SonataSys
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2009
- Messages
- 150
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
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