sikari2015

If mine wasn't still in warranty I would be desoldering the fuse and putting on a new 15amp one.
 
Good testing from the mining community, who said they're all bad?
 
Just ignore the "of the 20 I bought" posts...
 

So last year I upgraded my main gaming rig to a Gigabyte GTX 1070 Mini OC Edition. It failed within 3 months and I warranty returned it. I got the new one and it worked fine just like before.
Then, two days ago it failed again, this time completely black screen, no detected signal, no fan spinup, no detection of the card what-so-ever in three different computers.
 
This is insane. I've only ever had one other PC component fail multiple times, and amazingly it was a Gigabyte motherboard. So I'm guessing their quality control isn't the best. I've had MSI components fail, but only once, and the same for Kingston, AData and Seagate, but never Asus.
 
So I did some research to find out if this particular card has higher failure rates, and turns out, yeah they do. I found an article on a mining site which explains exactly what's wrong with my card and the cause they found.
 
A fuse blew.
 
Yep, a tiny, simple 10amp fuse on the back of the card blows and make the card useless. The F4 fuse. I tested mine using a multimeter, and yep, sure enough the fuse is blown (set the multimeter to resistance to check circuits).
 
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2001747.0
 
So, as my card is still in warranty, it's off for another replacement.
 
However if you have one of these Gigabyte GTX 1070s and it isn't in warranty, you can apparently solder a bridge over the failed fuse and the card works again. It is then highly recommended to limit the card to 80% TDP, to avoid blowing other components.
 
Oh Gigabyte, a 15amp fuse would probably save so many cards.
 

The following is a collation of issues I've found from other forum posts, articles and personal experience that are resulting from installing the latest Windows 10 update. The update is the January 2018 (KB4056892) fix for Spectre/Meltdown.
Feel free to add any posts with additional issues you've had and been able to link to the Windows Update.
 
Collation of issues found with Windows 10 Update – January 2018 (KB4056892)
·       Update reported as failed to install, possible error code 0x80070643. If this occurs check for updates and it should correct the issue.
 
·       Update causes blue screens after restarting, can’t boot back into windows.
Error codes include Watchdog_Timeout_Error, Inaccessible_Boot_Device,
If this occurs, hopefully the Automatic Repair tool will start and fix the startup issue. Sometimes this will successfully uninstall Update KB4056892, allowing you to boot back into Windows. Once back into Windows, immediately Disable the “Windows Update” service (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services).
 
If you can’t get back into Windows because the automatic repair fails, you will need Windows Recovery/Install media to boot from. Then you can try returning to a previous Restore Point (if it lets you), or from a Windows Backup (if you made one). Otherwise you may have no choice but to reinstall Windows.

There is some factor in your PC that is causing the update to fail/kill Windows installations. I’ve yet to find out what, but in the mean time disabling the update is the only solution until Microsoft issues a fix.
 
·       Asus AI Suite not loading. There currently aren’t any updates of the AI Suite and Q-Fan software which is known to work with the KB4056892 update. So, if you need to run AI Suite, or Q-Fan then unfortunately you must uninstall KB4056892. There is the following report, however, that might work for AI Suite
 
So, to fix ASUS AI Suite 3 issues on Windows 10, first download the latest AI Suite 3, right click the zip file and select “Properties”.
Select the “Unblock” check box and hit OK. Unzip the zip file and run AsusSetup.exe as Administrator. Keep in mind that your need to unblock the ZIP first before you extract the files. Reboot your computer and the AI Suite 3 should work smoothly now.
 
·       Other programs including browsers crashing or not loading. The first advice right now for these issues is to make sure to download and do a fresh install of the latest versions of these programs. It has known to help Firefox and Chrome to do this. There is also the option to uninstall the update, and this should make the other programs work again.
 
 
Sadly, most of the fixes around this update is to uninstall it and prevent it from reinstalling. So much for patching the potentially biggest security flaw in the last 10 years.

Yeah, I suppose that is one way the update fixed the problem

Nice post @sikari2015, i am not sure if this is only my issue as i cannot find any relating to it but is is early but for me apart from the AI Suite2 not loading i have also had an issue where one of my backup storage disks that has been formatted with GPT is showing to have failed S.M.A.R.T. when it was perfectly fine just before the update. The disk still loads and opens but copying is now slower than before. I plan to do a reformat and see if that helps.
 
I am on the 1709 build and i just uninstalled the KB4056892 update and all is back to normal again, AI Suite 2 loads and the disk passed S.M.A.R.T. i will still do the reformatting when i get my new disk, ordering that now.
 
EDIT:
Two more updates rolled out for me today, KB4054517 and KB4058043 the last one is linked to a MS Store reliability. So far no issues have happend, AI Suite2 loads and S.M.A.R.T says my disk is fine. I still have no idea what the issue is with KB4056892.

The following is a collation of issues I've found from other forum posts, articles and personal experience that are resulting from installing the latest Windows 10 update. The update is the January 2018 (KB4056892) fix for Spectre/Meltdown.
Feel free to add any posts with additional issues you've had and been able to link to the Windows Update.
 
Collation of issues found with Windows 10 Update – January 2018 (KB4056892)
·       Update reported as failed to install, possible error code 0x80070643. If this occurs check for updates and it should correct the issue.
 
·       Update causes blue screens after restarting, can’t boot back into windows.
Error codes include Watchdog_Timeout_Error, Inaccessible_Boot_Device,
If this occurs, hopefully the Automatic Repair tool will start and fix the startup issue. Sometimes this will successfully uninstall Update KB4056892, allowing you to boot back into Windows. Once back into Windows, immediately Disable the “Windows Update” service (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services).
 
If you can’t get back into Windows because the automatic repair fails, you will need Windows Recovery/Install media to boot from. Then you can try returning to a previous Restore Point (if it lets you), or from a Windows Backup (if you made one). Otherwise you may have no choice but to reinstall Windows.

There is some factor in your PC that is causing the update to fail/kill Windows installations. I’ve yet to find out what, but in the mean time disabling the update is the only solution until Microsoft issues a fix.
 
·       Asus AI Suite not loading. There currently aren’t any updates of the AI Suite and Q-Fan software which is known to work with the KB4056892 update. So, if you need to run AI Suite, or Q-Fan then unfortunately you must uninstall KB4056892. There is the following report, however, that might work for AI Suite
 
So, to fix ASUS AI Suite 3 issues on Windows 10, first download the latest AI Suite 3, right click the zip file and select “Properties”.
Select the “Unblock” check box and hit OK. Unzip the zip file and run AsusSetup.exe as Administrator. Keep in mind that your need to unblock the ZIP first before you extract the files. Reboot your computer and the AI Suite 3 should work smoothly now.
 
·       Other programs including browsers crashing or not loading. The first advice right now for these issues is to make sure to download and do a fresh install of the latest versions of these programs. It has known to help Firefox and Chrome to do this. There is also the option to uninstall the update, and this should make the other programs work again.
 
 
Sadly, most of the fixes around this update is to uninstall it and prevent it from reinstalling. So much for patching the potentially biggest security flaw in the last 10 years.

The following is a collation of issues I've found from other forum posts, articles and personal experience that are resulting from installing the latest Windows 10 update. The update is the January 2018 (KB4056892) fix for Spectre/Meltdown.
Feel free to add any posts with additional issues you've had and been able to link to the Windows Update.
 
Collation of issues found with Windows 10 Update – January 2018 (KB4056892)
·       Update reported as failed to install, possible error code 0x80070643. If this occurs check for updates and it should correct the issue.
 
·       Update causes blue screens after restarting, can’t boot back into windows.
Error codes include Watchdog_Timeout_Error, Inaccessible_Boot_Device,
If this occurs, hopefully the Automatic Repair tool will start and fix the startup issue. Sometimes this will successfully uninstall Update KB4056892, allowing you to boot back into Windows. Once back into Windows, immediately Disable the “Windows Update” service (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services).
 
If you can’t get back into Windows because the automatic repair fails, you will need Windows Recovery/Install media to boot from. Then you can try returning to a previous Restore Point (if it lets you), or from a Windows Backup (if you made one). Otherwise you may have no choice but to reinstall Windows.

There is some factor in your PC that is causing the update to fail/kill Windows installations. I’ve yet to find out what, but in the mean time disabling the update is the only solution until Microsoft issues a fix.
 
·       Asus AI Suite not loading. There currently aren’t any updates of the AI Suite and Q-Fan software which is known to work with the KB4056892 update. So, if you need to run AI Suite, or Q-Fan then unfortunately you must uninstall KB4056892. There is the following report, however, that might work for AI Suite
 
So, to fix ASUS AI Suite 3 issues on Windows 10, first download the latest AI Suite 3, right click the zip file and select “Properties”.
Select the “Unblock” check box and hit OK. Unzip the zip file and run AsusSetup.exe as Administrator. Keep in mind that your need to unblock the ZIP first before you extract the files. Reboot your computer and the AI Suite 3 should work smoothly now.
 
·       Other programs including browsers crashing or not loading. The first advice right now for these issues is to make sure to download and do a fresh install of the latest versions of these programs. It has known to help Firefox and Chrome to do this. There is also the option to uninstall the update, and this should make the other programs work again.
 
 
Sadly, most of the fixes around this update is to uninstall it and prevent it from reinstalling. So much for patching the potentially biggest security flaw in the last 10 years.

I've reduced my power limit to 80% without noticeable impact on mining performance. Should help reduce degradation of the caps and mosfets. I mine whenever I'm not using the graphics card, like when gaming. Even when surfing the web, youtube, netflix etc I have the miner going.

The following is a collation of issues I've found from other forum posts, articles and personal experience that are resulting from installing the latest Windows 10 update. The update is the January 2018 (KB4056892) fix for Spectre/Meltdown.
Feel free to add any posts with additional issues you've had and been able to link to the Windows Update.
 
Collation of issues found with Windows 10 Update – January 2018 (KB4056892)
·       Update reported as failed to install, possible error code 0x80070643. If this occurs check for updates and it should correct the issue.
 
·       Update causes blue screens after restarting, can’t boot back into windows.
Error codes include Watchdog_Timeout_Error, Inaccessible_Boot_Device,
If this occurs, hopefully the Automatic Repair tool will start and fix the startup issue. Sometimes this will successfully uninstall Update KB4056892, allowing you to boot back into Windows. Once back into Windows, immediately Disable the “Windows Update” service (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services).
 
If you can’t get back into Windows because the automatic repair fails, you will need Windows Recovery/Install media to boot from. Then you can try returning to a previous Restore Point (if it lets you), or from a Windows Backup (if you made one). Otherwise you may have no choice but to reinstall Windows.

There is some factor in your PC that is causing the update to fail/kill Windows installations. I’ve yet to find out what, but in the mean time disabling the update is the only solution until Microsoft issues a fix.
 
·       Asus AI Suite not loading. There currently aren’t any updates of the AI Suite and Q-Fan software which is known to work with the KB4056892 update. So, if you need to run AI Suite, or Q-Fan then unfortunately you must uninstall KB4056892. There is the following report, however, that might work for AI Suite
 
So, to fix ASUS AI Suite 3 issues on Windows 10, first download the latest AI Suite 3, right click the zip file and select “Properties”.
Select the “Unblock” check box and hit OK. Unzip the zip file and run AsusSetup.exe as Administrator. Keep in mind that your need to unblock the ZIP first before you extract the files. Reboot your computer and the AI Suite 3 should work smoothly now.
 
·       Other programs including browsers crashing or not loading. The first advice right now for these issues is to make sure to download and do a fresh install of the latest versions of these programs. It has known to help Firefox and Chrome to do this. There is also the option to uninstall the update, and this should make the other programs work again.
 
 
Sadly, most of the fixes around this update is to uninstall it and prevent it from reinstalling. So much for patching the potentially biggest security flaw in the last 10 years.

Shop around for a better deal on the 6GB if you can, because more VRAM will help with some games like GTA V. It does depend on how video memory intensive the games you want to play are.

But, at the end of the day, you can't go wrong with the 3GB if you can get it $100+ less than the 6GB.

If only there was a friendly face to explain VRAM in a video somewhere...
 
 

https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html
 
Price per performance. Use the numbers at the Passmark benchmark site linked, and then look at the price of the cards. (Prices from PLE Computers)
 
GTX 1050 is around $180 AUD, scores 4413. 24.52 points per dollar.
GTX 1050 TI is around $230 AUD, scores 5791, 25.17 points per dollar.
GTX 1060 3GB is around $330 AUD, scores 8769. 26.65 points per dollar.
GTX 1060 6GB is around $410 AUD, scores 8836. 21.55 points per dollar.
GTX 1070 is around $580 AUD, scores 11045. 19.05 points per dollar.
GTX 1070 TI is around $680 AUD, scores 12315. 18.11 points per dollar.
 
So the 1060 3GB has the best price per performance, but these are all AVERAGE scores. If you look at the details by clicking on the card name on the website, you will see the last 5 tests. This shows trends like one 1050 might be scoring 3000 due to the system it's in, but the rest are doing 5000+ easily. It's just a guide.
 
Currently both 1060s average high 8000s, but there are many scores of 10000+ on both.

Looking at how much extra performance spending more gets you is a good way to help decide. If you are budget restricted to $400 and under, then the 1060 3GB is the best card to buy. If you can, however, stretch to a 1070 that would be the best to buy, even though points per dollar is down.
 
You see, you spend $80 extra to go from 3GB to 6GB, and only get an average of 70 points more. That's expensive for an upgrade, $1.14 per point. But spending $250 more and getting 2276 more points, that's only $0.11 per point.
 
So I say, buy the 1060 3GB, don't bother with the 6GB, just go up to the 1070 instead if you've got the budget. I bought the 1070, happy with my choice.
 

So after installing the "emergency" update to Windows 10 on one of my machines, it rebooted and then immediately failed to load the boot device during the startup sequence. It gets the frowny blue screen of death and a message "inaccessible boot device". This tells me the System Reserved partition has been screwed around with by the update and now won't load Windows.
 
It leads to me needing to run a repair install of Windows, or a Fix MBR type command line through a bootable USB.
 
This is the THIRD TIME that Windows Update has killed this install on this computer, and the 5th time it has happened to me overall.
 
After the second time I've made sure to have Restore Points created before updating, and I've even made full system backups of my primary computer for when it decides to do it on that one next. HOWEVER, when it goes through the Windows Automatic Repair sequence it can't find any restore points. So that was a waste of time.
 
Is this common for others? Is there a preventative step I can take to stop it happening completely? WHY THE HELL DOES IT KEEP HAPPENING?!?!?!?! Chkdsk and Memtest all report perfectly healthy hardware.... WTF!

Let me tell you a little story about how I was a genius making awesome cooling in a tight space. So if you haven't seen my build, check it out  ----> 
 
 
Basically, I decided to upgrade from air cooling to an AIO for my i7 4770k, in a retro IBM case. In order to fit the 120mm radiator of the Fractal Design Kelvin T12 AIO I needed to remove the stock blower fan cooling the GTX 970. Lucky for me the EK Waterblock for GTX970 was recently discontinued, so old stock was going out cheap, I mean $30 cheap. I grabbed it! Yeah! So now the GTX970 and 4770k are water cooled by a FD Kelvin T12, and under full load sit around 63-65 degrees celcius max. Awesome!


Oh noes! A wild problem appears!
 
After about a month of gaming and occasional mining suddenly the graphics card starts going whack-job and the display goes funny if not completely blank. I'm freaking out, did I damage the card on the install? I'm freaking out, my graphics card is dying...

Then I thought, hey maybe it's the gallium Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut liquid metal I so ingeniously used as a thermal interface material for the GTX970 water block. I frantically take out the card, unscrew the water block and BAM! Yep, nice shiny balls of gallium scattered all over.
 
So, turns out nickel plated water blocks are really hard for gallium to stick to. It just tends to float around onto, even after scuffing the surface of the contact point. I cleaned up the card with a spray electrical contact and parts cleaner, a clean rag and patience, and did the same for the water block.

I then used EK's thermal paste and reinstalled the water block. Fingers crossed, reinstalled the card, booted the system and walah! It works! So far, so good.

Moral of the story, if you can't get a good, sticky contact of liquid metal, and there's a chance it will get into very nearby contacts, use something else or take better precautions than I did. I'm a very lucky camper.

Dr Horrible FTW

Hello. Several years ago I embarked on a fun adventure of installing a brand new mini ITX motherboard with Intel CPU and Nvidia graphics card into an old IBM PC300GL mATX case. It's beige and has cool angles with purple highlights. This beast I decided to call...
 
Retro Rocket.
 
Now this wasn't the first time I'd used this case for a build, but it had sat empty for a few years and I was missing the classic IBM stylings. So in 2014 I purchased the following parts to build a brand new computer inside an old hospital computer case.
 
Motherboard - MSI Z87i
CPU - Intel Xeon E3-1230 v3
RAM - G.Skill Sniper F3 DDR3-1866MHz 16GB
GPU - Asus Direct CU II GTX 760
SSD - Adata Premier Pro SP900 256GB
HDD - WD Green 2TB
Optical - Pioneer 16x Blu-Ray Writer
PSU - Silverstone 450W 80 Plus Gold SFX
Cooler - Antex Kuhler H2O 650 AIO
OS - Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
 
This little wonderbeast worked well for me for almost a year, then the Antec Kuhler failed and I had to use the stock Intel HSF. To my surprise the little Xeon was running well with the stock HSF and it was a year later that I installed a Cryorig C7 SFF cooler. It improved the CPU cooling (which I had overclocked as much as a Xeon could on Z87) by a comfortable 5-10 degrees celcius so I was happy.
 
Fast forward to January this year and the upgrade bug had bitten, and bitten hard. I wanted to get more out of my Retro Rocket so I spent about 2 months tracking down the best value CPU and GPU upgrades I could. The Retro Rocket was given new boost with the installation of an i7-4770k overclocked to 4.2GHz and an Asus GTX 970 with blower style cooler, as there was little ventilation in the case. The Cryorig C7 did an adequate job on the 4770k, if full load temps of 75+ degrees celcius is adequate.
 
Even though  the GTX 970 had a blower style cooler it was still heating up the tiny, solid steel case like an oven under full loads. The 970 itself would regularly sit at 80-82 degrees celcius when gaming (at 3840x2160 mind you :P)
 
Having used an AIO cooler before I began considering water cooling, but the GTX 970 was much longer than the 760 I first installed, so I HAD to include a GPU water block if I were to install any kind of radiator inside the case to maintain the classic IBM look from the outside. Lucky me, I found clearance stock of an EK Water Block for the GTX 970. It was destiny.
 
So, as it sits today, with all the upgrades the Retro Rocket contains the following ingredients...
 
Motherboard - MSI Z87i
CPU - Intel i7-4770k overlocked to 4.2GHz - Delidded and TIM replaced with Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut liquid metal
RAM - G.Skill Sniper F3 DDR3-1866MHz 16GB
GPU - Asus GTX 970 with EK water block - again using Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut liquid metal
SSD - Sandisk Ultra II 960GB
HDD - Toshiba 3TB
Optical - Removed
PSU - Silverstone 600W 80 Plus Gold SFX
Cooler - Fractal Design Kelvin T12 - Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut liquid metal, expanded to include GPU loop, two 120mm fans in push/pull ocnfiguration drawing in cool air form the front.
OS - Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
 
So were the recent cooling upgrades worth it? Yes, yes they were. After 4 hours of playing GTA Online at 1080p 60Hz with High settings, I averaged 95fps and the average Max CPU temp was 62 degrees, and GPU was 59 degrees.
 
I experimented with various fan flow directions and found the best results were drawing in fresh air through the radiator from the front of the case, rather than expelling air out of the front. With the case open there is an average of 8 degrees celcius difference in favour of the radiator intake setup. 
 
Now a problem I'm experiencing, but have plans to mitigate, is with the case closed the radiator starts to get heat soak, and the temperatures spike to over 75 degrees on both CPU and GPU. This is why I experimented with making the radiator exhaust out the front instead of intake. With the case closed the exhaust radiator setup only stayed 2-3 degrees cooler than the intake setup, making a negligble difference. I will experiment with mounting a 140mm fan behind the top 5.25" drive bay, which has a retro style fan grille on already, and I will see how the 140mm performs as exhaust and intake to help prevent heat soak. I'm also going to install one of those PCI slot blowers, oh yeah!
 
TLDR = Photos!
 

The PCI slot? I had a cover, was just too lazy to put it back in. It's a PITA and considering in a week or two I'm installing the PCI blower the hole will be filled.
 
Oh, and the hole in the front was originally cut for the 140mm fan, so the 120mm radiator looks a bit out of place. Plus, it's super thick steel and the metal nibbler was difficult to get good corners.  It's all hidden when assembled so noone can see the hole anyway.  

Millimeters of perfection clearance with the EKWB and Fractal T12.
 

Hello. Several years ago I embarked on a fun adventure of installing a brand new mini ITX motherboard with Intel CPU and Nvidia graphics card into an old IBM PC300GL mATX case. It's beige and has cool angles with purple highlights. This beast I decided to call...
 
Retro Rocket.
 
Now this wasn't the first time I'd used this case for a build, but it had sat empty for a few years and I was missing the classic IBM stylings. So in 2014 I purchased the following parts to build a brand new computer inside an old hospital computer case.
 
Motherboard - MSI Z87i
CPU - Intel Xeon E3-1230 v3
RAM - G.Skill Sniper F3 DDR3-1866MHz 16GB
GPU - Asus Direct CU II GTX 760
SSD - Adata Premier Pro SP900 256GB
HDD - WD Green 2TB
Optical - Pioneer 16x Blu-Ray Writer
PSU - Silverstone 450W 80 Plus Gold SFX
Cooler - Antex Kuhler H2O 650 AIO
OS - Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
 
This little wonderbeast worked well for me for almost a year, then the Antec Kuhler failed and I had to use the stock Intel HSF. To my surprise the little Xeon was running well with the stock HSF and it was a year later that I installed a Cryorig C7 SFF cooler. It improved the CPU cooling (which I had overclocked as much as a Xeon could on Z87) by a comfortable 5-10 degrees celcius so I was happy.
 
Fast forward to January this year and the upgrade bug had bitten, and bitten hard. I wanted to get more out of my Retro Rocket so I spent about 2 months tracking down the best value CPU and GPU upgrades I could. The Retro Rocket was given new boost with the installation of an i7-4770k overclocked to 4.2GHz and an Asus GTX 970 with blower style cooler, as there was little ventilation in the case. The Cryorig C7 did an adequate job on the 4770k, if full load temps of 75+ degrees celcius is adequate.
 
Even though  the GTX 970 had a blower style cooler it was still heating up the tiny, solid steel case like an oven under full loads. The 970 itself would regularly sit at 80-82 degrees celcius when gaming (at 3840x2160 mind you :P)
 
Having used an AIO cooler before I began considering water cooling, but the GTX 970 was much longer than the 760 I first installed, so I HAD to include a GPU water block if I were to install any kind of radiator inside the case to maintain the classic IBM look from the outside. Lucky me, I found clearance stock of an EK Water Block for the GTX 970. It was destiny.
 
So, as it sits today, with all the upgrades the Retro Rocket contains the following ingredients...
 
Motherboard - MSI Z87i
CPU - Intel i7-4770k overlocked to 4.2GHz - Delidded and TIM replaced with Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut liquid metal
RAM - G.Skill Sniper F3 DDR3-1866MHz 16GB
GPU - Asus GTX 970 with EK water block - again using Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut liquid metal
SSD - Sandisk Ultra II 960GB
HDD - Toshiba 3TB
Optical - Removed
PSU - Silverstone 600W 80 Plus Gold SFX
Cooler - Fractal Design Kelvin T12 - Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut liquid metal, expanded to include GPU loop, two 120mm fans in push/pull ocnfiguration drawing in cool air form the front.
OS - Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
 
So were the recent cooling upgrades worth it? Yes, yes they were. After 4 hours of playing GTA Online at 1080p 60Hz with High settings, I averaged 95fps and the average Max CPU temp was 62 degrees, and GPU was 59 degrees.
 
I experimented with various fan flow directions and found the best results were drawing in fresh air through the radiator from the front of the case, rather than expelling air out of the front. With the case open there is an average of 8 degrees celcius difference in favour of the radiator intake setup. 
 
Now a problem I'm experiencing, but have plans to mitigate, is with the case closed the radiator starts to get heat soak, and the temperatures spike to over 75 degrees on both CPU and GPU. This is why I experimented with making the radiator exhaust out the front instead of intake. With the case closed the exhaust radiator setup only stayed 2-3 degrees cooler than the intake setup, making a negligble difference. I will experiment with mounting a 140mm fan behind the top 5.25" drive bay, which has a retro style fan grille on already, and I will see how the 140mm performs as exhaust and intake to help prevent heat soak. I'm also going to install one of those PCI slot blowers, oh yeah!
 
TLDR = Photos!
 

Hello. Several years ago I embarked on a fun adventure of installing a brand new mini ITX motherboard with Intel CPU and Nvidia graphics card into an old IBM PC300GL mATX case. It's beige and has cool angles with purple highlights. This beast I decided to call...
 
Retro Rocket.
 
Now this wasn't the first time I'd used this case for a build, but it had sat empty for a few years and I was missing the classic IBM stylings. So in 2014 I purchased the following parts to build a brand new computer inside an old hospital computer case.
 
Motherboard - MSI Z87i
CPU - Intel Xeon E3-1230 v3
RAM - G.Skill Sniper F3 DDR3-1866MHz 16GB
GPU - Asus Direct CU II GTX 760
SSD - Adata Premier Pro SP900 256GB
HDD - WD Green 2TB
Optical - Pioneer 16x Blu-Ray Writer
PSU - Silverstone 450W 80 Plus Gold SFX
Cooler - Antex Kuhler H2O 650 AIO
OS - Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
 
This little wonderbeast worked well for me for almost a year, then the Antec Kuhler failed and I had to use the stock Intel HSF. To my surprise the little Xeon was running well with the stock HSF and it was a year later that I installed a Cryorig C7 SFF cooler. It improved the CPU cooling (which I had overclocked as much as a Xeon could on Z87) by a comfortable 5-10 degrees celcius so I was happy.
 
Fast forward to January this year and the upgrade bug had bitten, and bitten hard. I wanted to get more out of my Retro Rocket so I spent about 2 months tracking down the best value CPU and GPU upgrades I could. The Retro Rocket was given new boost with the installation of an i7-4770k overclocked to 4.2GHz and an Asus GTX 970 with blower style cooler, as there was little ventilation in the case. The Cryorig C7 did an adequate job on the 4770k, if full load temps of 75+ degrees celcius is adequate.
 
Even though  the GTX 970 had a blower style cooler it was still heating up the tiny, solid steel case like an oven under full loads. The 970 itself would regularly sit at 80-82 degrees celcius when gaming (at 3840x2160 mind you :P)
 
Having used an AIO cooler before I began considering water cooling, but the GTX 970 was much longer than the 760 I first installed, so I HAD to include a GPU water block if I were to install any kind of radiator inside the case to maintain the classic IBM look from the outside. Lucky me, I found clearance stock of an EK Water Block for the GTX 970. It was destiny.
 
So, as it sits today, with all the upgrades the Retro Rocket contains the following ingredients...
 
Motherboard - MSI Z87i
CPU - Intel i7-4770k overlocked to 4.2GHz - Delidded and TIM replaced with Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut liquid metal
RAM - G.Skill Sniper F3 DDR3-1866MHz 16GB
GPU - Asus GTX 970 with EK water block - again using Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut liquid metal
SSD - Sandisk Ultra II 960GB
HDD - Toshiba 3TB
Optical - Removed
PSU - Silverstone 600W 80 Plus Gold SFX
Cooler - Fractal Design Kelvin T12 - Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut liquid metal, expanded to include GPU loop, two 120mm fans in push/pull ocnfiguration drawing in cool air form the front.
OS - Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
 
So were the recent cooling upgrades worth it? Yes, yes they were. After 4 hours of playing GTA Online at 1080p 60Hz with High settings, I averaged 95fps and the average Max CPU temp was 62 degrees, and GPU was 59 degrees.
 
I experimented with various fan flow directions and found the best results were drawing in fresh air through the radiator from the front of the case, rather than expelling air out of the front. With the case open there is an average of 8 degrees celcius difference in favour of the radiator intake setup. 
 
Now a problem I'm experiencing, but have plans to mitigate, is with the case closed the radiator starts to get heat soak, and the temperatures spike to over 75 degrees on both CPU and GPU. This is why I experimented with making the radiator exhaust out the front instead of intake. With the case closed the exhaust radiator setup only stayed 2-3 degrees cooler than the intake setup, making a negligble difference. I will experiment with mounting a 140mm fan behind the top 5.25" drive bay, which has a retro style fan grille on already, and I will see how the 140mm performs as exhaust and intake to help prevent heat soak. I'm also going to install one of those PCI slot blowers, oh yeah!
 
TLDR = Photos!
 

One is enough interest, lol. I'll take pictures and post it to the rigs section tomorrow (it's late my time). I'll link it here.

Look on the used market for a GTX 970/980/980 Ti.