[J7SC]

Welcome !

Project Ravens' Nest has been a long time coming, and it will also take a while to fill this build log...

Ravens' nest came about because during the Covid pandemic, my place-of-work and 'home' started to fully merge. Being in the computer related / SaaS field means that I have multiple systems running in my home office, including development servers and the like - but the last twelve months only added to all this overcrowding. It also underscored that a re-think in terms of spacial use and work and play areas was necessary - multiple computers either running or in build in more than four rooms of our home required a consolidation - and that is where Ravens' Nest comes in.

At the same time, another update cycle was due, all the while components such as some CPUs and some GPUs experiencing some serious supply issues as many of you are well aware of. However, I finally got 'all the bits and pieces' together (purchased at or below MSRP, btw), and everything has been fully tested and configured on test benches, while other components are 'recycled' from earlier builds ...now it is time to start the actual builds, and consolidate everything into zones in 'only' two rooms...

Nest 1

Modified Thermaltake Core P8 with three motherboards (two up front and one on the back).

• Asus ROG CH8 Dark Hero with AM4 5950X (water-cooled), 4x8 GB GSkill DDR4 4000 CL15 (Samsung-B) and 3x8 pin Asus Strix 3090 OC (full water-block)
• Asus ROG CH8 Hero wifi with AM4 3950X (water-cooled), 4x8 GB GSkill DDR4 3866 CL16 (Samsung-B) and 3x8 pin Gigabyte 6900XT Gaming OC (full water-block)

The first two are running Windows 10 Pro and are 'work+play' builds
The last one is running Linux and is a 'work' build

Nest 2

Modified Thermaltake CoreP5 with two motherboards (one up front, one on the back)

• MSI X399 Creation with Threadripper 2950X and 4x8 GB DDR4 GSkill CL14 3866 at 3466 (Samsung-B) and 2x Aorus 2080 Ti Waterforce WB (full OEM water-block)
• Gigabyte SOC Force Z170 with Intel 6700K 'ES', 4x4 GB Skill DDR4 3866 CL16 (Samsung-B) and 2x8 pin EVGA 980 Classified

 

[J7SC]

Asus CH8 Dark Hero, AM4 5950X & Strix 3090 on the testbench...

 

[J7SC]

...boxes, lots of boxes...

Purchased in December '18...

...purchased in January '21 and June '21, respectively...

 

[J7SC]

reserved 4

 

[J7SC]

reserved 5

 

[Dhoulmagus]

Oh my.

Can't wait to see what you did to these cases

Subbed!

 

[geriatricpollywog]

 

[J7SC]

Oh my.

Can't wait to see what you did to these cases

Subbed!

...for the TT Core Px case mods, I already know that 'Dremel tools, metal hole saws and extra-wide industrial Velcro' are your friends . The Core Px series uses thick metal etc and I learned from my Orca build just how heavy the final product can be when you load it up with 5 big rads, 4 D5 pumps, 3 water-blocks etc - I can hardly move Orca (over 100 lbs) and its modded Core P5.as it is on a fixed table and is very hard to 'grab' - not like a normal case...

The Core P8 is bigger and heavier still (30 lbs just by itself w/o components) so this time, I added a steel tool cart with extra drawers and: wheels. That can carry - and move - over 300 lbs

View attachment 2513476

 

[Dhoulmagus]

This is gonna be awesome. The unliftable computer(s) that trip(s) the breakers of mere mortals mwahaha

 

[J7SC]

This is gonna be awesome. The unliftable computer(s) that trip(s) the breakers of mere mortals mwahaha

...I hope so - stuffing contents of four rooms into two while not disrupting work too much.can be a bit challenging For that, I also got some more tables, shelves and the like to assemble. The 'XX chromosome units' in my family are not happy about the mess I'm creating, though they do look forward to reclaim two rooms for themselves when I've finished

For now, though, computer parts and furniture boxes piled up everywhere - not unlike what you see on 'hoarder reality tv shows'

...more boxes, new and old...

 

[J7SC]

...GPU cooling & related

 

[J7SC]

...general water-cooling loop parts

• 3x 3m Primochill Primoflex Advanced LRT 'Elegant White' 1/2 ID 3/4 OD tubing
• 1/2 inch copper tubing and elbows

• 40x Arctic P12 pwm pst
• 8x Arctic P12 pwm pst
• 8x D5 pumps

• 6x XSPC 360x55
• 2x TT CL 480x64
• 2x Hardwarelabs 178x54

• 2x XSPC reservoir
• 3x Swiftech MCRES-MICRO Rev2
• 5L Mayhems X1 UV Blue; other

• 2x Phanteks Glacier C360a CPU Water Block for AMD AM4
• 1x Watercool Heatkiller IV Pro Threadripper
• 1x Phanteks Glacier G30 block for Asus RTX 3090 Strix OC
• 2x OEM blocks for Aorus 2080 Ti Xtreme WF WB
• 1x Bykski block for Gigabyte Radeon 6900 XT Gaming OC
• TG Kryounaut, Noctua NH1 and 2, Gelid GC Extreme, Arctic MX 4 & 5 thermal pastes

 

[J7SC]

...yesterday was shelving, table and related furniture assembly day as I am preparing the two 'nest' areas with three and two mobos, respectively. The next step is to lay out the component locations on the TT Core P8 and TT Core P5 with masking tape...then it's drilling, cutting and tapping time ...armed up with extra Dremel metal cutting wheels and a new tap set...

...after the (somewhat boring) furniture assembly, confirmed and re-tested the 24/7 'daily' RAM settings...For now, I'll keep the Asus CH8 Dark Hero / 5950X combo at IF 1900 / undervolted DDR4 3800 though I am happy that IF 2000 / DDR4 4000 is easily possible (parameters below were just a 'quick and dirty' for IF 2000 / DDR4 4000 which booted up on the first try). Worth revisiting that setting at a later date when everything has been put together...

Before mounting the new water blocks on the RTX 3090 and Radeon 6900 XT, I was trying to establish the highest error-free on air as a 'baseline' (the 2x 2080 Ti came with full factory-installed blocks).

Worth noting that the numbers below came from light rendering using a specific tool that shows errors when they occur...these are NOT full-bore, high intensity 3D bench numbers...even with water-cooling, I expect them to drop by about 50 MHz or so on the GPU core, though VRAM is probably close to the final setting

 

[J7SC]

...putting together the copper tubing and elbows...the old-school 'hard tubing' for w-cooling'

...I also used copper tubing and elbows in a build 2+ years ago (second pic below, including those four white GPU tubes = coated copper)

 

[J7SC]

...it's been a few months for updates here....while some work on Project Ravens' Nest continued, it did so at a slower pace as I was expecting additional deliveries - never mind unusual weather and three 'heat domes' in a row :-( . Better to sped time in front of the AC...

...all component systems have been running fine on their own already for months, though there were some problems with the EKWB Strix 3090 OC w-black and backplate, so I decided to replace that with a Phanteks block...

Some dual D5 pressure testing of the Phanteks block for the 3090, the Bykski block for the 6900 XT as well as a XSPC reservoir and an additional TT CL 480 tripe row rad:

 

[J7SC]

...both those GPUs will each be connected to both the 40 Inch Philips workstation monitor (VA Panel)...

...and the latest arrival:

...I also stocked up on several additional packs of fan / rad screws since all rads are push-pull. Besides, fan / rad screws around here seem to exercise the same disappearance act as left socks in the washer / dryer

 

[J7SC]

...finally time to disassemble the two X570 systems that had been running on their own for a few months and get them ready for the TT Core P8...Asus CH8 Dark w/ 5950X (paired w/3090 Strix OC) left front, Asus CH8 Hero WiFi (paired w/6900 XT) left rear...

... a Dremel Ultra Saw for a bit more oomph than my regular, trusty Dremel as there's a lot of precision-cutting to do, and the TT Core P8 is heavy-gauge metal (and just plain heavy...)

 

[J7SC]

..and now I got 'stufferitis'

...layout planing with two of everything is fun, but tricky, also re. wiring and tubing. Good thing I'm using a separate, mobile cooling table for all the rads and pumps. Still, a lot of custom-fab coming up...

 

[J7SC]

...I've been busy with other projects, but both Ravens' nest systems (2x 2 mobos) are fully functional and just need a bit of visual clean-up. Here's a quick peek at Ravens' Nest A; update build log soon

 

[J7SC]

some new pics of 'Ravens' Nest B'