S4 MINI Classic (S4M-C)

DocH

G4G
Apr 2, 2017
314
306
For sure! I'm not hating on it, but I just think it is not a magic bullet. I have been trying to find a way to let customers customize their MINIs as that is VERY important to me! Plastidip seemed like an awesome solution to push and experiment with, but after what I consider a good run I just can't recommend it to the average user. I mean, if someone wants to experiment I think that is AWESOME but when I recommend something it has to be somewhat easy to get a decent result you know?



The material is called Controltac by 3M. The wrap files took alot of work to get right, but I'm happy with the result! I will have a download link up on my website soon and you can either take the .psd to get your own made, or send it in via me to Buddha Brothers and get it printed with a super high resolution machine that produces superb results. The wraps in that link might not be "your thing" but they demo the print quality and application result.

Peace!
How much do the vinyls cost Josh and what if I wanted the octopus version you had shown? Could I just order through you?
 

Josh | NFC

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How much do the vinyls cost Josh and what if I wanted the octopus version you had shown? Could I just order through you?

The idea is that you would order through me for premade wraps or custom wraps, and then Buddha Bros drop ships them to you. As for cost, we just finalized the design and system this week and they are pricing it out for me.

I have some other wraps I ordered as a test I'll throw up, but if you like one you see you could always order it unless it was specifically commissioned and paid for as a one-off custom.

I envision people will be able to design skins and wraps for the MINI and upload them here or my website so people can order them. I think it could be lots of fun--and you could change the look of your anodized MINI often!
 

DocH

G4G
Apr 2, 2017
314
306
The idea is that you would order through me for premade wraps or custom wraps, and then Buddha Bros drop ships them to you. As for cost, we just finalized the design and system this week and they are pricing it out for me.

I have some other wraps I ordered as a test I'll throw up, but if you like one you see you could always order it unless it was specifically commissioned and paid for as a one-off custom.

I envision people will be able to design skins and wraps for the MINI and upload them here or my website so people can order them. I think it could be lots of fun--and you could change the look of your anodized MINI often!
Literally amazing idea josh. I so dig it. Trouble with me is i would love to design one but my time is extremely limited now and days. I would love to see a community where designs are created. I definitely want to see what other skins you have but i love the octopus one and definitely will be ordering one for my case in the july batch. Can't wait to see your other designs.

Am i assuming correctly they will be up on the NFC store page when ready?
 

Josh | NFC

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This fall I want to see a build with an ASRock X299-ITX/ac, a Core i9-7980XE with a Dynatron R15 + Noctua NF-A12x15 and a Zotac 1080 Ti Mini with a G-Unique 500W PSU + brick in the S4 Mini. Cmon, who's man enough?

Lemme ring up Trump and see if he will sponsor this. Maybe if I get it gold plated and put a big T on the front?

Someone mock this up and pitch it!
 

QuantumBraced

Master of Cramming
Mar 9, 2017
507
358

Interesting. It makes some sense because the 92-100mm fans concentrate all of their airflow on the heatsink whereas the 120mm pushes air on the entire motherboard. But I'm also wondering if in this test the 120mm fan itself wasn't as good as the other ones. Maybe the new slim A12x15 will beat the A9x14. Going X299 in the S4 Mini, you'd want as much airflow as possible even if you give up 4-5 C on the CPU, especially with all the risers and SODIMM slots of the ASRock X299 ITX. That is, if a 120mm fan can even fit with all of that stuff.

I don't imagine anyone would try it, but I really want to see it. Doesn't have to be a 7980XE, could be just a 7820X, it wouldn't be crazy expensive, could just be transferred temporarily from another system and tested as a proof of concept.
 
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|||

King of Cable Management
Sep 26, 2015
775
759
It's already been done on X99

 
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QuantumBraced

Master of Cramming
Mar 9, 2017
507
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Yes, but the ASRock X299 board has a 42mm-tall riser card behind the I/O as James found out in his review of the demo unit. So this config won't work, nevermind. You'd have to do a 92 or 100 mm fan over the heatsink.
 

Broxin

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jun 16, 2017
188
135
Anyone tried to take the heat spreader (delid) of the cpu and putting the heatsing directly on top of it like we did in the 486 times and with the first intel CPUs not long ago ?

I dont think there is any major danger in it as far as we dont fasten the heatsink with arnold schwarzenegger strength :-)

it would make the temperature much better and give us 1-2 mm more space to work with
 

Josh | NFC

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Jun 12, 2015
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Anyone tried to take the heat spreader (delid) of the cpu and putting the heatsing directly on top of it like we did in the 486 times and with the first intel CPUs not long ago ?

I dont think there is any major danger in it as far as we dont fasten the heatsink with arnold schwarzenegger strength :-)

it would make the temperature much better and give us 1-2 mm more space to work with

This is possible with some coolers, but I really would only do this on a test bench with waterblocks where you can directly control the contact pressure. This is not something I would do in an S4 MINI.

You would need to hack up the "lid" to allow the chip to mate properly with LGA, and pray everything didn't slide around.

Another issue is how "soft" and thin the current generation LGA intel chips are. I've personally ruined one *bendgate* i7 6700 from a normal cooler installation...and yes, I was pretty humbled because I rolled my eyes when people were #bendgate.

Considering how hard it is just to apply Indigo Extreme and get it to flow right the first time this would be pretty hardcore, and very delicate. Possible, but much more difficult than in the olden days.

So with all that being said...it would make for an interesting youtube video.
 

Sean Crees

Airflow Optimizer
Jan 1, 2017
352
316
Anyone have a link to a good guide, either written or a video, of the tools needed and how to make custom short 24 pin power cable for the S4 mini? Or just in general, something i could extrapolate to use to make my own cable for the S4 mini? Josh says he really doesn't have the time to make them right now, so I'm thinking maybe i should just do it for myself.
 

Sean Crees

Airflow Optimizer
Jan 1, 2017
352
316

I made a list, can you look it over?


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OQ21CA
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FZPDG1K
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GOIY1NE
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0163MAUQW
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003J699RW
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006HU7XCA

Is 18awg good enough, or should i go with 16awg? The female molex terminal's say they are for 18awg, but i saw a bunch of places online where people say they use 16awg for making custom length cables. Also, i figured since this is a small space, 18awg would bend easier to fit the space.

Am i missing anything from this list to make custom length cables for the HD-PLEX 400w?

Thanks,
Sean Crees
 
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royalba94

Airflow Optimizer
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Apr 2, 2017
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Sorry if I'm budding in but I thought I'd throw in my two cents.
I usually always order from Mod-One or MainframeCustom for small batches since I'm in the US (not sure on your locale). I looked for a bit and couldn't really find black 24pin connectors on Amazon either, Phobya used to have them but the listings are now just showing "currently unavailable" ModDiy is another place you can get them from if you don't mind shipping from china.

Is 18awg good enough, or should i go with 16awg? The female molex terminal's say they are for 18awg, but i saw a bunch of places online where people say they use 16awg for making custom length cables. Also, i figured since this is a small space, 18awg would bend easier to fit the space.

18 guage is good enough, it's what most Stock PSU cables are made of. I personally only ever use 16 guage but that's mainly because I like the 'fuller' look it gives the cables and not strictly for performance reasons. Also, the terminals marked for 18awg will also work on 16awg wire if the esp. if the insulation on the wire isn't very thick, the only downside to using the 18awg terminals on 16awg wire is that the longer 'wings' don't reach all the way around and crimp nicely but as David from Singularity Computers said in one of his sleeving videos it still works fine since the small wings are what make the electrical connection anyway.

As far as 16 guage wire being too stiff to work in the S4 Mini, it really just depends on the wire that you get. For example the Wire I use and the wire from Mod-One are both 16 guage but the Mod-One wire is noticeably stiffer than mine. It is also worth noting that using PET-type sleeving does stiffen up the wires even more so for very compact builds it can be more of a pain and the wire lengths would need to be a tiny bit longer to compensate for the loss of flexibility. Totally doable, just takes a bit more fine-tuning.

Am i missing anything from this list to make custom length cables for the HD-PLEX 400w? Note, i won't be using any sata drives, so i won't need sata power cables. Hence why i didn't put them on the list.

Thanks,
Sean Crees

Here's a quick list of the supplies with quantities for an HDPlex Set:
  • 2x 24pin connectors
  • 3x 8pin EPS connectors
  • 1x 6pin PCIe connector (or whatever is required for your GPU)
  • Enough Female Pins for each connector plus a couple extra just in case (Min needed is 78 for the above)
  • ~17 feet of wire (not 100% on the lengths for the HDPlex 400w yet so this is estimating them to be 2.5 for the 24pin, 6 for the CPU, and 8 for the GPU)
  • ~17.5 feet of whatever sleeving type you choose (Assuming you are sleeving them of course)
  • ~6.75 feet of 1/4" 3:1 Heatshrink (WITHOUT adhesive) if you choose a PET-type of sleeving, not required for Paracord
And a list of the tools:
  • Crimper
  • Wire Strippers
  • Side Cutters
  • Pin Remover
  • Lighter or Butane torch (if you are sleeving the cables)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Anyways with all that said, first off I hope it made sense and secondly if you have further questions I'd be happy to help!

I do offer Sleeved or Un-Sleeved custom cables if you (or anyone else) would like me to build them for you. Cheers! :)
 
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jeshikat

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royalba94

Airflow Optimizer
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I like to know I'm getting legit Molex parts so I usually order from industrial suppliers. Here's a black 24-pin: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Molex/46992-2410/?qs=UxK/DTs6dB7nSJvMKZAcag==
Good point, a lot of places don't sell genuine Molex connectors and pins, just clones.

Although it is probably worth noting that there is no genuine Molex part for the 8pin PCIe connector, so you have to get those elsewhere.
(source: spent days looking through industrial suppliers catalogs to find it [to no avail] and even contacted Molex and they confirmed that they do not make it.)
 
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Sean Crees

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Jan 1, 2017
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I like to know I'm getting legit Molex parts so I usually order from industrial suppliers. Here's a black 24-pin: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Molex/46992-2410/?qs=UxK/DTs6dB7nSJvMKZAcag==

Well Performance PC's is local to Melbourne, FL, which is where i live. So i think i'll just go with them.

Good point, a lot of places don't sell genuine Molex connectors and pins, just clones.

Although it is probably worth noting that there is no genuine Molex part for the 8pin PCIe connector, so you have to get those elsewhere.
(source: spent days looking through industrial suppliers catalogs to find it [to no avail] and even contacted Molex and they confirmed that they do not make it.)

I just thought, i could probably use the connectors that come with the HDPLEX huh? And just use the molex extraction tool to take the stock cables out of them and re-use them.
 
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