Space / Cooling problems...

[burdie]

Dear all,

As many of you probably have been, I'm a reader, not a poster... Until now! ;-)

Inspired by this forum, and the beauty of the Cube, I decided to give it a go and buy a cube,
and the rest of the parts. What I wanted, was a serious powerhouse which could also replace my
PS4, with high quality parts, in which I think I succeeded...

Partlist:
Mainboard: Asus Maximus VII Impact (ITX) Z97 (with onboard AC-wifi and BT4.0)
CPU: Intel i5 4590
CPU cooler: low profile Noctua NH-L9i
GPU: Asus GTX 970 mini DCMOC
RAM: 2x 4Gb Crucial tactical LP
Main SSD: Samsung SM951 M2 SSD
Media HDD: 1 TB 2,5" Samsung drive
PSU: X7 500W Pico-PSU (+2x Dell 240W 19A power bricks)
Casefan: Noctua NF-A9x14 92 (Mounted below the grate on top, as a suctionfan)
Touch sensor: Original Cube sensor, modded
IR Sensor: Original Macbook Pro IR sensor

I dremeled out the holes in the back/bottom for the mainboard-shield, the 2 power bricks and the GPU.
And got it all working, while preserving the latch-system!

My problem; when running a benchmark (Unigine Heaven 4.0) the GTX970 reached temperatures slightly above 100C in just a few (5) minutes...

My question: I've seen others with a GTX970, how do you keep your cubes cool, without changing the exterior (acrylic/metal) housing?

Photo's below...

Thanks!!

Best regards,

Bart

 

[burdie]

And some more pictures...

 

[rayd]

I see some familiar ideas in there

Nice job

in your case, the GTX fan isn't facing an ideal spot - maybe see if you can find a side exit fan setup? at least then the hot air can get away from the casing rather than being trapped against the side wall

 

[neilhart]

burdie,

Too much power in too small of an enclosure…

84 Watt CPU
145 Watt GPU
? Watt PSU

Anyway the GPU exhausts hot air from its rear panel which is probably being taken back into the unit at the bottom panel.

Try flipping the card over so the CPU intake is towards the motherboard, at then rotate it so the exhaust is towards the top of the system. Install video jumper cables to the bottom of the unit.

Then you may still need to play around with ducting the air where it is needed,. There are examples here of that being helpful.

I tried a similar cube set up with my Max VII Impact, i7-4770t (45 W) and a GTX 760 and gave up,
see: http://www.tonymacx86.com/powermac-g4-cube/150747-maybe-another-cube-project-just-idea-point.html I then went and repackaged the components into this system: http://www.tonymacx86.com/retail-ca...-w-m-2-xp941-booting-os-x-via-clover-xw1.html

My hacks have to pass my 1 hour thermal torture test running Prime95 and stay in the safe thermal range. I have only one cube that does that: http://www.tonymacx86.com/powermac-...ow-profile-intel-dh61ag-mini-itx-g4-cube.html

Several people here on the forum have high powered cubes running with ingenious cooling designs, so it can be accomplished.

Good modding,
neil

 

[burdie]

I see some familiar ideas in there

Nice job

in your case, the GTX fan isn't facing an ideal spot - maybe see if you can find a side exit fan setup? at least then the hot air can get away from the casing rather than being trapped against the side wall

Correct, all was stolen ;-)

I've already been thinking of your suggestion...

Or, making a hole in the acrylic, as well as the metal part of the enclosure so it can "breathe".

On the one hand, I don't like messing with the design of the case, on the other hand, it's on the back
and no one will ever see it.

Decisions, decisions...

 

[burdie]

burdie,

Too much power in too small of an enclosure…

84 Watt CPU
145 Watt GPU
? Watt PSU

Anyway the GPU exhausts hot air from its rear panel which is probably being taken back into the unit at the bottom panel.

Try flipping the card over so the CPU intake is towards the motherboard, at then rotate it so the exhaust is towards the top of the system. Install video jumper cables to the bottom of the unit.

Then you may still need to play around with ducting the air where it is needed,. There are examples here of that being helpful.

I tried a similar cube set up with my Max VII Impact, i7-4770t (45 W) and a GTX 760 and gave up,
see: http://www.tonymacx86.com/powermac-g4-cube/150747-maybe-another-cube-project-just-idea-point.html I then went and repackaged the components into this system: http://www.tonymacx86.com/retail-ca...-w-m-2-xp941-booting-os-x-via-clover-xw1.html

My hacks have to pass my 1 hour thermal torture test running Prime95 and stay in the safe thermal range. I have only one cube that does that: http://www.tonymacx86.com/powermac-...ow-profile-intel-dh61ag-mini-itx-g4-cube.html

Several people here on the forum have high powered cubes running with ingenious cooling designs, so it can be accomplished.

Good modding,
neil

The PSU is 500W (the one that's been discussed here earlier, from AliExpress) so it should be able to handle the power draw,
especially with the 2 Dell 240W powerbricks I have humming here...

I also noticed, my Noctua NH-L9i can only provide cooling for a 65W processor, while mine outputes 84W of hot air;
the 19W "undercapacity" of the processorcooler will probably flow back in the case, so that's not helping the GPU either.
It will probably heat up all components, so first thing to do is getting a i5 S-or T-Series...

Flipping the card over would be an option, but you would need a long (+30cm) riser card, and all kind of other gimmicks to
reach the PCIE connector.

I'm thinking of creating more space by remove the latch system. Do you have any writeup on keeping "the cube in the cube" without the handlebar-system?

 

[Dschijn]

I think making the GPU fan facing into the other direction is a must!

 

[minihack]

You did a great job of assembling everything neatly and getting it to work.

As has been said though you have done the classic thing of just adding too much stuff without enough air.

If it was me.....well I'd simply not put that much stuff in. But given that you have there are somethings to try.

First thing I'd try for fun is just removing the metal can and hanging it from the acrylic. I guess that this is not the quick easy thing though if you are relying on the internal handle. So as lovely as the latching mechanism is I would ditch it and go for what I am now using which is a air of nice M4 bolts at the top going into a pair of threaded rivets on the Cube inner core top plate......that will give more room and in itself may help a little.

Second thing I would do (which I know is extreme) is cut a hole in the back of the Cube where it is not seen. You could then arrange the GPU to suck from there or you might want to go the route of sticking in a water cooling block for the board and the GPU and fitting a 120 water cooler to exhaust from the back. According to my calculations it could work but the issue would be whether to go with a full coverage block for the ASUS and a separate water pump (which might necessitate you being very clever with pipes or putting the pump at the back of the case/externally mounted to the radiator fan!) or to go with an integrated pump/block (which is a much easier fit but might lead to undercooling of the mobo/RAM).

Last resort is to completely go for a custom inner cage......but I don't think I can talk about the details of one here myself yet. (sorry to be a bit cryptic).

Finally, I have a question. Does your hardware (before over heating!) manage to sleep with that PSU? Mine would not sleep as, while the 5v line would sleep, the 12v and 3.3v did not!!!!! That is the only issue I have with the AliExpress 500W unit but for me in the end it was a dealbreaker. I spent quite a while discussing that with the seller and while with some Mobos it probably does sleep okay, it certainly doesn't with the Asus Maximus Vi Impact with Devils Canyon - and with all other lower power PicoPSUs the same hardware was fine. So my hardware has been downgraded (removed over clocks) and is working with a single 200W Pico and Dell brick.

 

[rayd]

The PSU is 500W (the one that's been discussed here earlier, from AliExpress) so it should be able to handle the power draw,
especially with the 2 Dell 240W powerbricks I have humming here...

I also noticed, my Noctua NH-L9i can only provide cooling for a 65W processor, while mine outputes 84W of hot air;
the 19W "undercapacity" of the processorcooler will probably flow back in the case, so that's not helping the GPU either.
It will probably heat up all components, so first thing to do is getting a i5 S-or T-Series...

Flipping the card over would be an option, but you would need a long (+30cm) riser card, and all kind of other gimmicks to
reach the PCIE connector.

I'm thinking of creating more space by remove the latch system. Do you have any writeup on keeping "the cube in the cube" without the handlebar-system?

Exactly rite - thats why i ended up with the 4970S (65W) and 750 Ti (60W) easy simple

my next cube will run the 5775C (65W) + GPU, or the i7 6700K (84W) with no GPU

maybe look into those ?

 

[burdie]

You did a great job of assembling everything neatly and getting it to work.

As has been said though you have done the classic thing of just adding too much stuff without enough air.

If it was me.....well I'd simply not put that much stuff in. But given that you have there are somethings to try.

First thing I'd try for fun is just removing the metal can and hanging it from the acrylic. I guess that this is not the quick easy thing though if you are relying on the internal handle. So as lovely as the latching mechanism is I would ditch it and go for what I am now using which is a air of nice M4 bolts at the top going into a pair of threaded rivets on the Cube inner core top plate......that will give more room and in itself may help a little.

Second thing I would do (which I know is extreme) is cut a hole in the back of the Cube where it is not seen. You could then arrange the GPU to suck from there or you might want to go the route of sticking in a water cooling block for the board and the GPU and fitting a 120 water cooler to exhaust from the back. According to my calculations it could work but the issue would be whether to go with a full coverage block for the ASUS and a separate water pump (which might necessitate you being very clever with pipes or putting the pump at the back of the case/externally mounted to the radiator fan!) or to go with an integrated pump/block (which is a much easier fit but might lead to undercooling of the mobo/RAM).

Last resort is to completely go for a custom inner cage......but I don't think I can talk about the details of one here myself yet. (sorry to be a bit cryptic).

Finally, I have a question. Does your hardware (before over heating!) manage to sleep with that PSU? Mine would not sleep as, while the 5v line would sleep, the 12v and 3.3v did not!!!!! That is the only issue I have with the AliExpress 500W unit but for me in the end it was a dealbreaker. I spent quite a while discussing that with the seller and while with some Mobos it probably does sleep okay, it certainly doesn't with the Asus Maximus Vi Impact with Devils Canyon - and with all other lower power PicoPSUs the same hardware was fine. So my hardware has been downgraded (removed over clocks) and is working with a single 200W Pico and Dell brick.

Thanks for your comments.

Yes, I have been adding too much stuff. I will try putting the GPU the other way around, so the fan will face inwards, and it will not be too close to the metal casing.

In regards to the handle; I agree that it has got to go. Thing is, I'm not very much of a "craftsman" so I'm trying to finish this project without messing with the acrylic or metal casing. If anyone has a good idea of how to keep the inner part in the housing without messing with the outer housing, that would be great. I was thinking of having a transparent acrylic "ring" made that fits exactly in the cube, so the inner parts will be placed on the ring, and I just shove the housing over it.

I don't think water cooling is much of an option, since a) I don't know anything about it and b) this "project" has cost me €1200,- already, and I don't think it's worth it to spend anymore on it, since I'm so close of having it work.

I hope ditching the handle and perhaps rearranging the parts will be sufficient to have it run relatively cool.

Nope, mine doesn't go to sleep in either Windows 10 (x64) or El Capitan GM. It will go to sleep, but wakes up after a few minutes and stays on.

I also have had an issue with the seller, in regard that I think that only 1 power brick is actually drawing power. Also, my PC wouldn't even boot with the external GPU connected, while GPU-power was connected to the power socket on the opposite side of the board from the other connections.

I figured out myself, that if I connected the power on the same side as the other connections, it would work, but sometimes when doing graphically intense tasks (games like Crysis 3, modded with all mods enabled on Ultra) the PC would just shut off.
The blue light on the main Dell-brick is turned off then. I then have to disconnect the VIN1 (main) power brick from my wall socket, leave it for a minute, and then it will work again. It's definitely a piece of crap in terms of stability...

Anyone got any good ideas on how to keep the inner parts in the housing without messing with the housing?

Best regards,

Bart