S4 MINI Classic (S4M-C)

[flacman]

@ilovelampshade which 1050 model is that? EVGA non-SC/SC, Zotac?

I'm seriously thinking selling the 1060 and making my S4 my father's PC with a 1050 Ti.

Back to SFF when my DAN-A4 arrives and I can outfit it with Zen/Vega.

 

[Kmpkt]

EVGA 1050ti SC

 

[zhl146]

@Josh | NFC I fashioned a 4-DIN cable to my SFX PSU and noticed that my system was rebooting when playing some games with the 1060 SC at full power even when using that. That tipped me off to something being fishy because it was working fine when I was skipping the DIN part of my power chain. In the end I figured out that it was some bad 4 pin ATX extender that I was using (the pico power in lines weren't long enough for the S4). I removed it and spliced in my own wire and it works fine now.

In hindsight I probably should have tested the ATX extender more carefully, but I got pissed at it and ripped it apart for its minifit connectors lol. I wanted to give you a heads up that I may have (partially) solved the problem of my constant reboots.

@MrNintend0 I am currently running the SF600 externally with no issues. However, i did cheat and just jump the ground to PS_ON at the psu. I just recently decided that I was going to try making a custom cable harness for it that only carries enough 12V/Ground/and the PS_ON line to the pico so that I can get the PSU to turn on and off with the computer. However, when I did a preliminary test, the PSU would only click on then off when I pushed my power button on the PC.

All I did was take a wire and shove it in the PS_ON pin of the pico (on the 160XT it is pretty accessible) and connect it to the PS_ON on the PSU. I am guessing that there is a sense wire or something that I am missing? However, the PSU turns on just fine if I jump PS_ON directly to ground. Any idea what I'm missing here? *EDIT1* Never mind, I think I was looking at the 24 pin from the wrong side >.<
*EDIT2* Tried the "correct" pin and the PSU doesn't do anything

If all goes well, then I should hopefully have one 16/3 or maybe 14/3 cable going from my PSU to the S4. I plan on using a 6 pin mini-fit jr connector at the S4 case since I am having trouble finding a decent DC power connector that will handle 15 amps that will look okay. From there, power can go straight to my 1060 SC without having to go to the pico first since the PSU will not always be on. That will eliminate having to go all the way to the pico and then back. I will obviously still need to run 12V and ground to the pico for the motherboard power and possible peripherals.

 

[MrNintend0]

Does it say anywhere on your website what has changed between the different revisions and also what revision you're currently on?
I saw somewhere someone posted they had a NFC S4-mini v5 - is v5 the most current one? And how do we know what changed from v4?

I think that person who posted that was mixing it up with an NCASE M1, which is currently on V5. For as long as I've been following the S4 (which to be honest wasn't long at all, probably 6 - 7 months), I only know of two versions. I'll let Josh chime in to either confirm/deny/or add to my description. The only changes in the current version are:

1) The cases are no longer powdercoated. It's expensive and harder to get near perfect results. However, Josh has said that he will do some small limited edition runs in powder when he finds a color he likes. Obviously these will also be more expensive than the standard models.

2) The mounting holes for the DC power jack hole has been elongated to allow the use of an HDPLEX DC-IN as well as other panel mount DC jacks without modifications.

3) A Kensington Lock slot was added to the top of the case which also attaches to the inner chassis as well.

@MrNintend0 I am currently running the SF600 externally with no issues. However, i did cheat and just jump the ground to PS_ON at the psu. I just recently decided that I was going to try making a custom cable harness for it that only carries enough 12V/Ground/and the PS_ON line to the pico so that I can get the PSU to turn on and off with the computer. However, when I did a preliminary test, the PSU would only click on then off when I pushed my power button on the PC.

All I did was take a wire and shove it in the PS_ON pin of the pico (on the 160XT it is pretty accessible) and connect it to the PS_ON on the PSU. I am guessing that there is a sense wire or something that I am missing? However, the PSU turns on just fine if I jump PS_ON directly to ground. Any idea what I'm missing here? *EDIT1* Never mind, I think I was looking at the 24 pin from the wrong side >.<
*EDIT2* Tried the "correct" pin and the PSU doesn't do anything

If all goes well, then I should hopefully have one 16/3 or maybe 14/3 cable going from my PSU to the S4. I plan on using a 6 pin mini-fit jr connector at the S4 case since I am having trouble finding a decent DC power connector that will handle 15 amps that will look okay. From there, power can go straight to my 1060 SC without having to go to the pico first since the PSU will not always be on. That will eliminate having to go all the way to the pico and then back. I will obviously still need to run 12V and ground to the pico for the motherboard power and possible peripherals.

I believe the reason why it didn't work is because the Pico wasn't getting power in the first place... yet. When you hit the power button on a PC, it sends a signal to the motherboard to ground the PS_ON wire, which tells the PSU to send power to the rest of the system. With your setup, the problem is that while you also had it connected to the SF600, the Pico didn't have access to any power (no power from the SF600 yet), therefore the system could not start before the Pico could be fully "charged" (voltage rise) from the SF600.

To simplify it:the power switch tells the Pico and SF600 to start. The SF600 was already "primed" and lets the power flow to the Pico. The Pico, which is supplying the heart of the system with power, isn't "primed" yet. Therefore, the PC doesn't have power to use and cannot start, so it cancels the PS_ON signal, which in turn turns both PSU's off.

Note that this is only theory. I have very, very basic electronics knowledge (enough to have some common sense, but no real "intelligence"), so someone correct me if I'm wrong please.

If you're using the SF600 as a replacement for the power brick, you'll need to ground the PS_ON wire before you can push the power button on the PC for the Pico. The cheapest way would be just using a short jumper wire. The best way would be wiring a small SPST toggle switch to the wires, then if you really wanted, put the switch in an easy to access location near the S4.

Anyways, remember that the Mini-Fit Jr. pins are rated at 9 Amps per pin, which leads us to 108 Watts per pair of 12V+ and Ground pins.

 

[zhl146]

I think that person who posted that was mixing it up with an NCASE M1, which is currently on V5. For as long as I've been following the S4 (which to be honest wasn't long at all, probably 6 - 7 months), I only know of two versions. I'll let Josh chime in to either confirm/deny/or add to my description. The only changes in the current version are:

1) The cases are no longer powdercoated. It's expensive and harder to get near perfect results. However, Josh has said that he will do some small limited edition runs in powder when he finds a color he likes. Obviously these will also be more expensive than the standard models.

2) The mounting holes for the DC power jack hole has been elongated to allow the use of an HDPLEX DC-IN as well as other panel mount DC jacks without modifications.

3) A Kensington Lock slot was added to the top of the case which also attaches to the inner chassis as well.



I believe the reason why it didn't work is because the Pico wasn't getting power in the first place... yet. When you hit the power button on a PC, it sends a signal to the motherboard to ground the PS_ON wire, which tells the PSU to send power to the rest of the system. With your setup, the problem is that while you also had it connected to the SF600, the Pico didn't have access to any power (no power from the SF600 yet), therefore the system could not start before the Pico could be fully "charged" (voltage rise) from the SF600.

To simplify it:the power switch tells the Pico and SF600 to start. The SF600 was already "primed" and lets the power flow to the Pico. The Pico, which is supplying the heart of the system with power, isn't "primed" yet. Therefore, the PC doesn't have power to use and cannot start, so it cancels the PS_ON signal, which in turn turns both PSU's off.

Note that this is only theory. I have very, very basic electronics knowledge (enough to have some common sense, but no real "intelligence"), so someone correct me if I'm wrong please.

If you're using the SF600 as a replacement for the power brick, you'll need to ground the PS_ON wire before you can push the power button on the PC for the Pico. The cheapest way would be just using a short jumper wire. The best way would be wiring a small SPST toggle switch to the wires, then if you really wanted, put the switch in an easy to access location near the S4.

Anyways, remember that the Mini-Fit Jr. pins are rated at 9 Amps per pin, which leads us to 108 Watts per pair of 12V+ and Ground pins.

Thanks for your response. I posted in the other thread and it was suggested that I wire up the 5V as well as the PS_ON so that I can get standby power like you said. I'll try that and report back!

Yep, I am planning on using a 6 pin for 2x ground 2x 12V 1x 5V and 1x PS_ON

 

[MODZERO]

I don't wish to derail the current conversation but.. I've just picked up the HDPLEX and I'm searching for a great brick. It was hard enough finding a HDPLEX, power adapters appear to be in plentiful supply. I'm currently leaning toward this:

Dell ADP-330AB B Power Adapter
Input:100-240V~4.4A 50-60Hz
Adapter Output Voltage: 19.5V
Adapter Output Current: 16.9A
Adapter Power: 330W

The HD-PLEX and the prospect of a 330W brick are overkill for a build based around the 35W CPU and GTX1060 but I'm looking for stability under load.

Any thoughts?

J.

 

[CXH4]

I don't wish to derail the current conversation but.. I've just picked up the HDPLEX and I'm searching for a great brick. It was hard enough finding a HDPLEX, power adapters appear to be in plentiful supply. I'm currently leaning toward this:

Dell ADP-330AB B Power Adapter
Input:100-240V~4.4A 50-60Hz
Adapter Output Voltage: 19.5V
Adapter Output Current: 16.9A
Adapter Power: 330W

The HD-PLEX and the prospect of a 330W brick are overkill for a build based around the 35W CPU and GTX1060 but I'm looking for stability under load.

Any thoughts?

J.

You could get away with a standard i7 6700, probably even a 6700K, paired with a 1070 non-overclocked (perhaps overclocked). An i7 6700 in my experience paired with a GTX 1060 runs below 200 watts of power, however both have a power limit of 90% and the i7 is clocked down to 3ghz. So I believe you could get away with a 1070 or whichever graphics card so long as it fits in the case.

 

[Kmpkt]

I use this combo and it's incredibly stable.

 

[Smallform Gaming]

I'm running the 3.5ghz Carrizo AMD chip with the HDPLEX / GTX1060 and a 330watt power brick. It's quite stable.

 

[MODZERO]

You could get away with a standard i7 6700, probably even a 6700K, paired with a 1070 non-overclocked (perhaps overclocked). An i7 6700 in my experience paired with a GTX 1060 runs below 200 watts of power, however both have a power limit of 90% and the i7 is clocked down to 3ghz. So I believe you could get away with a 1070 or whichever graphics card so long as it fits in the case.

Great, thanks for the insight. Gigabyte UK are one of the sponsors for this build and very kindly hooked me up with the Gigabyte GTX1060 ITX OC 6GB. I wonder if (based on your experiences) I could make use of the i5 6500K I already own. I didn't really want to put an 85W cpu under the NH L9i.. but I guess there is no harm in trying.

I use this combo and it's incredibly stable.

Awesome, thanks. I'm gonna go for it.

I'm running the 3.5ghz Carrizo AMD chip with the HDPLEX / GTX1060 and a 330watt power brick. It's quite stable.

Cheers, "It's quite stable" is that the English proper use of 'quite' or have you had some stability concerns? haha

Thanks for the input gents. I'm kicking off the build logs this week (hopefully on Wednesday) Really excited to get building in the S4 mini.

J.

 

[hat1324]

Great, thanks for the insight. Gigabyte UK are one of the sponsors for this build and very kindly hooked me up with the Gigabyte GTX1060 ITX OC 6GB. I wonder if (based on your experiences) I could make use of the i5 6500K I already own. I didn't really want to put an 85W cpu under the NH L9i.. but I guess there is no harm in trying.



Awesome, thanks. I'm gonna go for it.



Cheers, "It's quite stable" is that the English proper use of 'quite' or have you had some stability concerns? haha

Thanks for the input gents. I'm kicking off the build logs this week (hopefully on Wednesday) Really excited to get building in the S4 mini.

J.

"Quite" means decently, one step down from "incredibly"

 

[Smallform Gaming]

HDPLEX/S4 custom cable lengths. (please help)
Can someone with an HDPLEX/S4 mini combo please let me know suggested or optimum cable lengths if getting custom cables? I'm running the MSI A88XI AC V2 motherboard:
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/A88XI-AC-V2.html#hero-overview
This board has a side positioned 24pin ATX and rear positioned power....
I'm trying to both reduce the cable clutter and increase the aesthetic appeal of the stock HDPLEX cable set.

 

[Smallform Gaming]

Update: Sleeving in progress.
*Thank you Josh for getting back to me personally.

 

[RenG]

Anyone here using a Dell power adapter? "Genuine" dell chargers from amazon or ebay are way cheaper compared when ordering directly from Dell website. One thing I learned in PC building is don't buy a cheap power supply. I'm not sure about the quality of these "genuine" dell chargers.

 

[Kmpkt]

I've been using a 330W variant with my S4 for a while and it works great.

 

[NRG]

I bough one of those "genuine" adapters and it started pouring out smoke. It was a 230w version and i was pulling maybe 160

 

[iFreilicht]

Josh, I was wondering: How many S4 Minis of Rev. 1 have you sold? When looking at build logs here, the highest serial number seems to be 84, which seems way too low for a case with such critical acclaim.

 

[Josh | NFC]

Well I just am blessed to have amazing customers who love their MINIs and are very enthusiastic about them.

I've literally had one customer who wasn't happy (tried my best to make it right) and a couple others I have messed up on from me being human but they have worked with me and are amazing. Not to mention the huge patience everyone has for waiting waiting WAITING.

Hard work, willingness to take big risks, and undying determination can get you so far, but I'm honest and have to say it is lots and lots of LUCK to get customers this great...

 

[Smallform Gaming]

I bough one of those "genuine" adapters and it started pouring out smoke. It was a 230w version and i was pulling maybe 160

There are a couple of reputable eBay sellers with cheaper OEM Dell 330w adapters. That's where I bought mine and it works well with the HDPLEX and the new GTX 1060.
I still have a leftover 230w adapter (also from eBay) and MSI GTX 750ti card. That combination also worked well together.

 

[hat1324]

Im scared one day my Voodoo power brick will fail and I'll have to buy a Dell to replace it. Simply not as aesthetically pleasing and 2 times the price.

Still remember when that guy was selling a pile of them on eBay for like $15 each.