Silent HTPC Build: Streacom DB4 case, ASRock Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming-ITX/ac, Core i5-7600, Sierra

[GerhardZ]

I've thrown together a few quick images to show you what I mean:View attachment 237926 View attachment 237927

So the large\long aluminum heat spreader should have the side with the heat pipes facing the case wall, rather than the inside of the case. In theory you should see a bit better thermal performance since the copper comes in direct contact(maybe with some thermal paste), with the actual heatsink. If you're seeing 50C temps under normal use you may not have any issues, though. Also, you may want to look into undervolting your processor. In a situation like this, where you have limited cooling capacity, it helps if less heat is generated. If you do a search on Youtube there are some good videos that will show about a 20C heat reduction under full processor load. I've got my i5-4690K undervolted by 0.099 V and have dropped my temps by about 18-20C when under load without any performance loss.

Just got my sleeving in last night from MDPC-x and I'm quite excited to get that done! Part of the reason I'm no longer using my ZeroFlex 240 is because it only has two Sata Power connectors...Kinda low even for an ITX setup. That and the AC to DC conversion is where most heat is generated(when working with a very efficient PSU) so using an external power brick brought down my internal case temps by about 2-3C(with the minimal testing that I did).


Let me know if you have any questions or if I can help in some way! Best of luck with the board\KL hack project!

Thanks for the illustration! You're right, my heat spreader faces the other way around. OK, that's going to be my weekend project

The undervolting suggestion is very interesting. I didn't know about that. Does it in any way make the CPU less stable?

Would love to see some pictures once you have your sleeves in. Am curious about that.

 

[lee.iii.will]

Thanks for the illustration! You're right, my heat spreader faces the other way around. OK, that's going to be my weekend project

You should do some tests before changing the orientation! It SHOULD be cooler with the heat pipes in contact but I'm curious if the flat surface helps at all with a better heat transfer!

The undervolting suggestion is very interesting. I didn't know about that. Does it in any way make the CPU less stable?

Yes and No... If you undervolt your processor too much you will end up with instability issues. While I was testing my undervolt I had a few Blue screens in Windows related to too little power but I've got them ironed out and haven't seen one in a few weeks(on 24/7 and checking error logs). There is a pretty good write up I'll link here that explains the concept really well. It's old(2008) but still holds true. Read Here

Would love to see some pictures once you have your sleeves in. Am curious about that.

I'll try and get some pictures thrown on here once I have the cable management under control!! Thank's for the interest!

 

[ezsolt]

Great pal!

I have a machine built for the case, but mine is a skylake one and with a GTX 950 mini gpu.

 

[kappatre]

Hi!

I'm working on a build using your same motherboard (with a 7700k and a RX 480 GPU). So far I have got almost everything to work (audio is shitty as I'm not getting proper stereo for some reason but I'll work on that later) except USB 3.

Basically all USB 2.0 devices are working whereas all USB 3.0 devices aren't....

Were you able to get your USB 3 ports recognized? If so could you give me any directions on what to do? Thanks!

 

[inota]

GerhardZ ,
Regarding thunderbolt I think you should boot with windows first.
Update firmware and bios if necessary , and see if thunderbolt is detect by windows.
Then you can start your macOS install procedure. This link maybe useful although its for gigabyte but i think it should work with Asrock( https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...-thunderbolt-3-to-thunderbolt-adapter.200902/ ).Looking forward for good news with this mobo cause I plan to build with this one.
Hope this helps you guys!!

 

[GerhardZ]

GerhardZ ,
Regarding thunderbolt I think you should boot with windows first.
Update firmware and bios if necessary , and see if thunderbolt is detect by windows.
Then you can start your macOS install procedure. This link maybe useful although its for gigabyte but i think it should work with Asrock( https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...-thunderbolt-3-to-thunderbolt-adapter.200902/ ).Looking forward for good news with this mobo cause I plan to build with this one.
Hope this helps you guys!!

Thanks for this! AM travelling now, but will give it a try over the weekend.

 

[GerhardZ]

Hi!

I'm working on a build using your same motherboard (with a 7700k and a RX 480 GPU). So far I have got almost everything to work (audio is shitty as I'm not getting proper stereo for some reason but I'll work on that later) except USB 3.

Basically all USB 2.0 devices are working whereas all USB 3.0 devices aren't....

Were you able to get your USB 3 ports recognized? If so could you give me any directions on what to do? Thanks!

My USB is working fine it seems. Am happy to send you my config files for you to have a look at.

 

[kappatre]

My USB is working fine it seems. Am happy to send you my config files for you to have a look at.

I would love to poke at your config files if possible! I have since gotten USB to kinda-sorta-work, and by that I mean that all mobo ports work but whether my case ports will work or not seems to be random. I am also getting cold reboots (screen goes black then sudden reboot, nothing shows up in the kernel panic logs) that I think might related to USB behavior, but I'm really not sure

My other "symptom" is that both my Bluetooth and Wifi USB dongles have very low signal/power/range when compared to how they behave on windows. My Bluetooth dongle that usually covers my entire house is barely enough for a 3-4 meter radius while running macOS

Btw, did you ever get Thunderbolt/USB C running at all?

 

[GerhardZ]

I would love to poke at your config files if possible! I have since gotten USB to kinda-sorta-work, and by that I mean that all mobo ports work but whether my case ports will work or not seems to be random. I am also getting cold reboots (screen goes black then sudden reboot, nothing shows up in the kernel panic logs) that I think might related to USB behavior, but I'm really not sure

My other "symptom" is that both my Bluetooth and Wifi USB dongles have very low signal/power/range when compared to how they behave on windows. My Bluetooth dongle that usually covers my entire house is barely enough for a 3-4 meter radius while running macOS

Btw, did you ever get Thunderbolt/USB C running at all?

Hi Kappatre. Will send you my files over the weekend (am on a business trip). You must have gotten something very wrong, cause I never experienced the cold reboots. Perhaps your Radeon card is causing this? I'm using the Intel HD630 internal GPU.

For BT/Wifi, are you using the DW1560, or the stock Intel M.2 card?

I haven't started looking at the Thunderbolt port yet... am travelling too much these days...

 

[kappatre]

Hi Kappatre. Will send you my files over the weekend (am on a business trip). You must have gotten something very wrong, cause I never experienced the cold reboots. Perhaps your Radeon card is causing this? I'm using the Intel HD630 internal GPU.

For BT/Wifi, are you using the DW1560, or the stock Intel M.2 card?

I haven't started looking at the Thunderbolt port yet... am travelling too much these days...

Hey

After a few more patches I don't experience the cold reboots anymore, so perhaps it was indeed due to the radeon card. I also have USB3 working fine now too, although sometimes USB3 will get "downgraded" to USB2 for whatever reason

I'm using a realtek dongle for wifi and I was using a CSR dongle for bluetooth but I removed that as the intel bluetooth is much better (dongle works fine on windows though..)

I'm bidding on a couple of DW1560s but I'm not sure I'll get them... I can get by without wifi anyway