Project Ravens' Nest

[Joe__Bishop]

Ahhhhhh, where is me 10 years ago when I had big great cases in my head with unlimited  budget essentially.

 

Looking forward to  catching up on everything

[J7SC_Orion]

On 11/06/2021 at 16:10, Bastiaan_NL said:

I can imagine that this creation takes up a lot of space, with all the hardware above and all the carts tables etc. So I do understand them a little

Looking good so far

 

 ...today was furniture assembly day - only had a few bits left over (who reads instructions anyway) ? One hallway cleared, one hallway ('the parking lot') to go  

  

Also, when I grew up in Europe and teased my two older sisters, they would say things like 'when God created men, she was only kidding'...I really shouldn't have shared that in my household now, because it is spreading like wildfire at dinner parties...  

    

13 hours ago, Sir Beregond said:

Loving this. Can't wait to see more.

  

 ...glad to see you here...looking forward to your suggestions 

       

I don't know what I like less, assembling furniture, or chasing down memory optimization rabbit holes...Per earlier post, I recently added new RAM (Samsung-B 4000 / CL15) for the 5950X...daily is still a undervolted IF 1900 / DDR4 3800 14-14-14, but IF 2000 / DDR4 4000 does work after some rudimentary tests on the system...I had the Asus Dark Hero / AM4 5950X for 3+ months now and am quite comfortable 'pushing it' a bit...still, DDR4 4000 needs a revisit during a rainy day, now that I know that the IF can handle it.

   

 

   

  

...some earlier comparable runs for 'the other Ravens' at daily settings (AM4 3950X and TR 2950X):

 

   

   

...and here are some earlier 'max' results for video cards for error-free settings for GPUs and VRAM 'on air'- albeit at only light rendering loads...full long-run 3D results will be lower, though both get a water-block...

 

 

Spoiler

 

     

   

  

@Joe__Bishop wrote..."Ahhhhhh, where is me 10 years ago when I had big great cases in my head with unlimited  budget essentially.

Looking forward to  catching up on everything" 

   

...worth repeating that this is a productivity+play build. It doesn't have an 'unlimited budget', but it does have a decent budget envelope to satisfy the function brief, after a year of 'temporary' pandemic stop-gaps for capacity at different locations. One key item to check was the transfer of various older (sometimes proprietary) software onto the 3950X / Radeon 6900 XT combo, which will become the primary new daily slogger; and that combo is also the only one with eMail etc...

 

On the other hand, the TR 2950X will likely become 'the file serer', among other functions, what with its capabilities to run 7x M.2 and also a U.2, even  before any SSDs.

 

-------------------------------

 

Now that the furniture additions are assembled, it is time to start thinking about drilling, cutting and tapping into the TT Core P8 case 

 

 

 

Edited June 13, 2021 by J7SC_Orion

[J7SC_Orion]

...putting together the copper bits for Project Ravens' Nest, for 'old-school hard tubing' watercooling...

 

 

    

  

..in my last build two years+ ago, I also used copper pipe and elbows (ie. the white 'tubes' to-and-from the GPUs below). 

   

[J7SC_Orion]

...below is one of the current 'daily slogger' main work / productivity machines that will be retired in favour of one of the Ravens systems (the 3950X / Radeon 6900 XT combo outline above).

 

I got this X79 mobo back in early 2014 and it has been trouble free - it's an Asus workstation board (X79-E WS) with Quad Channel DDR 2400, PLX chip & seven full length PCIe lanes, dual Intel Gigabit Lan, Q-code and very good oc_ing to boot ! In quad SLI format, it even fetched a few HWBot cups and helped win a red-green OCN competition back in the day.

 

It has been 100% reliable for all these years...the same holds for the dual 980 Classifieds, but the time has come to replace 4GB VRAM cards, not least as every primary system will now run 4K monitors, and other productivity apps call for 16 GB VRAM or more and faster subsystems.

 

...this board will either go on to run as a back-up server (w/ 10c/20t or 12c/24t Xeon), or become the main NAS for my home office, complete with a quad M.2 PCIe card - in other words, we won't part ways - it is still one of my favourites...

  

 

[J7SC_Orion]

...lot's of disruptions, but back to working on the Ravens' nest ...leak / pressure testing with test loop: dual D5 revo combo on max speed > XSPC reservoir > Phanteks 3090 Strix block . Bykski 6900 XT block - TT CL480 / 64 triple row rad > back to reservoir...don't think I need a flow-meter 

 

source

 

 

 

[Bastiaan_NL]

1 subscriber
Lots of flow!

[UltraMega]

I know this has absolutely nothing to do with this, but whenever I see this thread, I think about Armored Core. 
 

 

[J7SC_Orion]

2 hours ago, Bastiaan_NL said:

1 subscriber
Lots of flow!

 

WELCOME ! 

 

...in less than 24 hrs since I uploaded my first-ever YTs - soon I can retire on YT earnings alone   ...got to get a decent camera, peripherals and such now 

[J7SC_Orion]

...a little something for the back plates of the 3090 Strix and 6900 XT

 

 

[J7SC_Orion]

...all component systems have been running fine for months, but it is time to get serious not only about the 'combination build', but also the visual interfaces for this home-office work & play setup.

 

...pressure testing the GPU water blocks w/ dual D5s on full speed (GPU blocks are Phanteks for the 3090 Strix OC and replacing the EKWB block which has some quality issues; a new Bykski for the Gigabyte 6900XT OC).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by J7SC_Orion

[J7SC_Orion]

...both GPUs will have two connections each - one to the new LG C1 48 OLED for 4K/120Hz via HDMI 2.1...

 

 

 

...and the 40 inch Philips workstation monitor (VA panel) that is superb for text and graphics production

 

  

...this pair of braided HDMI 2.1 cable works great, as confirmed by testing with both GPUs at 4K/120Hz/HDR etc

 

 

[J7SC_Orion]

...existing 'nest 2' - a TR2950X w/ 2x 2080 Tis - is going under the knife (and screwdrivers...) on the weekend for the new Ravens' Nest configurations.

 

This system was completed over 2.5 years ago and will also get some fresh liquids in the process. Instead of its current 5x 360/60 XSPC rads (2 on the front of the TT Core P5 and 3 on the back, below in test config with temporary tubing), it will 'have to do' with 3x 360/60 XSPC rads. It will also lose its 4x Swiftech D5 pumps and instead have its liquids circulated by a XTop Revo dual D5 siamesed pump setup.

 

When all is said and done, the extra space gained on the rear will be occupied by a second mobo, an Asus Maximus V Extreme, dual-booted for Linux and Win 7 which continues to be patched by Microsoft, like hose two updates over the last two weeks...

 

 

[Bastiaan_NL]

Like 3 of those beasts is not enough cooling
Do you measure flow somewhere in the loop? I bet it'll slow down a lot if you go from 4 to 2 pumps.

[J7SC_Orion]

18 minutes ago, Bastiaan_NL said:

Like 3 of those beasts is not enough cooling
Do you measure flow somewhere in the loop? I bet it'll slow down a lot if you go from 4 to 2 pumps.

 

...all told, I have about 10x D5 I can play with across the three w-cooled systems in Ravens' Nest...also, I measure flow by sight...per above / below...

 

if it looks good, it flows good   

  

 

Edited August 23, 2021 by J7SC_Orion

[J7SC_Orion]

I finally had the time to disassemble the two X570 systems that had been running on their own for work and play for a few months and get them ready for the TT Core P8...Asus CH8 Dark w/ 5950X (paired w/3090 Strix OC) left front, Asus CH8 Hero WiFi (paired w/6900 XT) left rear...

 

 

A new Dremel Ultra Saw joined the fray for a bit more oomph than my regular, trusty Dremel as there's a lot of precision-cutting to do, and the TT Core P8 is heavy-gauge metal (and just plain heavy...)

 

[J7SC_Orion]

..getting 'stufferitis' 

 

...layout planing with two of everything is fun, but tricky, also re. wiring and tubing. Good thing I'm using a separate, mobile cooling table for all the rads and pumps. Still, a lot of custom-fab coming up... 

  

 

[J7SC_Orion]

...time to look at another of the Ravens' Nest component systems, the TT Core P5 Threadripper 2x 2080 Ti build from 2.5 years ago...

 

 

 

...it's going from a dual-loop with 5x 360/60 rads and 4x D5s to a single-loop with 2x 360/60...Fortunately, I used Koolance QDs which made disassembly easier. 

 

...also time to do a new wiring job - the TT Core P5 has an extra cavity at the back for easy hiding of bad cable management...time to use this rebuild opportunity to do it properly...no more Molex > will be all-pwm... 

 

 

 

...that meant more pwm extensions, splitters and two more five-fan value packs of the Arctic P12 pwm pst

 

  

 

...bath time for the liberated loop components !

 

 

 

[J7SC_Orion]

Per above, TT Core P5 rebuild is now tested and complete...based on an earlier project, is now has a new passenger onboard in the backseat  ...SOC Force mobo, EVGA 980 CL etc, for Win 7 64 backup and some 55 inch TV slogging

 

Main Threadripper system  on the front has an updated PSU, a new support mechanism for the heavy, w-cooled  dual 2080 Ti, and new cooling system (3x D5s, 3x 360/60, 18x Arctic P12s. Better pics to follow once the other Ravens Nest (TT Core P8) and its 3x mobos is finished as well (getting close...)

 

 

 

[Bastiaan_NL]

That 980 is a nice GPU for the ETF, just saying

Nice updates J

[J7SC_Orion]

7 hours ago, Bastiaan_NL said:

That 980 is a nice GPU for the ETF, just saying

Nice updates J

 

...thanks ...re. ETF, power budget is too tight, what with dev and backup servers running in addition to Ravens' Nest 

 

...below, some TT Core P8 prep 'tube coil straightening'...hopefully, won't have to use all 70 feet of it  

 

[J7SC_Orion]

...busy now finalizing Raven A after Raven B was recently completed. One issue delaying things a bit on 'A' was that I was sent the wrong water-block for the 6900 XT which is a custom 3x 8 pin PCB while the waterblock is only for a different 2x 8 pin variant - IN SPITE OF the labeling. Others had the same issue and there a THW thread on it. The correct version I could exchange for has been 'mia' for almost three months now, only stating 'available soon'  for all this time... 

 

Dremel tool and Bosch power drill to the rescue as the 3x 8 pin not only has the extra power connector but also extra caps and phases (!) and the PCB is longer. While I was at it, I also completely modded the GPU backside cooling. With this many mods, 'measure thrice, cut once' !!

 

After the 'operation', temps dropped by over 45 C  so all is well that ends well...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[J7SC_Orion]

...now it was the 3090 Strix' turn for block build-up for Ravens' Nest 'A'...less custom work on the front than was needed for the 6900XT shown above but extensive mods on the backplate...with superb results: The HWInfo temps shown were for a 3DM Port Royal run, using the same temporary loop I used for the 3950X /  6900 XT, w/ a single 360 for both 5950X and 3090 Strix w/ fans at 800 rpm ! It can only get better w/ the huge cooling system destined for Ravens Nest 'A'. That conforming thermal putty (10 W/mK) sure is nice, as long as it does not deteriorate, which it is not known to do  - time will tell though.

 

I used the thermal putty again for the VRAM (both sides) as well as the back of the GPU, plus added the custom cooler on the back...I have an extra backplate and some universal GPU block for -cooling the back, but so far it is clear that I don't need it. I used Gelid GC Extreme paste for the die and Thermalright thermal pads for the power stages...strategic locations also got a sprinkling of MX5 for good measure.

 

I've done custom w-cooling on GPUs for a decade or so, but I still get nervous for the first boot-up after taking such hard-to-come-by custom PCB cards apart and modding them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[J7SC_Orion]

...love the temps at Port Royal w/ updated 3090 Strix block, even w/ a small test loop / single rad for CPU and GPU. Thermal putty has the advantage that it a.) fills the nooks and crannies that otherwise could trap air and b.) depending on the amount used, it can dramatically increase the contact surface area of the heat source (ie GDDR6X VRAM chip) with the cooling block 

 

...Port Royal run after multiple heat-cycles below:

 

 

[Bastiaan_NL]

Good to hear the modding worked out, those temps are great!! It's sad you had to mod it though, but it was worth it for sure. 

 

I've got way less experience with water cooling but I share that same feeling when starting a system for the first time.

It's the same when I start a Diesel engine on a ship after a lot of work, I know I did my best but it still makes me nervous.

[J7SC_Orion]

Final assembly of Ravens' Nest A has started as all parts have been updated, tested and leak-checked

 

Diesel power :

6900XT and 3090 Strix OC w/ their new heatsinks (and lots of thermal putty everywhere) below.

 

Strix is still pushing more clocks, but final config will have to wait for the new custom cooling system to be connected (1680x60+ for the Strix & 5950X; 1200x60+ for the 6900XT & 3950X) instead of the single 360/60 of the testbench. Then I can also switch the vBios from stock to the KPE 520 (or 1Kw ? ) for the 3090 Strix OC, while the 6900XT will get MPT PL of 430W

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2021 by J7SC_Orion