SFF Upgrade arriving today...

[Smallform Gaming]

So excited to upgrade my rig.
The part should arrive from England today.

Current set-up:
Board: MSI A88xi V2 ITX (wifi)
Graphics Card: MSI 750ti Lopro
Fan: Noctua 120mm x 14mm (under card)
Power Supply: HDPLEX 250w / Dell 330w
Case: Travla 137
RAM: 2x G.Skill Sniper 4GB 1.25v
Ribbon: Premium black flexible
CPU: AMD Athlon 845 65w
CPU fan: Noctua 92mm Low-pro
Case Fan: 60mm Noctua
Case Fan: 60mm Roswell
SSD: Samsung 850evo m.2

 

[Smallform Gaming]

 

[Smallform Gaming]

 

[eth0lo]

What graphics card is that a 960? or a 1060?, and it was able to fit in that case; I was wondering because I just bough that case myself.

 

[Smallform Gaming]

Yes and no...
The card fits perfectly with about 60-70mm of wire storage space to go from the front. It works nicely with the ITX board as well but on the other side of the card the 6 pin connector is ever so slightly too long. If you fold the cables down a hard 90 degrees you still have less than a mm of overhang. The case will slide on but it pushes the graphics card to the left and bulges out slightly. I'm probably going to buy one of these startech extension cables and try to mod the plastic casing so that the wires can bend downward more. I typically pull the cover off my case and run it open if I'm going to use it for over a few hours so it isn't too big of a deal.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ZMYBAE/?tag=theminutiae-20
I had to pull the 120mm fan out from under where the 750ti was, remove the smaller 60mm Roswell fan and relocate the 60mm Noctua fan to the other side. Then I velcroed the SDD to the front inner plate of the case and left the HDPLEX where it was. I also had to relocate the DC jack.
The whole thing runs great. I played some light gaming on it for 7 hours yesterday and saw a FPS increase from 65-72fps to 90-114fps (using a wifi connection) with this being my only item changed out in the system. This particular 1060 runs cool and quite and the HDPLEX can power it on its own. The noise level compared to the single fan LP 750ti is negligible. The Travla 137 case is nice and can be had second hand for cheap. It's a good little case.

 

[Smallform Gaming]

inno3D Compact GTX 1060 Card Availability:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/inno...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-06b-in.html
This company is awesome and the little 1060 card is really nice.
If you order from the States they don't charge the VAT (tax) and use DHL express.
*I received my card in 3 Business Days, plus they included a free bag of candy.
This was my first order from them and I couldn't be happier with Overclockers.

 

[Smallform Gaming]

It seems like this is a better option for the case. I just ordered one and expect it to solve the problem of the PCIE 6pin plug being too long.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251512333953

 

[eth0lo]

I thought too the space was limited around the 6 pin connector, thanks for confirming so; would you be so kind to upload some pictures of the current setup.

Did you know travla offers a pcie riser card as well? I think that would make your video card more stable, this and the extension should do the trick, I think.

My case should arrive next week thou.

I'm thinking on getting the evga 1060 which is not so wide.

 

[Smallform Gaming]

The inno3D is smaller than the EVGA. I'm not sure if the connector location would be the same or not.
Here is a pic of my final build.

 

[Smallform Gaming]

The ultra low profile 6 pin connector on eBay works like a charm. No more case overlap at all. I didn't realize What I needed was the right side 90 degree one but the left side works as well. I was also able to stuff another 60mm Noctua fan in the case. It fits perfectly between the inno3D card and the front. The stock wire splitter and extension cable make routing it under the card without interfering with the fan a snap.

 

[eth0lo]

That's really awesome

 

[eth0lo]

My case arrived today!

I'm thinking of adding a gtx 1060 as well, while it seams plausible, I need to understand how a 250w PSU can power a 95TDP CPU and 120TDP to shut up my head demons.

Also since I do not game too hard maybe a gtx 950 low power could do it?, What do you guys think, a gtx 950 would be enoght? By light gaming I mean Batman Arkham Knight (I think this is the more demanding game I have), SFV, Diablo 3, and maybe No Man's Sky (Which is more a CPU than GPU as I understood)

Cheers

 

[Smallform Gaming]

I had the same concerns. I didn't go 95w for the same reasons. Perhaps it would work, don't care to try.
I picked all low voltage low watt parts except the 1060 card and have had zero problems.
I'd much rather see you running a 65w TDP CPU boosted + the GTX 1060 than a 95w and a GTX 950 or lower.
If you are into gaming then the micro or compact 1060 is the way to go. 65w CPUs are still respectable. With my setup I'm hitting 7.9 on my Windows experience which isn't bad but isn't great. It's up from 7.4 with the 750ti without replacing anything else.

 

[Minefoxi]

A nice crammed little system you have there!

How noisy is the card under idle and under load, mabye in comparrison to the CPU cooler and to your old EVGA GTX 750 ti? Just relatively, no numbers because I'm thinking about buying one myself.

 

[Smallform Gaming]

My noise reference is the old MSI GTX 750ti. It appears to be as quiet as that card or quieter.
When my 92mm NOCTUA CPU fan kicks into 100% RPMs it is louder than the inno3D 1060 Compact.

UPDATE: The system stays cool when the cover is on the case and when it is under a normal load and while the cover is off with hard gaming.
However, the CPU started to overheat yesterday after extended gaming with the cover on.
I think this is a function of the case and the airflow with the two 60mm Noctua fans.
*I'm not sure I'd recommend the Travla 137 case with a GTX 9XX or 10XX card without a more robust cooling solution (cover on).
With the cover-off it performs just fine.
Any suggestions from the community on how to cool the system so I could run it cover-on would be appreciated.
I'm looking forward to getting an S4 Mini when they come back out so I can push dual 120mm fans up and down instead of 60mm fans laterally.