Alright, I got myself another project to work on in a similar vein to the one that I started this thread about. This time the case wasn't quite so extemely small and the cooling solution is internal and liquid.
Here's the specs:
Case:
Jonsbo V2Mobo:
MSI FM2-A75IA-E53APU:
AMD A8-5600KRAM:
G.SKILL Ripjaws X 1866Mhz 4GBSSD:
Samsung 840 120GBPSU:
Silverstone Tek 450-Watts SFX Full ModularHSF:
Corsair Hydro Series H55Couple notes on component selection before build pics. I LOVE the case, that was the reason for the whole build. I had to import it because no one is selling it in The States yet but I hope that changes because I want to build more in it - its really perfect for APU builds and Haswell too in the near future. Of course it needs a little help with cooling. The mobo was an obvious choice vs. the Asrock options out there since it comes with wifi built in and doesn't catch on fire.
I chose a 100w vs a 65w CPU intentionally because I wanted to make sure my thermal solution would work for a worst case scenario. RAM and SSD are nothing special. The case came with a 300w PSU but because of the space issue I decided to go for the only modular SFX PSU out there (plus I had an Amazon gift card that made it half price). After some research the closed loop H55 seemed the best option for a single fan case/CPU cooling solution that would fit in the space available.
On to the build:
I wanted to test the system with the stock cooler and PSU so I assembled it that way first. Basically this was not pretty, the stock AMD cooler is nuts, it had to run at 5.5k+ RPMs to keep the APU around 70 degrees (OCCT and FurMark). It was really freaking loud and the entire case got HOT since the only exhaust was the PSU fan. This would not do. Of course it was fine at idle and during light use, usually around 2k RPMs and 40 degrees or so. A 65w AMD chip or something from Intel would probably be fine stock.
So this became the goal, install the H55 on the bottom of the case and have it pull air in through the slots cut out for the 2.5" hard drive mounts. Four simple holes later and the radiator was mounted to the bottom plate and ready to test.
Disaster! The shroud around the fan collides with the retentions screws on the water block mount.
Initially it doesn't look like there is an easy solution but it turns out if I slide the fan to the right and position the screws evenly on each side of the shroud the whole thing drops just low enough that I can get the side on! Of course the four holes I drilled initially are now useless but who's going to see them anyway?
It's in! There is
no room to spare. To get the side cover on I have to lift the radiator off the bottom plate and slip the lip of the side under it. On the plus side even though the radiator is only held down by one screw (which happened to line up with one of the slots) it doesn't vibrate or move because of the the torsion from that lip and the hoses pushing against the sides/bottom. You can also see that the fan is also basically resting on top of the RAM, in fact I had to remove the screw from that corner otherwise is collided with the heatspreader. I got really lucky this worked at all.
Now to add the PSU and finish the wiring. Feel free to mock my free floating SSD but I'm fine with it how it is for now.
External shots of the case by itself and sitting on top of my home server housed in a Fractal Node 304.
So, the results? Awesome! Well, considering... After 20 minutes of OCCT and FurMark the temps leveled off at 57 degrees and the case is warm but not HOT to the touch. The system is pulling air in through the bottom and exhausting most of it out the vented side. Its just great to have airflow vs. none at all!
Of course the noise is way, way lower as well. The H55 doesn't have a PWM fan so the noise level doesn't go up as the temps increase or down as the temps head that direction - I'm ok with that for now but I'm already thinking I might want to replace the radiator fan with something fancier. For now though I'm pretty happy not being able to hear it from a few feet away instead of from across the room. Also something to work on down the road is opening up the bottom plate more for better airflow through the radiator. I think I can easily get a few degrees less with those changes but it's good enough for now.