Building a DIY Music Server

[Exocer]

Wasn't there some sort of agreement that Emile would not release it due to another competing product?

 

Either way, I find it interesting that the Taiko USB card fed by the Taiko DC-ATX outdid the JCAT fed via DC4. While the JCAT sounded better powered by DC4 than it did powered by the Taiko DC-ATX.

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I am listening to this new EPS cable for the first time after two 1.5 days of baking in (server left on since installation, minimal music playback). The EPS cable has all 8-pins installed, gold molex pins per @Nenon's recommendation on the first page of this thread, and is composed of 8 strands of relatively inexpensive 20awg solid core annealed copper wire from Duelund. This wire costs about $5/meter, so, much cheaper than Mundorf. It took about 2 hours to assemble because I'm just slow with building cable :D. No Jssg360.

 

Here is the wire: https://www.partsconnexion.com/DUELUND-81388.html

 

I had second thoughts about this, given the relatively small size of this wire but it worked out well.

 

I'm not saying what Nenon posted above isn't true, but, this Duelund wire is outperforming the Gotham JSSG360 cable by quite a margin very early on. Soundstage is wider/deeper, and more holographic. There is better separation and detail retrieval without an increase in harshness. Just a more noticeable natural sound is presented. Yes, the gauge is smaller than the Gotham (18awg vs 20awg) but it is solid core, with oil/cotton insulation so perhaps this may have something to do with it.

 

This same cable will probably not be the best choice for the dual CPU build. I can highly recommend it for single core i9 builds that are not doing heavy oversampling although my calculations suggest it would be able to handle most i9s at TDP max without an issue. Don't quote me on that though...as I've only used it in a non-upsampling build!

 

@bit01 - you may want to consider this wire for flavoring your setup. I also swapped out the Paul Hynes silver wire at the SR7T outputs for Mundorf SG 15.5awg wire and this was a step in the right direction. It is much better than the PH silver wire used internally.

 

Edit: I forgot to snag a picture of the completed wire but will make it my duty to snag a photo ASAP.

 

I am also testing this Femto NVME drive. It definitely beats Optane in my rig even using PCI-E slot power. Will write more about this later:

 

 

Cheers,

-Rob

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Some typos in my pervious post. I meant "single CPU" not single core. I also meant upsampling where I stated "oversampling".

 

Anyway...

Here is what the EPS cable looks like:

 

I am also sending external power to the Femto NVME drive and this was a substantial improvement across the board. I have zero recent frame of reference to what "analog" sounds like, but everything about the sound has improved. There are some real benefits to be had by using clean dedicated power and good clock for Storage.

 

 

4 hours ago, Topk said:

Do not leave the CPU 4 pin connector unpowered or you leave big sound quality gains on the table! This CPU needs to be well fed, it’s key to SQ.
 

 

@TopkInteresting. I remember @BCRich and I were chatting about this at one point. I would like to try this, but, I'm not sure it would be possible with the 2-rail LPS I have. At the moment, I am powering both ATX/EPS with 1 19v rail of my 2 rail LPS. I have the 2nd rail of the same LPS available for use.. Would I fry my machine by using that 2nd rail to power the 4-pin connector? The CPU would receive power from the Taiko DC-ATX and a separate dedicated 12v rail rated up to 12a continuous.

 

Cheers,

-Rob

 

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2 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

 

It would have been nice if it worked. I had done this experiment before and have now repeated it with Taiko Audio DC-ATX and 2 Keces P8. I use ROG MAXIMUS XI FORMULA.

 

The nice thing about the Keces P8 is the display of the voltage and power consumption. This means that there can be no mistake about where the electricity comes from.

 

1. Use case:
- Keces P8 20V to Taiko Audio DC-ATX
- Keces P8 12V to 8 pin CPU EPS
- Taiko Audio DC-ATX 12V to 4 pin CPU EPS

 

No power was drawn from the Keces P8 12V! The audio PC booted successfully anyway.

 

2. Use case:
- Keces P8 20V to Taiko Audio DC-ATX
- Keces P8 12V to 4 pin CPU EPS
- Taiko Audio DC-ATX 12V to 8 pin CPU EPS

 

No power was drawn from the Keces P8 12V! The audio PC booted successfully anyway.

 

Beware of placebo effects and measure specifically where the electricity is coming from. 😉

 

I think it only works if the 8 pin and 4 pin connections are fed from the same LPS. Then the larger cable diameter may help something.

Thanks. This is similar to what I would test, except, my 12V would come from a separate rail of the same LPS. I doubt my results would be any different than yours. Not courageous enough to try either...

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Some useful info for those looking to build 4-pin/4-wire EPS cables (like myself):

 

https://www.newark.com/molex/46992-0410/connector-housing-rcpt-4pos/dp/37AC1228

 

Mouser has these too but they are out of stock on the gold plated molex pins, so they can be had here:

 

https://www.newark.com/molex/45750-1212/contact-socket-18awg-crimp/dp/08P0242

 

Cheers.

-Rob

 

 

 

 

 

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12 minutes ago, bit01 said:

I have a Ghent custom built cable using 16 AWG Gotham wire and the JSSG360 shield between the SR7T and TAIKO DC DC ATX currently. It works really well here.. 

Fantastic, I am using a Paul Hynes DC18 between the SR7T and Taiko input. I have nothing else to compare this to though.

 

12 minutes ago, bit01 said:

I will get some of that Deulund wire to try out for the EPS as it seems to be on sale - wish it was 18 AWG (more useful all around) Thanks for the tip.

 

Excellent. I wish it were 18awg as well. As far as good sounding and affordable 18awg wire goes, I can recommend this:

 

https://www.partsconnexion.com/JUPITER-70880.html

 

I am using the above wire in one of my modded Buffalo switches (no clocks or anything, just DC input conversion and removal of SMPS) and it does a great job there. I may pick up some more to test it in an EPS cable with my next big order.

 

My next EPS cable will be with some other special wire that i'd like to try that I am not sure I can discuss publicly yet.

 

Please do update us on your feedback! Cheers.

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On 6/13/2021 at 10:56 AM, StreamFidelity said:

 

I just see that my Taiko circuit diagram looked different. EPS 2 was still called PCIe and EPS 1 was called CPU.

 

So another use case would be the connection with
Taiko ATX EPS 1 to 8 pin CPU EPS &

EPS 2 to 4 pin CPU EPS?

 

I will be trying this soon.

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Brief update on the 4-wire EPS cable: If you have the 4-pin eps input on your motherboard and you only have the 8-pin EPS cable connected from your Taiko DC-ATX then I recommend you obtain a matching 4-wire EPS cable. The difference for me is not night/day but still worthwhile. I can't quite put my finger on what the difference was other than more "fullness" of sound.

 

I did not let the 4-wire EPS cable break in before making other changes in my system resulting in a far more drastic impact (in a good way).

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12 minutes ago, genvirt said:

Maybe I messed something in the thread prior, but I think this is have  some benefits if using both 8 and 4 wire connection from Taiko, if 8 ESP comes from external LPS here is possible misbalance power applying, no?

 

My test was conducted to confirm if there are benefits in connecting the 8pin and 4pin EPS from the Taiko to the motherboard. No additional external LPSs were involved in this test. Only 1 19v PH SR7T rail was used. 

 

Here is the comparison:

1. 1 8 wire EPS cable from Taiko to motherboard EPS 8 pin input.

2. 1 8 wire EPS cable from Taiko + 1 4 wire cable to the 8 and 4 pin EPS inputs.

 

Scenario 2 was better than 1 per my ears/setup but not to a significant degree. Worthwhile for sure though.

 

Others have tested connecting two separate but similar/identical LPS's to the 8 pin and 4 pin EPS inputs with great success.

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1 hour ago, AngeloVRA said:

Various posts of AS people building music servers have inspired me to build my own. I figured its my turn to share my humble build as well

 

I started by ordering a 4 rail SR7T from PHD back in October last year. Although there were (extended) delays, I was one of the lucky ones to get mine just a few weeks before PHD closed down its business. I was able to get 4 rails on it:

-       19V/10A adjustable to 15V/6A, 12V/5A, 9V/4A

-       12V/10A adjustable to 9V/7A, 7V/5A, 5V/4A

-       12V/6A adjustable to 9V/4A, 7V/3A, 5V/2.4A

-       12V/6A adjustable to 9V/4A, 7V/3A, 5V/2.4A

If I could do it all over again, I would opt for 5V/6A instead of 5V/2.4A from the 12V/6A rail.

 

I wanted to use an HDPlex H5 chassis (so I could install USB/Network card direct to motherboard without use of riser cables) but was informed they were out of stock, probably till August so I decided to go with a Streacom FC10a instead.

 

Having decided to mount the Taiko ATX DC-DC converter behind the front panel, I disassembled the front panel to drill and tap some blind holes so I can securely fix the Taiko ATX onto it.

 

2 Jaeger 3-pin terminals were also installed on the rear panel. 1 to receive the19V to supply the Taiko ATX and another to receive 12V to supply the CPU EPS if I didn’t like the SQ of 12V EPS from Taiko.

 

I confirmed most appropriate orientation of the Taiko ATX (connectors up or down). Connectors on the bottom yielded a position that would be much easier to wire. This position also gave the shortest possible 24 pin ATX cable from Taiko ATX to motherboard

 

For the CPU, I opted for a single Xeon W-1290 which has 10 cores, base speed of 3.2Ghz, Turbo speed of 5.2Ghz. This went onto a Gigabyte W480 Vision D full size ATX motherboard. This setup required the Streacom Thermal Riser HT4 so that the heatpipes could vertically clear the VRMs, and the extended length heatpipe set LH4 as the standard ones were about 2 cm too short.

 

Initially, I only used 2 pins (+12V and Gnd) for the CPU EPS cable. For the ATX cable, also the minimum, 1 pair each for 12v/5v/3.3v and their respective grounds. I listened to it for over a week and then gradually added 1 pair of wire at a time. Each time, the additional wires gave me an uptick in fullness and dynamics. 

 

The wire itself could probably carry the current but the limiting factor was the current capacity of the pins. Utilizing more pins allowed more transient peak current to be delivered. I ended up fully populating all power connectors.

 

The molex pins have two tabs on the top that slide into channels inside the Molex connector (e.g. both should be at 12 o’clock for the molex pins to slide in and lock properly. 

The Mundorf SG 1.5mm (AWG 15.5) is very stiff so I had to make the pin for one end, insert it into the connector at motherboard side, shape the wire towards the connector at Taiko ATX side, and only then crimp the molex pin at that end. This way the pin would be orientated correctly to slide in and lock properly.

I opted to use the gold plated Molex pins because they have a bigger current capacity. There are also 2 sizes: 1 for 18AWG wire, and another for 16AWG wire.

 

I opted to use bare Mundorf wire and use oversized Teflon tubes (2-2.5mm for 1.5mm wire, 1.5-2mm for 1.0mm wire) so that the resulting insulation would be mostly air. As a bonus, this was also much cheaper.

 

Crimped solid core wires have a tendency to shake loose after some handling so I decided to also thinly solder the already crimped connection.

Next was the power supply cable from the Jaeger chassis connector at the back of the server to the 6p input connector at the Taiko ATX. While a single pair of 1.5mm Mundorf SG should be able to carry the required current, the limiting factor would be the current carrying capacity of the molex pin contacts. As mentioned earlier, I had decided to use all 6 pins. For each polarity (positive and Gnd), I opted to use 1 length of 1.5mm AWG15.5 wire plus 2 lengths of 1.0mm AWG18. On the Jaeger connector side, simply twisting the 3 wires together seemed messy as the resulting wire won’t fit neatly into the solder cup of the Jaeger connector. I decided to use a WBT copper cable sleeve to crimp the 3 wires together, with only the 1.5mm wire coming out the other end which can then be neatly soldered into the Jaeger connector terminals.

 

RAM is Apacer ECC industrial, wide temp (-40C to 95C), 4 x 4GB for a total 16GB.

Music data storage is 2 x 2TB Intel 660p M.2 NVME which also has very low power consumption (40 mW at idle, 100 mW when active)

 

OS drive is an 118 GB Intel Optane 800p which is relatively cheap, has very low read latency at 7 microseconds, and low power consumption (8mW at idle, 3.75w when active). This was mounted on an M.2 to PCIE adapter card which allowed me to install it on the 1^st PCIE slot, direct to CPU.

The 2^nd PCIE slot, also direct to CPU has a JCAT USB XE, externally powered by a PH SR7T.

The 3^rd PCIE slot, also direct to CPU (PCIE bifurcation of x16 into x8/x4/x4), has a JCAT NET XE, also powered externally by a PH SR7T.

 

Subsequently, I found out that the M2 Optane 800P needed a substantial heatsink as it really gets hot.

 

All DC cables are Mundorf SG 1.5mm (AWG15.5) wires in oversized 2.5mm Teflon tubes with Jaeger connectors at the source and either another Jaeger or an Oyaide 5.5/2.1 mm DC plug on the other end. Surprisingly, cotton/silk tubing and JSSG360 shielding didn’t really work out for me in this scenario.

 

In operation, I measured the following current consumption:

-       19V to Taiko:                        2.0 amps

-       12V to EtherRegen:             800 ma

-       12V to JCAT NET XE:         1.25 amps

-       12V to JCAT USB XE:        680 ma

BIOS Settings: After several weeks of trying various combinations, Ive settled on the following settings:

-       Turbo off

-       Hyperthreading off

-       C-States off

-       Onboard Lan Disabled

-       Onboard Audio Disabled

-       SATA disabled

 

Euphony is currently on Version 421 and will try 716 soon

-       Ramroot disabled 

-       CPU isolation is  0-1 stylus 2-5 gstp 6-9. Surprisingly 0-1 gstp 2-5 stylus 6-9 sounded different and worse. Probably because some cores run better than others.

-       Allocating IRQs to specific cores didn’t sound better for me.

 

Many thanks to all AS DiYers who have posted their builds and have unselfishly shared their knowledge and experience!

 

I see you've finally got your system together. Great work! I suppose I should stop expecting the prodding PMs from you now since you'll be busy listening! 😁 (All in good fun).

 

35 minutes ago, ASRMichael said:

Euphony Stylus only needs 1 core, 2 max. I would try allocating more to gstp audio services. 

 

This is spot on. gstp 4-15 worked best for me. Oh and allocating IRQs helped reduce the noise floor in my rig but only if done a specific way. 

 

So, tell us about the sound. How does it compare to what it replaced? What did it replace?

 

Cheers,

-Rob

 

 

[Exocer]

28 minutes ago, Tatomek7 said:

Following @Nenon list of parts, I did LPS to power server. 

 

The first one was based on vintage parts and I was more than delighted with the results. My server with single Xeon and Euphony sang beautifully.  Unfortunately I was not able to power C621 server through HDPlex 800 or Taiko ATX converter. In fact I burned two Hammond chokes. So, I was forced to use awaiting parts and build variation of V2 @Nenon’s unregulated LPS. I ordered the second pair of Hammonds as a replacement of the burned ones and voila

 

 

Rectifier board is based on Saligny active rectifier, Mundorf AG 33000uF 40V bypassed with 3,3uF Supreme Evo Oil, 
The LPS is still settling on, but after 4 days I already find it to play more modern way vs my “vintage” LPS. Bass has less authority vs “vintage” one, but Mundorfs HC needs much more time to express full potential, so now I have to be patient. 
Mundorf HC was bypassed with the same vintage 0,1uF capacitors except the last one, which is Mundorf Supreme Silver Gold Oil. If I will miss some warm, I will try Miflex KPCU, which is waiting for a chance to be applied. I didn’t have Vcap Odam’s and at the moment do not want to buy them, as I’m tired with contacts with customs ( VCaps are not available within EU zone ). 
I didn’t try to power C621 server with the latter LPS. I will try it, when capacitors will have at least 200h on the counter.

 

Both LPS's described above gave serious increase in SQ and it's worth to try it. 

 

I already ordered two hand made chokes to replace Hammonds, so in few weeks I should have more information if it was right decision. Next step will be to improve wiring and to use better connectors, I will also add next Mundorf HC 47000uF to be closer to V3 version.

 

Very nice build (s)!

 

It is fair to say that the benefits of the Unregulated LPS carry over to single CPU builds as well. My V2 is getting better by the day. What I will say is the break-in process is real! What started out as an immediate incremental improvement is starting to edge more and more in the direction of massive improvement as things settle in. 

 

I'm sure many would be interested in sourcing a similar rectifier board for their builds. Also your V2 uses two chokes. That being said, I plan to try V3 soon myself :). I do want to give V2 at least 600 hours before adding the additional components though.

 

My build:

 

Cheers,

-Rob

[Exocer]

3 hours ago, Nsxturbo said:

Here’s my version 3 of Nenon’s unregulated LPS powering my Taiko DC/ATX and my Asus WS-621 Sage. Still breaking in and obviously, some bypass cap differences, Mundorf Supreme silver/golds and Jupiter copper foil beeswax. All of these were ones I happened to have on-hand. Also one Mundorf 47000mF  AG with the 2- 47000mF HC’s. Plus the Saligny mosfet rectifier.

My impression after listening to version 2 for a couple of weeks, falls inline with Nenon’s description. Version 2 was super fast and wonderfully resolving but without any digital glare. I really loved it.
 

Initially version 3 was a bit disappointing because it definitely lacked the high frequency detail of version 2, but Wow, the bass had such weight, timber and authority and the soundstage was both wider and deeper! The more it broke-in and the more my ears adjusted to it, the more I thought there was no going back! I’m hopeful when the full complement of V-cap bypass caps arrive, that I’ll regain some of the additional “sparkle” that version 2 had. All-and-all, I couldn’t be more pleased with how well the Taiko DC/ATX with Nenon’s spec’d LPS are performing. My system has never sounded better. It’s nice to have such a resolving system that any new tweak is easily discernible.

 

 

Wonderful build. I am going to order another choke now and the remainder of the parts later this week. I can't wait to try V3. I am only several days into breaking in V2 at this point and it just keeps getting better. For you, when did V2 plateau and fully settle in?

 

I've had the chance to try 4 different power cords with V2. Currently, I own no endgame Power Cords but am hoping to go all out next year as I shift my focus!  I suggest everyone to try and find what matches their tastes, as V2 will absolutely reveal the differences in power cords. My experiences varied widely. As good as the V2 is, the wrong power cord ruined the experience for me. Coincidentally after trying 4 different cords I settled on the same cord I was using with the SR7T. It is the VH Audio Flavor 4 (unshielded, star quad) with Viborg v512 Rhodium plated copper contacts. I purchased this cable cheap on the used market with wattgate plugs and it has been great to experiment with. I also use the Fi-09 R NCF IEC inlet so perhaps there is some Rhodium synergy going on there. Who knows.

[Exocer]

1 hour ago, bit01 said:

A query for those building the unreg PS for TAIKO DC DC/ATX What output voltages are you using? Can you give us an idea  the amount of voltage dip in your builds/usage?. Thanks.

Without a load, my early measurements got really close to 37V but seemed to settle closed to 36-36.5V.

With the machine up and running, and unregulated LPS attachhed, measurements came in at around 35.75V

[Exocer]

4 minutes ago, bit01 said:

That looks amazing- .75V dip but probably more than that during boot transients? This is with your i9-9900K (no OC) /NIC/USB-IC/NVME SSD/Euphony server without up sampling if I read that correctly from your previous posts? 

Thanks

Probably more during boot, yes. I have not measured that yet.

 

i9-9900k OCed to 4.6ghz

Nic internally powered

One NVME internally powered

 

I have a USB card and OS NVME externally powered via LPS.

 

Euphony OS without upsampling, correct.

 

Cheers!

-Rob

 

 

[Exocer]

I have updated my BIOS so some settings have changed since my initial measurements (so have the voltages) but during boot my voltages dropped down to about 35.2V (pre bios update) then rose back up from there. I wouldn't call that "a lot" but yeah.

 

12 minutes ago, Dev said:

You have all 8 cores running at 4.6GHz with passive cooling and without heat issues ? what chassis are you using

I've had this running for months with the HDPlex H5 V2 without heat issues, WITH Hyperthreading enabled. 

[Exocer]

34 minutes ago, Dev said:

 

I use H5 as well and 3.7GHz all 10 cores, the heat is not well dissipated over time. Initially when you power up, the system runs cool for a day or so but over time the heat just builds up and do not dissipate as well.  

Ive never had this issue. Temps have always leveled out for me after about an hour. I do not perform upsampling. 

[Exocer]

@Dev what voltage is your CPU configured for? Is it set to "auto"? 

[Exocer]

13 minutes ago, Dev said:

 

Yes, auto for now. I think I tried playing with voltage earlier but that was before the Taiko DC-ATX. Maybe its worth playing with it again now. What is your setting ?

I'm currently in limbo with the new bios I need to re-tweak. Historically locking in at 1.15-1.2v worked well with the i9-9900k. You have a higher TDP CPU so worth trying to lock in at 1.2v as a start.

[Exocer]

45 minutes ago, Soul Analogue said:

Guys..looking at the photos, I reckon that the Hammond 159zj is way too small for the purpose....

and its only rated at 5A... whats the max target current it is running??

the choke like that will seriously impact the dynamics, and hence the life of music...

 

Try a bigger size choke...at least 10A spec...I am sure there would be a breath-taking improvement 

 

This is the unregulated LPS I build for my friend FYR

Terrific job.

 

Which choke do you recommend?

 

Cheers,

-Rob

[Exocer]

14 minutes ago, Dev said:

If there is enough interest here, we can see if we can make this happen. Any thoughts ?

I'd be interested!

As for where to get longer round pipes, I've seen several AliExpress links to heatpipes.

[Exocer]

On 5/21/2021 at 10:43 AM, Nenon said:

A 10A choke would require a lot more capacitance not to overshoot. We need to be careful not to kill the Taiko ATX. I already killed one and have been super careful since that. I know Emile added protection after my incident, so maybe you won't kill the production units, but you would not have a reliable PSU unless you add that extra capacitance with a 10A choke. 

@Soul Analogue - I vaguely remembered the above comment from @Nenon.

 

From this, I can deduce that an inductor with 5A capability was deliberately chosen. As for dynamics, I do not have any less dynamics than I did with the PH SR7T so dynamics are certainly not an issue with the 5A choke in play, both are absolute beasts per my subjective experience. I would think the larger bank of caps post choke would be capable of delivering far more than 5A. But yeah, I'll let those more knowledgeable than I explain what is happening here.

 

I'm always willing to experiment if I know I won't be frying my system :D.

 

Cheers,

-Rob

[Exocer]

21 minutes ago, Soul Analogue said:

My friend has been using my unreglated LPS on Taiko ATX for over 2 months, no issue has been reported

The "overshoot" issue should not come from a properly designed choke and power supply topology.....

Terrific, other than the choke, what else is there in the circuit?

 

21 minutes ago, Soul Analogue said:

the PH LPS is not a last word for good sound and dynamics on Taiko ATX due to the regulated nature of the PS

I'm certain everyone who still follows this thread is well aware of the benefits of using an unregulated LPS with the Taiko DC-ATX. Also, I don't think anyone claims the SR7T is the last word in anything, just a high performance option at a fair price which is no longer available 😁.Totally agree on that front. That being said, have you actually heard the SR7T with the Taiko? It is glorious and far from "restricted" in the dynamics dept for what it is. I have listened to both (unregulated LPS v2 and SR7T) back to back in my system. Where the V2 clearly walks away from the SR7T is transparency and PRAT (to some degree) but alas it is far to early to provide a worthwhile comparison as these caps take a very long time to break-in. 

 

21 minutes ago, Soul Analogue said:

the reason for the 5A choke killing the dynamics is due to the DCR (internal resistance) ...

Hmmm, I'll let those with more knowledge weigh in. Thanks for your explanation.

[Exocer]

1 hour ago, vhs said:

Yes ....I am using your unregulated LPS on Taiko ATX too.......

 

 

no issue at all and sounds very impressive.......

Thanks for the testimonial. I'm sure @Soul Analogueproduces a solid well thought out product. Cheers to you both.

 

[Exocer]

8 hours ago, Nenon said:

A more appropriate way to describe this would be to have a water supply pipe filling up a big water tank. If you need to get a quick burst of high pressure water, you can easily get it from the water tank. You can get much higher pressure output from the water tank compared to the pipe filling up the water tank if you just need it for a short period of time. 

You can think of the 5A choke as the pipe filling up the water tank and the bank of big Mundorf caps as the water tank. 

Our computers don't work as Class A amplifiers that draw all the power they may need all the time. It's the exact opposite of that. They need an instantaneous peak of power for a very short period of time. That's the equivalent of a high pressure water stream out of the water tank for a very short period of time. As long as the tank remains full with water, It's not a problem that the pipe filling up the tank does not have the water pressure needed at the output of the water tank. 

Of course it's more complex than that, but given the water pipe analogy provided, I wanted to make sure people understand it's not literally as constricted as described in the quotes text. 

Thanks for validating my understanding. This is clear as day. It is evident that the choke was not limiting the output to 5A, at least not from what my ears are telling me. Although I accept that it is technically limiting the rate of which the tank can be "refilled". Interesting stuff.

 

9 hours ago, Raypok said:

This is my first post, but long time reader.

Just want to share my music server using HDplex H5 case with extended heat pipes to the left heat sink. Maybe this can give you ideas how to install additional heat pipes. I bought 50cm 6mm heat pipes from Aliexpress long time ago.

Be careful about clearance of USB & Network Card. I am using JCAT USB XE & Network Card Femto, MB is Gigabyte Aorus Master.

 

Very nice job with bending those pipes. Can you share information about the tools used to bend the pipes so well? I am contemplating doing something similar. Cheers and thanks for sharing.

[Exocer]

20 hours ago, davide256 said:

Recently switched from an 8i7BEH NUC to MSI PRO Z390-A ATX Motherboard with Intel Core i5-9600K Coffee Lake, trying to sort out a case + ATX power supply.

Went this route because (a) wanted MOBO that could be run headless without on board graphics  card (b) I eventually plan to add a JCAT FEMTO USB card, wasn't practical with NUC

 

Is the JS-2 LPS I was using now superfluous or is there a sensible way to reuse it powering the system?

You could perhaps use it to power the JCAT Femto USB card down the line.