**NOTE TO READERS** After some further testing, I can confirm this build has issues with random shutdowns during gaming sessions due to power limitations. The internal brick also gets EXTREMELY hot under full load (can't hold a finger to it). That being said, I have had some success with undervolting the CPU and reducing GPU power level to compensate (see my posts below for specific details).
Bottom line: A 1060 + 65W CPU is just a little too heavy for the current brickless solutions. You may consider a 1050 Ti, a T processor, or some other kind of minor downgrade to compensate.
I hope this info is helpful to anyone considering a similar setup!
--------------------
Hi all,
Wanted to post some pics and comments on the "brickless" S4M I've been working on. Would love to hear any feedback you guys have, and also hope writing about some of the challenges/specifications may be helpful to others. Thanks to @Kmpkt for advice and @Josh | NFC for like half my parts, including the modded HDPLEX 160w with the C8 jack.
PCPartPicker link: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/nLpG3C
CPU: Intel - Core i3-8100 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-L9i 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z370N WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory: Kingston - FURY 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory
Storage: Western Digital - Black 1TB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Mini ITX OC Video Card
Other: Edimax EW-7611ULB 2-In-1 Wi-Fi & Bluetooth 4.0 Nano USB Adapter
Other: GeChic 1303i 13.3" IPS 1080p Portable Touchscreen Monitor with HDMI
Other: Intel Optane Memory Module 32 GB PCIe M.2 80mm MEMPEK1W032GAXT
Other: iClever Portable Tri-folding Bluetooth keyboard with Touchpad, (Snyc Up to 3 Devices), Ultra Slim Wireless Keyboard with Carry Pouch, Aluminum Alloy, Dark Grey
Other: RiteAV - 10 Feet 18 AWG 2-Slot Polarized Power Cord IEC320C7 to NEMA 1-15P
Other: Machined ON/OFF Switch
Other: MINI Feet
Other: NFC Skyreach 4 Mini
Other: HDPLEX 160W AC-DC
Other: Dynamo Mini 160 DC-ATX
This case was surprisingly easy to work in... at least at first. I initially put all the parts together EXCEPT the HDPLEX 160W AC-DC unit. Josh was going to be sending this to me after modifying it with a C8 jack to work in the case. I thought that once it arrived all I would have to do is remove the front plate, stick the PSU in, plug it in and close things up. Unfortunately, it turned out that thing is a lot bigger than I anticipated and it didn't fit into that opening behind the front panel.
Next I tried putting in the PSU first then mounting the GPU. Uh oh. Ohhh no. I'm going to KILL Kmpkt, I thought he said this would fit!?
Ok I had one last idea. I took everything out, put in the GPU first, then stuck the PSU in the motherboard chamber first and started sliding it over into place. It doesn't REALLY fit. You have to really cram it in there, like it obstructs the GPU shroud and they make strong contact. If there's a positive I guess it's that absolutely no tape was needed to mount the PSU. The fit is so tight that thing isn't going anywhere.
This does lead to my one question for the group: Does anyone think I should be concerned about the heat of the PSU melting the (plastic?) GPU shroud? I'm not really sure and haven't been running the system yet due to this particular concern. If it could be an issue, this build actually may not work. Possibly if I remove the plastic from the end of the card there, although I think that is part of the airflow design of the card (funnels air to exhaust out the back).
Next up was to mount the motherboard and connect the PCIe riser. This was tough to do, especially since the GPU didn't have a lot of give. In the 1st picture you can see I was able to push the GPU back (towards the C8 cutout) as far as it can go in the slot, which gave me just enough room to work with the riser.
Those of you who have built in this case may notice something funky about that 2nd picture above... Yep, I forgot the drive mount. Ugh!! Take out the motherboard & I/O shield, stick in the drive mount, push it over above the GPU... Uh oh. Ohhh no. See the way the back of the bracket sort of hangs down (where you would line up the back of a 2.5" drive)? I've got this in backwards since in this orientation I'd have to run the SATA cables around the far end unnecessarily. Note also that the PSU's height means I would *not* be able to mount both 2.5" drives in the build. I ALSO can't flip the mount and push it back into place, again because it doesn't clear the PSU.
So I had to take EVERYTHING apart again. I'm back to ground zero and loaded in the GPU, *immediately followed by the drive mount*, THEN the PSU. I also took this opportunity to run the 6+2 pin under the GPU. The PSU completely impedes wiring at the front of the case, and I thought this looked cleaner than sitting on top of the GPU backplate (this happens to be the only wire running on the bottom of the case).
I also went ahead and connected the C8 jack at this point. Interesting note, with the drive mount screwed in the C8 jack can't be secured. Similarly, with the C8 jack screwed in, the drive mount can't be either (pictured). That said, in this 2nd configuration the C8 screw holds the drive mount up sturdily enough and it isn't able to move around.
Eventually, I was able to complete the GPU chamber, remount/reconnect the motherboard components, clean up the cabling, and screw everything back in!
In the end I had to follow this EXACT order to get everything to fit properly: GPU -> drive mount -> AC-DC unit -> connect 6+2 PCIe and C8 cables -> I/O shield (this opening is the only way to insert the drive mount!) -> mobo -> PCIe riser. The rest doesn't really matter, although I will say with so many cables shoved together near the 24-pin (front of the case), I found it helpful to connect the front-panel power/LED before hooking up the CPU power, SATA, etc. Although I had already mounted the CPU cooler a few days prior, note that both sides of the case are removable, which would have made this easy to do at any point in the build.
Just a couple final shots. The 1st shows me installing Windows with the portable monitor & keyboard in use. Those with a discerning eye will notice the case configuration is different: yes, I took this picture before receiving the HDPLEX unit today. The last picture shows the whole set up packed up and ready to stick in my suitcase. The size of the case is comparable to my PS4 Pro. It even fits in my laptop bag if needed (will probably use this option to avoid gate checks). The 13" monitor is in a sleeve there sitting perfectly on top of the case (dimensions are almost identical), and you also see my Dualshock 4 in a Steam controller case on top of the pile, which may be a good reference for scale.
Thanks for reading and let me know any questions or comments!
Bottom line: A 1060 + 65W CPU is just a little too heavy for the current brickless solutions. You may consider a 1050 Ti, a T processor, or some other kind of minor downgrade to compensate.
I hope this info is helpful to anyone considering a similar setup!
--------------------
Hi all,
Wanted to post some pics and comments on the "brickless" S4M I've been working on. Would love to hear any feedback you guys have, and also hope writing about some of the challenges/specifications may be helpful to others. Thanks to @Kmpkt for advice and @Josh | NFC for like half my parts, including the modded HDPLEX 160w with the C8 jack.
PCPartPicker link: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/nLpG3C
CPU: Intel - Core i3-8100 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-L9i 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z370N WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory: Kingston - FURY 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory
Storage: Western Digital - Black 1TB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Mini ITX OC Video Card
Other: Edimax EW-7611ULB 2-In-1 Wi-Fi & Bluetooth 4.0 Nano USB Adapter
Other: GeChic 1303i 13.3" IPS 1080p Portable Touchscreen Monitor with HDMI
Other: Intel Optane Memory Module 32 GB PCIe M.2 80mm MEMPEK1W032GAXT
Other: iClever Portable Tri-folding Bluetooth keyboard with Touchpad, (Snyc Up to 3 Devices), Ultra Slim Wireless Keyboard with Carry Pouch, Aluminum Alloy, Dark Grey
Other: RiteAV - 10 Feet 18 AWG 2-Slot Polarized Power Cord IEC320C7 to NEMA 1-15P
Other: Machined ON/OFF Switch
Other: MINI Feet
Other: NFC Skyreach 4 Mini
Other: HDPLEX 160W AC-DC
Other: Dynamo Mini 160 DC-ATX
This case was surprisingly easy to work in... at least at first. I initially put all the parts together EXCEPT the HDPLEX 160W AC-DC unit. Josh was going to be sending this to me after modifying it with a C8 jack to work in the case. I thought that once it arrived all I would have to do is remove the front plate, stick the PSU in, plug it in and close things up. Unfortunately, it turned out that thing is a lot bigger than I anticipated and it didn't fit into that opening behind the front panel.
Next I tried putting in the PSU first then mounting the GPU. Uh oh. Ohhh no. I'm going to KILL Kmpkt, I thought he said this would fit!?
Ok I had one last idea. I took everything out, put in the GPU first, then stuck the PSU in the motherboard chamber first and started sliding it over into place. It doesn't REALLY fit. You have to really cram it in there, like it obstructs the GPU shroud and they make strong contact. If there's a positive I guess it's that absolutely no tape was needed to mount the PSU. The fit is so tight that thing isn't going anywhere.
This does lead to my one question for the group: Does anyone think I should be concerned about the heat of the PSU melting the (plastic?) GPU shroud? I'm not really sure and haven't been running the system yet due to this particular concern. If it could be an issue, this build actually may not work. Possibly if I remove the plastic from the end of the card there, although I think that is part of the airflow design of the card (funnels air to exhaust out the back).
Next up was to mount the motherboard and connect the PCIe riser. This was tough to do, especially since the GPU didn't have a lot of give. In the 1st picture you can see I was able to push the GPU back (towards the C8 cutout) as far as it can go in the slot, which gave me just enough room to work with the riser.
Those of you who have built in this case may notice something funky about that 2nd picture above... Yep, I forgot the drive mount. Ugh!! Take out the motherboard & I/O shield, stick in the drive mount, push it over above the GPU... Uh oh. Ohhh no. See the way the back of the bracket sort of hangs down (where you would line up the back of a 2.5" drive)? I've got this in backwards since in this orientation I'd have to run the SATA cables around the far end unnecessarily. Note also that the PSU's height means I would *not* be able to mount both 2.5" drives in the build. I ALSO can't flip the mount and push it back into place, again because it doesn't clear the PSU.
So I had to take EVERYTHING apart again. I'm back to ground zero and loaded in the GPU, *immediately followed by the drive mount*, THEN the PSU. I also took this opportunity to run the 6+2 pin under the GPU. The PSU completely impedes wiring at the front of the case, and I thought this looked cleaner than sitting on top of the GPU backplate (this happens to be the only wire running on the bottom of the case).
I also went ahead and connected the C8 jack at this point. Interesting note, with the drive mount screwed in the C8 jack can't be secured. Similarly, with the C8 jack screwed in, the drive mount can't be either (pictured). That said, in this 2nd configuration the C8 screw holds the drive mount up sturdily enough and it isn't able to move around.
Eventually, I was able to complete the GPU chamber, remount/reconnect the motherboard components, clean up the cabling, and screw everything back in!
In the end I had to follow this EXACT order to get everything to fit properly: GPU -> drive mount -> AC-DC unit -> connect 6+2 PCIe and C8 cables -> I/O shield (this opening is the only way to insert the drive mount!) -> mobo -> PCIe riser. The rest doesn't really matter, although I will say with so many cables shoved together near the 24-pin (front of the case), I found it helpful to connect the front-panel power/LED before hooking up the CPU power, SATA, etc. Although I had already mounted the CPU cooler a few days prior, note that both sides of the case are removable, which would have made this easy to do at any point in the build.
Just a couple final shots. The 1st shows me installing Windows with the portable monitor & keyboard in use. Those with a discerning eye will notice the case configuration is different: yes, I took this picture before receiving the HDPLEX unit today. The last picture shows the whole set up packed up and ready to stick in my suitcase. The size of the case is comparable to my PS4 Pro. It even fits in my laptop bag if needed (will probably use this option to avoid gate checks). The 13" monitor is in a sleeve there sitting perfectly on top of the case (dimensions are almost identical), and you also see my Dualshock 4 in a Steam controller case on top of the pile, which may be a good reference for scale.
Thanks for reading and let me know any questions or comments!
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