Project H20-Micro a Watercooled 3 Liter system with GTX970

I love the legs! I personally prefer the power but to to be on the front, but it's not looking bad without one, so just do it how it works best for you.
 
CPU water block is intriguing. Modern blocks have water forced into the centre of the micro-fins and outwards, but in your design it must travel across, more like a GPU block.
 
I just had an idea for the power:

Is the mainboards ATX19V connected directly to the DC-DC inlet? Because if that's the case, you don't need an additional inlet in the back of the case, you could just plug the PSU into the inlet of the board and connect the HDPlex PSU to the internal ATX19V header. Not necessary, but then you'd only have one inlet on the back instead of two, and you wouldn't need to split the cables internally. :)
 
iFreilicht said:
I just had an idea for the power:

Is the mainboards ATX19V connected directly to the DC-DC inlet? Because if that's the case, you don't need an additional inlet in the back of the case, you could just plug the PSU into the inlet of the board and connect the HDPlex PSU to the internal ATX19V header. Not necessary, but then you'd only have one inlet on the back instead of two, and you wouldn't need to split the cables internally. :)
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I'm already doing that ;)
 
QinX said:
I'm already doing that ;)
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Good to know that it actually works. It seems to me that this concept could easily be a competitor to the Alienware Alpha and the Asus GR8, were it sold as a pre-assembled machine.
 
I've updated my first post of the thread to resemble more of a build log style
 
I've got the new GTX 970 in today.
I'm not really finding any people that have benched it with Unigine Valley/Heaven at stock clocks.
Can someone validate if my score below is reasonable for a reference GTX970
It's Core clock is 1227MHz during the run.

Unigine Valley Benchmark 1.0

FPS:
53.7
Score:
2247
Min FPS:
22.7
Max FPS:
104.8
System

Platform:
Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1) 64bit
CPU model:
Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU G1820 @ 2.70GHz (2700MHz) x2
GPU model:
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 9.18.13.4725 (4095MB) x1
Settings

Render:
Direct3D11
Mode:
1920x1080 8xAA fullscreen
Preset
Extreme HD
 
dayum, dat cpu bottleneck tho...

What resolution were you running at? Mine is O/Cd now, but I remember a gain of ~12% from O/C so you can just subtract that from whatever results I can get tonight
 
Hey QinX, are you still using the Intel i7-4790 cpu as your finalized build? I ask this because in your benchmark results you stated using only an Intel celeron cpu. It would be interesting to see the gaming cpu and gpu temperatures for hour-long sessions. Keep up the good work and can't wait to see pictures of the finished build.
 
CknSalad said:
Hey QinX, are you still using the Intel i7-4790 cpu as your finalized build? I ask this because in your benchmark results you stated using only an Intel celeron cpu. It would be interesting to see the gaming cpu and gpu temperatures for hour-long sessions. Keep up the good work and can't wait to see pictures of the finished build.
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Yes I will be going with either a 4790 or the i5 equivalent. I'm running the celeron just for testing purposes.

Also I've run a 3DMark Firestrike benchmark and my Graphics Score is 11067

So HD-PLEX and the 350W Voodoo PSU work fine with this GPU. I do still have a whining noise coming from the HD-PLEX when at load so I will be swapping it with a new one that has better inductance and can handle the Maxwell peak power demands.
 
Hey, are you doing all of this on the thin itx board and the custom riser?
 
If this works out really well, it'll be interesting to see the thin-itx cases/builds become more popular. It probably will be a niche market, but I can see the potential. Keep up the good work, QinX.
 
QinX said:
So HD-PLEX and the 350W Voodoo PSU work fine with this GPU. I do still have a whining noise coming from the HD-PLEX when at load so I will be swapping it with a new one that has better inductance and can handle the Maxwell peak power demands.
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It is normal, if the system pull more than 250W. I have the same situation with a GTX 780 which is not a Maxwell GPU.
 
How many watts can the HD-Plex powerboard pull when not actively cooled by fans? I remember dondan stating 350 watts or so when actively cooled.
 
rawrr said:
Hey, are you doing all of this on the thin itx board and the custom riser?
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yes, I'm using a Q87T and a PCIe riser I designed myself

CknSalad said:
If this works out really well, it'll be interesting to see the thin-itx cases/builds become more popular. It probably will be a niche market, but I can see the potential. Keep up the good work, QinX.
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Thnx!

dondan said:
It is normal, if the system pull more than 250W. I have the same situation with a GTX 780 which is not a Maxwell GPU.
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I'm getting a new HD-Plex board from Larry. It should have improved inductance and reduce the noise. If it works his next batch of boards will be updated.

CknSalad said:
How many watts can the HD-Plex powerboard pull when not actively cooled by fans? I remember dondan stating 350 watts or so when actively cooled.
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250W passive and peak 400W.

I've done a benchmark with the 250W PSU and got the same performance, so it is still unclear to me what caused the lower performance before. note this was tested on an MATX board. I destroyed mybQ87T by accident, waiting on the new one.
 
Can you adjust voltage on the non-K i5/i7 cpus? If you can, I would suggest trying to undervolt the cpu as the stock settings are usually a bit higher than needed. If not, the K-edition cpus allow you to.
 
CknSalad said:
Can you adjust voltage on the non-K i5/i7 cpus? If you can, I would suggest trying to undervolt the cpu as the stock settings are usually a bit higher than needed. If not, the K-edition cpus allow you to.
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Yes you can undervolt any CPU, it's the multiplier that you can't adjust UP on non-K CPU's.
I will undervolt it once it's done.
 
Bieberfever said:
Just curious as to how your custom radiator is different from a commercial dual 80mm radiator like:

http://www.alphacool.com/popup_image.php/pID/1238/imgID/0
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It's not that a 80mm rad is new but try and find a slim rad that has good heat dissipation. the fin density on the one you linked is very low als it's thicker than my entire build. so it is custom in that is very much so purpose built for the job. also it has M5 threads to fit the fittings i'm using.
 
QinX, when you have time, could you upload the current build configuration pictures? I can't quite picture how the gpu and cpu will both fit and be watercooled. Thanks and looking forward to the completion of this ambitious project. :)
 
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Here's a mockup of my design, I won't be showing the waterloop for now, I will be showing this off later on when I have the physical blocks in hand, gotta keep people guessing somewhat ;)
 
Huh, in my head I thought the GPU would be flipped the other way up (and at the other end of the board) so it and the CPU/mobo shared the same waterblock, using opposing faces.
 
EdZ said:
Huh, in my head I thought the GPU would be flipped the other way up (and at the other end of the board) so it and the CPU/mobo shared the same waterblock, using opposing faces.
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Was thinking the same thing. It could potentially reduce loop size but then you'd need a ribbon PCI-E extender with EMI shielding. The extender he's using should be a lot more reliable.

Other option is fab an extender that reverses the PCI-E pin out at the end of the extender. You could then just flip the card around. Your video output would face opposite of the MB I/O which may or may not be a bad thing.
 
The temps of the PSU, SSD and other small components is also going to be interesting, they can only radiate heat out through the aluminium shell, as there is no airflow whatsoever in any areas but the radiator space.

I'm not very knowledgeable in terms of passive cooling, though. This may all be just fine.
 
WiSK said:
Whoa :D
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That's tite :D?

EdZ said:
Huh, in my head I thought the GPU would be flipped the other way up (and at the other end of the board) so it and the CPU/mobo shared the same waterblock, using opposing faces.
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This was my first idea to do but the shielded extenders are expensive and it limits upgrading in the future, as I have it now as long as the GPU is <17cm I can design a new GPU block and swap it out.

TaHoward said:
Was thinking the same thing. It could potentially reduce loop size but then you'd need a ribbon PCI-E extender with EMI shielding. The extender he's using should be a lot more reliable.

Other option is fab an extender that reverses the PCI-E pin out at the end of the extender. You could then just flip the card around. Your video output would face opposite of the MB I/O which may or may not be a bad thing.
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You mean have the GPU I/O on the front? that won't make it a very clean design. Also the size of the system is dictated by the radiator fan combination, so there is not much to gain in terms of height anymore.

Urelure said:
I am itching to see how the cable management ends up on this thing:)
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Only 4 cables are in the system
20V from motherboard to HD-Plex
HD-Plex to GPU
motherboard to fans
20V to pump.

iFreilicht said:
The temps of the PSU, SSD and other small components is also going to be interesting, they can only radiate heat out through the aluminium shell, as there is no airflow whatsoever in any areas but the radiator space.

I'm not very knowledgeable in terms of passive cooling, though. This may all be just fine.
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That is the main unknown, I will be doing a lot of internal temperature readings when it is up and running. Perhaps even order a second top panel with some passive ventilation.
 
QinX said:
That is the main unknown, I will be doing a lot of internal temperature readings when it is up and running. Perhaps even order a second top panel with some passive ventilation.
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Let's say the 2x80 radiator isn't enough. What's your back up plan?

Could you simply adapt the case, make it longer for a custom 4x80 radiator?
 
WiSK said:
Let's say the 2x80 radiator isn't enough. What's your back up plan?
Could you simply adapt the case, make it longer for a custom 4x80 radiator?
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The 2x80 radiator is enough for what it is cooling, GPU and CPU. going to a 4x80 doesn't change the passive cooling that the chipset and vrm might need, it also defeats the purpose of building a small gaming system. The Passive ventilation would be just for allowing the hot air inside the case to escape and lower the internal temperatures. However I don't think it will be a real problem because there are plenty of fully passive cases that have the same problems of no cooling for VRM and PCH.
 
QinX said:
The Passive ventilation would be just for allowing the hot air inside the case to escape and lower the internal temperatures. However I don't think it will be a real problem because there are plenty of fully passive cases that have the same problems of no cooling for VRM and PCH.
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True, but those cases don't have all these hot components in such close proximity to each other.
 
QinX said:
The 2x80 radiator is enough for what it is cooling, GPU and CPU
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I know :)

I have a i5-2400S and GTX660Ti running on a single 120 rad for over two years now. It's a similar amount of heat generated and heat removed. Even with 24/7 operation, temps are well below stock cooling.

But yeah, as iFreilicht suggests, it's the radiation of heat between all the components that could be difficult to solve. Of course you won't know until you try it, and I don't mean to doubt your plan or be negative about your idea. Just that having a plan B is always good to have something to fall back on. If you are going to spend money on custom parts and enclosure then certainly it would be shame if you have to start back from square one.

Also it's interesting to chat/speculate about it :p
 
WiSK said:
I know :)
Also it's interesting to chat/speculate about it :p
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Yeah, the most interesting discussions are the ones where nobody is an expert in the field, because you can speculate so much and there's no definitive right answer. :D
 
iFreilicht said:
Yeah, the most interesting discussions are the ones where nobody is an expert in the field, because you can speculate so much and there's no definitive right answer. :D
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I've reacted a little harsh previously, my apologies. My solution for it will be a second top panel that has some ventilation holes to allow some of the heat to escape.
 
Have you seen the Streacom FC8 Fanless? It has DIY heatpipe things to turn its whole case frame into a CPU heatsink. From the reviews of the FC8 it seems an effective method: superior to natural convection. Perhaps this idea can work for you too?
 
WiSK said:
Have you seen the Streacom FC8 Fanless? It has DIY heatpipe things to turn its whole case frame into a CPU heatsink. From the reviews of the FC8 it seems an effective method: superior to natural convection. Perhaps this idea can work for you too?
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I have seen it, but it should have the same problems as I am going to have, the PCH and VRM are not cooled, it does have ventilation holes in the top and at the back, that will supply some fresh are to the internals.

I'm doing some CAD work tonight and I'm going to fiddle with some ventilation holes.

Edit: If I look up the Q87 chipset on the intel website it states in has a TDP of 4.1W
also the VRM has 3 of each of these MOSFETs
http://www.onsemi.com/pub_link/Collateral/NTMFS4C06N-D.PDF
http://www.onsemi.com/pub_link/Collateral/NTMFS4C09N-D.PDF

on the other side there are 3 other chips that seem to be the controllers for the MOSFETs however I can't find any etching on the chip to find a part number.

I'd image if I have enough information I should be able to calculate the heat dissipation from the VRM, however considering it doesn't even have a heatsink on the motherboard it must be very low.
 
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The FC8 method limits QinX to 65W tdp cpus. According to silentpcreview, the i5 3470S ran at 82C in prime95 after just five minutes. Also, it might be hard to install this with a gpu as well.
 
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