
After 6 minutes of FurMark:
After 1.5 hours of FurMark:
So the GPU temperature doesn't exceed 68 degrees, hotspot 73 and memory junction 70. Overall very solid temps and the fan duty never goes above 80% so they stay very quiet! The idea is just to set fans to constant 20% in Motherboard BIOS and then let Fan Control take over after system startup.
I have set a linear fan curve for the 60mm fans in fan control and got this results:
After 6 minutes of FurMark:
After 1.5 hours of FurMark:
So the GPU temperature doesn't exceed 68 degrees, hotspot 73 and memory junction 70. Overall very solid temps and the fan duty never goes above 80% so they stay very quiet! The idea is just to set fans to constant 20% in Motherboard BIOS and then let Fan Control take over after system startup.
Also I decided to go with HP EliteOne 200W PSU (which has still under 0.3L overall volume).
The PSU voltage is a bit sus at 11.85 volts, but it looks more or less legit. I need to first mod my pico to stress-test it (and for example to find out I got scammed and got a re-badged 160W one).
The PSU voltage is a bit sus at 11.85 volts, but it looks more or less legit. I need to first mod my pico to stress-test it (and for example to find out I got scammed and got a re-badged 160W one).
Thanks for the link!
No more receiving alerts when this thread is updated, even though I set it on 'watch'
Finally got my new cooler mounts and motherboard!
The idea of this brackets is to be able to mount AXP-90 series coolers on AM4 motherboards rotated so the airflow would not be directed towards RAM.
They also come with a hefty backplate (which unfortunately is too thick to fit in my case with 5mm motherboard standoffs using stock screws, I will mitigate it either with flatter head screws or by countersinking the holes in the backplate itself).
Looks very nice and stealthy. Also I got the 1.1 revision of this motherboard (B550I Aorus Pro AX) with WiFI 6E support.
I re-printed the provisional motherboard side panel of the case to support the fans and my new GPU shroud which is designed to prevent airflow from the GPU from recirculating inside the case (sorry for potato quality photo):
Also you can see the shroud has 6 mounting holes to connect it to the case (I found using the fan holes for mounting very inconvenient).
As you can see, I cut the back panel in order to save material since I want to redesign it a little bit before printing it new.
That's the orientation I like the most. Quite stable upright thanks to substantial GPU weight. Also it lets the GPU fans breathe the best.
Yeah, the motherboard side panel is bulging, that's due to protruding CPU cooler screws which I will address hopefully. Never mind the protrusions, it's only there to reinforce the 1mm thin plastic.
This layout works as well, but requires some case feet. The riser was available only in white, but I think it's not a big problem.
Bonus picture of the prototype running. The RGB location on this motherboard makes me want to add some holes to the front panels for extra style points.
Another bonus picture: fan and power cable management under the riser.
The idea of this brackets is to be able to mount AXP-90 series coolers on AM4 motherboards rotated so the airflow would not be directed towards RAM.
They also come with a hefty backplate (which unfortunately is too thick to fit in my case with 5mm motherboard standoffs using stock screws, I will mitigate it either with flatter head screws or by countersinking the holes in the backplate itself).
Looks very nice and stealthy. Also I got the 1.1 revision of this motherboard (B550I Aorus Pro AX) with WiFI 6E support.
I re-printed the provisional motherboard side panel of the case to support the fans and my new GPU shroud which is designed to prevent airflow from the GPU from recirculating inside the case (sorry for potato quality photo):
Also you can see the shroud has 6 mounting holes to connect it to the case (I found using the fan holes for mounting very inconvenient).
As you can see, I cut the back panel in order to save material since I want to redesign it a little bit before printing it new.
That's the orientation I like the most. Quite stable upright thanks to substantial GPU weight. Also it lets the GPU fans breathe the best.
Yeah, the motherboard side panel is bulging, that's due to protruding CPU cooler screws which I will address hopefully. Never mind the protrusions, it's only there to reinforce the 1mm thin plastic.
This layout works as well, but requires some case feet. The riser was available only in white, but I think it's not a big problem.
Bonus picture of the prototype running. The RGB location on this motherboard makes me want to add some holes to the front panels for extra style points.
Another bonus picture: fan and power cable management under the riser.
Heat dissipation of the cooler seems to be enough to support a ~90W CPU, so that's the ballpark limit I can have for the 59XX I hope I will have there. Seem to line up with the PSU capability more or less too.
OK, some good news. First, I finally found a good power brick (the one from HP Elite One). The first I ordered from Aliexpress couldn't sustain my 10 minute 200W stress test. The next unit from eBay could. That's one major box ticked until I maybe get a GAN 12V brick. This PSU is 149mm*25mm*75mm which is under 0.28L.
Also the voltage is more steady than the previous one.
I also chamfered the holes on my CPU backplate so I can use flush countersunk M3 screws:
The case design itself is also evolving: I added a notch and a more enveloping rear and front panels that also eliminate the need for corner cubes:
(This picture only shows the updated rear panel, front panel in the next ones)
And here's the front panel updated as well:
Note that the 12V CPU power wires are in the way of top exhaust fans. This was also addressed later.
Back side. So far I haven't ordered laser-cut metal panels, so the plastic has some reinforcement profile added.
Next I made a 8-pin extension to route the CPU power cable through the middle of the case:
The entire cable management is basically a rat's nest under the riser bend.
But the top of the case is now nice and ready for dual 5015 fans:
The fans are not quite ready yet because I have to cut the corner of one of them to clear the power choke next to the RAM (see pic above).
I also had a lot of issues coming up with a design of a side panel breathable and nice looking enough, but eventually saw a video describing an approach to implement very fine 3D-printed meshes (utilizing a slicer software after the panel is designed solid in CAD). The approach basically boils down to making top and bottom "walls" 0mm and then using infill patterns for the mesh.
(Screenshots from Ultimaker Cura 5.0)
Now the case design is mostly complete (I will tweak some minor stuff like cutout design and maybe will try to implement mesh for the GPU fans as well, but we'll see.
Photoshoot later when I fix the 5015 exhaust fans for the sake of completeness.
Bonus: "exploded" animation of the case in CAD (not sure how to insert video to be played inline):
Also the voltage is more steady than the previous one.
I also chamfered the holes on my CPU backplate so I can use flush countersunk M3 screws:
The case design itself is also evolving: I added a notch and a more enveloping rear and front panels that also eliminate the need for corner cubes:
(This picture only shows the updated rear panel, front panel in the next ones)
And here's the front panel updated as well:
Note that the 12V CPU power wires are in the way of top exhaust fans. This was also addressed later.
Back side. So far I haven't ordered laser-cut metal panels, so the plastic has some reinforcement profile added.
Next I made a 8-pin extension to route the CPU power cable through the middle of the case:
The entire cable management is basically a rat's nest under the riser bend.
But the top of the case is now nice and ready for dual 5015 fans:
The fans are not quite ready yet because I have to cut the corner of one of them to clear the power choke next to the RAM (see pic above).
I also had a lot of issues coming up with a design of a side panel breathable and nice looking enough, but eventually saw a video describing an approach to implement very fine 3D-printed meshes (utilizing a slicer software after the panel is designed solid in CAD). The approach basically boils down to making top and bottom "walls" 0mm and then using infill patterns for the mesh.
(Screenshots from Ultimaker Cura 5.0)
Now the case design is mostly complete (I will tweak some minor stuff like cutout design and maybe will try to implement mesh for the GPU fans as well, but we'll see.
Photoshoot later when I fix the 5015 exhaust fans for the sake of completeness.
Bonus: "exploded" animation of the case in CAD (not sure how to insert video to be played inline):
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That mesh print is super smart! Gotta remember it for upcoming projects...
Yeah, after I saw that video and tried it myself, I was blown away by the quality of the resulting part.
EDIT: yeah, it will totally work for your Talos project.
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BTW, the final case volume with 2mm plastic mesh as side panel is 240.46 * 64 * 176.15 = 2.71L, total volume with 0.28L brick is 2.99L.
With 1mm side panels it can be even smaller, but probably by sacrificing the looks.
With 1mm side panels it can be even smaller, but probably by sacrificing the looks.
Curiosity
Too busy figuring out if I can to think if I shoul
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What are those mod cubes you're using? Are they just 10mm ones sawed in half?
This build is super siick, I love it. You've really got a talent for cramming hardware in small spaces.
This build is super siick, I love it. You've really got a talent for cramming hardware in small spaces.
Thanks! Nope, those are off-the-shelf 10x10x6 M3 cubes (EDIT: not exactly cubes
) from Aliexpress.
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Slowly getting there. Printed a small mesh for the front GPU exhaust, mounted both top 5015 fans, swapped RAM to 64GB Corsair LPX. Now only to find a good deal on the CPU...
Bonus picture: the fan had to be cut to fit
Since we are both trying infill as mesh and trying to make it look as good as possible, just reporting I have had a bit better success by turn on Combing, Retraction, and being ready to pause the print on the first layer if there's any stray fuzz that gets layed down before the pattern is layed. I have had a few prints now that have no artifacts at all in the mesh. Also Lines or Zigzag is the the Safe option which won't have any chance of misprint, with Grid looking better, but having a higher chance to fail.
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