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<blockquote data-quote="dcwp" data-source="post: 394483" data-attributes="member: 25562"><p>Thanks for the kind words and the input Biquel. </p><p></p><p>I haven't gotten hold of the USB adapter yet, but I did a little bit of experimentation by setting my receivers behind the aluminum case panels and trying to send signals. It looks like the RF receiver will work fine. As a great surprise, I may be able to put the IR receiver for the remote in the case as well. Since I have the case sitting sideways on the shelf, the receiver can sit behind the side vent holes. With a panel in front of the receiver I was able to use the remote from anywhere in the room with no apparent reduction in effectiveness. This is great news, now I've just got to get a USB adapter.</p><p></p><p>Otherwise I was not able to get as much done this weekend as I planned. This was the first nice Saturday I've seen in five months so I took advantage of the opportunity to get my motorcycle back into riding condition. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big Grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /></p><p></p><p>I did take a little time to work on the internal cable management. This is one of the hardest parts of the process for me since I am not an organized person by nature. I think I made a good deal of progress, but the power supply cables are still kind of a mess. I'm starting to appreciate the value of a modular PSU. Before and after pictures below.</p><p></p><p>I also started trying to get this rig quiet and cool. I downloaded Speedfan and started experimenting with fan speeds and noise. I am unable to completely stop any fans except the exhaust fan, but even turning the exhaust down to 50% drastically reduces the noise.</p><p></p><p>This motherboard has a reputation for running hot, and indeed the northbridge was maintaining temps around 50 degrees at idle and pushing higher under load. And that was with all fans running full speed, way too noisy. The problem, I think, is an inadequate heat sink on a very powerful chipset. It's a very pretty copper heatsink, it's even got what appears to be a heatpipe. But the 'heatpipe' is a continuous ellipse, so I'm not sure how it is supposed to work. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite5" alt=":confused:" title="Confused :confused:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":confused:" /> Reports from other users suggest the thermal compound used by Asus may also be subpar. </p><p></p><p>So it's a mediocre heatsink with no fan, the only way to keep it cool is to share the air from the CPU fan. That means running the CPU fan at full speed all the time, forget passive cooling. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite9" alt=":eek:" title="Eek! :eek:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":eek:" /></p><p></p><p>My solution was to use a quiet Silverstone fan from my old build, attach it to the fan header I was using for the intake fan, and position it to blow on the NB cooler. There was no easy way to set the fan in the case to blow across the heatsink, so what I finally came up with was suspending it and allowing it to blow down onto the hot components. So I rigged up a little zip-tie suspension harness and hung the fan a centimeter or two above the heatsink. I'm sure there are much better ways to handle this, but it works pretty well for now. With that fan running, idle temps are down better than 10 degrees. The exhaust fan is off most of the time and the CPU fan runs at around 50% except under serious load. I don't have any way to measure it, but I'd say the noise level of my computer is about half what it was yesterday. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big Grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> </p><p></p><p>The last picture below shows my fan suspension rig.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="dcwp, post: 394483, member: 25562"] Thanks for the kind words and the input Biquel. I haven't gotten hold of the USB adapter yet, but I did a little bit of experimentation by setting my receivers behind the aluminum case panels and trying to send signals. It looks like the RF receiver will work fine. As a great surprise, I may be able to put the IR receiver for the remote in the case as well. Since I have the case sitting sideways on the shelf, the receiver can sit behind the side vent holes. With a panel in front of the receiver I was able to use the remote from anywhere in the room with no apparent reduction in effectiveness. This is great news, now I've just got to get a USB adapter. Otherwise I was not able to get as much done this weekend as I planned. This was the first nice Saturday I've seen in five months so I took advantage of the opportunity to get my motorcycle back into riding condition. :D I did take a little time to work on the internal cable management. This is one of the hardest parts of the process for me since I am not an organized person by nature. I think I made a good deal of progress, but the power supply cables are still kind of a mess. I'm starting to appreciate the value of a modular PSU. Before and after pictures below. I also started trying to get this rig quiet and cool. I downloaded Speedfan and started experimenting with fan speeds and noise. I am unable to completely stop any fans except the exhaust fan, but even turning the exhaust down to 50% drastically reduces the noise. This motherboard has a reputation for running hot, and indeed the northbridge was maintaining temps around 50 degrees at idle and pushing higher under load. And that was with all fans running full speed, way too noisy. The problem, I think, is an inadequate heat sink on a very powerful chipset. It's a very pretty copper heatsink, it's even got what appears to be a heatpipe. But the 'heatpipe' is a continuous ellipse, so I'm not sure how it is supposed to work. :S Reports from other users suggest the thermal compound used by Asus may also be subpar. So it's a mediocre heatsink with no fan, the only way to keep it cool is to share the air from the CPU fan. That means running the CPU fan at full speed all the time, forget passive cooling. :eek: My solution was to use a quiet Silverstone fan from my old build, attach it to the fan header I was using for the intake fan, and position it to blow on the NB cooler. There was no easy way to set the fan in the case to blow across the heatsink, so what I finally came up with was suspending it and allowing it to blow down onto the hot components. So I rigged up a little zip-tie suspension harness and hung the fan a centimeter or two above the heatsink. I'm sure there are much better ways to handle this, but it works pretty well for now. With that fan running, idle temps are down better than 10 degrees. The exhaust fan is off most of the time and the CPU fan runs at around 50% except under serious load. I don't have any way to measure it, but I'd say the noise level of my computer is about half what it was yesterday. :D The last picture below shows my fan suspension rig. [/QUOTE]
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