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Xymos
n00b
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2015
- Messages
- 12
(note: more pictures on weekend)
Hey there.
I'm Jonathan from Germany (sorry for my limited/bad english) and I would like to show you some Pictures of my first usff build.
I wanted the smallest case for my components.
Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor
ASRock Z97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard
Cooltek LP53 CPU-Cooler
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Samsung 840 PRO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB Superclocked Video Card
2x Prolimatech Ultra Sleek Vortex 140mm
HD-Plex 250W
Delta ADP-330AB (330W)
My first Idea was, to build my own Case. I started designing a Case and in the end i found my
case exactly looking like Hahutzy's Case (Hutzy XS: The Ultra-Compact VR Machine).
(At this point I wanted to build a case with a Seasonic SS-350M1U, that i got from Ebay for 20€).
I was in contact with different companys, but in the end they said there could be problems with the software I used (Sketchup).
So I was looking for something else.
I found another case: the ITS-1908 1U-ITX 8" Rackmount Case from idotpc.com a <4l Case, that will fit my hardware and a PSU. awesome.
But: thinking more about the form factor i thought it only will be thin, but not really well looking. And it will cost 70$ for shipping.
At this point i started thinking about Josh's S4 mini. (S4 Mini - An ULTRA-SFF Chassis shipping this December!)
I wasnt a big fan of these Pico PSU things and never really thought about starting a build with those, but after reading some tests i thought "lets give it a try".
I visited NFC-Systems.com, put the s4 mini into my Shopping cart, added the riser and went for the checkout to figure out, that the shipping to Germany will cost 90$!
(No critic, Josh). But i had to think about it. 150$ Case, 35$ riser, 40$ taxes, 90$ shipping. more than 300$ for just the case (and a fitted riser).... thats a lot.
So I looked up for something else.
Finally i found the Little Mac build from Runamok81 ([Build Complete] - Little Mac - World's Smallest 4.2L Gaming HTPC Steam Machine?)
and figured out, that the company building that cases is in Netherlands, so no high shipping, no taxes. GG WP.
I ordered the case (MC600 Logic supply), the HD-Plex and a 140mm hole saw and some other small things for the build.
After one week i got all things together and started my build.
sadly i didnt made much fotos while building my PC, but if you got any question, feelf free to ask.
another thing , I tested a lot of diffrent positionings for HD-Plex, Riser, Fans , SSDs, so in the end there are a few scraches, holes, or cutted cables, that woulnd be necessary.
The first think i had to decide was, if i want to place the GPU faced up (little mac), or faced down (s4 mini). I wanted to mount the case behind my Monitor, so Airflow would not be an argument
(I wanted to make big 140mm hole above the GPU/CPU anyway).
Runamok81 was in the happy position, that his GPU connectors were symetric, so he could turn the GPU around by just flipping the Braket. That wasnt possible for my GPU, so i had to do a little
modification.
(sadly i bent the back a little bit... but i worked better as i thought.)
The problem of this flipping is, that the GPU is not fixed to the Case anymore, so I had to do another mod.
I simply screwed off the GPU cooler and saw many unused mounting holes. I took the original Mc600 HDD plate on the ground, market the holes and simply drilled some holes, so i could use some of those mainboard distance screws
(http://www.mikrocontroller.net/attachment/58803/Abstandshalter.jpg) and mounted the GPU to the HDD Plate. After connecting the riser ( A cheap Ebay riser shielded on my own by using Alu-tape and isolation-tape)
and SSDs it was very well fitted and did not move a single millimeter.
After that i tested the positioning of the HD-PLEX. And it is really really really close. It fitts behind the GPU but only before monting the on/off/USB panel and mainboard. And you have to place all the cables before aswell.
In my case i just taped all cables together. It's not well looking, but for me its totally fine. Maybe someone else want to sleeve them... feel free.
the 140mm fan cutouts were made really easy (i thought it would be harder...) I used the 140mm cutout template from FREE PC Fan & Radiator Template Printable Download, taped it on the top aand there you go...
The Power supply connection... well I got a 330w PSu for Ebay for about 20$. unfortunately ther were no 7,4/5mm connector so I could not use the HD-Plex connector. I thought about ordering some of these little guys :
http://g01.a.alicdn.com/kf/HTB12l3z...rent-connector-for-D-SUB-2W2-High-Current.jpg
But i ended up using the simple MPX connectors, cause of having some of theme at home.
http://file.espritmodel.com/battery/connectors/multiplex-connector-housing.jpg
After cleaning and testing I put all the things toghether and finally:
(Banana for Scale)
The build is not quite done yet: the Fans must be fixed in the case, not the cover. Maybe i will change the PCI Riser to the HD-Plex Silicon Riser (thanks iFreilicht for testing it ( The HDPLEX Silicon flexible PCIe riser ))
But mine is working fine.
Well.... let me summarize my experience:
Is it worth it?
it depends..... do you have fun by throwing money out of the window just for having a bunch of work, pain and sleepless nights by thinking about your project?
Haha no i think it isnt bad. I had a lot of fun building this PC, but to be honest, I also had a lot of situations, were I just wanted to throw all things away...
And in the end you've got a rally nice case, but (if you are like me) you will never be finished. Maybe sleeving is the next step....?
Will i do it again?
If I would do it again, i Think i would gor for the S4 Mini! It is so well done and after doing my build i watched a lot of Videos and Pictures about Josh's S4
and i found so much little solutions and things Josh thought about, that i would recommend going for his Case.
I would say my build opened my Eyes for all the knowledge & Experience Josh has put into his s4.
Dont get me wrong, i think from a pure technical ponit of view my case goes even with his case. But I think my case is like is s3. A bit too special for the the market.
And i would try to go for one of those Pico PSU next time. Josh made a lot of test about them and i think looking at his pictures you will see how clean and pure it can look like.
So in the end i Thank you guys for your attention!
Feel free to ask questions!
Hey there.
I'm Jonathan from Germany (sorry for my limited/bad english) and I would like to show you some Pictures of my first usff build.
I wanted the smallest case for my components.
Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor
ASRock Z97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard
Cooltek LP53 CPU-Cooler
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Samsung 840 PRO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB Superclocked Video Card
2x Prolimatech Ultra Sleek Vortex 140mm
HD-Plex 250W
Delta ADP-330AB (330W)
My first Idea was, to build my own Case. I started designing a Case and in the end i found my
case exactly looking like Hahutzy's Case (Hutzy XS: The Ultra-Compact VR Machine).
(At this point I wanted to build a case with a Seasonic SS-350M1U, that i got from Ebay for 20€).
I was in contact with different companys, but in the end they said there could be problems with the software I used (Sketchup).
So I was looking for something else.
I found another case: the ITS-1908 1U-ITX 8" Rackmount Case from idotpc.com a <4l Case, that will fit my hardware and a PSU. awesome.
But: thinking more about the form factor i thought it only will be thin, but not really well looking. And it will cost 70$ for shipping.
At this point i started thinking about Josh's S4 mini. (S4 Mini - An ULTRA-SFF Chassis shipping this December!)
I wasnt a big fan of these Pico PSU things and never really thought about starting a build with those, but after reading some tests i thought "lets give it a try".
I visited NFC-Systems.com, put the s4 mini into my Shopping cart, added the riser and went for the checkout to figure out, that the shipping to Germany will cost 90$!
(No critic, Josh). But i had to think about it. 150$ Case, 35$ riser, 40$ taxes, 90$ shipping. more than 300$ for just the case (and a fitted riser).... thats a lot.
So I looked up for something else.
Finally i found the Little Mac build from Runamok81 ([Build Complete] - Little Mac - World's Smallest 4.2L Gaming HTPC Steam Machine?)
and figured out, that the company building that cases is in Netherlands, so no high shipping, no taxes. GG WP.
I ordered the case (MC600 Logic supply), the HD-Plex and a 140mm hole saw and some other small things for the build.
After one week i got all things together and started my build.
sadly i didnt made much fotos while building my PC, but if you got any question, feelf free to ask.
another thing , I tested a lot of diffrent positionings for HD-Plex, Riser, Fans , SSDs, so in the end there are a few scraches, holes, or cutted cables, that woulnd be necessary.
The first think i had to decide was, if i want to place the GPU faced up (little mac), or faced down (s4 mini). I wanted to mount the case behind my Monitor, so Airflow would not be an argument
(I wanted to make big 140mm hole above the GPU/CPU anyway).
Runamok81 was in the happy position, that his GPU connectors were symetric, so he could turn the GPU around by just flipping the Braket. That wasnt possible for my GPU, so i had to do a little
modification.
(sadly i bent the back a little bit... but i worked better as i thought.)
The problem of this flipping is, that the GPU is not fixed to the Case anymore, so I had to do another mod.
I simply screwed off the GPU cooler and saw many unused mounting holes. I took the original Mc600 HDD plate on the ground, market the holes and simply drilled some holes, so i could use some of those mainboard distance screws
(http://www.mikrocontroller.net/attachment/58803/Abstandshalter.jpg) and mounted the GPU to the HDD Plate. After connecting the riser ( A cheap Ebay riser shielded on my own by using Alu-tape and isolation-tape)
and SSDs it was very well fitted and did not move a single millimeter.
After that i tested the positioning of the HD-PLEX. And it is really really really close. It fitts behind the GPU but only before monting the on/off/USB panel and mainboard. And you have to place all the cables before aswell.
In my case i just taped all cables together. It's not well looking, but for me its totally fine. Maybe someone else want to sleeve them... feel free.
the 140mm fan cutouts were made really easy (i thought it would be harder...) I used the 140mm cutout template from FREE PC Fan & Radiator Template Printable Download, taped it on the top aand there you go...
The Power supply connection... well I got a 330w PSu for Ebay for about 20$. unfortunately ther were no 7,4/5mm connector so I could not use the HD-Plex connector. I thought about ordering some of these little guys :
http://g01.a.alicdn.com/kf/HTB12l3z...rent-connector-for-D-SUB-2W2-High-Current.jpg
But i ended up using the simple MPX connectors, cause of having some of theme at home.
http://file.espritmodel.com/battery/connectors/multiplex-connector-housing.jpg
After cleaning and testing I put all the things toghether and finally:
(Banana for Scale)
The build is not quite done yet: the Fans must be fixed in the case, not the cover. Maybe i will change the PCI Riser to the HD-Plex Silicon Riser (thanks iFreilicht for testing it ( The HDPLEX Silicon flexible PCIe riser ))
But mine is working fine.
Well.... let me summarize my experience:
Is it worth it?
it depends..... do you have fun by throwing money out of the window just for having a bunch of work, pain and sleepless nights by thinking about your project?
Haha no i think it isnt bad. I had a lot of fun building this PC, but to be honest, I also had a lot of situations, were I just wanted to throw all things away...
And in the end you've got a rally nice case, but (if you are like me) you will never be finished. Maybe sleeving is the next step....?
Will i do it again?
If I would do it again, i Think i would gor for the S4 Mini! It is so well done and after doing my build i watched a lot of Videos and Pictures about Josh's S4
and i found so much little solutions and things Josh thought about, that i would recommend going for his Case.
I would say my build opened my Eyes for all the knowledge & Experience Josh has put into his s4.
Dont get me wrong, i think from a pure technical ponit of view my case goes even with his case. But I think my case is like is s3. A bit too special for the the market.
And i would try to go for one of those Pico PSU next time. Josh made a lot of test about them and i think looking at his pictures you will see how clean and pure it can look like.
So in the end i Thank you guys for your attention!
Feel free to ask questions!
