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Modding my F@H server! (VouwFabriek)

RollinLower

Alright, so i'm finally doing something i've been meaning to do for years!

 

A long time ago, i went and bought a secondhand 4U server chassis. I have no clue what brand or model it is, but after drilling out some rivets and mounting a 360 radiator with some double sided tape it turned into my very first server!

It started out quite small, but now it's a beast with loads of hardware and top of the line specs!

 

Right now she's running:

AMD EPYC 7551

256GB DDR4 ECC 2400

SuperMicro H11SSL-i

Inno 3D RTX 2080Ti

Nvidia Grid K2 with a noctua fanmod

Kingston 512 GB NVMe drive

EVGA SUPERNOVA 1000W G3 with a noctua NF-F14

Engineering Sample Mellanox 10G SFP+ NIC 

And of course custom watercooling on all the hot parts.

 

I've had many, many hardware configurations in this thing, and it always worked like a dream. This case truly was the start of my enterprise tech obsession, and maybe even the reason why i work in datacenters today. 😄

IMG_20210417_142647.thumb.jpg.aaf058c0c696dd59087647b6be74c0bc.jpg

 

The thing is, even tough the hardware inside is amazing, the outside doesn't really look the part. It's always been an old, secondhand server chassis i got for cheap.

Here it is in my current rack. It's the middle server without any drive bays.

setup.thumb.jpg.24abd9844a354e81764100c7bd12895f.jpg

 

This buildlog is finally going to change that!

 

Here's the plan:

 

Mods!

- Swap out the front panel for something better looking and less restrictive

- Swap out the front of the case with a proper radiator mount from a donor case

- Paint the chassis (outside and inside)

- Remove all excess brackets from the old case configuration

- Re-do the watercooling

- Add easy to use drain and fill ports

- (maybe) add a PSU shroud

 

I've already purchased a proper donor case for this. Enter the Zalman T7:

zalman_t7.jpg.6a9ea8d85a814ecdc3696cfef5edfad5.jpg

 

I went with this case for a few reasons. First, this case has a symmetrical front panel, which is almost exactly the size of a 19" 4U rackmount. And because i will place it on it's side basically, this is a very big plus. Second, almost the entire front is mesh, and there are no secondary filters or other stuff to restrict the airflow. Noice! Third, this case has a 360mm radiator mount in the front which i can cut out and mount in the front of my server chassis.

 

And last but not least: This thing was 35 euro's brand new!

 

That's it for now, updates as the case arrives and the mods begin!

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Oh, I also forgot to mention that I want to replace the rack rails. 

The rails currently on the server are just some generic sliding bearing rails. The thing is, with all the watercooling hardware this case got heavy fast, and right now the bearings in those rails are absolutely mangled.

 

I decided to just abandon the bearings, and went with some Supermicro teflon rails. This is just teflon coated metal sliding into metal, so no bearings or other things to break. I already have the same set of rails on my 1U server. I admit, they are not as smooth as a set of bearing rails can be, but these should last me a lifetime! 🙂

IMG_20210819_084455.thumb.jpg.edab6decfca21939f3d5b928aa20394b.jpg

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The donor case arrived!

 

Sadly i was way too excited when i got it, and i pretty much just demolished it instantly. No pictures of the thing when it's intact i'm afraid.

 

Anyway, after a bit of inspecting it turned out i only had to drill out a few rivets and the entire front would come off. So drilling it is.

1629475855821.thumb.jpg.709476e26e20b2716f48025b65fb4137.jpg

 

And about 10 rivets later: New radmount acquired!

1629475855810.thumb.jpg.2693479b6bbbb01d9d7d3dd8632649b9.jpg

 

I also ripped out the front panel connectors, but i'm not totally sure i'll use that. Anyway, this case's job is done. Bye Zalmann!

1629475855801.thumb.jpg.494929610b22c470ec3e7c82691ff044.jpg

 

After test fitting it in the case it became clear there was a lot more metal that had to go, both on the mount and on the old front of my server case.

1629475855791.thumb.jpg.51b992b1a578cc8c54159af95596f75d.jpg

 

You can see there's a lot of metal blocking holes, and it's sticking out the top a fair bit. All of that excess has to go.

I really don't feel like doing this by hand, especially since most of my hand files are dull. So i got me one of these:

I used to have a Metabo grinder on my previous job, and i really loved the hand feel of that, but the store i went to didn;t have Metabo, so i guess a Makita ain't all that bad either.

1629475855781.thumb.jpg.5441543951132921929aa5aef8f21348.jpg

 

So tomorrow the fun begins! I bought everything to make it work, and all the new watercooling is scheduled for delivery coming monday. So if i can finish this up in this weekend that would be fantastic, and downtime on my main F@H workhorse should be minimal.

That's it again for now, more updates as stuff happens.

 

Here's a last little mockup of how she's gonna look. Now that right there is a frontpanel for airflow 😉

1629475855766.thumb.jpg.b88603b33762c93110b7d6da60d13a16.jpg

 

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2 hours ago, RollinLower said:

And about 10 rivets later: New radmount acquired!

1629475855810.thumb.jpg.2693479b6bbbb01d9d7d3dd8632649b9.jpg

 

I also ripped out the front panel connectors, but i'm not totally sure i'll use that. Anyway, this case's job is done. Bye Zalmann!

1629475855801.thumb.jpg.494929610b22c470ec3e7c82691ff044.jpg

 

Mad lad really bought a $35 front panel and  front fan frame, and said to the rest of the case:

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"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

Make sure to Quote posts or tag the person with @[username] so they know you responded to them!

 RGB Build Post 2019 --- Rainbow 🦆 2020 --- Velka 5 V2.0 Build 2021

Purple Build Post ---  Blue Build Post --- Blue Build Post 2018 --- Project ITNOS

CPU i7-4790k    Motherboard Gigabyte Z97N-WIFI    RAM G.Skill Sniper DDR3 1866mhz    GPU EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW3    Case Corsair 380T   

Storage Samsung EVO 250GB, Samsung EVO 1TB, WD Black 3TB, WD Black 5TB    PSU Corsair CX750M    Cooling Cryorig H7 with NF-A12x25

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27 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

Mad lad really bought a $35 front panel and  front fan frame, and said to the rest of the case:

well it was either this or having something made for this case. This definitely seemed like the cheaper option 😛

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cool project! I look forward to seeing the final product

Insanity is not the absence of sanity, but the willingness to ignore it for a purpose. Chaos is the result of this choice. I relish in both.

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Update time!

 

I got a lot done today. I planned to do all this today mind you, but i never actually thought i would make it in one day lol.

 

Anyway, first things first, I've got a server to dismantle! I let it finish the last few WU's it was crunching overnight, and this morning she was idle and ready to shut down.

I cannot say i wasn't a bit nervous to start this journey. If i ended up trashing my case i would have nothing to replace it with, and no folding server until i could find a replacement somewhere.

Last picture of the old vouwfabriek, see you on the other side buddy. 👋

1629561189031.thumb.jpg.93249a4d78eefa6a1dc1ddab917c1898.jpg

 

Out come the NIC's, GPU's and PSU, and you can already spot some left over dual sided tape here where i used to have a 2.5" SSD mounted.

1629561189023.thumb.jpg.a753c71dc9a45082e092636074aea6a5.jpg

 

Next in line: The pump/res, fans and radiator assembley. This thing comes out as one big piece, and is basically the "engine" in this waterloop. Here you can also see my previous method of both mounting and cable management for the fan wires. Two birds, one stone!

1629561189015.thumb.jpg.ab72a302e87626c386c1472c77f5356d.jpg

 

All that's left now is the motherboard, and after removing that this is the very first time this case has been completely empty for at least 3 years. I've always kept some hardware in here when swapping out parts. Look at all that room for activities though.

1629561189008.thumb.jpg.3ca1f91bdc47483fec6e8bdf864cf1f6.jpg

 

This things is nasty. Getting rid of all that double sided tape was one hell of a challenge, and took loads of thinners and chemicals. But in the end, i think i got it mostly done. at least good enough for a server chassis that spends it's days locked in a server rack somewhere.

Here comes the beauty of this case: This thing is (kinda) modular. Most of the IO, the PSU mount and the handles all come off, and thus can be painted separately.

1629561189000.thumb.jpg.7eb3198923ee1867bf23f924c2bde08a.jpg

 

With the case now empty, i guess it's time for the no-way-back point in this story. This front panel has to go, and it will go by way of angle grinder.

1629561188992.thumb.jpg.93f4f4b3febde192af58763df56b91ab.jpg

 

A few sparks later, and she looks like this! I have to say, eventho i cut out most of the front, this thing is still very rigid. That was definitely one of my concerns with this build, the new radiator mount is made from much thinner metal than this case, and i was worried the end result would be kinda flimsy. Thankfully this thing is still solid!

1629561188985.thumb.jpg.6c7e5d9496819720916204b055d1478b.jpg

 

A little bit of grinding, measuring, then grinding again and the front panel fits! I attached it with some screws at first to keep it in place, but the main method is glue.

I admit, it;s not the cleanest job in the world. But who cares, i got a fancy mesh front panel which hides all of this anyway 😛

1629561188977.thumb.jpg.d6ffb7a090b871730ad42d91b7962e39.jpg

 

Final test before paint: Like a glove!

1629561188962.thumb.jpg.413e76bfabb026f1e045236855877610.jpg

 

I ended up getting black heat resistant paint. Why heat resistant? because it can withstand the heat of 100+C VRMs right up against it, but also because this paint dries in like an hour. So this paint is massive factor in helping me get this done quick. A few coats and a couple hours later and i got to put her back together. First back in is the IO and PSU mount.

1629561188954.thumb.jpg.ab6fc82e2ea05598f8f32003cff5b3f4.jpg

 

Next, the motherboard, and PCI cards Just look how much better this thing looks already!

1629561188947.thumb.jpg.eae4a1e876790c8dbb13125eda019cf5.jpg

1629561188939.thumb.jpg.a2dd9047b91cd306c16659dd778f7f1e.jpg

 

Next up: the big one. Front panel and handles. And BOI is this a different look from before! I really couldn't be happier with the result, what a beast! It looks like it'll suck up children and small dogs lol.

1629561188929.thumb.jpg.149e285042b0d69a6b0f83286d037250.jpg

 

On goes the lid and the new rails.

1629561188904.thumb.jpg.9e9af80c82cf5157d48beb618be1efb2.jpg

1629561188917.thumb.jpg.1ee0393788926f6612c53fd2c3077ca1.jpg

 

And in the rack she goes!

I mounted it a bit higher than previously, mostly to get some air gap between the server below and this box. This server gets pretty hot when all hardware inside is at work, and i hope this way less of that heat radiates into the other boxes in my rack. I'll get some half-U blank panels to fill in the gaps.

1629561262566.thumb.jpg.0d4aab7c03cf414831fdac9f6c18c334.jpg

 

Now the wait is on the new watercooling stuff to really finish this build. Coming monday it should be delivered, if all goes well, this thing is back producing PPD monday evening!

 

Expect updates as stuff happens. 😉

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2 hours ago, RollinLower said:

Update time!

 

I got a lot done today. I planned to do all this today mind you, but i never actually thought i would make it in one day lol.

 

Anyway, first things first, I've got a server to dismantle! I let it finish the last few WU's it was crunching overnight, and this morning she was idle and ready to shut down.

I cannot say i wasn't a bit nervous to start this journey. If i ended up trashing my case i would have nothing to replace it with, and no folding server until i could find a replacement somewhere.

Last picture of the old vouwfabriek, see you on the other side buddy. 👋

1629561189031.thumb.jpg.93249a4d78eefa6a1dc1ddab917c1898.jpg

 

Out come the NIC's, GPU's and PSU, and you can already spot some left over dual sided tape here where i used to have a 2.5" SSD mounted.

1629561189023.thumb.jpg.a753c71dc9a45082e092636074aea6a5.jpg

 

Next in line: The pump/res, fans and radiator assembley. This thing comes out as one big piece, and is basically the "engine" in this waterloop. Here you can also see my previous method of both mounting and cable management for the fan wires. Two birds, one stone!

1629561189015.thumb.jpg.ab72a302e87626c386c1472c77f5356d.jpg

 

All that's left now is the motherboard, and after removing that this is the very first time this case has been completely empty for at least 3 years. I've always kept some hardware in here when swapping out parts. Look at all that room for activities though.

1629561189008.thumb.jpg.3ca1f91bdc47483fec6e8bdf864cf1f6.jpg

 

This things is nasty. Getting rid of all that double sided tape was one hell of a challenge, and took loads of thinners and chemicals. But in the end, i think i got it mostly done. at least good enough for a server chassis that spends it's days locked in a server rack somewhere.

Here comes the beauty of this case: This thing is (kinda) modular. Most of the IO, the PSU mount and the handles all come off, and thus can be painted separately.

1629561189000.thumb.jpg.7eb3198923ee1867bf23f924c2bde08a.jpg

 

With the case now empty, i guess it's time for the no-way-back point in this story. This front panel has to go, and it will go by way of angle grinder.

1629561188992.thumb.jpg.93f4f4b3febde192af58763df56b91ab.jpg

 

A few sparks later, and she looks like this! I have to say, eventho i cut out most of the front, this thing is still very rigid. That was definitely one of my concerns with this build, the new radiator mount is made from much thinner metal than this case, and i was worried the end result would be kinda flimsy. Thankfully this thing is still solid!

1629561188985.thumb.jpg.6c7e5d9496819720916204b055d1478b.jpg

 

A little bit of grinding, measuring, then grinding again and the front panel fits! I attached it with some screws at first to keep it in place, but the main method is glue.

I admit, it;s not the cleanest job in the world. But who cares, i got a fancy mesh front panel which hides all of this anyway 😛

1629561188977.thumb.jpg.d6ffb7a090b871730ad42d91b7962e39.jpg

 

Final test before paint: Like a glove!

1629561188962.thumb.jpg.413e76bfabb026f1e045236855877610.jpg

 

I ended up getting black heat resistant paint. Why heat resistant? because it can withstand the heat of 100+C VRMs right up against it, but also because this paint dries in like an hour. So this paint is massive factor in helping me get this done quick. A few coats and a couple hours later and i got to put her back together. First back in is the IO and PSU mount.

1629561188954.thumb.jpg.ab6fc82e2ea05598f8f32003cff5b3f4.jpg

 

Next, the motherboard, and PCI cards Just look how much better this thing looks already!

1629561188947.thumb.jpg.eae4a1e876790c8dbb13125eda019cf5.jpg

1629561188939.thumb.jpg.a2dd9047b91cd306c16659dd778f7f1e.jpg

 

Next up: the big one. Front panel and handles. And BOI is this a different look from before! I really couldn't be happier with the result, what a beast! It looks like it'll suck up children and small dogs lol.

1629561188929.thumb.jpg.149e285042b0d69a6b0f83286d037250.jpg

 

On goes the lid and the new rails.

1629561188904.thumb.jpg.9e9af80c82cf5157d48beb618be1efb2.jpg

1629561188917.thumb.jpg.1ee0393788926f6612c53fd2c3077ca1.jpg

 

And in the rack she goes!

I mounted it a bit higher than previously, mostly to get some air gap between the server below and this box. This server gets pretty hot when all hardware inside is at work, and i hope this way less of that heat radiates into the other boxes in my rack. I'll get some half-U blank panels to fill in the gaps.

1629561262566.thumb.jpg.0d4aab7c03cf414831fdac9f6c18c334.jpg

 

Now the wait is on the new watercooling stuff to really finish this build. Coming monday it should be delivered, if all goes well, this thing is back producing PPD monday evening!

 

Expect updates as stuff happens. 😉

Looks amazing so far!

Insanity is not the absence of sanity, but the willingness to ignore it for a purpose. Chaos is the result of this choice. I relish in both.

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Watercooling stuff arrived! Sadly it's not all good though, but lets start with cleaning the old watercooling stuff i'll be re-using. That's the CPU block, the pump/res combo and some left over fittings. I didn;t make any pictures of this process, since i bet you've all seen it before. open up the stuff, clean it out, put it back together. riveting stuff!

With the CPU block off i did take the chance to snap this pic though:

1629739786781.thumb.jpg.fa925524ce2ac0bb1b1546257857c090.jpg

 

Anyway, on to the new watercooling stuff!

First up is the new radiator. It's the Aquacomputer airplex radical 4. Its a chonky boi and it looks amazing, but in hindsight i would have gone with a more traditional rad. The fan mounting system on this radiator relies on little nuts to slot into the grooves where normally threaded holes would be. The marketing says this is to help with installation, but it took me about 2 hours to mount this thing. Once i finally had everything in place, one of those nuts would slide off and i had to remove everything again, Sigh.

It does look pretty nice though!

1629739786774.thumb.jpg.92d673b308b9ecefef3f2ba22779d402.jpg

 

lots, and i mean lots of struggles later, the front fans and rad are in the case!

1629739786766.thumb.jpg.8537cb2d1122368c0022d87b79c136aa.jpg

 

On go the back fans and the new pump/res mounts.

1629739786758.thumb.jpg.245d1f4ebca9b091c6206acf693a99aa.jpg

 

And just a few short minutes later, she's all plumbed up!

1629739786749.thumb.jpg.a86aff50d12ece24a44cd7fdbc4ae48f.jpg

 

That just leaves the cables, and i'm still not very happy with how they are now. I do still want to add a PSU shroud of some sorts, but for now just a tight bundle will have to do.

This however, is where the trouble starts. Turns out the old rotary fittings i planned to use have sprung a leak over time. I guess having them sit in on a shelf for about a year really doesn't help keeping things watertight.

Anyway, new rotaries have been ordered, and i hope they'll be delivered tomorrow. Other than that, she's ready to go!

 

Here's a couple pictures of how she now stands:

1629739786737.thumb.jpg.8062999e477f604ee3d337b9ca1bc85f.jpg

1629739786722.thumb.jpg.53ead8a1be1d034b791025b1d5514de0.jpg

 

Expect the final update soon!

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Tech-semi. I love it!

Instructions for frustration management:  

1) Sit at desk.   2) Repeatedly slam forehead against desk.

 

I never said I was smart, just smart enough to be dangerous.

 

 

ORLY?

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One package, and two new watertight 90 degree rotary fittings later, and she's finally back up and running!

The two leaking fittings where located on the GPU block where it leads to the radiator, and on the other end of that same tube, where it goes into the radiator.

 

Turns out that having the tubes into the reservoir below it and out of sight was somewhat of a bad idea. It looks super clean, but air gets stuck in these fittings and also the pump now, and it's been quite the struggle to get that out of there. Here you can just barely see one of the 90-degree fittings leading into the pump.

1629911165816.thumb.jpg.953c7064f93c1efd26b1c0470a1c4feb.jpg

 

Anyway, that's all settled now though. So after filling her up again it was time for the first boot!

IPMI worked straight away, and thankfully so! Since i cut away the previous location of the power button with the angle grinder i have no way to turn this thing on except IPMI or just shorting the pins on the motherboard.

Anyway, IPMI worked like a charm, and soon after i got through the POST.

1629911165795.thumb.jpg.d3c061683c2517ef58aed751b1e2ed57.jpg

 

And that's about it! Here's a few more pictures of the somewhat finished product.

1629911165802.thumb.jpg.9e59d16369b51267ee7970cc26c30f9e.jpg

1629911165823.thumb.jpg.22ebe2c93a5080b9bb4d7cdbb20f90c1.jpg

1629911165809.thumb.jpg.d3c78896184d0fa816acbec3a8282350.jpg

1629911165786.thumb.jpg.c68dca2322abd5c7ec34fbd51730a290.jpg

1629911165770.thumb.jpg.43c183ca0de5f6f4bda9faaeb1ee104d.jpg

 

I say somewhat finished because i still really want to add a PSU shroud to hide the mess of cables i have in there now. I also want to add a small logo or something to the front mesh, since right now it's really just a big open grill and nothing else.

 

Also, the watercooling is so much more efficient now!

In the previous waterloop, you might have noticed that i had to add a cardboard strip along the top edge of the radiator. This was to prevent hot air getting pulled back into the rad instead of being pushed out the back of the server. Now that i have a proper radiator mount in the case the hot air truly has nowhere else to go except through the case and out the back or the PSU. Just the sheer amount of air i can feel moving through the front if i put my hand up against it is amazing!

 

here's some temps, first idle:

1882140828_tempsidle.thumb.png.86b6142cb46ef95a19f2fec407413a71.png

 

And this is with all components under full load!

hot.thumb.png.d3a1d3c86ba42b6a7c83d5839484a255.png

 

That's about it for now, thanks for reading along with this one, and i'll probably post here again once i get to making the PSU shroud or the logo. 😄

 

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18 hours ago, RollinLower said:

1629911165802.thumb.jpg.9e59d16369b51267ee7970cc26c30f9e.jpg

1629911165770.thumb.jpg.43c183ca0de5f6f4bda9faaeb1ee104d.jpg

I have to remind myself that this front panel was from an entirely different PC case; the fact that it fits so damn (both physically and aesthetically)  well is short of a miracle. 

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

Make sure to Quote posts or tag the person with @[username] so they know you responded to them!

 RGB Build Post 2019 --- Rainbow 🦆 2020 --- Velka 5 V2.0 Build 2021

Purple Build Post ---  Blue Build Post --- Blue Build Post 2018 --- Project ITNOS

CPU i7-4790k    Motherboard Gigabyte Z97N-WIFI    RAM G.Skill Sniper DDR3 1866mhz    GPU EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW3    Case Corsair 380T   

Storage Samsung EVO 250GB, Samsung EVO 1TB, WD Black 3TB, WD Black 5TB    PSU Corsair CX750M    Cooling Cryorig H7 with NF-A12x25

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13 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

I have to remind myself that this front panel was from an entirely different PC case; the fact that it fits so damn (both physically and aesthetically)  well is short of a miracle. 

i'll let alex explain this one:

 

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And just like that, i'm already back to work on this box!

 

With this config i can run the fans much slower than the old front panel, and thus i have a lot less airflow through the case. Most of the important components don;t mind this, since everything hot is basically under water anyway. Except the RAM. and the RAM gets quite toasty after a few hours of CPU folding and BOINC.

 

I was contemplating watercooling the RAM aswell, but the cost/performance just doesn't make any sense. So i got this 3D printed instead:

1341809358_ramcoolingpic.thumb.jpg.c1d362907b5bb44dfcbef3f7d803cc87.jpg

 

I hope to receive them soon, since i don't own a 3D printer myself i had to out-source this. They'll get 40mm noctua's mounted on the end and basically they'll act like air scoops forcing air down the tunnel and over the RAM. Or maybe i'll mount the fan in a pull orientation, that way it sucks the hot air away from the RAM and out of the case. I'll have to see what works better.

 

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3D prints arrived!

They turned out pretty great. This is printed in ASA, which means it can withstand temperatures up to 120 degrees C.

1630434340191.thumb.jpg.f24b39b753214089705a1754706cf115.jpg

 

On go the fans, the screws are just drilled right in the plastic. In materials like this, every screw is a self-tapping one. 😉

1630434340184.thumb.jpg.9b5ad907debbc1cb1eb1464f674f0e11.jpg

 

The little dividers didn't quite work though. They are a little bit oversized, and don't quite fit in the ducts. I ended up just cutting away the excess with a knife and i glued them in place. And just like that, two new RAM coolers!1630434340175.thumb.jpg.067312a7309e952089c71ee82250b713.jpg

1630434340166.thumb.jpg.4088f6738f48996fd5af8fde51c20a87.jpg

 

And on the RAM they go!

The fit couldn't be better. they actually fit over the RAM pretty snugly, and through friction they hold on to the DIMMs. Even after shaking the case around a bit they stayed on there, so i'm not worried of them ever slipping off.

1630434340136.thumb.jpg.f5d240cc37cd7a8114e6d73375f86865.jpg

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I went with the blow cool air on the RAM option, as opposed to the suck hot air off of the RAM option. mainly because i like the way this looks, and also because the temperatures are more than fine like this.

After about 30 minutes this is the result:

1057648743_dimmtemps.thumb.png.a8d1565d2e2750f03d9d1941a3d8be89.png

 

I would say that is an success!

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  • 7 months later...

Updates!

 

I swapped the Nvidia GRID out for an Quadro M5000. I also added a 6x 10G SFP+ NIC and replaced the aging CPU blok with a massive unit from koolance.

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20220414_182714.thumb.jpg.893eb313f48f488dfde66a27ca960447.jpg

 

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38 minutes ago, RollinLower said:

the aging CPU blok

as a fellow owner of a full nickel Supremacy EVO, ouch

PC: CPU: Intel i7-4790 MB: Gigabyte B85N RAM: Adata 4GB + Kingston 8GB SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB GPU: XFX GTR RX 480 8GB Case: Advantech IPC-510 PSU: Corsair RM1000i KB: Drevo Gramr modded to ortholinear with Cherry MX Blues Mouse: Logitech G305 Mousepad: LTT Deskpad Headphones: AKG K240 Sextett
Phone: Sony Xperia 5 II
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4 minutes ago, DJ46 said:

as a fellow owner of a full nickel Supremacy EVO, ouch

it was an awesome block don't get me wrong, but that poor thing has seen 6 different systems complete with probably 20 different types of coolant. the outside looked good still, but inside is absolutely mangled, corroded and destroyed. A replacement was definitely in order.

I kept the EVO though. the nickel top is still in great shape and if i ever need a CPU block again i can just buy a acetal one and swap the top out.

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2 hours ago, RollinLower said:

it was an awesome block don't get me wrong, but that poor thing has seen 6 different systems complete with probably 20 different types of coolant. the outside looked good still, but inside is absolutely mangled, corroded and destroyed. A replacement was definitely in order.

I kept the EVO though. the nickel top is still in great shape and if i ever need a CPU block again i can just buy a acetal one and swap the top out.

I remember how excited I was when I saw a used one for sale. I had no idea they existed and thought I'd have to buy completely different block to get full metal construction.

I originally bought a used plexi one that somehow had no cracks. I was careful with it, but one of the fittings on it had a small leak (gotta love leak testers, not a drop spilled) and I had to tighten it some more. Now it has a few tiny stress cracks. But now I have the full nickel one on hand to upgrade to once I drain the loop.

Somehow, neither of the blocks came with the original mounting hardware, and EK stopped selling it before I bought a set. So I bought a 3rd used Supremacy (also plexi, but it came with an AM4 bracket, which I wanted to buy anyway).

Didn't save any money in the end, but I have a ton of spare parts I guess.

 

By inside, did you mean the coldplate? I hope the plastic parts didn't show any damage, as I believe those are not interchangeable with ones from a plexi block (don't know about the acetal version). Since the Supremacy is now discontinued and the most popular version is the plexi, replacement internal parts for the full nickel could be hard to find.

PC: CPU: Intel i7-4790 MB: Gigabyte B85N RAM: Adata 4GB + Kingston 8GB SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB GPU: XFX GTR RX 480 8GB Case: Advantech IPC-510 PSU: Corsair RM1000i KB: Drevo Gramr modded to ortholinear with Cherry MX Blues Mouse: Logitech G305 Mousepad: LTT Deskpad Headphones: AKG K240 Sextett
Phone: Sony Xperia 5 II
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1 hour ago, DJ46 said:

I remember how excited I was when I saw a used one for sale. I had no idea they existed and thought I'd have to buy completely different block to get full metal construction.

I originally bought a used plexi one that somehow had no cracks. I was careful with it, but one of the fittings on it had a small leak (gotta love leak testers, not a drop spilled) and I had to tighten it some more. Now it has a few tiny stress cracks. But now I have the full nickel one on hand to upgrade to once I drain the loop.

Somehow, neither of the blocks came with the original mounting hardware, and EK stopped selling it before I bought a set. So I bought a 3rd used Supremacy (also plexi, but it came with an AM4 bracket, which I wanted to buy anyway).

Didn't save any money in the end, but I have a ton of spare parts I guess.

 

By inside, did you mean the coldplate? I hope the plastic parts didn't show any damage, as I believe those are not interchangeable with ones from a plexi block (don't know about the acetal version). Since the Supremacy is now discontinued and the most popular version is the plexi, replacement internal parts for the full nickel could be hard to find.

the plastics are still fine thankfully, though the colours are all messed up due to dye from coolant.

what really showed signs of wear was the flowplate and the fins in the coldplate. the flowplate is malformed and the fins have massive amounts of corrosion.

 

probably all my fault too by the way, i never really cleaned my loop when switching coolants. might be some leftover coolant reacted with other coolant which messed up the block.

I only run distilled water in all my rigs nowadays. Seems to be the best fool-proof option still.

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  • 1 month later...

once again, work on this machine continues.

I recently rebuild the waterloop to accommodate a EK manifold so i can run my waterblocks to this manifold with quick disconnect fittings. This way, i can just swap PCI cards and CPU's without draining the loop at all!

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This did also mean i had to remove one row of fans from the radiator though. Because of this, i want to swap out the 120mm noctua's for 140mm industrial PPC's.

Now, 3x 140mm fans will push a lot more air, but they will obviously not mount to a 360mm radiator. Here's a nice visualisation of the difference in size:

345575962_newfans.thumb.jpeg.35ad2e531e86d082313de558a435981a.jpeg

 

3D printing to the rescue! A friend of mine designed this beauty in SolidWorks.

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With this adapter, i can just mount 3x 140's to the 360 rad, and because the edges into the radiator are chamfered, i don't expect the blades moving past the adapter to make much noise at all. The difference in airflow between my NF-F12's and NF-P14's is incredible. These industrial PPC fans really mean business!

 

Anyway, the model is currently being printed. Expect updates when the part arrives!

 

 

 

 

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3D print finished!

sadly i won't be able to build this in for a little while. I'm currently traveling for work and will not be home untill next monday.

1712470013_WhatsAppImage2022-06-18at6_40_31PM.thumb.jpeg.2daf9b87b806faea8f4780bcefc82574.jpeg

 

Still though, this thing looks sick! Printing took ages because infill is basically 100%, and the guy who printed it for me also made a mistake once where he needed to start the print from the beginning again.

 

I will also be modding or completely re-doing the current frontpanel on the server. Right now it just supports 3x 120mm fans, and the spacing isn't even perfect for a 360 radiator. (small confession: the rad is only mounted through the middle 120mm fan right now! The other 2 are just screwed into the front panel and are not holding in the radiator.

 

I will probably just get a sheet of 1mm steel or stainless or something, and just completely re-do the panel.

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  • 9 months later...

Havn't updated this for a little while. 
 

The 3D print with the 140mm fans worked like a charm. i'm currently trying out a PSU shroud to see if i can hide the cable mess.
Other changes include a Seasonic PX1300 PSU modded to fit another 140mm noctua, and i swapped out some hardware since i last posted here. Mainly a new CPU (7551, 32C 64T) and i'm only running a single RTX3090 for now (Inno3d, PCB modded to fit the EK waterblock)
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