[01-12-2019] New direction of the project: removable battery pack! Currently requesting comments and feedback.
[23-11-2019] v3 arrived! Pics of the pack, in the enclosure, in the case. Bottom balancing started.
[10-11-2019] v3 batt case sent out, all parts crammed in the S4M-C.
[07-11-2019] IT LIVES! pack built, wires soldered, everything assembled and test ran! Read up here.
[03-11-2019] proof of concept real soon! Cells tested, test fit done, v2 acryllic enclosure designed.
[25-09-2019] 2 years in, this build is evolving! Read my original plan here, my thoughts on battery powered PC here and technical details here.
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Hi all,
So I missed out on @Josh | NFC 's youtube sale last november but he was kind enough to let me buy what was supposed to be his personal one.
I have been planning this build since 4 months ago - my first desktop pc after maybe a decade with 1 laptop and 1 netbook. When I was looking for a case I stumbled on linus's video and went straight to hunt the elusive S4 MINI. I pretty much signed up to this forum because I wanted a MINI ^_^
While waiting I procured some parts which I was sure the price gonna go up - and I was right - my gpu and ram sticks. I was aiming for an nvme ssd too but wallet wasn't agreeing with me. I'm planning to reuse my netbook's ssd instead.
So here's the part list:
CPU
AMD - Ryzen 5 1600
CoolerNoctua - NH-L9a (with AM4 bracket)
MotherboardAsus - ROG STRIX B350-I
MemoryTeam - Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000
GPUSapphire - Radeon RX 550 2GB
PSU@Kmpkt 's dynamo mini + HDPLEX 160W AC-DC unit
The plan is to go brickless, as my setup shouldn't need more than 140W and hdplex 160w brick is small enough to fit in the S4M-C.
Of all parts above, I just need the motherboard which is coming next week. So exciting!!
The PSU came first..
When the case finally came, it's fitting time!

Reversed the end cap of the unit here, because I don't want the mounting tab to hang looking ugly.

On the other side, I bent the mounting tab 45 deg to make the whole unit fit flush with the notch in the case seen above. The screw cutout in the tab also served to route the input cable.
So does it fit with my gpu in?

Yes!!! With 3 mm to spare. The card needs to be installed first then the brick slides from the side. I plan to secure the brick with thermal sticky pads to the case wall. And maybe some foam between it and the gpu.
So I need an inlet now, and don't get me wrong - even S4M now have cutouts for C7/8 inlet, but I wanted a grounded one. C14 is too big, so I went to C5/6, also known as 'cloverleaf' plug.
Time to get the dremel out ^^b
Here's the plan:

So S4M-C's inner frame is 2 part and they're held together by 5 screw, 2 of which is in the way of my planned inlet.

Shaved too much, really..
Here's first part of the inner frame cut halfway:

And the outer part..

After that more trimming and sanding..

This is how it looks with the inlet and cable plugged:

Snug!
I still need to drill screw holes for it but I don't have 2 mm bit. Gonna have to wait for it - my local hardware store is more expensive than having it shipped from ShenZhen...
I sure hope my mod doesn't compromise the integrity of the frame, and the inlet holds.
Next update when I got the motherboard. I don't have any plan yet to paint the case atm, it's just silver bezel and black inner frame. As humble as it gets!
Thanks for reading so far!
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