S4 MINI Classic (S4M-C)

[Josh | NFC]

wouah that is making a lot of extra work!
Simply speaking, is mini box pico psu @160w using their mini power adapter is completely compatible to s4 mini? Even internal wire length to external power brick?
Same question pour hdplex 250w with voodoo 350w in terms of external plug to power brick...

Great question. The answer is DEPENDS ON YOUR MOTHERBOARD and where it puts the 24 pin. Motherboard manufacturers for Intel have started being more consistent and putting the 24 pin opposite the I/O side of the board biased toward the PCIE slot, where it will not require any lengthening. However, I have two boards (AMD and a BIOSTAR Intel) that put the 24 pin as far away as possible from the S4's power port. They require lengthening.

You don't have to be fancy at all if you want to extend it to make things easy--a couple butt connectors are fine for those two power cables (the black and white ones). Soldering is always better, but not necessary. I can include lengths of wire (and butt connectors) so you don't need to source anything if you just ask with your order.

The HDPLEX's wires are ridiculously long and you won't have any reach issues.

 

[michaelmitchell]

wouah that is making a lot of extra work!
Simply speaking, is mini box pico psu @160w using their mini power adapter is completely compatible to s4 mini? Even internal wire length to external power brick?
Same question pour hdplex 250w with voodoo 350w in terms of external plug to power brick...

Haha I guess where you see extra work I see extra fun . HDPLEX sounds like what you want to minimize any extra work or moding.

 

[MarcParis]

@Josh : thank you for your explanation, and proposal for cable. My main choice was hdplex in order ton include proper gpu like gtx970 or successor with hdmi 2.0.. I'll Contact you directly when my choice will be done..

 

[MarcParis]

well HDplex 250W ordered..
Let's see step by step now...

 

[MarcParis]

Well (sorry for double post), in terms of power supply, I just noticed that Voodoo 350W seems to be produced anymore. Do you advice me to prefer Dell 330W or voodoo 350W?

 

[Josh | NFC]

We've taken it for granted that it is out of production and its something you need to pick up used on eBay or Amazon (etc). Sorry for the confusion. They are still pretty plentiful, however.

The Dell 330w is a really great brick and I personally prefer it because of its shape which fits in my backpack's side pockets. If you are looking at running a 970 mini and a CPU 65w or under it will be more than fine. Try to get a genuine one, though.

Peace!

 

[jottwehh]

Do you have to do any modifications by using HDplex + Dell 330w? Somewhere I read about something like you have to tell the Brick, whether you use a 330w or a 220W device.

 

[MarcParis]

The dell 330w on dell website is crasy expensive, 190€ approx. Voodoo 350w is still at 65€. As I don't plan to put everything in abackpack, I guess I will go for voodoo for a start.
Curently my config will be without gpu, waiting for polaris mainly (I'm from red team...) or even hbm2.
I'm aiming at core i7 6700 on a asus b150i pro gaming ( with led on motherboard...lol).

Josh, as cpu cooler, does a is40 pro + noctua 92-14 will fit in s4 to your opinion?

 

[michaelmitchell]

Do you have to do any modifications by using HDplex + Dell 330w? Somewhere I read about something like you have to tell the Brick, whether you use a 330w or a 220W device.

I've not heard anything like this before when using with an HDPLEX but I vaguely remember reading something about Alienware users making a mod to use the bigger brick on other Alienware laptops it was not intended for but I don't think it applies for HDPLEX.

The dell 330w on dell website is crasy expensive, 190€ approx. Voodoo 350w is still at 65€. As I don't plan to put everything in abackpack, I guess I will go for voodoo for a start.
Curently my config will be without gpu, waiting for polaris mainly (I'm from red team...) or even hbm2.
I'm aiming at core i7 6700 on a asus b150i pro gaming ( with led on motherboard...lol).

Josh, as cpu cooler, does a is40 pro + noctua 92-14 will fit in s4 to your opinion?

It if your not back packing it does not really matter except the shape of the Voodoo could be kind of awkward depending on where you plan on putting it, make a paper box version of each one by their dimensions and see for yourself. I wouldn't take the R9 nano stability tests a conclusive evidence that one is better than the other.

http://www.my-adaptor.com/19.5v-16.9a-ac-adapter.html - Dell 330W - $68.36USD
http://www.my-adaptor.com/20v-17.5a-ac-adapter.html - Voodoo 350W - $82.39USD

If you shop around you might find the Dell 330W cheaper than that.

As to the IS40 pro + noctua 92-14... by my calculations from other peoples builds it should fit assuming you have a socket that starts at the same height as everyone else.

I have an IS40 pro sitting on my desk waiting to be put in my S4 when the Thai postal service decides they want to deliver it and since it comes with a 15mm stock fan which should still fit snugly I see no reason why a 14mm replacement fan wouldn't, but for the price of an IS40 pro + noctua 92-14 why not just by buy a NH-L9i? Either way I can confirm for you in the next week or so.

 

[MarcParis]

In fact I found Dell 330W "stated as new" at same price level as voodoo 350W on ebay. It make a huge difference between official dell shop and others retailers!

For IS-40 pro (with 4 heatpipes) + noctua fan, I guess it should be better than noctua NH-L9i itself.
http://www.idcooling.com/Product/detail/id/49/name/IS-40PRO

 

[michaelmitchell]

In fact I found Dell 330W "stated as new" at same price level as voodoo 350W on ebay. It make a huge difference between official dell shop and others retailers!

For IS-40 pro (with 4 heatpipes) + noctua fan, I guess it should be better than noctua NH-L9i itself.
http://www.idcooling.com/Product/detail/id/49/name/IS-40PRO

I don't know the fan will make a huge difference to the stock one maybe only in noise but would be interested to see the results if you try.

 

[MarcParis]

it almost sure that id cooling IS40-PRO is better than noctua NH-L9i as it's bigger, with more heatpipe..
if IS40-PRO is fitting easily on S4 mini, it will become the benchmark as cpu cooler for S4.

Also Noctua fan is also almost sure better than ID cooling one...and also a bit thinner..so it could help also for integration..

 

[michaelmitchell]

it almost sure that id cooling IS40-PRO is better than noctua NH-L9i as it's bigger, with more heatpipe..
if IS40-PRO is fitting easily on S4 mini, it will become the benchmark as cpu cooler for S4.

Also Noctua fan is also almost sure better than ID cooling one...and also a bit thinner..so it could help also for integration..

Might see if I can grab one locally and try out the Noctua fan myself.

 

[MarcParis]

the only one I found was in south Korea unfortunately..

 

[MarcParis]

Well I've found new competitor for CPU cooler compatible with S4 mini :

• Scythe Kodati rev B
  
  (34 mm height only)
• Scythe Kozuti (40mm height total)

They are both sharing same PWM 80x80x10mm fan (slip stream slim series).
Kozuti proposes quite impressive exchange surface (6 heatpipes) but could be harder to assemble on motherboard.

What do you think about them?

PS : on the other side, my configuration conception is advancing pretty well..HD plex 250w is on its way..

 

[confusis]

Scythe Kodati review: https://smallformfactor.net/reviews/scythe-kodati-rev-b-htpc-master

 

[pazoo]

I have a kodati in my s3mini and a kozuti in my s4mini, respectively cooling a 65W and 95W cpus. The s3mini is on 24/7, absolutely no issue so far.
They do the job but they definitely struggle when pushing the CPU. I would recommend to stay with a 35W or 65W one.

 

[MarcParis]

Thank you for your feedback.
Anyway I'm planning to have at maximum a 65w cpu inside my S4 mini, so that's working I guess..

 

[jtd871]

@MarcParis ,
SPCR has a review of the Kozuti. www.silentpcreview.com/scythe-kozuti

 

[MarcParis]

yes thank you. I saw it, and Kozuti seems quite good.