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Near-Silent mITX SG07 w/ Acoustipack, HR-02, GUP Smart Drive

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 1:41 am
by flemeister
After modding my previous rig about as far as I was interested, I wanted a new challenge.

Enter the Silverstone SG07, in a build that is about as small as you can get using [mostly] full-sized components suited to near silent PCs (eg. tower CPU heatsink, regular 140mm deep ATX PSU, dual-slot and up to ~305mm/12" long video card, 120mm case fan/s, and 3.5" HDD silencing enclosure).

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Specs:

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 (3.3GHz, 4C/8T, 69W) @ 0.904v
Mobo: Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe (bloody expensive, but the only suitable board with ideal CPU socket placement)
RAM: G.Skill Ares 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3-1600 (10-10-10-30 1T)
SSD: Samsung 830 Series 256GB
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 4TB (5900RPM)
GPU: Gigabyte 2GB Nvidia GeForce GTX670 OC (auto fan speed 25-35% -- inaudible to very quiet, and max ~70°C :))
Case: Silverstone SG07B w/ USB3
PSU: Seasonic SS-550RT (80PLUS Gold, unpainted/unsleeved OEM unit -- got it nice and cheap, works great :))
ODD: Pioneer BDR-TD204
CPU Heatsink: Thermalright HR-02
System Fans: 2x Scythe Slipstream 120mm PWM (set to 500-900RPM @ idle/load) (1x CPU heatsink, 1x rear exhaust)
HDD Muffling: GUP Smart Drive 2002C

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Mods/changes to this point:
  • Removed the stock PSU/HDD mounting bracket, replaced it with a custom L-bracket made from the PSU platform from a P182 -- the PSU is held in place by the grip/friction of the bracket and supporting blu-tack (highly effective at preventing the PSU from slipping), as well as the weight of the components putting pressure on it from above
  • The custom PSU bracket allowed just enough space for the Smart Drive enclosure
  • Cut a hole in the rear panel to mount a 120mm case fan -- externally here, as there is only 15~20mm of space between the HR-02 and rear panel
  • Removed the stock 180mm intake fan to allow room for the Thermalright HR-02
  • Full 4mm Acoustipack treatment
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Photos (full sized photos below):

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EDIT: Upgraded from the 1GB HD6950 to a GTX670, and it shaved off 100RPM from the CPU fan speed. :)

EDIT: Upgraded hard drive from 2TB WD Green (5400RPM) to 4TB Seagate Barracuda (5900RPM), and undervolted CPU from 0.992v to 0.904v by changing from manual to offset mode. Also changed fan speed curve for GTX670, and upgraded PSU from M12II-520W to Seasonic 550W 80+Gold OEM unit.

Re: Near-Silent mITX SG07 w/ Acoustipack, HR-02, GUP Smart D

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 7:04 am
by frenchie
Lots of stuff in there !! Nice build :)

Re: Near-Silent mITX SG07 w/ Acoustipack, HR-02, GUP Smart D

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 7:28 am
by Ralf Hutter
Are you sure your heatsink is seated properly? It sure seems like it's sitting on the mobo at an angle.

Re: Near-Silent mITX SG07 w/ Acoustipack, HR-02, GUP Smart D

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 6:20 pm
by flemeister
That's the way it's designed. It seems that Thermalright "straightened it out" with the HR-02 Macho, but the original HR-02 did have that slight angle, as seen here:

Image

Re: Near-Silent mITX SG07 w/ Acoustipack, HR-02, GUP Smart D

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 4:10 pm
by WR304
I'm really impressed. I think I'm going to have to make something very similar to that too. :)

One thing that works well with the Growup Japan hard drive enclosures is to get some cheap thermal paste and put a layer of thermal paste between the metal hard drive shell and the copper plates inside the enclosure for improved heat transfer. I put thermal paste on the sides and top of the hard drive (leaving the breather hole clear) but not on the underside where the PCB is. Because there's such a large surface area to cover it would use several tubes of expensive Arctic Silver. It's a good way of using up any spare thermal paste that came with heatsinks and is lying around spare. :)

Re: Near-Silent mITX SG07 w/ Acoustipack, HR-02, GUP Smart D

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 4:44 pm
by CA_Steve
What temps are you seeing at idle and gaming?

Re: Near-Silent mITX SG07 w/ Acoustipack, HR-02, GUP Smart D

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 6:35 pm
by flemeister
WR304 wrote:I'm really impressed. I think I'm going to have to make something very similar to that too. :)

One thing that works well with the Growup Japan hard drive enclosures is to get some cheap thermal paste and put a layer of thermal paste between the metal hard drive shell and the copper plates inside the enclosure for improved heat transfer. I put thermal paste on the sides and top of the hard drive (leaving the breather hole clear) but not on the underside where the PCB is. Because there's such a large surface area to cover it would use several tubes of expensive Arctic Silver. It's a good way of using up any spare thermal paste that came with heatsinks and is lying around spare. :)
Thanks. :) Nice idea, might try that in the future. My SSD got up to 38°C in testing, while the HDD crept up to 49°C (after the Unigine test). Usually only goes up to 40°C in TF2 though.
CA_Steve wrote:What temps are you seeing at idle and gaming?
Ambient temp: ~28c

Idle:

CPU: 44°C (600RPM)
GPU: 48°C (27%)

Gaming (TF2):

CPU: 63°C (750RPM)
GPU: 73°C (27%)

Unigine Heaven:

CPU: 65°C (800RPM)
GPU: 86°C (40%)

Prime 95 (small FFTs):

CPU: 72°C (950RPM)
GPU: 48°C (27%)

Re: Near-Silent mITX SG07 w/ Acoustipack, HR-02, GUP Smart D

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 7:06 pm
by CA_Steve
nice :)

Re: Near-Silent mITX SG07 w/ Acoustipack, HR-02, GUP Smart D

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:37 pm
by flemeister
Thermal paste on the hard drive made little/no difference (48°C instead of 49°C). :(

There's a tiny gap between the surface of the drive and the copper plates, so I had to use quite a bit of thermal paste. That, plus the drive is in the main hotspot in the case. Was worth a try though. :)

Re: Near-Silent mITX SG07 w/ Acoustipack, HR-02, GUP Smart D

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 11:27 am
by WR304
My current PC has a Samsung HD103SJ hard drive in a Growup Japan enclosure. I have it sitting behind the case on a block of foam, connected to an internal SATA header. It's been like that since 2009. After running all day the hard drive is at 26c according to the SMART monitoring. If you don't need to move the computer around much it's one way of getting a heat source out of the case. :)

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Considering that it's winter here in the UK the ambient temperature is much lower than it will be in Australia however, meaning it isn't really a fair comparison. It might be worth trying your drive externally also to see if the drive temperatures drop much.

Another option to consider would be a Western Digital 2TB Green 2.5" hard drive internally. It's much smaller so would take up less space in the case which could help airflow. The 2.5" Western Digital drive might lose some performance compared to the 3.5" drive though. Apparently the 3.5" Western Digital Green drive is a 5,400rpm drive so it could be fairly close in performance to the 2.5" version?

Re: Near-Silent mITX SG07 w/ Acoustipack, HR-02, GUP Smart D

Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 1:41 pm
by capecodbackup
Very nice! I was thinking of that board in a silverstone case, the SG 08 I think it is. Xeon CPU is interesting. It fits a "real" ATX PSU, super! I happen to have a very nice spare PSU.

I do not put CDrom's in anymore so that would be good for airflow I think. I also would only have a single SSD in it. And I wold move over my core i7 as well.

I am getting close. Thanks for the post!

Re: Near-Silent mITX SG07 w/ Acoustipack, HR-02, GUP Smart D

Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 4:35 am
by Spoon Boy
It looks like you really squeezed the hardware in :o
Did you know it was going to fit before buying things?

Re: Near-Silent mITX SG07 w/ Acoustipack, HR-02, GUP Smart D

Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 7:24 am
by flemeister
WR304 wrote:My current PC has a Samsung HD103SJ hard drive in a Growup Japan enclosure. I have it sitting behind the case on a block of foam, connected to an internal SATA header. It's been like that since 2009. After running all day the hard drive is at 26c according to the SMART monitoring. If you don't need to move the computer around much it's one way of getting a heat source out of the case. :)
That's a nice solution. I like having all the goodies inside the case though, for easy transport in one go. But it'll be something to try if/when I need more storage. Can run the SATA cables out the gap on the rear of the case, on top of the video card. :)
WR304 wrote:Another option to consider would be a Western Digital 2TB Green 2.5" hard drive internally. It's much smaller so would take up less space in the case which could help airflow. The 2.5" Western Digital drive might lose some performance compared to the 3.5" drive though. Apparently the 3.5" Western Digital Green drive is a 5,400rpm drive so it could be fairly close in performance to the 2.5" version?
Mmm, one day... Shame about its price at the moment, over twice as much as its 3.5" counterpart.
capecodbackup wrote:Very nice! I was thinking of that board in a silverstone case, the SG 08 I think it is. Xeon CPU is interesting. It fits a "real" ATX PSU, super! I happen to have a very nice spare PSU.
Thanks. :) 140mm max depth PSU, and non-modular only, otherwise the cables would faceplant into the video card.
capecodbackup wrote:I do not put CDrom's in anymore so that would be good for airflow I think. I also would only have a single SSD in it. And I wold move over my core i7 as well.

I am getting close. Thanks for the post!
It's an airflow dead zone in the front of the case -- just the PSU at the bottom-front, and above that, all the drives. No vents near the drives. The main airflow happens in the rear section.

You're welcome. :)
Spoon Boy wrote:It looks like you really squeezed the hardware in :o
Yep, very tight fit. Took a few goes to get it right. On my first go with the SATA cable right in front of the CPU fan, it would touch the fan blades if I screwed the case cover on too tight (since the heatpipes of the HR-02 stick up through the vents, and putting the cover on drags the HR-02 and its fan forward slightly). Not a problem now that I adjusted the position of the Smart Drive enclosure and put more tension on the SATA cable. :)
Spoon Boy wrote:Did you know it was going to fit before buying things?
Sort of. I don't think anyone has done what I did before, so I looked for as many photos and user opinions as possible, and then tried judging whether parts would fit. Here are my early drafts, it goes over the page too. :)

Re: Near-Silent mITX SG07 w/ Acoustipack, HR-02, GUP Smart D

Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 6:35 pm
by flemeister
Update! The rig still chugging along nicely. :)

Got a power meter and had a play with CPU frequencies. I only got the Xeon CPU for the novelty factor, so no problems underclocking and undervolting it. Here are my results with the CPU at 2.8GHz @ 0.800v:

My Rig --> 50W at idle, 175W in TF2

Total System Power Draw (excluding peripherals) in Prime95 (Small FFT's):

3.7GHz @ 1.136v --> 117W (stock settings)
3.5GHz @ 1.048v --> 104W
3.5GHz @ 1.000v --> 98W
3.3GHz @ 0.904v --> 87W
2.8GHz @ 0.872v --> 78W
2.8GHz @ 0.800v --> 73W

That's with all four cores running at those speeds, and hyperthreading still enabled. I guess that means I've changed the Xeon's effective TDP from 69W to about 25W?! :D

And my monitor, a Dell U2412M @ 20% brightness, 75% contrast (plenty bright enough) --> 15W on desktop (13W all black B.G., 18W all white B.G.)