STX with m.2 GPU fun build

[TheGooseIsHere]

My Asrock H110m-stx motherboard died today unfortunately I'm not sure what caused it.

Basically the motherboard wouldn't power after I was swapping around the internal hard drives. I did do this while the power supply and graphics card was still connected, so the fiddling around may have caused something to short, or caused some static damage, I dunno. But I've tried disconnecting everything except the CPU and RAM and it won't turn on at all.

Luckily the Graphics card and SSD are working fine in another machine, which is a relief. Unfortunately can't test the CPU and RAM as i don't have another compatible motherboard, but I'm hoping they're ok too and it's just the motherboard that is faulty.

 

[TheGooseIsHere]

Also, I don't think that I will rebuild this pc, although it was fun while it lasted.

I think I will be going back to the mini-itx form factor for now, at least until new more advanced STX motherboards come out (like the ASRock Z270M for example).

I thought I'd summarise some positive/negative aspects of this build:

Positives:
- Was a fun project to build a pc in this form factor
- Great performance in a very small space
- Takes up very little desk space (if you keep the PSUs under the desk).
- Easy to transport around
- It's unique, bound to have lots of questions asked about it if you show it to people.

Negatives:
- Having 2 power supplies adds bulk
- Takes longer to set up than a regular pc due to having to plug in both power supplies.
- Fragile and easily damaged (although this could be partially remedied with a custom enclosure).

 

[jtd871]

Sorry to hear things went poorly. Hopefully it is the mobo that went bad on you.

 

[Ceros_X]

Also, I don't think that I will rebuild this pc, although it was fun while it lasted.

I think I will be going back to the mini-itx form factor for now, at least until new more advanced STX motherboards come out (like the ASRock Z270M for example).

I thought I'd summarise some positive/negative aspects of this build:

Positives:
- Was a fun project to build a pc in this form factor
- Great performance in a very small space
- Takes up very little desk space (if you keep the PSUs under the desk).
- Easy to transport around
- It's unique, bound to have lots of questions asked about it if you show it to people.

Negatives:
- Having 2 power supplies adds bulk
- Takes longer to set up than a regular pc due to having to plug in both power supplies.
- Fragile and easily damaged (although this could be partially remedied with a custom enclosure).

Are you going to try and RMA the bad motherboard?

 

[TheGooseIsHere]

Are you going to try and RMA the bad motherboard?

Not sure how to, I ordered it from Amazon (return period is over) and ASRock site says to contact seller's customer service department, so i dunno what to do. ASrock's website looks terrible as well and there doesn't seem to be a way to request an RMA directly.

On top of that the way I've been using the PC may render the warranty invalid (not that they'd be able to tell necessarily, but I don't like abusing returns that may not be valid).

 

[Biowarejak]

It's worth checking into!

 

[aquelito]

You can contact directly Amazon support (type "contact amazon" in google, not easy to find) and explain that the board is dead and you would like an other, as it is still covered by the warranty.
Either they will send a new one, or refund you if it is no longer available.

It worked for me 2 weeks ago with an Asus board

 

[aquelito]

@TheGooseIsHere did you try this trick before sending back the mobo ?

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/did-i-ruin-my-mobo.1329/#post-26486

 

[TheGooseIsHere]

Yeah I did try that (although not for 20 minutes just tried unplugging he battery and shorting the CMOS switch whiel power off), unfortunately still didn't work. Am returning it to amazon though, so all should be good

 

[CC Ricers]

That sucks about your motherboard dying. I don't know if it's to do with your attempts at making a GPU work or not, but we are still in experimental territory here. @Aibohphobia really spearheaded this one, which should hopefully make any future attempts at using STX boards with discrete graphics more painless.

It would be nice to collect knowlege from various people to figure out the best compatible parts for making a build like the STX 160.0. @Aibophobia found a good "recipe" and now it's time to find substitutes if STX gaming builds are to gain momentum.

For starters, that Vary.technology store looks real good with a staggering variety of adapters and risers, and in reasonable prices too. It would be good to increase awareness of them as another option for people that want such parts.

 

[aquelito]

To me, same as for Thin Mini-ITX, the main issue is powering a 19V system and a 12V GPU.
Hopefully @Kmpkt Dynamo board will help solve this issue.

 

[TheGooseIsHere]

What happened to the new HDPLEX DC-DC unit that was supposed to be on the way?

At the end of the day though, for a proper solution we just need to wait for new motherboards or more advanced pico PSUs to come out.

 

[SIEGEX]

Have you considered another stx to stack on top? Kinda what I've been considering myself, bottom for everything and the top for the gpu and maybe a slim fan if it fits