HTPC/Gaming Build (H55N-USB3 w/ AXP-140 Cooler) *pics*

Kazei

Weaksauce
Joined
May 7, 2010
Messages
92
Hey everbody, I'm currently building a mini-itx system for my home theatre so I can play movies, games, etc. Here are the specs and some pics of where I'm at so far. I managed to get an AXP-140 cooler to fit while still able to use a graphics card. Theres like 1.5mm of clearance! :D There is about a 8mm overhang on the RAM side which isn't bad at all.

The 1156 backplate for the AXP-140 cooler cannot be used due to some components getting in the way of the mounting area at the back of the board. I just got some washers from my local hardware store and installed it without the backplate.

CASE: Silverstone SG05B
MB: Gigabyte H55N-USB3
CPU: Core i3 530
RAM: G.Skill DDR-1333 ECO 2x2GB 1.35V
HSF: Thermalright AXP-140 + Scythe Slip Stream 120x12mm 1600rpm
VC: EVGA 8800GT 512MB (recycled from my old system)
OS: Win7 64-bit
HDD: Seagate Momentus XT 500GB (hybrid SSD drive)
DVD: Liteon DS-8A4S 8X Slim SATA DVD

FULL PICTURE GALLERY: https://www.dropbox.com/gallery/9284282/1/HTPC?h=422492

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Very nice! Is that fan included with the AXP140? It looks like a Scythe Slipstream.

Do you reckon a U12P or U9B cooler would fit?
 
Nice little build there. Can't wait to see it all put together in a case. And I applaud your fan-wire routing :) I use the "wrap it around the fan housing" trick myself. :)

Shane
 
Really nice build! I'm very interested in it. I just wanted to know two things. First of all, what type of washers did you use instead of the backplate? (I mean material).
How did you secure the fan on top of the heatsink? Did you use flanges or what?
 
Very nice! Is that fan included with the AXP140? It looks like a Scythe Slipstream.

Do you reckon a U12P or U9B cooler would fit?

Yes it's a slip stream. I bought it separately as the AXP didn't come with any fans.

It doesn't look like those will fit. No matter which way it's mounted, it seems to either block the ram or pcie slot.


Thanks for the pics! So .. you're not using 1156 bolt-through kit b/c one does not come with AXP-140 or b/c it would not fit with whatever that component is on the back of the mobo near the top-right hole one?

The AXP that I got came with an LG775 bolt thru so I had to buy a 1156 one because I needed the hold down bracket. If you look at the pics of the back of the board, there are tiny capacitors and an IC chip around one of the holes that gets in the way of the backplate. The 1156 comes with it's own backplate but because of those little components, I couldn't use it.


Nice little build there. Can't wait to see it all put together in a case. And I applaud your fan-wire routing :) I use the "wrap it around the fan housing" trick myself. :)

Shane

Hehe, thanks. I hate messy wiring so I try to hide my cables as much as possible.


Really nice build! I'm very interested in it. I just wanted to know two things. First of all, what type of washers did you use instead of the backplate? (I mean material).
How did you secure the fan on top of the heatsink? Did you use flanges or what?

At the hardware store they're labeled as "Fibre Washers". They feel like cardboard. I used two per hole.

I used zip ties to secure the fan (2 per hole). I took one of them and pushed it into the hole from the top through the fins. Then I used the "locking" part of another zip tie and capped the bottom off. For one of the holes I had to put the locking part in the middle of the fan so it doesn't stick out at the top. Because that area of the fan sits right under the PSU of the SG05, I need as much room as possible.
 
That is a thing of beauty. :)

Have you tried mounting the backplate on top of the washers? They might keep the backplate elevated off of the components and you wouldn't have to worry about the heatsink warping the board.

It sounds like you don't have room to fit a 140MM fan on there, huh?
 
Thanks.

I thought about that but there really isn't a point to using backplate. The board isn't warped since the stock intel backplate is keeping this pretty rigid. Unless there are 12mm thick 140mm fans, it won't fit in the SG05 because there's not enough clearance.
 
I've never really liked Gigabyte color combo but it does look good with those RAM sticks and the AXP 140
 
Is that scythe processor fan blowing into the psu or into the axp140 ?

The psu fan and processor should help each other.

Henk
 
Henk, The PSU fan is not facing the CPU heatsink in SG05 (not sure if it can be flipped upside down).
 
The SG05 comes with a psu with the fan facing the CPU but I flipped it around so that the psu fan sucks in cool air from the top vent of the case.

I installed the CPU fan so that it blows down through the heatsink onto the board. If I mount the scythe fan so that it blows air up towards the psu, I noticed it does not have enough static pressure to pull air through the fins. Also, the psu fan is very weak. It won't be much help anyway.
 
Since you have the board, I was wondering if you could give me some input on this. I am thinking about getting this board for a build in the future, and I wanted a water cooling unit. Since it seems the H50 won't work (I read it a couple places), do you think the Cool-It ECO ALC would work?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835227006

The backplate seems to be fairly minimal. Or could the H50 (or Cool-It) be rigged to just use bolts and no backplate like you did for the AXP-140?
 
The H50 should work just fine, I had the same "issue" with 2 DFI boards (components too close to the backplate)

The H50 does even include the fabric washers you might need

Does anyone know if the AXP 140 available at amazon is 1156 compatible?
 
I'm pretty sure you can mount it without the plate like I did with washers but I could be wrong. I don't have experience with the H50 or ECO.
 
Nice colors on that thing, oddly enough pretty flashy/easy to work on. I fear for when you wiggle your DVI cable on your video card well its running... looks like it'll flex and hit the Heat pipes... might be worth it to put some purdy strips of electrical tape along the back of those pipes : (
 
I was gonna put some insulation in between there but once I screwed down the video card, it doesn't move at all, no matter how much I wiggle the cable. ;)
 
I'm pretty sure you can mount it without the plate like I did with washers but I could be wrong. I don't have experience with the H50 or ECO.

But you still need the 1156 retention bracket I guess, don;t really care for the backplate as I like your solution
 
You wouldn't happen to have the measurement (in mm) from the center of the retention holes to the edge of the heatpipe (lateral distance, not straightline) would you? I would like to see if this would fit on my Zotac H55ITX-a-e and figure that the mounting holes are a pretty good reference point.

It's either this, the scythe or a H50, 'cause the stock intel fan noise is driving me up the wall! :D

Thanks!
 
You wouldn't happen to have the measurement (in mm) from the center of the retention holes to the edge of the heatpipe (lateral distance, not straightline) would you?
Thanks!

I can't really get an accurate measurement now that it's already installed inside the case. I can only estimate the distance, center of hole to heatpipe is probably 13-14mm. Hope that helps.
 
You wouldn't happen to have the measurement (in mm) from the center of the retention holes to the edge of the heatpipe (lateral distance, not straightline) would you? I would like to see if this would fit on my Zotac H55ITX-a-e and figure that the mounting holes are a pretty good reference point.

It's either this, the scythe or a H50, 'cause the stock intel fan noise is driving me up the wall! :D

Thanks!

Scythe Shuriken? the Big shuriken won't fit with a GPU installer
 
I am a bit concerned about the clearance between axp140+fan and psu. Shouldn't there a bit more room above the cpu fan to freely take air in ? axp140+slim fan is about 8.2 cm and the psu is at about 8.5cm above socket (?), so there's only a few mm's. So the cooler should be a bit lower.

Looking around what could be good alternatives ? The Big Shuriken is perfect but blocks the pci-e slot. It's shape is too symmetrical to the socket.
1. Nexus Low-7000 . Anyone tried this one ? Only 70mm tall with stock fan. Secure mounting.
2. Prolimatech Samuel 17. Only 45mm high.
3. Some of the top down 92mm fan coolers like the Xigmatek Durin.

Do these fit ? Or others ?
The AXP140 is expensive and good but there should be others.

Henk
 
Scythe Shuriken? the Big shuriken won't fit with a GPU installer

Yup, I saw the photos of the big shuriken on the intel board in the HSF clearance thread... that's a definite no-go, but the regular shuriken looks a bit smaller, if you could get 1156 mounting brackets on it ;)

-------

I redid the measurements on the H55itx-a-e and got:
  • 15.8mm from center of nearest 1156 mounting hole to edge of PCIe slot
  • 19.4mm from center of nearest 1156 mounting hole to center of PCIe slot

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HenkNL said:
Looking around what could be good alternatives ? The Big Shuriken is perfect but blocks the pci-e slot. It's shape is too symmetrical to the socket.
1. Nexus Low-7000 . Anyone tried this one ? Only 70mm tall with stock fan. Secure mounting.
2. Prolimatech Samuel 17. Only 45mm high.

Using the engineering diagrams on the Nexus homepage for the LOW-7000 (version 2), I got 19.00mm with a ± of 0.24mm, so it would be VERY close.

Based upon the Samuel 17's diagrams (assuming, though, that the cpu plate is centered on the mounting bracket), it seems as if it has quite a bit more room. (~4mm to edge of PCIe slot). Now, if I can ever find a place that has this cooler so i can purchase it, i'll give it a shot with a 120x12 scythe.
Edit: FrozenCPU doesn't have an ETA for them yet, but are hoping to have them at some point in July.
 
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Seems the reviews for the low 7000 R2 either has a high pitched sound or the mounting is a PITA. If you get the first Nexus Low 7000, it uses a backplate for mounting. Problem is it does not come with a 1156 bracket for mounting it. I had the original low 7000 and I didn't have any high pitched noise.


Nexus gave me this link for a bracket for 1156. http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/std/sku=1156_bracket.html
 
Well, yeah, the noise a function of the fan used ... so, one is free to use a different fan.
 

Yeah, i've got a bit of an issue with the tweaktown review. I don't really trust the results as being accurate or repeatable. Take a look at the sound level of the intel stock fan in a idle vs. loaded setup... -13 delta db? wtf? Makes me think their testing methods are questionable or there is a LOT of induced error.

At any rate, I'll probably pick up a the 17, a fast/thin scythe fan, put it on a rheostat and see where the performance/noise optimal point is for me ;)
 
I suggest the 1600rpm or even the 2000rpm Scythe slim fan if you're using a rheostat. The 1200 model is very weak but quiet though.
 
Huh, I just noticed Chrome recognizes it's in German and offered to translate it. Cool. I like the look of that cooler.
 
I have written to the french reviewer that used the h55n-usb3 if the graphic card slot is still available.
 
I have written to the french reviewer that used the h55n-usb3 if the graphic card slot is still available.

Cool, lets hope for the best then ;)...

BTW Kazei, are planning in using the PSU that came with the case?
 
Received a reply. It fits ! See below.

Henk
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Hallo,

Ther is no problem. I used a 5770. You just have to place the heatpipes near the vga card. You can cover the RAM or the chipset with the fan.

Feel free to ask if you have more questions.

Le+1 juil. 2010 14:02, <xxxxxxxxxxxxx>+a écrit+:

Dans votre test de Prolimatech Samuel 17 sur une m-itx Gigabyte H55N-USB3 est le PCI-E 16x disponible pour une carte graphique ? Beaucoup de radiateur sont trop grand et couvrit le PCI-E slot.

Is the pci-e slot still available when the Prolimatech Samuel 17 is mounted on the h55n-usb3 ? Most coolers like the Big Shuriken are so big they cover the pci-e slot.

See discussion : http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1035894898&postcount=36

Au revoir,

Henk Linde
(Mon français est terrible, je préférée anglais ou allemand)
 
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