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[SPONSORED] Antimemetic: Scratch-built, GTX 1080, Fully Passive

18K views 111 replies 40 participants last post by  Dortheleus 
#1 ·


Antimemetic is a scratch-built, fully-fanless, 0-Decibel, passively cooled gaming PC enclosure lovingly hand-crafted by me here in a small New York City apartment.

I'll document the construction process here. As I note below, this is a long-term, community effort by which I have learned much from others who have experimented with passively-cooled, high-powered enclosures in the past. So, in many ways, this build stands on the shoulders of giants
smile.gif
Please do let me know your thoughts, suggestions, etc.

Antimemetic is also:

Heat-piped, not water-cooled. Heat pipes require no maintenance, can't gunk up, and won't leak on your components. Water is better at moving heat long distances (i.e., far away from your components), but that just means a large enclosure. That's fun and can look very cool, but is no more effective than heat pipes for short runs.

Heat-sunk.
Radiators are quite effective for fans that create air pressure, but large heat sinks can use convection (and radiation too) to dissipate heat. The enclosure does not "incorporate" heat sinks. It *consists* of them.

Silent. Zero fans. Full stop.

Efficient. It can happily cool over 700 watts (175 per side) in a reasonably cool room. That means Xeons if that's your pleasure, and SLI if you fancy (and if you're willing to give up one door for the space!).

Minimally-machined. I am working out of a small NYC apartment, so as much as I'd like to do it myself, there is very little milling that I can realistically do. Instead, I employ off-the-shelf components, often for things they were not meant to do :)

A perfect cube. Its dimensions are 370mm x 370mm x 370mm.

http://imgur.com/gUIeG3Y

http://imgur.com/SSmYXQ4

http://imgur.com/W4FK2ic

Solid. It is made of aluminum heat sinks, aluminum extrusions, copper feet and steel fasteners. No plastic, glass or acrylic act as structural components.

Omnidirectional and tidy. Cables are routed cleanly through the bottom, so, while closed, there is no front, no left, no right and no back to the enclosure.

Comfortable to build in. It is not a tiny case. In exchange, you net plenty of room inside to poke around.

Versatile. Unlike many scratch builds that are custom built for only one set of components, this case can accommodate ATX, MATX, ITX, SLI GPUs well over 300mm, eight SSDs, PSUs over 220mm long. …Why? Because planning.

Gull-winged. Two sides open using high-end (and very expensive!) Japanese gull-wing hinges.

Motorized. The gull wing doors are mounted to a linear actuator that opens at the press of a button.



Unique. This is the only Antimemetic that I will ever build. My sense is that my future enclosures will be more compact, but less versatile. This is the original.

Beautiful. No cheesy windows, no blingy lights. Just black aluminum and pure copper. Okay, maybe some tasteful lighting on the internals.

Original. I sketched out the design and then went to learn implementation from others. Stefan from the Linus tech tips forum and his passive setups have been tremendously instructive in this regard. I am indebted to him for his assistance. I could state now, for the record, that I created Antimemetic before seeing his excellent pseudo-cube enclosure, but you probably wouldn't believe me. Instead, I'll just say that I think Antimemetic is prettier ;-)

Sponsored. Heat Sink USA was kind enough to provide four gorgeous heat sinks for this build. Some say "functionality is the new marketing," and I agree. At heatsinkusa.com you can customize the length of your heat sinks, selecting from various profiles, and buy right from the website with prices displayed. No asking for "quotes" and waiting days for a response. Cut to size and shipped quick. They'll even provide CAD drawings to work with. Tough to beat that.

http://heatsinkusa.com

And finally, Antimemetic is:

For sale.
Probably. Maybe. Let's see how it turns out first ;-)
 
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7
#2 ·
http://imgur.com/14xkEs8

Let's start at the bottom: Antimemetic rests on four 20-gauge copper pyramids. They need to leave space between them for the user's choice of cable routing, so I chose 123mm square posts. Here they are, straight out of the box.

http://imgur.com/N6TyKsF

Important to protect them with a little masking tape prior to work.

http://imgur.com/8NfrI4u

The pyramids themselves are hollow: designed not to bear much weight, but to decoratively cap fence posts. As such, they'll need some kind of filler before I'll trust them to bear Antimemetic's weight. I chose Bondo because, well, it's perfect for the job. It is medium-weight and will probably adhere to the copper. If not, no sweat; plenty of ways to join the two. Worst case scenario, we get a perfectly snug-fitting form for the Bondo. Here we are applying the first layer.

http://imgur.com/IMYGYXp

It's important to apply Bondo in layers if you plan to go 3d like this. Otherwise, you risk the outside drying before the inside, creating an egg situation - hard shell on the outside, wet yolk inside. We're going for a solid core so that won't do. I'll let this dry for a bit, and then start applying the layers. Next update should provide solid, filled, feet.

What do you think?
 
#3 ·
Very interesting! Subbed!
 
#4 ·
very nice. Do you think you need to incorporate some kind of rubber pads on the tip of the copper pyramids? to cut down on any vibration you're going to have if the tips aren't perfectly flush
 
#10 ·
I'm down.. Black and copper sound great.
 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scoobydoobydoo View Post

How did you conclude this baby can cool 700 Watts? I do not see connections running between the bigger heatsinks and the inside of the case, how can the heatsink, can transmit 175 Watt par panel? (or how is the heatsink connected so it can reach a performance of 175 Watt?
I can confirm that this profile would be able to handle 175W.


Would love to see your heatpipe routing. Subbed.
 
#13 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zhilin View Post

I can confirm that this profile would be able to handle 175W.


Would love to see your heatpipe routing. Subbed.
What thermal conductivity did you assume in your model? Did you just apply 175W across the whole surface area?

subbed, this is quite interesting
 
#14 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scoobydoobydoo View Post

Vertically is the temp i guess, i assume the iterations is the time of the experiment?
In a way. In this mode software just looks for the equilibrium state of the system that generates 175W of heat across the profile i.e. when temperature raise stops.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dirty elf View Post

What thermal conductivity did you assume in your model? Did you just apply 175W across the whole surface area?
I've used Aluminium 6061 as a material for the profile, it has all the properties its real world counterpart has. And yeah, just applied heat across the area cause I suspect that's how heatpipes would be arranged, not concentrated in one spot
smile.gif
 
#17 ·
It's something different and awesome. Subbed!
 
#18 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zhilin View Post

In a way. In this mode software just looks for the equilibrium state of the system that generates 175W of heat across the profile i.e. when temperature raise stops.
I've used Aluminium 6061 as a material for the profile, it has all the properties its real world counterpart has. And yeah, just applied heat across the area cause I suspect that's how heatpipes would be arranged, not concentrated in one spot
smile.gif
While I don't think it would be concentrated in one spot it wont be evenly applied across the whole surface. It will probably look more like this...


As for thermal conductivity I was referring to the conductivity of the junction (thermal grease, etc...) between the heatpipe and the heatsink. If the load is simply applied TO the 6061 face it assumes... well, absolute best case scenario and will certainly be quite a bit different in reality.

Anyways, I am interested to see how this turns out!
 
#19 ·
Well, if nothing else, it is unique and beautiful. Subbed.
 
#21 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by dirty elf View Post

While I don't think it would be concentrated in one spot it wont be evenly applied across the whole surface. It will probably look more like this...
Yeah, and that white rectangle on the bottom tries its very best to emulate that design
tongue.gif
Now I got your question, no, it's not generating heat all across the profile, just along the profile horizontaly.
 
#23 ·
Thanks for all of the support!
Quote:
Originally Posted by flash2021 View Post

very nice. Do you think you need to incorporate some kind of rubber pads on the tip of the copper pyramids? to cut down on any vibration you're going to have if the tips aren't perfectly flush
What might cause vibration?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gilles3000 View Post

Very interesting, definitely subbed.

And if the bondo doesn't work out, you could also just fill the feet with epoxy, should be pretty fast, although probably heavier.
You know, I've received the same advice from another forum as well. You might be on to something.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeviousAddict View Post

i do have a query regarding grounding.
I made my own case once from scratch and i had that issue until i fit plastic feet to it.

My knowledge in this is limited but wont grounding be an issue with copper feet and all the parts connecting to the case sides etc?
Why would grounding be an issue?
 
#24 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by NYCesquire View Post

Thanks for all of the support!
What might cause vibration?
If you have any type of rotation (GPU fan, CPU fan, HDD, PSU fan) you could get some vibration...but if you are talking passively cooling the GPU and CPU, only using SSD's and no PSU fan...maybe theres not as much to worry about

I wonder if there are any grounding concerns? any shorts or static could be translated up or down the feet? Depending on the coating and the surface its sitting on, I wouldn't walk across the carpet and touch it much
 
#26 ·


As you can tell, the aesthetic of this build is minimal - raw materials and raw finishes. There is aluminum and copper for the metal. Why not some stone for the feet. Seems appropriate, I think. Here is the feet filled, but still a bit uneven:



Here we are with a final coat of filler:



Some discoloration remains, but that will be covered by the final coat of black paint, or perhaps Plasti-dip? I haven't decided. What do you think? Either way, I intend to keep the somewhat rough texture. An all-glossy setup is simply not very striking. There should be some contrast, in my opinion.

Before I paint, I"ll need to drill four holes on the top of each, fill with JB weld and set a threaded insert so that the feet will attach to the frame.

Oh, and speaking of the frame...



What a lovely bunch of aluminum T-slot extrusions! All have been cut down to the millimeter according to my specs, and then anodized black. Here's a quick test-fit of the bottom plane of the frame:



The tolerances are outrageously tight:



The finish is perfection:



I would have preferred to have had them anodized *after* I had finished the project, but the extrusions I wanted weren't available raw, unanodized. So it was either pure aluminum in color, or black from the outset. I chose black. Now, each extrusion is hollow. I'll need to tap them so that they can hold a screw:



All are tapped M6.



Yes, I did a lot of tapping. It might seem tedious, but there really is a zen to it. It's a simple twisting motion that you can really focus on. Three twists clockwise to cut the thread, one twist counterclockwise to break off the cut corkscrew-like piece. In the world of ambiguous regulations and two-sided arguments I live in, the definite character of this work... it's actually quite cathartic. Here's a test fit:



Perfect. Let's move on to the final bit of machining required for the T-slot to work:



For those unfamiliar, the head of a screw fits through the T-slot and slides down the shaft. Then, wherever you want it to connect in a perpendicular manner to another t-slot, just drill an access hole. Stick the Allen key into the access hole to tighten and voila, a perfect mechanical attachment. Because my tolerances are so tight, it's more science than art. Thank goodness for the clamps to hold everything steady! I use a drill guide here because it's more flexible for exotic shaped pieces like the extrusions.

Well, there's update #2 for you. Would love your feedback!
 
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