Build Log - Sir B's Black/White/Gold O11-Dynamic

[Sir Beregond]

Pictures to follow.

 

Time to get a build log going! Once I source some distilled water, I'll be starting with the loop prep. As I am reusing my current res/pump, I will need to tear it out of my current rig and switch it to air cooling so its usable while I am prepping the loop for the new rig which will go in my current case. Swapping out builds basically into the same case I am using now, but trying to minimize downtime as best I can.

 

My goal in day-to-day usage in water-cooling is all about silent computing. For the occasional OC here and there, or when I want to push performance, I will be setup for it, but what I really wanted here was a good setup for silence.

 

Anyway on with the parts list, with some commentary on parts to follow:

 

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
• GPU: Zotac RTX 3070 Twin Edge OC RTX 3080 Ti Founder's Edition
• Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair VIII X570 Dark Hero
• RAM: G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32GB DDR4-3600
• m.2 Drives: 2 x Samsung 2TB 970 Evo Plus
• SATA SSD: Crucial MX500 1TB
• PSU: Corsair AX850 Corsair RM1000X
• Case: Lian Li O11-Dynamic

 

So some commentary on the parts selection here. I wanted to really set myself up to be ok with this rig for the next 5+ years CPU wise. Maybe can do a GPU upgrade down the road when the 50-series/RDNA4 comes out. I think going from my 4c/8t 4790k to a 12c/24t 5900X should do nicely.

 

The GPU on the other hand was basically a case of "I got lucky on a drop". This was February of 2021 and I snagged it really before the MSRP pricing really inflated. Truthfully what I really wanted was either an ASUS TUF or EVGA XC3 model 3080. Being that I am building in an O11-Dynamic, and using a traditional reservoir instead of a distro plate, both the length and due to the case design, height of the card needed to be taken into account. That ruled out things like the Strix or FTW3 models unless I wanted to get a bigger case, which I don't. Other solution I suppose is a vertical mount, but then you sacrifice mounting another 360 radiator in the bottom. I'd much rather traditionally install the GPU and retain the use of the bottom mounts for a radiator. Anyway, while this card was not really the one I wanted, it worked out in the end because it is of a more compact PCB design that looks to be fairly close to what a reference 3070 is (reference, not FE), and has water blocks available for it.

 

As for the motherboard, I definitely wanted X570, but one thing that was a no go for me were those little chipset fans most X570 boards seem to have. At the time, this ASUS board along with I think the Gigabyte Aorus Master were the only boards with a passive heatsink and no chipset fan. It was sort of an easy choice at that point as I have pretty much exclusively used ASUS boards since 2008 when I had many many problems with both an MSI board and a Gigabyte board when trying to build an E8500/9800 GT system. I'm sure I'll get bit some day, but so far ASUS boards have treated me just fine.

 

RAM was nothing special. Just an affordable 32GB DDR4-3600 kit I found at Micro Center. Perhaps I should have looked for this b-die stuff I hear about, but eh, wasn't really willing to pay out the nose for special RAM.

 

For storage, one goal I had with this system was no mechanical drives whatsoever. While I do have backup solutions in place for files, etc. My internet connection is not always the best, so I like having a ton of local storage for game installs. I don't like redownloading stuff if I don't have to. Since the most demanding thing I do is gaming, saw no reason to pay more for Gen 4 drives, so I opted for some Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB drives for both m.2 slots on the Dark Hero. The Crucial MX500 was just a spare unused drive I had lying around, so I am throwing that in too.

 

As for the PSU, I have a spare Corsair AX850 lying around in my parts closet. Sure its like 10 years old, but has been unused for probably the last 7 years since the 4790k build was completed. Looks to be in good condition on inspection, so I see no reason not to use it. If I really get nervous about it, then I'll buy a new PSU down the road.

 

Regarding the case, it's @Avacado's favorite!  Ok, but seriously, it was sort of an impulse buy when I was looking at cases at Micro Center in September of 2020. I was previously using a Corsair Air 540 case which was also of a dual chamber design. Problem was that by that point it was showing its build quality (or lack thereof) and becoming a mess of vibration noises emanating from various parts of the case. I had actually decided to look at getting a Fractal Design Meshify S2, but when I actually went into the shop and looked at the cases, I realized the Meshify case was far larger than I wanted, and what can I say, I am a sucker for dual chamber cubical style cases. The Lian Li won me over. My only gripes with the case being that it could really be wider (something they've seemingly rectified in every new revision like the XL, Mini, and Evo), and I really don't like the fact the intakes aren't at the front of the case. But otherwise, the build quality is nice, and they made far better use of space in the rear chamber than my old Corsair 540 case did.

 

Now onto the cooling parts:

 

• CPU Block: Optimus Foundation AM4
• GPU Block: Alphacool Eisblock Zotac 3070 Alphacool Eisblock 3080 Founder's Edition
• Top Radiator: Hardware Labs 360GTX
• Bottom Radiator: Hardware Labs 360GTS
• Reservoir/pump: EK Quantum Kinetic TBE 200 w/ D5
• Fittings: Bitspower True Brass Enhance Multilink 14mm
• Tubing: Corsair 14mm Acrylic in White
• Coolant: ModMyMods ModWater Clear Mayhems XT-1 Nuke Clear
• Sensor: Barrowch in-line temp/flow meter Aquacomputer Highflow NEXT
• Fans: 9 x BeQuiet Silent Wings 3 High Speed PWM 120mm
• Misc: tools for bending/cutting, heat gun, gloves, some 90's and 45s, MX-5, and of course a Mayhem's Blitz pro kit.

 

For the CPU block, I wanted something that was good and wasn't EK basically. I'm not really sure how I feel about Optimus as a company given what I've seen, so this will probably be the only product I buy from them.

 

As for the GPU block, Alphacool, Bykski, and Barrow all made blocks for this card. I thought the Alphacool had the least obnoxious backplate, and given I will NOT be using any of the RGB functions in any of the parts of this build that has RGB, I think the design was fine.

 

The reservoir was an emergency buy at Micro Center when I was swapping out cases before. My old res/pump had had it and frankly didn't have the right mounting for putting it where I wanted it. Honestly, its been fine, one of the few EK products I don't usually have problems with (res/pumps).

 

The rads are self explanatory. You want good 360mm rads? HWLabs of course...

 

The fittings were the right gold color I was looking for at the right price for packs of 6. Bitspower is pretty self explanatory.

 

For the tubing, I wanted to try my hand at hardline this build, but still wanted to retain clear coolant for ease of maintenance, yet still wanted colored tubing. So ended up with the white Corsair acrylic tubing. I wanted to do acrylic vs PETG as although PETG seems to be easier to bend and work with, it also seems to be more susceptible to potential warping if the pump fails and loop gets hot. I don't want that as unlikely as it is. Acrylic just makes more sense for me aside from sticking with good ol' flexible tubing.

 

As for coolant, also pretty self explanatory. Mayhems X1 or XT-1 clear coolants have been increasingly harder to find, so might as well just use the next best thing. Basically Mayhems XT-1 made in the US. The ModMyMods stuff is also only $10 a bottle. They just get you for the rest with the shipping.

 

Aquacomputer High Flow Next was what I wanted as a sensor but these seem to be unobtanium currently. For now just picked up this Barrowch. I know it won't be as accurate, but can get me some ballpark figures to work with until I can replace it with an Aquacomputer sensor.

 

For fans, if money was no object, I would have liked to go with the Noctua NF-A12 Chromax fans. But seeing as I needed 9 fans for the build, I opted instead to just grab some Silent Wings 3's. They were the right price. I was going to get the Arctic P12's just to save a bit, but I found at least a couple videos where these fans didn't play nice with the RPMs I like to run for day-to-day and that turned me off to them. Full blast? Sure, go for it.

 

As for thermal paste, I went with Arctic MX-5. Seems to be the right paste for longevity and good performance. I am not really about those other pastes like Kryonaut or KPx where they lose their effectiveness come 6 months after pasting. I prefer to keep my repastes to maybe once every couple of years or longer if possible. MX-4 always treated me well in this regard.

 

And of course, have a Mayhems Blitz pro kit for the loop prep.

 

Anyway, will get some pictures going here shortly. I know many people come up with creative names for their build logs. Frankly, I am not good at naming inanimate objects.

Edited December 13, 2022 by Sir Beregond
formatting, typos, etc.

[ArchStanton]

When you have a moment, can you hit us with the full part number for the DRAM?  I love a detailed write up (as you know from reading my own ramblings), so thank you .

[Sir Beregond]

8 minutes ago, ArchStanton said:

When you have a moment, can you hit us with the full part number for the DRAM?  I love a detailed write up (as you know from reading my own ramblings), so thank you .

Sure thing. It's this kit.

 

G.Skill Trident Z Neo Series RGB 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3600 PC4-28800 CL16 Dual Channel Memory Kit F4-3600C16D-32GTZNC - Black - Micro Center

WWW.MICROCENTER.COM

---

Get it now! Engineered and optimized for full compatibility on the latest AMD Ryzen 3000 series processors on AMD X570 chipset motherboards, Trident Z Neo brings unparalleled memory...

 

[ArchStanton]

I think that kit is usually Hynix Djr, but could be Samsung C-die.  Sticker on the IC's + Thaiphoon Burner should reveal most of their secrets if you decide to "push" them.  Thank you for humoring me.

[Sir Beregond]

1 minute ago, ArchStanton said:

I think that kit is usually Hynix Djr, but could be Samsung C-die.  Sticker on the IC's + Thaiphoon Burner should reveal most of their secrets if you decide to "push" them.  Thank you for humoring me.

I understood some of this.

 

I will really have to read up on how to OC with AMD stuff. I assume that's some utility I can install? 

 

I've gotten the impression RAM matters a lot with Ryzen OCing.

Edited March 21, 2022 by Sir Beregond

[ArchStanton]

2 minutes ago, Sir Beregond said:

I've gotten the impression RAM matters a lot with Ryzen OCing

That is my impression as well, especially "latency".  Hopefully J7 or one of the other resident pros will chime in with some additional tips/tricks/wisdom when they are able.  In the meantime, this is an excellent resource:  (2) [Official] AMD Ryzen DDR4 24/7 Memory Stability Thread | Overclock.net

 

This is also handy:  How to Use the Ryzen DRAM Calculator 1.7.3 - YouTube.  The video covers the use of Thaiphoon Burner as well as DRAM Calc.

 

If you wanted to forgo the suggestions of DRAM calc, this would be a good place to start: Update DDR4 OC Guide.md · integralfx/MemTestHelper@a347a51 · GitHub (its pretty dense, and far more than I have been able to absorb to date).

 

 

[J7SC_Orion]

I look forward to the progression pics of your build - it's been a long time coming ! As to naming your build, you actually don't have to call it anything, inanimate object and all that. I do like naming them though as I have multiple systems for work and play, some of which are identically configured (for failover and back-up purposes etc.), so names help, and I love animals...

 

Orca came about because I was building up the Threadripper with a black, white and silver theme, we happened to be on a ferry near here and saw an Orca pod w/ those colours; they're very big, just like the Threadripper (eATX) system wearing their colours.

 

'Ravens Nest' naming came about because where I  drive to for my morning workout, there are plenty of Ravens...I usually grab a Starbucks coffee and breakfast sandwich on the way, and made the error once and shared a bit of the sandwich with a single Raven. These days, there are a horde of them waiting for me (they recognize my SUV), and they're getting pretty aggressive - one of the regulars sits on glass roof looking down at my sandwich, while another sits by the A-pillar on the rear of the hood, giving me 'the eye'... a bit like Hitchcock's 'the birds', but friendlier (for now)...   

[Sir Beregond]

Certain birds are no joke, their individual and collective recognition and memory of individuals is something else.

[ArchStanton]

Veii dropped some interesting "nuggets" in [Official] AMD Ryzen DDR4 24/7 Memory Stability Thread | Page 904 | Overclock.net today.  I'd begin reading at about post 18,061 page 904 if you have not been following this thread.  I thought this might be helpful as you make a decision regarding what BIOS you wish to roll with.

 

[Sir Beregond]

I have not been keeping up at all. Thanks for the info!

[ArchStanton]

Sometimes (okay, pretty much 100% of the time), I struggle to understand the finer points of Veii's comments, but I believe he confirmed that the changes in AMD's AGESA after 1203_patchC have all been in preparation for the release of the 5800X3D and making sure those chips don't fry themselves.  As users of the ROG C8DH, this means for maximum performance we want to stick with BIOS 3801 or older if possible (J7 runs 3501 if memory serves).  I have seen comments to the affect that B2 stepping CPU's benefit from changes in the newer AGESAs, but I am not well versed enough on this score to express an opinion either way.  Veii also seems to imply the AGESA 1207 will possibly exhibit improvements for the non-3D VCache Ryzen 5000 CPUs without the downsides of the all the recent releases.  Here's hoping .

[Sir Beregond]

38 minutes ago, ArchStanton said:

Sometimes (okay, pretty much 100% of the time), I struggle to understand the finer points of Veii's comments, but I believe he confirmed that the changes in AMD's AGESA after 1203_patchC have all been in preparation for the release of the 5800X3D and making sure those chips don't fry themselves.  As users of the ROG C8DH, this means for maximum performance we want to stick with BIOS 3801 or older if possible (J7 runs 3501 if memory serves).  I have seen comments to the affect that B2 stepping CPU's benefit from changes in the newer AGESAs, but I am not well versed enough on this score to express an opinion either way.  Veii also seems to imply the AGESA 1207 will possibly exhibit improvements for the non-3D VCache Ryzen 5000 CPUs without the downsides of the all the recent releases.  Here's hoping .

Rather interesting read, thank you. Looks like some of these versions gimp performance a bit? Ouch. Yet, earlier on there were random issues like USB right? Guess I really need to read up here.

 

I'll have to see what version I am currently on with my Dark Hero board. I have no idea. 

 

Will probably be starting the Blitz part 1 for my rads tonight since I sourced some distilled water finally. Probably won't be till this weekend that I get any of the new parts setup.

 

Also still figuring out if I should do W10 Pro or W11 Pro. I am leaning 10, but not sure if long-term I am better served just starting with 11.

Edited March 23, 2022 by Sir Beregond

[J7SC_Orion]

17 minutes ago, Sir Beregond said:

Rather interesting read, thank you. Looks like some of these versions gimp performance a bit? Ouch. Yet, earlier on there were random issues like USB right? Guess I really need to read up here.

 

I'll have to see what version I am currently on with my Dark Hero board. I have no idea. 

 

Will probably be starting the Blitz part 1 for my rads tonight since I sourced some distilled water finally. Probably won't be till this weekend that I get any of the new parts setup.

 

Also still figuring out if I should do W10 Pro or W11 Pro. I am leaning 10, but not sure if long-term I am better served just starting with 11.

 

Free advice (worth as much as you pay for it  ) would be to stick to either 3501 or 3801 until they come up with a bios set that can clearly distinguish the 5800V3cache procs...with all that extra cache 'heater' sitting between the heat spreader and the CPU on the V3, the temporary solution for AMD is simply to curtail voltage and speed for all Vermeers. They do have V3 cache models in the Epyc X line-up from 8 to 64 cores which work fine, but they clock much lower to begin with, plus they use a much bigger (TR style) IHS.

 

FYI, I never had any USB / Sata issues on 3501...and performance is great.

 

As to Windows, in spite of Microsoft's continued 'efforts' on my desktops, I stick with Win 10 pro  for now - but it is to some extent a personal choice. Until I have a chance to examine the external TPM modules, I won't even think of upgrading from Win 10 Pro to Win 11 pro.

[Sir Beregond]

A little preview:

 

 

[ArchStanton]

 

[Sir Beregond]

24 hours of Blitz part 1 and 5 flushes of distilled water later.

 

 

And also the first oops of the build. I dropped a plastic funnel on it and managed to do this..

 

 

 

 

Edited March 25, 2022 by Sir Beregond

[Avacado]

6 hours ago, Sir Beregond said:

24 hours of Blitz part 1 and 5 flushes of distilled water later.

 

 

And also the first oops of the build. I dropped a plastic funnel on it and managed to do this..

 

 

 

 

Happens all the time. Every good rad has battle wounds. 

[ArchStanton]

1 hour ago, Avacado said:

Every good rad has battle wounds.

Toothpick + patience + flat black in a spray can = all better .

[Sir Beregond]

1 hour ago, ArchStanton said:

Toothpick + patience + flat black in a spray can = all better .

 

May try to straighten it out a bit, but otherwise a fan is likely going to be covering it. Though haven't necessarily determined how I am going to orient that one yet.

[ArchStanton]

3 minutes ago, Sir Beregond said:

otherwise a fan is likely going to be covering it

Yes, but you'll know its down there...lurking....

[Sir Beregond]

3 hours ago, ArchStanton said:

Yes, but you'll know its down there...lurking....

[J7SC_Orion]

3 hours ago, Sir Beregond said:

 

May try to straighten it out a bit, but otherwise a fan is likely going to be covering it. Though haven't necessarily determined how I am going to orient that one yet.

 

I keep some cans of Rustoleum Flat Black around - perfect for such 'operations'...

 

[Sir Beregond]

1 minute ago, J7SC_Orion said:

 

I keep some cans of Rustoleum Flat Black around - perfect for such 'operations'...

 

I'll keep this paint in mind, thanks!

[Sir Beregond]

So started the teardown of current rig since I needed the res/pump to proceed with the Blitz Part 2. 

 

Anyway, blocks and rads were in good shape but the tubing had a weird green substance all on the interior of all tubes. Mayhems X1 clear was used so no idea if plasticizer or some sort of reaction or what. Everything else is fine and the green stuff is only on the tubing.

 

 

Edited March 27, 2022 by Sir Beregond

[ArchStanton]

The color makes me wonder if its oxidized copper or brass or both .  Think "patina" on the Statue of Liberty.