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Super small mini-itx build any comments appreiated


Laststop

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I've been holding on to my ncase m1. It was a crowd funded project to have lian li build a custom design and produce 1000 of them. It's the most space efficient amazingly tiny case that can still hold a lot of stuff. I just need to find a 1tb pci-e m2 ssd.

 

The build is something like this:

 

i5-5670k (broadwell unlocked i5)

Asus Z97 mini itx mobo

GTX 880 Maxwell

Corsair H100i CPU cooler

Gelid GC extreme TIM

Aerocool DS 120mm fans

Noctua 92mm exhaust fan

1TB m2 SSD pci-e interface

Silverstone 450 watt SFX PSU

Panasonic Slim slot load blu ray writer

Gskill 2400Mhz 2x8GB ram

ncase m1

 

I'm open to any suggestions. Already own the case, the ram, and the slot loading drive, and the TIM. So the rest of the purchase should be somewhere around 2000 dollars. But for all that I'm getting it's actually a value price. Places that build stuff for you would charge well over 3500 for all this. I really need help finding a 1TB m2 ssd that's gonna be the hardest part. The samsung sm951 isn't sold to the public only to oems and it's the only 1tb m2 ssd i know of.

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ncase m1 is designed perfectly for a large gpu in a tiny box. Also people are already running overclocked i7-4770k and GTX 780's off the silverstone 450 sfx it comes with 2x pci-e 6+2 cables 450 is enough and maxwell gm 204 uses less power than kepler gk210 and broadwell i5 uses less power than haswell i7 so mine will definitely run if those are.

 

Main purpose of build will be gaming and easy transportation to lan parties.

 

 

http://www.ncases.com/v2/m1.php

 

This case was custom designed by a couple people and a kickstarter was used to fund the mass production. They got a picture of it next to a can of coke just to see how incredibly small it is. Even tho it's small it has 4x 120mm vent spots and 1x 92mm exhaust. It can fit a full atx sized psu but it sticks out and looks ugly. You'd be surprised how far 450 watts gets you. Even under full load broadwell + maxwell will draw 350 or less.

 

Also silverstone has a 600 watt SFX sized psu coming out soon as well. I may get it if it's out in time just incase i want to rly push hard on the oc for both the gpu and cpu but its rly not needed. People chronically buy hundreds of more watts than they need.

Edited by Laststop

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JGo51qo.jpgjc0r4LF.jpg

 

Yes that tiny of a case supports even a dual gpu card. It's also extremely light and made of pure aluminum

 

jhhgolJ.jpg

 

Fully built space optimized like crazy. The gpu draws fresh cold air from vents in the bottom this actually keeps the gpu cooler than a lot of larger cases cause it gets direct cold air sucked onto it. The fans on the side can support the 240mm rad for the cpu

Edited by Laststop

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ncase m1 is designed perfectly for a large gpu in a tiny box. Also people are already running overclocked i7-4770k and GTX 780's off the silverstone 450 sfx it comes with 2x pci-e 6+2 cables 450 is enough and maxwell gm 204 uses less power than kepler gk210 and broadwell i5 uses less power than haswell i7 so mine will definitely run if those are.

 

Main purpose of build will be gaming and easy transportation to lan parties.

 

 

http://www.ncases.com/v2/m1.php

 

This case was custom designed by a couple people and a kickstarter was used to fund the mass production. They got a picture of it next to a can of coke just to see how incredibly small it is. Even tho it's small it has 4x 120mm vent spots and 1x 92mm exhaust. It can fit a full atx sized psu but it sticks out and looks ugly. You'd be surprised how far 450 watts gets you. Even under full load broadwell + maxwell will draw 350 or less.

 

Also silverstone has a 600 watt SFX sized psu coming out soon as well. I may get it if it's out in time just incase i want to rly push hard on the oc for both the gpu and cpu but its rly not needed. People chronically buy hundreds of more watts than they need.

That case looks killer and can indeed hold one high end GPU. Power for it I think is your biggest overall concern if looking at anything larger than say a GTX 770 or HD 7970/R9 280X.  Putting it next to a Prodigy and the Coke can really puts the size into perspective. 

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450 will actually be enough. There are ncase m1 builds with i7-4770k and gtx 780 running off the silverstone 450 watt SFX PSU. It's an 80+ gold and comes with 2 pci-e 6+2 cables. The 450 watt sfx psu is good enough unless you are gonna use a dual gpu card or the mega power hungry 290x. Basically anything GTX 780 and below can run off the silverstone psu maybe the gtx 780ti not sure if that will be ok. And it's a moot point because silverstone has a tiny SFX sized 80+ gold 600 watt psu in the pipeline coming out soon.

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450 will actually be enough. There are ncase m1 builds with i7-4770k and gtx 780 running off the silverstone 450 watt SFX PSU. It's an 80+ gold and comes with 2 pci-e 6+2 cables. The 450 watt sfx psu is good enough unless you are gonna use a dual gpu card or the mega power hungry 290x. Basically anything GTX 780 and below can run off the silverstone psu maybe the gtx 780ti not sure if that will be ok. And it's a moot point because silverstone has a tiny SFX sized 80+ gold 600 watt psu in the pipeline coming out soon.

Yeah I'll second this, Valve has been running the 4770/780/450w combo long enough in the steam machine prototypes that I see no reason to worry, sure if you start OCing you can get over the 450w pretty easy but not knowing actual specs of future hardware there may even be headroom for that on 450w within reason.  I would rather run a PSU that's more overkill than that but it's not like trying to run my main rig off the thing...(and like you said the 600w variant is coming out and should be before the rest of the parts are out)

 

The only real problem is both Broadwell and big Maxwell are unknowns at this point, I think it's very safe to say that intel will continue the mobile focus and keep very similar TDP at the least, nvidia on the other hand my run with any thermal/power headroom they can get and end up with cards drawing as much or more than the current gen.  Not something very many people know at this point.  Even so It's reasonably safe to say SOMETHING will fall into what works for this build.

 

Not much to really comment on seeing as two major parts aren't even out yet and one will replace a recently launched item other than to wait as long as possible to buy the other parts that are out now, things like the SSD are only going to drop in price as they get more common and no point watching it drop in value in the packaging.  

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well we do know the gtx 880 will be gm204 replacing gk204 aka gtx 770 so its very doubtful that gm204 aka gtx 880 is going to use more watts than gk210 aka gtx 780 and gtx 780 is already proven to run in it.

 

nvidia hasn't made any announcements on gm210 which would be the maxwell equivalent of the gtx 780ti

 

i'm waiting for broadwell/maxwell cause i'm in no super hurry. I currently have an x58 core i7-980x oc'd to 4.2ghz 24GB 1866Mhz ram Radeon 5870 GPU 256GB Crucial c300 ssd and all the other usual crap in nanoxia deep silence 2 case. I'm actually gonna keep this PC right where it is. I'm really going to strictly game on my mini itx build. It's gonna be a hybrid gaming/HTPC/lan party. Connect it to my Samsung 46unb8500. It was Samsungs last tv that had a full array local dimming backlight as in actual led's over the entire back and not just edge lit. Wish they would make full array local dimming backlights again sadly that dream is dead. Sony had amazing RGB full array local dimming backlight in the xbr8 cost too much for them to continue that too it was some amazing tech tho but thats for another forum.

 

And yeah I am probably going to get the 600 watt version it's supposed to be out fairly soon. I want to have overclocking headroom I always like to see what my system can push at the very maximum and ill need more than 450 watts to max the cpu and gpu oc fully out

 

And geez I thought I had a lot of systems u guys on here are even more insane than me! I got my main tower/ alienware m18x r1/ and 2014 13" macbook air and this mini itx will be my 4th concurrently operational machine. They all serve their own purpose though and yes it is weird i use one mac osx system and the rest windows 7. The macbook air is just the best "ultrabook" I just use it when i'm on the go to browse the web and consume media. Yes I could use a tablet but I am anti tablet. macbook air can do everything a tablet can do and more and its just as easily portable. The m18x r1 may get retired tho. I currently use it as my lan gamer its the i7-2960xm @ 4.2ghz and i upgraded the gpus from crossfire 6990m to sli gtx 680m. I use the m18x like a portable desktop and bring a monitor keyboard and mouse all in a bag but the mini itx rig will basically take it place. Might have to ebay the m18x r1 to a lucky guy.

 

What I am very worried about is where to buy a 1TB m2 pci-e interface SSD. The Samsung sm951 was reviewed and it comes in 1TB size 22mm x 80mm and the more enterprise focused sm953 also comes in 1tb size and is 22mm x 110mm either one will fit under the asus mobo but as they are oem only products are they going to be possible for me to even purchase? Are there any other 1TB pci-e m2 ssd's on the horizon?

Edited by Laststop

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thx cokeman. I'll do a nice build journal on here and post pictures of every step and than post benchmarks and show me holding all that power in the palm of only 1 hand. Have it benching some hardcore numbers and it all fits in the palm of a single hand. Dimensions (H x W x D): 240 x 160 x 328mm, 12.6L and the entire case is 1.5mm thick pure aluminum weighs 2.7 kilograms or 5.94 pounds.

 

all the credit goes to the case designers http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1717132   that is the thread that started this amazing case idea. He had the balls to design an amazing high quality mini itx case that is optimized so incredibly well and then get a kickstarter going to fund the minimum ammount lian li required to make the case which was 1000 units and they sold like hotcakes I wish you guys could get one just keep your eyes peeled for another production run.

 

I need to score a 1TB Samsung sm951 or sm953 which is supposedly already shipping to oems. Does someone have a line on where to get it please!

Edited by Laststop

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  • 1 month later...

For those worried about the 450 watt being a problem silverstone has came through with the super tiny 600 watt 80+ gold sfx psu

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256109&cm_re=SX600-G-_-17-256-109-_-Product

 

Another piece of the puzzle falls into place :)

 

Now that I know I have 600 watts I am going to use big maxwell gm200/gm210 instead of the gtx 880 and gm204. Still got lotsa time anyways.

Edited by Laststop

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