CWWK i5-1235U 6 port i226 report

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minds-eye

New Member
Sep 10, 2023
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Did that as intended. My part list is now as follows.

Barebone is a CWWK CW-MBX-AD12, Motherboard MINIPC-G12, Intel Core i5-1235U.
You can find the barebone model name on the label of the topmost RAM slot (see first picture below) or via dmidecode in Linux.

RAM: Crucial 32GB DDR4-3200 SODIMM CT32G4SFD832A x2
SSD: Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 SSD 2TB MZ-V7S2T0 / MZ-V7S2T0B/AM x2
SSD heat sink: Ranuw 2mm Copper Heatsink x2 (Amazon Germany only unfortunately, but you can find similar easily enough in other countries)
NGFF adapter: Sintech M.2 (NGFF) to M2 A/E Key WiFi Port with 20cm ribbon cable
External fan: Noctua NF-A14 5V PWM
4-pin Y-cable: from a Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM I had in my inventory from an older project
Anti-vibration mounts: Noctua, from the same fan package as before, but they can also be ordered separately as NA-SAV4 (4 pieces used)
Power supply: GlobTek TR9CE9000LCP-IM(R6B) 12V 110W 9.2A (the smaller one recommended by fta was not available)

Fixing the fan with the NA-SAV4s was easy enough. Their wide parts fit snugly between the case fins, and because they are that long they can then easily be pulled through. In hindsight the anti-vibration mounts from the NF-A14 5V PWM package might possibly have sufficed also, but I wasn't in the mood to try. The fan then sits very tightly.
It is powered via the 4-pin Y-cable in parallel with the internal fan and running so slowly that it is barely audible. The system's temps are okay so far.

I had to remove the NGFF adapter Changwang (CWWK) shipped the barebone with because it blocked the internal fan with an NMVE mounted. Instead I opted for the Sintech. It's ribbon cable allows for more flexibility in placing the second NVME. Also, I guess leaving the voltage transformers (R15) free in this way benefits their cooling. The adapter is quite expensive, though. YMMV

I also removed the mesh foil from the bottom vents. It looks quite elegant, but I think the airflow is better without it.

The SSD heat sinks were installed after taking these pictures, but I don't think they are of much use. At most, they help to distribute the heat more evenly, if I am to believe the NVMe sensors, but they do not seem to contribute much to reducing the temperature. The EVO Plus also don't generate as much heat as newer, faster models. In retrospect, I would leave them out and rather monitor temperatures thoroughly. If necessary, one can always install them later.

BIOS ist fta's with running Proxmox VE 8.0.3 standalone on a zfs mirror. Keep in mind that only the x4 PCI-E Slot is bootable though, so adapt partitioning accordingly. With PVE 8 the PCI device passthrough can now be conveniantly realized through mappings via the Web GUI, by the way. Three of the NICs are mapped to an OPNsense VM for instance and a USB device, an HMIP-RFUSB radio for home automation, is mapped to a debmatic. (The underlying Homematic IP system is predominantly a German and Austrian thing, I believe.)

All in all, this went very smoothly and uncomplicatedly, thanks to all your groundwork, folks. Thank you, guys! :)

View attachment 30071View attachment 30072View attachment 30073View attachment 30074
How did you go about attaching the Sintech M.2 (NGFF) to the case?
 

Thoran

New Member
Jun 27, 2023
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I didn't. It fits into the gap between the RAM sockets and the case wall and is held there relatively tightly by the ribbon cable. Because I don't transport the device, reasonably careful handling is sufficient. Temps are 42°C and 46°C right now, so they're okay, I guess.
 
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mickee

New Member
Mar 7, 2023
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I'm having issues with my unit making a buzzing electrical noise.
I recorded the noise here: CWWK i5-1240P Noise.mp3

And it's making the noise on both stock bios and fta's bioses, I've tried all the versions (2023-06-08 and 2023-02-07).
I have tried removing the NVME's and it's still making the noise.
I have tried several different power supplies from more reputable manufacturers.

I contacted CWWK which sent me a replacement motherboard that they assured me they had tested but it's also making the same noise.

When the unit is mostly idle it's making the most noise, when i put the unit under 100% stress using s-tui it goes completely silent.
By placing a plastic spudger on the MLCC capacitors i can amplify the noise and have isolated the noise to some MLCC capacitors.
This makes me think that it's the MLCC Capacitors that are microphonic/piezoelectric which is what's making the noise.

I've also probed the motherboard with my oscilloscope and when not under load, the peak to peak on the capacitors are about 1V.
When under 100% load it's only ~200mV.

My best guess is that there are a lot of switching going on in different power stages when the system is sipping power.

I'm not sure what to do now, the noise is really high pitched and very audible even when the unit is far away...
Have anyone else had this issue with their unit?
My unit was upgraded to the i5-1240P so i'm also wondering if anyone with the i5-1235U can confirm that they don't have this issue, then i might try to speak to CWWK to have it replaced with the I5-1235U...
 

BugVito

New Member
Jul 9, 2023
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I'm having issues with my unit making a buzzing electrical noise.
I recorded the noise here: CWWK i5-1240P Noise.mp3

And it's making the noise on both stock bios and fta's bioses, I've tried all the versions (2023-06-08 and 2023-02-07).
I have tried removing the NVME's and it's still making the noise.
I have tried several different power supplies from more reputable manufacturers.

I contacted CWWK which sent me a replacement motherboard that they assured me they had tested but it's also making the same noise.

When the unit is mostly idle it's making the most noise, when i put the unit under 100% stress using s-tui it goes completely silent.
By placing a plastic spudger on the MLCC capacitors i can amplify the noise and have isolated the noise to some MLCC capacitors.
This makes me think that it's the MLCC Capacitors that are microphonic/piezoelectric which is what's making the noise.

I've also probed the motherboard with my oscilloscope and when not under load, the peak to peak on the capacitors are about 1V.
When under 100% load it's only ~200mV.

My best guess is that there are a lot of switching going on in different power stages when the system is sipping power.

I'm not sure what to do now, the noise is really high pitched and very audible even when the unit is far away...
Have anyone else had this issue with their unit?
My unit was upgraded to the i5-1240P so i'm also wondering if anyone with the i5-1235U can confirm that they don't have this issue, then i might try to speak to CWWK to have it replaced with the I5-1235U...
Shot in the dark; I didn't experience any noise on my end but my friend's unit did. We both have the i5-1235U model. I had planned ahead to use a reputable power supply and therefore never used the provided power supply myself, while my friend did. I'm wondering if a poor quality power supply could be at fault, especially that you're referring to the power stages on the motherboard. If you happen to have a different but compatible and adequate power supply, I'd give that a go and hope for the noise to go away.
 

mickee

New Member
Mar 7, 2023
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Shot in the dark; I didn't experience any noise on my end but my friend's unit did. We both have the i5-1235U model. I had planned ahead to use a reputable power supply and therefore never used the provided power supply myself, while my friend did. I'm wondering if a poor quality power supply could be at fault, especially that you're referring to the power stages on the motherboard. If you happen to have a different but compatible and adequate power supply, I'd give that a go and hope for the noise to go away.
I was hoping for that aswell, but as i mentioned I’ve tried several power supplies from more reputable manufacturers without any noticeable difference…
 

BugVito

New Member
Jul 9, 2023
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I was hoping for that aswell, but as i mentioned I’ve tried several power supplies from more reputable manufacturers without any noticeable difference…
Doh.. you sure did.. Sorry I missed that line.
In that case all I can say is that both I5-1235U that I've seen are fine and not making any noise; mine never did and my friend's was fine after a bios update.
 

Tzvia

Member
Sep 5, 2022
35
15
8
I'm having issues with my unit making a buzzing electrical noise.
I recorded the noise here: CWWK i5-1240P Noise.mp3

And it's making the noise on both stock bios and fta's bioses, I've tried all the versions (2023-06-08 and 2023-02-07).
I have tried removing the NVME's and it's still making the noise.
I have tried several different power supplies from more reputable manufacturers.
.....
I'm not sure what to do now, the noise is really high pitched and very audible even when the unit is far away...
Have anyone else had this issue with their unit?
My unit was upgraded to the i5-1240P so i'm also wondering if anyone with the i5-1235U can confirm that they don't have this issue, then i might try to speak to CWWK to have it replaced with the I5-1235U...
I was just in the bios (fta's) earlier this morning double checking a setting before the rest of the house woke (dummy me I discovered I had Speed Step enabled)... and I remember coming across a setting regarding the noise... Can't recall if it was in the stock settings or the extra exposed settings... don't know if you came across that setting. Mine has the Pentium 8505 and only makes a single beep (like the reboot beep, only much quieter) every once in a while so it doesn't bother me so I wasn't pursuing a fix for noise... Worth a look around the bios to find it if you haven't already.
 
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mickee

New Member
Mar 7, 2023
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I was just in the bios (fta's) earlier this morning double checking a setting before the rest of the house woke (dummy me I discovered I had Speed Step enabled)... and I remember coming across a setting regarding the noise... Can't recall if it was in the stock settings or the extra exposed settings... don't know if you came across that setting. Mine has the Pentium 8505 and only makes a single beep (like the reboot beep, only much quieter) every once in a while so it doesn't bother me so I wasn't pursuing a fix for noise... Worth a look around the bios to find it if you haven't already.
Thanks but the I5-1240P motherboard doesn't even have a buzzer, so it can't be what's making the noise unfortunately...
 

Tzvia

Member
Sep 5, 2022
35
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Thanks but the I5-1240P motherboard doesn't even have a buzzer, so it can't be what's making the noise unfortunately...
Sorry if I wasn't clear - I had found a section in the modded BIOS regarding possibly power/frequency settings to deal with electrical noise ... sorry can't be more clear as I found it while just clicking around in there during one of those rare moments no one else needed internet. The setting wasn't about the speaker... just that my 'Hunsn' version of this only makes an occasional beep/chirp and not the constant grinding chirping that some others are getting, so I didn't spend more time looking through that section of the BIOS.
====================================
Now that mine is setup and working as expected, I thought I would take a closer look at the power supply as it has been something that others here have shown concern. Turns out it's the same 12v 5A Dajing that my previous Qotom i5 7200 box used. Well that CPU has a 25w TDP, and this 8505 has a 55w 'Turbo Power' so I wasn't happy with that. So I went to Amazon and found this one with good reviews 12V 8A Power Supply Adapter - LeTaoXing AC 100-240V 50/60Hz to DC 12V 7.5A 8A (Max), so gave it a shot. It feels like it weighs 3 times what the original weighs. Now that 5A kept my Qotom going for 3 years with no issue, I just don't think (laywoman's opinion here) it's enough for the 8505 in this box.
 

mickee

New Member
Mar 7, 2023
12
6
3
Sorry if I wasn't clear - I had found a section in the modded BIOS regarding possibly power/frequency settings to deal with electrical noise ... sorry can't be more clear as I found it while just clicking around in there during one of those rare moments no one else needed internet. The setting wasn't about the speaker... just that my 'Hunsn' version of this only makes an occasional beep/chirp and not the constant grinding chirping that some others are getting, so I didn't spend more time looking through that section of the BIOS.
====================================
Now that mine is setup and working as expected, I thought I would take a closer look at the power supply as it has been something that others here have shown concern. Turns out it's the same 12v 5A Dajing that my previous Qotom i5 7200 box used. Well that CPU has a 25w TDP, and this 8505 has a 55w 'Turbo Power' so I wasn't happy with that. So I went to Amazon and found this one with good reviews 12V 8A Power Supply Adapter - LeTaoXing AC 100-240V 50/60Hz to DC 12V 7.5A 8A (Max), so gave it a shot. It feels like it weighs 3 times what the original weighs. Now that 5A kept my Qotom going for 3 years with no issue, I just don't think (laywoman's opinion here) it's enough for the 8505 in this box.
I've tried with this Leicke 150W one: Amazon.se
I've tried with the 120W power supply that came with my intel NUC
I've also tried with a meanwell 200W power supply.

Each one of them gives the same results, so i really don't think it's the power supplies fault :D

When i probe the capacitors with my oscilloscope the waveform matches the pattern of the noise pattern that i can hear.
I've actually tried to first remove capacitors close to components that I've identified as decoupling capacitors which indeed removes the noise from that part of the MB.But then i hear the noise from other parts of the MB.
I've also replaced the caps i removed with caps with known good quality, which unfortunately haven't mitigated the issue noticeably.
My best guess is that It might be one of the many VRMs that's generating the noise when power usage is low...

Have @fta had the issues i've described on his i5-1235U when it's mostly idle? I would like to know if there is any idea to try and exchange my i5-1240p mb or if the 1235U has the same issue...
 

natedawg

New Member
Sep 15, 2023
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Does anyone know if the 4 port 8505 versions with the small fan have the same BIOS?

This is the unit I have: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804543512531.html

Or if there is a thread for these units, could you point me in the right direction? :)

Also, any recommended BIOS settings for the 8505? I saw some recommendations for the i5's in this thread but maybe missed the 8505 recommendations.
 

beisser

Active Member
Mar 20, 2023
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it is very unlikely that they use the same bios. its clearly a different mainboard and as such a different bios.
 

hojladri98

New Member
Aug 13, 2023
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I can't get the BIOs to update. -- The issue, I am sure, is that I am not re-creating the ISO correctly. When I download the stock iso I can't change anything in it because it is write-protected as an ISO. So I extract the stock ISO to a folder, replaced the .bin file, and then re-create a bootable ISO from that folder but when I try and boot from the USB it never loads the flashing program.

Does anyone have any insights or instructions on how to re-create the ISO in Linux (LinuxMint)?

Edit* Never mind. I figured it out.
How? I have the same problem. :)
 

Dime

New Member
Sep 17, 2023
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I received my 2 units with i5 1235u this week, It's my first higher price hardware I bought directly from China. The Bios settings are very limited, especially compared to my usual ASRock Boards. My units came without preinstalled fan and only one had a vesa mount which is rather simple. Both came with 1 SATA connector, a preinstalled bridge for the 2nd NVMe device and a 12v 10A power supply with EU plug.

#1 Arch Linux with Docker & QEMU running a Windows Server & OpnSense with PCI Passthru of 2 Nics & 2 Virtual Nics ( Lab Firewall, Router & DNS Server ) ( Unlocked Bios HWP On - 06/08/2023 )
- 2x16GB Samsung 3200/CL22
- 2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus
#2 Windows 11 22H2 (09-2023) with Hyper-V running a Windows Server VM with Hyper-V Nested Virtualization running an OpnSense Instance (Testing)
- 2x32GB Crucial 3200/CL22
- 500GB Samsung 960 EVO

Driver install under Windows wasn't straightforward at all, many intel drivers where not detected.
I downloaded latest Intel Network, ChipSet, ME, SerialIO from Intel directly, but still had 4 Unknown devices.
I installed some drivers from a Dell Package and a HP Package but the Intel TXT driver had to be forcefully installed.

Issues:
- HDMI won't connect on my TV when HDR is enabled (called HMDI UHD Color in Samsung Menu)
- No Secure Boot available
- Wasn't able to run Nested Hyper-V VM inside QEMU - Windows 11 VM stopped booting after installing Hyper-V

I can hear the sound described above, but only in close proximity.

Any recommendations regarding a low profile silent fan?
 
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jagga

New Member
Feb 4, 2016
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124
Moscow
Dear all, Im not able to change any bios settings after flash on custom bios (either with NVMe or not).
Any suggestions? 1235U build
 

vamega

Member
Nov 8, 2022
47
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Has anyone used the 4p power adapter on the board itself yet? Was thinking of using a regular psu since I need a couple fans and 2X 3.5 spinner drives. Was going to keep bottom plate off, use sata extensions, and set on on my rack shelf with a fan mounted under the shelf (the shelf is slotted for air). Mount the 2 drives on the shelf next to it as well as the small psu to power it all. Wasn't sure if the 4p power plug on the mainboard was standard?
Did you or anyone else end up doing this?
 

jagga

New Member
Feb 4, 2016
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124
Moscow
Dear fta, I tried to flash all modified bios files with NVMe installed or not - keyboard is not working.
But plain vanilla bios is working even version from 2023-06-08

Any clues why this is happening?