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Schwarzgerät III upgrade
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.
- 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
- 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.
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
- 2x Phantek T30 (push)
- Hardware Labs XFLOW 240
- 2x Noctua NF-A12x25 (pull)
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.
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)
- Noctua NF-A12x25 (push)
- Hardware Labs HWL GTS360
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
- Monsoon Series Two D5 pump + reservoir
- Noctua A12x25 (intake)
PSU side front
- 2xNoctua NF-F12 (intake)
- Noctua NF-S12A (intake)
Mobo side back
- EKWB Quantum Kinetic 240FLT D5 pump + reservoir