Completed The MI-6 Microtower Case: Performance in 6.7L

firewolfy

Master of Cramming
Original poster
Nov 12, 2015
424
836
As has been discussed a few times, the gen 4.0 doesn't yield any measurable performance gain for GPUs. But, there is still the issue of some AMD MBs that don't switch from gen 4.0. I started researching whether pcie gen 4.0 should be a problem when using a riser cable.

I contacted Li-Heat and am waiting to hear back regarding gen 4.0 performance. I'll post when I hear back from them.

I also found this technical test video from PLDA that seems to show that a 10" pcie riser performs fine: PLDA Comparison Test
(caveat - I'm not an EE, so I could be misinterpreting the video)

Fire
 
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ignsvn

By Toutatis!
SFFn Staff
Apr 4, 2016
1,706
1,646
I agree it's not about performance.. i think more about future (and backward) compatibility.

I also think this whole gen 4 saga is really confusing, especially when gen 5 is also just around the corner.
 

ondert

Airflow Optimizer
Apr 16, 2017
340
161
Anyone has seen this beauty? Isn't it so nice only at 175 mm length?

 

ignsvn

By Toutatis!
SFFn Staff
Apr 4, 2016
1,706
1,646
Hmm I found this one instead. If my eyes are correct it's 190mm long. Not sure about global availability though.

 

rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
2,588
2,702
Hmm I found this one instead. If my eyes are correct it's 190mm long. Not sure about global availability though.

Actually without the bracket it is 175mm. That 190mm length is with bracket.

It will fit, I was able to squeeze an Inno3d RTX 2070 in mine and it is 196mm.

 

rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
2,588
2,702
As has been discussed a few times, the gen 4.0 doesn't yield any measurable performance gain for GPUs. But, there is still the issue of some AMD MBs that don't switch from gen 4.0. I started researching whether pcie gen 4.0 should be a problem when using a riser cable.

I contacted Li-Heat and am waiting to hear back regarding gen 4.0 performance. I'll post when I hear back from them.

I also found this technical test video from PLDA that seems to show that a 10" pcie riser performs fine: PLDA Comparison Test
(caveat - I'm not an EE, so I could be misinterpreting the video)

Fire

I full AMD build sounds very cool @firewolfy but there is the question if we will even see a RX 5700 itx sized GPU.
 

ignsvn

By Toutatis!
SFFn Staff
Apr 4, 2016
1,706
1,646
I'm waiting for @firewolfy to come up with updates about the gen 3/4 riser. I doubt i'll ever bottleneck gen 3 bandwidth, but would be nice for future support.

Also, other than Kensington lock, last time there was a suggestion about using hex instead of the usual philips + screw, but I'm not knowledgeable about those. Less stripping of the head?
 

DrAwesome95

Caliper Novice
Jun 25, 2018
27
9
I'm waiting for @firewolfy to come up with updates about the gen 3/4 riser. I doubt i'll ever bottleneck gen 3 bandwidth, but would be nice for future support.

The fastest card currently available to consumers (2080ti) barely saturated 8 lanes at Gen 3 speeds.
Thankfully it will be a while before that even becomes an issue.
Besides gen 4 ssds, I don't think PCIe Gen 4 is more than a gimmick.
 

ignsvn

By Toutatis!
SFFn Staff
Apr 4, 2016
1,706
1,646
The fastest card currently available to consumers (2080ti) barely saturated 8 lanes at Gen 3 speeds.
Thankfully it will be a while before that even becomes an issue.
Besides gen 4 ssds, I don't think PCIe Gen 4 is more than a gimmick.

I don't say it's a gimmick, but agree that as of now the immediate benefit is for newer SSDs.
 

huddy

Caliper Novice
Aug 22, 2018
30
29
Fire MI-6 SFF Ryzen Build

Alright, build is done although I haven't run memtest or performed any benches in Linux yet as I haven't installed.

Specs:
Gigabyte Aorous X570I
Ryzen 7 3700X
Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8GB, 3200MHz (B-Die Version, will try for CL14)
Samsung 970 Pro 500 GB
Samsung 970 EVO 500 GB
Corsair SF450W
Noctua NH-L12S
Noctua NF-A9x14 intake fan

Couple of build notes:
  • Installing PSU first would have been wise as the NH-L12S overhangs the board in the installed orientation and contacted the PSU during installation. I'm thinking it didn't end up messing with the mount based on idle temperatures but I have my eye on it.
  • NH-L12S does contact the sidepanel and cause a slight bulge (about .5-1.0 mm) as expected. I didn't try to bend the heatpipes before installation.
  • A custom 24 pin cable would go a LONG way towards cleaning up the wiring. The 8 pin and PCIe 6+2 didn't have a ton of extra cable to deal with.
  • Case quality is fantastic and was smooth and easy for my first SFF build (not sure if my old PC-V351B is > or < 20L but it was essentially SFF before that was much of a thing). Took about 2 hours, much of that being me taking time to ensure I installed the CPU and HSF correctly (didn't want to destroy the CPU by accident).
  • Just enough places for zipties given that my build didn't have any 2.5" drives.
  • I'd look to get a custom cable for SATA drives if I ever add 1x or 2x 2.5" drives to avoid having excess cable inside the case.
  • So far X570I chipset fan is inaudible from 3 feet (as is the entire case) while sitting at idle for 4 hours. I'll post some temps/benchmark stuff once I have time to install Linux over the next week. I'm hoping the RdRand BIOS fixes get pushed out this week so I can jump straight to Ubuntu 19.04 instead of 18.04 LTS. I may just go ahead and use 18.04 for benchmark/stability tests and then repeat once 19.10 comes out as I need to start migrating files from my old Windows 7 machine.
I'll generate a build thread here and reddit probably next week. @firewolfy , is the MI-6 on pcpartpicker? If so, I'll update my build on there and make it public also. I clearly need to look into how to embed the imgur shots too.
 

rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
2,588
2,702
Fire MI-6 SFF Ryzen Build

Alright, build is done although I haven't run memtest or performed any benches in Linux yet as I haven't installed.

Specs:
Gigabyte Aorous X570I
Ryzen 7 3700X
Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8GB, 3200MHz (B-Die Version, will try for CL14)
Samsung 970 Pro 500 GB
Samsung 970 EVO 500 GB
Corsair SF450W
Noctua NH-L12S
Noctua NF-A9x14 intake fan

Couple of build notes:
  • Installing PSU first would have been wise as the NH-L12S overhangs the board in the installed orientation and contacted the PSU during installation. I'm thinking it didn't end up messing with the mount based on idle temperatures but I have my eye on it.
  • NH-L12S does contact the sidepanel and cause a slight bulge (about .5-1.0 mm) as expected. I didn't try to bend the heatpipes before installation.
  • A custom 24 pin cable would go a LONG way towards cleaning up the wiring. The 8 pin and PCIe 6+2 didn't have a ton of extra cable to deal with.
  • Case quality is fantastic and was smooth and easy for my first SFF build (not sure if my old PC-V351B is > or < 20L but it was essentially SFF before that was much of a thing). Took about 2 hours, much of that being me taking time to ensure I installed the CPU and HSF correctly (didn't want to destroy the CPU by accident).
  • Just enough places for zipties given that my build didn't have any 2.5" drives.
  • I'd look to get a custom cable for SATA drives if I ever add 1x or 2x 2.5" drives to avoid having excess cable inside the case.
  • So far X570I chipset fan is inaudible from 3 feet (as is the entire case) while sitting at idle for 4 hours. I'll post some temps/benchmark stuff once I have time to install Linux over the next week. I'm hoping the RdRand BIOS fixes get pushed out this week so I can jump straight to Ubuntu 19.04 instead of 18.04 LTS. I may just go ahead and use 18.04 for benchmark/stability tests and then repeat once 19.10 comes out as I need to start migrating files from my old Windows 7 machine.
I'll generate a build thread here and reddit probably next week. @firewolfy , is the MI-6 on pcpartpicker? If so, I'll update my build on there and make it public also. I clearly need to look into how to embed the imgur shots too.

Nice build, I had the GTX 1070 Aero itx in my first MI-6 build, it's a good little GPU. If you want a custom 24pin cable you might have a talk with @pslate from pslatecustoms, he does a lot of custom cables for SFF cases and might be willing to do a custom fit one for you.
 

Weredawg

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Apr 5, 2017
119
162
Fire MI-6 SFF Ryzen Build

Alright, build is done although I haven't run memtest or performed any benches in Linux yet as I haven't installed.

Specs:
Gigabyte Aorous X570I
Ryzen 7 3700X
Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8GB, 3200MHz (B-Die Version, will try for CL14)
Samsung 970 Pro 500 GB
Samsung 970 EVO 500 GB
Corsair SF450W
Noctua NH-L12S
Noctua NF-A9x14 intake fan

Couple of build notes:
  • Installing PSU first would have been wise as the NH-L12S overhangs the board in the installed orientation and contacted the PSU during installation. I'm thinking it didn't end up messing with the mount based on idle temperatures but I have my eye on it.
  • NH-L12S does contact the sidepanel and cause a slight bulge (about .5-1.0 mm) as expected. I didn't try to bend the heatpipes before installation.
  • A custom 24 pin cable would go a LONG way towards cleaning up the wiring. The 8 pin and PCIe 6+2 didn't have a ton of extra cable to deal with.
  • Case quality is fantastic and was smooth and easy for my first SFF build (not sure if my old PC-V351B is > or < 20L but it was essentially SFF before that was much of a thing). Took about 2 hours, much of that being me taking time to ensure I installed the CPU and HSF correctly (didn't want to destroy the CPU by accident).
  • Just enough places for zipties given that my build didn't have any 2.5" drives.
  • I'd look to get a custom cable for SATA drives if I ever add 1x or 2x 2.5" drives to avoid having excess cable inside the case.
  • So far X570I chipset fan is inaudible from 3 feet (as is the entire case) while sitting at idle for 4 hours. I'll post some temps/benchmark stuff once I have time to install Linux over the next week. I'm hoping the RdRand BIOS fixes get pushed out this week so I can jump straight to Ubuntu 19.04 instead of 18.04 LTS. I may just go ahead and use 18.04 for benchmark/stability tests and then repeat once 19.10 comes out as I need to start migrating files from my old Windows 7 machine.
I'll generate a build thread here and reddit probably next week. @firewolfy , is the MI-6 on pcpartpicker? If so, I'll update my build on there and make it public also. I clearly need to look into how to embed the imgur shots too.

Great build and information about the process. I was planning to use the same cooler and motherboard so this is all good to know
 

Revenant

Christopher Moine - Senior Editor SFF.N
Revenant Tech
SFFn Staff
Apr 21, 2017
1,670
2,698
In my Intel rig the L12S touches but does not bulge the side panel. Does your side panel still light up with top plate?

I ask because I might be imagining shoving a 16 Core R9-3900X and 2080 mini whenever it comes out into a build.
 
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vitorfernandes87

Cable Smoosher
Apr 13, 2018
9
19
I have a CCD MI-6 second edition and after some months (finally) i'm starting to move my system to the case but I've have a doubt.
I want to change my 2 SSDs to 1 M.2 SSD but I'm afraid of the temperatures (the M.2 it is placed under the board Gigabyte Z170N-WIFI, so it will be between the board and the 1060).

Anyone with a similar setup?
How it behave in terms of temperature?
 

Revenant

Christopher Moine - Senior Editor SFF.N
Revenant Tech
SFFn Staff
Apr 21, 2017
1,670
2,698
I have a CCD MI-6 second edition and after some months (finally) i'm starting to move my system to the case but I've have a doubt.
I want to change my 2 SSDs to 1 M.2 SSD but I'm afraid of the temperatures (the M.2 it is placed under the board Gigabyte Z170N-WIFI, so it will be between the board and the 1060).

Anyone with a similar setup?
How it behave in terms of temperature?

I had a rear mount SSD. Mine was in an NCASE M1 with no GPU next to it and it got toasty but never throttled. I'm going to say that it probably isn't a good idea.

Are you doing anything that will benefit from the M.2? For games, daily use, and even some light video/photo editing you probably won't notice a difference.
 

firewolfy

Master of Cramming
Original poster
Nov 12, 2015
424
836
I have a CCD MI-6 second edition and after some months (finally) i'm starting to move my system to the case but I've have a doubt.
I want to change my 2 SSDs to 1 M.2 SSD but I'm afraid of the temperatures (the M.2 it is placed under the board Gigabyte Z170N-WIFI, so it will be between the board and the 1060).

Anyone with a similar setup?
How it behave in terms of temperature?

Hi Vitor,
I have been running my MI-6 with my main SSD (M.2) under the MB. I have a 1070. I have had no problems at all. So you should be good.

I did some thermal tests that included a SSD at that location. Tried to make it worst case with Prime95 and all. Temp is around 52C wtih a good cooler. Here is a LINK to the webpage with the testing.

Hope that helps.