Saturday, May 11, 2019

I built small desktop PC with Nvidia Titan V and Intel x550-T1

 I put Nvidia Titan V and 10gigabit Ethernet adapter onto a small Mini ITX case.

Component list:

  • Case : Fractal Design Node 202
  • CPU : Intel Core i7-8700K 
  • Memory : DDR4 2666 DIMM  8GB x2
  • Motherboard : Asus Rog Z370-i Mini-ITX
  • M.2 NVMe SSD : Samsung 960 Evo 500GB
  • GPU : Nvidia Titan V
  • LAN card : Intel x550-T1 10 gigabit Ethernet adapter
  • PSU : Corsair SF-750 SFX PSU
  • M.2 to PCIex4 adapter : Mintcell M.2 M NGFF to PCIe 4x with 4 pin Molex
  • PCIe x4 flexible riser cable : SourcingBay 20cm PCIe 4x flex riser cable
  • Backpanel LAN port: Neutrik NE8FDX-P6 
  • CPU Fan : Cooler Master i70c
  • Case fan: Noctua NF-F12 Industrial PPC-3000 PWM x2
  • Y cable for 4pin PWM connector: Noctua NA-SYC1 
  • Category 6 50cm Ethernet cable (for internal cabling)


 Build

Bracket is removed from Intel x550-T1. Also Kapton tape is applied to the back side to prevent short circuit.


Ethernet port is added on the back panel.


Samsung 960 Evo M.2 NVMe SSD is put onto back side of the motherboard.



Some parts are assembled. This M.2 to PCIex4 adapter needs power from 4 pin Molex power. Don't forget to feed power to this device.



 Titan V is put onto PCIex16 riser cage (riser cage is included in Fractal Design Node 202 case) 

PCIe x4 flexible riser connect did not fit to the optimal place, so I enlarged the hole a bit.


All parts are fitted.


Case cover is installed. CPU cooler height is just right for this case.



Titan V and x550-T1 are successfully recognized on Device Manager.

Some thoughts


All backpanel USB of this motherboard is USB 3.0 (USB 3.1 Gen1). USB3.1 Gen2 header exists near CPU fan header but it is connected to nowhere. USB 3.1 Gen2 port is nice to have so somehow it should be outputted to outside of the case.

Intel 10GbE LAN adapter, M.2 NVMe SSD and USB ports are all connected to CPU via DMI, which is PCIe x4 bandwidth. Maybe DMI bus will be saturated on I/O intensive application.

Graphics adapter is connected to CPU via dedicated PCIe x16 connection (PEG) so there is no CPU to GPU transfer slowdown on this build.

Two 12cm chassis fan of 3,000rpm is a bit overkill for this build. 2,000rpm is sufficient.

CPU fan and chassis fan speed can be controlled using Asus Fan Xpert. Fan is very quiet when idle.


I restricted CPU max processor frequency to 4.0GHz to prevent thermal throttling. Open Intel Extreme Tuning Utility, on Basic Tuning tab, Step 2 Processor Core Ratio, set 40x, Processor Cache Ratio, set 40x and press Apply and Save button. and performed Stress Test to confirm thermal throttling does not kick in.

CPU Fan LED is a bit too bright and it cancel out motherboard RGB LED effect, it is not a big problem.