Winter upgrade

Robzere31

Robzere31

Robzere31

Soldato
Joined
20 Nov 2005
Posts
4,784
Location
Redditch
The idea for this project started as a small upgrade for the upcoming winter, swapping to AMD after 20 years of Intel use.

Currently running a 7700k @5ghz, which performs well, but after 4 years just fancy a new project & a bit of a play with AMD.
Plan was to use all my current kit & just pick up a new motherboard & a Zen3 CPU.

However, browsing the Overclockers website one quiet evening your mind starts to wander & an hour later you've got a basket with a new case, motherboard, SSD, radiators, tubing,......the list goes on :D

Obviously the Zen 3 CPU can't be ordered till 5th November but other items are slowly starting to arrive.

Ordered.
Ryzen 5950X
BeQuiet Dark Base pro 900 case
MSI X570 Tomahawk motherboard
Samsung 980 pro M2 pcie4 256GB SSD (Just for Windows)
Adata SX8200 2TB M2 SSD (Games)
EK coolstream 420mm radiator
EK coolstream 420mm slim radiator
EK Water Blocks Torque stc compression fittings
EK Water Blocks Torque stc 90 degree fittings
EK Water Blocks Torque stc 45 degree fittings

Re-use from current rig
EK 280mm radiator
Seasonic 750w platinum PSU
1080ti GPU (Already watercooled)
32GB 3600mhz 8 pack darkpro
D5 pump/res
1TB Samsung 860pro SSD
4TB Western Digital blue
Shed load of fans, cables etc



Picked up an EK Velocity waterblock on the MM yesterday which should sort out the CPU cooling.

Will be updating the thread as the build starts.
 
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Robzere31 said:
The idea for this project started as a small upgrade for the upcoming winter, swapping to AMD after 20 years of Intel use.

Currently running a 7700k @5ghz, which performs well, but after 4 years just fancy a new project & a bit of a play with AMD.
Plan was to use all my current kit & just pick up a new motherboard & a Zen3 CPU.

However, browsing the Overclockers website one quiet evening your mind starts to wander & an hour later you've got a basket with a new case, motherboard, SSD, radiators, tubing,......the list goes on :D

Obviously the Zen 3 CPU can't be ordered till 5th November but other items are slowly starting to arrive.

Currently ordered.
BeQuiet Dark Base pro 900 case
MSI X570 Tomahawk motherboard
Samsung 980 pro M2 pcie4 256GB SSD (Just for Windows)
Adata SX8200 2TB M2 SSD (Games)
EK coolstream 420mm radiator

Re-use from current rig
EK 280mm radiator
Seasonic 750w platinum PSU
1080ti GPU (Already watercooled)
32GB 3600mhz 8 pack darkpro
D5 pump/res
1TB Samsung 860pro SSD
4TB Western Digital blue
Shed load of fans, cables etc

Still to buy
Zen3 CPU (Either a 5900 or 5950 depends what's in stock!)

Picked up an EK Velocity waterblock on the MM yesterday which should sort out the CPU cooling.

Will be updating the thread as the build starts.
Click to expand...
Nice one! I'll be picking up a 5900 on release also.
 
Decided to order new fittings for the watercooling. For the sake of an extra £150 the new ones look much nicer than the tatty old ones I currently have :D

Gone for EK torque fittings, with the green inserts.
 
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Decided to have a quick look at the new case to see how I think it will go.

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A quick look turned into a 3 hours messing about with it session!

Very well built case (should be for the price IMO) but I do like how you can treat the panels as modular & move them about.
May have to change the plan of re-using my 280mm radiator from my current build & swap it to a thinner 30mm version.

I want to keep the HD caddy which sits under the PSU shroud, but with it in place it only leaves 40mm of space for the radiator to sit.
Suppose I could mount the 60mm rad I currently have higher up, or just lose the caddy..... I'll have to think about it.
Might wait until I have actually stripped my current machine down & offer the radiator up to the space to see how it looks before deciding.


On the plus side, the new 420mm radiator fits fine, well it did once I'd moved the panels about a bit :D

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Mounted the motherboard as well just to see how it looked.

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Had a few more bits arrived this week, & as the weather was a bit duff today decided to start planning the layout of the build.

Purchased a 2nd 420mm radiator with the intention of seeing if I could somehow get 2x of them to fit in the Dark Pro 900.
The answer was, yes you can fit 2x 420mm radiators, however it soon became apparent that I couldn't actually attach any fittings to them if I did!

Problem was the motherboard & the huge block of metal which passes as the heatsink.

Tried various ideas, but in the end gave up & have decided on mounting the 420mm radiator in the roof & a 280mm EK SE coolstream (slim) in the front
Reason for the slim was I want to keep the hard drive cabby at the bottom of the case.

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Had to make a few adjustments to the mounting points for the top radiator as the original points meant it would sit too far back & foul the motherboard.

Have to say, I'm starting to regret the purchase of the Dark Pro, I'm not finding it a particularly nice case to work on. Very nicely built but unless you want to follow a pre set install, its quite restrictive where you can actuallyplace things & you have to modify every little thing.
Example, I had to cut out 5mm of plastic from the front door frame because one of the fans was fouling it.

Still, got it now, & I'm sure I can make the most of it. :D

Also, gave the waterblock a quick polish

c8GbTy5l.jpg
 
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Well as I've missed out on the first round of 5950X CPU's (got one on pre order now) had a little play around with the cooling layout & managed to get 2x 420mm radiators fitted.

It's a tight fit, & to get the fittings in I have had to be creative with the rear exhaust fan.

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Mounting the fan outside the case & making an enclosure for it now means I can fit the pipework & fittings.

Also, had to make 6x small brackets for the radiator to be mounted as none of the pre made slots lined up correctly.

Front radiator was straightforward, just had to change it to a slim (30mm) version. Downside is the ports are now at the bottom of the case, but not a major issue just means I have to move the caddy.
 
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Look what turned up this morning...

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Ordered this (from a competitor as it was £75 cheaper) as the ETA for my 5950X was some time away, & I just wanted to get on with my build.
However couple of hours after confirmation of the shipment of the 3950X I got another confirmation that my 5950X (from another competitor) had shipped as well & is due later today.

The 2nd competitor I have to say there communication leaves a lot to be desired, so won't be using them again

So I'm now sat here with 2 brand new 16 core CPU's. Obviously I'll be installing the 5950X, & will see if anyone wants the 3950X on the MM.
 
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Productive weekend, started by stripping the old machine down. I'd forgotten how nice the old Phantek case was to work with.

t0xoVDZl.jpg

Once everything was out it, was a couple of hours cleaning everything which was going to be re-used in the new build.
Actually fitting the parts was pretty straightforward, but surprisingly for such a big case, the Dark Pro isn't that nice to work on IMO.

Lots of fiddly screw which serve no purpose, & have to say that PSU mount....really what is the point!
Also, there is very little room at the back of the case to hid wires etc

However, with a few lightbulb moments everything got fitted how I wanted.

Still got a few jobs to do, need to sort out the built in fan controller as I don't seem to be able to adjust the fan speeds.
Might just forget it & use Argos Monitor as I've found it a great program over the past couple of years. I also need to install the lighting but unsure about it ATM

Currently installing my Steam library so that will take a while, then will start tweaking :D

The plus side, the motherboard detected the new CPU fine & setting the memory was a case of select 3600mhz & voltage to 1.35v & that was it.
I've noticed it's actually running at 1T, something it would never do on my old motherboard.

A few pictures in no particular order,

My workspace
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Mounting SSD in the PSU shroud.
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2nd SSD mounted at the rear of the case.
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CPU block
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GPU fittings
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Before leak testing
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Fingers crossed
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Yay, no leaks
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May lose the HD caddy above the res, don't really need the storage but I'll see how it goes
 
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Decided to remove the caddy, just doesn't look right.

Gj2wbmNl.jpg

Will make a small bracket tonight to mount the temperature display at the rear of the case above the res.

Can't get my head round how these Ryzen CPU's work though. :D
 
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Everything seems to have settled down now.

Made an enclosure for the temp display to sit flush above the res, & have changed the rear fan from an Alpenfohn 140mm to a Bequiet silent wings 3. Better airflow & quieter.

Settled on 4.5ghz all core overclock for now, sure the chip will do more as only on 1.25v but will mess around more once a more mature bios is released as current one seems a bit hit & miss but is stable at current settings.

Thinking of making some custom cables for the PSU next, partly for looks but also to tidy up the cables hidden by the shroud at the bottom of the case.
You can't see them but I'm sure the way I've just stuffed them in restricts airflow around the PSU.

One other little thing, when the shroud is fitted, it interferes with the USB 3 cable at the bottom of the motherboard forcing it out.
I need to find a 90 degree adaptor so I can plug it back in.


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Edit
Having issues with temps at the moment, even running at stock settings (no PBO) temps climb to 80-90c
Water is around 34-36c & GPU 45-48c, so either the waterblock is at fault or the CPU has a problem.
 
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Fitted new waterblock this evening, temps do seem better, will leave it a few days for air to settle & tim to cure.

May well modify the top of the case to make a mesh top so hot air from radiator has somewhere to go.

Currently idling 38-42c, playing Witcher 3 CPU maxed out at 74c, GPU 40c water 34c.
Cinebench MT ran at mid 60c, ST 72c

Think its a combo of a toasty cpu & a case which has poor airflow
 
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