S4 MINI Classic (S4M-C)

[hat1324]

Holy crap... I just researched all the benchmarks and reviews for the GTX 1060. It beats my 970 by a ~10% margin at 2/3 the power consumption and cheaper. This new node shift is incredible

Doing the math... for almost exactly $1000 you can get yourself:
i5 6600K
ITX Z170 motherboard
8GB DDR4 RAM
GTX 1060
Pico 160XT
120GB M.2 and 1TB 2.5" HDD
and of course the S4 Mini w/ ribbon

It's a good time to be a PC enthusiast

 

[vluft]

I would love to see the temps you get with this set up as I was planning on doing something very similar.

So got a chance to try this today. Hooked up everything andI spun it at 100% usage on all cores for an hour, though temps had stabilized by 10 minutes in.

This is an E5-2680 v4 which is 100% legit and not at all an ES from China with about 100mhz lower clock (still 120W TDP), with a Dynatron T318 heatsink and the 18x120mm fan from an Akasa Nero Lx (64 CFM, 2mm H2O static pressure). This combination basically just baaaaarely fits in the case. any more would definitely be right out. I'm considering shaving a bit off the bottom of the fan so it's not as tight.

Anyway, results: Idle is about <30°C, max temp it got to is 63°. I didn't check chipset idle but high for it was 43°. Basically all in all much better than I expected, and I don't see any cause for concern. No throttling on the CPU either. SSD will have part of that fan right above it when I get it, and the board's not getting crazy hot so I expect it'll be fine too.

Anyway, just waiting for my SM961 to show up (mid-late August probably), and I need to make some nice short cables for the power supply, and I'm good to go.

P.S. I asked about using the PCI riser cable Josh sells to install a single-slot card in the bottom slot and I can say definitely I'm pretty sure that won't work, now that I've tried it. At least not without bending that riser a lot more than it feels like it wants to be bent, anyway.

 

[Xyit]

Hello everyone, I'm a bit new new here and after reading through most threads and watching all the informative videos by Josh I believe I'm ready to purchase an S4.

It's a bit much to keep track of so I'm needing some help on the parts necessary for my build. From what I can tell the HD plex is only neccesary in some cases, and I'm not sure if I'll need it in mine. Just using an itx 1060 and a standard i7 6700.

http://outervision.com/b/ouHJWV

So I guess I'm going to be needing HD plex and one of the bricks that was mentioned somewhere on here. Do those work out of the box, or is some sort of modification neccesary? I'd also love one of those black risers that were designed for the S4. The tldr version is I'm at a shortage of links, and any help would be appreciated.

 

[RenG]

Hello everyone, I'm a bit new new here and after reading through most threads and watching all the informative videos by Josh I believe I'm ready to purchase an S4.

It's a bit much to keep track of so I'm needing some help on the parts necessary for my build. From what I can tell the HD plex is only neccesary in some cases, and I'm not sure if I'll need it in mine. Just using an itx 1060 and a standard i7 6700.

http://outervision.com/b/ouHJWV

So I guess I'm going to be needing HD plex and one of the bricks that was mentioned somewhere on here. Do those work out of the box, or is some sort of modification neccesary? I'd also love one of those black risers that were designed for the S4. The tldr version is I'm at a shortage of links, and any help would be appreciated.

I think you should email Josh first if he have any S4 in stock. Or if he will do another run. Apparently they are out of stock when you visit his website. But maybe you can snag one if you emailed him directly.

If you don't want to mod then just use the 250W HDplex plus power brick. However, based on what I know, you can still use the picoPSU for that setup but you need to mod it a bit so that it can deliver more than its rated power output.

 

[Xyit]

I think you should email Josh first if he have any S4 in stock. Or if he will do another run. Apparently they are out of stock when you visit his website. But maybe you can snag one if you emailed him directly.

If you don't want to mod then just use the 250W HDplex plus power brick. However, based on what I know, you can still use the picoPSU for that setup but you need to mod it a bit so that it can deliver more than its rated power output.

I see. Thanks for the response, I have emailed him and am waiting for a response on options available and when the next batch has availability. I suppose you order the black pcie riser through him as well.

 

[RenG]

I see. Thanks for the response, I have emailed him and am waiting for a response on options available and when the next batch has availability. I suppose you order the black pcie riser through him as well.

Yes, I ordered the riser from him as well. The riser is almost essential for this case since it was designed along with it. Though of course you can still use other pcie risers.

 

[onlyabloke]

Not going to lie, the more I look at this case and read the build logs the more I'm tempted to try it out....

We'll see what I decide at the end of the year

 

[flacman]

Not going to lie, the more I look at this case and read the build logs the more I'm tempted to try it out....

We'll see what I decide at the end of the year

Might not get a chance to buy one at the end of the year...

 

[onlyabloke]

Might not get a chance to buy one at the end of the year...

If that happens it just wasn't meant to be. I still have a couple other cases I'm trying to decide on as well.

Can't start my build until mid December so we'll see what's available then.

 

[flacman]

If that happens it just wasn't meant to be. I still have a couple other cases I'm trying to decide on as well.

Can't start my build until mid December so we'll see what's available then.

I admire your restraint. I'm waiting on an S4 myself and a DAN A4 from the Kickstarter campaign.

 

[NRG]

Just a quick question for those who have built in the S4, Does the "Z4-ATX-200 200W Pico" come with a 6 pin pcie?

I looked at the photos that they use and it appears that they are running their GPU with cables from the Pico, Yet I don't see them in their included "cable harness". Could someone shed some light on the issue?

Edit: I already have a HDPlex 160w, Is there anyway to mod this to output to a 6 pin pcie?

 

[Kmpkt]

8 pin

 

[aquelito]

Just a quick question for those who have built in the S4, Does the "Z4-ATX-200 200W Pico" come with a 6 pin pcie?

I looked at the photos that they use and it appears that they are running their GPU with cables from the Pico, Yet I don't see them in their included "cable harness". Could someone shed some light on the issue?

They use a custom cable harness to power their GPU.
I emailed Frank Tang from Pico-Box few weeks ago. They can provide custom cables but minimum ordering quantities are 50 units.
If you can find 48 other people, we are good to go !

Edit: I already have a HDPlex 160w, Is there anyway to mod this to output to a 6 pin pcie?

Yes ! That's what did CC Risers :
The Slim Machine: a 4L gaming build
As you can see I had the same questions as yours

 

[Josh | NFC]

Hello everyone, I'm a bit new new here and after reading through most threads and watching all the informative videos by Josh I believe I'm ready to purchase an S4.

It's a bit much to keep track of so I'm needing some help on the parts necessary for my build. From what I can tell the HD plex is only neccesary in some cases, and I'm not sure if I'll need it in mine. Just using an itx 1060 and a standard i7 6700.

http://outervision.com/b/ouHJWV

So I guess I'm going to be needing HD plex and one of the bricks that was mentioned somewhere on here. Do those work out of the box, or is some sort of modification neccesary? I'd also love one of those black risers that were designed for the S4. The tldr version is I'm at a shortage of links, and any help would be appreciated.

I am happy to answer any questions! There are a TON of answers though on my website and this thread if for some reason I am slow to respond. Just let me know specifically what you need answers too--although I totally understand "not knowing enough to ask the right questions" That's how I felt when I built my first vehicle.

 

[Phuncz]

when I built my first vehicle.

Oh you need to spill the beans on that one.

 

[CXH4]

They use a custom cable harness to power their GPU.
I emailed Frank Tang from Pico-Box few weeks ago. They can provide custom cables but minimum ordering quantities are 50 units.
If you can find 48 other people, we are good to go !

I would be interested in that as well, so make it 47 lol

 

[zhl146]

Hey Josh,

What kind of screws do the side panels attach with? I was thinking about trying to see if I can put some screw on case feet on there or something if they are standard. Numbers for the threading + depth would be great. Thanks

 

[Kmpkt]

I just made an account to answer this; I'll try and keep myself on the board though, I'm loving the S4. Anyways, Josh is correct, they are JST fittings, I'm planning on making some custom cables as well; here's the links for them: Housing and Pins. It's entirely possible to fit slightly larger gauge wire in them, I plan on doing it myself and have on different connectors. Might not be able to fit 18AWG, but it's worth trying, I certainly will.

Just to clarify for others who might want to mod the X4-ATX-200. The link you provided is for the JST XHP-4 connector housing. The part the Z4 uses is actually the JST XHP-5 connector (5 pin version). Just didn't want anyone else ordering the wrong part.

EDIT: Took your post out of context. You were talking about the Pico 160XT in your post. For anyone looking to do a custom harness for the Z4, I believe my information is correct.

 

[NRG]

Can the 5mm thick Aluminum "wrap-around" piece be removed? or is it needed to hold the case together? If so, don't suppose you'd have any photos?

Thanks Josh

 

[hat1324]

Can the 5mm thick Aluminum "wrap-around" piece be removed? or is it needed to hold the case together? If so, don't suppose you'd have any photos?

Thanks Josh

Removable, but ugly. What do you plan to do without it?