SKYREACH 4 MINI (S4M)

[Nightblade]

So, I was going to do a build log now that I've got it built. Two problems:

1. The frosted acrylic bezel I ordered bows out at the middle because the screw holes at the top do not match with the case. I'm thinking of drilling holes at the usb screw holes since I'm currently using washers to mount the usb ports. The bolts that came with the usb ports are not flat head, so they won't be flush with the case, making it impossible to have a flat bezel without changing the bolts(I can't use the bolts that came with my case as they are a different thread size). I went to my local hardware store, and they had the correct size threaded bolt, but were longer than the provided ones(they don't have any shorter length ones).

As stated before, I am currently using washers to make up for the extra length in the bolt, but if I drill into the acrylic bezel at the same points for mounting the usb ports, I should be able to take out the washers and just screw the bezel and the ports directly together with the new bolts I acquired. I'm tempted to just take the original bezel and have someone just laser cut it with the same design.

2. My NVME drive failed 2 days after I installed windows. Waiting on the RMA form so I can get me a new drive. In the meantime, I reinstalled windows on a spare HDD I had lying around.

 

[dumplinknet]

So, I was going to do a build log now that I've got it built. Two problems:

1. The frosted acrylic bezel I ordered bows out at the middle because the screw holes at the top do not match with the case. I'm thinking of drilling holes at the usb screw holes since I'm currently using washers to mount the usb ports. The bolts that came with the usb ports are not flat head, so they won't be flush with the case, making it impossible to have a flat bezel without changing the bolts(I can't use the bolts that came with my case as they are a different thread size). I went to my local hardware store, and they had the correct size threaded bolt, but were longer that the provided ones(they don't have any shorter length ones).

As stated before, I am currently using washers to make up for the extra length in the bolt, but if I drill into the acrylic bezel at the same points for mounting the usb ports, I should be able to take out the washers and just screw the bezel and the ports directly together with the new bolts I acquired. I'm tempted to just take the original bezel and have someone just laser cut it with the same design.

2. My NVME drive failed 2 days after I installed windows. Waiting on the RMA form so I can get me a new drive. In the meantime, I reinstalled windows on a spare HDD I had lying around.

How did your nvme fail on you? Which one is it?
Curious to know because I plan to switch over to m.2 nvme soon.

 

[Nightblade]

@dumplinknet I think it was just defective, It would sometimes detect the drive and sometimes wouldn't. I re-seated it multiple times, thinking it got shifted or something when I was traveling around with the case. Yesterday when I tried booting up, the motherboard issued an error saying that drive failure was imminent and to back up the data. Now when I boot up it doesn't even detect the drive.

Also, my other M.2 is only a sata drive(M+B).

 

[1461748123]

Quick question: Will Gigabyte 1070/1080 mini block the DC power jack at the back of the mini? I haven't got one on hand yet and its oversized PCB kinda worries me.

 

[Nightblade]

@1461748123 When you say back, do you mean on the bottom side next to the dc power jack or on the gpu vent side?

 

[1461748123]

@1461748123 When you say back, do you mean on the bottom side next to the dc power jack or on the gpu vent side?

I mean where the DC Jack suppose to be

 

[Josh | NFC]

Quick question: Will Gigabyte 1070/1080 mini block the DC power jack at the back of the mini? I haven't got one on hand yet and its oversized PCB kinda worries me.

No sir. The S4M is designed to be compatible with all cards under 215mm in length currently available on the market.

Timelinked:

 

[Nightblade]

@1461748123 I have an EVGA 1060 6 gb in mine, which has a height of 111 mm versus the Gigabyte 1080 mini which has a height of 131 mm... When I was cramming my 1060 in there with the dc/dc, it was pretty snug. You might have to put yours in the top near the atx power plug where the fan mounts are, or the only other place you could put it is in front of the gpu vent like someone else did.

I'll take a picture when I get back home so you can see what I'm talking about.


@Josh | NFC the Gigabyte 1080 mini 8gig is 169mm... so the length will fit fine.
Edit: Oops, you were talking about it blocking the dc jack. d'oh.

 

[Eigua]

So continuing my discussion from a few weeks ago on heatsinks for back-mounted M.2 SSD's in the S4M...

I ended up getting this heatsink. When installed with the included thermal pad, it's just slightly too thick by perhaps 1-2mm and causes the case wall to bow slightly when installed. However, because the case wall is aluminum, it makes the heatsink amazingly effective dropping temps from 91C to 60C during benchmarking. I don't like warping the case wall and was also a bit concerned about the pressure it was placing on the SSD, so I took it off. I haven't tried replacing the thermal pad with thermal paste, but I imagine it would still be slightly too thick. I think a 2mm heatsink like this one would work better, although some of the ads on Ebay for the same item show 3mm instead of 2mm.

 

[Nightblade]

@1461748123 Here's some pictures inside my S4M:

 

[dumplinknet]

So continuing my discussion from a few weeks ago on heatsinks for back-mounted M.2 SSD's in the S4M...

I ended up getting this heatsink. When installed with the included thermal pad, it's just slightly too thick by perhaps 1-2mm and causes the case wall to bow slightly when installed. However, because the case wall is aluminum, it makes the heatsink amazingly effective dropping temps from 91C to 60C during benchmarking. I don't like warping the case wall and was also a bit concerned about the pressure it was placing on the SSD, so I took it off. I haven't tried replacing the thermal pad with thermal paste, but I imagine it would still be slightly too thick. I think a 2mm heatsink like this one would work better, although some of the ads on Ebay for the same item show 3mm instead of 2mm.

This is all too good to be true. Are you saying that by (solely) interfacing the m.2 ssd to the chassis of the S4M, you can drop its temp a full 30 degree C?

 

[dumplinknet]

No sir. The S4M is designed to be compatible with all cards under 215mm in length currently available on the market.

Timelinked:

Well, Can't you technically fit a longer (full sized) card in there? But that means the front bezel will have to be off and the card will be protruding out of the case? :-D

 

[Nightblade]

@dumplinknet yes, but most people would think that that would look awful.

 

[W1NN1NG]

Hey @Josh | NFC you got a good way at sourcing some of these gpus at msrp?

 

[1461748123]

@1461748123 Here's some pictures inside my S4M:

Thanks a lot for the info!

 

[1461748123]

Finally got my 1080 mini. Paid 700$ for it, considering the price of GPUs today I'd say its a good deal

 

[Eigua]

This is all too good to be true. Are you saying that by (solely) interfacing the m.2 ssd to the chassis of the S4M, you can drop its temp a full 30 degree C?

That's what I saw in my benchmarking heat tests, yes. I don't have any tests with just the heatsink attached without the case wall on.

 

[gunpalcyril]

Finally got my 1080 mini. Paid 700$ for it, considering the price of GPUs today I'd say its a good deal

Damn, that's commitment, I'm shocked to see how bad its become, I just bought my 1080 a few months back.

 

[rfarmer]

Finally got my 1080 mini. Paid 700$ for it, considering the price of GPUs today I'd say its a good deal

I got an email from B&H Photo, I was on their notify list for the MSI GTX 1070 Aero itx, sold out by the time I got home for $669. So I would say $700 for the 1080 is a good deal.

 

[Josh | NFC]

I got an email from B&H Photo, I was on their notify list for the MSI GTX 1070 Aero itx, sold out by the time I got home for $669. So I would say $700 for the 1080 is a good deal.

Yeah I bought three this week I thought were good deals...two for 740 and one for 755 after shipping...