Guides – SFF.Network

Mini Guide: Using “Fan Control” to Save a Broken GPU

A short while back, I took a punt on a broken Dell OEM RTX 3060 Ti from our local eBay competitor – TradeMe.co.nz. As an aside, eBay has never managed to get a foothold on the Aotearoa New Zealand market space as TradeMe offers such a dominant solution. I was in the market for a budget upgrade to my ASUS TUF RTX2060 that I purchased in mid-2020 – an excellent, albeit noisy card. The card was advertised as ‘working’, but with non-functional fans. Perusing the images included in the auction, it just looked like the ground wire on one of …

Guides

Build Your Own Budget NAS – a n00b’s Guide Pt 1

Firstly, a clarification. This is a guide written by a n00b, not a guide for n00bs. I am in no way an expert in networking, storage or servers. [mks_separator style=”blank” height=”2″] With Small Form Factor Network’s foray into video media (Namely YouTube) this year, I have realised the importance of having large amounts of storage. Until now, I have been living my (digital) life on a single 240GB OCZ Trion SSD, with backups made to SD media and flash drives… because? why not. Overall, this made for a very mediocre storage strategy, so even the most basic of external storage …

Guides

Convert Your NH-U12S or NH-U14S to Rotate 90 Degrees

In my review of the NH-U12S, I made mention of the weirdness surround Noctua’s decision to change the mounting system on the U12S and U14S coolers. It seemed odd to me to design an entirely new mounting system to rotate the cooler 90 degrees, but not make it compatible with other products in Noctua’s lineup. So, in the interests of finding something out, I took a screw driver to two coolers, namely the NH-D9L and NH-U12S. Before I go any further, any actions you take because of this guide are at your own risk, and SmallFormFactor.net and Minutiae LLC are …

Guides

How Small Can You Go? Part 2

Continuing on from the previous article, we are now looking at how different PSU locations can change the size and cooling capacity or a design. In a Small Form Factor system, the power supply is usually the biggest component by volume. Once again, throughout this article I will be using standard component sizes and measuring internally. When taking into account materials, component tolerances, manufacturing tolerances and design elements, the size can grow markedly from the internal volume. I haven’t covered all possible layouts, but it should give you an idea what to consider. I’m ignoring drives for this, as this is …

Guides

How Small Can You Go? Part 1

Small Form Factor is a challenge to a large part of the community – how small can you build? I set out to find out (with the help of Sketchup) how small can you really build with M-ATX? M-ITX? Let’s go… Throughout this article I will be using standard component sizes and measuring internally. When taking into account materials, component tolerances, manufacturing tolerances and design elements, the size can grow markedly from the internal volume. I haven’t covered all possible layouts, but it should give you an idea what to consider. I’m ignoring drives for this, as this is only a …