Log NFC Skyreach 9700k, Zotac 2070S mini, Blackridge Reverse Brickless Layout

Desertf0x9

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Original poster
Oct 13, 2018
101
50
I just wanted to share my build and my experience. As we all know know building in a SFF can be very rewarding but also very frustrating. I selected the Skyreach because there's no better power/cooling to size ratio out there.

There's many examples of the normal brickless layout, with the DC-ATX next to the motherboard, the Nanoatx brick below the GPU and shifting the GPU closer to the motherboard. This was originally what I had planned and I had originally purchased the shift brackets, the the 180 GPU pin adapters, a super flexible riser cable in preparation. However the shift brackets was very difficult to bend and I realized with my motherboard combo and blackridge there really was no room for the gpu to be shifted closer to the motherboard because the riser would hit the 120mm fan. Also inherently running the brick under the 2070S is a huge challenge especially since theres no room for the GPU connectors and even with the 180 connectors you will likely need to remove one panel off the brick to create more clearance. Those 180 connetors also have exposed soldered points which can cause shorts. My buddy actually had his system start smoking cause of that!

Here's the basic layout as it would sit in the case(Note I ended up relocating the 40mm to the top of top of the case).
A build like this you need to carefully go step by step otherwise things won't fit. I think I took apart my system at least 3 times cause of the power button!

1) Fit the power button to the front panel. So for this to work you need to move the power button to the GPU side.

2) Preparing your motherboard. I'm running an Asus Z390-I Strix motherboard with a 9700k, Vcolor 16 gig 2666 hz VLP Ram x2 and a blackridge cooler. You need to remove the large VRM heatsink on the motherboard in order for the blackridge to fit. I did place some alphacool copper heatsinks with doublesided thermal tape to compensate for the lack of VRM cooling. I figure this combo + the active cooling from the fan should be enough. I also went ahead and removed the mobo nvme heatsink and used the heatsink that came the Adata XPG SX8200 Pro 2 tb. It's going to be stuffy under there and I wanted as much air flow as possible.


Now this is where you need to pay attention. You need to install the power connector because the CPU heatsink will cover the F-panel, at least on my motherboard. You may also want to connect your riser cable but I did find I didn't need to because the heatsink wasn't covering it.

Bending the Blackridge cooler I preheated the heat pipes with a heatgun, used something solid where the fan would go as well as using the edge of a table to push on it till it would bend. There's only so much you can bend as ultimately the 120 mm x 15 mm fan will run into the VLP ram is ultimately the limiting factor. I found it easiest to install the heatsink without the fan to the motherboard first, I didn't screw it in all the way to give me some wiggle room to slide in the 120 mm fan from the ram side. Once in place I used the stock blackridge fan clip on one side and the ram will keep the fan secure on the other side and tighten the heatsink down. You definitely want the 120 mm blowing air onto the motherboard.


2) Install the motherboard into the case and remove the top, bottom, and front panel to make your life easier.

3) Preparing your 2070S. So I decided to ditch the stock fans, shroud, but kept the blackplate. To keep the backplate you need to bend the slanted sides so they're perpendicular, but to remove the backplate you need to completely remove the heatsink so I decided to repaste the GPU while I was at it.


The most important thing here is you need the Kareon Kables with the low profile connector. Ordering was really confusing but just send him an email. He's awesome to work with, responds quickly, and honestly the fastest cable turn around time I've ever seen. I got the 12" length, and you need to make sure you specify you need the 6 and 8 pin power connectors for the 2070 super. He was even more awesome and included zip ties which were handy. Ordering cables you're also going to need to order new 24 pin 13" because the stock HDplex motherboard cable will not be long enough. The stock 8 pin CPU cable should be long enough.

Make sure you put some electrical tape on the connectors as it'll be right against the power connector.




4) Install the GPU into the case and install the 8 pin CPU and 24 Pin motherboard cables.


5) Prepare the nanoatx brick. I installed a 40 mm noctua. I emailed Larry and apparently it doesn't matter if the fan is intake or reversed.


6) Mount the Nanoatx to the front panel and slide it in. You should just barely have enough clearance for the power button connector and the GPU power connectors.



7) Now for the DC-ATX because of the power connector I found it easier to slide it from the front of the GPU. Install the top and bottom panels. There's even holes to secure the DC-ATX Unit. How convenient. Plug all the connectors in and install the side panels.







8) All done. Sit back and enjoy your all your hard work.


Thanks again to everyone in the NFC Discord community and Kareon for the awesome cables.
 

CubanLegend

Steely-Eyed NVFlash Man
Dec 23, 2016
832
1,011
smallformfactor.net
Welcome to the S4M family! ONE OF US! lol

THAT IS.. amazing! Wow! What a pure build! this is a beast. Thank you for sharing your detailed step-by-step process!

So it seemed you only needed a custom length 24-pin, the Kareon Cables GPU 6+8 pin for the 2070 SUPER, and did you also require a longer power button cable.. what length cable did you have to order from Josh? and did you HAVE to use the extended wood front panel or would the power button have fit on the stock front panel? Just curious as many people are asking about persuing brickless builds, and I'd like to point them to this thread as an example for Intel. :)

I hope this build brings you MANY years of top-tier enthusiast gaming performance, while portable, and wrapped in luxury!
 

tonkasuh

Minimal Tinkerer
New User
Jul 28, 2020
4
3
very nice build, i'm waiting for my s4 mini and still planning my build. How did you get the blackridge cooler to fit? I've seen other posts show it was 3-4mm too tall, did you delid your cpu thus dropping the height?
 

Desertf0x9

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Original poster
Oct 13, 2018
101
50
Thanks everyone!

Yes you should be fine with the default 8 pin CPU cable from the default hdplex kit as it's 18". I got new cables just so they would all match haha.

For the power cable I got the longer length 330mm which fit pretty well.

I just got the default 3D wood bezel and was able to flip it. If I had to do it again. I would have the skyslots and the power button on the same side. The skyslots is now being covered by the Brick so there's no added ventilation for the case. I was able to make do with the default power button location.

@ Tonkashu: You just have to bend the heat pipes a bit. I did not delid my CPU or cut my stand offs as some others have.
 

rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
2,588
2,702
Very nice build. I am always impressed by mini builds and the brickless versions are on a whole different level, very nice example here.
 

CubanLegend

Steely-Eyed NVFlash Man
Dec 23, 2016
832
1,011
smallformfactor.net
very nice build, i'm waiting for my s4 mini and still planning my build. How did you get the blackridge cooler to fit? I've seen other posts show it was 3-4mm too tall, did you delid your cpu thus dropping the height?
the Breckridge fits, you just have to bend it down towards the mobo by .5-2mm depending on the manufacturing tolerances.
 

Desertf0x9

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Original poster
Oct 13, 2018
101
50
Did some thermal testing.

9700k overclocked to 4.9 ghz running Prime 95 266 It hit a peak 94 degrees but settled down around 90 degrees. VRM hit a peak of 81 degrees C. Ram didn't break 60 degrees and all my NVME storage were below 60 C.

Running Warzone with the gpu overclocked to hit 2000 hz and +700 hz memory overclock it hit a peak 84 degrees C Cpu and 80 Degrees GPU.
 
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BorG

Caliper Novice
Feb 6, 2019
23
22
www.radiocity.si
Beautiful beautiful build. Very clean. I would replace brown/beige Noctuas with new black versions.
Where can I buy that vertical stand? How can I get into contact with Kareon?
 

Desertf0x9

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Original poster
Oct 13, 2018
101
50
I am planning to relocate the button to the rear to give room. Right now the power button is blocking the PCIE power connector on the DC-ATX and pushing against the GPU putting it very close to the side panel to the point where the fan is essentially contacting the side panel.

I will probably get the new black versions just to get the higher wattage version of these fans. I do embrace the Noctua brown though, my ghost s1 build has all noctua brown fans with matching cables.

The stand is just a laptop stand I bought off amazon:
You should be able to contact Kareon here: https://kareonkables.com/contact
 

Desertf0x9

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Original poster
Oct 13, 2018
101
50
After some tweaking. I am running the 9700k at 4.9 ghz at 1.22 V, GPU undervolted to .96V running at 1920 mhz and +700 hz on the ram, and overclocked my ram to 3600 mhz @ CAS 16-19-19-39 1.35V. Quite satisfied now.
 
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vvv

Trash Compacter
Nov 1, 2018
34
29
Amazing! I've always wanted to see a reverse brickless build, thank you for the fantastic reference. Might give it a shot!
 

Desertf0x9

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Original poster
Oct 13, 2018
101
50
Updated my build with a EVGA 3060TI. Fits so much better with plenty of room to spare. Don't need ultra low profile cables anymore! Also attached a VESA mount so I can use it a monitor stand.




 
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