World's DENSTIEST A2000 Gaming Rig

[@MandicReally]

I poured a block to make my own waterblock in my high school metal shop. I too found that I had to go well beyond the stated melting point to not get a porous and nasty pour. I was using mostly fresh copper with a small bit of recycled. Your experience sounds very similar to my own. Killer build, love to see it. 👌🏻

[@nfcerick3634]

Thanks! Going well past the melting point definitely made a difference.

[@KibitoAkuya]

Not well versed in the matter but still gonna hazard a guess Maybe because it's too close to the melting but obviously much hotter than surroundings it has loss to both radiation and convection that it already starts to solidify at random parts too fast to allow the liquid metal to settle uniformly enough (and why going hotter helps, because it needs to lose way more heat, so it doesn't easily start to solidify on random spots during pouring, also why probably why they sometimes recommend to heat up molds)

[@virtualtools_3021]

preheat the molds too, helps a lot

[@nfcerick3634]

I do preheat the molds, and in the future I’ll be sure to heat them longer.

[@matthewm3927]

Amazing work, with custom metal casting to boot! You guys are true artisans

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you!

[@mo2mo1mo]

A master craftsman! Incredible how you guys keep on cramming more power into even smaller cases that look absolutely stunning.

[@nfcerick3634]

We're just small dedicated SFF enthusiasts chasing the dream!

[@grantbaxter3669]

Pure inspiration. This is art. I can only dream of reaching your level, but I do dream!

[@nfcerick3634]

Don't be afraid to try! We make mistakes ALL the time. Thanks for commenting.

[@psytechs]

I have no experience with melting, casting or machining metals except for lead pouring on New Year's Eve. I really enjoyed the ridiculousness of this build.

[@nexorabolis]

Me: They'll never get all that to fit in there. Erick: Hold my S4T while I cast custom copper blocks Sirs you've done it again, fantastic build!

[@nfcerick3634]

LOL...we have the SFF fever...and the cure is more S4T!

[@xeminie]

@@nfcerick3634 lol

[@mrcn001]

I just stumbled upon this guy and found myself unable to think of superlative good enough.The brains,the tech and the eyes. wow.

[@michaelriehl7335]

A true artisan you are Erick. And kudos for casting the copper plate yourself. I've only taken an introductory course in metallurgy in my schooling, so I can't say for certain the cause of the low strength of your previous attempts. But, impurities may have been to blame. The introduction of impurities can affect the final crystal structure, which for pure copper is FCC (face centered cubic). The fact that your previous unsuccessful attempts fractured seems to indicate the likelihood of impurities, as pure copper is very ductile. It's also possible that the temperature wasn't high enough. Usually when dealing with alloys, you want to reach a temperature known as the liquidus. This is the temperature beyond the melting point where the metal forms the least amount of crystals and is said to be homogeneous. If it's below the liquidus temperature, then more crystal growth can lead to a weaker crystal structure, resulting in less areas for atoms to slip and therefore causing the part to fail. Raising the temperature could have reached this point, but to what temperature exactly, I'm not sure. Increasing it a couple hundred degrees Celsius sounds like a safe bet. But that's if your smelting furnace can reach those temps. I hope this helps.

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you for taking the time to comment. I think you're right. It seemed to be successful after a combination of adding pure copper stock and increasing the heat. I'll keep this in mind for future pours.

[@OkammakO]

​@@nfcerick3634 Did you preheat your molds? If so, perhaps experiment with a slightly higher temperature on your mold preheat (100-200F).

[@nfcerick3634]

@@OkammakO Yes, I do. But that's a good suggestion. I'll heat them longer next time and see what that does.

[@OkammakO]

@@nfcerick3634 If you have a non-contact thermometer it may help with consistency of mold temperature when pouring.

[@harisjaved1379]

Amazing work man! Just amazing

[@meg6pat]

I thought that I reached bottom then saw 9 litres builds but you is doing cool in such a small form is beyond my imagination

[@nfcerick3634]

Welcome to small form factor madness!

[@ohoiboi9818]

Nice 😎.... This video makes me feel all warm and fuzzy

[@M17kilswitch]

This is one of the coolest cases I’ve ever seen. Very inspiring that you designed, and manufactured the cold plates and exterior items. Phenomenal work!

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you! 😊

[@mcteags]

“That’s Uno.” 😂 Amazing job team. The quality of the work you do blows my mind. Keep it tiny ✊

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you!

[@mountaindew267]

Absolutely unbelievable. People who do projects where the answers aren't on google are the most impressive kind of people.

[@Cellbuster]

I've always wanted to see someone make a CPU-GPU sandwich waterblock. It makes a ton of sense theoretically but compatibility has always held it back.

[@nfcerick3634]

I think it's possible for a company like EKWB to make blocks like this. They could make a standard sandwich style water block, then sell specific GPU cold plates that attach to it to fit the hundreds of different GPUs out there. Maybe this video will inspire the idea.

[@mikeymaiku]

@@nfcerick3634 anything is possible but i bet they figured its not worth the effort considering it caters to a very specific type of customer.

[@sicurr1]

Jeez Louise, you guys are insane and fantastic at the same time for pushing small form factor limitations. This is fantastic and incredible. I can't wait to see what you do next.

[@nfcerick3634]

Thanks for watching! We love SFF!

[@jayhardway23]

I dreamt of this build and here it is, my dream is real. thank you for documenting and sharing with us!

[@Spreadie]

I was feeling a little bit smug having just slotted a 6 core cpu + RTX A2000 into a ZS-A4DC, to make a small but capable SFF gaming rig. Then I saw this vid. 😮 Daaaamn. That's gorgeous.

[@anga6275]

wow that was incredible! a wide variety of skills and knowledge

[@KellyWu04]

I watched the prequel, and I was both amazed and scared. Then I watched the sequel, and I am terrified. The engineering, the creativity, and the attention to detail are just... amazing and beyond anything which I have seen.

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you, friend! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@bryanthartwig6994]

I don’t have any experience melting and casting metal but man that’s dope cuz u really made ur own special identintifying piece of computer technology from your own know how to a high degree

[@countzer0408]

Wow that looks amazing. Nice work dude.

[@Birdwhisperer85]

Your dedication to mastering your craft is unmatched- always learning, improving, and striving for excellence. Can’t wait to see what’s next! So very proud of you!!

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you for your support, love, and patience while I chase these consuming dreams. I couldn’t do it without you. Love you!

[@NotFromConcentrate]

Thanks Sarah! Your support means alot to...oh wait you're talking to Erick...

[@Birdwhisperer85]

@@NotFromConcentrate lol! I actually had a whole other comment typed out to both of you, but apparently it didn’t meet the community guidelines. 😂 YOU are awesome too!!!

[@shapshooter7769]

That monoblock is just exquisite. Hopefully you could do the same to an actual SFF 3060

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you! I already have plans for a larger GPU. This was a great start.

[@zoe1882]

Wow...just wow. It's nice to see YT streamers do some really custom builds instead of the same saturated, buy parts from store, slap it in some ATX case with store bought AIO's and call it a liquid cooling video. This was pretty awesome!

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@MrMoxes]

This is absolutely beautiful! Keep up the amazing work and continue to push the boundaries of what is possible. You all are wonderful. 👍

[@oghomelesskid]

im new. when u melted down scraps, then threw it on a cnc, all the different expertise it takes to put this together, absolutely awesome work.

[@nfcerick3634]

I’ll tell you a secret. I only learned all of this about three years ago. I constantly make mistakes, but I keep going and work hard to improve. I usually just throw myself at it until I get it right. Thanks for watching!

[@qwertmom]

Super duper clean. Reminds me of when you open up a Mac and all the parts are so satisfyingly fitted together. Would love to see this style of build with more power hungry components

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you! I have plans to make a similar build with top-tier components. Think of this as a test build.

[@lucasreis1516]

Insane amount of work! The result is magnificent, this is a piece of art.

[@X862go]

Yet another amazing build 🙌

[@kaedeschulz5422]

Maan that make me think my SFF build is a joke🤣🤣🤣 Insane work man! Not done yet but when done it's a 11400f with a 5600xt in sub 8liters No custom part's tho and a be quiet shadow rock lp and not something super tiny like the noctua 92.

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you! Hope your build turns out great!

[@kaedeschulz5422]

@@nfcerick3634 Thanks a lot mate!✌️ Currently making the front of it with Cherry wood!😍kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKXVdXmOe52Ml9k

[@82FGDT]

Love the video! I've been wanting to see more content on modded turing workstation cards like the a2000 and a4000 but most videos only go over their performance for mining. There's some serious untapped potential for these cards and I love seeing it get explored for their advantages in size and power consumption!

[@skaterat524]

Simply amazing. You sparked my interest in SFF again!!

[@nfcerick3634]

That’s great!

[@hankblah]

In terms of liter per fps, gaming laptop still has an edge. I stopped looking at small form-factor pc when I started comparing gaming laptop performance/ liter vs small form factor PC performance per liter. But still, good work!

[@hereforthefeast]

An absolutely beautiful engineering work of art

[@WindowsG]

wtff this is amazing!~ deserves so much more attention

[@grofnerd5615]

Absolutely gorgeous work. Love seeing metallurgy involved with recycling copper.

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you! My scrap box is deep so you can be sure I'll do more in the future.

[@ocadusouza]

This is freaking AMAZING! Very well done.

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you, friend!

[@Revirst]

this one forsure has to be the coolest sff builds ive seen

[@nfcerick3634]

Glad you like it! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@TurTurHamMan]

Absolutely ridiculous, I love it

[@0h_hey944]

Damn. Just damn. Insanely clean and sick!

[@gilbertrodriguez6053]

Absolutely outstanding work!

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you!

[@Develoquent]

Super awesome build! I would prefer blue over purple, but incredible custom build!

[@approximatelybored]

Incredible work! 😮 for casting add anywhere from 5-20% raw material volume overhead (depending on scale). Smaller projects = higher overhead. Then distribute evenly across all dimensions and reduce to desired spec afterwards 👌

[@nfcerick3634]

Thanks for the advice!

[@telepresencebot2]

absolutely beautiful

[@llaumegui]

This is so awesome!! Great job!

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you!

[@ohoiboi9818]

There is one thing that could be issue in recycling metal... for jewelry casting you have to use a certain percentage of new metal (casting grain) with the reuse metal whenever you're casting an object. The percentage for silver is suggested to be 70/30 (used/new) I believe. But for copper it may be different. There's also plastic around the copper windings and other contaminates, inside the copper tubing that may have contributed to some issues additionally after casting the ingot Annealing it before working the copper makes it softer and less brittle. Torch it till it glows light red (in a darker room) and dunk in water... The multiple melts burnt off residual contaminates in the metal probably. That's what Ideas I have for you hope it helps

[@nfcerick3634]

Thanks for the insight! I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

[@gnomesukno]

As always, great work Erick! Keep it up

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you, Chris! Love your support!

[@МальвинаКотик-л1ъ]

Im not into sff builds at all, but your content is top notch, love watching it!!

[@nfcerick3634]

Come to the dark side! I won't tell anyone! 🤫Thank you for watching!

[@-BarathKumarS]

Did you guys check the new RTX 4000 ADA sff workstation gpu announced by nvidia a couple days ago? It comes with 20GB VRAM,DLSS 3,Improved RT cores and rasterization perfomance is estimated to be about an RTX 3070 at just 70W. It is essentially a cut down RTX 4070 ti,pretty cool if you ask me. I'm sure your Copper plate should line up exactly with the 4000 ADA sff as it's exactly the same size of and RTX A2000,could essentially have a PC more powerful than an PS5/XSX at nearly the size of an XSS in this S4T case. Throw in a Shunt mod and overclocking with the new card and i think you could reach RTX 3080(?) levels of perfomance. DLSS3 would also help immensely in demanding games.

[@phenomenologicalparadox5216]

Seriously a work of art. Ive only built a few SFF systems in real life, but ive built countless in my head lol, this is something i had figured no one had both the skills and the motivation to actually create. Cant believe how tiny you made that custom loop and im amazed at the performance uplift with such a small rad! Great work!!

[@NotFromConcentrate]

Thanks for the kind words

[@KiraSlith]

Not only did you cast your own waterblock fin stack and build a full double-core custom CLC, but through lots of pre-planning you crammed it into the tightest possible package for the hardware involved. Sure it's pointless on a productory level, but as a piece of technical design it's nothing short of art. Great job guys.

[@Capital_KP]

Nice work. Keep it up! It would be great to see more tiny tech on the market 🤗

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you!

[@nmkloster]

I haven't seen the video yet but by the title I'm thinking SFF Amiga 2000. I somehow don't think that's what I'm getting but that doesn't necessarily mean I'll be disappointed. Lessgoou!

[@sebastianj.82]

Love the lighting on your cnc beauty shots! :D

[@nfcerick3634]

I appreciate that. I'm always worried that it isn't good enough.

[@karl_käse2610]

Every Build you do turns out even more insane than the Last one! 🤯

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you for the support and kind words. Hope I don’t disappoint with the next one!

[@bravestbullfighter]

Looking forward to Asrock X600, RTX 4000 20GB and 7950X3D or 7800X3D. That will be the ultimate SFF build.

[@DanielTheBigD]

Now that’s what I call pure craftsmanship. Also, I am thinking about getting the RTX A2000 for my Dell prebuilt.

[@wooden2187]

There are OEM manufacturers writing notes as they watch this.

[@foxiewhisper]

This design is better than every other mini PC I've seen on the market, no joke. And that's before you consider that it's able to take on a 3060 at almost equal performance. Absolutely mind blowing.

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you! I was really impressed with this builds performance too.

[@aaronjones4529]

I realise that I'm late to the party; I've just come across your channel now... However I just wanted to express my admiration for the quality and beauty of this custon cooling solution. This build is pure genius!

[@TheTmshuman]

Perhaps copper has a curtain melting point, but the oxides and impurities that form when melting have a much higher melting point. I know it’s a problem when I weld aluminum without scratching off the natural oxide layer that forms in air. Awesome build. Haven’t seen anything quite like it.

[@Kurufasulye06]

You should commercialise this! Great work!

[@theomcinturff1213]

Next level compacting of parts. Recycled custom poured copper. Raw aesthetic sense. Tiny fucking case. This channel is so absolutely *by* SFF makers, *for* SFF makers. It's art. Thank you.

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you, Theo!

[@NickDanzinger]

Love to see micro-manufacturing and PC building in one video, subbed

[@jimsingleton2589]

This was amazing to watch. Such an inspiration and great to see each step and the thinking that went into it. Closest I ever got to modifying anything of mine was when I took a Cooler Master server copper heatsink and fitting it with heatpipes and attaching it to my evga 1060sc with rewired laptop fans to make it essentially a single slot.

[@nfcerick3634]

Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. Sounds like a great mod and I love when people share their experiences. That’s what this is all about. Supporting each other’s work no matter how big or small.

[@Aurosonic]

Looks awesome! Well done ❤

[@cdr9er999]

Such an under rated channel

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you for joining us!

[@rolandamarantoii170]

Duude! Your builds are next level!

[@theomcinturff1213]

"I made a mistake and had to use neodymium magnets to fix it." This is the most nerdy, 40k solution I've ever heard. And far from the first time I've heard it.

[@dirzz]

Incredible work!

[@givmetehsucc]

man that thing is TINY

[@trento6297]

This is insane! I love the work yall did.

[@gogolapeter]

Amazing work guys! 🤩

[@Draelren]

This is super cool! I've built watercooled sub-4L systems before myself, but this takes it to a whole new level! After watching this it's confirmed I need more space for tools! haha fantastic work!

[@nfcerick3634]

Get after it! You can NEVER have enough tools. Thanks for watching!

[@AngelUribe18]

I can't believe you guys can cram so much power into such tiny cases, I love it, each one of them is a piece of art

[@nfcerick3634]

Thanks, Angel! We love that you love it! ❤

[@shawntan2360]

The reason why the full cover block was difficult to fabricate was because you poured the copper instead of using a piece of stock copper plate . I have to say that while recycling is great, the amount of fuel used to melt the block plate down twice kind of uses resources too and the composition of the copper plate (which would affect its conductivity). Love the dual sided coldplate though. Makes a lot of sense and I wish there was someway to make this concept commercial and adaptable to multiple Motherboards and graphics cards.

[@nfcerick3634]

I wanted to do something different and new (for me). I love the challenge, whether I succeed or fail. It may not be practical or efficient, but it was a great experience.

[@rawsea7381]

This is pure insanity of the greatest kind.

[@nfcerick3634]

Welcome to madness! We’re glad you joined us.

[@rawsea7381]

@@nfcerick3634 what watercooling pump did you use? You've certainly planted a seed for a future project to this hopefully

[@Shvok]

This was AMAZING! Job well done!

[@catgirldoll]

I adore the S4T. God-tier little case.

[@lonelymtbrider3369]

What an epic build. Absolute top notch, borderline insanity! Wow!

[@EnnTomi1]

that is just sick !!!!!!!!!love it

[@nickthaskater]

This is ridiculous. Amazing job.

[@IcaniCorrono]

Insane! I am extremly happy to have discover this channel and your reality!!

[@nfcerick3634]

Welcome to the channel. Thanks for watching and joining!

[@TheLikesofMeh]

As both a master hvac tech and certified infosec analyst, I fkn love you’re channel. I just found it. I also scrap and have a lot of stuff laying around. You engineered the hell out of this and it’s unbelievable quality. Great job and you got a new fan and sub 🫡

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you! Welcome to the channel!

[@greatwavefan397]

Love to see the RTX A2000 getting some more attention, given it's immense frame-per-watt. I wanna try my hand at building an efficiency gaming PC one day.

[@nfcerick3634]

When I first saw it, I didn't give it the credit that it deserves. It's pretty amazing!

[@pav1u]

YES I LOVE IT! THIS IS TRUE PC MODDING LIKE THE GOOD OLD DAYS OF XTREME BUILDS AND OVERCLOCKING!

[@AznJungleFever]

This is sooo cool seeing people melt recycling old materials to build pc parts and stuff is awesome work bud

[@kipter]

ive only ever heard horror stories about machining copper. this is insanely impressive

[@nfcerick3634]

It definitely requires more TLC. Plenty of coolant is the key. Copper can start to cut like jello if it gets too hot.

[@sidj8447]

Absolutely amazing! You just made hardcore pcmodders look like amateurs!!

[@nfcerick3634]

I just want all the PC modders out there (from amateurs to pros) to inspire one another and push the boundary of what is possible. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@sergeymikolaitis8205]

Shocking! Epic! Way ahead anyone! Good job, Eric!

[@nfcerick3634]

Thank you so much for watching and commenting!

[@sergeymikolaitis8205]

​@@nfcerick3634 Is bigstackD videos inspired you to try melting/casting? :) I like that you've interested in this and tried this out no matter what! How much time did it take for you to develop this water loop/block design? It looks like this is a huge amount of work. Is there a way to create a loop without pipes? Interesting challenge that hopefully can make a build more clean, but assembly will be a lot more challenging i think :) PS: sorry for typing your name wrong in previous message, Erick. Glad you did not mention this.

[@nfcerick3634]

@@sergeymikolaitis8205 No worries about the mistyped name. I enjoy watching bigstackD's videos. It got me interested in doing it a long time ago, but I never really had a reason to other than adding ANOTHER hobby to my already ridiculous list of hobbies. The block design took a few weeks. Yes, you can make a loop without tubing or pipes, and I have plans for a build like that too. Assembly will be challenging in a stock case, so perhaps a scratch build would be best.

[@suspeh]

I love the chosen color palette

[@starwolf7365]

This is very impressive. Well done.

[@danielbolanos6389]

Damn that's cool, hard to believe is sooo close to a modern high tier pc but at 1/10th the size

[@scavengers4205]

That's how custom modding look a like. Nice man!

[@Sphyxx]

I need this in my current situation of moving around quite a lot

[@cjhouse8666]

This is such a relaxing and informative build. 👌

[@sagbag856]

this is next level stuff

[@___DRIP___]

If you look real close you can tell they broke several laws of physics.

[@markowens5446]

Looks great