The Mini-ITX build begins.

Lazzer408 · Oct 27, 2009

New fans!

p_o_s_pc · Oct 27, 2009

i want to see this running

Chicken Patty · Oct 27, 2009

like how the HDD looks in there, everything fits just perfect. New fan looks good too! i really wanna see this done already as well :toast:

Lazzer408 · Oct 27, 2009

It's taking so long because I can't decide on if I should just use the one 300w psu and use the extra space for it's heatsink or if I should use the space to add the extra 12v 150w auxiliary psu. Tonight I was fitting the 150w in there but I'll have to custom make 2 small heatsinks for it.

Pros and cons of adding the 150w.

Pros:
-gfx load removed from main psu
-main psu runs cooler

Cons:
-additional labor required to make the heatsinks for the aux psu. (it's a pain)
-main psu's heatsink will need to be reduced ~50-75%
-smaller fan for the main psu
-case fan not very effective in cooling the aux psu.

Here's the heatsink I would be using if I went with a single psu. I would cut out the center so the fan sits flush with the top of the fins. A hole would be cut in the bottom of the case. Doing it this way the main psu gets very good cooling but again, the aux psu is eliminated.

One great thing about doing it this way is that the case fan on the left front of the case would blow outwards and take the psu heat right out.

Geofrancis · Oct 27, 2009

what about an external dc power brick like i plan to use they are easily tucked away behind the computer.

Chicken Patty · Oct 27, 2009

Lazzer408 said:
It's taking so long because I can't decide on if I should just use the one 300w psu and use the extra space for it's heatsink or if I should use the space to add the extra 12v 150w auxiliary psu. Tonight I was fitting the 150w in there but I'll have to custom make 2 small heatsinks for it.

Pros and cons of adding the 150w.

Pros:
-gfx load removed from main psu
-main psu runs cooler

Cons:
-additional labor required to make the heatsinks for the aux psu. (it's a pain)
-main psu's heatsink will need to be reduced ~50-75%
-smaller fan for the main psu
-case fan not very effective in cooling the aux psu.

meh, I think I would stick with single PSU man. Seems to have twice as much cons than pros. what do you think?

Lazzer408 · Oct 27, 2009

Geofrancis said:
what about an external dc power brick like i plan to use they are easily tucked away behind the computer.

I thought about it but I wanted an all in one system. It's sort of a PC gaming console if you think about it. The fewer wires the better.

Chicken Patty said:
meh, I think I would stick with single PSU man. Seems to have twice as much cons than pros. what do you think?

I'm really leaning that way. It'll be a workout for a mATX supply (300w typically) but I can make a very effective cooling system for it as shown in the last pic I just posted. The extra 60mm fan plus the clear path right out of the case through the channel under the optical bay make for great cooling and keeping it ouf of the rest of the system. The main psu has it's own fan controller and under testing the fan never spun up unless it was under graphics intense load. CPU at 100% and the fan was slow. CPU+GPU at 100% and it speeds up. So it's quiet unless your gaming.

[Ion] · Oct 27, 2009

Lazzer408 said:
I thought about it but I wanted an all in one system. It's sort of a PC gaming console if you think about it. The fewer wires the better.

I'm really leaning that way. It'll be a workout for a mATX supply (300w typically) but I can make a very effective cooling system for it as shown in the last pic I just posted. The extra 60mm fan plus the clear path right out of the case through the channel under the optical bay make for great cooling and keeping it ouf of the rest of the system. The main psu has it's own fan controller and under testing the fan never spun up unless it was under graphics intense load. CPU at 100% and the fan was slow. CPU+GPU at 100% and it speeds up. So it's quiet unless your gaming.

As long as it's a quality power supply, I wouldn't worry about it. The 300W PSU (FSP) that came in my Silverstone case has been verified by several people over at [H] to power a quad (Q9550) and a GTX 260 simultaneously (both loaded), so a quality 300W PSU would be plenty for an HD4850 and dual core

Chicken Patty · Oct 27, 2009

Lazzer408 said:
I thought about it but I wanted an all in one system. It's sort of a PC gaming console if you think about it. The fewer wires the better.

I'm really leaning that way. It'll be a workout for a mATX supply (300w typically) but I can make a very effective cooling system for it as shown in the last pic I just posted. The extra 60mm fan plus the clear path right out of the case through the channel under the optical bay make for great cooling and keeping it ouf of the rest of the system. The main psu has it's own fan controller and under testing the fan never spun up unless it was under graphics intense load. CPU at 100% and the fan was slow. CPU+GPU at 100% and it speeds up. So it's quiet unless your gaming.

Yeah, I was checking out the HS you had made for it. I think you'll be fine and it'll be much less of a hassle.

Lazzer408 · Oct 27, 2009

Here's the pic of option #2. You can see how small the fan and heatsink would have to be to make room for the 12v aux psu. Not to mention it's trapped in the middle with poor heat evacuation from the case. The heat just dumps into the middle of everything. I think the larger fan/heatsink will tremendously help keep all the case temps down due to how the side fan sucks it right out. I'll get the fan hole drilled tonight, fan mounted, and tomorrow I'll finish up the aluminum plate that attaches to it. The heatsink will just sort of lay hovering over the fan with a rubber bumper between the tips of the fins and the bottom of the case.

The second pic is the factory heatsinks. Granted it had a fan blowing right on it, it's definitly weaksauce compaired to what I'm doing.

Lazzer408 · Oct 27, 2009

What do you guys know about this one? 19a on the 12v.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270463822507&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Power Specifications:
+3.3V, 21A
+5V, 23A
+12V, 19A
-12V, 0.6A
+5Vsb, 2A

EDIT - And here's the new psu fan. I need a holesaw that DOESNT WOBBLE! >:O (I'll repaint this case when I'm done, you know, bondo a few holes

)

Lazzer408 · Oct 27, 2009

This morning I finished wiring up the psu. I added the 90 deg sata power connector and one molex for the optical drive. I also notched the heatsink in the bandsaw. Damn was that loud. Here's some pics of the heatsink. Like a glove.

Now I just need to attach it to the psu and that should be it.

[Ion] · Oct 27, 2009

Looks good! :toast:

p_o_s_pc · Oct 27, 2009

[Ion] said:
Looks good!

+1
@OP
but lets see this running

regarding the PSU (the A-power) i wouldn't recommend it. It seems to be lacking in quality judging by the cheap price and no name company.Also if you look at the specs (amps) they seem to be alittle low for the wattage
by that i mean my 350w puts out 25a(10a+15a) on the 12v rails while that one only puts out 19a.

pantherx12 · Oct 27, 2009

Just have to say i've been reading this thread for a while, looking great man.

If anything I would of thought a heatsink that size would eb over kill for a psu that size, its bigger then the heatsinks in my 750w!

p_o_s_pc · Oct 27, 2009

pantherx12 said:
Just have to say i've been reading this thread for a while, looking great man.

If anything I would of thought a heatsink that size would eb over kill for a psu that size, its bigger then the heatsinks in my 750w!

there is no such thing as overkill when it comes to cooling in the PC world.(if there was would people be using LN2?)

Lazzer408 · Oct 27, 2009

pantherx12 said:
Just have to say i've been reading this thread for a while, looking great man.

If anything I would of thought a heatsink that size would eb over kill for a psu that size, its bigger then the heatsinks in my 750w!

Thanks for the props. :toast:

Your 750w probably has a 120mm fan moving alot of cfm. To move that amount of air with a 60mm fan it would be high rpm and very noisy. Using this heatsink I hope to have enough surface area to get rid of the heat without making so much noise. Passivly it was able to effectively cool the psu with only the computer as a load. With the psu in the case plus adding the gpu only makes it hotter but the 60mm fan pulling in outside air should be enough to make up for the extra heat. Remember this computer should be "livingroom quiet" except when gaming ofcorse.

BrooksyX · Oct 27, 2009

looking good. like the progress so far.

Error 404 · Oct 27, 2009

Lazzer88, brilliant build so far, I'm really impressed!
It reminds me of something me and my friend made in '08, basically a "free" computer in a shoebox.
I managed to find the thread it was in, I'm still surprised how good that thing looked...
It was basically just a PIII Celeron 733MHz, 256MB RAM, 10GB HDD, 120W mATX PSU, full size DVD drive, all crammed into a shoebox with a 40mm fan in the side for airflow (along with PSU fan).
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpost.php?p=887594&postcount=8
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpost.php?p=890814&postcount=19

p_o_s_pc · Oct 27, 2009

it does look sweet hope you get things worked out

Chicken Patty · Oct 27, 2009

The heat sink looks great man, you did a heck of a job :respect:

inspires me to do a small build, I've wanted to. They seem soo much fun

pantherx12 · Oct 27, 2009

p_o_s_pc said:
there is no such thing as overkill when it comes to cooling in the PC world.(if there was would people be using LN2?)

True enough, I have freaken huge heatsinks on my graphics cards :laugh:

p_o_s_pc · Oct 27, 2009

pantherx12 said:
True enough, I have freaken huge heatsinks on my graphics cards

what heatsinks you got? I know mine are huge also.(Xigmatek battle axe)

pantherx12 · Oct 27, 2009

On my 3850 I have a Artic Cooling Acelero Twin turbo ( quite big)

On my 3870 I have a HR-03 GT, I have my 3870 overclocked to 885 mhz and underload it doesn't go over 45, that's passive other then the True Ex sitting above it and my 80mm side fan.

It's a beast, I want another for the 3850 ( eventually upgrading two 5770s)

p_o_s_pc · Oct 27, 2009

pantherx12 said:
On my 3850 I have a Artic Cooling Acelero Twin turbo ( quite big)

On my 3870 I have a HR-03 GT, I have my 3870 overclocked to 885 mhz and underload it doesn't go over 45, that's passive other then the True Ex sitting above it and my 80mm side fan.

It's a beast, I want another for the 3850 ( eventually upgrading two 5770s)

I have my 3870 overclocked@900 and voltmoded runs about 60c under full load

Processor	i7 2600k@4.6ghz
Motherboard	MSI z68ma-ed55
Cooling	Silentx Extreem 120mm
Memory	2x4gb XMS 7-8-7-20 1600
Video Card(s)	HD6870
Storage	2x128gb Kingston Hyper-X (Raid0), 2x750gb RE3 (RAID1), 2x750gb RE3 (RAID1)
Display(s)	Soyo 24", Gateway 22"
Case	Fractal Design Arc Mini 6x120mm fans.
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Zalman 750w
Software	Windows 7

System Name	el'lappy\|Cruncher \| Cruncher 2
Processor	intel C2D T6400 \| i7 3770k @4.2ghz \| AII X2 220 @3.4ghz
Motherboard	some Acer \| Asus P8Z77-V Pro \|Gigabyter GA-M61p-S3
Cooling	dual 80mm cooling fan \| WC'ing ) \|cheapo
Memory	2x2gb ddr3 \| 2x2gb Ripjaws 1600 \|4x512mb D9s
Video Card(s)	onboard \| 60 1GB(hd7770 ) \|8800GTS
Storage	Momuntus xt 320gb \|Kingston Hyper X 120gb SATA III\|500gb WD
Display(s)	17in \| 42" 1080P HD 3D TV
Case	lappy case \| CM HAF XB \|none yet
Audio Device(s)	onboard \| onboard \| onboard
Power Supply	Dell brick w/ acer end end \| Antec EW 650w \|Antec SP 350w(upg.soon)
Software	Windows 7 Ult. 64bit---->------->

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E Hero
Cooling	ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III 360 A-RGB // X12 Phanteks D30-120 D-RGB Fans
Memory	G.SKILL Trident Z5 Neo RGB Series (AMD Expo) DDR5 RAM 32GB (2x16GB) 6000MT/s CL30
Video Card(s)	ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO
Storage	Samsung Pro 980 2TB NVMe (OS and Games) // WD Black 10TB HDD (Storage)
Display(s)	SAMSUNG 34-Inch Ultrawide 75Hz (Desk Games) // SAMSUNG 49-Inch Ultrawide 144Hz (Sim Racing Rig)
Case	Phanteks NV7
Power Supply	Seasonic Vertex GX-1200, 1200W 80+ Gold, ATX 3.0
Software	Windows 11 Pro

Processor	i7 2600k@4.6ghz
Motherboard	MSI z68ma-ed55
Cooling	Silentx Extreem 120mm
Memory	2x4gb XMS 7-8-7-20 1600
Video Card(s)	HD6870
Storage	2x128gb Kingston Hyper-X (Raid0), 2x750gb RE3 (RAID1), 2x750gb RE3 (RAID1)
Display(s)	Soyo 24", Gateway 22"
Case	Fractal Design Arc Mini 6x120mm fans.
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Zalman 750w
Software	Windows 7

System Name	Machine XX
Processor	Ryzen 7600
Motherboard	MSI X670E GAMING PLUS
Cooling	120mm heatsink
Memory	32GB DDR5 6000 CL30
Video Card(s)	RX5700XT 8Gb
Storage	280GB Optane 900p
Display(s)	19" + 23" + 17"
Case	ATX
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	800W
Software	Windows 11

The Mini-ITX build begins.

Lazzer408

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[Ion]

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p_o_s_pc

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Lazzer408

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System Name	Niedersachsen / Ribe / Minsk
Processor	i3 3240 / i7-3520M / 4x Opteron 6376 @ 2.86GHz
Motherboard	BIOSTAR H61M / HP Q77 / Supermicro H8QG7
Cooling	Stock / Stock / 4x 1U G34
Memory	1x8GB / 2x4GB / 4x4GB
Video Card(s)	GTX260 / Intel HD 4000 / nVidia GT310
Storage	80GB Intel SSD / 256GB Intel SSD / 2x 60GB SSD (RAID1)
Display(s)	Dell 3007 + HP 2245w / 12.1" 1366x768 / None
Case	Antec NSK3480 / HP / Supermicro 1U
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Enermax 500W / HP 130W / Supermicro Gold 1400W
Keyboard	IBM Model M
Software	Windows 7 (Niedersachsen/Ribe) / Linux Mint 17.2 (Minsk)

System Name	My pc
Processor	Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard	Asus Rog b450-f
Cooling	Cooler master 120mm aio
Memory	16gb ddr4 3200mhz
Video Card(s)	MSI Ventus 3x 3070
Storage	2tb intel nvme and 2tb generic ssd
Display(s)	Generic dell 1080p overclocked to 75hz
Case	Phanteks enthoo
Power Supply	650w of borderline fire hazard
Mouse	Some wierd Chinese vertical mouse
Keyboard	Generic mechanical keyboard
Software	Windows ten

System Name	Main / Home Media Serever
Processor	Intel i5 2500k @ 4.75ghz / AMD AM3 5200+ x2
Motherboard	ASRock Fatal1ty P67 Performance / Biostar 790GX
Cooling	Xigmatek Dark Knight / XIGMATEK Apache
Memory	12gb of G.Skill Value Series DDR3 / 4x 1gb DDR2
Video Card(s)	XFX Radeon 6870 1gb / Asus Radeon 5450 512mb
Storage	2x Samsung 830 64gb SSD Raid 0 & 750gb WD Blue HDD / OCZ Vertex II 80GB & 10TB of HDD Space
Display(s)	2x Acer 24" LED / Samsung 50" LED
Case	Xigmatek Asgard II / APEX PC-389-C
Power Supply	Rosewill 750w / Antec EArthwatts 380w
Software	Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1 / Ubuntu 14.04

System Name	QUACK
Processor	Intel i7 2600K (3.4 GHz, 8 threads)
Motherboard	Asus P67P8-V3
Cooling	Xigmatek Balder 120mm (4x120,1x140mm case)
Memory	Patriot 2 Viper Sector 5, 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 G1 4GB
Storage	1x Samsung EVO 850 (500GB) SSD, 1x Fujitsu 256GB SSD
Display(s)	Dell Ultrasharp U2311h 23" (so sexy)
Case	CoolerMaster Gladiator RC-600
Audio Device(s)	Onboard 5.1
Power Supply	Antec 850w with yellow racing stripes
Software	Windows 7 HP 64 bit