0dBA Project rev.2

Show off your quiet rig.

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

EndoSteel
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2004 7:50 am
Location: Moscow, Russia
Contact:

0dBA Project rev.2

Post by EndoSteel » Mon Sep 11, 2006 4:34 am

First off, to make further explanations easier: here's a link to rev.1 [Babelfish translation, not of much use though].

And here's the successor:

Image

S AM2 A64 3000+ 2000 @ 2600, 1.55v
Gigabyte GA-M55plus-S3G
Corsair XMS2x512 5400Pro
Leadtek PX7900GT TDH Extreme 520\375 @ 580\440
FSP FX600GLN
2 notebook drives

- Design -

Unlike rev.1, which was a real bitch to take apart, this comp was intended to be more user friendly. Which meant - no external heatsinks. This concept led to PSU relocation, to prevent it from being heated up by the CPU HS. Plus, originally there was no room for the VGA HS inside the case so 3.5' drive cages had to go. This layout required an uncommonly wide case, luckily I was able to find one.


- Components & mods -

1. CPU Cooling
This was the easiest part, thanks to Scythe Inc. All I had to do was to mod the retention mechanism in order to provide the Ninja with AM2 compatibility.


2. Mobo.
Heatsinks were glued to VRM mosfets and all other mosfets I could lay my hands on - just in case.

Image

Image

The NB cooling system uses two heatpipes and two heat blocks taken from Tt Shooner. The upper block is to be bolted to a... hmm... external heatsink but I managed to make a quick-release coupling so it's ok. The original plan was to use a modded (increased fin spacing) CM Blue Ice 2, but that idea turned out to be nothing but a waste of money. The small heatsink didn't make it - it was literally suffocating, squeezed into a tight gap between the vidcard and the Ninja. BTW, always use shims when working with heatpipes on naked dies. This is the second mobo, the first one lies cold and dead with it's NB chipped.


3. VGA Cooling.
Here's the first revision. Lacks some parts but the design can be seen more clearly.

Image

Two copper heat blocks are self-machined, 5mm pipes were taken from a ZM-2HC2, 6mm ones - from two CM CoolVivas. Fins came from a Igloo 7700. The final version looks like this:

Image

Apart from other enhancements, it has ramsinks (not visible on the picture) which are really a must for overclocked GDDR3 memory. The whole assembly weighs over 2 kilos so I had to add a support (several PCB standoffs bolted together). The vidcard's VRM required extra cooling as well:

Image


4. Power Supply.
Formerly it was an Epsilon FX600GLN. The fan was thrown away, case was chopped by 1cm to fit the desired location.

Image

Heatpipes - Tt Shooner
Fins - CM Blue Ice II.

Beware everyone: in Epsilons there are no dielectric pads between transistors and their sinks so two of the three heatsinks carry 300v. Whatever you would want to attach to them MUST be insulated from PSU case or any grounded parts.


5. Hard drives.
Nothing special here, the whole assembly was taken from 0dB rev.1

Image

The foam box houses two 2.5' PATA drives: a 20Gb Seagate and a 80Gb Samsung.


6. Case
No idea who the manufacurer is, the only writing on the box was "small server case". It required some dremel work: cutting out openings in the top and bottom panels to aid natural convection.


- Assembling -


Image

Ninja and vidcard in place.


Image

NB heat block bolted to the external heatsink.


Image

The external heatsink itself.


Image

PSU fin guard (formerly a CM Hyper 6 fan shroud). It serves two purposes: to protect the flimsy fins from cables sticking out of the computer's back and to protect the careless user from 300v residing on the fins.


Image

Image

Image

PSU in place.


Image

Drives in place.


Image

Image

General view.


Image

Back side view


Image

Bottom view. The combination of wheels and feet allows the case to be easily pulled out from under the table but prevents it from rolling by itself.


That's it for now, ask your questions if you want more details.
Last edited by EndoSteel on Mon Sep 25, 2006 7:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

EndoSteel
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2004 7:50 am
Location: Moscow, Russia
Contact:

Post by EndoSteel » Mon Sep 11, 2006 4:45 am

Oh, the temps: both CPU ang GPU reach about 75C (ATItool) at 25C ambient.

grepcomputers
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:54 am

Post by grepcomputers » Mon Sep 11, 2006 4:52 am

Damn, that's impressive. The temps are a little higher than I'd be comfortable with, though. Especially because my apartment can hit 38C in the summer...

Where is that case situated? I'd be interested to see how airflow in the room and around the case affects the cooling. Perhaps there could be a way to get natural airflow (besides just convection) to go in through the bottom and out through the top...

Cheers!

BillyBuerger
Patron of SPCR
Posts: 857
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2002 1:49 pm
Location: Somerset, WI - USA
Contact:

Post by BillyBuerger » Mon Sep 11, 2006 5:58 am

Cool, you used the same PSU layout that I've been thinking of using for a custom case. See here. Although I wasn't thinking fanless. Nice work!

Have you thought about using electrically-insulated thermal pads between the PSU HS and the heat pipes? That way you don't have 300V sitting outside your case.

aerial
Posts: 56
Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2006 5:15 am
Location: Poland

Post by aerial » Mon Sep 11, 2006 7:15 am

Impressive.
Nice psu mod without removing default radiators to insulate transistors.

silon
Posts: 46
Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:41 am

Post by silon » Mon Sep 11, 2006 11:02 am

having the capability [and the guts] to cut heatsinks apart and machine blocks of copper and so on is so much fun! :D

excellent work EndoSteel! those are really cool stuff!

Ryan
Posts: 130
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 2:40 pm

Post by Ryan » Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:05 pm

Hmm.. wouldn't even a single low rpm fan like a nexus get you like, 208370287304827034 degeres better while s till being almost 0db ?

Great work though.

justblair
Posts: 545
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 12:33 pm
Location: GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, UK
Contact:

Post by justblair » Mon Sep 11, 2006 3:20 pm

That is an awsome bit of work endo.

Just one thing... That heatsink in the shroud at the back is live?

I would be thinking about a more complete shroud than that... I guess you dont have pets?

openwheelformula1
Posts: 211
Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2005 9:58 am

Post by openwheelformula1 » Mon Sep 11, 2006 4:04 pm

oh so sexy. :D

EndoSteel
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2004 7:50 am
Location: Moscow, Russia
Contact:

Post by EndoSteel » Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:14 am

grepcomputers
Where is that case situated? I'd be interested to see how airflow in the room and around the case affects the cooling.

Image

Actually it's hard to imagine a worse place for a passive system :). The niche is open from front and back but that's not enough to maintain good convectional airflow: had to drill vent holes in one of the side panels (you can see them in the picture).

BillyBuerger
Have you thought about using electrically-insulated thermal pads between the PSU HS and the heat pipes? That way you don't have 300V sitting outside your case.
Had considered that, but couldn't construct a retension mechanism that would not have been a complete PITA to put together.

silon
having the capability [and the guts] to cut heatsinks apart and machine blocks of copper and so on is so much fun!
Yup :). The downside is I can't cook food in my kitchen any more:

Image

:) :)

Ryan
Hmm.. wouldn't even a single low rpm fan like a nexus get you like, 208370287304827034 degeres better while s till being almost 0db ?
You're right, but I like challenging tasks :).

justblair
Just one thing... That heatsink in the shroud at the back is live?
I would be thinking about a more complete shroud than that...

There's no way I can touch the sink from where I'm sitting and I don't have pets.

BTW, 300v don't kill, I tried :lol:.







justblair
Posts: 545
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 12:33 pm
Location: GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, UK
Contact:

Post by justblair » Tue Sep 12, 2006 2:17 pm

BTW, 300v don't kill, I tried Laughing.
Insane, who did you try it on? :wink:

Seriouly though extreme (ly) well done case!

Your kitchen makes my workshop look tidy! Take it the pizza shop will be disapointed that your finished?

McBanjo
Posts: 671
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:40 pm
Location: Sweden
Contact:

Post by McBanjo » Wed Sep 13, 2006 1:03 am

Using a Ninja for the cpu is almost cheating :-P
Really great mod (as always)

EndoSteel
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2004 7:50 am
Location: Moscow, Russia
Contact:

Post by EndoSteel » Wed Sep 13, 2006 11:03 am

justblair
Insane, who did you try it on?
Got zapped a couple of times during thermal testing. Quite painful, I'd say :).

Take it the pizza shop will be disapointed that your finished?
They won't. Since I'm not married, I don't need that kitchen anyway :).

justblair
Posts: 545
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 12:33 pm
Location: GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, UK
Contact:

Post by justblair » Wed Sep 13, 2006 1:42 pm

ROFL

You are quite mad... In a nice way of course!

You can say that you have suffered for your art.

I dislike being zapped. I took a 240v jolt straight off the mains supply a while back and it hurt like hell. The following day was the worst, my arm just ached and ached. There is nothing quite like that sensation.

Chris Chan
Posts: 436
Joined: Fri Feb 17, 2006 8:15 pm
Location: Michigan

Post by Chris Chan » Wed Sep 13, 2006 7:16 pm

Beautiful job! Very creative VGA heatsink assembly. And I've got shocked with 120v mains power before from putting a frayed cord into a power strip. Didn't shut off, and I was unharmed. That's only 120v though (:

BrianE
Posts: 667
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2005 7:39 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada

Post by BrianE » Wed Sep 13, 2006 7:35 pm

Very impressive and shockingly hardcore. :D I mean everything, such as the amount of work and effort put into making this, as well as turning your kitchen into a workshop like that! :lol:

Amazing. :bow: :bow:

EndoSteel
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2004 7:50 am
Location: Moscow, Russia
Contact:

Post by EndoSteel » Thu Sep 14, 2006 9:34 am

justblair wrote:
You are quite mad... In a nice way of course!
Yeah, I know :lol:

Fat_bloater_dave
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 288
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2005 10:39 am

Post by Fat_bloater_dave » Thu Sep 14, 2006 2:06 pm

Heh nice job, so much hard work, but where do you go from 0dB? Time to start a new comptuer me thinks ;) a Bigger one, and in red or something... with wings maby... and a cup holder.

EndoSteel
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2004 7:50 am
Location: Moscow, Russia
Contact:

Post by EndoSteel » Fri Sep 15, 2006 4:18 am

Fat_bloater_dave
It has already been started... 3 years ago :).

Image

Hopefully I'll make it to the end with it sometime. It's almost finished, but I just ran out of enthusiasm.

matva
Posts: 130
Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2004 7:16 am
Location: South Florida

Post by matva » Sat Sep 16, 2006 4:03 pm

amazing!

cloneman
Posts: 448
Joined: Sat May 21, 2005 9:48 am

Post by cloneman » Mon Sep 18, 2006 10:15 am

Excellent! :clap:

I'm guessing your counting on the fact that the PSU is rated for 600W to assume that the internal components not connected to any heatsinks, (i.e. usually relying on fan airflow only) will not never reach high temps given that your system load is prolly less than 250W.

Which is prolly why you mounted the psu at the bottom, good choice :-D. I wouldn't feel safe having all the heat from the other components channeled upwards into a psu with the fan removed.

Good job.

Also, your psu is the "FX600-GLN" I believe, you omitted the dash. (I don't care much for spelling personally, but it will help future spcr readers find your article 8)

vitaminc
Posts: 306
Joined: Mon Mar 27, 2006 8:11 am
Location: Silicon Valley, California

Post by vitaminc » Mon Sep 18, 2006 11:32 am

EndoSteel wrote:BTW, 300v don't kill, I tried :lol:.
This man earned his purple heart.

EndoSteel
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2004 7:50 am
Location: Moscow, Russia
Contact:

Post by EndoSteel » Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:23 pm

cloneman
I'm guessing your counting on the fact that the PSU is rated for 600W to assume that the internal components not connected to any heatsinks, (i.e. usually relying on fan airflow only) will not never reach high temps given that your system load is prolly less than 250W.
Not exactly. Internal components' temps usually depend more on circuit design than output wattage. But transistors and diodes rated for higher currents can withstand higher temps at the same load than lower current ones.

Which is prolly why you mounted the psu at the bottom, good choice . I wouldn't feel safe having all the heat from the other components channeled upwards into a psu with the fan removed.
Yup.

elec999
Posts: 273
Joined: Wed Jun 30, 2004 10:54 pm

Post by elec999 » Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:58 am

Very nice setup. I love it.
Thanks

BillTodd
Posts: 132
Joined: Wed Apr 05, 2006 4:10 am
Location: Colchester (nuked in 1984)
Contact:

Post by BillTodd » Sat Sep 23, 2006 8:39 am

Very nice (both projects) 8)

One thing your title shoud read "0dBA" project (meaning at the threashold of audibility - 0dB is a realative measure meaning the machine is as noisey as it was before you began :lol:

EndoSteel
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2004 7:50 am
Location: Moscow, Russia
Contact:

Post by EndoSteel » Mon Sep 25, 2006 7:26 am

BillTodd
Fixed :).

Stereodude
Posts: 66
Joined: Sun Nov 26, 2006 8:00 am
Location: Detroit Metro Area

Nice...

Post by Stereodude » Sun Nov 26, 2006 8:08 am

That's a sweet silent setup. It also looks like you've done me a favor by confirming the Scythe Ninja will fit on the GA-M55plus-S3G. That's the board and HSF I want to use. Thanks! 8)

You might be able to lower the temps inside some with one of those new and expensive 35W 3800+ X2's though.

UK-Bob
Posts: 28
Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2006 2:37 am

Post by UK-Bob » Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:46 am

Ummm, I very much like this !!! Exellent fabrication and lots of thought went into this project. Top one Endosteel !

AMDforlife
Posts: 49
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2006 12:26 am
Location: Ontario, Canada

Post by AMDforlife » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:34 pm

You know you're hardcore/a real man when you OC a completely passive rig... a job well done!!

BTW: That video card is probably the sweetest thing I'll see for the rest of the year.

EndoSteel
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2004 7:50 am
Location: Moscow, Russia
Contact:

Post by EndoSteel » Tue Nov 28, 2006 3:18 am

Stereodude
You might be able to lower the temps inside some with one of those new and expensive 35W 3800+ X2's though.
I'm not suffering from thermophobia :). And there's hardly a chance of getting one in Moscow anyway.


UK-Bob
AMDforlife

Tnx!

Post Reply