CX4200i PC Build
So with my Server now moved into a rack case, I also took the steps to move my own Gaming PC from the Torrent Compact into a rack mountable case, here the choice fell on the CX4200i from Sliger.
The biggest problem with finding a good case for a gaming pc are the same as with the home server, ventilation or better fan positions most cases that you can find do not offer a front mounted air intake, even less 3x 120 mm.
You can find some cases that offer this, but mostly those that I could find include drawbacks, as for example custom cages which come fitted with a fan that you can slot in but not really replace.
Once again, Sliger offers here the best possible version of an already manufactured case for rack mounting your gaming pc, which again targets a market that most likely is even smaller than the DIY home lab crowd.
My biggest problem moving into this case is the height, 4 rack units only offer a maximum CPU cooler clearance of about 158 mm, graphics cards also have the same problem here, especially because nearly every model has the power connector protrude from the top.
In my case, this means that my Noctua NH-D15 will not fit with a height of 165 mm (with fan) so I had to downsize it to a NH-D12L (145 mm with fan) I'm not a big fan of this move, but sadly I had no other choice, alternatively people claim that they managed to fit a DeepCool AK620 (160 mm) or FUMA 2 Rev. B (155 mm) into similar 4U cases.
On the DeepCool Ak620 it is possible to remove the cover on top of the heat sink which apparently offers enough leeway to install it, but this seems to be a real gamble (also I have never seen photos of this being actually done) this then became a no-deal when the only places that I could have ordered it were small unknown shops to me, and the best E-Bay seller wanted €80 + €5 shipping.
The FUMA 2 Rev.B will fit because it is slightly under the maximum clearance, but here I had a problem with the price, the only offers that I could find were around €80, for "only" €10 more I could get the NH-D12L, so I choose to go with the safer bet and again put my trust into Nocuta.
Small tangential, when exactly did it become normal for an CPU cooler to cost €100 ?
Thinking back, i never ever paid that much for my NH-D15 which comes with two fans and is the biggest cooler Noctua produces, so why the hell does the smaller and only fitted with one fan NH-D12L cost nearly the same as the NH-D15... the market right now is crazy, and I know we are paying for the brand here but hell, if the Fuma 2 had cost €50 I would have tried it out without betting an eye.
Everything else went smoothly, after replacing the cooler all I had to do is fit it into the Sliger, mount the power supply and connect everything, you will maybe notice that I switched the front intake fans from Nocuta to Phantek T30s here is the same reason as for the Unraid built, they are really quite pull a lot of air and seem to be better than what Noctua can offer right now, please don't nail me to a cross, but from what I could find out these are right now the best available fans, they are a bit deeper than the normal fans, so you could call it cheating well so be it, I have enough clearance for them and I will use it.
Even when I'm a Noctua fanboy and willing to pay extra for the brand, if someone comes out with a better version I'm willing to immediately switch and can only hope that Noctua will also upgrade their lineup.
So before you wonder what this is, apparently it is a cable management bar, I guess it's true if you work with those tiny cable ties, in my case I used normal Velcro ones and just split them apart in the middle, wide enough to fit in between.
My feedback here would be, to redesign this bar to be on piles like a bridge, so you could use any kind of Velcro cable ties, to bind cable down.
Oh yeah, I upgraded from my GTX 1080 Ti JetStream to an ASUS TUF RX 6900 XT GAMING TOP while a sale was going on by Asus, here can you see how much clearance is left.
Length will not be a problem in this case, but height could become my downfall if future generations do not relocate the PCIe power connector, or I need to work with some 90 degree adapters.
This is the final look of it, with everything strapped down, I also installed an 3,5 inch quick switch bay in the 5 1/4 slot in hopes of not needing to use any external HDD Docking stations anymore.
This once again reminded me why tower cases with their mostly two layer design exist, in a normal case you have space to hide many of the cables behind the motherboard, or in the bottom where the PSU lives, with rack cases you only have one large room to work in, so without putting too much strain on the cables or getting custom length ones this is the best you can do for cable management.
Then again, with the top lid on, it's just a black box so who really cares.
Like with my Unraid build, I also had to cut my own prefilter for the intake fans, but the final construct looks fantastic in my opinion.
Afterbullshit
Just some random thoughts and things that I noticed.
After upgrading / downgrading my CPU cooler, I wanted to see how the new one is doing, also just to redo the fan curves, so I installed HWiNFO and started playing some games and stress tests, it worked fine so I let it run in the background and just used my pc as normal and played some games, suddenly after 4 hours of no problems my game got really laggy...
First thought was okay, CPU overheating?
Looking at the Taskmanager I could see that it was throttling around 2,4 GHz and really instable, next look at HWiNFO CPU at 96 °C !
I immediately noticed that all fans stopped spinning, i ALT+F4 the game and restarted the computer still reflecting what could have gone wrong.
The fans were spinning again O.o this made it seem even weirder, the only thing that I installed was HWiNFO, so my thoughts directly went into that direction... what if HWiNFO for some reason crashes my fans...
I always knew that you should not run multiple software solutions that try to access the BIOS or other low level components, I know of sudden crashes or computer shutdowns from conflicting programs but FAN header breaking?
A quick google search surprised me, I was not alone and apparently this is a known problem since at least 2018 or better said release of this motherboard.
The culprit is the ITE 8665E Chip (Super I/O) it's shit, it's buggy and will hang itself if you poll it too frequently, then many things can happen.
Just google ITE 8665E forum / GitHub and see for yourself what funny threads pop up.
Sadly, this chip is often used on different motherboards and embedded devices from that generation, even ASUS at some point implemented a new interface via the WMI so that programs could poll that interface which would in return "sometimes" ask the chip how it's doing and if it would be so nice to report anything...
This failed so hard that the full support was later pulled since they just used a newer chip and so that "problem" was solved or better said we are stuck with this broken buggy chip that really does not like talking with you...
HWiNFO tried to implement some workarounds but that mostly involved to just not load the sensor, for a quick look it works fine but better don't let it run for too long and keep an eye on your fans.