Gaming Rig rebuild

[Bartacus]

Hola Banditos!

Merry Christmas to all you fine folks! I HAD planned to do a gaming rig build thread featuring the Ryzen 5950X. I got a notification on Dec. 22nd that the 5950x I had ordered 6 weeks prior had landed. Unfortunately it landed badly, like an aircraft disaster, as it arrived with a metric sh!t-ton of bent pins. Now the tech at the local Canada Computers swears he can unbend the pins, so I told him sure, take your time. I got my money back, but if they can fix the CPU and it survives testing, they'll sell it back to me at the OLD price. I say old price because AMD has since jacked up prices on their nearly impossible to find CPUs, so if you buy a 5000 series CPU right now, you will be paying more than you would if you had ordered it prior.

Now I had my gaming rig all torn down in anticipation of this CPU, so I figured I might as well go ahead with the rebuild anyways. It's a single GPU / all NVME rig sitting in a case that it has no business in, a monstrous Case Labs M8. So I wanted to move it into a much smaller Lian-Li Dynamic O11 XL, the worlds smallest XL case. I love this case so much I own TWO. So began the plan!

Step 1: drain this monster and remove it's guts (apologies for the awful pic!):


Step 2: destroy your entire basement in the process because you're a disorganized slob:


Step 3: prepare recipient case for organ transplant:


Step 4: drill hole in new case for proper drainage system, which is hard to pull off in this case:


My case now has a pen0r! I made sure to make it normal sized, didn't want this thing to have too big of an ego:


Step 5: cannibalize the Threadripper workstation rig for the D5 pump / res combo. This hurt, because I love how this rig looks, but it's also a total nightmare to drain because of how I ran the tubes:


Drainage method: rip tubes apart over big square bowl:


Step 6: make the back of the case an incomprehensible nightmare of cables, just because you wanted pretty fans. There's an Aquacomputer SPLITTY9 lost in that jungle somewhere running the fans:


Step 7: waste money on toys! I'm 50, and I STILL love toys! Aquacomputer high flow Next sensor installed:


According to zee Germans, the distilled water found at my local Food Basics, combined with Daz Protector, ain't shit, LOL!


Step 8: use soft tube, since I'll be tearing this down again if the 5950X CPU gets fixed. EK black tube / fittings, 3/8 5/8, stealth bomber look, with a touch of purple:


Step 9: done! For the moment!






More to come when / if the CPU gets fixed, and maybe a new GPU appears!

[Danny79-Qc]

Lol! You made me laugh so much with your descriptions! You're not that disorganized compared to many other builders I've seen! I know what cable nightmares are tho! Makes me remember the test build I did for a friend with 36 fans!

I'm surprised CC didn't just replace your cpu tho! Usually, I get good service with them and I would never accept a fixed cpu even at the initial price. I mean, I would accept it but at a rebate. I use to fix computers as a job and fixed many of those amd cpu. Luckily they tend less to give weird voltages than intel socket when you fix them.

You got some real nice rigs btw! Not a fan of the 011 but for the rest, you'd make lots of people dream.. Spoke a lot with Section31 in the past couple months and that High Flow Next is really the thing! Maybe you read that before but sharing it if you didn't. Attila from EK showed me this and found it very interesting to read and informative. Didn't expect other meters to be that bad!

https://www.igorslab.de/en/barrowch-...water-cooling/

[Bartacus]

Thanks Danny! The accuracy of these meters really doesn't matter much to me to be honest. I don't care if I'm seeing *accurate* numbers. The only real use of a flow meter, other than to look pretty, is to let me know if my flow rate is degrading over time. So when I'm done bleeding the loop, I look at the numbers, and use those as my baseline. If the Barrow ones say 5LPM or so, then that number starts to drop significantly over time, I'll know I might have a problem. Whether it's TRULY 5 LPM is beside the point, but that's one opinion. Sure I'd *like* it to be accurate, but it doesn't *have* to be.

CC can't replace 5950X's, there's no stock. I waited 6 weeks for that one, and it's not like they suddenly got a huge shipment. They only got the ones customers ordered, no extra stock. Sucks, but that's the state of things these days. They still might be able to fix it though, I'm going in there today to visit the lads and get the scoop. But I also told them to take their time in trying to fix it, I'm a very patient man, I don't let things upset me like this. Waste of negative energy, I prefer to focus on the positive.

Positive: I flashed the latest F31Q BIOS onto my Aorus Master X570, in advance of the 5950X, and spend the day benchmarking my 3900X and tinkering with new BIOS options. I got my highest Time Spy score ever on this rig (15,900+), using the exact same GPU benchmark OC I've had for months. ALL the gains I made recently were due to CPU performance improvements. I'm running at 1900mhz across the board, infinity fabric / memory, effectively running 3800 DDR at the same timings I was running at 3600, 16-16-16-36. And not only that, thanks to Wendell from Level1Techs great tip of running the FSB at 100.01mhz and NOT auto, the CPU temps top out at around 66C under full load for hours on end.

So my 3900X is performing like a champ now, so I can only imagine what the 5950X will be like!

[MackTheKnight]

Awesome build, Bart!

I tried getting a 5900x, and pre-ordered from Mem Express, but eventually gave up and got my money back. I did luck out and score a 3090, so I'm running that with the 3900X and quite happy for the time being, until we start seeing better availability of 5900x/5950x CPU's. Such a shame that yours came in with bent pins after waiting all this time. Damn that ace ventura delivery guy.

[Bartacus]

Thanks Mack! Hopefully my patience will pay off in the end. Still waiting for any new GPU news, looks like C.C. is starting to list 6800 / 6900 GPUs, they are coming. In the meantime, I changed the colors to orange. Actually RGB Fusion did when I updated to the latest version, but it looks so good I'm keeping it!

[MackTheKnight]

The orange does look good!

I'm tempted to go back to soft-tube when I rebuild my loop with the 3090 in it. I like the look of the black EK ZMT.

I'm just waiting on a new PCI-E riser cable, then I can start the process.

[Danny79-Qc]

Thanks Danny! The accuracy of these meters really doesn't matter much to me to be honest. I don't care if I'm seeing *accurate* numbers. The only real use of a flow meter, other than to look pretty, is to let me know if my flow rate is degrading over time. So when I'm done bleeding the loop, I look at the numbers, and use those as my baseline. If the Barrow ones say 5LPM or so, then that number starts to drop significantly over time, I'll know I might have a problem. Whether it's TRULY 5 LPM is beside the point, but that's one opinion. Sure I'd *like* it to be accurate, but it doesn't *have* to be.

CC can't replace 5950X's, there's no stock. I waited 6 weeks for that one, and it's not like they suddenly got a huge shipment. They only got the ones customers ordered, no extra stock. Sucks, but that's the state of things these days. They still might be able to fix it though, I'm going in there today to visit the lads and get the scoop. But I also told them to take their time in trying to fix it, I'm a very patient man, I don't let things upset me like this. Waste of negative energy, I prefer to focus on the positive.

Positive: I flashed the latest F31Q BIOS onto my Aorus Master X570, in advance of the 5950X, and spend the day benchmarking my 3900X and tinkering with new BIOS options. I got my highest Time Spy score ever on this rig (15,900+), using the exact same GPU benchmark OC I've had for months. ALL the gains I made recently were due to CPU performance improvements. I'm running at 1900mhz across the board, infinity fabric / memory, effectively running 3800 DDR at the same timings I was running at 3600, 16-16-16-36. And not only that, thanks to Wendell from Level1Techs great tip of running the FSB at 100.01mhz and NOT auto, the CPU temps top out at around 66C under full load for hours on end.

So my 3900X is performing like a champ now, so I can only imagine what the 5950X will be like!

Yeah you're right about negative energy. I think like you most of the time but no ones flawless lol. Been surrounded by a lot of negativity lately while selling all the extra parts I had. Thanks to people in Québec.

Anyways, the reason i love the high flow next is exactly because of that coolant sensor which detect the purity of it. It can then let you know if it's starting to clog or if there's any oxidation building up. I sadly declined someone offer to join a group order for these. I would have it by now and they sold out real quick in Daz store lol.

Very nice Overclocks with your 3900x. 66° is really good. Can't wait to see what numbers you will get with the 5950x. Hopefully they fixed it to perfection! Wish you the best man! Keep us updated once things move with that!

[Bartacus]

I like the Next, but I don't put as much faith in it as some do. I'm pretty sure this thing will poo-poo coolant in every system I've ever built. I never worry about PH, I never blitz clean or sysprep my rigs, and I've yet to see any ill effects on plating, etc. Aquacomputer isn't on Watercools level, so I take everything I buy from them with a grain of salt. Plus they have their own little niggles, like this stupid Next never shuts off unless you kill system power completely, if you leave the USB cable plugged in. So annoying, and apparently not easy to stop. But it does the job, I just wouldn't rely on it being accurate on any level.

VERY happy with the Optimus CPU block though. The mounts were a little rough and ugly, but it performs well enough. It only lacks RGB. I may try to rig something up if I ever get the 5950X back.

Since my Threadripper rig is down, I decided to steal it's RAM for the gaming rig. I wanted to see how the orange looked with the TridentZ Royal stuff. I am in love with orange now!!

[Danny79-Qc]

I love orange too!!! The nephew's build will be white/blue/carbon but I've been thinking of a way to implement orange. Sadly not an option. Loved the orange cables made by gscustomz. Would look nice in your rig with that ram.

You didn't get the 5950x yet? Any updates if they started to fix it? I know you are in no rush but I'm just wondering since you said you were going to get it the other day. Really hope it will work to finally see some numbers from you lol.

[Bartacus]

I love orange too!!! The nephew's build will be white/blue/carbon but I've been thinking of a way to implement orange. Sadly not an option. Loved the orange cables made by gscustomz. Would look nice in your rig with that ram.

You didn't get the 5950x yet? Any updates if they started to fix it? I know you are in no rush but I'm just wondering since you said you were going to get it the other day. Really hope it will work to finally see some numbers from you lol.

Not yet, I'm still waiting for the call. We can't go in-store here anymore due to another lockdown, so I can't pop by for updates either.

Orange is awesome, I'm totally hooked now, it's a KILLER combo with black. For once I actually wish this Dynamic O11 was black, my two are both white, LOL!

[Bartacus]

WOOOOOOHOOOOO! Got the word, CC tech unbent the pins and it survived testing, no WHEA errors!! Gaming rig is going down shortly for 5950X CPU install! Woot woot!

[Danny79-Qc]

Good news! Now, SHOW US THE NUMBERS!

[Bartacus]

Cinebench R23: around 29,150 - 29,200
CPUZ: single core 666 - 669, multi-core 13,000+
Temps: low 70s tops.

In shorty: GIGGITY GIGGITY GOO!!

[Danny79-Qc]

What kind of OC did you reach? Or was that stock? And voltages of course! I'm asking cause even if I can't work anymore, i still do a lot of troubleshooting via internet and dont know much about those new chips. Having as much info as possible and a good baseline can help me much. Just very curious and so very happy yours got fixed. :-)

[Bartacus]

I haven't tweaked it at all yet, there's a LOT of new stuff to learn with these CPUs, curve optimizer, etc. Those numbers I posted above are what you get if just enabled PBO and DOCP for the memory. Once you start manually tweaking voltages, the temps / performance drop too, but I have ZERO clue how to dial this thing in yet. A LOT of reading will be required, and I have a Case Labs build on the go now too, so time is limited.