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SKYREACH 4 MINI (S4M)

LFO

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jun 23, 2018
100
23
It looks like I'm already stuck with my Era-Adapter solution to fit a firewire card into the S4M! (Probably for sale in the near future!)
Previous post: https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/skyreach-4-mini-s4m.5715/page-114#post-139524

I'm trying to install the firewire card in the bottom slot, the era-adapter gets stuck against the sidewall of the motherboards PCIe slot... Asus X-470 ... big bummer!! Moving it to the top slot then prevents the case from closing later on, as the 4 pin power connector sticks out...

So I'm looking for a solution or a workaround...

A) Thinking of having a custom bracket 3d printed that nudges the card a little bit to the left.
Or B) Find a bifurcation riser that could work with the S4M... but this might conflict with either the GPU performance or the firewire card as they would share an IRQ in the hardware settings....

Suggestion are welcome!

Thanks

To quote my own with a quick update on my mini build with FW card saga... well here you go...

At first I had an issue with the era-adapter being stuck below the riser... so Josh printed me a custom bracket that nudged the FW card with 1cm.
Meanwhile it took a week or 3 before my Sata and Molex connectors arrived as they were in back-order... Once I build these wires and installed everything except the SSD/HDD's I figured with the power button connections being placed below the sky-wire going to the HDplex 400ATX everything in that corner is such a tight fit I better tested the power first before moving on. To my surprise and happiness they were in the right order so I turned it off again... only to see some smoke coming from below the GPU... and that's no good, right?!!

Time to figure out what melted and where I made a mistake...

First conclusion, the ribbon from the era-adapter was melted through it's plastic sleeve... hmm
Second I found out I'm an idiot as I had the Molex going to the FW card mixed up... simply meaning I had the 12Volt and 5Volt on the wrong side. First mistake!
Third, I came to the conclusion I had the ere-adapter PCIe side in the wrong orientation so the FW card was reversed in the slot. Second mistake!
With all the twisting and bending of the ribbon to make it fit and being a PCIe 4x it all kind off seemed logical at the time of install ... + it was very late at night ...

That said... the result as off now is I had to order a new era-adapter and figured I would be better off with a PCIe x16 card to be future proof. They have one I overlooked the last time that seems to make much more sense to use in the S4mini that the other I bought, especially when using the Asus X-470i mobo. I ordered the 5cm version to avoid any more wire bending and clutter and this one in the link could also be a interesting for you guy's when looking for an extra PCIe slot. http://www.era-adapter.com/m2-keym-to-pcie-x16-cable-rightward-90-degree-for-stx-r4m-r3l-p-346.html

And second I fixed to Sata and molex cable of course... but for now fingers crossed that I didn't ruined anything or everything else as this pewter had cost me way more than expected and should have so far...

Meanwhile... back to the waiting room!

Cheers!
 

Secret-Misthios

Average Stuffer
May 25, 2019
69
20
Sorry if I missed it, but is there an Excel sheet available with which GPU models from each company fit into the S4 Mini with the brickless hdplex ac to atx and dc dc configuration. I saw the Sentry 2.0 and I believe some other one had something similar from the community that listed them as yes or now. I know there's some further constraints with the brickless build but I didn't catch the max or recommended max height/length of a gpu under this configuration. My gut feeling is itx sized gpu, but I read the zotac ones may require modding to fit, let alone those that draw enough power to require other forms of modding anyways. I'm purely just seeking the measurement side, power wise is a bit easier to calculate and stay under the 400w cap with some planning.
 
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McTeags

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Feb 18, 2017
130
148
Photos of my under desk mounting system for my Mini. My college roommate was kind enough to make this for me. Lock system that is used to fashion heavy duty accessories like a flash diffuser to the top of high end cameras. Allows me to pull the lever, slide the PC off the mount and put it in my bag for travel. Mounted to the bottom of the desk with some brass screws and a steel plate.

 

Josh | NFC

Not From Concentrate
Original poster
NFC Systems
Jun 12, 2015
1,869
4,468
www.nfc-systems.com
Sorry if I missed it, but is there an Excel sheet available with which GPU models from each company fit into the S4 Mini with the brickless hdplex ac to atx and dc dc configuration. I saw the Sentry 2.0 and I believe some other one had something similar from the community that listed them as yes or now. I know there's some further constraints with the brickless build but I didn't catch the max or recommended max height/length of a gpu under this configuration. My gut feeling is itx sized gpu, but I read the zotac ones may require modding to fit, let alone those that draw enough power to require other forms of modding anyways. I'm purely just seeking the measurement side, power wise is a bit easier to calculate and stay under the 400w cap with some planning.

Howdy!

The community is building a sheet for this:


Additionally there is a FAQ we are trying to build, if you have a question that has been answered by a forum post or YouTube video please feel free to add to this in the same format we are using:


This forum is an AWESOME resource and there are hundreds of posts for mods and questions, so you can search for all kinds of things--another way to get answers and to see pinned answers is to use the NFC Discord in conjunction with this forum.

Finally, if you need a technical question answered, and you don't get a quick response or are having trouble finding the answer, please feel free to email me anytime. I generally answer within 24 hours Monday-Saturday.

Peace and thank you!
 

Soul_Est

SFF Guru
SFFn Staff
Feb 12, 2016
1,536
1,928
Everything has arrived and there is snow outside in London, so might as well stay indoors and build...


Intel i7 8700K
Asus ROG Strix Z370-i Gaming
Team - Dark Pro 16GB DDR4-3200 RAM
Thermolab LP53 w/ Noctua NF-A9x14
2x 512GB Samsung 960 Pro
Zotac 1080 Mini
HDPLEX 400W HiFi DC-ATX PSU w/ Dell 330W AC-DC PSU
Skywire cables

Initially had the Noctua NH-L9i, the Thermolab turned up this morning, so i swapped it for that instead.

Using Ceski's guide that CubanLegend posted a couple of pages back (https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/s4-mini-classic-s4m-c.96/page-209#post-68547), and with some trial and error I am now at

CPU offset = -0.6V
LLC = 6
Speedstep = enabled

CPU temperatures maxed out at 68C. The CPU has been delidded with Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut between the die and IHS and Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut between the IHS and heatsink.

Next steps for me -

get the RAM running at 4000 MHz with the undervolted CPU.
follow CubanLegend's guide to reduce the 1080 mini's fan speed.
setup and test RAID 0 on the SSDs

Thanks to all on this forum. A huge amount of reading but this has been one of the easiest systems to configure and build in.
This looks excellent and the results of your thermal management work speak for themselves. Well done!
 

Blitzhex

Chassis Packer
Apr 7, 2018
15
9
Ok guys, I just preordered a s4m and placed an order for a hdplex 400w ac-dc+400wdc unit.

I already have a dan a4 that works like an absolute dream. I actually dismantled and sold off my custom watercooled build I had made in custom ordered parvum case because I liked my dan a4 build so much more, but curiosity got the best of me and now I want to try out the s4m.

I'll be transplanting my 8700k+z370i strix from the dan a4, but the evga 1080ti won't be able to make it over.

Things left to acquire: Galax 2070 mini, low profile gpu cable, vandal switch.
 

roscoejp

Chassis Packer
Mar 28, 2019
14
5
@Josh | NFC

The GPU Spreadsheet doesn't indicate what the green highlighted lines are. Blue is (confirmed?) brickless, purple possible brickless w/ mods, and red is known possible with brickless? Is green confirmed brickless w/o mods?
 
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Roen

Trash Compacter
Feb 20, 2018
49
10
Ok guys, I just preordered a s4m and placed an order for a hdplex 400w ac-dc+400wdc unit.

I already have a dan a4 that works like an absolute dream. I actually dismantled and sold off my custom watercooled build I had made in custom ordered parvum case because I liked my dan a4 build so much more, but curiosity got the best of me and now I want to try out the s4m.

I'll be transplanting my 8700k+z370i strix from the dan a4, but the evga 1080ti won't be able to make it over.

Things left to acquire: Galax 2070 mini, low profile gpu cable, vandal switch.
Inno3D 2070 Mini if you can find it.
 

SiG

Trash Compacter
Oct 8, 2017
48
13
Looks like an update to the spreadsheet/FAQ is needed, considering the release of new PCIe4.0 standard and Ryzen 3000 chipsets, and not to mention the 5700/XT and RTX Super cards.
 

creynia

What's an ITX?
Jul 12, 2019
1
0
Looks like an update to the spreadsheet/FAQ is needed, considering the release of new PCIe4.0 standard and Ryzen 3000 chipsets, and not to mention the 5700/XT and RTX Super cards.

I believe the only x570 m-ITX that's been released is Gigabyte's X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI. In the threads from Computex, people were worried that the I/O block on all of the x570 m-ITXs that were being announced would be too tall to fit in the S4M. Has anyone fit one of these inside a S4M yet?

I'm planning to do a 3700x build. Anyone have a favorite x470 or b450 m-ITX for the S4M?

Thanks!
Chris
 

mthx

Minimal Tinkerer
Jul 14, 2019
3
0
Hey everyone. I am building a very purpose built machine for broadcasting. I just ordered the S4 Mini chassis today. I haven't finalized all the components yet, but I will for sure be installing a Magewell Pro Capture Quad HDMI. I'll likely be running a Ryzen 5 3000 with Vega 11 Integrated Graphics so as to leave the PCIe slot open for the capture card I mentioned above. For power, I am estimating about 180-200w under max load which gives me a lot of flexibility. I am considering the HDPLEX 400W HiFi DC-ATX and HDPLEX 400 W AC-DC so as to go brickless and keep everything as portable as possible. This rig travels at least 3-4 times a week minimum.

So, onto my question. I am trying to determine if the capture card will fit in the case with the HDPLEX 400W AC-DC mounted internally as Josh demonstrated in this video: . The dimensions of this card are 112.15mm x 102.92mm (without PCI bracket). I was looking for a list of GPU's that were compatible with the HDPLEX 400 W AC-DC mounted internally so I could compare their dimensions with this card but I couldn't find a list. If there is a list, I'd be more than happy to do the comparisons myself if someone could provide the link.

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate the assistance!
 
Last edited:

NinoPecorino

Tweezer Squeezer
Platinum Supporter
Nov 24, 2017
506
515
Hey everyone. I am building a very purpose built machine for broadcasting. I just ordered the S4 Mini chassis today. I haven't finalized all the components yet, but I will for sure be installing a Magewell Pro Capture Quad HDMI. I'll likely be running a Ryzen 5 3000 with Vega 11 Integrated Graphics so as to leave the PCIe slot open for the capture card I mentioned above. For power, I am estimating about 180-200w under max load which gives me a lot of flexibility. I am considering the HDPLEX 400W HiFi DC-ATX and HDPLEX 400 W AC-DC so as to go brickless and keep everything as portable as possible. This rig travels at least 3-4 times a week minimum.

So, onto my question. I am trying to determine if the capture card will fit in the case with the HDPLEX 400W AC-DC mounted internally as Josh demonstrated in this video: . The dimensions of this card are 112.15mm x 102.92mm (without PCI bracket). I was looking for a list of GPU's that were compatible with the HDPLEX 400 W AC-DC mounted internally so I could compare their dimensions with this card but I couldn't find a list. If there is a list, I'd be more than happy to do the comparisons myself if someone could provide the link.

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate the assistance!
it will fit
 

mthx

Minimal Tinkerer
Jul 14, 2019
3
0
@NinoPecorino Thank you for your response, I really appreciate it! It's not that a doubt you, but can you provide some details as to how you know it will fit? I'm kinda anal when it comes to researching parts. Plus, its a purchase for my business so I would like to have all my ducks in a row before dropping 2k+ on all the hardware.

Thanks for your assistance.
 

NinoPecorino

Tweezer Squeezer
Platinum Supporter
Nov 24, 2017
506
515
@NinoPecorino Thank you for your response, I really appreciate it! It's not that a doubt you, but can you provide some details as to how you know it will fit? I'm kinda anal when it comes to researching parts. Plus, its a purchase for my business so I would like to have all my ducks in a row before dropping 2k+ on all the hardware.

Thanks for your assistance.
it's smaller than some of the cards that can be installed with the 400w ac-dc from hdplex.