SilverStone CS381/ASRock Rack X470D4U build - most powerful air cooling solution?

Hi,

I’m planning a secondary backup build with a SilverStone CS381 and an ASRock Rack X470D4U.

The PSU is probably going to be a SilverStone SFX Series SX800-LTI 800W SFX12V-L (SST-SX800-LTI/30295) which I hope doesn’t trigger the CPU_PROCHOT CPU frequency throttling to 550 MHz bug.

I chose this model since I want to use custom wiring to also power an external DIY disk shelf with 20 3.5" mechanical HDDs (so a total of 28 3.5" HDDs with the eight in the CS281’s drive cages) and “never” want to have any issues with power delivery even if delayed disk spin-up is for some reason not working.

SilverStone states on the CS381’s website that the maximum possible CPU heatsink height is at 59 mm.

Presently a 3700X is going into it but I always plan new stuff to be used for at least five years and I know myself that if I’m happy with it I’m going to push the configuration to its limits, maybe going with a 3900X/3950X down the road.

By browsing by the height limitations and AM4 compatibitly the Cryorig C7 Cu with four heatpipes and a height of 47 mm seems to be the most powerful option that fits into the CS381.

http://www.cryorig.com/c7cu.php

I don’t mind modding the case or the heatsink a little bit but I don’t want to go liquid.

Any advice is greatly apprecisted!

Regards,
aBavarian Normie-Pleb

I dont think there is much modding you can do with that case to increase the headroom due to the drive cage

You might be able to create a duct if you use something like the
Deepcool GABRIEL and dont run the fan on top but duct the air from one of the back fans

Yeah, in my mind by modding I meant stuff like air ducts - maybe removing the stock heatsink fan and building a tightly fitting duct to the top of the heatsink and having a 120 mm fan with high static pressure pushing air into it on the other end.

I think the cage only covers like 1/2 the socket so might be interesting solutions. How hard is the server going to be used? Is the workload going to be bursty or constant?

Most likely a mix: My old home VM-NAS combination has/had a Kabylake E3 Xeon that became shittier and shittier with each Spectre/Meltdown BIOS and OS update since 2018.

Last July I wanted to quickly switch to an X470D4U/3700X build but ASRock Rack’s BIOS broke my legs instead until about now where an unofficial BIOS with fixed RDRAND has become “available”.

I’m still getting used to it that that box is able to run multiple stuff at once without pissing its pants and I’m figuring out now how much it can really handle.

But as I mentioned in the OP, this is a backup build so it will most likely be idling and then getting rammed for a day or two if needed.

It’s the gamersnexus build!

I’d probably opt for an aio with the 3900x, sadly.

Or a different, bigger case with hotswap drives.

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Probably any cooler would work with your workload without much loss in performance assuming the case can have good air flow

Noooo, I want that case, been looking at it for a few months since CES :wink:

Did you test the Cryorig C7 Cu with it and it was unable to properly handle the 3600 used in the Gamers Nexus build?

Blocks a ram slot and not the best. Non cu version tho.

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That’s very good to know, blocking a DIMM slot is an absolute No-No (CU and non-CU version seem to have the same dimensions).

The next on my list would be the Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 (I know, officially only up to 95 W TDP, maybe air-ducting will make something >3700X possible)

You could just buy an old case full of 5.25" bays and fill them up with HDD bays. Looking at the Gamer’s Nexus build looks like that case and motherboard don’t go together that well.
How often a drive is going to realistically fail to need front access all the time? Just lable the cables and the hard drives in a generic case and call it a day.

Its not just about failing, you also need to expand pools by swapping out drives to larger ones as well. While yes you can do it other ways external drive bays are well worth it and this case is nice if you dont have a server rack for sure.

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Yeah, external drive bays are a must for me - I’m also using “separated cold storage” meaning the HDDs of a RAID Array or now ZFS pool containing backup x will be removed from the system and stored more “physically protected”.

I was kind of giddy and placed an order.

Planning to use 2 x Noctua NF-F12 PWM fans on the back for intake pushing air over the CPU/VRMs/HDD cages, 2 x NF-S12A PWM fans on the side pulling hot air out and removing the stock fan of the NH-L9a-AM4 heatsink and replacing it with a 15 mm “thin” 120 mm NF-A12x15 PWM, covering the CPU and the VRM heatsinks. The heatsink and the larger 120 mm fan should come to a total height of about 38 to 40 mm.

Should have slightly positive air pressure in the case which in turn should reduce the accumulation of dust.

Looking forward to it - although will only have a 3200G lemon available until the 3950X comes out, for the use in a main system, freeing its 3700X up for the use in the CS381.

Cryorig released a graphene version of the C7 which claims 125W TDP.

http://www.cryorig.com/c7g.php

But honestly, the best case scenario is a 3900 non-X and that’s currently restricted to OEMs.

Asrock BIOS needs to unlock the “ECO mode” for the 3900X for it to run good with a C7 in that crammed of a case. That’s how you get around the 105W TDP.

My tummy would say that the extra performance from a “graphene-coated” heatsink is likely BS - but maybe that’s just old-man syndrome negating any possible future innovation.

The major disqualifying issue with the C7 series and the ASRock Rack 470D4U(2-2T) is however the physical blocking of a DIMM slot. :frowning:

@wendell

By the dimensions stated by the manufacturer the base area of of the C7 series heatsinks is square. The photos show fins and heatpipes sticking out on two contralateral sides respectively.

  1. What exactly is blocking a DIMM slot - heatpipes or fins?

  2. Can the cooler mounting position be rotated by 90 degrees changing what is blocking a DIMM slot - heatpipes or fins?

  3. If fins are blocking a DIMM slot - might it be possible to cut a little bit of them away to clear the necessary space or are heatpipes that shoul not be messed with always in the way?

Thanks for these clarifications!

As mentioned I’ll be starting out with a Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 heatsink with a more-powerful-than-stock fan on it.

But as always I’m curious what might be possible in the future.

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