Custom Mini PC brickless with GTX 1050 Ti

CC Ricers

Shrink Ray Wielder
Original poster
Bronze Supporter
Nov 1, 2015
2,233
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I consider this a one-off unless there's more interest in making a build like this one. But this one's pretty custom for the case. That case will be based heavily on my Project Thin-X case, but modified to fit a full-height card in a single slot form plus internal PSU.

After drawing some inspiration from @guryhwa's case (just look at it) it feels even more possible for me to sandwich together a regular mini ITX board with a full-height GPU. He went all out with a Vega 56 Nano. I find it easier (and cheaper) to try it out with a GTX 1050 Ti. Less power cables, and less thermal management to worry about. The case will be roughly the same size. It's easy to make it into a single slot GPU by removing the stock cooler. Plus I will stuff a MeanWell PSU inside for that brick-less flair.

Here is the motherboard and CPU cooler I plan to use. Gigabyte H110N-Wifi and Zalman CNPS2X:



The power supply, GPU and CPU are the other major components I need. The Zalman cooler is 27mm tall which I set as the maximum height this could support. It's just as tall as the RAM sits inside the board. I could use other similar radial coolers that are shorter, but they wouldn't cool as well as the Zalman.

I am not able to start planning and building immediately but will take time over the weeks to get the first parts and test configurations.
 

Windfall

Shrink Ray Wielder
SFFn Staff
Nov 14, 2017
2,117
1,582
I consider this a one-off unless there's more interest in making a build like this one. But this one's pretty custom for the case. That case will be based heavily on my Project Thin-X case, but modified to fit a full-height card in a single slot form plus internal PSU.

After drawing some inspiration from @guryhwa's case (just look at it) it feels even more possible for me to sandwich together a regular mini ITX board with a full-height GPU. He went all out with a Vega 56 Nano. I find it easier (and cheaper) to try it out with a GTX 1050 Ti. Less power cables, and less thermal management to worry about. The case will be roughly the same size. It's easy to make it into a single slot GPU by removing the stock cooler. Plus I will stuff a MeanWell PSU inside for that brick-less flair.

Here is the motherboard and CPU cooler I plan to use. Gigabyte H110N-Wifi and Zalman CNPS2X:



The power supply, GPU and CPU are the other major components I need. The Zalman cooler is 27mm tall which I set as the maximum height this could support. It's just as tall as the RAM sits inside the board. I could use other similar radial coolers that are shorter, but they wouldn't cool as well as the Zalman.

I am not able to start planning and building immediately but will take time over the weeks to get the first parts and test configurations.

Sounds Interesting. Btw, any updates on the stx gpu thing? or did the death of the 300w kill that?
 

CC Ricers

Shrink Ray Wielder
Original poster
Bronze Supporter
Nov 1, 2015
2,233
2,556
Sounds Interesting. Btw, any updates on the stx gpu thing? or did the death of the 300w kill that?

I guess it semi-stalled. Without the 300W brick you could only go up to 160W of power with the HD-PLEX, or choose a 300W or 400W MeanWell PSU and hook it up yourself... both can still use the Dynamo, though.
 

CC Ricers

Shrink Ray Wielder
Original poster
Bronze Supporter
Nov 1, 2015
2,233
2,556
I'm bumping this topic up again to make new plans for this build. The case will no longer be the same design as my Thin-X case but a new original design that is based more from the design language and layout of my current 4L custom case. It'll be roughly 2.7 L in size, have separate compartments for the motherboard and GPU, and again, support single slot cards only.

I'll also have to go back to Thin Mini-ITX to make this build possible. However, with it should come an easier time building in it with this new design.
 

CC Ricers

Shrink Ray Wielder
Original poster
Bronze Supporter
Nov 1, 2015
2,233
2,556
Any updates on this design?

Eh, this has been put on hold indefinitely. Any new design will probably be based off my current 3D printed case, in which it would have a more substantial frame and rounded corners. And don't have a GPU right now that would fit in those size constraints. Only if I can enlarge the size a bit, however that's still to be decided.
 

1337harcha

Caliper Novice
Apr 9, 2019
33
13
Are you sure it is going to be easier with a 1050ti instead of another card? Wouldn't the card have power issues when a riser is used? Do you have a solution for this?