S4 MINI Classic (S4M-C)

[CubanLegend]

So while I'm waiting I did something... I took the 2 reference images of the zotac 1080 mini, got a picture of a 300mm ruler, did some photoshop magic with resizing, and then I cut the top and bottom halves of the reference images, and I horizontally flipped the bottom/rear image.
Okay so here's my mockup of what I have to cut on the ZOTAC 1080 mini to fit it with the wrap-around aluminum bezel intact:
Anything in the red might have to be CUT, the RED line on the ruler is the 203mm mark, but the GREEN line is the 202mm mark to leave 1mm of space for limiting contact during transport... I'm worried I MIGHT have an issue with the fans fitting. Then again, as you can see the pictures were taken with a certain angle so you can't really tell EXACTLY what needs to be cut since we don't have a TOP/BOTTOM view picture of the card, preferably centered on the rear end of the card... (yet)

 

[Kmpkt]

Chopping fan blades gonna suck.

 

[iFreilicht]

Eh, I wouldn't trust that. The picture has very strong perspective, so the PCB will look much smaller when looking through the cooling fins. Don't get me wrong, it's cool that you did it, but I think we should wait for physical measurements before getting too disappointed.

 

[GreatestUnKnown]

I thought that the Zotac 1080 Mini uses two different size fans with the larger being on the side you intend to modify for clearance meaning using a smaller fan will be more desirable than fan blade surgery.

 

[NotungX]

Which advantages has the Zotac GTX 1070 mini compared to the Gigabyte GTX 1070 mini? Is the heatsink much better in the Zotac? If there are not big differences I don't see the point of modding the Zotac (besides the "fun" of it).

BTW, how is the noise and temps inside the S4 mini for the Gigabyte?

 

[Kmpkt]

Which advantages has the Zotac GTX 1070 mini compared to the Gigabyte GTX 1070 mini? Is the heatsink much better in the Zotac? If there are not big differences I don't see the point of modding the Zotac (besides the "fun" of it).

BTW, how is the noise and temps inside the S4 mini for the Gigabyte?

IMO just buy the Galax 1070. It's shorter than the Zotac by about 30mm, about 13mm lower in height than the Gigabyte and most importantly it is like a perfect color match for the new ASUS Strix ITX board.

Can you imagine this combo in the Black/Silver variant of the new S4? Mmmmmmm.

 

[jeshikat]

Availability of the Galax is a small problem

I've emailed them and they told me "We don’t have the actual date for releasing GTX 1050 Ti OC LP and GTX 1070 OC Mini, but it will be very shortly, please kindly wait for our update."

 

[CubanLegend]

Chopping fan blades gonna suck.

yeah. the perspective might be off so i might not have to. Don't know yet.

Eh, I wouldn't trust that. The picture has very strong perspective, so the PCB will look much smaller when looking through the cooling fins. Don't get me wrong, it's cool that you did it, but I think we should wait for physical measurements before getting too disappointed.

you're right that both pics do have a strong perspective, so thats why I think if I even out the perspective of both I can get a rough estimate of where i would need to cut, until I get the top-down picture with fixed perspective.

I thought that the Zotac 1080 Mini uses two different size fans with the larger being on the side you intend to modify for clearance meaning using a smaller fan will be more desirable than fan blade surgery.

That is a good observation. If I DO indeed have to cut the right fan, it would be great if I could replace it with a smaller fan or take the shroud and fans off all together and put a 15mm slim fan in the S4mini's included fan bracket in there instead.

Availability of the Zotac is a small problem

I've emailed them and they told me "We don’t have the actual date for releasing GTX 1050 Ti OC LP and GTX 1070 OC Mini, but it will be very shortly, please kindly wait for our update."

Did you ask about 1080mini availability?

 

[jeshikat]

Did you ask about 1080mini availability?

Ah sorry, that was the response to my email to Galax, not Zotac

 

[eutholevonik]

yeah. the perspective might be off so i might not have to. Don't know yet.

you're right that both pics do have a strong perspective, so thats why I think if I even out the perspective of both I can get a rough estimate of where i would need to cut, until I get the top-down picture with fixed perspective.

That is a good observation. If I DO indeed have to cut the right fan, it would be great if I could replace it with a smaller fan or take the shroud and fans off all together and put a 15mm slim fan in the S4mini's included fan bracket in there instead.
Did you ask about 1080mini availability?

I think Aibohphobia meant Galax and not Zotac.

Edit: Beat me to it! :-)

 

[CubanLegend]

Aww dang, well I'll be waiting (im)patiently

So far I've gone through all the ZOTAC 1080 mini preview videos form CES and I found this one where they handle the card at almost all angels... and I made this gif:

And I found this preview from Paul's Hardware where he showed off the end of the card in detail:

Much better perspective on the length of the end of that heatsink and fan shroud, the fan is definitelly going past the heatsink... so I'll probably have to do one of the two below, for sure:
-swap the right fan with a smaller 90mm one
-or remove both fans and the metal shroud and install a slim 15mm fan using the bracket and hook it up to the GPU or mobo and have it go off the GPU temps with speed fan

All that will be in addition to having to chop off that fat aluminum block at the end of the heatsink fins that sticks out past the heatpipe, in order to fit the card comfortably inside the S4 mini with the bezel.... Hmmm... so at least i know I'll have to trim that heatsink for sure. better get practicing on old GPU heatsinks I got lying around first.


Also I dug around in youtube for ZOTAC 1080 mini videos and found this video from Newegg where the ZOTAC rep himself says that the card will be "one of the most affordable 1080's out there". I believe him, ZOTAC's current aftermarket 1080 is cheaper than the founder's edition, so this card might come in below $700 USD! HYPE!

 

[NotungX]

IMO just buy the Galax 1070. It's shorter than the Zotac by about 30mm, about 13mm lower in height than the Gigabyte and most importantly it is like a perfect color match for the new ASUS Strix ITX board.

Can you imagine this combo in the Black/Silver variant of the new S4? Mmmmmmm.

To get one of these Galax in Europe will be very difficult :-(

I checked on their website and they do not have distribution here...

It certainly looks really great.

 

[REXTON]

Hey! I would like some help with my upcoming S4 build...Im not too good with the wat usage of gpu...with that said, whats the cheapest/safest specs on a S4 to play with a 1050Ti?
Which PSU should i use and adapter?

 

[Curiosity]

to be fair, with the length they can't call it 8.3 inches long if it's any longer than 213.3mm long.
So assuming it's 213mm long should give you a decent idea of what to cut off. (roughly 6-10mm)

 

[CubanLegend]

to be fair, with the length they can't call it 8.3 inches long if it's any longer than 213.3mm long.
So assuming it's 213mm long should give you a decent idea of what to cut off. (roughly 6-10mm)

Good point. I also saw a side angle of the front of the card where you can see that the backplate sticks out a bit from the back of the GPU, about 2-3mm... I might have to either:
-remove the backplate all together to fit my fat 2.5 inch SSDs above it,
-cut the backplate on the front/top of the card where I'd have the HDPLEX DC-DC jack cut to fit around the GPU's PCB.

OH! And HardOCP released a preliminary set of results of delidding a 7700k, -23 degree at full load after an hour from 91c to 68c! If i just managed -20 degrees I'd be so happy! I've just now bought my delidding, relidding tools, thermal compound cleaner, Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra "Liquid Metal" TIM, and silicone glue to replace the IHS after. HYPE!!! I can't wait to have the most powerful/coolest running CPU in an S4!

 

[eutholevonik]

Hey! I would like some help with my upcoming S4 build...Im not too good with the wat usage of gpu...with that said, whats the cheapest/safest specs on a S4 to play with a 1050Ti?
Which PSU should i use and adapter?

Yeah the 1050TI would be a great pick and one of lowest wattage cards for a S4 mini.

This would give you 3 options
1. Go brickless if you used Hdplex 160w dc-atx and 160w ac-dc unit ( found here http://www.hd-plex.com/HDPLEX-160W-DC-ATX-Power-Supply-16V-24V-Wide-Range-Voltage-Input.html and http://www.hd-plex.com/HDPLEX-Internal-160W-AC-DC-Adapter-with-Active-PFC-and-19VDC-Output.html)

2. Use Hdplex 160w dc-atx with a Dell 220w or similar power adapter.

3. Use a pico 160w with the power adapter they provide (http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-160-XT-192W-Adapter-Power-Kit)

I personally like the brickless build, that's the route I plan on going unless I decide to pick up a 1070 or if Vega has some small options.

Edit: If you do decide to go the brickless, make sure the 1050ti you get is short enough to have room for the 160w ac-dc unit. I'm sure someone here knows which cards will fit.

 

[Curiosity]

OH! And HardOCP released a preliminary set of results of delidding a 7700k, -23 degree at full load after an hour from 91c to 68c! If i just managed -20 degrees I'd be so happy! I've just now bought my delidding, relidding tools, thermal compound cleaner, Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra "Liquid Metal" TIM, and silicone glue to replace the IHS after. HYPE!!! I can't wait to have the most powerful/coolest running CPU in an S4!

Hopefully your delid goes better than mine did on my 3570K, there weren't any issues but I didn't notice a big temperature change, especially under the cryorig C7 in my Ncase.
I don't think I actually noticed any temperature change with the C7, thinking about it.
It is kinda fun to do though, and the potential gains (losses? ;P) are worth trying it, I think.

 

[BrainTaste]

Got my mini in today #140

 

[nfilipac]

Man seeing everyone's MINIs come in is making me so antsy since I still haven't gotten my shipped email. No rush Josh but... Pls rush Haha jk.
It's just awesome that after all this time waiting for this batch of MINIs they're finally in our hands. It'll be fun to see what everyone does with theirs.

 

[lhl]

I've been running my S4 w/ the Galax 970 OC (which looks like it's almost exactly the same dimensions as the new Galax 1070 OC Mini) with no problems, and w/ centimeters to spare on each dimension in the S4 - I never understood why they weren't more popular (vs those overwidth Gigabyte/Asus cards) - besides running like a champ w/ a slight OOTB OC, it was also pretty competitively priced (I paid $330 for my 970 back in 2/15). Anyway, for those not especially excited about grinding metal, I can give a solid thumbs up for Galax (although personally, I'll be waiting to see if there's a Vega Nano type board that will run well if I upgrade).

As an aside, the undervolted 4790K+GTX970 combo I'm running in my S4 still runs a bit faster than the 7700HQ+GTX1060 Gigabyte Aero 14 laptop I just got for travel. As an aside to that aside, the Aero 14 benches about 25% faster than the Alienware 13R3 and is both less volume (1.7L vs 2.0L) and much lighter (1.9kg vs 2.5kg) - I originally got the new Alienware but beside being unexpectedly brick-like, the battery life was too short and the OLED screen was amazing except it was completely ruined by a mirror-like glossy finish.