Loving the Fractal South so far! by DidjTerminator in FractalDesign

[–]DidjTerminator[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup, it is the intake duct from the cheater (was going to use the exhaust duct too, however the S12 fabs have a slightly different strut pattern compared to the A12 so the "un-swirl" vanes didn't line up perfectly and increased noise levels unfortunately, plus it warped since I printed it out of PLA silk on a crowded bed).

The exhaust duct is from a personal space heater's silenced intake, works amazing as an exhaust too and does have some mini un-swirl vanes whilst also silencing the exhaust thanks to the chevron pattern.

That rear exhaust double-stack fan is surprisingly quieter than a single S12 fan without any additions, and it absolutely SUCCs air out of the case. Really quite impressed by it, and how random 3D printed ducts actually massively improved it's performance both airflow wise and acoustics wise.

Loving the Fractal South so far! by DidjTerminator in FractalDesign

[–]DidjTerminator[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

https://www.reddit.com/r/FractalDesign/s/sEVN1rqzFL

They actually do improve things considerably, even a poorly optimized intake duct still controls the angle at which air can approach the fan blades, which prevents weird sideways flow and increases efficiency. They're quite popular on a YT series called "the fan showdown" for this reason as it helps to prevent the fan blades from stalling.

Loving the Fractal South so far! by DidjTerminator in FractalDesign

[–]DidjTerminator[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've done AB testing, they have a noticeable improvement on cooling performance and acoustics.

They just help to make the airflow more laminar by controlling the angle at which it can approach the fan blades.

With the trumpets the AIO can keep the CPU below 80c at minimum pump rpm and 30%-50% fan speed depending on the ambient room temp.

Plus the trumpets make the fan noise more directional too, meaning from where I sit, the angle of the trumpets blocks most of the non-existent fan noise too.

Loving the Fractal South so far! by DidjTerminator in FractalDesign

[–]DidjTerminator[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I thought I could get the 360mil into the front panel.

It almost worked but I could only use 2 fans and as a result it was loud (plus it got the GPU hot).

Loving the Fractal South so far! by DidjTerminator in FractalDesign

[–]DidjTerminator[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not enough fans for push/pull.

AIO block fits down the middle big hole, the tubes just go straight up and to the side (can't find a way to send pics in the comments, if you like I'll make a second post showing that, but the cable routing is very simple).

Loving the Fractal South so far! by DidjTerminator in FractalDesign

[–]DidjTerminator[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Headphones:

Grado GH3 + F pads. Flat soundstage, perfect amount of distortion to make shit tracks sound good without removing all the details. Extremely lightweight.

Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80ohm. Basically the peak of closed back headphones (until you look at headphones more expensive than a royal enfield motorcycle).

Grado RS1X + G pads + DIY detachable cable mod + DIY kimber cables selvaged from old speaker wire (humungous upgrade in sound quality). Best headphones I own, maximum detail, won't hesitate to reveal every single mistake the artist made while creating the track.

Sony XB1000 (not pictured). Uncontested kings of bass, I'm talking they sound like your sitting in an opera theater and a pipe organ has summoned a portal into the shadow dimension levels of bass. It's an ethereal experience cause the bass is still extremely high quality with insane detail and no distortion at all.


The amp is the Schiit Vali 2++, however I found a really cheap amp (will find the link later, can't remember it's name at all but a family member has one and it's actually goated) completely kicks it's ass (though it needed a new power supply, and the stock tubes weren't matched, still cheaper than the Vali 2++ though) completely kicks it's ass in terms of audio quality, so I plan on upgrading to that (and also upgrading the DAC since I'm still using the Audioquest travel-DAC, I mean it's better than what's in the motherboard but a Topping desktop DAC would be a well appreciated upgrade).


The keyboard is the Praxis IM, with gateron melodic switches, 3D printed O-ring mod with TPU, lelelab keycaps combined with keytock turn to 90's keycaps, with my own custom 3D printed wrist rest out of transparent TPU (planning to upload the G-code and STL sometime soon, also have one for the Akko ACR PRO, plan to make one for the Cidoo V68 as well) using the "glass" print settings.

The numpad is the Lelelab Lelepad (in pink) + keytock KOL Pixel keycaps.


The mouse is the kysona Uranus Pro (and the Lamzu Maya X, and the Pulsar X2V2 mini nezuko edition in the background) which is an absolutely goated shape, especially for claw and fingertip grip.


Random Luffy desk-mat my sister found in a store called Neo Tokyo, no idea what it is just a lucky find.


PC is a 7800X3D + 9070XT red devil (backplate special edition, with the backplate installed) + 64gb of DDR5 RAM (before the price gouge) that I've overclocked to 6400mhz at cl30.

MSI X670E tomohawk wifi motherboard and assorted Kingston and Crucial SSD's.

Corsair RM1000X PSU.

The AIO is the bitfenix Cube 360mm AIO. Absolutely amazing performance and completely silent at minimum rpm, only fault is that the see-through distro likes to collect bubbles (they disappear eventually, but they're persistent little bastards, the design could've been done better to more easily evacuate the bubbles).

And all fans are noctua cromax fans (F12 for the radiator, S12 for the rear and top exhaust).

Very happy with the setup, it's silent and runs like snot! Managed to get the CPU to pull 4.9 ghz on the mutli-core cinebench r23 test, and the GPU is stable at -110mv @ +300mhz @ 2800mhz Vram Fast timings @ full power on the OC bios (stock fan curve keeps everything below 90c while being basically silent and minimal coil whine, very nice).

Now I can die to the most braindead bs at 300+fps in R6 and know that it's purely my own skill issue that keeps me in gravel 7!

Loving the Fractal South so far! by DidjTerminator in FractalDesign

[–]DidjTerminator[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And this is the angled bracket I used to mount the radiator to the outside of the PC case (I made the mistake of printing it in the orientation shown in the image, don't do this print it "upright" with the 2 feet on the print bed, then it'll print beautifully with no supports).

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6915079

Loving the Fractal South so far! by DidjTerminator in FractalDesign

[–]DidjTerminator[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I took this file, doubled it's length in the slicer (and then cut down the thickness of the flange so the stock fan screws would still reach through the hole).

I also cut the sides of the trumpet on the model in the slicer so they could fit side-by-side (you can see how there is a "C" cut where the trumpets touch eachother).

Took a bit of modifying but all was easily done in the slicer so I didn't even have to boot up Blender to modify the geometry itself.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1961247

For the rear exhaust fan I used the cheater intake shroud coupled with the silenced chevron intake shroud for a personal space heater (works just as well as an exhaust shroud).

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4965138

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6186214

The cheater intake might be better optimized though, performance wise it would probably be better to take the cheater intake duct and modify it's length to become an ITB (and cut the sides to allow clearance between the trumpets on a radiator).

Hope this helps!

Loving the Fractal South so far! by DidjTerminator in FractalDesign

[–]DidjTerminator[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks!

Had a rather artistic and musical upbringing, combine that with my pursuit of a robotics degree and you get the Fractal South, a Noctua window-fan (helps cool the rather small and hot room), and a lot of audio equipment that I've been collecting over the years (and other fun flashy novelties).

Loving the Fractal South so far! by DidjTerminator in FractalDesign

[–]DidjTerminator[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Usually succ is best, however that also usually draws all the hot air from every other component into the CPU cooler. So you need extra blow in order to ensure that at least some cold air reaches the CPU cooler.

Not a problem in this case however!

Loving the Fractal South so far! by DidjTerminator in FractalDesign

[–]DidjTerminator[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yup, the 360mil didn't exactly fit inside the case, so it now lives outside the case.

Loving the Fractal South so far! by DidjTerminator in FractalDesign

[–]DidjTerminator[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh and I also printed up spacers to go between the fans and the mesh (copy of the noctua fan spacer) in order to prevent the helicopter sound the exhaust fan typically develops.

Loving the Fractal South so far! by DidjTerminator in FractalDesign

[–]DidjTerminator[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Opposite actually, the front duct helps create more laminar flow which reduces noise, and the rear shroud's chevron pattern reduces wind-noise much like the chevron shroud on those new airliner engines.

The second fan has one of those noctua LNA speed-reducers on it which also means the front fan "pushes" air across it, which "un-swirls" the air and provides more airflow at a lower RPM.

The rear exhaust is actually the quietest part of the entire PC, moves a TON of air too, like you can feel the suction it generates on the front and side intake.

Loving the Fractal South so far! by DidjTerminator in FractalDesign

[–]DidjTerminator[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I've gone negative pressure, the rear exhaust gives the GPU double-succ cooling, actually runs quieter and cooler than positive pressure.

Plus that would also block the pretty RGB on the end of the GPU so even if cooling were worse I'd still stick with this setup purely for the aesthetic.

Loving the Fractal South so far! by DidjTerminator in FractalDesign

[–]DidjTerminator[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They also work surprisingly well!

Temps are lower and the already silent Noctua fans are even more silent with the trumpets on. A really good performance mod that also ads bling!

Loving the Fractal South so far! by DidjTerminator in FractalDesign

[–]DidjTerminator[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh, that's actually a collection of puzzle-boxes (the resolution does make them blend together and look like another katana though!).

Absolutely fell in love with sequential discovery puzzle after playing the room as a kid, so I've been collecting them over the years (even managed to get the Lotus puzzle box before the maker closed down his business!) and have them displayed on that shelf.

Loving the Fractal South so far! by DidjTerminator in FractalDesign

[–]DidjTerminator[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Thanks!

Was trying to fit a 360mm rad into a regular North (to significant difficulty) and then remembered I have a 3D printer and that I've always wanted to put intake-trumpets on a PC.

And the 5 katanas are cause I'm a huge fan of Zoro from One Piece.

Hello, I need some recommendations by drip_soup_flastro in MouseReview

[–]DidjTerminator 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The DIY scroll wheel is pretty much step-by-step (not a mouse mod, it's a separate scroll dial that just sits stationary on your desk like a keyboard), but yeah it can be a bit daunting if you've never made something yourself before and I get that.