Advice What's Next For Full Circle?

[Soul_Est]

I am looking to make my build, Full Circle, portable again (once I can travel again). I got back into PC gaming and plan to get back into 3D and CAD modeling as well.

After my HDPLEX 400W AC/DC died twice last year, I had my main machine powered by a SF750 and housed inside a Meslicious. Yes, I had contacted Larry about it the first time my HDPLEX 400W AC/DC died, then I got curious and impatient, and had a friend of a friend look at it where it died the second and final time. I am going to move the build back into my Skyreach 4 Mini. My only concern now is which way to go for the power supply. My current budget is low though I can buy piece by piece over time.

The easy solution would be to get two HDPLEX 250W GaN units to power the build in it's current state as the Ryzen 7 2700X and RX VEGA 56 Nano (especially) are quite power hungry.

The medium solution would be to get one HDPLEX 250W GaN unit and limit the power draw of the Ryzen 7 2700X and RX VEGA 56 Nano (especially).

The difficult solution would be to get one HDPLEX 250W GaN unit and upgrade to a Ryzen 7 5700X and RX 6600. By going with the difficult solution, I might as well change the motherboard (B550), memory (32GB DDR4-4000 CL18), and CPU cooler (Alpenfohn Black Ridge) at some point as well.

What do you think?

EDIT: Updated for readability.

 

[thelaughingman]

hmm so just to be clear, only the AC-DC brick died? your DC-ATX plugin is still okay? probably can sell that to offset the cost of the new PSU solution.

personally I would go for the 250w GaN AND limiting power draw of your CPU and GPU. if you're upgrading to the new platform then might as well get a new case that gives you more flexibility in terms of PSU solution, for example getting a 5-7L case that supports Flex PSU. one more left field solution is to hunt for 1 of those G-stick that was meant for the S4M, that would just be plug-n-play.

 

[k0n]

After I did everything to avoid the 40mm fans I bought my first Flex-ATX recently. The formfactor got just to tempting and I don't like that with my current custom cases (4.32L and 3.93L) I depend on the HDPLEX 250W GaN. 110€ for the FlexGURU PRO 500W... and it's like I always thought it would be to loud even at idle.

Maybe start with one GaN and see if your current hardware will be to limited for you @250W? I ran the R9 Nano and a R5 3600 for a while on the 200W HDPLEX kit without issues. 750Mhz that the Nano could maintain vs. up to 1000Mhz but fluctuating to 800Mhz and alot higher powerdraw (750Mhz was like half the stock amount,. 3600 with a PPT of 56W).

 

[Soul_Est]

hmm so just to be clear, only the AC-DC brick died? your DC-ATX plugin is still okay? probably can sell that to offset the cost of the new PSU solution.

personally I would go for the 250w GaN AND limiting power draw of your CPU and GPU. if you're upgrading to the new platform then might as well get a new case that gives you more flexibility in terms of PSU solution, for example getting a 5-7L case that supports Flex PSU. one more left field solution is to hunt for 1 of those G-stick that was meant for the S4M, that would just be plug-n-play.

That is correct. The 400W DC-ATX still works. I will see about selling that and other spare parts in the near future to offset costs. I will definitely get a 250W GaN and just limit the power draw for now.

After I did everything to avoid the 40mm fans I bought my first Flex-ATX recently. The formfactor got just to tempting and I don't like that with my current custom cases (4.32L and 3.93L) I depend on the HDPLEX 250W GaN. 110€ for the FlexGURU PRO 500W... and it's like I always thought it would be to loud even at idle.

Maybe start with one GaN and see if your current hardware will be to limited for you @250W? I ran the R9 Nano and a R5 3600 for a while on the 200W HDPLEX kit without issues. 750Mhz that the Nano could maintain vs. up to 1000Mhz but fluctuating to 800Mhz and alot higher powerdraw (750Mhz was like half the stock amount,. 3600 with a PPT of 56W).

I will go with a single 250W GaN. Your suggestions on the limits are a contributing factor in the decision. Thank you for those.

 

[k0n]

Yes, if it turns out 2700X and Vega56 deliver to little performance for you @ 200-250W you can then think about a second GaN or a hardware update.

 

[Soul_Est]

Thank you again @thelaughingman and @k0n . You got me to reconsider my plan and reframe my perspective. And it paid off.

At my workplace, the IT dept. had been purging old hardware and I asked about it. I was told to go ahead.

And WAH-BAM!

I got two HP HSTNN-DA12 230W AC Adapters. Absolute bricks. They do power the HDPLEX 400W AC-DC though and that is what matters.

 

[Soul_Est]

Soon tm

 

[Soul_Est]

All done as of a week and a half ago.

The build crashes as it draws too much under load even with the 2700X set to 45W. Have to troubleshoot further.

 

[Soul_Est]

After a couple months, I have decided to decommission Full Circle.

The issues were that:

1. I have a capable personal laptop for my more freelance style work, my studying, and my media consumption. I mostly game on my Nintendo Switch.
2. I want, no need, to build a homelab to help grow my knowledge, experience, and skills.
3. I could no longer justify the time, effort, and money being put into it.

I will be posting up much of the parts from Full Circle and anything I am ready to part with in the Trade forum.

 

[Soul_Est]

A lot has happened up until now. During that time, I acquired a HDPLEX 400W AC-DC, made the Noctua fan mod on my VEGA 56 Nano more permanent, place shroud rebuilt the GX16 power inlet and GX16 cable plug, and rebuilt the entire machine.

Then I ran into dragons. The system would crash requiring a partial disassembly, changing the memory, reseating the riser, and flashing the BIOS. This had to be done multiple times. I realized that the BIOS may be the biggest issue. I had updated it to version 5102, the newest one at the time, as I was going to sell the motherboard. Now that that is no longer the case, I needed something that best supported the current configuration of Full Circle. I flashed version 5003, then 4702, and finally 4602. Once that happened, the system became unresponsive and I had to unplug the system.

Upon plugging in and powering on the computer, I was greeted with:

WARNING! BIOS Recovery mode has been detected,
Please put the file "RX450IGM.CAP" into HDD or a removable USB storage device,
And then reset your computer.
You can also insert ASUS support CD into your CD-ROM drive and reset your computer,
If you have done these, Please wait a moment and don't shutdown system!!!
System will be automatically rebooted

Going to try recovering the motherboard now with version 2202. Wish me luck.

 

[princess_daphie]

Damn boy... Unlucky, but persistent!

There are so many ways I would've done things differently, but I hope you do get to have a stable system one day. I've had lucks and bad lucks with my SFF adventures lately, but I've been able to resolve most issues eventually. My main issue currently is that I have way too many SFF cases now, and no way to use them all. It's become more of a collection than a usability problem. Quite the conundrum.

 

[Soul_Est]

Damn boy... Unlucky, but persistent!

There are so many ways I would've done things differently, but I hope you do get to have a stable system one day. I've had lucks and bad lucks with my SFF adventures lately, but I've been able to resolve most issues eventually. My main issue currently is that I have way too many SFF cases now, and no way to use them all. It's become more of a collection than a usability problem. Quite the conundrum.

I can be passionate and stubborn about certain things.

I would like to read your opinions and stories. Having too many cases is quite the achievement. Thank you for the well wishes. I will make it stable.

 

[princess_daphie]

I can be passionate and stubborn about certain things.

I would like to read your opinions and stories. Having too many cases is quite the achievement. Thank you for the well wishes. I will make it stable.

Passionate is good!

Well, the first thing that seems to be a problem for you to control your power draw is your R9 Nano. It's starting to be quite the old architecture and it was pretty inefficient, so I guess the first thing you should look to upgrade is your GPU! You could look into the RTX 4060 LP, as it's smaller than what you can fit in your case, but would give you more breathing room, both in terms of power draw and space in your tiny case! But I wouldn't upgrade everything in one go for sure, seems like a lot of money at once, haha! You can more easily control the TDP of your current CPU so that's that already.

As for choosing the GaN 250w, it seems like a very safe bet, considering HDPlex make the best small form factor PSUs! The HDPlex 160w I bought from them has been rock solid for me every time I've used it.

Personally, I've decided to move away from 19V and towards 12V for my current and future builds, so that's what I'm using and have researched into lately. I've become more acquainted with AliExpress, I gotta tell you, lol

 

[Soul_Est]

Passionate is good!

Well, the first thing that seems to be a problem for you to control your power draw is your R9 Nano. It's starting to be quite the old architecture and it was pretty inefficient, so I guess the first thing you should look to upgrade is your GPU! You could look into the RTX 4060 LP, as it's smaller than what you can fit in your case, but would give you more breathing room, both in terms of power draw and space in your tiny case! But I wouldn't upgrade everything in one go for sure, seems like a lot of money at once, haha! You can more easily control the TDP of your current CPU so that's that already.

As for choosing the GaN 250w, it seems like a very safe bet, considering HDPlex make the best small form factor PSUs! The HDPlex 160w I bought from them has been rock solid for me every time I've used it.

Personally, I've decided to move away from 19V and towards 12V for my current and future builds, so that's what I'm using and have researched into lately. I've become more acquainted with AliExpress, I gotta tell you, lol

Yeah, the VEGA 56 is pretty inefficient unless the clocks and voltages are tweaked. As interesting as NVIDIA cards are, I go with AMD or Intel as I run BSD or Linux only. I will most likely go with a RX 6600 Fighter (or RX 6650 XT Fighter).

For 12V power, what are you using? Mean Well? XBOX?

 

[princess_daphie]

Yeah, the VEGA 56 is pretty inefficient unless the clocks and voltages are tweaked. As interesting as NVIDIA cards are, I go with AMD or Intel as I run BSD or Linux only. I will most likely go with a RX 6600 Fighter (or RX 6650 XT Fighter).

Ahh, I understand yeah, both GPU companies have their pros and cons when it comes to different OSes, definitely!!!

For 12V power, what are you using? Mean Well? XBOX?

I've wanted to buy a Meanwell for a long time, but eventually ended up going for a different unit I found on AliExpress that seemed to be very solid and quality-built and risked it. It really is working well for me so far!

It's this unit: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004992822044.html

I do recommend it, just as long as my unit wasn't a unicorn, hopefully, because I plan on buying other units eventually like in 19V or 24V for my other Picos!

If you're curious, I made a thread a while ago about my AliExpress finds!

Power Supply - AliExpress PicoPSU finds! The Good, the Awesome and the Bad!!!

I thought I'd make a thread about my experimentations with AliExpress power supplies. Hopefully this might help some of you to make some less blinded choices! I've had a few good experiences and one very bad one. I'll start with the one I consider a failure and waste of money. THE BAD PICO-BOX...

smallformfactor.net

 

[Soul_Est]

Ahh, I understand yeah, both GPU companies have their pros and cons when it comes to different OSes, definitely!!!


I've wanted to buy a Meanwell for a long time, but eventually ended up going for a different unit I found on AliExpress that seemed to be very solid and quality-built and risked it. It really is working well for me so far!

It's this unit: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004992822044.html

I do recommend it, just as long as my unit wasn't a unicorn, hopefully, because I plan on buying other units eventually like in 19V or 24V for my other Picos!

If you're curious, I made a thread a while ago about my AliExpress finds!

Power Supply - AliExpress PicoPSU finds! The Good, the Awesome and the Bad!!!

I thought I'd make a thread about my experimentations with AliExpress power supplies. Hopefully this might help some of you to make some less blinded choices! I've had a few good experiences and one very bad one. I'll start with the one I consider a failure and waste of money. THE BAD PICO-BOX...

smallformfactor.net

That unit looks good especially for the price! Looking over your thread fills me with ideas and hope to building systems with 12V PSUs.


I seemed to have killed the BIOS on the board. Wednesday night, I did power it on with a USB 3.0 drive plugged in (MBR and FAT32) and left it for just under two hours. No changes and I had to turn it off to get some sleep. Turning it on after that yielded nothing even after clearing the CMOS. Might have to wish out a USB 2.0 drive to use. I also looked on ebay for BIOS chips. Found a seller and asked if they would flash a BIOS version of my choosing on to the chip to best support my build. Today, I wired the CMOS clear button back in and verified that it works.

We'll see what happens next I work on this.

 

[Soul_Est]

I have looked into my options for bringing Full Circle back. Two of them keep the original concept of Full Circle (a full AMD build) while one goes with Intel.

• Swap the BIOS chip on the board for another one off of ebay. I asked the seller if I can have an older version of the BIOS flashed on the chip and the seller confirmed that I could. I will need to get a hot air soldering station and flux. I have Kapton tape already
• Install a JGINYUE B550I Gaming (https://www.ebay.ca/itm/166227457446) and a Ryzen 7 5700X
• Install an ERYING 12th Skyline B660 ITX, either the I7-12650H (https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005005373813141.html) or I7-12900HK (https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005005681665317.html) variant

Of the three, the BIOS chip swap is the cheapest, followed by the JGINYUE board and newer processor, followed by the ERYING boards. As for what I trust more? I'd say the ERYING boards, followed by the BIOS chip swap, followed by the JGINYUE board and newer processor.

 

[Soul_Est]

I went with replacing the BIOS chip which was for the best as I ended up with a new (necessary) tool and got more experience soldering. Full Circle is back up an running now. It is completely stable now. I'll post pictures either in this thread or in a new thread in the Workshop subforum.

 

[Soul_Est]

I'll just post it here.

For the tools, I used a LRT 8858 Micro Hot Air Station (shown on the far right), a (shown to the left of the hot air station), and a ShineNow T12 Soldering Station with a JL02 tip (shown to the left of the fume extractor). For consumables, I used ChipQuik SMD-291, ChipQuik SMDLTLFP, and solder wick.



I then removed the chip.



After which I cleaned and tinned the pads.







I then soldered on the new chip.



A bit nerve-wracking and it went well.

 

[Soul_Est]

Last images of Full circle