Cube to the MAX!

[ersterhernd]

Ersterhernd,

Thanks for the information. In the pic of your last post is visible, that you use the Macmini6,1 definition. I think, it could be better (and probably cooler) to use the 6,2 (i7) definition.

The "weak point" of your cooling solution probably is the gelid cooler. The perfect cooler for an i7 Cube would be a heatpipe-cooler with "L" shape and lots of lamellas, which are sitting in the airstream of the case fan. What do you think?

This is a heatpipe-cooler from an old Pentium 4 Shuttle barebone:
View attachment 54508

MacTester

Hi MacTester, I changed to the 6,2 def. Seems to work just fine, benches the same.

I agree with you about the CPU cooler. Where the Gelid didn't even have to ramp up on the i3, it is pushed to the max with the i7. Rated at 65W in the specs, which I figured was going to be a stretch with the four-core processor. Some variant of your pictured solution would be the ticket. As you know there's just so damned little space in these Cubes that the limits are quickly hit. You've got barely 92mm between the rails not much more than 100mm of height to work with before the white grill interferes.

I think that unless someone pulls a rabbit out of a hat here, any solution currently available that fits properly will be at best be pushed hard under loaded conditions. I'd be VERY interested to see how the i7 works with your custom-machined solution as compared to the i3 in there now. Maybe you'll be able to treat us to that sometime...

Btw, I managed to slide another SSD into the i7 yesterday without impeding the airflow design, had to go with a Samsung 840 with a 6.8mm height for it to work. I've always liked the idea of two physical drives, didn't think that was gonna work in this build but got one squeaked into the system after all.

Calling it complete. NO MORE CUBES for a while...


Ersterhernd

 

[sleppek]

Hi ersterhernd,...

you did a reaaaally good job! And the geekbench results are amazing!

Regaring the temperatures: My CPU and GPU temps are okay but the "Northbridge" is getting really hot when the Cube is running all day long. I had temperatures about 65-68°C even with the greater heat sink. Now I'm using the 40x40x10 Noctua fan (with low noise adapter) for cooling my blue heat sink and the temperature is about 5-7°C lower.

What kind of temp do you have in your system for the Northbridge?

Stefan

 

[kiwisincebirth]

I agree with you about the CPU cooler. Where the Gelid didn't even have to ramp up on the i3, it is pushed to the max with the i7. Rated at 65W in the specs, which I figured was going to be a stretch with the four-core processor. Some variant of your pictured solution would be the ticket. As you know there's just so damned little space in these Cubes that the limits are quickly hit. You've got barely 92mm between the rails not much more than 100mm of height to work with before the white grill interferes.

I think that unless someone pulls a rabbit out of a hat here, any solution currently available that fits properly will be at best be pushed hard under loaded conditions. I'd be VERY interested to see how the i7 works with your custom-machined solution as compared to the i3 in there now. Maybe you'll be able to treat us to that sometime...

I think the approach used in Sleppek's Cube 2.1 is the best design for cooling in the g4 Cube, basically a low profile heat-sink with a top mounted fan. The fan is mounted in the cavity between the latching mechanism. Unfortunately the Slim Silence dedicates a lot of its volume to its integrated (and smaller) fan so a lot of cooling surface area is lost.

I found a good looking cooler the Xigmatek PRAETON LD963 is just 29mm high, so only 1mm higher than Slim Silence, can fit under the latching mechanism easily. It comes with a 90mm - 15mm PWM fan. It also makes a bold statement about TDP of 115w, which means it should easily cope with a 65w Core i7.

 

[ersterhernd]

Hi Kiwi, I agree that the top mounted fan on top of the cooler is the best possible solution.

Unless I read this wrong, I only found a spec'd height of the cooler you linked to at 44mm. Perhaps you meant that the cooler (without fan) itself is 29mm? If the fan could be somehow offset from the cooler and then mounted into the 92mm space between the two latching mechanisms, this type of unit may work. However, about 1/3 of the cooler will then be fan-less, so I'm not sure if that'd be any better than the Gelid or not. The lowest profile I've ever seen in the top-mounted fan design is Noctua's. I believe Nielhart used that successfully in a custom build, but it's 37mm total height makes it unusable in the Cube if the goal is to preserve the I/O the way I've done and and mount USB ports behind the motherboard.


Please correct me if I mis-read your post...


Cheers!

 

[ersterhernd]

Hi ersterhernd,...

you did a reaaaally good job! And the geekbench results are amazing!

Regaring the temperatures: My CPU and GPU temps are okay but the "Northbridge" is getting really hot when the Cube is running all day long. I had temperatures about 65-68°C even with the greater heat sink. Now I'm using the 40x40x10 Noctua fan (with low noise adapter) for cooling my blue heat sink and the temperature is about 5-7°C lower.

What kind of temp do you have in your system for the Northbridge?

Stefan

Hi Sleppek, thx for the kind remarks! This was a fun project for sure.

About the northbridge, I have NO reading for it with the latest Multibeast HW monitor. I resorted back to the previous version and it stays locked on 123 degrees Celcius, the same as my i3 Cube sitting here. There must be an error in the sensor reading, as 123 is way out of the ballpark. This is a Q77 chip, so maybe thats the issue, who knows.

Sorry I can't help you with that...


Cheers!

 

[sleppek]

About the northbridge, I have NO reading for it with the latest Multibeast HW monitor. I resorted back to the previous version and it stays locked on 123 degrees Celcius, the same as my i3 Cube sitting here. There must be an error in the sensor reading, as 123 is way out of the ballpark. This is a Q77 chip, so maybe thats the issue, who knows.

Okay... my "Ambient" temp always says 201°C

I'm currently using the "Coolink Mainboard Silencer"(Aluminium, 80g). Maybe I switch to the "Enzotech CNB-S1" (Copper, 88g) which is now available in Germany (a few days ago the forecast was end of july ) and take the 40x40x10 Noctua without LNA!

There I always room for optimization

 

[MacTester57]

I'd be VERY interested to see how the i7 works with your custom-machined solution as compared to the i3 in there now. Maybe you'll be able to treat us to that sometime...

I would like to test that too. But I think, that the WAF is not very big, if I want to change the CPU of a new Hack...

At this time, I do some rework on the Cube, because the case for the Mac Audio still did not arrive:
-Interchange the i3-3225 between the cube and the Mac audio to check if it is normal, that the Cube's CPU needs about 0.2V more -> It is, now the Mac Audio's CPU is running @ 1.2V with light load (Powermanagement is configured correctly)
-WiFi with one antenna. (Which Antenna connector on the module did you use? I have better speeds here with the white one)
-Infrared receiver
-Screw together the copper blocks with 4 screws to obtain a better planar surface. Better thermal compound. I hope, that the fan will spin up a bit less under heavy load then.

MacTester

 

[ersterhernd]

MacTester,

The Cube's CPU needs .2V more??? Wonder why? They're both 3225.

I've got the antenna connected up to the white post on the Wifi card as well, but did it to suit the antenna cable length. I don't know if it's any faster or slower as I haven't tested it.

Oh and no prob about the mention in the guide. I believe in credit where credit is due!

 

[kiwisincebirth]

Unless I read this wrong, I only found a spec'd height of the cooler you linked to at 44mm. Perhaps you meant that the cooler (without fan) itself is 29mm?

Yes thats what I meant.

If the fan could be somehow offset from the cooler and then mounted into the 92mm space between the two latching mechanisms, this type of unit may work. However, about 1/3 of the cooler will then be fan-less, so I'm not sure if that'd be any better than the Gelid or not.

Thats exactly what I proposed (and Sleppek built). Interesting thing, if you look at the detailed photos of the cooler the fins are not even, there are more fins to one side of the cpu block, so correct rotation would put more of the fins directly under the fan. Sleppek's cooler also has this design feature. Also the use of heat-pipes will more efficiently transfer heat to the exposed fins.

The lowest profile I've ever seen in the top-mounted fan design is Noctua's. I believe Nielhart used that successfully in a custom build, but it's 37mm total height makes it unusable in the Cube if the goal is to preserve the I/O the way I've done and and mount USB ports behind the motherboard.

If you remove the fan from the Noctua's cooler it is 23mm high, so can fit under the latching mechanism.

 

[ersterhernd]

Thats exactly what I proposed (and Sleppek built). Interesting thing, if you look at the detailed photos of the cooler the fins are not even, there are more fins to one side of the cpu block, so correct rotation would put more of the fins directly under the fan. Sleppek's cooler also has this design feature. Also the use of heat-pipes will more efficiently transfer heat to the exposed fins.

Interesting.

As you said, in the correct orientation, there'd be more fins available for cooling. Here's another thought, if the fan was moved one side there would actually be less cooling as the fan hub would be directly over the spot where fan blades need to be instead. So perhaps a smaller 80mm fan would actually be better, as there would be more direct airflow over the fins, rather than a rotating hub?

I've read the specs on that fan, I find the numbers somewhat staggering. 48CFM (82 cu. meters per hr) with 3.9mmH2O Static Pressure from a 15mm x 90mm fan @ 2200rpm???

Corsair's High Static Pressure units don't push much more than that and they're 25mm x 120mm fans. If Praetons numbers are in fact accurate, that looks like a product worth trying. If worse comes to worse and its a mm out, then 1mm could easily be filed off the top of the edge that was interfering with the latching mechanism, as there is no fan to worry about.

Good Find Kiwi...



Ersterhernd