Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system - Skylake 6700 K w/heatpipes

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eg1
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Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system - Skylake 6700 K w/heatpipes

Post by eg1 » Sun Nov 22, 2015 10:37 am

We are all looking for a machine that is fast, good-looking, and quiet.
Therefore, it is exciting that the HDPlex H5 second-generation chassis has arrived.
box1-1-2.jpg
This case has 8 heatpipes and large external heatsinks which allow for quiet passive cooling of up to a 95W TDP CPU. Another unusual and desirable option is for separate heat pipe cooling for the GPU as well up to 95W. This allows for the use of modern high-performance CPU and GPU combinations.
One of the goals of this build is to drive my new 4K monitor with 30 bit color for photographic editing at 60 Hz. This is provided by the Quadro card.

Here are the details of my build:
Case: HDPlex H5 second-generation with heat pipe cooling.
Monitor: NEC EA244UHD
CPU: Intel Skylake 6700 K, 91 W TDP
GPU: PNY Nvidia Quadro 620, 42 W max
Power supply: 160 W Adapter, 160W 19V supply.
System drive: Samsung M.2 NVMe 950 Pro SSD
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z170MX mATX Gaming 5
Memory: 16 GB DDR4– G. Skill 2666
Windows 10
Asus PCE-AC 68 Wi-Fi card
hotbox-1-2.jpg
I’m also excited to be using the new generation of Skylake processors and motherboards, as well as the latest superfast Samsung SSD.
hotbox parts.jpg
The parts have arrived, and I’m starting assembly. So far I can report that the chassis is beautifully designed and fabricated. The parts are carefully packed.
hotbox-1-3.jpg
Eric
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Last edited by eg1 on Wed Dec 16, 2015 2:09 pm, edited 3 times in total.

eg1
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Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system

Post by eg1 » Sun Nov 22, 2015 10:56 am

Another appealing element of this case is the fact that the adapter for the heatpipes is solid copper.

by the way, I'm aware that my chosen video card is not completely compatible with the Existing graphics heat pipe solution. I will need to modify it to fit. Most people would choose specific GeForce cards which are compatible (but do not provide 30 color).

I have posted full-size images of the motherboard on Flickr here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/e-ganz/22 ... ed-public/
This gigabyte motherboard is really quite attractive.

You can also see a close-up image of the eight CPU heatpipes here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/e-ganz/23 ... ed-public/

the CPU heat pipes are connected to the left inner wall, which is a large external heatsink.

Eric
Last edited by eg1 on Fri Nov 27, 2015 3:02 pm, edited 4 times in total.

CA_Steve
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Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system

Post by CA_Steve » Sun Nov 22, 2015 11:39 am

Looks like a fun build. Be sure to post idle/operating temps - I'm really curious about m.2 SSD temps in a passive case.

Abula
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Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system

Post by Abula » Thu Nov 26, 2015 4:32 pm

Im also interested on the temps, specially on i7 6700K if a fanless case can manage loaded.

eg1
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Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system - Skylake 6700 K w/heatpi

Post by eg1 » Sun Nov 29, 2015 12:02 pm

The dimensions of the case are a relatively small 4.5" h x 16.9" w x13.9" deep.
This is larger than my previous mini-ITX build, but still small enough to fit on the desktop. It looks like an audio amplifier with big heatsinks.

More details can be found on the HD Plex website:

http://www.hd-plex.com/hdplex-h5-fanles ... -case.html

eg1
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Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system - Skylake 6700 K w/heatpi

Post by eg1 » Tue Dec 01, 2015 8:27 am

The system is mostly finished. It is cool and efficient under normal conditions.

I pre-ordered the case, and therefore one of the first in the world to build it.

I did need to use the install disk for the motherboard right after installing Windows 10.
Note that some add-in cards will require PCIE extenders.

Abula
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Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system - Skylake 6700 K w/heatpi

Post by Abula » Tue Dec 01, 2015 9:55 am

eg1 wrote:The system is mostly finished. It is cool and efficient under normal conditions.
I would like to see temps, like HWmonitor? idle and load would be great to see how the H5 handles a quad core and the ssd.

eg1
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Re: Idle temperatures

Post by eg1 » Tue Dec 01, 2015 1:01 pm

I'm not yet ready to do full power testing, but at idle, the CPU cores are typically around 25° C.

as I have been installing programs and running typical applications, the CPU cores typically run between 25 and 30° C, and occasionally all the way up to 53° C. This is with a power load occasionally up to 42 W.
I still have some hardware and software issues to correct before I can do serious testing.

The machine is very quick and efficient to accomplish its tasks, and heatsinks stay cool under normal use.
I have not yet installed the video card…I will try to do more serious testing soon.

Eric
Last edited by eg1 on Sat Dec 05, 2015 8:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

eg1
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SSD

Post by eg1 » Sat Dec 05, 2015 8:57 am

okay, I can report that this new SSD is compatible with my motherboard etc.
As I reported above, Windows 10 installed smoothly with no problems.
Furthermore, by installing the Samsung NVME driver, and ensuring that write caching is turned on (the default setting) then I'm getting full speed performance.

1900 MB / s sequential reads :!:
as-ssd-bench NVMe Samsung SSD 12.4.2015 1-11-35 PM.png
so far, I have not added any additional heat sinking. In my situation, it appears unnecessary. However, one could imagine a slide on heatsink, or using thermal glue to attach a small copper heatsink if one is expecting to do many very large high-speed data transfers. I will check the operating temperatures at some point, but gluing on a heatsink would probably void the warranty…

Eric
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eg1
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Thermal testing

Post by eg1 » Fri Dec 11, 2015 12:44 pm

Okay, I started to do some thermal testing using six threads of prime 95 in the blended mode. This produces about 70 W of thermal load. I have now installed my Nvidia Quadro 620 video card.

Above 60 W load, the stock system with no fans is limited by the PCH getting too hot (more than 80° C) if there is no fan on it.
I suppose one option would be a much larger PCH heatsink, or something with some heat pipes.
This is the closest I could find, although it is much smaller 45 x 54 mm low-profile heatsink on my gigabyte gaming 5 Z170MX motherboard.
http://www.amazon.com/Enzotech-Forged-S ... B000PH2VGE
maybe someone can suggest something that will fit on to this motherboard properly.

In the meantime, I put in a 80 mm Noctua fan blowing slowly onto the PCH area. This works, but adds a fan, although a very quiet one. (this fan will not be needed for normal operation of the machine which runs with CPU core temperatures around 25-30° C almost all the time, although Chipset temperature is typically higher).

I show the results of following the CPU core temperature for 10 minutes with a load of 70 W with the fan in place blowing across the PCH heatsink.
temperatures 70 W.png
You can see that the CPU cores rise to about 70-72° C in this time and are still rising slowly. The Chipset temperature is also rising up to about 70-75° C Occasionally, the testing power would jump up to 93 W leading to CPU core temperatures of 91° C over brief time periods.
temperatures 70 W 3.jpg
So, my conclusion is that with the 80 mm Noctua fan, the system is quiet and stable under 70 W extended loads.
If you want to run without any fans, then you would require an improved heatsink for the Chipset area.

Eric
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eg1
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SSD update

Post by eg1 » Fri Dec 11, 2015 1:05 pm

speedfan reports that the SSD temperature is roughly 50° C.

CA_Steve
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Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system - Skylake 6700 K w/heatpi

Post by CA_Steve » Fri Dec 11, 2015 2:50 pm

Thanks for the thermal data!

vincentfox
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Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system - Skylake 6700 K w/heatpi

Post by vincentfox » Sat Dec 12, 2015 8:28 pm

Any more pics of the build?

I'd really like to build one of these for my living room setup.

The only thing that puts me off, is no optical drive.

eg1
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Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system - Skylake 6700 K w/heatpi

Post by eg1 » Sun Dec 13, 2015 7:23 am

vincentfox wrote:Any more pics of the build?

I'd really like to build one of these for my living room setup.

The only thing that puts me off, is no optical drive.
Vincent,

I will post more pictures as I continue.

There is certainly the capability for an optical drive and mounting equipment is included for that or a hot-swap hard drive, or more hard drives. the front panel pivots open.
Personally, I have moved away from optical drives, and only occasionally use a plug-in USB drive.

Eric

Abula
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Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system - Skylake 6700 K w/heatpi

Post by Abula » Sun Dec 13, 2015 8:33 am

Thanks for the temps and tests.

eg1
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Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system

Post by eg1 » Sun Dec 27, 2015 2:56 pm

Okay, here are some more photos.

This shows a temporary set up with the video card in the central location.
This would be desirable if you're not using heat pipes for the video card.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/e-ganz/23 ... /lightbox/

Here as a further step forward with the video card in the right-hand location.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/e-ganz/23 ... /lightbox/

This is ready for addition of heat pipes in the near future. In this case, we need to use a PCI X16 expander. Unfortunately the nice looking expander from HDPlex is not compatible with my motherboard and graphics card. Therefore, I'm using this temporary card, but will need a longer expander within A side contact such as
this at orbit micro:
PE-FLEX16R is a right angle flexible extender for PCI Express X16 bus SKU: 4354{24}368{26}147 MFR Part #: PE-FLEX16R Orientation: A-Side Cable
Cable length 7 or 8 inches.

Alternatively, it looks like someone else used the 3M extender successfully.
Note that I'm still using a temporary external power supply.

Eric

eg1
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Re: Tuning and benchmarks

Post by eg1 » Tue Dec 29, 2015 6:51 am

I've started to do some modest overclocking, tuning and benchmarks.
Using a solid 160 W power supply I'm able to apply 46X, 44, 42, 41 to the CPU timing with 100 MHz base clock. so with one processor we are running up to 4.6 GHz.
tuning.png
The Passmark benchmark reads up about 4500 depending on configuration.
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eg1
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HDPlex H5 system

Post by eg1 » Tue Jan 12, 2016 3:09 pm

I received the custom PCI extender from orbit micro, and it works fine, and allows me to install video card in the correct position.
Here's a photo of the current status:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/e-ganz/23 ... /lightbox/

I'm now able to run with multipliers of 47x, 45x, 43x, 41x.
This, together with having the video card in the correct PCI 16x slot improves video performance by 13% and brings the passmark score up to 4720.

btomi9
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Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system

Post by btomi9 » Wed Jan 13, 2016 4:48 am

I also chose the 2nd gen. HD-Plex H5 case for my Skylake i6700T and Gigabyte GA-H170N-WIFI mobo. Unfortunately, in spite of strictly following the installation guide, I managed to bend 2 pins of the motherboard's 1151 socket. I'm sure that didn't overtighten the 4 screws. I heard about MSI is developing a CPU guard for 1151, which helps preventing the processors PCB from bending so much to destroy the mobo socket.

I would like to ask, how did you manage to put the passive heatsink together without bending the processor or the motherboard? How to decide what pressure is adequate but not too much?

Would it be better idea to first assemble the heatpipes to the copper base plate and the aluminium top plate, and then place it all together on top of the processor and then tighten the 4 screws with care?
eg1 wrote:Another appealing element of this case is the fact that the adapter for the heatpipes is solid copper.

by the way, I'm aware that my chosen video card is not completely compatible with the Existing graphics heat pipe solution. I will need to modify it to fit. Most people would choose specific GeForce cards which are compatible (but do not provide 30 color).

I have posted full-size images of the motherboard on Flickr here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/e-ganz/22 ... ed-public/
This gigabyte motherboard is really quite attractive.

You can also see a close-up image of the eight CPU heatpipes here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/e-ganz/23 ... ed-public/

the CPU heat pipes are connected to the left inner wall, which is a large external heatsink.

Eric

eg1
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Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2013 8:35 am

Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system

Post by eg1 » Thu Jan 14, 2016 7:28 am

btomi9 wrote:I also chose the 2nd gen. HD-Plex H5 case for my Skylake i6700T and Gigabyte GA-H170N-WIFI mobo. Unfortunately, in spite of strictly following the installation guide, I managed to bend 2 pins of the motherboard's 1151 socket. I'm sure that didn't overtighten the 4 screws. I heard about MSI is developing a CPU guard for 1151, which helps preventing the processors PCB from bending so much to destroy the mobo socket.

I would like to ask, how did you manage to put the passive heatsink together without bending the processor or the motherboard? How to decide what pressure is adequate but not too much?

Would it be better idea to first assemble the heatpipes to the copper base plate and the aluminium top plate, and then place it all together on top of the processor and then tighten the 4 screws with care?
yes, you need to be very careful when installing the CPU itself onto the motherboard. You need to very gently drop/place it down directly into the socket, and then carefully secure it in place using the locking arms. Once the CPU is in place it will stay locked down.

Then, when you attach the copper block, use high-quality heatsink compound, and do not tighten down the 4 screws all the way. For me, they were not yet protruding from the bottom plate when the block was firmly attached, and the thin metal arms were starting to bend. this does not need to be super tight.
When attaching the heat pipes, be sure to place them and adjust/bend all of them in a dry run before you start applying heatsink compound. then when you tighten these up, go slowly and rotate the different bolt positions carefully.
you suggested assembling the heat pipes 1st, but I don't think that this would be better, although it is an alternative method.
Finally, test the thermal cooling capabilities.

Eric

eg1
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Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system - Skylake 6700 K w/heatpi

Post by eg1 » Thu Jan 14, 2016 7:35 am

I also recommend improving the cooling of the PCH/chipset area before you mount the motherboard into the chassis. Once it is mounted, and you have applied the heat pipes, you will not have access to the bottom of the motherboard anymore.

f98pno
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Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system - Skylake 6700 K w/heatpi

Post by f98pno » Sun Jan 17, 2016 5:17 am

Hi Eric,

Nice post, got inspired and am considering to do something similar!! Was many years since I build something last time, so a few somewhat silly questions:
1) What should I be looking for a find a GPU to fit the heat pipes?
2) Considering your post, I was considering to hold off the purchase until there comes Skylake processors using less than 91W generally available. My idea is to have more power "left" for the GPU of the built in PSU. What do you think?
3) Functionally and aesthetically, does this case work well to be located under a monitor?

Thanks,
Peter

eg1
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Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system - Skylake 6700 K w/heatpi

Post by eg1 » Sun Jan 17, 2016 9:13 am

f98pno wrote:Hi Eric,

Nice post, got inspired and am considering to do something similar!! Was many years since I build something last time, so a few somewhat silly questions:
1) What should I be looking for a find a GPU to fit the heat pipes?
2) Considering your post, I was considering to hold off the purchase until there comes Skylake processors using less than 91W generally available. My idea is to have more power "left" for the GPU of the built in PSU. What do you think?
3) Functionally and aesthetically, does this case work well to be located under a monitor?

Thanks,
Peter
Peter,
there is a list of compatible GPUs on the HDPlex website.
http://www.hd-plex.com/HDPLEX-Passive-V ... EX-H5.html
you need to click on some of the + signs to open up the lists of compatible video cards. the maximum Power dissipation for your chosen card should be 95 W TDP or less.
Specifically, you should choose one of the GPUs on the list. you will remove the heatsink and add on the special adapter. For more information you can download the construction manual which is extremely detailed. the GPU cooling solution is limited to 95 W, and has tapped holes for specific graphics cards.

Depending on which video card you choose, you may need to save power on the processor. Mainly, you do need to have enough power for both processor and GPU. 160 W was plenty for me with my set up, but you can make builds with more power.

You could certainly put a monitor on top of the case, but I would be more inclined to put them case back behind the monitor. The case is strong and well-built. Again, detailed dimensions are on the website, or above.

Eric

f98pno
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Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system - Skylake 6700 K w/heatpi

Post by f98pno » Wed Jan 20, 2016 9:58 am

Hi Eric,
Great stuff, thanks a lot for the advice's!!
/Peter

eg1
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Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system - Skylake 6700 K w/heatpi

Post by eg1 » Fri Mar 04, 2016 7:36 am

Okay, I've installed the four additional heat pipes on the Nvidia Quadro 620.
With a TDP of 41 W, only four pipes are needed for this video card.
Thanks again to Larry Liu at HDPlex for providing a custom heatsink solution.

It runs cool and quiet,typically 40° C.

You can see an image here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/e-ganz/24 ... /lightbox/

Eric

guillaume31
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Re: Fast, Silent, HDPlex H5 system - Skylake 6700 K w/heatpi

Post by guillaume31 » Tue Aug 23, 2016 2:03 am

Hi,

Thanks for sharing your experience with the H5. I am about to put an HTPC together based on this case with an ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 motherboard and I'm hesitating on the SSD format.

I was going to go for a Samsung SM951-NVMe 256 GB SSD (PCIe M.2) but the vendor recommended that I choose the "classical" SATA type of SSD, i.e. Samsung 850 PRO Series SSD for compatibility reasons...

What pushed you to go for a Samsung Pro M.2 NVMe 950 Pro SSD versus an 850 Pro for instance ? Knowing that my video files are on a NAS with only the O/S and some programs (JRiver...) on the internal storage, what would be the best SSD format ? I am also interested about the technology that'd produce the least heat.

Many thanks,

Guillaume

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