The SFF and Mini-ITX thread

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Internet Explorer: Jun 1, 2005

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# ? Mar 9, 2021 18:34

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# ? Apr 20, 2024 00:16

denereal visease: Nov 27, 2002; "Research your own experience. Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is essentially your own."

GRINDCORE MEGGIDO posted:

I might do this on an x570 board destined for a streacom da2, a beautiful hotbox. That tool is useful thnx. I uh, have broken chipset fan cables before trying to remove them

late as gently caress but I remembered that for the Asus X570-I motherboard you also need a 4.5mm nut driver to remove the spacers in the daughter board stack, hope you get this message in time!

Warmachine posted:

I don't know if this dumb project has warped my sense of affordable, but $130 for some of those pslate cables is refreshingly cheap?

They're a little pricey IMO when you can get full sets of custom cable extensions for ~80U$D, but extensions ≠ full on replacements. Additionally, there's some upcharge for the ~*craftsmanship*~ of made-to-measure power cables. Is it $50? Maybe not imo, but I don't possess the skills to do it

That said, I also recently sent plsate $toomuch for cables and eagerly await them lmbo; probably doing a full rebuild of my M1 because I want to change how I routed the CPU 8pin cable #justSFFstuff

# ? Mar 9, 2021 19:11

Canna Happy: Jul 11, 2004; The engine, code A855, has a cast iron closed deck block and split crankcase. It uses an 8.1:1 compression ratio with Mahle cast eutectic aluminum alloy pistons, forged connecting rods with cracked caps and threaded-in 9 mm rod bolts, and a cast high

Dreambigbyray trip report: Cables function properly. They're a little stiffer than I had imagined (unsleeved clear) which makes the 24 pin kind of a pain. The sad part is all cables are 1cm or more longer. I have one cable that is 2cm longer than I ordered which is uh, kind of a pain in the rear end in a small case. So yeah, doing it again I'd either just buy the crimper and do it myself or just pay for some pslates. Buy once, cry once.

edit: I put in my order like the minute they opened up from their Lunar new year closure, so maybe that's the reason for sloppy measurements.

Edit edit: I just got an email from palate. 10UNSLEEVED For 10% off all unsleeved cables and merch lol.

Canna Happy fucked around with this message at 06:04 on Mar 11, 2021

# ? Mar 11, 2021 05:53

Sphyre: Jun 14, 2001

Where are the dang pics :argh:

# ? Mar 11, 2021 07:48

Head Bee Guy: Jun 12, 2011; Retarded for Busting; Grimey Drawer

Sphyre posted:

Where are the dang pics

when i come here, i want to live vicariously through all the clean nr200s, as i gaze upon my own, knowing full well the horrors that lie inside.

# ? Mar 12, 2021 01:44

VulgarandStupid: Aug 5, 2003; I AM, AND ALWAYS WILL BE, UNFUCKABLE AND A TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT TO EVERYONE. DAE WANNA CUM PLAY WITH ME!?

Any suggestions for cheap mATX cases that aren�t humongous? I�m upgrading my brother�s processor and got an mATX mobo for $40 in a bundle. Will be throwing his i5-8400, old ram and a power supply into a case and try to sell it. Bonus points if it has at least decent space for a GPU.

# ? Mar 12, 2021 04:39

Warmachine: Jan 30, 2012

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrSGpzEMNec

I want my pslate cables so I can do the final rebuild of my drat M1 and do some 1:1 tests between the Bykski and EK blocks. Who will win? Less restrictive airflow on the secondary radiator, or MOAR COPPAR, MOAR THEMRAL PADS :byodood:

# ? Mar 12, 2021 15:51

denereal visease: Nov 27, 2002; "Research your own experience. Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is essentially your own."

loving same

# ? Mar 12, 2021 20:01

Disharmony: Dec 29, 2000; Like a hundred crippled horses lying crumpled on the ground

Begging for a rifle to come and put them down

Canna Happy posted:

Dreambigbyray trip report: Cables function properly. They're a little stiffer than I had imagined (unsleeved clear) which makes the 24 pin kind of a pain. The sad part is all cables are 1cm or more longer. I have one cable that is 2cm longer than I ordered which is uh, kind of a pain in the rear end in a small case. So yeah, doing it again I'd either just buy the crimper and do it myself or just pay for some pslates. Buy once, cry once.

edit: I put in my order like the minute they opened up from their Lunar new year closure, so maybe that's the reason for sloppy measurements.

DreamBigByRay is nearer to me geographically so the price + shipping comes down to about $40 and makes a lot more sense than anything from Pslate so I decided to give him a try.

Suffice to say, the cables were underwhelming for the hype. It's stiffer than expected and trying to get the combs to control them just ends up snapping it to pieces. I also put too much faith in him knowing what to do just because I mentioned that it will be for the Ghost S1 because the cables look nothing like they'd fit in there at all - it's either too long or a tad short.

I'm giving it another shot though this time with my own measurements, sleeveless, and with combs preinstalled. Fingers crossed it's not as bad as the first batch. The preview he sent me looks a bit more promising.

# ? Mar 12, 2021 23:49

Lardroom: Oct 15, 2012

VulgarandStupid posted:

Any suggestions for cheap mATX cases that aren�t humongous? I�m upgrading my brother�s processor and got an mATX mobo for $40 in a bundle. Will be throwing his i5-8400, old ram and a power supply into a case and try to sell it. Bonus points if it has at least decent space for a GPU.

I'm also looking for a cheap mATX for some mATX ryzen boards I've lot lying around. I've been looking at the Cooler Master MasterBox NR400 as an airflow focused mATX ($65). The only ones in stock are the ones with an optical disk drive, though, so you lose that clean aesthetic. Seems to do very well on component clearance (346mm length, and CPU clearance of 166mm) and comes with 2 fans (probably trash), though.

I've also built in a DEEPCOOL Matrex 30, (~$30-35) and ran into some issues with interference from the back braket that I had to dremmel away. Comes with 1 exhaust fan and you'll have to supply your own intake at the front. GPU length is limited though. Good for a budget system using cheap components such as the stock cooler, or a cheap gammax cooler, or a rx 570/580. I've placed a 3600 cooled with a gammax and a pulse 5700xt in this case to no ill effect, though, while I was waiting for a better case and MB.

# ? Mar 13, 2021 22:28

Mu Zeta: Oct 17, 2002; Me crush ass to dust

The NR200 prices went up really fast. Weren't they like $60 a year ago. It's $100 now for the regular version.

# ? Mar 15, 2021 18:17

Butterfly Valley: Apr 19, 2007; I am a spectacularly bad poster and everyone in the Schadenfreude thread hates my guts.

Mu Zeta posted:

The NR200 prices went up really fast. Weren't they like $60 a year ago. It's $100 now for the regular version.

They were never $60, it was $80 for the regular and $100 for the NR200P. EU prices still look normal, �100 for the P in all the main amazons.

# ? Mar 15, 2021 18:31

Sphyre: Jun 14, 2001

got some small wifi antennas to replace the sharkfin antenna that came with my mobo + swapped my rad fans for some NF-A12s. and that's this build pretty much done :toot:

I can't think of anything else i'd want to replace or upgrade, except for a full custom loop, which I can't do with my current GPU because there's no waterblock that would fit in the ncase... and swapping an AIO for a CPU only custom loop would be a waste. doesn't stop that iceman pumpres from being awful tempting though! haha, just kidding.... unless....?

# ? Mar 17, 2021 06:21

Cygni: Nov 12, 2005; raring to post

Ali must be stopped. This is probably his best yet.

https://youtu.be/drJxRj3TipM

# ? Mar 17, 2021 08:08

denereal visease: Nov 27, 2002; "Research your own experience. Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is essentially your own."

Sphyre posted:

got some small wifi antennas to replace the sharkfin antenna that came with my mobo

nice, i also have an asus mobo and really disliked that loving thing. i got some of these for our builds and they've been good, only lost a few %age points on DL speeds vs the eyesore antenna

Cygni posted:

Ali must be stopped. This is probably his best yet.

https://youtu.be/drJxRj3TipM

posted this in the youtube idiots thread but IMO they're the best overall content producer in the DIY PC space

# ? Mar 17, 2021 11:10

nitsuga: Jan 1, 2007

Sphyre posted:

got some small wifi antennas to replace the sharkfin antenna that came with my mobo + swapped my rad fans for some NF-A12s. and that's this build pretty much done I can't think of anything else i'd want to replace or upgrade, except for a full custom loop, which I can't do with my current GPU because there's no waterblock that would fit in the ncase... and swapping an AIO for a CPU only custom loop would be a waste. doesn't stop that iceman pumpres from being awful tempting though! haha, just kidding.... unless....?

What antennas did you get? I tried the Amazon lottery with some and managed a whopping <1Mb of throughput.

# ? Mar 17, 2021 12:59

CyberPingu: Sep 15, 2013; If you're not striving to improve, you'll end up going backwards.

I was lucky I had an Asus PCIe network card that I salvaged the antenna off.

Seriously the ones that come with the asus mobos are loving useless

# ? Mar 17, 2021 13:03

Warmachine: Jan 30, 2012

CyberPingu posted:

I was lucky I had an Asus PCIe network card that I salvaged the antenna off.

Seriously the ones that come with the asus mobos are loving useless

I want to know who unironically thinks the sharkfin is a good aesthetic even. Because like, even if I was doing some rainbowpuke gamer setup, I'd throw that thing in the bin.

# ? Mar 17, 2021 13:10

denereal visease: Nov 27, 2002; "Research your own experience. Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is essentially your own."

sounds like you're not ~* tHe TaRgEt MaRkEt *~

# ? Mar 17, 2021 13:27

nitsuga: Jan 1, 2007

drat, I guess I'll scour eBay and SA-Mart for something like that to come up though. It's the only thing I've found that works worth a drat as much as I hate it. I've been bothered by it the least by attaching it to the side of the case I see from my desk. It still droops, so I find myself adjusting it every other day, but at least I don't see it when I'm doing non-computer things.

# ? Mar 17, 2021 14:18

denereal visease: Nov 27, 2002; "Research your own experience. Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is essentially your own."

i posted a link to these shorties upthread: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076SGTMFS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

easily get 116mbps down on my "100mbps" connection using these; are they not suitable for your application for some reason?

denereal visease posted:

nice, i also have an asus mobo and really disliked that loving thing. i got some of these for our builds and they've been good, only lost a few %age points on DL speeds vs the eyesore antenna

# ? Mar 17, 2021 14:35

LordAdakos: Sep 1, 2009

denereal visease posted:

i posted a link to these shorties upthread: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076SGTMFS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

easily get 116mbps down on my "100mbps" connection using these; are they not suitable for your application for some reason?

Those are listed as 2.4 ghz. Im guessing (s)he wants a 5 ghz compatible set of antannae

# ? Mar 17, 2021 14:44

Romes128: Dec 28, 2008; Fun Shoe

Cygni posted:

Ali must be stopped. This is probably his best yet.

https://youtu.be/drJxRj3TipM

I also mentioned him in the youtube tech thread, but this dude knows how to work a camera. He's become my favorite tech youtuber.

# ? Mar 17, 2021 14:46

nitsuga: Jan 1, 2007

LordAdakos posted:

Those are listed as 2.4 ghz. Im guessing (s)he wants a 5 ghz compatible set of antannae

Good catch. They also look pretty similar to the the <1Mb set I tried originally and Amazon totally screwed up my return on.

FWIW it�s a Gigabyte B450i I�m trying to find something for, and another set had too chunky of plastic for me to be able to thread both on. I�ll see what I can find though.

# ? Mar 17, 2021 15:53

Warmachine: Jan 30, 2012

Crossposting my write up from the Traveling CCircus of Wonders thread, so that someone is more likely to hold my toxx accountable for the utterly shameful state my build is currently in.

Warmachine posted:

I'm going to bookmark this space to post my finished product once the custom cables arrive and I devote some time to the final tests. But my COVID project is building a dual-radiator custom loop inside an Ncase M1.

For those not familiar, the Ncase M1 is 328mm x 160.6mm x 241.7mm, coming out to roughly 12.7L of internal volume. What makes it unique in the SFF space is that it is technically capable of mounting two 240mm radiators. To my knowledge, the only other case that does this is the relatively recent bigger brother of the Ncase M1, the NR200 from Coolermaster.

I purchased the case in January 2020, and assembled the rest of the non-salvage components following the first stimulus payment. This was phase 1. The GPU at this time was a spare ASUS DirectCU 970 from my old machine. I was waiting for the 3080 to release in September. To start, I used an Alphacool Eisbaer LT "AIO," which while nifty, I eventually regifted to a friend for his birthday after I started building my custom loop...

...in phase 2. Phase 2 is the new 3080 FE and getting the CPU on a custom loop. To do this, I got myself an IceMan Pump/Reservoir combo that is specifically designed to mount on the back of the M1's 92mm rear exhaust fan mount. This removes the pump and reservoir from the internal space making the actual cramming in of parts more manageable. GPU blocks for the 3080 FE were not ready at launch, so that would have to wait. But the 3080 FE's cooling solution is actually quite good for builds such as an Ncase M1. The "passive" fins in the center of the card are directly cooled by any bottom intake fans you mount in the case. That extra airflow made the stock temperatures and noise very reasonable.

Phase 3 is the current step. This is where I get the GPU block, secondary radiator, custom cables, and delid + direct die cool the CPU. The snag here is that I may be asking a bit too much of the case. While the 2080 has been demonstrably set up in a dual radiator configuration, the 3080 is a different beast. My first choice of waterblock, the gorgeous Vector FE Special Edition from EK, is a thick motherfucker, and leaves maybe 2mm of clearance between the bottom radiator fans and the base of the block. In this photo, the block is actually touching the machine screws used to mount the fans. Airflow is... not great. So I grabbed a B-stock Bykski block that was printed wrong--they engraved it with 3090 instead of 3080, which is what the block was actually machined for. The Bykski block is thinner than the EK block, but I've run into issues with the block's backplate preventing it from being inserted into the ASUS Z490-I motherboard because of the clearance between the back of the card and the VRM/IO shroud.

At this point, I'm not sure of the fitting issue is user error on my part or something else. I am waiting for a set of custom cables from pslatecustoms before I continue working on the system, since the final steps involve removing the motherboard and block to delid the CPU and install the direct die bracket, plus the pslate EPS cable is designed to route behind the motherboard. I'll also be testing the fitting of the two GPU blocks to see if I was just loving up trying to install the Bykski block, and benchmark them both (assuming I can make the Bykski block fit properly) to determine which is better for my setup.

This also feels like an appropriate time to mention that my 3080 FE, notorious for being a basically non-existent card scalping for 2-3x MSRP, is using liquid metal. This was my first time doing liquid metal on a GPU, and if not for me being UTTERLY OBSESSED with getting this right the first time, I'd have totally fried the thing. When I swapped to the Bykski block, I discovered I'd used too much LM in my original application, and a nice blob of highly conductive fluid was sitting right on the SMDs that I'd painted over with Thermal Grizzly Shield ~~protective varnish~~ nail polish. I'll be honest, when I was studying the process, the notion of painting over the capacitors with nail polish sounded weird as hell, but having experienced the result, 10/10 always use nail polish.

Bonus picture: As I said, I'm not done. I got frustrated with the Bykski backplate issue and left the job half-finished. I couldn't be bothered to put everything back together when I knew more stuff (the delid kit and an Aquacomputer Octo fan controller) was on the way, so I just kinda bodged it back together and sat it on my desk. No cats, no kids, no problem. Yes, the GPU does not have a backplate right now. Yes, the memory junction temperatures are awful, but well within GDDR6X spec. I promise, it won't be staying like this. Once the pslates arrive, I'll do the final assembly, testing, and post a picture.

If I don't, come up with some creative title to give me for my shame. Because christ having this thing sitting on my desk is offending me, and I'm the one who put it there.

# ? Mar 17, 2021 19:22

VulgarandStupid: Aug 5, 2003; I AM, AND ALWAYS WILL BE, UNFUCKABLE AND A TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT TO EVERYONE. DAE WANNA CUM PLAY WITH ME!?

I usually tear antennas off of dead routers and hold on to them.

# ? Mar 18, 2021 00:52

Sphyre: Jun 14, 2001

nitsuga posted:

What antennas did you get? I tried the Amazon lottery with some and managed a whopping <1Mb of throughput.

https://www.amazon.com/SFF-Noir-Shadowlink-Antenna-Bluetooth/dp/B08NCDJ33N

# ? Mar 18, 2021 05:41

Mu Zeta: Oct 17, 2002; Me crush ass to dust

Those look nice and compact but truthfully I just hide my sharkfin tumor on the other side of the desktop where I can't see it anyway

# ? Mar 18, 2021 12:51

CyberPingu: Sep 15, 2013; If you're not striving to improve, you'll end up going backwards.

Mu Zeta posted:

Those look nice and compact but truthfully I just hide my sharkfin tumor on the other side of the desktop where I can't see it anyway

I had to have mine in direct view of the access point of it to work.

Even if there was a cup in the way I'd get dropouts.

# ? Mar 18, 2021 13:18

Mu Zeta: Oct 17, 2002; Me crush ass to dust

Weird, the wifi thing that came with my Asus B450-i gets the best wifi signal in my house. Stronger than my phones and iPad it's rock solid.

# ? Mar 18, 2021 13:59

Sphyre: Jun 14, 2001

Mu Zeta posted:

Those look nice and compact but truthfully I just hide my sharkfin tumor on the other side of the desktop where I can't see it anyway

Do what makes you happy :c00lbert:

# ? Mar 19, 2021 03:58

Cygni: Nov 12, 2005; raring to post

Here's the update and numbers on the You Cant Buy This build:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeBxEb_kcxE

Really wish this case was available. I've got some Plans�

# ? Mar 20, 2021 18:03

Happy_Misanthrope: Aug 3, 2007; "I wanted to kill you, go to your funeral, and anyone who showed up to mourn you, I wanted to kill them too."

"Wish the NR200 supported more matx boards" - well here you go.

It is basically a complete NR200 clone, albeit doesn't come with any fans. If I didn't get the NR200 just a few months ago I may have gone for this, it's barely any larger than the NR200 which makes sense, so many GPU's being 3-slot these days means the difference in overall volume for a case when comparing MicroATX to mitx is negligible now unless your mitx case only has room for 2 slots, which is going to really restrict your GPU choices.

Only seen foreign youtube reviews for this atm but be interesting to see if it gets any traction.

# ? Mar 20, 2021 20:00

Warmachine: Jan 30, 2012

My pslate cables came... er, yesterday. I just finished a 1 hour OCCT power test with my Bykski block. Gonna review the log in the morning and see if I have the energy to tear it down again and test the EK block. I suspect the EK block is going to win even with more restrictive airflow on the secondary radiator.

# ? Mar 21, 2021 09:34

Warmachine: Jan 30, 2012

Update on my Ncase build: The pslate cables are fantastic. Last night I worked on getting the EK block reinstalled and replumbed. I misapplied the liquid metal which left a bunch of hotspots on the GPU and CPU dies, so I haven't done the EK block test yet. I might be able to do something about it today, but I doubt it--I'm low on liquid metal so I'm not sure I have enough to do a full reapplication to both dies.

That said, I got in touch with the folks at pslate and ordered two more items: a 50mm molex cable, and a custom 4-pin PWM cable that is open on one end. My fan controller is rated for 12V 2A, which will comfortably power my EK DDC pump. I'm going to rewire my pump to run off the PWM header on the controller. This of course means that I can only use it with headers rated for 12V 2A going forward, but it will make my build that much cleaner. I'm actually a bit surprised they had PWM connectors and 24 AWG cable on hand. I'm waiting for the invoice to confirm the order, but honestly if this goes through this is definitely one of my best sales experiences to date.

# ? Mar 23, 2021 19:24

danishcake: Aug 15, 2004

I finally got around to building in a Sentry 2.0 case I've had since the kickstarter. It was my first SFF build, but it honestly wasn't too bad. I guess I didn't try to anything too outlandish, but the hardest bit was changing the CPU heatsink backplate for the Noctura one. I did find that the hard drive bracket couldn't be used as the RAM was too tall, but I didn't intend to use it anyway.

* Sentry 2.0 case
* Ryzen 5600X
* NH-L9a-AM4 heatsink
* Asrock B550M-ITX/ac
* Corsair SF450 80+ Platinum PSU
* Some RAM and an M2 SSD

On boot it got stuck in a loop where a Windows notification was displayed with a message like 'reinitialising graphics driver' ever 10s or so. This turned out to be because the I had the PCIe slots left in gen 4, which I guess was pretty optimistic given the use of a riser.

Idles around 60W, which feels a bit high, and I'm not happy with the fan curves. It's super quiet, but ramps up a bit too aggressively on any load. I can configure a fan curve in the bios, but it seems to get overridden as soon as Windows loads. Are there any goon recommendations for fan management software?

# ? Apr 4, 2021 10:14

ijyt: Apr 10, 2012

I think I�m gonna end up swapping the NH-U12A for a 280mm AIO in my NR200, gets a little
too loud and hot for my liking with a 5900X.

# ? Apr 4, 2021 12:34

frytechnician: Jan 8, 2004; Happy to see me?

ijyt posted:

I think I’m gonna end up swapping the NH-U12A for a 280mm AIO in my NR200, gets a little
too loud and hot for my liking with a 5900X.

Tell me about it. I did an export in DaVinci Resolve and nearly had a heart attack.

# ? Apr 4, 2021 13:00

orcane: Jun 13, 2012; Fun Shoe

Are you running these CPUs unlocked (ie. unlimited TDP) or WTF?

# ? Apr 4, 2021 13:07

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# ? Apr 20, 2024 00:16

denereal visease: Nov 27, 2002; "Research your own experience. Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is essentially your own."

danishcake posted:

Sentry 2.0 build!

Looks nice, thanks for sharing! Which GPU did you get in there?

FWIW, my last ASRock board didn't actually read CPU temps or actually use the fan curve until I updated the BIOS 🙃 it was truly just the mass of the NH-D15S keeping the CPU cool :pwn:

Google around and see if anyone else has the same issue.

# ? Apr 4, 2021 14:41

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