NFC S4 mini brickless build with 3060ti + 5600X

lilipeipei

Cable Smoosher
Original poster
Aug 15, 2020
10
18
Hi Everyone, I just got my first SFF build done. 😄And potentially this is currently the most powerful S4M brickless build without any mod.



Here are what I used:
AMD Ryzen5 5600X
ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3
G-Skill Trident Z Neo 3600MHz C16 16GB X2
EVGA 3060Ti 8GB XC
Samsung 980Pro 512GB
Noctua NH-L9i (yes, this weird motherboard has a AM4 socket but Intel cooler mounting holes : )
HDPLEX 400W AC-DC + DC-ATX

Actually I've bought this case in August, waiting for Nvidia's Ampere cards release. While as you know Ampere card needs so much cooling, and there was no cooler design could be fitted in this case until EVGA released this 3060ti with 2 fans. This card is 2-slot and sized 201mm x 110mm, which is perfect for a brickless S4M build.

ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is chosen for its DP input function, which enables its TB3 port output video signal from graphics card. I'm planning to use this feature for connecting to portable monitors, as you know Ampere cards does not feature USB-C ports anymore.

And about the CPU cooler choice, initially I bought a Cryorig C7 for this build, however it didn't fit as the 45mm heigh limitation is so strict, even the fan was switched with a Noctua NF-A9x14 with total height of 46mm. So if there is any 92mm fan on market could be found featuring a height less than 13mm, C7 would be a much better cooler for this case.
 

Diamorif

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jun 9, 2020
211
105
Hey nice build, I just pulled the trigger on the mini tonight. I have all the other parts, planning on using a spare rog strix b550 with a l9a/scythe 100mm slim fan. The only 92mm fan I'm aware of with a height lower than 14mm is the one from the IS-30 (12mm). I have one spare (used the cooler in another build by took off the stock fan). PM me if you want it, I can try to ship it your way.

 

lilipeipei

Cable Smoosher
Original poster
Aug 15, 2020
10
18
Hey nice build, I just pulled the trigger on the mini tonight. I have all the other parts, planning on using a spare rog strix b550 with a l9a/scythe 100mm slim fan. The only 92mm fan I'm aware of with a height lower than 14mm is the one from the IS-30 (12mm). I have one spare (used the cooler in another build by took off the stock fan). PM me if you want it, I can try to ship it your way.

That 12mm fan would be a perfect fit in height!

Thanks for your offer. I can get one entire ID-30 from my local store for just 89CNY(about 13.69USD)😄

While I'm not sure if it could provide enough air volume to cool the heatsink efficiently. I'll do a comparison between Noctua's L9i and C7+that fan after I get it.
 

Diamorif

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jun 9, 2020
211
105
looking at the fan specs, it provides the same cfm as the stock cryorig fan, should work fine. curious to see how it goes, I've got a c7g and axp 90 sitting in the closet that would work perfect if this does work.
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
3,616
2,705
Thanks for sharing your experience.
If only EVGA GPU were more available where I live (France).

One stupid question : Did you experiment any issue with S4 mini riser between GPU & MB?
 

lilipeipei

Cable Smoosher
Original poster
Aug 15, 2020
10
18
Thanks for sharing your experience.
If only EVGA GPU were more available where I live (France).

One stupid question : Did you experiment any issue with S4 mini riser between GPU & MB?
Currently no. The raiser cable runs perfectly in PCIe4.0 mod.

While my raiser cable looks different from NFC's website and all other online S4M videos, seems NFC has updated the cable in 2020. Make sure you bought the latest version.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MarcParis

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
3,616
2,705
Currently no. The raiser cable runs perfectly in PCIe4.0 mod.

While my raiser cable looks different from NFC's website and all other online S4M videos, seems NFC has updated the cable in 2020. Make sure you bought the latest version.
That's a good news. Shorter risers seems to have no issue with PCIe Gen 4..;)
 

AlexNelToth

Case Bender
New User
Jan 10, 2021
2
0
Nice! I was planning almost this exact build (if I can find a 5600x, otherwise 3600 will do). I'm curious on the TB3 port on that mobo, have you confirmed it would output video even without an integrated GPU? I could have sworn that used the iGPU to pass through the display signal.
 

rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
2,588
2,701
Nice! I was planning almost this exact build (if I can find a 5600x, otherwise 3600 will do). I'm curious on the TB3 port on that mobo, have you confirmed it would output video even without an integrated GPU? I could have sworn that used the iGPU to pass through the display signal.
The Asrock x570 ITX/TB3 has a DP input on the back of the motherboard to connect your GPU, so it actually uses the GPU not the onboard graphics.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AlexNelToth

AlexNelToth

Case Bender
New User
Jan 10, 2021
2
0
Nice! I was planning almost this exact build (if I can find a 5600x, otherwise 3600 will do). I'm curious on the TB3 port on that mobo, have you confirmed it would output video even without an integrated GPU? I could have sworn that used the iGPU to pass through the display signal
The Asrock x570 ITX/TB3 has a DP input on the back of the motherboard to connect your GPU, so it actually uses the GPU not the onboard graphics.
I was just digging and found this answer on reddit as well. This is great news since I can run a USB-C monitor and not have to worry about not having a 2000 series GPU with a USB-C port, or any kind of bottleneck going through an iGPU. Thanks for the reply!
 

Diamorif

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jun 9, 2020
211
105
That 12mm fan would be a perfect fit in height!

Thanks for your offer. I can get one entire ID-30 from my local store for just 89CNY(about 13.69USD)😄

While I'm not sure if it could provide enough air volume to cool the heatsink efficiently. I'll do a comparison between Noctua's L9i and C7+that fan after I get it.
Di dyu ever give the AXP with the smaller fan a shot?
 

kiaskus

Minimal Tinkerer
New User
Nov 24, 2020
3
0
I love this build, if I get my hands on hands on the 3060ti, I'd straight copy your build.

So you would need a super short DP cable to connect the GPU DP output to the motherboard's DP input in order to get thunderbolt display-out + power for a portable monitor?

I use a portable monitor myself and never knew about this novel solution. Really glad to come across your post
 

lilipeipei

Cable Smoosher
Original poster
Aug 15, 2020
10
18
Hey nice build, I just pulled the trigger on the mini tonight. I have all the other parts, planning on using a spare rog strix b550 with a l9a/scythe 100mm slim fan. The only 92mm fan I'm aware of with a height lower than 14mm is the one from the IS-30 (12mm). I have one spare (used the cooler in another build by took off the stock fan). PM me if you want it, I can try to ship it your way.

I just got an IS-30 fan for testing:


and that is a really tight fit, but the panel do close without any pressing on cooler:


My testing method is not very accurate: I just ran 3Dmark's stress test for both coolers with BIOS default fan curve, then look at the CPU temperature result.

Here are the results:


This is C7+IS30fan



and this is L9i

As expected, the temperature of C7 is 5 degrees lower than L9i, and the temperature takes longer time to heat up because of the larger heat sink.

While, the IS30 fan is much louder than Noctua's A9x14, potentially because the clearance between fan and side panel is too close. I have no equipment for noise measurement, but I tested with a phone app called Decibel Meter. During the stress test, Noctua's cooler with A9x14 has noise level of about 45 - 50 dB, while C7 with IS-30's fan is around 65 - 70 dB, which is much more noticeable.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: REVOCCASES

REVOCCASES

Shrink Ray Wielder
REVOCCASES
Silver Supporter
Apr 2, 2020
2,057
3,331
www.revoccases.com
I just got an IS-30 fan for testing:


and that is a really tight fit, but the panel do close without any pressing on cooler:


My testing method is not very accurate: I just ran 3Dmark's stress test for both coolers with BIOS default fan curve, then look at the CPU temperature result.

Here are the results:


This is C7+IS30fan



and this is L9i

As expected, the temperature of C7 is 5 degrees lower than L9i, and the temperature takes longer time to heat up because of the larger heat sink.

While, the IS30 fan is much louder than Noctua's A9x14, potentially because the clearance between fan and side panel is too close. I have no equipment for noise measurement, but I tested with a phone app called Decibel Meter. During the stress test, Noctua's cooler with A9x14 has noise level of about 45 - 50 dB, while C7 with IS-30's fan is around 65 - 70 dB, which is much more noticeable.

Did you only get the IS30 fan or the entire cooler? Just curious how the IS30 cooler would perform with a Noctua fan swap in comparison to the NH-L9i.
 

lilipeipei

Cable Smoosher
Original poster
Aug 15, 2020
10
18
Did you only get the IS30 fan or the entire cooler? Just curious how the IS30 cooler would perform with a Noctua fan swap in comparison to the NH-L9i.
I just got a IS30 fan without cooler😃 but I'm planning to get an IS-40X for another test, as IS-40X is the highest cooler in IS series under 45mm, and its fan could be swapped with Noctua's A9x14 as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: REVOCCASES

Diamorif

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jun 9, 2020
211
105
Nice. I ended up picking up an is40x and will just do a fan swap on that. Interesting that the is 30 fan fit. I'm also playing with the idea of an is30 with an A9 fan. Curious what the delta between a bigger heatsink or bigger fan is
 
  • Like
Reactions: REVOCCASES

REVOCCASES

Shrink Ray Wielder
REVOCCASES
Silver Supporter
Apr 2, 2020
2,057
3,331
www.revoccases.com
Nice. I ended up picking up an is40x and will just do a fan swap on that. Interesting that the is 30 fan fit. I'm also playing with the idea of an is30 with an A9 fan. Curious what the delta between a bigger heatsink or bigger fan is

I have the IS30 and swapped the fan with one from Thermalright. Already got an improvement of 3 to 5C. Just wondering if a Noctua fan upgrade would be worth it...