S4 MINI Classic (S4M-C)

mtl171

Average Stuffer
Nov 22, 2016
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Kmpkt

Innovation through Miniaturization
KMPKT
Feb 1, 2016
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So anyone have a reasonably educated guess on how long we'll need to wait for these to actually hit shelves?
 

Josh | NFC

Not From Concentrate
Original poster
NFC Systems
Jun 12, 2015
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Some people were curious about what an "inverted" color MINI would looks like. I don't have time to do a proper photoshoot right now like the last album but this should do for now. Keep in mind the finish appears harsher because I used fewer light sources and they are all bare:





 

ant247

Minimal Tinkerer
Jan 5, 2017
4
1
Quick question - The S4 Mini website lists the Samsung 960 Pro in its example configuration. Is it true that it is a very premium SSD that offers very little extra (in the way of real world gaming performance) in comparison to more affordable SSD's?
 

TheWhiteWolves

Caliper Novice
Jul 28, 2016
25
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correct me if I'm wrong josh but the example configuration is just an example of what you could put in it and most likely is what josh had around to test that the example does work together.
 

|||

King of Cable Management
Sep 26, 2015
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Quick question - The S4 Mini website lists the Samsung 960 Pro in its example configuration. Is it true that it is a very premium SSD that offers very little extra (in the way of real world gaming performance) in comparison to more affordable SSD's?

If "in the way of real world gaming performance" is the operative phrasing here, then yes, it will not provide much of anything in terms of gaming performance, as the game is loaded into the main system memory and graphics textures are loaded into graphics memory...assuming you have enough memory to begin with (8+ GB system memory, 5+ GB of graphics memory for 4K or less for lower resolutions). If you don't have enough memory, performance can be impacted by needing to fetch things from the SSD/HDD, but otherwise, the only performance impact is with things like time taken loading up levels.

A faster SSD/HDD would have noticeable impact on system start-up time, opening programs, and, if you multi-task so much to use all of you system memory, quicker page filing moving things in and out of memory.
 

Phuncz

Lord of the Boards
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May 9, 2015
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I can notice the difference between my previous 500+MB/s SSD and the 950 Pro I have now. It's not so immense as the step from HDD to SSD, but with heavy usage it's definitely there.
 

Curiosity

Too busy figuring out if I can to think if I shoul
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anybody wanna trade bezels? ;p
 

Josh | NFC

Not From Concentrate
Original poster
NFC Systems
Jun 12, 2015
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Quick question - The S4 Mini website lists the Samsung 960 Pro in its example configuration. Is it true that it is a very premium SSD that offers very little extra (in the way of real world gaming performance) in comparison to more affordable SSD's?

If you are a gamer or you just browse the web, then sure, you can get a cheaper M.2 SSD. I still recommend M.2 over 2.5" for lots of reasons...easier build, reduces cables, gives GPU more breathing room, possibly speed...

Jay has a great review of a budget M.2 drive on his awesome channel.

However...

The 960 pro is my favorite piece of computer hardware. Period. As a content creator the 960 Pro is the FIRST drive that has removed all disk bottlenecks from my workflow, which saves me a ton of time. Most people can just render overnight, but I have so many videos across so many platforms (most of them are private) that I need disk speed. I no longer have to work with proxy media...I can work in real time off the drive. Rendering directly to the drive saves me time. Capturing via SDI I can ISO record 4k right to my drive, saving even more time. This wasn't possible a year and a half ago. the 950 PRO was my favorite piece of equipment, and the 960 utterly nukes it from orbit.

Something I don't understand is the notion of buying a 350 dollar CPU but a slow disk drive. I would call it a pet peeve but it's not that serious, I just don't get it. The bottleneck for most applications these days isn't your CPU, it is the disk. Even media encoding...check out your disk useage, that is where your are going to be pegged.

So it depends on what you do, but for me, the 960 actually makes the MINI a replacement work station for video.

correct me if I'm wrong josh but the example configuration is just an example of what you could put in it and most likely is what josh had around to test that the example does work together.

Yup! I only want to give an idea of what can be done. Don't get me wrong, I do recommend the parts and use them for my customer builds unless asked for something different, but the whole point of a chassis like this rather than a laptop is customer creativity.

I can notice the difference between my previous 500+MB/s SSD and the 950 Pro I have now. It's not so immense as the step from HDD to SSD, but with heavy usage it's definitely there.


Yeah this is my 950 pro, and I definitely noticed a 4x difference in read.


The 960 is 40ish% faster...
 

jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
Silver Supporter
Feb 22, 2015
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Have you seen the STX160.0? It's got a face only a mother could love, while the S4 Mini is a work of art.

A S4 Nano* with that board would look amazing.

*Though I would humbly suggest picking a different naming scheme to make it easier to find your case without sorting out tons of Samsung stuff.
 

CubanLegend

Steely-Eyed NVFlash Man
Dec 23, 2016
833
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smallformfactor.net
I mean, if the PCB is no longer than 6.7 inches to fit the Mini-ITX spec, couldn't someone just dremel off the one heatpipe and heatsink piece that's hanging off to the side? I'll still hold out for a legit review of the card from a site that actually measures it out, it might still be possible to fit this in an S4 mini.
 
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