The SFF and Mini-ITX thread

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Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

Surely someone like TechReport has done a review on an external gpu right?

# ¿ Feb 2, 2018 14:50

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 23:48

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

I hope GPU prices return to sanity. I didn't buy a particular version of the 1080 Ti when it first came out waiting for the price to drop after the initial release and welp lol RIP.

# ¿ Feb 6, 2018 23:08

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

Why are usb 3 motherboard connectors such poo poo?

# ¿ Sep 11, 2018 03:35

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

KS posted:

I've built my PCs forever, but the Corsair One is looking attractive. The price premium is relatively low for the i160 -- I get to $3200 for the same components in an NZXT H200 -- and the vertical form factor means I can shove it behind the monitor on my smallish desk.

I'd still rather get a Z390 chipset and not have to immediately upgrade the SSD, though. Are there any cool cases I should take a close look at before I give up and order? I'd want a 9700 or 9900, 2080 TI, and as close to dead silence and maintenance free operation as possible, in an SFF.

I can't believe I'm considering pre-built. Feels dirty.

Evolv shift from Phanteks might be worth a look. http://www.phanteks.com/Enthoo-Evolv-Shift.html

However it�s still gonna be bigger than Corsair One. I gotta admit the Corsair One has my attention too.

Coredump fucked around with this message at 13:42 on Feb 16, 2019

# ¿ Feb 16, 2019 13:39

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

1gnoirents posted:

I posted this in the GPU thread and I really should have here. These are my experiences with the SG13 case. I had been using a Silverstone RVZ02B but it was getting torn up with all the wacky crap I did to it. I loved it, and still do (that style of case is extremely easy to work with), but I wanted a radiator spot without taking up too much volume. A lot of the options in this space seems oddly expensive but the SG13 came through at a price actually lower than I wanted to spend.

Important parts are FE 2080ti with modified NZXT G12 bracket, Corsair H50 quiet AIO, and a 9700k using a Cryorig C1 with a replacement 140mm Prolimatech fan as the Cryorig one had bad bearings for a long time now. Also I have delidded and lapped the CPU die and used a larger copper IHS since I was 100% certain CPU temps were going to be the weakest point.Pretty tall order for this tiny case

Lapping these parts was far more helpful than I thought it would be. A verifiable drop across the board by a ~3-5 degrees, dont know where the real bottleneck was though.

Modified G12 bracket. I had to cut off the little leg of the L shape of the bracket completely off and make some notches for power plug clips and hose routing.

Had to install the bare PCB first then maneuver the bracket and water block onto it from there. Not the most fun I've ever had, and for other reasons I've done this like 8 times now

Tight fit

Love the end result though. Those are 13" ultrabooks stacked there for size comparison

I wasn't entirely sure I could actually make this fit with the GPU. It was possible in theory, but very nearly almost impossible in reality. But with the cuts it fits just fine so this ended up being very economical to water cool this GPU, I had no interest in an open loop setup just to make this fit.

For thermals I removed the factory 120mm AIO fan and sandwiched two Noctua 120mm slim fans. This turned out to be key, the H50 could not keep up in this environment. Others may be just fine stock though. With the 2 new fans it works perfectly. I have it setup to run nearly silent but it still never throttles even under a heavy long load topping out at 77* with a max overclock. The CPU on the other hand hits 80*, which is fine, but its currently just stock at 4.6 ghz all cores. I will try to work on this a bit but I knew I'd be giving up top end CPU clocks with this case.

The effort difference between this case and the RVZ02B is pretty extreme. The RVZ02B, and presumably all stacked chamber style designs, was literally easier to build in than a normal case. This SG13 was the polar opposite due to its more traditional layout. But the end result was absolutely worth it and I already love the little thing. For $40 its a real winner in my book. Nothing is particularly nice about it if you ignore price but it delivers on every front without any glaring faults.

4 out of 4.75 stars would buy again

A weird quirk about the G12 bracket, not sure if this is common knowledge but it does work with the RTX card perfectly - if you use the AMD bracket. Its really bizarre but other people have found the same thing elsewhere as well when I looked it up.

I really like your build. I wonder how this case would handle moving the power supply to the front, letting the power supply get air from the front grill, and then using the top of the case to mount fans, radiators, etc.

# ¿ Mar 10, 2019 16:18

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

Turn down sharpness to 0 anytime you have a pc going to a TV and see if that helps.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2019 14:08

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

buglord posted:

~~Silverstone Sugo 13 do it do it do it~~

wot in tarnation mATX mobo

Sugo 12 sleeply looks up. "is it.... my turn?"
https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=540&area=en

The Sugo line could use a refresh and be really awesome again. For instance if they built the SUGO 13 for a front mount sfx power supply and left the rear open for tower coolers, etc. I suppose like they have the Sugo 08 setup but shrink the size to make it SFX only. Plus the 180mm air penetrator was an awesome fan, it would be cool for them to release an AIO with a 180mm radiator and fan combo for the top of the SUGO 08.

Coredump fucked around with this message at 16:30 on May 1, 2019

# ¿ May 1, 2019 16:26

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

StabbinHobo posted:

going any smaller seems to open hour hours of google work trying to figure out what the gently caress will fit and not overheat where (and also not be loud), and i mostly just ran out of steam sorting out that list.

also some of the very cool looking (indie?) cases you guys have mentioned seem lovely but for $200 vs $20, nah.

for portability i don't need like, grab-and-go. I just need to be able to take it in and out of the back seat of a toyota camry without smashing fingers.

Some of the Silverstone Sugo series cases support matx. They haven't been refreshed in a while but they're still good.

# ¿ May 1, 2019 19:19

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

necrobobsledder posted:

I see a lot of SFF builders using blower based GPU coolers while using an AIO for the CPU. Given that GPUs are a much bigger power consumer than a CPU in a gaming machine why don't more people have hybrid coolers for their GPUs and use a fairly lower profile HSF for the CPU? I ask partly because I think almost every SFF case I've seen like the Louqe Ghost and the NCase M1 were designed where there's no space for the pipes near the GPU and it's basically impossible to buy a smaller end SFF case because of the tubes coming off the GPU. I'm mostly annoyed trying to fit all my crap into a smaller case but it seems inevitable that I'm going to be back in a larger case with sound dampening material and accepting that a HSF that weighs 1 kg is the better all-around option.

I'm with you. The GPU is a much higher tdp and source of heat. If I was gonna water cool a component I would choose the gpu, get a lot more heat out of the case and put into the water loop.

# ¿ May 26, 2019 00:11

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

If you have your main pc on you could do a steam link to stream from main pc to tv.

Then you can look at intel compute sticks > intel nucs > gigabyte brix in that order for small form factor computers.

# ¿ Jul 26, 2019 03:21

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

I feel Fractal will fix some of the issues with the case on the second revision. Makes me wonder if external radiators that take heat out of the case will ever take off more.

# ¿ Mar 19, 2020 19:59

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

teagone posted:

CM Elite 130. The shoebox/microwave looking case.

Case can take a 120mm AIO. Or try an sfx power supply for more room above cpu? Comedy option put power supply up at front of case and let the psu get fresh air from the mesh front and then you�ll have all that room above the cpu for activities.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2020 05:11

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

Wish there were more cases that copied the Corsair One lay out. Pretty much a vertical sandwich case with a big exhaust fan at the top to draw air thru side mounted radiators. If other manufacturers were going to copy the idea make it wide enough to put fans on the side radiators instead of relying solely on the big top fan as Corsair does.

Looks like Sliger gets close: https://www.sliger.com/products/cases/sv590/

Coredump fucked around with this message at 16:12 on May 4, 2020

# ¿ May 4, 2020 16:09

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

orcane posted:

The Dan C4 will apparently grow a little bit more in order to take 3-slot GPUs (in the classic layout).

The redesigned version is interesting to me again, a small tower cooler and a thicker GPU should allow quieter operation than the A4's tiny top-down coolers and 2-slot GPUs which are often the cheapest loudest SKUs of recent high-end cards (I wrote about the original design in the past, it was noticeably larger but still had size/cooling restrictions closer to the A4).

It mostly looks like this right now:

The first draft was mostly aimed at watercooling and supported a 240mm radiator at the bottom + a 2-slot GPU in sandwich mode. I hope he can finish it this year.

Looks like the Ncase M1 except the power supply is now rotated.

# ¿ May 5, 2020 15:59

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

Ne Cede Malis posted:

Looking to get a 1440p setup in a mini itx form factor to finally play games now that I'm stuck inside for the rest of the year.

I live in a small space so i'd like something that's as silent as possible. I don't have a lot of time to custom build a water cooled system by hand so prebuilt would be nice. Are there any retailers out there that offer a silent, small gaming rig for $1500-2,500? The digital storm bolt x is pretty much perfect but they don't offer graphics card water cooling for anything less than a RTX 2080 which pushes the total up to >3k. Are there straightforward water cooling kits for RX 5600 XT or RX5700's?

Used Corsair One might fit the bill if you can find one cheap enough.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2020 04:39

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

Broken Machine posted:

Hi, figured this thread might find this interesting as well so crossposting

Total case volume is just under 2 liters, turned out fairly well. Now I just have to figure out this key repeating issue when i use a wireless keyboard on some of the usb ports.

Hey I have that too and it sucks.

# ¿ Jun 29, 2020 18:20

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

Broken Machine posted:

Linux? I think maybe it's linux, which I had to use as the base os so I could do gpu passthrough. It seems to just be the usb 3 ports that are affected.

No I'm on Windows 10 with an amd platform. Its a microsoft sculpt keyboard giving me the issue every now and again.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2020 21:11

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

Happy_Misanthrope posted:

Someday, somehow, there will be a video review of the NR200 that actually shows what the gently caress it looks like with sata drives installed - people still use these things folks

Spinning disc or 2.5 ssd�s?

# ¿ Aug 18, 2020 18:48

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

HappyCapybaraFamily posted:

Yeah, that was my main concern. It's been handling an RTX 2080 okay so far, but that is significantly lower TDP than the upcoming 3080.

And I kinda wish I read this before somehow successfully putting in the order for the 3080 this morning Oh well!

If you actually get your 3080 and have regrets I have no doubts you�d be able to resell and more than make your money back.

# ¿ Sep 17, 2020 19:49

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

teagone posted:

I'd like to see Meshify shrunk down to around the size of an NR200. Call it the Meshify C Pico or something.

Problem these case makers run into with a traditional tower layout style case is that the mitx motherboard is quite small but the video cards are quite long in comparison. Once you make the tower big enough to give the gpu enough room with cooling at the front it fucks up the proportions.

# ¿ Oct 7, 2020 19:26

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

CyberPingu posted:

Urgh...I don't know what to do.

I either tread water and see if the n200 comes back in stock. Or sell my GPU and buy a smaller form card and a NCase m1

Tread water for n200. Comedy option get a waterblock for your 1080ti.

# ¿ Oct 14, 2020 03:11

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

External rads and quick disconnects.

# ¿ Oct 23, 2020 16:49

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

I'll be honest I know the Cooler Master is the objectively better case but for a living room pc that's gonna live in my entertainment center I'm probably gonna end up with the SG14 or SG15 to replace my old SG05.

# ¿ Oct 25, 2020 17:18

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

HappyCapybaraFamily posted:

Answered my own question. Rem0o's Fan Control is what you want. I confirm it works with the Gigabyte B550i AORUS PRO AX. I can finally tie my case fans to GPU temperature! It also lets me drive each GPU fan independently should I so choose.

To build on this some motherboards have a temperature_in header. My motherboard is an Asus x470-prime for anyone curious, yes its not itx but full size atx. I got a $10 temperature sensor cable from Amazon that I fit between my waterblock and gpu and tied a case fan header to that. Works a treat to spin up the fans on my 240mm rad that cools my gpu. The cpu stays air cooled cuz it doesn't shunt out the heat that a gpu does.

# ¿ Nov 6, 2020 18:38

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

I moved my old desktop z97 system into the Sugo 14 case. I have to say I really like the case and the flexibility it gives me for how I want to cool things and where I can mount drives etc. In my old Sugo 05 I have an SSD just hanging out in the front of the case held in place by cable tension. In the 14 there's a drive mount in the case and two up front that I saw. I fit a 240mm radiator with no problem. I will say using an sfx power supply with atx bracket gave me more room for cable clutter but a full size atx power supply wouldn't have been a problem.

I'm thinking of getting me a cheap ryzen 7 system to put in there depending on sales over black friday. Fits nicely if a little snuggly in my media center beneath the tv.

# ¿ Nov 9, 2020 15:56

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

Been meaning to update the thread. I got a Sugo 14 and what a joy that thing has been to build in. Having the ability to take off all 4 panels has been :kiss:

. I originally moved my i7 z97 system into the case before that got yanked out and put into a Sugo 13 for my niece. I currently have a Ryzen 3600 b450 itx system. It fits well in my entertainment center and every time I have to work on it it�s been easy mode.

I know Ali didn�t care for the case and he raised solid points but if you need something to fit in an entertainment center I feel the NR200 will be too tall and I don�t think it can be laid on its side. In this niche case I feel the Sugo was the best fit for my needs.

FuzzySlippers posted:

Anyone ever built a SFF all in one (monitor + SFF attached)? For a fun project I've been wanting to do kind of a home portable SFF build to use some of the extra parts I have lying around. The kind of thing you could move around the house a few times a week but nothing you'd ever actually want to travel with or use like a laptop. I know this would be incredibly easy with one of those tiny intel/nvidia all-in-one pcs slapped onto the back of a monitor but I wanna be able to use some of my desktop parts. Maybe a SFF with a handle that's attached to a monitor and setup to only use one power cable like a lovely looking bulky imac?

CHIEFTEC BRAVO Series BL-01B-OP Black Computer Case https://www.newegg.com/black-chieft...-030-_-11242020

Also DIY Perks on YouTube took a laptop, slapped the motherboard on the back of a monitor and made an all in one. I�m sure you can some ideas from the techniques he used.

Coredump fucked around with this message at 06:11 on Nov 24, 2020

# ¿ Nov 24, 2020 06:04

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

DrDork posted:

The answer is a Chinese special--they make some weird as gently caress stuff over there, particularly for older CPUs. I'm not sure how wise a buy it is, given that each socket only has two RAM slots and they're 100% guaranteed to have cut corners everywhere they could. Especially when for only a few bucks more ($30 shipping, after all) you could get a dual-socket Supermicro that you know was designed well.

You got a super micro board you would recommend in this case?

# ¿ Nov 24, 2020 06:55

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

DrDork posted:

If you really have a need for dual E5-26xx v2's, get the SuperMicro X9D series. Obviously you'd be buying used instead of new, but there are always great deals you can get. This X9DR3-LN4F+ for example, is $150 for a dual-socket, 24-RAM slot, 4x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot board with dual E5-2630's with heatsinks already on there. It's also obviously large (eATX, so ~13"x13"), but what can you do?

I mean, don't get me wrong, the crazy China-boards are sometimes good options if you really want a new-production board for some reason, the used market is utterly terrible, or because they did something that even ASRock wouldn't be crazy enough to do, like this thing. But if you just need standard(ish) old server stuff, eBay has a tooooon of high quality parts selling for super cheap most of the time.

Awesome, thank you. I'm already looking at cases to throw something like that in.

# ¿ Nov 24, 2020 16:41

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

particle9 posted:

The thing I don�t understand with the meshilicious is how you have multiple displays if you need to use a right angle connection. It seems like you would maybe be able to use like two before they were pushing into one another.

Makes me wonder how the Corsair One accomplishes putting all its I/O out the back when its GPU is vertical. :thunk:

# ¿ Dec 29, 2020 23:09

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

At this rate computers will be gpus with a cpu, ram, mobo module you add to them.

# ¿ Jan 8, 2021 17:51

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

Yeah having a full windows box hooked to the tv is nice. Sometimes browsing for things on the big screen is zen.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2021 18:08

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

LODGE NORTH posted:

There's no specific thread (I don't think?) for what I'm looking for, but I think you guys would at least be able to push me in the right direction.

I am looking for a small, simple way to run Windows on a whim. There are very very few times where I *need* Windows these days, but it's more than 0. I need USB, wifi support, some amount of storage, and HDMI.

Amazon sells these quirky HDMI sticks that have everything I need: https://www.amazon.com/Computer-Windows-Support-Bluetooth-AIOEXPC/dp/B08PF6K5NZ

They go for about $100 or so, but they also seem to offer a lot more usability than I would use -- so I'm wondering if there's a cheaper option available. $100 isn't a bad price for what I'd be getting at all, but I really need like, nothing major. It'll be for programs that for some reason don't work correctly in Parallels or when it's just easier to, y'know, be on an actual copy of Windows.

Like a Kangaroo Plus or a Latte Panda?

# ¿ Mar 30, 2022 07:27

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

Possibly more ITX cases will start supporting atx psu's. I want to say I read about transient power spikes with Nvidia that were beyond a lot of the sfx psu's ability to cope with.

# ¿ Aug 8, 2022 18:05

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

ijyt posted:

What's some good mATX cases to look for? Looking to get the boyfriend a more airflow friendly case. I'll be avoiding bottom intake due to pets and carpets. Looking for full-size GPU support, good airflow, as compact as possible without sacrificing too much 3.5" and 2.5" drive space.

Comedy option old school sugo cases from Silverstone. Like the sg-11 or sg-12.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2022 20:20

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

Working on watercooling an Hyte Revolt 3. The connection from the gpu to the cpu is gonna be tough.

# ¿ Aug 22, 2022 14:39

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

Lemme show off the cool lights on my gpu, cpu and ram and I�ll take care of cooling with an external rad. That�s why the M1�s ports for external cooling were so rad.

# ¿ Sep 13, 2022 19:13

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

Dark horse option Sugo 14 has been treating me well.

# ¿ Sep 14, 2022 14:05

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

shrike82 posted:

I�m considering building an air cooled Intel 13700K/7700X + 4090 AIO machine that can sit on a desk - this would purely be for gaming

The SSUPD meshlicious looks interesting - are there any other tall but small base area cases out there?

I quite liked building in the Hyte Revolt 3.

# ¿ Oct 3, 2022 15:17

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

Your requirement for hard drives makes things tricky.

Fractal Node 304 https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/node/node-304/black/
Fractal Core 500 https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/core/core-500/black/
Cooler Master nr200 (cooler just barely fits) https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/cases/mini-itx/masterbox-nr200/
Silverstone Sugo 14 https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/product/info/computer-chassis/SUGO14/

Off the top of my head. Im sure others will chime in. If you go AIO then you gain more choices.

# ¿ Oct 4, 2022 03:19

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 23:48

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

I was really looking forward to getting the C4 but was going to wait until Newegg got it stock but whoops. Now that Dan has shown the viability of that layout I wonder if Coolermaster will seize the opportunity to tweak the NR200 slightly and make their own version of it.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2023 16:44

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > The SFF and Mini-ITX thread

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