[ScareCity]

Stuck it out with my Boxee Box, but the little guy is starting choke on some recent things thrown at it. Decided to build up an HTPC for the living room that will also double as an emulator box.

Here are my Streacom build specs

Case - FC8 Evo
CPU - Intel Core i5-4570S Haswell 2.9GHz
Mobo - MSI Z87I
Memory - Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB)
Hard Drive - Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB
PSU - Pico PSU 150 + 150W adapter
IR - Wesena IR

I also ordered an internal USB 3 cable but the usb 3 port on this motherboard is directly under the heatpipes. The included cable is too bulky to fit under there. I think I found one that looks a bit less bulky, so i'm going to order it today and see if it'll work.



The PSU connector is also right against the wall that the heat pipes sit against. The cables of the Pico PSU are kind of crammed against the wall of the case, but i don't think it's enough to cause any damage to the connectors of the PSU.



One bank of heat pipes aren't sitting flush against the wall of the case. I thought the screws included in the case weren't long enough, but after heading to the hardware store some longer ones, i realized that there isn't any thread in the wall of the case. This means that the metal piece holding the heat pipes on are basically just held in place by tension. (this pic is before getting the longer screws, so it's not as bad as this, but still not flush.) I'm going to need to pull everything apart to put the new USB 3.0 cable in, so i'm going to bend the heat pipes slightly and hope they sit against the case a bit better.



CPU Cooling....

After getting everything up and running for a while, I noticed my PC was idling around 85C. Not good. I pulled everything apart and re-applied thermal paste to every nook and cranny I could think of. Put it all back together - now I'm idling around 75C. Better, but still not good.

I'm sure it will get slightly better once the 2 heat pipes are sitting flush against the case, but I can't help but think the proc is just too hot for this case. Contemplating going down to a 35w i3 or finding a low profile heatsink if adjusting the pipes don't make any difference.

[solamnic]

For Cooler i would suggest

Noctua NH-L9i
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009V...87EGQ8Q89D

its small - silent and really cools the processor... (tried it on haswell i3)

[bossanova808]

Something not right with your pipes/plate - there's definitely screws/thread to bolt it to the wall. Well, there is in my FC8 anyway (see build notes in sig)

You really have to get good contact happening for it to work right - good thermal between CPU and the plate that mounts the pipes to the CPU, and then good contat between the pipes and the case (which is a giant heatsink, and the issue you are having here I'd say).

Also, get a pipe bending kit of ebay to bend the pipes, much safer than by hand:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-PC-EXTERNAL-SP...3a71219139

(there are single available too of course - they're used in plumbing so any major hardware should have them too)

...and don't go sticking a fan in. That would defeat the whole purpose of the case....

[thedeadman]

@ScareCity

If the FC8 is much the same as the FC5, you screw the heatpipes to the case by threading the screws from the outside in (opposite to the way you've done it). That confused the hell out of me - Streacom's instructions leave a lot to be desired.

It's fiddly as f$%k, but worth it in the end. Have plenty of thermal grease on standby!

[bossanova808]

thedeadman is right. Once you have good contact you will get much much better temps I suspect.

Re: temps - ignore bios temps obviously - use a cputemp in windows or whatever once it has properly booted and the cpu throttling etc. has kicked in. Mine runs a steady 30 degrees or so during playback and a little warmer on the home screen (which is all CCPU done I believe)

[touser]

I built 2 FC8 Evo's about 11 months ago. They're both running i5-3570K cpu's (that's a 77 watt TDP cpu, your is 65 watts). They both idle at ~50c which i deem to be acceptable considering this CPU is pushing the limits of the case and because the ivy bridge heat spreader makes them all run pretty warm. I highly suggest you re-seat the heatsink and make sure the heat pipes are making perfect contact with the case and cpu, you'll probably have to carefully bend them. Make sure to use a small amount of thermal paste between the heat pipes and case as well (don't apply a ton of it). As you've found out setting up the coolers in this case properly is a royal pain in the ass, doing two of them back to back really sucked. But they've been rock solid for 11 months (online 24/7) and i'm very pleased with them now.

[ScareCity]

@ScareCity

If the FC8 is much the same as the FC5, you screw the heatpipes to the case by threading the screws from the outside in (opposite to the way you've done it). That confused the hell out of me - Streacom's instructions leave a lot to be desired.

It's fiddly as f$%k, but worth it in the end. Have plenty of thermal grease on standby!

Guess it would have helped if I would have RTFM a bit better. Swapped the screws around (also added a bit more thermal paste where the heat pipes meet the case) and now i'm getting 50-55c idle temps. Didn't have time to do any real testing last night, but hopefully that takes care of it.

[thedeadman]

Cool (no pun intended)

50-55 mirrors my setup. I've also noticed performance improves as the thermal grease settles in. Fanless cases rule!