Overview / Usage

Idea:

My guess is that artificial intelligence will be an integral part of the future of innovation. The idea of this build is that Intel will introduce a dedicated lab, the Intel Brain Lab, in 2045 which utilizes artificial intelligence for developing new technologies and innovations. The lab is located in a new building in a remote desert area with extreme security and privacy measures in place. At 25 stories high, the building has an impressive appearance following the future state of the art trend of_ form only follows function_, consisting of four main components: The processing component, the storage component, the cooling component and the base building. The three most sensitive and important components of the brain lab are floating above the main lab building, with only minimal connections leading to and from them, to make unwanted access as hard as possible. Additionally, the roof of the base building is secured with metal spikes, which may seem old-fashioned but are still effective, even in 2045.

The heart of the lab will be the artificial intelligence brain, powered by the Intel Core i9x, the future top model of Intel’s Core lineup. The two pipes on top are not only for cooling, but also for data transfer to new liquid storage containers. The artificial intelligence brain is assisted by an AI-Accelerator, which is a future GPU optimized for AI and which is powered by the future Intel Ze architecture. This AI accelerator will also have the new liquid data transfer connections. All new inventions will be stored in a new storage system using two Liquid State Drives. These drives have storage capacities and read/write speeds unimagined from today’s storage technologies while still staying cool even under the heaviest loads.

As the lab will be located in a desert area, cooling will be important. Therefore a huge fan is used to cool the main components. Additionally, when wind is strong around the lab, the fan can also be used as a wind turbine, providing electricity for the lab.

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Use of Intel products and technologies in the build:

The core of the build will be the Artificial Intelligence Brain, which will be powered by an Intel CPU of the future, the core i9x, which will be represented by the core i9 provided for this challenge.

The CPU will be assisted by a future GPU, powered by an Intel Ze GPU (According to wiki, Intel launched Xe in 2020, and I assume/predict/imagine Intel will launch the successor named Ye around 2035 and then the next successor called Ze around 2045, which is the one used in this build). The GPU will be represented in this build by the provided RTX 3070. For storage I will add Intel Optane M.2 SSDs. Although SSDs will be better and faster in the future, I assume they will still be called Optane.

Additionally, for this build I envision a new storage technology, using liquids. My build will have two of these liquid storage containers. I call this storage type Liquid State Drives, which I imagine could be a future medium for storage and Intel will be leading in their development. Because this storage type is specifically optimized for artificial intelligence systems, it is called Intel Smart Storage. In this build the containers will be the cooling reservoirs for the custom water cooling loop.

Methodology / Approach

Implementation:

The build should be an abstract interpretation of the futuristic brain lab. The base is a aluminum box with acrylic plates for the design features, housing the PSU and two 280mm radiators for cooling. Air vents will be located on the back and bottom of the box to keep the design as clean as possible.

The main component of the build will be the floating motherboard, with the CPU and GPU. There will be no mounting plate for the motherboard, instead, the components will only be held by the cooling pipes and by the cables. Therefore all pipes will be stainless steel and all cables will be changed to stainless steel rods. All pipes and rods will meet at the center of the build and then go straight down into the base box. To make sure this design is feasible, I tested my theory by lifting a motherboard only by the 4-pin CPU connector without any problems (Still, readers should not try this at home!). This build will have two 8-pin connectors for the CPU, a 24-pin connector for the motherboard and two 8-pin connectors for the GPU, plus 4 cooling pipes. These will be plenty strong enough to hold the components. Again, don’t try this at home! To the best of my knowledge using only the pipes and rods to hold the motherboard plus components has not been done before.

Approach:

With my builds I always try to do something completely new and never seen before. I always try to go for optimal solutions and never compromise in my builds. My approach is to sketch my build and then adapt things during the build. I start my builds by drawing the main parts in 3d CAD, to get the dimensions and the overall proportions and scale of the build. Further details I then draw in 2d CAD for laser cutting, or 3D for 3D printing, or if needed I fabricate them using other machines and tools in the workshop. There is a lot of trial and error in my builds. If I don’t like parts or if they don’t meet my expectations, I redesign and/or remake them.

An important aspect of my builds are details. For example, I like to replace screws from components with colored ones, paint components, laser or sand-blast engrave components and add decals. For larger labels or decals I usually laser cut masks and airbrush them. Smaller and complicated labels I print as water transfer decals.

Please let us know about your skill levels as a PC builder and modder:

I am a hardware enthusiast building all my personal PCs myself, with a lot of case modding to have unique builds, although I haven’t shared any of them with the public yet. One of my previous builds is shown in the figures, named _Phanteks Enthoo Evolv _mATX. This build had several important key factors:

• Size: The one problem I had with the Evolv case was the size. While the ATX size case was too large for my needs and a waste of space, I still wanted a full size ATX motherboard. Therefore I decided to take the mATX case and completely redo the interior to fit a full sized ATX motherboard. That’s also why I called the mod the Evolv mATX project.
• Esthetics: The general esthetics and outer shape of the case are kept as they are, as I really liked the Phanteks Enthoo Evolv case. Inside I wanted all components to be visible and everything unnecessary removed. The original interior was completely replaced by custom laser cut acrylic and aluminum panels. All cables were custom sleeved and LED lightning was added.
• Reliability: I chose air cooling over water cooling as air cooling is basically maintenance free. The system runs stable for years without any need for maintenance, except cleaning the fan filters every once in a while.
• Performance: The CPU and the GPU are overclocked to their maximum stable performance, which means cooling needs to be very efficient. Therefore, I added a custom shroud for two 200mm Noctua fans to the front of the case, for high air throughput at low noise.
• Silence: The machine stands in my living room and it needs to be very quiet. I used Noctua fans throughout the build, as they are efficient and quiet. For CPU cooling I wanted to install the Noctua NH-D15 CPU cooler. Therefore I moved the motherboard further back in the case to get more room for the CPU cooler.
• Storage: 2.5” SSDs were placed under the hood of the case where they can’t be seen, to keep the build clean.

Technologies Used

The base of the build will be made from scratch. If I understand the rules correctly, we can do a full DIY case. If that’s not correct, I can definitely modify the provided case to the size and shape I need, but I think full DIY will be faster here. The chassis will be made of laser-cut aluminum, with panels added according to the sketches. The panels will be either aluminum or acrylic, again laser cut. Some panels will be transparent and backlit with RGB LEDs and I will add spotlights on top of the build to light the floating components.

The most important part of this build will be the cooling pipes and power connection rods. Both will be made from stainless steel, bent with a tube bender. While the rods for the power connectors are usually easy to bend, the bigger tubes will likely need to be preheated with a propane torch for a clean bend.

The base of the build will be made from scratch. If I understand the rules correctly, we can do a full DIY case. If that’s not correct, I can definitely modify the provided case to the size and shape I need, but I think full DIY will be faster here. The chassis will be made of laser-cut aluminum, with panels added according to the sketches. The panels will be either aluminum or acrylic, again laser cut. Some panels will be transparent and backlit with RGB LEDs and I will add spotlights on top of the build to light the floating components.

Labels will be printed on thin water transfer release paper and then the panels will get a clear coat over these decals to seal everything and give it a clean plain look.

Most work will be done by laser cutting and 3D printing, but depending on the needs, I have access to a metal and wood fabrication workshop with lots of machines and hand tools. Painting will be done with a spray gun and airbrush.

For CPU and GPU cooling I will use water cooling components from EKWB, where I will choose aluminum cooling blocks for CPU and GPU, as the cooling pipes will have to carry the component’s weight.

The power cables will be made of stainless steel rods, with the common crimping connectors soldered to the ends. The rods will then be either shrink wrapped in transparent cable heat shrinks, if I go for the stainless look, or sleeved with mdpc cable sleeves for colored rods. I am not completely sure if the stainless steel or colored look fits the build better so this decision will be made during the build.

The GPU will get a new front and back-plate with LED lights. The front design can be seen in the figures, where I want to incorporate the screws into the design. The cooling reservoirs will be round transparent cylinders with decals, as shown in the figures, with LED lights on the inside to light up the cooling fluid.

The large cooling fan will be a black Noctua 200mm fan, mounted on thin stainless steel rods.

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Components used:

CPU: Intel Core i9 12900K

Motherboard: MPG Z690 Carbon WIFI

Storage: SAMSUNG 980 PRO SSD, Intel SSD Optane M.2

GPU: ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3070

Water cooling:

    - CPU: EKWB EK-Quantum Velocity² D-RGB - 1700 Copper + Acetal

    - GPU: EKWB EK-Quantum Vector Strix RTX 3070 D-RGB - Nickel + Acetal