Ok so I did the same and it went well. @jnettlet what metal is IHS of the LX2160 cpu made of? May I use liquid metal instead of thermal paste? Looks like some acid-resistant steel or nikel but wanted to be sure. Just confirm its not alu. Thanks.
Edit: No way its aluminium. Some nikel plated copper. Ok 1-2h leakage test and I will mount it.
Ok so here is how it looks like at the end:
But I ran into power issue. PicoPSU 150W couldn’t supply enough power I guess on +12V rail. Connected old PC PSU and it booted (I had a heart attack moment that I shorted something and expensive server is gone😅)
Here are stats:
# sensors
acpitz-acpi-0
Adapter: ACPI interface
temp1: +41.0°C (crit = +95.0°C)
temp2: +41.0°C (crit = +95.0°C)
temp3: +41.0°C (crit = +95.0°C)
temp4: +40.0°C (crit = +95.0°C)
temp5: +41.0°C (crit = +95.0°C)
temp6: +40.0°C (crit = +95.0°C)
temp7: +41.0°C (crit = +95.0°C)
temp8: +41.0°C
nvme-pci-20100
Adapter: PCI adapter
Composite: +40.9°C (low = -273.1°C, high = +84.8°C) (crit = +84.8°C)
Sensor 1: +60.9°C (low = -273.1°C, high = +65261.8°C)
Sensor 2: +40.9°C (low = -273.1°C, high = +65261.8°C)
Around 38-40°C while idle. And 44-46°C running stress at 16 cores for 10mins.
I used liquid metal instead of thermal greese. Quite happy with the result. Now just stronger picoPSU or some flex ATX power supply and I am done with homelab server project.
Would I do it again? Hell no! So much stress and modifications to do. If someone is interested I can share BOM and instructions. Don’t do it at home.
I have tested a few picoPSU’s and have found that their ratings are not very accurate. I don’t know what your budget is, but I am upgrading a few of my dev setups to new GaN PSUs. HDPLEX 250W GaN Passive AIO ATX Power Supply There is also a 500W version available.
Overall pretty impressive build. I haven’t had a chance to test it, but I think I will be switching to using one of the new phase change thermal pads like PhaseSheet PTM | 50 x 40 mm | S-TG-PS-50-40 Just seems a bit less messy than liquid metal.
Yup I’ve seen those when looked for “passive Flex ATX” as well but ended up ordering FSP FlexGuru 300W locally for cheap that I will replace fan with Noctua’s if its still to loud then I think when my budget builds up a bit I will try the one you mentioned.
But PicoPSU (150W) was ok when I was powering only the board with one stock fan.
Now just need ask a friend to modify a bit for my chassis one of those I/O shields:
Then 3d print it and mount it.
Edit: Done could be black PET-G but whatever it pure cosmetics:
Here is modified 3D model:
shield-v002.stl.txt (63.2 KB)
(stl.txt to bypass file extension limit) may be a good starting point for someone using 1U case as well.
Now heat disspation is a bit worse when I was checking out of rack and with chassis open.
But now temperature range is around 42-46°C when IDLE and running for hours and around 55-56°C when running stress -c 32 so each core double pressured. Not bad at the end. Will se when summer comes.
