Akasa Plato X7 Installation

[dabassgoesboomboom]

Hi Bruce,

As above, I don’t know. I don’t need WiFi so never bothered to check if it still works or not. And didn’t bother to check during the build about how to keep WiFi.

Apologises I cant’t help there. The NUC is a very popular device - there is bound to be a YouTube video or forum discussion about WiFi with the Akasa cases.

[dabassgoesboomboom]

@Bob_Shinevare

The HD Audio connector does not fully seat in the socket, and I do not want to force it. Is this correct?

I don’t remember seeing any audio cable come with my Plato X7D case, so I can’t help there sorry.

[dabassgoesboomboom]

@Bob_Shinevare are you sure that’s an audio output?

I see the Australian RCM compliance logo there, on top of it.

You have a different board and case to me (I’m using the X7D for a NUC7i7DNHE board) but just thought I’d ask…

[Bob_Shinevare]

@dabassgoesboomboom

@Bob_Shinevare are you sure that’s an audio output?

I see the Australian RCM compliance logo there, on top of it.

You have a different board and case to me (I’m using the X7D for a NUC7i7DNHE board) but just thought I’d ask…

I am pretty sure it is–at least according to the instructions:

[dabassgoesboomboom]

Can’t go wrong then.

[Bob_Shinevare]

I finished the assembly, and the Akasa/NUC is working great! Regarding the thermal paste, I combined all of the suggestions. I had already purchased MasterGel Maker Nano, so I used that. It made sense that once the mother board was attached, that the excess paste would ooze out. However, to ensure complete coverage, I did spread the paste out, and wiped off the excess after each pass–still leaving good coverage:

The second picture is a little deceiving, in that there appears to be a lot more paste than actual…

As I said, everything is hooked back up, and working fine. The case is barely warm to the touch–So I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing. If nothing else, if I experience problems down the road, at least people will learn from my experience…

A couple of final questions:

There are two pinholes on the faceplate, in front of the led tube–what is the purpose/meaning of the amber one, that is to the right of the blue power on indicator?

Do I need to go back into the Bios to make an correction for the lack of a fan?

[dabassgoesboomboom]

@Bob_Shinevare

Do I need to go back into the Bios to make an correction for the lack of a fan?

I don’t think you need to but I did go back into the BIOS after a few sleepless nights thinking about it

Just go back in and select fanless and sleep easy.

@Bob_Shinevare

There are two pinholes on the faceplate, in front of the led tube–what is the purpose/meaning of the amber one, that is to the right of the blue power on indicator?

Check your manual. For my X7D it said one LED was for power and the other was for disk activity. Might be different for your model or might be the same (likely the same but double check).

@Bob_Shinevare

The case is barely warm to the touch–So I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing.

Could be good or could be really bad (bad thermal coupling between CPU and case).

I loaded Windows onto mine after the build and setup Roon Server with background audio analysis going full throttle. I loaded the free monitoring program called ‘CAM’ and looked at the temp after a few hours and max. temp was 60 degrees C, so I was happy with that… I loaded RoonOS after that.

You should only ever have to do that once but I would recommend it if you had a copy of Windows around (create USB bootable disk) and if you had the patience… The actual CPU temp is a better indicator than external case temp (unless you can do the calculations to determine expected CPU temp based on external case temp depending on x, y, z).

Congrats on the build.

[Bob_Shinevare]

@dabassgoesboomboom

Check your manual. For my X7D it said one LED was for power and the other was for disk activity. Might be different for your model or might be the same (likely the same but double check

Yep, that’s it–Not really a good excuse, but I missed it because the front panel layout image is upside-down…

Thanks again!

[Bob_Shinevare]

@dabassgoesboomboom

@Bob_Shinevare

Do I need to go back into the Bios to make an correction for the lack of a fan?

I don’t think you need to but I did go back into the BIOS after a few sleepless nights thinking about it

Just go back in and select fanless and sleep easy.

@Bob_Shinevare

There are two pinholes on the faceplate, in front of the led tube–what is the purpose/meaning of the amber one, that is to the right of the blue power on indicator?

Check your manual. For my X7D it said one LED was for power and the other was for disk activity. Might be different for your model or might be the same (likely the same but double check).

@Bob_Shinevare

The case is barely warm to the touch–So I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing.

Could be good or could be really bad (bad thermal coupling between CPU and case).

I loaded Windows onto mine after the build and setup Roon Server with background audio analysis going full throttle. I loaded the free monitoring program called ‘CAM’ and looked at the temp after a few hours and max. temp was 60 degrees C, so I was happy with that… I loaded RoonOS after that.

You should only ever have to do that once but I would recommend it if you had a copy of Windows around (create USB bootable disk) and if you had the patience… The actual CPU temp is a better indicator than external case temp (unless you can do the calculations to determine expected CPU temp based on external case temp depending on x, y, z).

Congrats on the build.

I don’t have an extra copy of Windows around, and since everything is working well since the ROCK install, I don’t want to press my luck…

However, I did monitor the temps when I went into the BIOS to disable the fan.

The initial numbers were:
CPU Core: 36
Memory: 34
Motherboard: 32
PCH: 31

After 24 hours in BIOS:
CPU Core: 44
Memory: 46
Motherboard: 42
PCH: 41

Roon/ROCK idle:
CPU Core: 40
Memory: 39
Motherboard: 36
PCH: 35

[Raymond_Ho]

Hi, I’m using NUC NUC7i3BNH, does anyone know if the the newer X7D would work with my NUC? Seems hard to find the X7. Thanks.

[Raymond_Ho]

just found out that the X7D will not work with my NUC.

[Bob_Shinevare]

I was able to order mine directly from Akasa.

sophia@akasa.com.tw

[Raymond_Ho]

Thank you for the information.

[Jack_O_Donoghue]

Just about to attempt this, keeping faith that my little 7i5 MB still has enough grunt to power my oversize library.

I see the last post was in 2019… Very keen to hear, has anyone been running an X7 Plato with ROCK for a really long time? How’s Roon performing for you now?

[Geoff_Coupe]

Can’t speak for an X7 Plato case, but I’ve been running my 7th gen Intel NUC in a Newton S7 case since June 2017. A modest library of 65,000 tracks. Roon performing as solidly as ever.

[dhusky]

@Jack_O_Donoghue

I see the last post was in 2019… Very keen to hear, has anyone been running an X7 Plato with ROCK for a really long time? How’s Roon performing for you now?

Yes, see here:

Replacement fan for NUC7i5BNH

Hi all, The fan on my NUC7i5BNH ROCK server appears to be dying - it’s making more of a whine/rattle than a purr and no amount of blowing makes it much better. I’m wondering if anyone has any recommendations from experience for improved (quieter/longer lasting) aftermarket fans and thermal compounds? The other option might be an Alaska Newton S7 case which would at least avoid a repeat but takes up more space. I’m also a bit intimidated by the fiddly nature of taking it all apart but I know th…

Has never missed a beat

Edit: As for performance, I upsample to DSD256 with convolution quite happily (and can do so whilst running other zones).

[Henry_McLeod (Henry)]

I’ve got an i7 in an X7 case. Turn the turbo function off in the bios and it’s fine. Mine lived in a standard case before it was transferred into an Plato X7 when I bought it 2nd hand a couple of years ago.

[ScreenMachine (James)]

Very well!