Yori: Ryzen 1800X - MSI X370 XPower Titanium - EVGA GTX 1080 TI 4K SLI

[SonataSys]

INCEPTION

Yori handles demanding 4K digital content using a small form-factor, air-cooled design. The system supports full-stack software development using multiple VM sandboxes, video/photo editing, bulk encoding, 3D rendering, streaming, folding and occasional gaming. The goal is to deliver a powerful 4K rig that remains quiet while maintaining good temperatures, a reliable system that requires nearly zero ongoing maintenance.


HARDWARE

Open-bench inspired, the Cooler Master HAF XB EVO case provides excellent air-cooling characteristics. The build focuses on rendering 4K content using a 7680 x 2160, 60Hz desktop. Highlights include two EVGA 1080 Ti FTW3 video cards and a pair of LG 27" 4K monitors.

• Cooler Master HAF XB EVO chassis
• MSI X370 XPOWER GAMING TITANIUM ATX mainboard
• EVGA SuperNOVA 1200W Platinum modular power supply
• AMD Ryzen 7 1800X, 8 Cores, 3.6GHz Base, 4.1GHz XFR Boost, 20MB L3 Cache, 95 Watts
• Kingston HyperX Savage 64GB Kit (4x16GB) DDR4 2400MHz CL14 DIMM, HX316C10FB/8
• Two EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 GAMING ICX, 11GB GDDR5X, 11G-P4-6696-KR
• Two LG 27UD88-W 27" 4K UHD 3840 x 2160 monitors, 7680 x 2160 desktop
• Boot: SAMSUNG 960 EVO M.2 1TB NVMe PCI-Express 3.0 x4 Internal SSD, MZ-V6E1T0BW
• Scratch: 1TB SAMSUNG 850 EVO SATA III Internal SSD, MZ-75E1T0B/AM
• Data: Two Western Digital Gold Datacenter 4TB Disk, 7200 RPM, 128MB Cache
• Pioneer BDR-207DBKS Blu-ray burner
• Noctua NH-D15 CPU Cooler
• Noctua NM-AM4 Mounting Kit
• Two Noctua NF-A14 FLX 140mm fans (front intake)
• Noctua NF-A14 FLX 140mm fan (top exhaust)
• Noctua NF-S12A 120mm Fan (upper-rear exhaust)
• Two Noctua NF-A8 ULN 80mm Fan (lower-rear exhaust)

SOFTWARE

The host operating system is Windows 10 Professional 64-bit. Adobe Master Collection is utilized for digital content creation. BOINC Manger folds several projects, including Seti@Home. VMWare Workstation hosts multiple CentOS Linux virtual machines running the following software:

• Web Services: VM hosting several RESTful microservices
• Web Applications: VM for Apache, Tomcat and other web servers with several deployed websites
• Persistence: Multiple VMs for MongoDB, Hadoop, Cassandra, Oracle and MySQL persistence storage

The following highly addictive games are also on the menu:

• Crysis
• Metro
• Battlefield 1, 3, 4
• Doom 2016

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

Function over form: Noctua fans may look ugly and the NH-D15 is a behemoth, but they deliver excellent performance with nearly silent operation.
Simplicity over complexity: Air cooled configurations are quickly built, do not leak water on costly components, and require nearly zero ongoing maintenance.



CONFIGURATION

Everything possible is optimized for air cooling in this small form factor rig. The XB EVO is designed to maximize air flow, an ideal platform for air cooled configurations. The Cooler Master HAF series acronym stands for "High Air Flow". Noctua fans will be used exclusively, replacing stock Cooler Master hardware for even better cooling performance and quieter operation. The Noctua NH-D15 will keep Ryzen operating temperatures reasonable. Two 140 mm intake case fans bring in cool air and quickly direct it through the system's hottest components. Four additional fans exhaust hot air out the top and back of the case. This configuration is simple and effective.

FEEL THE HEAT

Having two GPUs rendering within the tight confines of the HAF XB EVO presents a big cooling challenge. Clearances are tight between each GPU and the Noctua NH-D15. It is essential to reduce the amount of heat generated inside the case where possible, intake a large amount of cool air and exhaust the hot air quickly. There is no doubt the cramped spacing represents a serious challenge. Therefore, the following steps will be taken:

• Configure fans for negative overall pressure
• Mount a 140 mm exhaust fan in the top position to pull hot air out from above the GPUs
• Avoid overclocking the Ryzen 1800X
• Maintain the room temperature at 20C

 

[SonataSys]

UNBOXING

 

[pendragon1]

that's not unboxing, that's just a pile of full boxes... get building man!

 

[SonataSys]

Ryzen It Up!


It's time for "Noctuaization Enhancement Procedure #9". CoolerMaster makes great cases for sure, but those fans are already for sale on eBay...

First things first: The Noctua "Top Hat" in preparation for the crowning of Yori . . . TRADITIONS MUST BE FOLLOWED!

AH, much better!

VENI VIDI NOCTUA!

"The air [spice] must flow!"

Hey, don't laugh at the hard drives: 8TB doesn't last that long when you're editing hours of HD and 4K video content...

Okay, you can laugh at my Blu-Ray burner, but some clients demand a disc!

Besides, I'm getting old and it just doesn't feel right without some form of optical media...

Want to render quickly? A 1TB SSD for the scratch area is a good start...

Alone in its cage...

At least it gets to sit right in front of two exhaust fans-- chilly!

Okay, I'm attracted to shiny stuff, okay?

The shield thing is a bit much, no?

Definitely!

Yes, the SATA cables are shiny too!

Dragons are cool, even on a nerdy motherboard trinket!

I don't think there's an ounce of actual titanium in this motherboard...

Hark! After a decade of Intel socket mania-- A SOCKET THAT ACCEPTS PINS!

(Hey, let's boot from the M.2 thingy . . . from cold boot to cranking in less than 10 seconds!)

Yes, fellow nerds, the back side is also shiny...

Why isn't the back plate shiny-- WHY NOT ACTUAL TITANIUM?

Red and shiny.

The slots are shiny too-- they should have called it "Excalibur Armour"...

To be continued...

 

[SonataSys]

Roll Ryzen Tide

All motherboards should have THE RED BUTTON...

Yes, the memory slots are also shiny...

This looks like a diorama for a new symphony house or something...

I just realized most of this bling will be covered up when I install the behemoth Noctua NH-D15 and two GPUs...

Dragons are cool, but it should be spitting fire or something...

Strapping it down...

What is this . . . a power supply?

There's not enough power options . . . kidding!

Is this going to fit in the little ol' HAF XB EVO?

1200 watts may seem like overkill given the 95-watt Ryzen CPU, but the EVGA GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 requires two 8-pin power, so that's four 8-pin power grubbing just for the GPUs. The motherboard wants a 6-pin for the bus too.

This side houses three mainboard power cables...

The other side requires five (!) PCI-e power cables for SLI and the motherboard's greedy bus...

It does fit-- barely!

Closing up the front...

As you can see, I build the HAF XB from the bottom up.
But now it's time to work on the upper level, starting with the mainboard tray assembly...

The 960 EVO M.2 will hopefully bring down the cold boot process to under 10 seconds.
The HyperX 64GB kit is clocked at 2400GHz. Not a screamer by any means, but the amount of available memory is more important than its speed for my heavy VM and video rendering workloads.

The star of the show...

To be continued...

 

[SonataSys]

Ryzen Or Bust!

I have long fantasized about a sub-ten second Windows boot sequence, and this 960 EVO is going to make that dream come true-- finally!

I can remember when 64-GB of physical memory required major organ donation to afford. Now, there's plenty of 16-GB modules to choose from at a reasonable price.

There's a sticker included above the Ryzen microprocessor, but I was hoping for a badge/trinket like the one that came with the MSI motherboard.

Does anyone ever read the entire booklet-- lawyers, perhaps?

Time to put Ryzen in bed...

There's a thermal pad beneath the M.2 "hatch". I'm not sure how effective it will be...

There's one more screw hole further out-- so there must be larger/longer M.2 devices available...

Ryzen Romance Novel Snippet:

"Savagely, I ignored all reluctance and pressed [the DDR4] down . . . and with a firm grasp it went in."

"Without hesitation, I repeated the same act three more times..."

Yori's CPU and memory subsystems are now in place...

At this point, even I am suffering excessive titanium exposure.

To be continued...

 

[SonataSys]

The Ryzen Also Rises

It is now time to execute "Noctuaization Procedure 13". For this procedure the following parts are required:

• Noctua NH-D15
• Noctua NM-AM4 Mounting Kit
  
• Grass skirt and pineapples for the Mt. Noctua-toa volcano sacrificial rituals

The mounting kit: typical Noctua anal-retentiveness on display...

More of the same-- almost too pretty to un-box . . . almost.

Still unpacking layers of Noctua stratification...

Six glorious heat pipes per tower...

Removing the old-school AMD mounting brackets...

Spacers in the mounting kit...

Always fun figuring out which mounting brackets to use and the configuration they should be in...

The time approaches for "Noctuaization Procedure 13.20.2.1.0.0.0.1" . . . thermal paste application, in other words!

Ah, the magic elixir: NT-H1 Thermal Paste and 99.9% alcohol wipes.

Behold, Mt. Noctua-toa!

Ridiculous amounts of clearance...

Somehow, the Noctua behemoth actually looks fairly decent with the Titanium mainboard...

Plenty of space for the DDR4 heat spreaders...

One of my favorite shots...

Okay, let's go around the mulberry bush once more...

Let's strap on those ugly (but oh, so effective) fans...

To be continued...

 

[SonataSys]

Raise The Ryzen

I am eager to see how the CoolerMaster HAF XB/Noctua air configuration performs under load...

Cable management on the simpler side of the chassis...

Good HD-15 clearances and air flow...

Cable management on the busy side of the motherboard...

Half the mainboard is concealed now beneath the HD-15 cooler...

Four shiny SATA 6 data cables from the SSD, hard drives and Blu-ray burner.

From top to bottom: HD sound 4-pin header, PCI-e 4-pin bus power, system fan header, power/reset/activity pins.

From left to right: USB 3 internal, 24-pin ATX power and front system fan header.

Although I pride myself in remaining objective and applying critical thinking skills, at this point I must install my Lucky TITAN. Prior builds have gone smoothly when this GTX TITAN was used to bootstrap systems. Experience has taught me to avoid complicated GPU configurations when standing up a system. Once everything looks good using one trustworthy GPU, more exotic SLI configurations can be attempted.

(Fingers crossed) 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - (deep breath taken) 6 - 5 - 4 - (flashback to gnarly post codes) 3 - 2 - 1 (sphincter factor 8.5) - Yori hath Ryzen! (standing ovation) BRAVO, AMD!

Yori is stable at idle using BIOS 1.1.

The Kingston 64GB DRAM kit is using its reference settings: XMP at 2400MHz, 1.216V.
Enabling XMP/2400 was the only BIOS change needed.
There are more recent Beta versions but I avoid BIOS beta releases like the plague.
I will wait about a week *after* the next full BIOS release before flashing again.

After idling for about 15 minutes the Ryzen 1800X temperature is 45C and the mainboard reading is 32C.
The Noctua NH-D15 PWM fans are spinning just under 700 RPM, way below 50% utilization using the stock fan curve-- silence is golden!

Ryzen R7 1800X and 1700X both report higher temperatures with a 20-degree offset, which means the actual idle temperature is 25C, not 45C. AMD places a T-Control/tCTL thermal sensor at the interface point between the CPU and the heat spreader, sensing the junction temperature (Tj) and raising the reported temperature by 20C in the 1700X and 1800X, purportedly for "fan control reasons."

Fan adjustment content is clear and easy to use. I did notice that system fan #4 seems to be misreading the RPMs for that Noctua fan. I think it's been resolved already in a BIOS beta release, but I prefer to wait for the full release to pick up little fixes like this.

Yori moves beyond The Land of BIOS...

Yori is now ready to undergo operating system bootstrapping torture...

 

[SonataSys]

EVGA Pre-order Apocalypse

"The horror!"

From past experience it is folly to rely on EVGA pre-order email notifications. By the time the email arrives the product is invariably already sold out; pre-order windows last just a few hours. I've received email notifications the day after pre-ordering began.

The apocalypse began yesterday when the pre-order window opened at 10AM PST for the new EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti product line.
The EVGA website slowed to a crawl.
Page loads began to time-out.
Crazed nerds began encountering:

Error reaching the EVGA website

Every sort of HTTP madness was unleashed upon the Internut.
The EVGA pre-order forum went ballistic.
Insanity levels reached fever pitch as many lunatics were refreshing multiple browsers (some had many computers running with multiple browsers) in a desperate attempt to load the order page.

In what perhaps is a record, the 1080 Ti FTW3 GAMING (11G-P4-6696-KR) product sold out just 30 minutes later at 10:30AM PST.

General EVGA forum mayhem ensued: accusations, protestations, lamentations, gnashing of teeth, ranting galore, cruel world, etc.

I was one of them, pulling my hair out trying to get an order through before it was too late.

Thankfully, my order made it through the apocalyptic EVGA gauntlet with just 9 minutes to spare:

Now it's time to hurry up and wait for an actual shipment, which EVGA promises will begin on May 1st.

Yeah, right.

"The horror!"

 

[sweets3450]

great pictures!

 

[Matrixfy]

That's a lot of *very* sweet hardware.

You'll have to excuse me... I need a moment. In private...

 

[TsingTao]

Very nice build, love all the pictures of shiny things!

"All motherboards should have THE RED BUTTON..."

AGREED

 

[Krenum]

Where's the mod?

 

[SonataSys]

Sorry, I am anti-mod, as you have already noticed and noted.

How about a video?

 

[SonataSys]

The "E" in "EVGA" Is "Eventually"

Waiting is the hardest part.

After six weeks that included a four-day slip in the estimated ship date, EVGA finally began shipping on May 5th.

 

[SonataSys]

Final Assembly

 

[Ocellaris]

Only 1x 140mm exhaust fan for a Ryzen CPU and SLI 1080Ti cards?

 

[SonataSys]

My only pseudo-mod is a "top hat".

It's a 140mm Noctua that sits above the SLI configuration and exhausts upward.

I always try flipping the fan over to push air in from the top.

It's easy to measure temperatures both ways.

For this SLI configuration, the "top hat" is exhausting hot air out and it does drop temps a few degrees.

Actually, this machine exhausts far more air out than it brings in:

Top: 140mm exhaust
Back-Top: 120mm exhaust
Back-Bottom: 2 x 80mm exhaust

The total fan capacity coming in is 280mm.

The total capacity going out is 420mm.

 

[Quartz-1]

Actually, this machine exhausts far more air out than it brings in:

So you're a fan of negative air pressure?

 

[SonataSys]

I use whatever configuration works best in a given situation. It's not difficult to gather temperature measurements in various fan configurations. The most effective pressure design (positive, negative or [approximately] equal) can be determined through a trial-and-error process.

There are many variables: ambient room temperature, case design, CPU and GPU TDP, heatsink and fan choice, pressure configuration, etc.

For the CoolerMaster HAF XB EVO at an ambient room temperature of 20C, I didn't measure any difference at idle or under average loads using positive or negative air pressure.

I did measure a 2C improvement/drop in temperature at peak load using a negative air pressure fan configuration.

With open-bench cases like the HAF XB, with 5 of 6 sides of the case essentially "open", air flow capacity is very high regardless of fan configuration/pressure design. Ambient temperature levels have the biggest influence on all temperatures within the chassis.