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Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

I did this for *me*. Dell OptiPlex 9020 SFF with Libreboot.

i7-4790k (does not throttle!), 32GB RAM. AMD Radeon RX 6400 (Yeston!). NVMe SSD.

***Heavily*** modified. NH-L9x65 cooler. Fans mounted in rear. HDD/ODD cage removed. Rectangle cut out on front; Inner chassis cut so SATA SSD now screws in at the bottom-front (not the HDD cage that I removed), and intake fan at top-front.

I *will* be selling these. I'm doing more testing; on TODO is 3D print a custom side panel with extra ventilation.

13 comments
Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

@Unaccounted4 i7-4790k. Will sell as a special version. I already 9020 without mods, just Libreboot, and that one has i5-4570. The default 9020 SFF machine can't handle higher than 65w CPUs. 4790k is 90w.

I've been experimenting with this, testing various mods. What you're seeing is nearly the finished product; I just need to design that custom side panel with extra ventilation holes (to improve airflow).

Without these mods, a 90w CPU will overheat and throttle. I have my 4790k running stable.

Pedro Mateus 🎮

@libreleah Yeah, there's not much a gap for airflow with the stock side panel for a downdraft cooler. Still, damn impressive!

Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

@Unaccounted4 Yeah, right now with the side panel (which has *no* holes), the 4790k gets to about 90c - but it still does not throttle.

*without* the side panel, it runs at 70c on this setup. So I'm going to buy a 3D printer and design a custom side panel, that has ventilation holes over the graphics card area and CPU cooling area, so that it can run closer to 70c.

It's a labour of love. I'm already proud of it; it's literally finished except for that side panel. I'll be buy a 3D printer soon.

Pedro Mateus 🎮

@libreleah I had a similar issue a few years back for my custom SteamBox 360 build. With a decided lack of access to 3D printing I just cut a hole in the side panel and put a custom fan grill on it.

(Yes, the internal dc-dc power supply converter thing is still held on with a zip tie to this day.)

Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

@Unaccounted4 This looks great!

Alas, the chassis on my machine is *solid steel*. I actually can drill it, but it gets messy. And it's physically difficult. I'm sweating; I'm in the process of doing it on mine, as a test, to see if it improves temps. If it does, then I'll start designing that custom case.

OR:

Use some sort of automated drill, that can drill precisely in a row (without me holding it). Then I would drill the default chassis (and clean up, paint it and put a dust filter over it)

Alexandre Klein

@libreleah @Unaccounted4 wouldn't it cost a lot in terms of filament? I think you should see if a CNC to drill the holes in the original side panel might be more adapted...

Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

@TheyCallMeHacked @Unaccounted4 CNC! That is exactly what I was thinking of, but the name didn't come to me. Thanks!

Yes, I'll probably get me a CNC milling machine. I was thinking of looking into getting service from someone to do it for me, but I might aswell do it myself. I have a big lab and everything, might aswell get one.

Kevin Karhan :verified:

@libreleah makes sense to do more testing and iron out any potential hiccups and bumps...

After all, big OEMs like Dell do the same...

R. L. Dane :debian: :openbsd:

@libreleah

It's amazing to see #Libreboot progressing and adding on new hardware compatibility. So cool!

Jessie Nabein :neofox_peek_owo:

@libreleah Will the libreboot compatibility for that CPU series be listed on the hardware page? will this be something we can do ourselves I mean? That's a pretty good CPU for Libreboot support, unless somehow Ryzens are supported.

Esi Jóhannes G.

@libreleah As a fellow 4790k user... this is beautiful. <3

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