my 3 mini-ITX builds (with pics!)

WhiteFireDragon

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 16, 2009
Messages
495
build #1: WHS box

first, is a small WHS box used for daily backups of several computers, and also for a central file storage and printer. this build was finished several months ago right when the new AMD zacate APU hit the etailer shelf, but just posting pics right now. here are the hardware:

- ASRock E350M1
- 1x2gb ddr3
- WD 1tb green
- Habey EMC-800S case
- 80w DC-DC board with 60w power brick

this is what it looks like finished. kinda looks like the the old mac mini. i had to do a few mods to get everything to fit.
DSCN7013.jpg


bought a 60mm fan as the only intake. there's no room for this fan, so i had to shave some of the bottom off so it can sit on top of the pci-e 16x slot. took a while because i only shaved off tiny bits at a time, tested the fit, and shaved more off, until it's an exact fit.
DSCN6996.jpg


i also had to shave some of the top off because the hard drive brackets couldn't fit with the fan installed.
DSCN6998.jpg


i also used a dremel to cut away a significant amount off of this hard drive bracket so it doesn't interfere with the 60mm fan. there was also a bracket for the slim optical drive, but i had to completely removed it since i used a 3.5" HD instead of the smaller 2.5" laptop ones.
DSCN6999.jpg


this bracket with the hard drive just hoovers on top of everything. you can see the perfect if of the bracket with the extra fan.
DSCN7000.jpg


DSCN7001.jpg


this is what it looks like without the hard drive and bracket on top. space is extremely tight, only enough room for the motherboard and a tiny space for the DC-DC power board. everything had to either hoover on top or taped on the sides. you can see the fan, and i barely had enough room to also fit a kingston SSD in there.
DSCN6994.jpg


hard to tell from the pic, but this shows that there's about 3mm clearance of breathing room for the CPU fan before it hits the hard drive. that 60mm blows directly in this space and the chipset, so it greatly reduces the temps and helps the APU fan breath. both the APU fan and the extra 60mm fan are controlled to run at low rpm, so they're not audible over ambient noise.
DSCN7005.jpg


overall, this case is very nice. it's really thick aluminum. it's a little bit warm to the touch, which i think is a good thing because it acts as a huge heatsink to helps absorbs and dissipate the heat inside. only bad thing i can think of is the extremely tight space, but afterall, this is the SFF section ;). additional pics if you want to see more:

 
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build #2: budget daily machine

this one is actually for a friend, it was meant to be a cheap compact build just for web browsing. here are the hardware:

- sempron 140
- Zotac GF6100-E-E mini ITX
- 2x512mb ddr2
- Samsung 1tb HD
- LG dvd burner
- Raidmax ITX-0907-BP
- stock 300w SFX psu

what it looks like finished
P1010517.jpg


another finished pic, showing the opened front panel USB and audio connectors
P1010519.jpg


installation wasn't the easiest thing. everything had to be stripped first to install the hardware one by one
P1010502.jpg


this is where i had to route the cables. the SATA cable for the HD was routed behind the mobo going up into that top space for the hard drive. i installed a 60mm fan with a resistor so it spins at an inaudible rpm.
P1010504.jpg


cable management was a bitch. everything had to be installed in a particular order because the optical drive, front intake fan, PSU, front panel, and wires will block each other from installation. i also installed a 80mm fan at the front and undervolted to the 5v line.
P1010508.jpg


after most of the stuff was installed and wired, then the optical drive slid in before the front panel was but back in.
P1010510.jpg


this is what it looks like after the optical and hard drive was installed. pretty compact.
P1010512.jpg


just to show the other side before the cover gets put on.
P1010514.jpg


size comparison next to a mid size ATX case, my antec 200
P1010523.jpg


the size of this case is almost exactly the same as the apex MI-008, but chose this one because it stands up to save a little space rather than laying down like the apex one. most of the config is pretty much done right now, but i'll probably be replacing the hard drive with a 1tb 7200rpm drive and upgrading the memory to 2gb. it's also running a little hot, so i might increase the fan rpm as well. PSU runs pretty warm and loud even though it has a 80mm fan right in front of it for cool intake. here are some additional pics:

 
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build #3: tiny gaming rig

and last is my favorite build, which is still a work in progress, which i'll be updating frequently. i wanted something ultra portable and powerful since i travel between my apartment and house frequently. laptops just don't cut it for me because they're not powerful enough, can't build them, and screens are too small. i built this for the only game i play, starcraft 2, and to be a fast everyday-machine. mini-ITX cases like silverstone SG-05 was too common and too easy to build, this case is roughly half the size of a SG05/06. i'll be pushing the limits with size, heat, computational power, noise, and power consumption with this build. so enough with the background, here's the hardware with pics:

- i7-2600k
- gigabyte H67N-USB3
- sapphire HD5670 512mb
- gskill sniper 1x4gb ddr3
- 80gb x25-m SSD
- Evercase E0528
- 150-XT picoPSU with 150w brick
- 2x NF-R8 80mm fan

what it looks like when complete. bottle is there to show the relative size of the overall build: it's just a tiny bit taller and wider than a bottle. there was a lot of digging around before i discovered this case since it wasn't a common mainstream case.
P1010562.jpg


this is the initial build that i used to test fit and temperature to see if i can push it up a notch. it has the stock intel cooler, a half height sapphire HD5570, kingston 40gb SSD, 2x1gb balistix tracers, and a generic 80mm loud fan. all these temporary parts eventually got replaced. i used this video card for about 10 minutes in starcraft2 and it was too slow for me (i don't like running settings on lowest).
P1010495.jpg


i wasn't happy with how the HD5570 performed in starcraft2, so after quite a bit of looking around. i settled for the sapphire HD5670 because the 5670 is the fastest card without the external pci-e power cable, and one of their models is the only low profile card you can buy. it's actually a double slot card, but i took out the VGA connector to turn the bracket into single slot. however, the cooler on the card is still double slot, but that's not a problem since i took out the stock PSU. you can see the size comparison of the two sapphire cards, the 5670 is just a tad longer than the 5570. if it's just a few millimeters longer, it would not fit in the case.
P1010551.jpg


the new 5670 is installed, along with the two notcua 80mm fans and 1x2gb OCZ memory. this is also just a temporary setup to test temperature, power consumption, and fit.
DSCN7016.jpg


i'm still currently waiting for the prolimatech samuel 17 cooler, which should be the last piece of hardware needed to complete the build. once i get the cooler, i'll start modding the case
 
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does any slim optical drive fit in the emc-800s? and where did you get your emc-800 case?
 
I believe it the optical has to be a slim slot loader drive though.
How did you mount the 60mm fan? Did you use mounting screws through the side vent?
Nice pictures, looking forward to your two other builds!
 
one slim optical fits along with 2.5" hard drive, but since this is a server build, i didnt need the optical so i took out the optical drive cage to fit a larger 3.5" hard drive. you can get them here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ption=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

yeah they've been out of stock for quite some time...they had them in on last thursday morning when i checked right before i went to work but i didn't have time to order it...by the time i got back from work in the afternoon they had been sold out :(
 
Thank you for the detailed pictures and modification notes.

Did you consider using a pico PSU to reduce the internal cable mass?
 
many thanks for the pics of the habey!

do you think you could measure the vertical space from the board to top of the hdd? i'd like to put a d525mw with a single 3.5 in one of these, but it looks like a pretty tight fit for a passive heatsink.
 
hey guys, i just posted everything for the second build

I believe it the optical has to be a slim slot loader drive though.
How did you mount the 60mm fan? Did you use mounting screws through the side vent?
Nice pictures, looking forward to your two other builds!
like what tikiman2012 said, the optical can be either slot load or tray load, but either way, you HAVE to take off that white front bezel to put an optical in there. i tried to fit my slim slot load with the case's white bezel, but it interferes with the slot-load optical's own front bezel.

i didn't use any screws to mount the fan or SSD. the fan stays in place because i dremeled the fan and hard drive mount for an exact snug fit. the fan is clamped down between the pci-e 16x slot and top case cover for top to bottom, and clamped by the case wall and hard drive bracket for side to side.

yeah they've been out of stock for quite some time...they had them in on last thursday morning when i checked right before i went to work but i didn't have time to order it...by the time i got back from work in the afternoon they had been sold out :(
aside from newegg, directron also carries these habey cases (which was actually where i got mine), but they're also OOS on most of the models.

Why no backplate?
2 reasons, it helps with heat and also i couldn't install it lol. i think there might be quality issue with mine, because the alignment of the motherboard standoffs was about 1 or 2mm too far back, with a combination of the really thick aluminum causes the motherboard to be pushed into the backplate too much. i might be able to force the plate on there but it bends too much and i don't want it to break

Thank you for the detailed pictures and modification notes.

Did you consider using a pico PSU to reduce the internal cable mass?
yup, i considered the pico-PSU, but that's for my 3rd build i'll be posting up soon ;). this was suppose to be a semi-cheap build, i didn't want to spend the extra money on something that's not really needed. those cables are just pushed to the front, they don't block anything or restrict air flow so i was fine with a few cables there.

many thanks for the pics of the habey!

do you think you could measure the vertical space from the board to top of the hdd? i'd like to put a d525mw with a single 3.5 in one of these, but it looks like a pretty tight fit for a passive heatsink.

yup i'll get measurements for you once i have access to this case again haha. i'm at my apartment, and it's at my other house
 
The second build...I was scrolling through the pics and thinking...that little case is roomy, until the full size DVD drive went in. Although, it's still not that bad. I like it. Pretty nice little case you've got there...:).

Those Habey cases look well built too. Someone else I know recently commented to me on these, I had a hard time locating a black one. If you see any around, shoot me a PM.

Best,

LC
 
Thanks for the write up! I've been looking for a good case for a i3-2100T build, and didn't like what I had seen at all from Antec.

Now, to try and find a Habey!
 
i just updated the thread with my final and last build, which is still a work in progress.

The second build...I was scrolling through the pics and thinking...that little case is roomy, until the full size DVD drive went in. Although, it's still not that bad. I like it. Pretty nice little case you've got there...:).

Those Habey cases look well built too. Someone else I know recently commented to me on these, I had a hard time locating a black one. If you see any around, shoot me a PM.

Best,

LC

ya it's pretty well built and sturdy. the aluminum is about 3 times thicker than the usual cases that i've had. took me a while to find/wait for one in stock also. if i see one, i'll let you know ;). i'm also assuming you're looking for the black EMC-800 and not the shorter EMC-600 right? i see the shorter one in stock more frequently, but most builds will be greatly limited because the height doesn't provide much clearance for anything
 
FYI, Newegg has the 800B back in stock. Of course, I got the auto-notify right after I had ordered if from another company I found on the web. Oh well...
 
Hi,
congratulations, very nice, especially the third configuration ;)
I thought to update it with the hd_6670.
Only for information... to full load I register ,with 5570, a consumption max of 160W.
 
FYI, Newegg has the 800B back in stock. Of course, I got the auto-notify right after I had ordered if from another company I found on the web. Oh well...
ya, just so everyone know, newegg restocked all their habey cases last night. if you're going to get one, grab one now because in the past these are out of stock most of the time.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ption=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

Hi,
congratulations, very nice, especially the third configuration ;)
I thought to update it with the hd_6670.
Only for information... to full load I register ,with 5570, a consumption max of 160W.

trust me, i've been waiting for that new HD6670 to launch for a long time, and i couldn't wait any longer so settled with the one and only low profile 5670. when retailers finally had the 6670 on the shelves, i was pretty disappointed because none of them were low profile like all the reviews of the reference design. have you seen anywhere that sell the low profile reference design model? when i see one available, i'll probably buy it, as it provides better performance for about the same power consumption. i also looked into the HD6750 and 6770, but found out they're just an exact rebadge of the HD5000 series, which draws too much power for this build.

yes i saw your build with the i7-2600k and HD5570 as well. i have never stressed it with both furmark and p95 at the same time because that's not a realistic load for me, and i don't want to push the 150w picoPSU too hard. i did however stressed it with p95 and furmark separately, as well as stressed it with real gaming and it loaded between 105w - 110w. i'm pretty happy with those numbers so far. when i take all the hardware out again to mod the case, i'll be running it in a benching setup where i'll be using a real standard ATX PSU. i'll have no problem torturing it with p95 and furmark at the same time
 
the HD5670 had two tiny fans that was fairly audible when it ramps up, so i figured since i have a noctua fan pointing directly at the heatsink, then why not take those tiny fans off?

took the fan and shroud off. took forever because there was no open easy access to the clips that hold the fan/shroud to the heatsink.
P1010550.jpg


close up shot when it's installed
P1010557.jpg


this is the current configuration. i put a small resistor on the two noctua fans, so they're running at 1100rpm. the whole computer is hardly audibly over ambient now, compared to the small stock GPU fan and 1800rpm noctua before.
P1010558.jpg


temps aren't the greatest, but they're acceptable during gaming. 80C max on the GPU, and 63C on the CPU
sc2temps.jpg
 
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i took out all the hardware, and while i was at it, replaced all the TIM on the mobo chipset and CPU with IC diamond
P1010569.jpg


everything is currently running in a test bench setup so i can finally start modding the case while waiting for the CPU cooler. all the hardware is the same, except i'm using a seasonic x750w gold instead of the 150-XT picoPSU. that way i can stress with furmark and prime95 without worrying about going over 150w limit of the picoPSU. i'm also using the thermaltake x3 slim intead of the stock cooler
P1010571.jpg


here's a shot of the empty case before any modding.
P1010574.jpg
 
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1) i don't need the little case speakers that beep on boot up or when there's a problem, so i took it out so there's less cables to manage, and to also provide a small additional front ventilation. the speaker wires were attached to the rest, so i had to "peel" it from the other wires.
2) this area was covered by a plastic sticker to cover additional USB ports and the front panel sound ports that were not installed with the case. i took off this plastic cover to also provide additional front ventilation
3) this area will be cut out for the front noctua intake fan
casemod1.jpg


after the simple mods
P1010587.jpg


i put the fan on and drew out the area to be cut
P1010588.jpg


here's the front and back of the front panel.
1) these are dedicated vent holes that came with the case, but they're much too restricted because there's a bunch of tiny plastic bars behind it. not sure why they made ventilation that was this restrictive, but i'll be cutting out these plastic bars
2) another plastic sticker piece of cover some kind of slot, which i think is a slot for some memory card readers. i'll be taking out this so that slit can act as a front intake ventilation
casemod3.jpg


casemod2.jpg
 
here's the case after cutting out the slot for the fan.
P1010592.jpg


cleaned up the edges of the cut and test-fitted the fan on there
P1010594.jpg


plastic bars dremeled out, and also removed the plastic cover
P1010586.jpg


the vent port and card reader slot is much less restricted for better intake
P1010585.jpg
 
What is the heat like on the external brick for the Pico-PSU/what brick are you using? I want to use a Pico so badly for the Mini-itx server I'm building, but I'm afraid that it wouldn't work well for 24/7 with the external brick, due to overheating.
 
while trying to widen the holes on the case for the fan screw holes, my tungsten carbide dremel bit broke, so i just ordered another bit. all the modding has to wait until i get the new bit :(

What is the heat like on the external brick for the Pico-PSU/what brick are you using? I want to use a Pico so badly for the Mini-itx server I'm building, but I'm afraid that it wouldn't work well for 24/7 with the external brick, due to overheating.

at idle, brick is barely warmer than ambient. during gaming for several hours, it's warm to the touch, but not hot. this is around 100-110w load when gaming. i'm using a 12.5 amps, 150w brick. there are supposedly 2 models: the regular model with the barrel power plug, and i have the "premium" model, which is made with better quality components so it's more efficient (less heat) and less ripple. it's also a 4-pin plug instead of the round barrel one.
 
very nice man. is that the most powerful card you can handle with the pico psu?
and rigging up some kind of mount for the bottom noctua might help reduce noise even more. Also if you haven't yet ordered the samuel 17 id hold off and either get the axp-140 (best of the best) or the scythe shuriken rev b. (best bang for buck) the samuel 17 is a bit overpriced for the performance
 
very nice man. is that the most powerful card you can handle with the pico psu?
and rigging up some kind of mount for the bottom noctua might help reduce noise even more. Also if you haven't yet ordered the samuel 17 id hold off and either get the axp-140 (best of the best) or the scythe shuriken rev b. (best bang for buck) the samuel 17 is a bit overpriced for the performance

for the most part, ya it's the highest card that will run with a picoPSU. but because these new sandybridge chips are so efficient and i even further undervolted it, i could probably step up the video one notch, but there's no HD5770 that would come close to fitting the case. actually the best card that would it is the HD5570, but i was lucky enough to find the one and only sapphire 5670 that was half height low profile to fit in here.

i don't think you realize how small this case is. with a fan installed, the axp-140 is about double the height of the samuel 17, and also i don't think there's enough clearance around the area for a 140mm fan. even without the fan on, the side panel won't be able to close with the axp-140. of course if i had the clearance, i would go with a larger cpu cooler without a doubt. already ordered the samuel 17, just waiting for it to come
 
oh i believe you man, im somewhat familiar with itx builds. the axp would fit (heatsink only) and with how cool SB runs and the noctua blowing onto it, i figured it would do okay. Otherwise the scythe shuriken would fit as well. but since you already have it on the way ill just look forward to the results. I had high hopes for the cooler and have heard from reviews, and not firsthand. So hopefully it does well!
 
what are your idle and load temps on your first build?

i've got an emc-800s case too with a gigabyte e350 motherboard; idle and load are 60/99 respectively :eek: makes me wonder how hot the laptops get
 
I am considering that H67 board for a more "robust" gaming build, and Zotac states there is a BIOS revision that has something to do with Overclocking.

I know you are undervolting and such, but could you take a picture of that option if you update the BIOS so we can see what it offers?
"Version 2K110228
.Added CMOS - Performance Tuning / Overclocking"
 
the cooler FINALLY arrived :):p:D. here's some pics while i install everything
P1010601.jpg


while i was waiting for the samuel 17 to arrive, i put IC diamond TIM on the GPU
P1010600.jpg


this is a relative size comparison of the tiny low profile HD5670 compared to my gtx295
P1010599.jpg


what are your idle and load temps on your first build?

i've got an emc-800s case too with a gigabyte e350 motherboard; idle and load are 60/99 respectively :eek: makes me wonder how hot the laptops get
i don't remember exactly what it was, but it wasn't too bad. although, the case did feel pretty warm because the thick aluminum walls acted like a huge sink to absorb the heat inside. i wasn't comfortable with the case being so warm, so that's why i modded the case and fan to fit that extra fan in there. the extra fan really helped with the temps and also let me run the cpu fan at a much lower noise, so something to consider on your case and board too.

I am considering that H67 board for a more "robust" gaming build, and Zotac states there is a BIOS revision that has something to do with Overclocking.

I know you are undervolting and such, but could you take a picture of that option if you update the BIOS so we can see what it offers?
"Version 2K110228
.Added CMOS - Performance Tuning / Overclocking"

i'm not sure which build you are referring to. the H67 board is my 3rd build, and it's a gigabyte H67 board, not zotac. the second build is the zotac, but it's not a H67 board, it's a nvidia 6100 chipset for AMD cpu's. both boards have limited overclocking, so let me know which one you were referring to
 
alright, cooler installed, and it wasn't easy to do so because the screws had to be mounted from the bottom, while the cooler was on top. this requires some dexterity to get and even mount with the TIM

here's a few shots from different angles. the cooler can only be installed in two different orientations with this board: the heat pipes pointing towards the memory, and heatpipes pointing towards the video card. in any other orientations, the offset design from this cooler will interfere with the video card. i chose the "heatpipe towards the memory" direction.
P1010604.jpg


not very clear, but in this pic you can see that the heat pipes of the cooler is literally touching and pushing on the memory stick. although, there's not much pressure on it, so i just left the memory in that slot instead of moving it over one. it barely fits in this orientation.
P1010605.jpg


this angle shows that it will also barely clear the video card when i install it.
P1010606.jpg


main reason why i chose to install it in this orientation was so the 120mm fan do blow down directly at the chipset and the mosfets also. the other orientation would cool the memory more, but the chipset and mosfets wouldn't be cooled as great
P1010607.jpg


i just soft-mounted the board in the case with a 120mm x 25mm fan to test the fit. you can see in this orientation, the fan blows down on almost the whole board.
P1010608.jpg


with a 25mm thick fan, there wouldn't be enough room to close the side panel. i could force it to fit, but then that fan wouldn't have any breathing space. i have to use a 12mm thick fans
P1010610.jpg


i'll have final pics with everything installed soon
 
Hows your booting with the board? I had problems..
If you are talking about endless boot up cycles when in AHCI, it happened to many of us with this board.:eek:
That's what I did:
  1. I installed the OS on IDE mode.:(
  2. I played around for a while, my C300 128GB SSD was a little down in performances, as expected.:(
  3. When I couldn't stand anymore keeping the IDE:mad:, I REINSTALLED the OS setting on AHCI in the BIOS and booting from DVD with the Win7 install disk.:rolleyes:
  4. Now, everything works as it should!:p
Dunno why such problems, but I'm glad it's fine now...:)
 
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i'm not sure which build you are referring to. the H67 board is my 3rd build, and it's a gigabyte H67 board, not zotac. the second build is the zotac, but it's not a H67 board, it's a nvidia 6100 chipset for AMD cpu's. both boards have limited overclocking, so let me know which one you were referring to

Sorry, I think I saw Zotac in one text block and the H67 in another and put them together in my brain. :)

Still, nice stuff, good pointers for when I do my watercooled ITX.
 
why not try for a 20mm thickness fan instead?

Jen
20mm thick fan will still only give 3-4mm of clearance, not enough room for the fan to breath especially with limited airflow and space. for now, i'm gonna stick with the 12mm thick fans to see how it does, and maybe test for other configuration and noise levels later

Hows your booting with the board? I had problems..

what was your problem? my board boots perfectly fine on any bios updates. this is with a intel x25-m SSD with AHCI, i didn't have to do any tweaks or anything to get it working
 
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