Schwarzgerät III upgrade

here we go again...

Soon after completing Schwarzgerät III, it became clear that I had made some errors. Most critically, the two cooling complexes on the bottom ought have been blowing into the machine rather than out, and the XFLOW240 radiator on the bottom of the PSU side ought have been inverted. In addition, the Phanteks T30 fan had just been released, and showed superior noise-performance characteristics relative to any existing Noctua product. Finally, I bit the bullet and upgraded to a 1000W PSU (from the 850W incarnation of the same EVGA Supernova T2 Titanium line).

Summary of changes

• New hardware:
  • Added RGB+fan hub and Gelid CODI6 ARGB controller to the top.
  • Added Aquantia AQC107 10Gbps NIC.
  • Added aquacomputer NEXT sensor.
  • Added EKWB XTOP Dual D5 pumps and housing (measured at 35mL volume).
  • Added another 4-drive bay to the mobo side, replacing a Caselabs hard drive cage from the PSU side.
  • Added PCIe 1x card exposing an internal 19-pin USB3 header and 2 external USB3 Type-A ports.
  • Added Gelid Codi6 PWM+ARGB hub.
• Cooling: Added six Phanteks T30 fans and moved some others around. Flipped bottom cooling complexes to blow inside the case (up) rather than outside (down), as there otherwise wasn't enough air flowing into the machine. Inverted PSU-side XFLOW, and shortened associated coolant tubes. Added ball valve drainage to front bottom of mobo side. Moved DiyHZ sensor to front bottom of mobo side, eliminating tubing between Monsoon reservoir and XFLOW. Inserted NEXT where DiyHZ had been. Added some EKWB Quantum Torque Rotary 90° adapters to simplify tubing.
• Structure:
  • Designed and printed pci bracket with cable guide.
  • Designed and printed cable block for mobo side
  • Designed and printed sliding brace for XTOP.
• Power: Upgraded to a 1000W supply, eliminating the need for my jury-rigged 12V+5V Molexen.
• Placement: Moved around some 5.25" Flex-Bay items for better cabling. Moved Quantum Kinetic 240FLT inside the case. Shortened associated coolant tubes.
• Removed hardware: Removed unused IcyDock 4x2.5" enclosure, freeing up 4x SATA data and 1x SATA power. Removed second LSI SAS card, which was no longer needed. Removed 4x140mm fans and associated brace from top. Removed Monsoon reservoir+pump combo. Moved Vario pump into Quantum Kinetic FLT, whose PWM D5 pump had died.

New cooling configuration

Coolant temperatures are sampled at both reservoirs. The Monsoon sensor feeds into the Corsair, while the Quantum sensors feeds into the motherboard. Ambient temperatures are sampled via two sensors immediately outside the rear of the motherboard side, towards the bottom. One feeds into the Corsair, and one feeds into the motherboard. Currently, all PWM is then controlled based off absolute coolant temperature, but ideally it would be controlled using the difference between coolant and ambient temperatures.

Mobo side bottom

• DiyHZ sensor
• 2x Phantek T30 (push)
• Hardware Labs XFLOW 240
• 2x Noctua NF-A12x25 (pull)
• aquacomputer NEXT sensor

All fans are powered by a Corsair iCUE Commander Core XT capable of 4.5A. The Phanteks take 4.32W maximum for a total of 8.64W. The Noctuas take 1.68W maximum for a total of 3.36W. The four fans thus max out at 12W, 1A at 12V. The Noctuas provide 102.1m³/h and 2.34mm H₂O each. The Phanteks provide 172m³/h and 7.11mm H₂O each.

In addition, the Corsair powers four LED strips at 1.835W each, for a total of 7.34W, 1.468A at 5V. The total draw is 2.468A.

The DiyHZ runs off a 12V fan header, and is strictly visual: it does not report its measurements. The aquacomputer runs off USB, and does report, though through a proprietary protocol =\.

PSU side bottom

• 2x Phantek T30 (push)
• Hardware Labs XFLOW 240
• 2x Noctua NF-P12 redux-1700 (pull)

All fans are powered by FAN5's two 1A headers, using two 1-to-2 splitters. The Phanteks take 4.32W maximum for a total of 8.64W. The Noctuas take 1.08W maximum for a total of 2.16W. The four fans thus max out at 10.8W, 0.9A at 12V. The Noctuas provide 120.2m³/h and 2.83mm H₂O each. The Phanteks provide 172m³/h and 7.11mm H₂O each.

Mobo side top

• 2 EK-Vardar EVO 120ER Black (push)
• Hardware Labs HWL GTS360
• Noctua NF-A12x25 (push)

The EK-Vardars require 4.46W each, for a total of 8.92W, 0.74A at 12V. The Noctua requires 1.68W, another 0.14A at 12V, for a total of 0.88A. These three fans are powered by the RGB hub on the top. The EK-Vardars provide 77m³/h and 3.16mm H₂O. The Noctua provides 102.1m³/h and 2.34mm H₂O.

In addition, the RGB hub provides power for several feet of S5050 LEDs. I'm not sure about their exact power draw, but neither am I certain about the rating of this no-name passive hub, so I guess I just hope it doesn't catch fire.

PSU side top

• 2x Phanteks T30 (push)
• Noctua NF-F12 iPPC-3000 (push)
• Hardware Labs GTR360
• 2x Noctua NF-F12 iPPC-2000 (pull)

These fans are all powered via a Silverstone fan splitter, itself powered via SATA.

Mobo side front

• Noctua chromax NF-A14 (intake)
• EKWB XTOP dual D5

PSU side front

• Noctua NF-A14 (intake)
• 2xNoctua chromax NF-F12 (intake)
• Phanteks T30 (intake)

Mobo side back

• EKWB Quantum Kinetic 240FLT D5 pump + reservoir
• Phanteks T30 (intake)

Complete list of attachments

• EKWB EK-AF ball valve
• EKWB Quantum Torque T-valve
• 2x EKWB Quantum Torque micro 90° MF
• 4x EKWB Quantum Torque compression fittings
• 4x EKWB Quantum Torque 6mm MM
• 3x EKWB Quantum Torque 45° rotating MF
• 4x EKWB Quantum Torque 90° rotating MF
• EKWB Quantum Torque 28mm MF
• EKWB EK-AF 50mm MF
• 2x EKWB EK-AF 20mm MF
• EKWB EK-AF 30mm MF
• Bitspower 90° rotating MM
• Bitspower 90° rotating MF
• Bitspower 90° FF
• Bitspower MM
• 2x Bitspower drain ports
• Bitspower rotating MM
• 4x SDTC Tech 5mm MM

One of these cheap SDTC extenders ruthlessly stripped the threads from my Monsoon Series Two. I strongly recommend against their use.

Fans

All fans are 12V. The Phanteks T30s have an "Advanced" switch enabling 3000RPM, but I am not using it. All values listed are maxima; I am typically running them well below these settings. All radiators save the GTR360 are using push+pull. All fans are controlled via PWM.

Blowing in

Model	Location	RPM	dB(A)	m³/h	mm H₂O	Amps/Watts	Hookup
Noctua NF-A12x25	Mobo XFLOW (pull)	2000	22.6	102.1	2.34	0.14 / 1.68	Corsair
Noctua NF-A12x25	Mobo XFLOW (pull)	2000	22.6	102.1	2.34	0.14 / 1.68	Corsair
Phanteks T30	Mobo XFLOW (push)	2000	27.3	114	3.30	0.132 / 1.58	Corsair
Phanteks T30	Mobo XFLOW (push)	2000	27.3	114	3.30	0.132 / 1.58	Corsair
Noctua NF-P12 redux 1700	PSU XFLOW (pull)	1700	25.1	120.2	2.83	0.09 / 1.08
Noctua NF-P12 redux 1700	PSU XFLOW (pull)	1700	25.1	120.2	2.83	0.09 / 1.08
Phanteks T30	PSU XFLOW (push)	2000	27.3	114	3.30	0.132 / 1.58
Phanteks T30	PSU XFLOW (push)	2000	27.3	114	3.30	0.132 / 1.58
Noctua NF-A14	Mobo front	1500	24.6	140.2	2.08	0.13 / 1.56	Corsair
Phanteks T30	Mobo back	2000	27.3	114	3.30	0.132 / 1.58	12V hub
Phanteks T30	PSU front	2000	27.3	114	3.30	0.132 / 1.58	Codi6
Noctua NF-A14	PSU front	1500	24.6	140.2	2.08	0.13 / 1.56	Codi6
Noctua NF-F12	PSU front	1500	22.4	93.4	2.61	0.05 / 0.6	Codi6
Noctua NF-F12	PSU front	1500	22.4	93.4	2.61	0.05 / 0.6	Codi6

Blowing out

Model	Location	RPM	dB(A)	m³/h	mm H₂O	Amps/Watts	Hookup
Phanteks T30	GTS360 (pull)	2000	27.3	114	3.30	0.132 / 1.58	Silverstone
Phanteks T30	GTS360 (pull)	2000	27.3	114	3.30	0.132 / 1.58	Silverstone
Phanteks T30	GTS360 (pull)	2000	27.3	114	3.30	0.132 / 1.58	Silverstone
EK-Vardar EVO 120ER Black	GTS360 (push)	2200	33.5	77	3.16	0.372 / 4.46	Silverstone
Noctua NF-A12x25	GTS360 (push)	2000	22.6	102.1	2.34	0.14 / 1.68	Silverstone
EK-Vardar EVO 120ER Black	GTS360 (push)	2200	33.5	77	3.16	0.372 / 4.46	Silverstone
Noctua NF-F12 iPPC-2000	GTR360 (push)	2000	29.7	121.8	3.94	0.1 / 1.2	12V hub
Noctua NF-F12 iPPC-3000	GTR360 (push)	3000	43.5	186.7	7.63	0.3 / 3.6	12V hub
Noctua NF-F12 iPPC-2000	GTR360 (push)	2000	29.7	121.8	3.94	0.1 / 1.2	12V hub

Control:

Source	Input	Destination	Outputs
CPU1	Coolant (mobo)	Silverstone	PWM
SYS1	Coolant (mobo)	12V hub	PWM
SYS2
Pump 5A	Coolant (mobo)	2x Noctua NF-P12 redux-1700	12V, PWM
Pump 5B	Coolant (mobo)	2x Phanteks T30	12V, PWM
Pump 6A
Pump 6B	Coolant (mobo)	Codi6	PWM
Silverstone	CPU1 PWM	3x Phanteks T30, 2x EK-Vardar, Noctua NF-A12x25	12V, PWM
12V hub	SYS1 PWM	2x NF-F12 iPPC-2000, NF-F12 iPPC-3000	12V, PWM
Codi6	Pump 6B PWM	Phanteks T30, Noctua NF-A14, 2x Noctua NF-F12	12V, PWM
Corsair	Coolant (Corsair)	2x Phanteks T30, 2x Noctua NF-A12x25, Noctua NF-A14	12V, PWM

Bespoke parts

I've got a number of self-designed 3d-printed (using my Voxel) parts in the machine. The OpenSCAD source for all such objects is available on GitHub.

• 

  Front mount for XTOP Dual D5

• 

  Back mount for XTOP Dual D5

• 

  Rear cable shroud

• 

  Front cable shroud

• 

  PCIe slot cover with cable guide

• 

  Antenna mount covering Quantum FLT brackets