The Mini-ITX build begins.

Lazzer408 · Oct 23, 2009

It's SO close.

I'll have to make new power/reset buttons, and alter the mounting of the front usb ports, but it might just cram in there with a bit of trimming. The transformer will clear the bottom of the optical bracket but I'll still have to get some shorter capacitors. Mouser has the ones I'll need. I could even fit the dedicated 12v power supply in there too (green) and still have enough room for a fan on the side instead of the bottom (yellow).

Lazzer408 · Oct 23, 2009

The 12v power is solved!

I managed to fit the Vector Travelmate adaptor just under the video card. I made a new heatsink that is shorter and puts the fins horizontal and parallel the airflow through the case. I have just just enough room for a small fan (probably 2) and the usb pcb just fits in that notch as if it was ment to be. Now to knock out the ATX supply, power/reset buttons, and LEDs.

MKmods · Oct 23, 2009

well done, looks very clean.

Lazzer408 · Oct 23, 2009

A little revision to the psu heatsink to try and keep it's heat away from the gfx card. I just found out a 60mm fan just fits in the sides. A couple of those on the side should work great.

Geofrancis · Oct 23, 2009

there are always 200w dc-dc psu's if you cant get get it to fit.

is that a atx or a micro atx psu that your trying to fit into it?

ERazer · Oct 23, 2009

love it love it love it

Lazzer408 · Oct 23, 2009

Geofrancis said:
there are always 200w dc-dc psu's if you cant get get it to fit.

is that a atx or a micro atx psu that your trying to fit into it?

The supply for the mobo is a m-atx psu. I have a board from a full size atx that fits as well. The supply under the gpu is a 12v adaptor.

I know about larger DC/DC supplies but could that run the motherboard AND the gfx? If not, then I'll have 2 cables running to the box. One for the DC/DC and another AC line for the 12v internal adaptor powering the gpu. I'm try to build this as self contained as I can with just one AC line ran to it.

Lazzer408 · Oct 24, 2009

I gutted every ATX supply I had and found one with a smaller pcb. I'm going to go with a single supply now. The supply itself mounts under the gfx card and will be heat-piped over to a heatsink under the optical bay.

Here's a rough idea how that lays out.

Geofrancis · Oct 24, 2009

is that just a piece of aluminium that you are using for a heatpipe? what about getting one of these zalman hard drive coolers and useing the heatpips from it ?

Lazzer408 · Oct 24, 2009

Geofrancis said:
is that just a piece of aluminium that you are using for a heatpipe? what about getting one of these zalman hard drive coolers and useing the heatpips from it ?

http://www.extremereviews.net/images/review_imgs/cool/2HC2-top.jpg

I'd just order heatpipes if I go that route. Cheaper to get them from a manufacture.

Lazzer408 · Oct 24, 2009

Here's what I came up with so far.

Lazzer408 · Oct 24, 2009

All the wiring is soldered in. Should be powering up soon. Hopefully I don't pop my Zotac.

Geofrancis · Oct 25, 2009

i would check the 12v 5v and 3.3v lines with a multimeter just to make sure that all the voltages are within tolerances. i wouldnt like to test that its working with a motherboard :-/

Lazzer408 · Oct 25, 2009

Geofrancis said:
i would check the 12v 5v and 3.3v lines with a multimeter just to make sure that all the voltages are within tolerances. i wouldnt like to test that its working with a motherboard :-/

Already tested but the 12v rail was a bit low (11.86v) during the time 4 test hdds were spinning up. Everything else was stable. This was an old power supply I had laying around. It could have a few dried up caps. I have another known good 300w powersupply just in case.I already modded it.

The reason I went with the main psu in the other corner was because of the width of the pcb. When mounted in front of the motherboard it blocked the usb ports and made it difficult to mount the power/reset button/led assembly. What this also does is leaves room for the Vector 12v adaptor to fit in front of the motherboard and still have room for the switches/leds and the USB board. Looks like the gpu may still get a dedicated supply! :rockout:

Lazzer408 · Oct 25, 2009

Powersupply #1 = FAIL

Gets too hot. The mosfets are fine. The aluminum sink seems to work ok. It's a coil on the output that gets toasty. =( 'll have to try the other supply. I wasn't even sure if this supply was good anyway.

Chicken Patty · Oct 25, 2009

this looks interesting, great job you've done so far. hope you can get the PSU sorted out soon :toast:

Subscribed

Geofrancis · Oct 25, 2009

Lazzer408 said:
Powersupply #1 = FAIL

Gets too hot. The mosfets are fine. The aluminum sink seems to work ok. It's a coil on the output that gets toasty. =( 'll have to try the other supply. I wasn't even sure if this supply was good anyway.

you should have a look into some of those dell and compaq sff power supplys. they do them in weird shapes you might find one that would fit.

Lazzer408 · Oct 25, 2009

Geofrancis said:
you should have a look into some of those dell and compaq sff power supplys. they do them in weird shapes you might find one that would fit.

I've looked at a few of them. The thin one is about 1-1/2". Same as a server psu. I have a 450w server psu and believe me, if I could get it in there I would have.

Here's a pic of the other 300w supply. It's new and didn't have any problem running everything but if I can I'm going to try to fit the Vector adaptor in there also. If not the Vector adaptor then I'll try to fit a 12v power brick inside. I don't have a mill. This is all done with a hacksaw, file, and cordless drill. Thermal management FTW!

p_o_s_pc · Oct 25, 2009

whats that wire?

Cuzza · Oct 25, 2009

I think i've lost the plotline on this one, but its still entertaining.

Lazzer408 · Oct 25, 2009

p_o_s_pc said:
whats that wire?

It's the temp sensor for the fan control.

Cuzza said:
I think i've lost the plotline on this one, but its still entertaining.

Plot? To cram as much power as I can in as little space as possible and not bust into flames.

It's 2.5" tall and runs Crysis on very high. Has everything except a HD tuner. A usb one will work fine for that.

Lazzer408 · Oct 26, 2009

Ok, now were getting somewhere. You know what sucks? When you remove a bridge rectifier to shorten it's legs then solder it back in backwards. -DOH!- I blew out a couple diodes in the primary of the supply but she's back up and running again. I'm doing some Prime95 tests now.

Geofrancis · Oct 26, 2009

im surprised you didnt fry the power supply completely.

Lazzer408 · Oct 26, 2009

Geofrancis said:
im surprised you didnt fry the power supply completely.

The fuse popped before the surge made it to the mosfets. Lucky for me. The diodes that blew were two back to back zeners that fail shorted incase of a voltage spike from a power surge or something of that nature. It's by design to clamp the spike long enough to blow the fuse rather then have the mosfets exploding into a fireballs. They went through alot to keep the magic smoke inside.

Lazzer408 · Oct 26, 2009

I finally got to mounting a thin 3.5" hard drive to the case bottom. A standard thickness drive will fit but I had a thin Seagate 160gb so I used it to free up some room for the gfx fan intake. I need to order a 90 upwards facing sata cable. Sata power also faces 90 upwards. Shifting the drive a touch to the right made room (12mm) for more fans in the side of the case blowing in. I don't think I'll need them.

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

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	Crossflow III
Processor	AMD 965 (4.04Ghz)
Motherboard	Asus Crosshair III
Cooling	Air
Memory	4 gigs Mushkin 7-7-7-20@1T
Video Card(s)	single 9800GT
Storage	Raptor 150's in Raid0
Display(s)	LG Flatron 24"
Case	Custom
Audio Device(s)	AuzenTech X-Raider W/OP637
Power Supply	Custom modded Corsair 750HX
Software	Win 7 64/Solaris Utility
Benchmark Scores	3DMark06--21963 so far

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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Lazzer408

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MKmods

Case Mod Guru

Lazzer408

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Geofrancis

ERazer

Lazzer408

Lazzer408

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Geofrancis

Lazzer408

Lazzer408

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Lazzer408

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Geofrancis

Lazzer408

Lazzer408

Chicken Patty

Geofrancis

Lazzer408

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p_o_s_pc

F@H&WCG addict

Cuzza

Lazzer408

Lazzer408

Geofrancis

Lazzer408

Lazzer408

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Processor	R9 5950x
Motherboard	Asus x570 Crosshair VIII Formula
Cooling	EK 360mm AIO D-RGB
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z Neo 2x16gb (CL16@3800MHz)
Video Card(s)	PNY GeForce RTX 3090 24GB
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB NVMe \| Intel 660p 2TB NVMe
Display(s)	Acer Predator XB323QK 4K 144Hz
Case	Corsair 5000D Airflow
Audio Device(s)	Objective2 Amp/DAC \| GoXLR \| AKG K612PRO \| Beyerdynamic DT880\| Rode Pod Mic
Power Supply	Corsair AX 850w
Mouse	Razer DeathAdder Elite V2
Keyboard	Corsair K95 Platinum RGB "Cherry MX Brown"
VR HMD	Oculus Rift
Software	Window 11 Pro

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

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 Phenom II 555BE unlocked X4 @3.8GHz
Motherboard	GA-78LMT-S2P
Cooling	Thermaltake Blue Orb + open case in cold room = low temps lol
Memory	8Gb DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	GTX580
Storage	64GB SSD Super Talent
Display(s)	22" Chimei, 17" Philips
Case	POS!
Power Supply	Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 800W