Topic: [DESIGN] Custom-Built Lexan / Aluminum Mining Case (Read 7424 times)
would love to see footage of a high speed camera looking in the front of your rig as smoke is added via the top intakes
do the top fans exhaust the air out or pull air in?
The top fans (140mm, ~90CFM x2 = ~180CFM) are intake.
The rear fans (120mm, ~60CFM x6 = ~360CFM) are exhaust.
do the top fans exhaust the air out or pull air in?
With the amount of air you're moving through this case the heat doesn't really have enough time to 'settle' to the top. You're probably not going to get much cooler at this point unless you plug an air conditioner directly into the intake
The fans have been running at an average speed of 42-48%, both day and night... satisfied with the cooling ability of this rig
I think you'll find getting cool air to the fans on the cards in any way possible is paramount.
Yes, hot air does like to rise. In a building, in a tent, in a room with still air, etc.
With the amount of air you're moving through this case the heat doesn't really have enough time to 'settle' to the top. You're probably not going to get much cooler at this point unless you plug an air conditioner directly into the intake
Yes, hot air does like to rise. In a building, in a tent, in a room with still air, etc.
With the amount of air you're moving through this case the heat doesn't really have enough time to 'settle' to the top. You're probably not going to get much cooler at this point unless you plug an air conditioner directly into the intake
can always try dryer sheets
thanks for the tip
if the cards were to exhaust up and intake is from bottom
this would make a lot of sense, since hot air likes to rise, and it's something I've thought about too. the reasons I have it running this way at the moment are: a) I want negative pressure overall so there aren't any pockets of hot air, and b) because I have the rig next to a window, and having the exhaust coming out horizontally allows me to vent the heated air directly outside.
can always try dryer sheets - they keep dust on them... just put them over your intake and exhaust fans...
the only other thing i kept on thinking about is.. if the cards were to exhaust up and intake is from bottom... would that sound weird?
(hope didn't sidetrack the thread)...
the only other thing i kept on thinking about is.. if the cards were to exhaust up and intake is from bottom... would that sound weird?
(hope didn't sidetrack the thread)...
after receiving the new fans and grills in the mail, I modified the top panel to hold them. I also modified the rear panel so the grills would fit, but ended up scrapping it and making a new one because the modified one was extremely narrow in a few places. I adjusted the layout of the six fans and also removed three of the aluminum beams that had been supporting them. the result--with the fans being supported by the lexan panel alone--is just as sturdy, but simpler, lighter, and cleaner looking.
with this setup: fan speeds are now consistent across all four cards, and are lower by about 5% overall. the box is still nice and quiet because the additional case fans are still quieter than the video card fans at higher speeds. the new fans are gelid wing14s (140mm). the original six are wing12s (120mm). I'm very impressed with the quality of these fans.
the only remaining concern I have is thinking about dust prevention for the open slot on the front of the case, and the intake fans. any ideas?
with this setup: fan speeds are now consistent across all four cards, and are lower by about 5% overall. the box is still nice and quiet because the additional case fans are still quieter than the video card fans at higher speeds. the new fans are gelid wing14s (140mm). the original six are wing12s (120mm). I'm very impressed with the quality of these fans.
the only remaining concern I have is thinking about dust prevention for the open slot on the front of the case, and the intake fans. any ideas?
So many people ignore the importance of industrial design.
I strongly agree with you. I think many products are over-designed, to the point of being toy-like.
...if you just used the frosted stuff because it was the only material you could find, or that it was the cheapest...
my choices were basically acrylic (plexiglass) or polycarb (lexan). acrylic is shit to work with; it melts and cracks. polycarb is much easier to cut and shape. a 1' x 2' sheet of acrylic is $9, and the same size sheet of lexan is $12; it's worth the extra 3 bucks. also, both come clear. the frosted comes from sanding the lexan with 150 grit sandpaper (w/ a handheld random-orbital). the one downside of lexan is that it scratches easily, so the decision to sand it was initially a practical one: if it's going to get scratched, why not pre-scratch it?
are you involved with industrial design in your career?
not exactly. my career at the moment is uncertain. I was in hollywood vfx for three years, but ended up leaving because of a health issue and because I hated los angeles. at the moment I'm taking woodworking and cabinetry courses. I've also started designing and building lamps, as well as some furniture. how all that will translate into a career is still up in the air, but at least my expenses are a fraction of what they were in the city.
anyway, thank you so much for the kind words.
stryker, I'm flattered to have the rig described as art! wow. thank you.
... aaanyways, nice to see the forum back online after the hack. I've added the two intake fans to the top, and I'm remounting the rear fans to better accommodate the grills. there are just too many unnecessary metal pieces back there, and I can do it much simpler by mounting the fans straight to lexan, which is plenty strong. I'll post an image or two when that's put together.
the airflow seems reasonably good to me with this setup, and the cooling across the four cards is the most consistent I've seen so far. the intake-only setup was giving a 5-15% (sometimes even greater!) fan speed differential between cards. reversing the fans improved this to some degree, and the addition of the top fans is now giving me almost identical readings across all cards, which I'm psyched to see. as far as the overall efficiency of the build goes, I'd love to hear any concrete suggestions in terms of further optimizing it. as I said before, the science of cooling is still very new to me.
... aaanyways, nice to see the forum back online after the hack. I've added the two intake fans to the top, and I'm remounting the rear fans to better accommodate the grills. there are just too many unnecessary metal pieces back there, and I can do it much simpler by mounting the fans straight to lexan, which is plenty strong. I'll post an image or two when that's put together.
the airflow seems reasonably good to me with this setup, and the cooling across the four cards is the most consistent I've seen so far. the intake-only setup was giving a 5-15% (sometimes even greater!) fan speed differential between cards. reversing the fans improved this to some degree, and the addition of the top fans is now giving me almost identical readings across all cards, which I'm psyched to see. as far as the overall efficiency of the build goes, I'd love to hear any concrete suggestions in terms of further optimizing it. as I said before, the science of cooling is still very new to me.
The fact stands that my opinion is that loglow's build is nice - it's a hell of a lot nicer than my open-air $5 wooden frame, and incidentally appears to stay cooler as well. You can keep shitting on my opinion if you'd like, but I'm done responding to it.
I wouldn't worry about it. Some people are just plain rude and mouth off at every opportunity. Unless we see spastic.elastic actually show us his claimed abilities in the real world I'd just take this as a childish loud mouth blabbing off. Grown ups with respect for other peoples work don't act this way. Its not that cheap, giving the materials.
Functionality could have been improved. Actually in term of cooling, its terrible.
Functionality could have been improved. Actually in term of cooling, its terrible.
Ok, next time actually read the post you're responding to. I said:
Certainly there are rigs with better cooling, fewer and cheaper materials, that doesn't make this one any less nice.
I was clearly referring to other rigs as having better cooling, and using fewer and cheaper materials.
So if you wanted to say its a nice build, why did you say smartly built? Give credit where its due, its a clean build.
Funny thing about the English language, sometimes a word can have more than one meaning. Also, many different words can mean the same thing. I was giving praise, not writing a technical manual. In the future I will just say, "I'm going to praise you now by saying this thing is not terrible." Better?
Wrong,it has nothing to do with GPUs. The concept is still the same, why do ppl think its some sort of science to cool computer or any electrical components?
Ugh.. name one other component that uses as much power or produces as much heat as a modern high-end GPU. Next, show me a computer with 4 or more of that thing.
Outside of really high-end gamer builds (which don't run the GPU at 95%+ 24/7), or folding@home builds, nothing else really compares.
The fact stands that my opinion is that loglow's build is nice - it's a hell of a lot nicer than my open-air $5 wooden frame, and incidentally appears to stay cooler as well. You can keep shitting on my opinion if you'd like, but I'm done responding to it.
What so smart about it?
Lets try making our points without being condescending twits, eh? Building mining rigs with power-hungry hot-as-hell GPUs isn't exactly old hat for anyone. By 'smartly built', I meant this is clean, concise, and functional.
Certainly there are rigs with better cooling, fewer and cheaper materials, that doesn't make this one any less nice.
Its not that cheap, giving the materials.
Functionality could have been improved. Actually in term of cooling, its terrible.
So if you wanted to say its a nice build, why did you say smartly built? Give credit where its due, its a clean build.
"Building mining rigs with power-hungry hot-as-hell GPUs" ---- Wrong,it has nothing to do with GPUs. The concept is still the same, why do ppl think its some sort of science to cool computer or any electrical components?
I can design this with 3 fans and have cooler temp... guarantee. Wanna bet?
Hint: check out server chassis designs.
Hint: check out server chassis designs.
then do it. but make your own thread please, and reply to this message in that.
server chassis usually have straight as an arrow (much as possible anyway) enforced air flow.. how you gonna do that with side sucking and all around exhausting video cards (I assume by force feeding air to only ref design cards and using their fans to augment the other fans, but thats cheating)? with a multi level (cards on extenders) design? and what 3 fans? how quiet will it be? how expensive?
I'm not a farm miner, there is no reason for me to build one.
My ref to server chassis is NOT about its shape, size and color.... LOL. You're quite smart there.
And i would use the same fan as OP. Just 3 of them....
I will give you time to digest and think.
What so smart about it?
Lets try making our points without being condescending twits, eh? Building mining rigs with power-hungry hot-as-hell GPUs isn't exactly old hat for anyone. By 'smartly built', I meant this is clean, concise, and functional.
Certainly there are rigs with better cooling, fewer and cheaper materials, that doesn't make this one any less nice.
I can design this with 3 fans and have cooler temp... guarantee. Wanna bet?
Hint: check out server chassis designs.
Hint: check out server chassis designs.
then do it. but make your own thread please, and reply to this message in that.
server chassis usually have straight as an arrow (much as possible anyway) enforced air flow.. how you gonna do that with side sucking and all around exhausting video cards (I assume by force feeding air to only ref design cards and using their fans to augment the other fans, but thats cheating)? with a multi level (cards on extenders) design? and what 3 fans? how quiet will it be? how expensive?
This gives me more quiet as the ambient cools at night time when I'd like to sleep.
Lmao.. I'm wager my server closet is ~80-90dB, there's no such thing as 'sleep' anywhere near my rigs
I couldn't hear my phone ring, at full volume, while I was in there yesterday.Also, that rig is kickass loglow, very smartly built. You've got me thinking about redesigning my setup yet again
What so smart about it? I dont mean to offend the OP but every custom/open mining case i have seen has the same frame structure/design.
As for the air flowing, the OP made the mistake right off the bat by having the fan blowing to the non ref cards. They're known to exhausting air to the rear (which i really hate, stupid cheap engineering from the card markers)
Someone even posted and said that doesnt matter as the air will find the least restrictive path to flow ...!!! (really? facepalm...)
OP wasted 3 fans at the bottom.... even if he has them exhausting. Why? too much pressure from the back... negative pressure.... guess where the air is coming from?
Ppl are always over complicating things. Having bunch of fans blowing or sucking at the damn case doesnt mean better cooling.
I can design this with 3 fans and have cooler temp... guarantee. Wanna bet?
Hint: check out server chassis designs.
it is a thing of beauty though.... rigs as "art work" who'd of thought it
Must admit I've been thinking of what could be done in terms of one of those display case type styles, free standinging tower, hold about 4 rigs or so.... just the noise is an issue.
Must admit I've been thinking of what could be done in terms of one of those display case type styles, free standinging tower, hold about 4 rigs or so.... just the noise is an issue.
interesting Q, while the fans were pushing air in and before you had the lexan front panel, were the temps low then?
my sense is that:
- temps are coolest with current setup
- temps were hottest with fans blowing in and new front panel
- temps were in-between with fans blowing in, but without front panel
I tried removing the top panel and pointed a box fan down onto the cards, and that further lowered the temps by a solid 5+ degrees, so I'm feeling good about adding the two 140mm fans on top.
Rather than cool my cards as low as possible I tend to select what I think is a good temp and then have a monitor script that slows the fans down rather than let temp go lower. This gives me more quiet as the ambient cools at night time when I'd like to sleep.
yep, I'm doing the same thing with a target at 68-72C; posted my script earlier in this thread. fans have been hovering between 45-55%, which is pleasantly quiet. in fact, the fridge is louder when its compressor is on!
Also, that rig is kickass loglow, very smartly built.
thanks! I'm happy to share my sketchup file if anyone's interested in that. it doesn't have any of the holes or bolts though.
This gives me more quiet as the ambient cools at night time when I'd like to sleep.
Lmao.. I'm wager my server closet is ~80-90dB, there's no such thing as 'sleep' anywhere near my rigs
I couldn't hear my phone ring, at full volume, while I was in there yesterday.Also, that rig is kickass loglow, very smartly built. You've got me thinking about redesigning my setup yet again
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