PC Update December 2018

 Corrected PC Parts Prices

CPU Intel Core i9 7980XE                                               $2775

GPU Asus Geforce GTX 1080 Ti                                   $2000 (approx)

Motherboard Gigabyte X299 Aorus Gaming 3              $530 (approx)

Case Silverstone FT05B                                                 $419

CPU Cooler Noctua NH-D15S                                      $141

SSD Samsung 2TB                                                        $890

PSU Corsair HX1000i                                                  $326

Wifi Card                                                                      $79

Windows 10                                                                 $199

TOTAL                                                                        $7359

32in Display                                                                $1304

TOTAL2                                                                     $8663

This is therefore pretty much even with the $9000 iMac Pro price wise. On the other hand, having now used Win 10 for a long time I am quite happy with it.

Since I put the second fan on the CPU cooler, according to NZXT's CAM software (which puts a small readout on the screen), the CPU now never gets above 67C which is very good for a 7980XE.

Everything is working fine . . . . well, apart from the GTX 1080 Ti GPU: when I run The Valley it gets to 85C after about 15 seconds which pops up an alert. Note that this occurs regardless of what I run including Nvidia iRay, the whole point of getting the PeeCee - any time the GPU is run full power it gets hot and the card cooler is noisy and inadequate. This version of the card (ASUS Turbo GTX) cannot run full power without overheating. Well, that's how it looks on my PC. I am sure it works just fine for the average joe – but when I want to render it will be running full on.

The Video Card Fix

Okay, I know they try to keep GPU cards small but the downside to that is that when they cool them they cram a radiator and fan into a small space and that alone means noise, never mind the low efficiency of this design. In theory you could fit two video cards on an ATX board but the cooling would then be even worse – unless you upgrade the cooling.

so the next stage of my PC project is the GPU fix.

First, I had this idea at the start of the whole thing thanks to an English chap who does the YouTube channel DIY Perks - he made a GPU cooler without a fan for his silent PC project. I definitely need a fan but his work suggested that this might not be too hard, so off I went and got a Noctua NH-D9L as this looks like it will fit the space once the old cooler is removed . . . buuuut then there is the WifI card. My Mobo does not have Wifi built in so I had to get a separate card and wouldn't you know it, this will block the radiator on the GPU.

After some digging, it turns out the next model up, The Aorus 7, does have built in Wifi so I could buy one before I swap the cooler over, then sell off the current board and wifi card - but I wonder how much it will get.

This also doesn't mention the technical issues here either: I don't know what sort of special tool heads (screwdriver tips) will be needed to take the radiator off, the fan header will need to be changed, a special adapter plate must be made to bolt the rad to the GPU card and of course while all this goes on the PC won't be running – and then at the end of it all, will it run cooler than the original? I can only hope: in theory it should all be fine, and worst possible case I can always fit a second fan just like the CPU cooler.

I don't like the idea of buying more expensive parts and then trying to sell off the old ones so I think I have found another way: First, a different GPU cooler, the Raijintek Morpheus II.

The downside is that this cooler will have fans that blow horizontally which is not the best airflow according to my ideal of all vertical airflow. There is a lot of room “under” it however and I am hoping that I can make my own ducting to get the airflow out the end. Or in the case of my case, the top. Got that? On the other hand, maybe two GPUs can fit with this type of cooler in the space at hand . . . provided you can cheat more space by moving the wifi card – so I got a PCIE riser , basically an extension cable for the last PCIE slot that can then mount the wifi card alongside the GPU cards and thus provide room for the second GPU. I will need to create a new mount for it but that is a relatively easy job.

Just waiting for the cooler to arrive next month. I also bought two new fans (Noctua NF-12's) to mount on it . It's tempting to buy another 1080 Ti but I will wait and see how modding the first one works out first – and a used one can only get cheaper.

Final comment: Note that my preferred CPU cooler, although very good, still needed an extra fan to keep it properly cooled. It is no surprise that the GPU also needs better cooling from stock: but if Ihad got a Mac instead there would be no choice: you take their cooling solution and that's that.  I am much happier having a choice.

What about overclocking?

According to estimates on YouTube, I can gain at most 10% speed boost by overclocking. That's hardly worth the time and trouble for me - I want to focus on actually doing something, not tweaking.

Alright, I confess. I got another Mac. In this case, a Mid-2011 Mac Mini Server with a 4 core i7 and 16GB of Ram. It sits next to the PC and plays music and lets me surf the net while the PC renders. No, it's not a new Mini either. That came out after I had already got this one and it cost a lot more for something that does not need to be very new or powerful for my purposes.

The Asus Turbo GTX 1080 Ti