Custom SFF PC Packs 10 TFlops of Performance featuring AMD Nano.

cageymaru

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Tons of pictures.
http://iyd.kr/766

Custom SFF PC (Project MakeItNano) Packs 10 TFlops of Performance With Radeon R9 Nano and Intel Haswell-EP
http://wccftech.com/custom-sff-rade...performance-xeon-e52699-v3-18-core-processor/

- AMD Nano
- CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2699 V3
- Motherboard: ASRock Rack EPC612D4I
- Memory: Micron Crucial DDR4 Unbuffered ECC SODIMM PC4-17000 8GB x 2EA
- PSU: SilverStone STRIDER SFX SST-SX600-G
- SSD: Toshiba Q300 Pro 256GB (link) x 3EA

iSI0OWt.jpg
 
Awesome looking design, a little boxy for my tastes.
 
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That is a sweet little rig. I like it, except for the tall feet, I would like to see them a bit shorter.
 
That is a sweet little rig. I like it, except for the tall feet, I would like to see them a bit shorter.

It would melt through the table without those feet.

But yeah, awesome build. I'd love to get a Nano when the prices come down. Bit pricey for my tastes right now.
 
I don't get what's so awesome about this build except for its components power. I mean why would you do it this way if you end up with low profile horizontal airflow cooler.

It could've been a lot easier to simply mount the PSU above the motherboard and not use the riser.
 
I don't get what's so awesome about this build except for its components power. I mean why would you do it this way if you end up with low profile horizontal airflow cooler.

It could've been a lot easier to simply mount the PSU above the motherboard and not use the riser.

I agree. It's taller than it needs to be for no apparent reason at all.

I also don't find it especially attractive, but that is of course highly subjective.
 
I'm not sure if there's an off-shelf case with that configuration but it could be something like SG13 but shorter, fitting only ITX card and SFX-L PSU. That shouldn't be hard to make and I think we'll see such cases soon on the market.
 
I think the idea was to make something unique for the sake of uniqueness. By moving the GPU that high the case also gains space for mounting the SSDs in a spaced configuration above the PSU.
I also like the idea of showing the Mainboard off like that.

But I agree, it seems a bit strange to use a CPU cooler like this and a board like this, there would've been nicer looking options, which could've even saved a bit of space.

The overall production quality and design of the case is pretty nice in my eyes though, and it was indeed a scratch build that was meant to solely showcase the Nano, so it's not like it needs to be perfect.
I personally like the unfinished edges on the panels as well, that looks really cool to me.
 
I've done a quicke layout for such case and it could be nice if some manufacturer went with it but it's something that should be done as mass produced and really cheap unit.



It would be a 6L cube with dimensions of 210 x 190 x 150 mm

There should also be some kind of psu weight support.

The ssd location is something for consideration though.
 
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I personally like the unfinished edges on the panels as well, that looks really cool to me.

Panels were anodised first black; then the 'unfinished' edges were carved out by CNC machine; de-burred and polished by hand and then anodised clear. It's a great technique and looks even better close up than on photos.
 
@Saper that looks like a cut down SFX version of the CM elite 110.

Yeah I know. But both CM elite 110 and Sugo SG13 use standard ATX psu and also note that CM elite series has the PSU standing out from the back.

643561_7_f.jpg


My cube - 210 x 190 x 150 mm -> 6L
Elite 110 - 260 x 280 x 208 mm -> 15L
Sugo 13 - 222 x 285 x 181 mm -> 11.5L

I think there was someone on the forums that wanted to make such a case but his topic kind of drowned.
 
I would if I could make those perforated panels but for us those looks like mass production :|
 
I would if I could make those perforated panels but for us those looks like mass production :|

Make it out of thick sheet metal with two large cutouts where the perforation should be, mill out about 1mm deep 10mm wide cavity next to the cutout so you can weld or glue 1mm thick mesh flush with the panel, done.

Panels were anodised first black; then the 'unfinished' edges were carved out by CNC machine; de-burred and polished by hand and then anodised clear. It's a great technique and looks even better close up than on photos.

Thanks, that's rather interesting. I'm thinking about something like that for selected edges on my case as well.
 
Make it out of thick sheet metal with two large cutouts where the perforation should be, mill out about 1mm deep 10mm wide cavity next to the cutout so you can weld or glue 1mm thick mesh flush with the panel, done.

Not sure what you mean but milling doesn't sound like cheap solution.

The whole problem is that you have to go for custom perforation or somehow hide the pre-perforated sheet's edges. It's quite doable for the front mesh but the side panels would be hard part like always.
 
I would ignore SaperPL - he has to comment in every thread and convince you why his design is better and he never understands the decisions others make.

What is awesome about this build is that someone brought to fruition a design they created with a unique industrial look in a small package. Not every SFF has to optimize every cubic cm of space for maximum utility - sometimes design outweighs utility.
 
I would ignore SaperPL - he has to comment in every thread and convince you why his design is better and he never understands the decisions others make.
Wow, that's harsh. Am I that bad?

What is awesome about this build is that someone brought to fruition a design they created with a unique industrial look in a small package. Not every SFF has to optimize every cubic cm of space for maximum utility - sometimes design outweighs utility.

The way they've made the metal pieces is indeed cool but I couldn't find the reason to use the riser in such design.

Also the case idea is not mine. Someone before made a topic here for a cube case such layout but with motherboard vertically like in this topic's case. I couldn't find that one topic anymore though.
 
Something I really like about this build is the custom cover plate.

266F784B55ED1A74187B98


Wow, that's harsh. Am I that bad?

You are indeed extremely critical about other cases but I wouldn't go as far as to say that you try to convince people that your case is the best.
But often it seems like you at least believe so. Which isn't bad by itself, you should be convinced that your product is the best and should know why, but often times people want to do things just because they think it's cool, not because it's practical.
 
Yeah, but here is just some random idea for a case I could draw quite quickly and question why did they use the riser in this thread's case. I do indeed write a lot critical questions in other threads since i want to know why someone made something the way he did or why he couldn't go with more obvious way.

And that's quite it for most of the threads except for the ncase lrpc since I initially thought they have the same goal as we do to make a really slim and small steam machine case happen but at some point they kind of changed the course and that's what I was mostly critical about.
 
I have no idea what cooler that is but it looks like by putting the PSU behind the mobo rather than on top, like some other "vertical shoebox" cases, you allow for a bigger cooler along with access to the mobo. It also looks like the fan is working in tandem with the case fan since it's parallel to it. The riser not only adds space for SSD's but to me, the main point of it is it takes advantage of the PSU's positioning by hanging over the back of the mobo, where the PSU sits, rather than the front which allows for a narrower case at the expense of some additional height.

I think it's a nifty idea, even if you could go smaller than this with a specifically designed Nano case. As a general fan of SFF I am excited to see how much smaller we get with more emphasis on smaller more powerful GPU's in the future (I hope, at least.) The nano might be an oddly priced uber-niche product, and notwithstanding all the "fair review" PR drama AMD brought on themselves, it's good to see a major product release by a major company focused squarely on a "small as it gets" type product.
 
it looks like by putting the PSU behind the mobo rather than on top, like some other "vertical shoebox" cases, you allow for a bigger cooler along with access to the mobo. [..] The riser not only adds space for SSD's but to me, the main point of it is it takes advantage of the PSU's positioning by hanging over the back of the mobo, where the PSU sits, rather than the front which allows for a narrower case at the expense of some additional height.

So essentially it's the best way to have both all components nicely presented while still being able to fit three SSD's?
 
Cool build. That thing must be loud when it is under load with that tiny fan on the cooler and it being an 18 core 145W CPU...
 
So essentially it's the best way to have both all components nicely presented while still being able to fit three SSD's?

To be honest when I saw the two nano's pictured on his page I thought he was going to try some sort of M.2 crossfire craziness and put another Nano there rather than the SSD's, which he did not do.

It's not just presentation, it's size (well, width). Certainly you could lose the vertical space and make the case shorter and put an SSD or two elsewhere, but the riser does serve a purpose in freeing up space on top of the mobo without compromising width. I have a Q11 and it's super annoying to have to pull out the PSU on top of the mobo if I want to do anything like change the RAM or plug in another SSD, also the airflow with a PSU right on top of a low profile CPU cooler is probably suboptimal. This layout gives you more options for a beefier CPU cooler and airflow over the motherboard.

I mean what it boils down to for me is it's something new in the SFF (or at least, something that I haven't seen before) which is always fun. :)
 
I have no idea what cooler that is but it looks like by putting the PSU behind the mobo rather than on top, like some other "vertical shoebox" cases, you allow for a bigger cooler along with access to the mobo. It also looks like the fan is working in tandem with the case fan since it's parallel to it. The riser not only adds space for SSD's but to me, the main point of it is it takes advantage of the PSU's positioning by hanging over the back of the mobo, where the PSU sits, rather than the front which allows for a narrower case at the expense of some additional height.

It's not just presentation, it's size (well, width). Certainly you could lose the vertical space and make the case shorter and put an SSD or two elsewhere, but the riser does serve a purpose in freeing up space on top of the mobo without compromising width. I have a Q11 and it's super annoying to have to pull out the PSU on top of the mobo if I want to do anything like change the RAM or plug in another SSD, also the airflow with a PSU right on top of a low profile CPU cooler is probably suboptimal. This layout gives you more options for a beefier CPU cooler and airflow over the motherboard.
Can you explain why you think PSU behind motherboard vs. over motherboard makes a difference in terms of width or cooler height? As far as I can tell it was probably done in order to have a window on the side with something to show off.
 
Can you explain why you think PSU behind motherboard vs. over motherboard makes a difference in terms of width or cooler height?
With the PSU on top, either you have air flowing throgh both the PCU cooler and PSU, or you need to leave a gap between the underside of the PSU and the top of the PCU cooler to provide airflow the the CPU cooler. With the PSU behind the motherboard, both the PSU and the CPU cooler can both intake external air directly.
 
With the PSU on top, either you have air flowing throgh both the PCU cooler and PSU, or you need to leave a gap between the underside of the PSU and the top of the PCU cooler to provide airflow the the CPU cooler. With the PSU behind the motherboard, both the PSU and the CPU cooler can both intake external air directly.
The CPU cooler used in this case is not top-down though, and there are no side panel vents anyway, so direct intake for the CPU cooler isn't relevant here. Likewise, with the PSU over the motherboard it could still draw outside air through a vent on the side panel. Really, putting the PSU behind the motherboard doesn't "free up space."
 
Cool build. Interesting choice to put the PSU behind the motherboard. But it wouldn't need the riser if it was placed over the mobo and cooler.
 
Can you explain why you think PSU behind motherboard vs. over motherboard makes a difference in terms of width or cooler height? As far as I can tell it was probably done in order to have a window on the side with something to show off.

The first link in the OP has alot more pics that explain it better.

http://iyd.kr/766

The google translate is pretty broken English but the pics about halfway down illustrate why I think it works. If you stick the PSU on top of the cooler I'd want a smaller cooler to leave some space between the PSU and the CPU cooler within the 166mm width he has.

I am not a fan of the cpu cooler selection and the window, personally I don't think it takes advantage of the additional options he creates by putting the PSU behind the mobo, I'd probably just use a normal perforated panel there and use a more traditional cooler. But keeping a 166mm wide dimension with open air over the motherboard is a good use of space to me, if you had open vents on the side.
 
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The first link in the OP has alot more pics that explain it better.

http://iyd.kr/766

The google translate is pretty broken English but the pics about halfway down illustrate why I think it works. If you stick the PSU on top of the cooler I'd want a smaller cooler to leave some space between the PSU and the CPU cooler within the 166mm width he has.

I am not a fan of the cpu cooler selection and the window, personally I don't think it takes advantage of the additional options he creates by putting the PSU behind the mobo, I'd probably just use a normal perforated panel there and use a more traditional cooler. But keeping a 166mm wide dimension with open air over the motherboard is a good use of space to me, if you had open vents on the side.
I get that you'd rather use a top-down cooler, and that would likely perform better both in terms of cooling and noise. My point is simply that putting the PSU behind the motherboard doesn't save any width, which was your claim. CPU cooler | motherboard | PSU is no different from PSU | CPU cooler | motherboard, in terms of how wide it makes the case.
 
Well my thinking is if you want it to be ventilated well it would, because then you'd want to make it wider to accommodate more room between PSU and the CPU cooler rather than just stuffing them right up against each other.

That's how my Lian Li Q11 is and it's not great.
 
Well my thinking is if you want it to be ventilated well it would, because then you'd want to make it wider to accommodate more room between PSU and the CPU cooler rather than just stuffing them right up against each other.
It depends. With a tower cooler like this build is using, it makes no difference. With a suitable top-down cooler the PSU and CPU cooler fans can work in conjunction to exhaust hot air, like Silverstone does in the SG05. That may not be ideal, but clearly there's nothing that inherently makes PSU over motherboard layouts wider - and that particularly applies to this build with its tower cooler.

For a one-off build, it makes some sense to put the PSU behind the motherboard since he wants to show off the internals and hide the cables, and the added cost/potential issues with the flex riser aren't a major concern. For a production case it'd be a different story.
 
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