mITX build. Need some advice.

Ok...so i did some thinking. Might have to go for a WC just because I will probably atx mod.

Which is better and silent the h50 or the kuhler?


Also is it possibile to fit all in there?
SG05 with ATX psu 150x150, Cooler Master Silent Pro M500, MSI 560Ti twin frozr, WC, a 3.5" HDD and still have room for the ODD?
 
i remeber seeing on the forum someone chopping up the back end of a sg05 to make room for a atx psu but he used a lian line psu extender bracket which stuck out the back of the case like a sore thumb but im not shure if he had any room left for an odd
 
Adding a psu extender to an ITX case is like putting a trailer on a mini. It just doesnt look right :D
 
ithanium2 said:
Ok...so i did some thinking. Might have to go for a WC just because I will probably atx mod.

Which is better and silent the h50 or the kuhler?


Also is it possibile to fit all in there?
SG05 with ATX psu 150x150, Cooler Master Silent Pro M500, MSI 560Ti twin frozr, WC, a 3.5" HDD and still have room for the ODD?
Click to expand...

Tomorrow I'll get my parts and do my ATX PSU testing.

I don't think you can keep the 3.5 bay and an H50 you might be able to fit one in the bottom if you dremel that lil screw receptacle

DSC03326.JPG


DSC03330.JPG


The H60 is a better fit than the H50 for this case
 
I would recommend the Zotac board after having just set one up.
It has display port which might come in handy, USB 3 header. The BIOS is pretty nice.
The wifi worked just fine for me. It might not be super duper fast but you can always upgrade to any half or full size laptop wifi card. You could upgrade to 802.11AC later this year or whatever it will be called.

You might want to wait a few weeks since there is a story/rumor somewhere about Zotac releasing a Z68 version of the board. Since the chip is drop in compatible the rumor is most likely true. The rumor said the board would come out later this month.
With that and a 2500k you could run 4-4.5 GHz probably since Zotac said somewhere the CPU power draw is rated up to 130 watts. You can probably get a comfortable 4.2 GHz OC without pushing it too much.

I'd recommend this RAM. (I just tested it on the board myself)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231440
All you have to do is set the numbers in the BIOS to 7-7-7-21 and you will have something nice and fast. Scores around 7.7 in WEI. Of course if Zotac makes a Z68 it would support faster frequency RAM so you would have more options. (H67 maxes at 1333)

Overall I would highly recommend the H67 from Zotac, it is much much better than their earlier ITX mobos. The only downside to the board is the H67 chipset. Everything else is really nice.
 
@fr500
Im' thinking of putting the 3.5" on the side anyway. I want to mount it vertically.

But so damn many complications. Sometimes im just thinking to buy a SG07.
 
I'd like to add to this discussion regarding the PSU and the Scythe Shuriken Rev. B.

I have the following setup for about half a year now:
- SG05 300W w/ PSU sucking air from the case and propelling it outwards.
- ECS H55H-I
- i5 750 w/ Scythe Shuriken Rev. B. w/ 120mm papst fan blowing towards the PSU.
- HD6870
- 4GB DDR3
- Crucial C300
- Samsung F1 1TB

In regards to the powersupply:
As long as you keep your CPU stock en try to undervolt it as much as possible you'll be fine... My PSU doesnt get hot at all during gaming. Of course the 2600k spreads more heat then an i5 750, so you better take the 2500k, for the sake of heat.

In regards to the Shuriken Rev.b.:
The Shuriken should fit almost EVERY m-ITX board, but you have to know the trick.
The shuriken gets attatched to the motherboard using these clips. Normally they are both slightly curved outwards, a bend of approximately 20 degrees, as you can see here. If you want it to fit on motherboards like for example my ECS H55H-I or any other m-ITX board, you will need to bend the clips. Bend 1 clip so that its almost completely straight and bend the other even further, so that it compensates. If you attach the cooler to your motherboard then, you should have just enough space, if you have bent them enough. Since the base of the Shuriken is much larger then any recent Intel chip, its not a problem that the cooler shifts position.
In my case, the cooler still touches the retention bracket of my HD6870's cooler, but it has not given me any problems.

The fan is a PAPST 4122GLL or something (dont remember correctly) but its whisper quiet but still moving quite a lot of air.

Before: idle 45, load 80-85
After: idle 30, load 55-60

If you want to see some pictures, you can find them here:
http://foto.arkona.be/#0.11

Im sorry if i made some language faults, english is not my mothertongue.
 
thanks for the interesting info, especially i see you got a 6870.
How much room is there left? Could you fit a 6950 without cutting the case?
 
Hey ithanium2...sorry I didn't make it in to post earlier. My rig is still running great with the 300W model running the OCed i5 750 and the HD 5870. LMK if you have anymore questions about it :)
 
Well, about the temperatures. Do you think it would work OK with an air cooler? or WC is a must for decent load temps?
Thing is, aside the costs. I heard that they are quite noisy. Also I am still unsure how will an ODD and 3.5" HDD (mounted on the side) would still fit.

Would also like to know the lengh of that videocard miahallen. I wonder if a 6950 would fit in there.
 
Last edited:
They are not really noisy from 2ft distance most likely your GPU will be noisier under stress

I dunno how are you gonna mount the 3.5" on the side either but the odd bay fits without issue
 
cj3waker said:
the samuel is a horrible cooler for the price. IF you dont get the axp-140, which is the best IMO, just get the scythe revision B. it fits tight but is totally do-able, even with a backplate on the gpu
Click to expand...

Really...I have two and have not had any issues. One on a e5200 and the other on a Q9550, both do a great job esp when tight space requirements are an issue. I have a cogage MST-140 that would not fit in the PC-Q07 case so I went with the samuel 17 was impressed and bought another for my main desktop PC.

I can't recall how much I paid, but I see that performance-pcs is listing them for $42, not too bad. I actually had a cogage MST140, but it would not work with my case and I had to go with the Samuel. Might try it on my new build, but I'd have to buy the 1156 rentention kit for another $9. Sidewinder lists the samuel for $39, I believe I paid around that.
fr500 said:
Tomorrow I'll get my parts and do my ATX PSU testing.

I don't think you can keep the 3.5 bay and an H50 you might be able to fit one in the bottom if you dremel that lil screw receptacle

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/149537/photos/DSC03326.JPG[/IG]

[IMG]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/149537/photos/DSC03330.JPG[IMG]

The H60 is a better fit than the H50 for this case[/QUOTE]
I would really like to try out the H60, the H50 I have sitting in my closet was a tad too tall and I didn't feel like modding the case to get it to work.



Oh and as to zotac vs asrock. I can tell you I had issues with the zotac wifi, so much so that I eventually disabled it. I have random issues every so often, but it is pretty stable for the most part. Not as stable as my gigabyte based build, but not bad.

This next build I went with the asrock mitx, I'll have to wait a bit before I get it put together, but I have heard good things.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Ok bad news.... can't do the PSU fitment testing. PSU arrived late (today) and my customer is annoyed so I won't have time to test.

I did a quick measuring with the PSU outside, somethings to consider
(Silverstone Strider Plus 500w vs SG05B)

- You need a very low profile cooler
- You need to remove the ODD tray
- You need to bend the PSU holder tab and drill two holes

So that's it, mostly any PSU will fit provided you use a low profile cooler and don't use any of the stock drive bays. best choice would be an SSD + 2.5" HDD fitted on the bottom or side of the case.

By the time you have bought an SG05 + Modular ATX PSU you could have gone for the SG07.
 
Yes. Well ATM I am putting my project on hold and just gonna upgrade my video card.
An E5200 with a GTX560/570 or AMD 6950/6970 will be wierd, but with some O/C i will be able to play Battlefield 3 i am sure.

The decision is taken by multiple reasons. Lack of all money(I wanted to buy the components over the period of 2 months), none of the cases I want are available in my country (on websites they are in stock when i dont care about them, and 3 days later when im interested they magically go out of stock.

In the future i will consider the Silverstone Sugo SG07, Lian Li PC-08B and even 2 big cases like Thermaltake Lanbox or Armor.
I think waiting will do me good. Maybe a more powerful(and non chirping) SFX PSU will be available. Maybe new cases or some revisions will be available, considering that USB3 and eSata should be normal features even for a SFF case.
I am not abandoning my gaming cube project. It was a dream of mine, ever since I saw a Shuttle barebone in a magazine in early 200x.

I am glad that I found such a passionate and dedicated community here and I'll check in regularly to see what you guys are doing.
 
very cool I am thinking about doing a mini pc but one with a core i7 950 later getting a core i7 970 with 1-2 GTX 580's poppped into it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top