So, as I was saying in my other build post, I already put my black modded Goodisory A02 case on my shelves and started working on my new love, the K29 I ordered from Amazon for like 67$CAD a while ago, quite the steal for such steel! Even though the modded acrylic panel was like too perfect on my previous case, it was still acrylic and somehow bothered me. That plus a few minor nitpicks. It was also bigger than it needed to be, so the SFF fanatic that I am was annoyed by that empty space at the bottom of the case, LOL
Enter the K29. Basically no dead space in this case. All the empty space is useful for cable routing and not injuring my fingers while working in it.
Step 1: The first thing I knew I had to do was mod the RTX A2000 PCIe bracket so it fits in the case. I ended up ordering a regular-sized bracket off eBay for 17$CAD (the low profile one was 10$ more and I had to cut it anyways) because I didn't want to fuck up the original plates that came with the card. A month later, I got it.
Step 2: Get a riser card of the right orientation and height, those are quite rare, but I didn't want to deal with a cable, as I've had bad experiences with those, they seem flaky and easy to damage. I've killed one before. That also took a while and cost me like 22$CAD.
Step 3: Test fit the GPU in there
Step 4: Mod the PCIe bracket (drill 2 strategically-placed holes) and the case (drill matching holes in the case) to properly secure the card to the case. That was the best solution I came up with after spending so many hours of pre-sleep thinking about how to deal with this without needing a dremel, because I'm scared of that tool with my shaky hands, and because it feels like any mod made with a dremel always ends up a bit messy.
NOTE: It's very secure!!!
Step 5: Test my full build, but without the side panel, because I wanted to see if everything was working fine before testing airflow restriction conditions etc.
Also, I had no choice, as I needed a solution to allow plugging the power brick to the Pico, through the case!
NOTE: Mean Well 330W (GST360A12-C8P) power brick is in the foreground! Cost me 200$CAD shipped from mouser.ca
Step 6: Research and choose connector to use for the power brick -> case -> pico connection. I've settled on aviation connectors, as those seem to be secure and cool, and allow for such a customized number of pins. I bought a bunch to offset the shipping costs and all, and in case I need more sometime, or break some while trying to solder things
Cost me around 12$ for 11 pairs of connectors, 4pin and 7pin, 12mm. Wait a month for it to arrive.
NOTE: I also had to buy a female 8pin EPS connector, and my best solution was a pack of 2 extensions off amazon.ca for 11$CAD, which I cannibalized the female connector I needed.
Step 7: I also had to buy a new soldering iron as my older very cheap hardware store unit was on its last leg.
Step 8: I made a small blunder there, as I didn't realize the 12mm version of the connectors had such a small opening for cables, so I was unable to fit 6 cables as I was planning to, so as things are, I wouldn't be able to safely carry 300w through my cable, but up to 240w should be fine.
The whole thing was fun to do though, my first time making connectors like that. The end result looks really good I think!
Step 9: Wiring things up. I like how the little free space that's available in that case allows me to freely position and wire things up.
Step 10: Install and secure the GPU using my custom mounting method.
A look at the backside, ALMOST looks factory, haha! I can use the 4 mini displayport connectors.
A couple shots of the finish build:
Size comparison:
In its natural habitat, with the massive power brick on my desk for the moment, until I decide to move it to the bottom of my desk!
NOTE: Yes, I keep a Swiffer duster on the ready on my desk, hahaha...
There are a couple more pics in the imgur album, if you're curious:
My build specs are as follows:
Enter the K29. Basically no dead space in this case. All the empty space is useful for cable routing and not injuring my fingers while working in it.
Step 1: The first thing I knew I had to do was mod the RTX A2000 PCIe bracket so it fits in the case. I ended up ordering a regular-sized bracket off eBay for 17$CAD (the low profile one was 10$ more and I had to cut it anyways) because I didn't want to fuck up the original plates that came with the card. A month later, I got it.
Step 2: Get a riser card of the right orientation and height, those are quite rare, but I didn't want to deal with a cable, as I've had bad experiences with those, they seem flaky and easy to damage. I've killed one before. That also took a while and cost me like 22$CAD.
Step 3: Test fit the GPU in there
Step 4: Mod the PCIe bracket (drill 2 strategically-placed holes) and the case (drill matching holes in the case) to properly secure the card to the case. That was the best solution I came up with after spending so many hours of pre-sleep thinking about how to deal with this without needing a dremel, because I'm scared of that tool with my shaky hands, and because it feels like any mod made with a dremel always ends up a bit messy.
NOTE: It's very secure!!!
Step 5: Test my full build, but without the side panel, because I wanted to see if everything was working fine before testing airflow restriction conditions etc.
Also, I had no choice, as I needed a solution to allow plugging the power brick to the Pico, through the case!
NOTE: Mean Well 330W (GST360A12-C8P) power brick is in the foreground! Cost me 200$CAD shipped from mouser.ca
Step 6: Research and choose connector to use for the power brick -> case -> pico connection. I've settled on aviation connectors, as those seem to be secure and cool, and allow for such a customized number of pins. I bought a bunch to offset the shipping costs and all, and in case I need more sometime, or break some while trying to solder things
Cost me around 12$ for 11 pairs of connectors, 4pin and 7pin, 12mm. Wait a month for it to arrive.NOTE: I also had to buy a female 8pin EPS connector, and my best solution was a pack of 2 extensions off amazon.ca for 11$CAD, which I cannibalized the female connector I needed.
Step 7: I also had to buy a new soldering iron as my older very cheap hardware store unit was on its last leg.
Step 8: I made a small blunder there, as I didn't realize the 12mm version of the connectors had such a small opening for cables, so I was unable to fit 6 cables as I was planning to, so as things are, I wouldn't be able to safely carry 300w through my cable, but up to 240w should be fine.
The whole thing was fun to do though, my first time making connectors like that. The end result looks really good I think!
Step 9: Wiring things up. I like how the little free space that's available in that case allows me to freely position and wire things up.
Step 10: Install and secure the GPU using my custom mounting method.
A look at the backside, ALMOST looks factory, haha! I can use the 4 mini displayport connectors.
A couple shots of the finish build:
Size comparison:
In its natural habitat, with the massive power brick on my desk for the moment, until I decide to move it to the bottom of my desk!
NOTE: Yes, I keep a Swiffer duster on the ready on my desk, hahaha...
There are a couple more pics in the imgur album, if you're curious:
My build specs are as follows:
- Case: K29
- PSU: 300w 12v PicoPSU from AliExpress
- Power Brick: Mean Well 330W 12V (GST360A12-C8P)
- Motherboard: Asus Prime A320I-K
- CPU: Ryzen 5 5600G
- CPU Cooler: ID-Cooling IS-40X
- RAM: 2x Timetec 16gb DDR4-3000
- GPU: PNY Nvidia RTX A2000 6gb
- Storage NVME: Samsung 970 evo plus 1tb
- Storage SATA: Samsung 860 evo 500gb
