What's new
Carbonite

South Africa's Top Online Tech Classifieds!
Register a free account today to become a member! (No Under 18's)
Home of C.U.D.

Build log for all you mini-ITX gaming PC enthusiast

scarecrow101

Epic Member
Rating - 100%
124   0   0
Joined
Feb 5, 2016
Messages
790
Reaction score
78
Points
3,685
Hey guys this is my very first build log going to build a Mini-ITX PC in the coming day or two the case that i found was for me exactly what I was looking for... REALLY small and can pack really premium grade components... This in my eyes will be a true no compromise mini-PC build where you don't have to settle with ONLY a mini-ITX form factor GPU or ONLY a single AIO radiator and you can overclock the CPU and temps and noise levels won't be a problem....

The Components:


  • 256gb samsung ssd

  • 2TB Seagate

The components aren't the BEST in anyway the system is dated compared to the newer stuff out there but this mini PC still has A LOT of horse power and upgrading the GPU to something like a 1080ti will give you near the best performance currently, if funds allow it... But I think the components in this build give a really good representation of a strong PC and I will see in the future how this case and the components deal with the heat and noise in this tiny case of only 14.985 Liters... If the temps are good with a 780ti then you can pretty much put any GPU in this case and you will see either better or similar temps... I will also be overclocking the CPU to the best clock speed that I feel comfortable with for every day use... So yeah stay tuned all components is currently being delivered :)
 
Last edited:
Got all the part yesterday... and assembled everything after work... Took me around 4-5 hours to dissemble my normal ATX rig and reassemble the mini-ITX rig.... the case on paper is small... But when i received it yesterday i then realized just HOW small it really is. I mean the case was a little bit bigger than the Antec H1200 pro box it came in :p, took forever to clear the cables and figure out how I'm going to fit everything in this small case will probably redo my cable management in the coming days.... But everything fitted to my surprise and i was lucky enough that the PC booted with my first test boot but my pump of my duel rad cooler wasn't plugged in, derp!!! So quickly plugged in the pump and the PC was 100%... Going to upload a few pics after work today and will do an OC and termal test this weekend to see if all the effort payed off to get a low temperature, near silent high performing shoe box of a mini-ITX computer... :)
 
Hey man, welcome to the itx scene. Personally, I love itx. Can be such a pain but I love the compact size of an itx pc. Upload pics please...want to see how case looks with components in. Good luck
 
My new mini PC... Sorry for the photos all my cables had to be moved to the side of the case because that was the only space i had to put the cables, in the middle of the case on the mobo its open to ensure no cables get caught up in the fans... This PC is crazy compact... because i went with a duel radiator there was no space for my ssd so i double sided taped the ssd to my power supply... The computers temps are ridiculously good... I OCed my i7 3770k to 4.6GHz @ 1.2V and saw a max temp of 80 degrees on the hottest core running Prime95 on its hottest stress setting... GPU temps are also really good... basically as good as running it in a full ATX tower.... So all and all I am happy with the end result... Had a Coolermaster Elite 130 before this... And was disappointed with temps and noise level (had to run my pc without the cover plate for it not to overheat)... This case is smaller and gives WAY better temps with being almost dead silent on idle... I am using Speedfan software to control my fan speeds of my radiator to not only check the CPU temps but the GPU as well because the radiator fans are the only ones i got for exhaust.
 
Last edited:
Nice build man :) toughest part of m-itx builds are cabling, if you have a bit extra in the budget https://beyondcustoms.net/ can hook you up with some nice custom cables, to length to remove some of the clutter.
 
[MENTION=12007]Death the Kid[/MENTION] Yeah would have been nice but i don't have a fully modular atx PSU... And this case unfortunately doesn't support fully modular ATX power supplies because they are simply too big... And the fully modular SFX PSU are REALLY expensive... will probably in the future get me one of these and get myself some custom cables but damn that price of the PSU xD
 
HOLY MOLY.. tight fit.
My 250D was just right to work with. Can't imagine anything that small!
 
[MENTION=23783]AceSwiftShooter[/MENTION] haha it was TIGHT... took me around 2 hours just to route cables and stuff in the case so they won't get caught in rad fans... But when i decided to go back to mini-ITX i decided to go for the smallest case that i can find in SA that supports duel Rad and full length GPU and full ATX PSU... This case supports basically the same as the 250D but is around half the size :p... I think the only smaller case(and not by a lot) is the M2 Ncase that supports the same components... But yeah man thanks for the MOBO and CPU... They run really good... and a 4.6ghz OC of the 3770k on 1.2V is REALLY good for the chip... so I am happy that i got a good chip
 
[MENTION=12007]Death the Kid[/MENTION] Yeah would have been nice but i don't have a fully modular atx PSU... And this case unfortunately doesn't support fully modular ATX power supplies because they are simply too big... And the fully modular SFX PSU are REALLY expensive... will probably in the future get me one of these and get myself some custom cables but damn that price of the PSU xD

Sorry, was a bit unclear. I noticed the sata power and data cables, I have the same issue in my elite 120. You can get shorter sata power cable with only a single sata power connector as well as shorter sata data cables since everything is so close together it should help eliminate any unused connectors.
 
[MENTION=12007]Death the Kid[/MENTION] oh i see yeah that should be nice and easier to work with, dammit man just got my CUD under control... Must resist but will investigate :) thanks for the tip man
 
[MENTION=26044]Bencrisp[/MENTION] Yeah I am extremely happy with the case it was cheap, REALLY compact and fits any GPU length that is currently available so upgrading in the future won't be a problem... and I am going to delid my 3770k today to get that nice super low temps... so I will be OCing this baby to get near 7700k performance... so CPU upgrades won't be necessary unless there is something that really catches my eye or performance of the new intel chips get a major BOOST in performance
 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom