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Help me build a custom Mini ITX SFF System

T

The Oatman

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 19, 2007
Messages
415
I am in the planning stages of assembling a custom SFF gaming system. It will not be OC oriented, but it must be powerful.

After looking into all the options people have mentioned below, I have decided to simplify and ease the original thinness requirement, which would have necessitated questionable PCI-E Risers and power supply modifications. I am now looking at a vertically standing case that is no thicker than needed for a normally installed full width graphics card.

These are the candidate core components so far: (Revision 3, thinness requirement eased)

Gigabyte H55N-USB3 mobo
Intel Core i7 860S
2x2GB DDR3 RAM
PSU: Silverstone 450W ST45SF
Radeon 6870 graphics card
Intel X25 (or similar) 160GB SSD

Cooling for the CPU will be provided by a Corsair H50 and the rest of the system will be air cooled.

The case will incorporate a filter to allow the video card to suck cool air in from directly under the case and the power supply will be mounted in front, vertically (exhausting up), using a similar trick to the Lian Li A05b to keep the power connection in the rear. Ideally, the case will be around 10" tall, 13" long, and 4.5" thick.

Thanks to everyone for their great suggestions.
 
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I doubt you'll be able to get any standard ATX PSU down to 50mm tall. 60mm maybe, by removing the fan, but 50mm seems very unlikely. You'll probably need to go with a 1U or similar PSU.

For the CPU waterblock, there's the Swiftech Apogee LP or a block like the Koolance CPU-360 with low profile angle fittings.

Most GPU waterblocks should fit easily enough in your space envelope, but again, you'll need to use angle fittings.

What makes you think a PCIE riser is going to cause problems? I don't think I've seen much one way or the other about whether they are problematic for running video cards. I would think manufacturers would have warnings posted to that effect if it was an issue.

My advice is to grab sketchup, some component models, and work it out.
 
Sketchup is what I've been toying around with. I've seen threads on this and other forums about riser cards causing serious problems, but like you said, the best alternative for this is probably to contact the manufacturer directly.

As for the PSU, Something like this 500W Shuttle PSU might work if it was a bit shorter, however the space left for the PSU components after joining the 6.7" square of the mini ITX and the video card would not allow for this to fit within my constraints.
 
I've played around with exactly what you're doing in sketchup myself in the past, and had some ideas about modding that Shuttle PSU to fit. It really depends on what the insides look like, but my idea was to ditch the 50mm fan and relocate the power plug. This could shave 20-30mm off the length, potentially, again depending on if any board components extend to that area and how thick the fan actually is. Then cut a hole in the narrower part of the PSU (notice how it narrows to around 40mm halfway down), and put a larger slim fan on it - something like a 100mm scythe (12mm thick), or a 80 x 10mm fan. This might still put you over 50mm total height, but you'd be hard pressed to get 500w in that small a volume any other way.

If you can source one, the Zippy P1P-5401V or P1P-5400V could be a decent choice. Size is ideal for Mini-ITX (same length at 170mm) though again a fan mod might be in order, and you'd need to figure out a way to add PCIe power connectors.

Considering your components, even a decent 300-ish watt PSU could suffice, like one of these Mini-ITX oriented PSUs.

Yet another potential option is pulling the fan out of a 450w Silverstone SFX which could bring it from 63mm to 40-43mm thick (maybe) once you cut down the casing. You'd have to add a 50mm fan or two for cooling then.

Finally, an open frame power supply such as the TDK-Lambda EFE400 400w open frame PSU + PicoPSU + custom wiring for everything + custom casing & fan. By far the most labor intensive and expensive, but it gives you a lot of flexibility.

As for risers, Adex Electronics makes a bunch of different PCIe risers, some of which are even PCIe gen 2 compliant. May be worth checking them out.
 
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I was actually just thinking 460W would probably easily power that CPU with a 6850 (check out the power ratings on that thing). Following that train of thought, I am now investigating whether the new seasonic 460w fanless unit could be modified for these purposes.However, I really like the idea which you suggested of an open frame PSU with custom wiring and casing.

Thanks a lot for your input.
 
Yeah, pretty much any decent PSU over 400w should be able to handle those components. In fact, the eXtreme PSU calculator gives just 260w as a minimum (310w recommended) for that CPU and a 5870 (6870/6850 aren't in their DB yet), and the 5870 draws more power than the 6870. So hypothetically, even a 300 watt unit could be enough, at least for the 6850, if not the 6870.
 
The silverstone sfx is probably your best bet since it already starts small.. Beyond that I wouldnt pay money for that DFI board so if you dont already have it you may want to consider a different mITX board being as it will have to be sourced used with little to no warranty support left.
 
Do you know of any other mini itx boards that will support an i7-860s? I've also considered the Intel DH57JG but it does not support i7 currently.

That Silverstone 450W ST45SF looks very promising, it's only 63.5mm thick with fan!

Also, the 6870 draws less power than the 5870 so this is also very promising. There are a lot more super slim options available at 300W than at 450ish.
 
That's right you should consider the Gigabyte H55N-USB3 instead
 
Unless you have your mind set on it I would consider one of the dual core chips (530, 661, ect.). You could then forgo all the water cooling and have a stout gamer running on air. Those chips run much cooler clock for clock than anything out there.

Agree with the Gigabyte mb's...any of the chips including the i7 run great on them and they overclock like a fool to boot.
 
I don't think there would be any way to do what I am visualizing without water cooling. More games are taking advantage now of quad core processors, and even then I can't imagine getting enough airflow in a tiny case like this for a low profile cooler to do what it is supposed to. Then again, it would simplify things quite a bit. Any recommendations for ultra low profile CPU coolers that could cool the 661 appropriately?

Is there any way to use the internal USB connections to set up a USB based wifi adapter within the case, without too much clutter? How are other people with SFF rigs that don't have built in wifi doing it?

Also, good call on the gigabyte board, it certainly meets my needs better than the Zotac, DFI, or Intel boards.
 
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At 50mm total case height you're looking at coolers <37mm or so, which severely limits you. This is probably one of the better options in this range, but you're limited to 75w TDP with it (btw, the i5-661 has a TDP of 87w whereas the i5-660 is 75w, with the only difference being the speed of the on-board GPU). Some of the blower-based 1U models may be able to effectively cool a little more, but not without a ton of noise.

As for USB wifi, there are some seriously small wifi adapters out there that make it pretty much a non-issue to have one plugged into one of the rear USB ports. But it's trivial to run one off an internal header using a cable if that's what you really want to do.
 
You've really done your homework on this Necere, what happened? Did you ever build it? I have incorporated many of your suggestions into the original post.
 
Lol, nah.. but I have a folder full of sketchup models of various SFF component layouts and case designs. It's sort of been a minor obsession/hobby of mine for a number of years. Every now and then I'll come across some new component that will get the gears turning again, occasionally resulting in configurations that strain plausibility. Like a 750w watercooled crossfire system in 7 litres, for example. I have yet to attempt building any of them however.
 
Do you have scale models for the thermaltake slim x3 and silverstone sfx that you linked by any chance?
 
Sorry, I don't. I've modeled not one but two open frame power supplies, including all the major components, and several heatsinks, but neither of those two items. For layout purposes though, you can get away with using simple boxes, particularly for the PSU.
 
none of the h5x boards I think offocially support i7's as the graphics will obviously not work. I believe that the 860 will work in most if not all of them though.
 
Would work on the Zotac H55-C-E, the Gigabyte H55N-USB3 and probably the J&W board. You'll need a discrete GPU of course
 
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