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UPS delivered a bunch of boxes today! I'm going to try one of these build log threads because I have found the ones others have put up to be very helpful both in component selection and ideas about the install. Hope it works out
I can't start the build "in earnest" until at least saturday since there is one critical component still enroute (Thermalright AXP-140 cooler). In the meantime though I will be doing what I can and also planning out cable routing in this tiny case.
But to start, the finalized specs:
CPU: i5 2400 Sandy Bridge
Cooler: Thermalright AXP-140 with Noctua 140mm fan
Mobo: Asus P8H67-i deluxe
-swapped out the wifi module for an Intel Centrino 6200 N wifi card so I can use the 5GHz band on my router
RAM: 8GB Corsair 1333MHz SO-DIMM (2x4GB)
GPU: MSI 6950 Power Edition 2GB Twin Frozr III
PSU: Seasonic X650
Case: Lian Li PC-Q08 (Silver)
-Case fans substituted for Noctuas
HDD: Will likely use a 400GB WD 2.5" 5400rpm drive
Optical: external USB Blu-Ray reader + DVDRW (use it with both my mac mini and this PC)
Also bought a new mouse: Razer Mamba 2012
Here's a pic of the goodies that came today. Everything's there except the cooler.
First things first, open the case up! First thing to get removed is the HD cage, with only a single HDD I'll not need any of that! I'm either going to use the 2.5" mounting holes or even do something like suspending it in the 5.25" bay using rubber bands.
I noticed my PC-Q08 is slightly different than what I have seen in previous builds. They have replaced the front USB3.0 cables with a proper mobo header so you can plug it right onto a mobo. No more of that out-the-back of the case nonsense anymore! If you don't have USB3.0 port header, you can use the included adapter cable which I assume connects the ports as USB2.0. If you look at the first pic, you can see on the Lian Li box it says it has updated USB3.0 cabling.
One thing I can do while waiting for the cooler is replace the case fans. Removing the stock 140mm fan:
One thing I didn't know about the 140mm Noctua is that the 120-140mm adapter converters have silicone on one side. Presumably to help increase dampening.
Putting the rubber "pins" on the Q08 sliding fan mount. Is there any other way to install the 120-140mm adapter such that the rubber is facing outwards though? To me it seems it is backwards.
Fan goes on the pins. A nice soft interface!
Replace the dust filter and put the sliding fan mount back into the case, all installed!
For the top fan I also have Noctua, although my initial order of computer parts had a mistake= I originally wanted to buy the NF-P12 not the NF-S12. So I had to order the P12 in a separate purchase and now I at least can compare the two before deciding which to send back. I was worried about the S12 since although it is quieter, I heard it does not have good static pressure, which means the airflow might drop a lot especially considering the perforated fan grill?
Installing the upper 120mm fan using the rubber pins is very difficult. It seems a lot harder to push/pull the pins through the 120mm fan mounting holes than the 140mm fan's adapter rings. Coupled with the added thickness of the black grill and also the tight quarters of the case, it's very difficult to get these rear pins on! Here you can see, the pin is not totally pushed through the fan mount hole. I decided to hold off on the installation of this 120mm fan for now until maybe I can at least decide which one to install, or even just use screws.
I found out you can remove the front port bracket completely! If you're hardcore maybe you can bust this thing open and desolder/shorten the internal USB3.0 cables. They're pretty long and awkward. Those power switch header cables are also egregiously long too- I think I might try shortening them- shouldn't be too difficult to do with a little solder.
Next I decided to test fit the PSU, so I can see what kind of cable routing I'm going to need. I've really thought about shortening my PSU cables but am a little scared by the enormity of the job. Does someone know a source where I can buy a short modular PSU Cable kit somewhere? Mmmm velvet
I pulled out and hooked up the cable leads I am pretty sure I'll need. That's a lotta cable
In the case- yep that's a lotta cable.
I read someone else had this same problem- the hole for the PSU on the back of the case is extremely tight. It scuffs up the PSU as it slides in and out. In fact the fit is so tight the stickers on the PSU housing actually interfere with smooth oepration. You can see where the sticker actually caught on the edge and damaged the finish. I might try to find some sandpaper and just sand the hole a little bit maybe I can get it a hair wider and then maybe it won't damage it further.
Last thing I did so far was to swap out the mini-PCIe wifi card on the mobo for the Intel one. Here's the mobo
Installing the new card
That's it for now- I'm going to update this as I go along. Hope it helps people out there working on or speccing out their own builds.
09-30 update:
Did some test fitting and experimenting with cable runs. Seriously can't wait until I get my cooler so I can actually install parts for real I found a pretty good arrangement for installing the USB3, SATA, and front chassis fan power cables by running them up in a gap at the top of the 5.25" bay.
Put on the front panel (power, reset, etc) connectors. I see their reasoning for putting in long cables now. If you remove the mobo panel you want to have some slack there so you can pull the board out. I am thinking of just laying in some kind of loop like this. You can also see the front audio connection sneaking in under the mobo and popping out just under the video card to connect to the mobo header. I also like how the mobo and GPU PCB colors match I didn't really plan that!
Video card fits just fine! Plenty of clearance. But I expected no less since the card is only about 10.5" long and there is 12" of room. I do notice some "sag" due to the high weight of the cooler, I am thinking to maybe cut a piece of a large eraser or something and sitting it under where the 2 PCI-E power connections are, in order to support the board up. An eraser can be cut to size, and is rubber for some damping.
I can see where some of these cables/connections are going to be very tricky to install once the CPU cooler is in place. Judging by mousemagician's pics the cooler basically covers the entire area of the mobo!
10/1/11 update:
Did a little more work on cable routing. I have a "full install" now minus the CPU and heatsink which should come tomorrow (or technically later today).
Also got my HDD installed. Here I am prying it out of its previous home:
I was going to mount it in the bottom of the 5.25" bay using the provided holes, but since it is a mechanical HD I wanted to try a little bit of vibration isolation. I took 2 of the rubber donuts from the HD cage and split them in half (otherwise they were too thick) and put them between the HD and the bottom of the bay.
It's not perfect mounting since there is still a screw going inside the donut connecting the HD to the chassis but I think it helps some? Any other ideas on vibration-isolating the HDD?
Edge-on view showing the gap. Also nice because then there is no risk of shorting between the bottom PCB of the hard drive and the metal chassis
Hooked it up to a USB bridge to see if I could test the vibration/noise. You can definitely feel some but I dunno maybe better than clamping it down right on the metal? Yes I did put it in "backwards" on purpose (connections facing the front of the case) because it was easier/a little cleaner to have them facing that way instead of coming out on the inside edge of the drive bay where it would probably interfere with cables or the CPU cooler.
I put the rest of the components in as well as the wires and the PSU. It looks a bit messy (you'll see in later pics) but the airflow path is clear from the front fan through the back
Here you can see everything installed. I'm satisfied with the cable layout- I don't think I'm going to bother with shortening or sleeving the cables right now since they are arranged in a fashion that doesn't inhibit airflow, and since my case has no window there's little point...?
Looking in the top exhaust- plenty of room inside for an incoming huge cooler.
Side view of everything installed. I'm gonna have to make a 3-pin Y-adapter for the 2 case fans since the ASUS mobo only has one chassis fan header. And if I use a molex connection that means I'm gonna have to add one entire extra modular cable on the PSU just to get some molex power. I'll solder up a Y-adapter I think instead. Here you can also see an eraser sitting next to the GPU- I'm going to cut a block from it at the right size to support the GPU on that far end where it sags. The PCI-E power cables actually help support the card somewhat too but I want to minimize stress on the part.
That's it for now, all that's left really is to install the CPU and cooler, then get to installing windows!
10/2/11 Update
It's complete!
Here is what came in the mail yesterday: (Also in the box but not pictured is a tube of IC Diamond thermal paste)
Cooler is huge!
Cooler installed- it basically covers the entire mobo. I didn't take many pictures of the installation process since I had to concentrate and not screw it up but I will say that the process of installing a CPU cooler has really come a long ways with regard to getting a consistent and high-pressure contact between the CPU and the cooler. I remember the old days of Athlon 64, etc. where installing coolers on bare cores was a real danger!
After testing the fans out for noise I decided that the 2 Noctua chassis fans will use the blue ultra low noise adapters. Here I am splicing them together into a Y-splitter so I can power them both off of the single chassis fan header on the mobo. For the CPU fan I decided to use the black "low noise" adapter.
A quick bit of solder and they're fused together
All done!
I solved my "install problem" (pulling the rubber pins through the fan holes) by using some longnose pliers.
Mobo now installed. Pro tip- don't forget to install the 4-pin AUX power connector before mounting the mobo! I forgot and didn't realize it until much later, I had to delicately finnagle the 4-pin AUX power cable in under the cooler- it was very tough due to not being able to see hardly at all and with a very tight working space.
Installing the GPU... SFF builder's worst nightmare- dropped screw. Fortunately it came out easily by flipping the case over
There was very little clearance between one of the solder "points" on the GPU and one of the heatsink heatpipes. I didn't want to risk it so I slipped a small piece of paper in between to prevent any electrical contact. The clearance between the GPU and those heatpipes is very narrow!
All the components are installed!
Compared to my old PC, a Shuttle XPC, even this mITX case is pretty big- but compared to most PCs both are tiny! Incidentally I opened up the XPC so I could piggyback on the power supply while testing the fans for noise and airflow- I forgot how tightly arranged everything in there was! A big salute to my old PC, it served me well. Actually pulling it out of the desk and dusting it off I recall how much I liked the shuttle case, and how much I liked that PC. I feel a little sad to cast it aside so easily for new hardware...
As this completes the build, I will post my ongoing comments/observations/issues in the thread and not compile all of it in the first post. Thanks for following along!
I can't start the build "in earnest" until at least saturday since there is one critical component still enroute (Thermalright AXP-140 cooler). In the meantime though I will be doing what I can and also planning out cable routing in this tiny case.
But to start, the finalized specs:
CPU: i5 2400 Sandy Bridge
Cooler: Thermalright AXP-140 with Noctua 140mm fan
Mobo: Asus P8H67-i deluxe
-swapped out the wifi module for an Intel Centrino 6200 N wifi card so I can use the 5GHz band on my router
RAM: 8GB Corsair 1333MHz SO-DIMM (2x4GB)
GPU: MSI 6950 Power Edition 2GB Twin Frozr III
PSU: Seasonic X650
Case: Lian Li PC-Q08 (Silver)
-Case fans substituted for Noctuas
HDD: Will likely use a 400GB WD 2.5" 5400rpm drive
Optical: external USB Blu-Ray reader + DVDRW (use it with both my mac mini and this PC)
Also bought a new mouse: Razer Mamba 2012
Here's a pic of the goodies that came today. Everything's there except the cooler.
First things first, open the case up! First thing to get removed is the HD cage, with only a single HDD I'll not need any of that! I'm either going to use the 2.5" mounting holes or even do something like suspending it in the 5.25" bay using rubber bands.
I noticed my PC-Q08 is slightly different than what I have seen in previous builds. They have replaced the front USB3.0 cables with a proper mobo header so you can plug it right onto a mobo. No more of that out-the-back of the case nonsense anymore! If you don't have USB3.0 port header, you can use the included adapter cable which I assume connects the ports as USB2.0. If you look at the first pic, you can see on the Lian Li box it says it has updated USB3.0 cabling.
One thing I can do while waiting for the cooler is replace the case fans. Removing the stock 140mm fan:
One thing I didn't know about the 140mm Noctua is that the 120-140mm adapter converters have silicone on one side. Presumably to help increase dampening.
Putting the rubber "pins" on the Q08 sliding fan mount. Is there any other way to install the 120-140mm adapter such that the rubber is facing outwards though? To me it seems it is backwards.
Fan goes on the pins. A nice soft interface!
Replace the dust filter and put the sliding fan mount back into the case, all installed!
For the top fan I also have Noctua, although my initial order of computer parts had a mistake= I originally wanted to buy the NF-P12 not the NF-S12. So I had to order the P12 in a separate purchase and now I at least can compare the two before deciding which to send back. I was worried about the S12 since although it is quieter, I heard it does not have good static pressure, which means the airflow might drop a lot especially considering the perforated fan grill?
Installing the upper 120mm fan using the rubber pins is very difficult. It seems a lot harder to push/pull the pins through the 120mm fan mounting holes than the 140mm fan's adapter rings. Coupled with the added thickness of the black grill and also the tight quarters of the case, it's very difficult to get these rear pins on! Here you can see, the pin is not totally pushed through the fan mount hole. I decided to hold off on the installation of this 120mm fan for now until maybe I can at least decide which one to install, or even just use screws.
I found out you can remove the front port bracket completely! If you're hardcore maybe you can bust this thing open and desolder/shorten the internal USB3.0 cables. They're pretty long and awkward. Those power switch header cables are also egregiously long too- I think I might try shortening them- shouldn't be too difficult to do with a little solder.
Next I decided to test fit the PSU, so I can see what kind of cable routing I'm going to need. I've really thought about shortening my PSU cables but am a little scared by the enormity of the job. Does someone know a source where I can buy a short modular PSU Cable kit somewhere? Mmmm velvet
I pulled out and hooked up the cable leads I am pretty sure I'll need. That's a lotta cable
In the case- yep that's a lotta cable.
I read someone else had this same problem- the hole for the PSU on the back of the case is extremely tight. It scuffs up the PSU as it slides in and out. In fact the fit is so tight the stickers on the PSU housing actually interfere with smooth oepration. You can see where the sticker actually caught on the edge and damaged the finish
. I might try to find some sandpaper and just sand the hole a little bit maybe I can get it a hair wider and then maybe it won't damage it further.
Last thing I did so far was to swap out the mini-PCIe wifi card on the mobo for the Intel one. Here's the mobo
Installing the new card
That's it for now- I'm going to update this as I go along. Hope it helps people out there working on or speccing out their own builds.
09-30 update:
Did some test fitting and experimenting with cable runs. Seriously can't wait until I get my cooler so I can actually install parts for real
I found a pretty good arrangement for installing the USB3, SATA, and front chassis fan power cables by running them up in a gap at the top of the 5.25" bay.
Put on the front panel (power, reset, etc) connectors. I see their reasoning for putting in long cables now. If you remove the mobo panel you want to have some slack there so you can pull the board out. I am thinking of just laying in some kind of loop like this. You can also see the front audio connection sneaking in under the mobo and popping out just under the video card to connect to the mobo header. I also like how the mobo and GPU PCB colors match
I didn't really plan that!
Video card fits just fine! Plenty of clearance. But I expected no less since the card is only about 10.5" long and there is 12" of room. I do notice some "sag" due to the high weight of the cooler, I am thinking to maybe cut a piece of a large eraser or something and sitting it under where the 2 PCI-E power connections are, in order to support the board up. An eraser can be cut to size, and is rubber for some damping.
I can see where some of these cables/connections are going to be very tricky to install once the CPU cooler is in place. Judging by mousemagician's pics the cooler basically covers the entire area of the mobo!
10/1/11 update:
Did a little more work on cable routing. I have a "full install" now minus the CPU and heatsink which should come tomorrow (or technically later today).
Also got my HDD installed. Here I am prying it out of its previous home:
I was going to mount it in the bottom of the 5.25" bay using the provided holes, but since it is a mechanical HD I wanted to try a little bit of vibration isolation. I took 2 of the rubber donuts from the HD cage and split them in half (otherwise they were too thick) and put them between the HD and the bottom of the bay.
It's not perfect mounting since there is still a screw going inside the donut connecting the HD to the chassis but I think it helps some? Any other ideas on vibration-isolating the HDD?
Edge-on view showing the gap. Also nice because then there is no risk of shorting between the bottom PCB of the hard drive and the metal chassis
Hooked it up to a USB bridge to see if I could test the vibration/noise. You can definitely feel some but I dunno maybe better than clamping it down right on the metal? Yes I did put it in "backwards" on purpose (connections facing the front of the case) because it was easier/a little cleaner to have them facing that way instead of coming out on the inside edge of the drive bay where it would probably interfere with cables or the CPU cooler.
I put the rest of the components in as well as the wires and the PSU. It looks a bit messy (you'll see in later pics) but the airflow path is clear from the front fan through the back
Here you can see everything installed. I'm satisfied with the cable layout- I don't think I'm going to bother with shortening or sleeving the cables right now since they are arranged in a fashion that doesn't inhibit airflow, and since my case has no window there's little point...?
Looking in the top exhaust- plenty of room inside for an incoming huge cooler.
Side view of everything installed. I'm gonna have to make a 3-pin Y-adapter for the 2 case fans since the ASUS mobo only has one chassis fan header. And if I use a molex connection that means I'm gonna have to add one entire extra modular cable on the PSU just to get some molex power. I'll solder up a Y-adapter I think instead
. Here you can also see an eraser sitting next to the GPU- I'm going to cut a block from it at the right size to support the GPU on that far end where it sags. The PCI-E power cables actually help support the card somewhat too but I want to minimize stress on the part.
That's it for now, all that's left really is to install the CPU and cooler, then get to installing windows!
10/2/11 Update
It's complete!
Here is what came in the mail yesterday: (Also in the box but not pictured is a tube of IC Diamond thermal paste)
Cooler is huge!
Cooler installed- it basically covers the entire mobo
. I didn't take many pictures of the installation process since I had to concentrate and not screw it up but I will say that the process of installing a CPU cooler has really come a long ways with regard to getting a consistent and high-pressure contact between the CPU and the cooler. I remember the old days of Athlon 64, etc. where installing coolers on bare cores was a real danger!
After testing the fans out for noise I decided that the 2 Noctua chassis fans will use the blue ultra low noise adapters. Here I am splicing them together into a Y-splitter so I can power them both off of the single chassis fan header on the mobo. For the CPU fan I decided to use the black "low noise" adapter.
A quick bit of solder and they're fused together
All done!
I solved my "install problem" (pulling the rubber pins through the fan holes) by using some longnose pliers.
Mobo now installed. Pro tip- don't forget to install the 4-pin AUX power connector before mounting the mobo! I forgot and didn't realize it until much later, I had to delicately finnagle the 4-pin AUX power cable in under the cooler- it was very tough due to not being able to see hardly at all and with a very tight working space.
Installing the GPU... SFF builder's worst nightmare- dropped screw
. Fortunately it came out easily by flipping the case over
There was very little clearance between one of the solder "points" on the GPU and one of the heatsink heatpipes. I didn't want to risk it so I slipped a small piece of paper in between to prevent any electrical contact. The clearance between the GPU and those heatpipes is very narrow!
All the components are installed!
Compared to my old PC, a Shuttle XPC, even this mITX case is pretty big- but compared to most PCs both are tiny! Incidentally I opened up the XPC so I could piggyback on the power supply while testing the fans for noise and airflow- I forgot how tightly arranged everything in there was! A big salute to my old PC, it served me well. Actually pulling it out of the desk and dusting it off I recall how much I liked the shuttle case, and how much I liked that PC. I feel a little sad to cast it aside so easily for new hardware...
As this completes the build, I will post my ongoing comments/observations/issues in the thread and not compile all of it in the first post. Thanks for following along!
Last edited:
