Temporary Mini-Box M350 build...

[zovc]

Hey!

Forever ago, I got a mini-box M350 intending to migrate my HTPC into it. Somehow, I overlooked that my motherboard wasn't Mini ITX.

Anyways, I'm in line for a S4 mini and am excited--I'm sticking with my i7-4790K which is kind of a split decision but we'll see how it works. I am hoping to learn a little about undervolting and whatnot to manage thermals and I think this enclosure is going to help (or even force) me to learn about that.

So, here's my build so far:

• Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core
• Noctua NH-L9i 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler
  
• ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard

Unfortunately, every mITX board I looked at with a 1150 socket only supports up to 16GB of RAM. This board has WiFi and Bluetooth built in which were both important to me and it's one of the few that has a M.2 slot. I was hoping to have two LAN ports but I had to choose between that and a M.2 slot.

To finish the build off, I'd like to get a M.2 drive, 16GB of ram, and possibly a SSD. When I migrate to the S4 Mini, I'll take my pick of what seems like the best balance of thermals and performance (at the moment that looks like the 1060), but that may change by the time I get my case in... Anyways, I'd appreciate suggestions on these parts, PCPartPicker only lists very few M.2 drives as compatible with my motherboard and I don't understand what's up with that, but still I know next-to-nothing about M.2.

Anyways, back to the M350, it seems like a sturdy little case. I bought it bundled with a PSU, the PSU didn't come in with it. I emailed support and the person I talked to basically said, "I don't understand how that could have happened but I believe you." and sent me what all I needed. Now I have a PicoPSU-150-XT and a EDACPOWER ELEC. EA11703E-120. I'm sure this can power my current setup, but with the 88TDW of my current CPU makes me think it might be a stretch to run it and a GPU when the time comes... that's an issue for the future though.

So, the current issue with this project is that it's been so long that I can't remember if I've misplaced the screws I need or if I just never had them. There's one screw that holds the M350's top plate onto the rest of the enclosure that's gone MIA and I certainly had that. I (recently) bought this motherboard used and it didn't come with any screws or risers. (Edit: According to the manual, the M350 came with all the screws I need. I probably have misplaced them.)

I'll try to take pictures as I work on the build, but I don't have a pretty workspace or a nice camera. But, my bottlenecks need to be addressed first! I'd appreciate advice, but eventually will figure something out on my own worst case scenario.

• I'm going to try to look up specs on the M350, I know I've found a sheet before. I'll probably just get a screw for the case from a hardware store. Where can I promptly get the motherboard screws/risers I need? (I don't think you're supposed to use risers in the M350, but I'm assuming I'll need them in the S4 Mini.)
• Is there any reason to choose one kit of RAM over another? Is there a low-profile or a particularly cool-running set?
• What's up with M.2 drives and compatibility?

Thanks in advance for help with that stuff.

Is there anything in particular that you folks are interested in knowing about the M350 or this build? I've never really tested thermals or benchmarks, any advice for doing that?

 

[cmyk78]

Your motherboard only supports SATA based m.2 SSDs, so no NVME drives, like the 950 pro, will work on your motherboard. Unfortunately this means that the only benefit you get over a 2.5in SSD is the space savings.

Edit: Here's the list of supported m.2 drives, though others may work.
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z97E-ITXac/?cat=Storage

 

[zovc]

This makes me a little less stoked for sticking with socket 1150.

 

[Ceros_X]

For the riser but, I'd just add one of the risers @Josh | NFC uses to my card when you buy the case. He just started using custom risers made for him by HD-Plex.

For the screws, I'd just email Mini box and ask them what screws they use for the case.

 

[zovc]

Okay, they use standard case screws (no real surprise), and I went ahead and ordered a set of computer screws from Amazon because it won't hurt to have extras laying around.

I assembled the system and everything fit! I only cut myself once and had a weird perplexing moment where my fingernail got trapped between the steel front panel and a plastic clip that keeps the plastic housing up front on. When going to connect the power brick to the PicoPSU there were some pretty spooky sparks one time, too. Overall, I like the case and I can't get over how much I like the 'internal' front USB headers.

Anyways, the CPU ran really hot out the gates but I started playing with the voltages. I got things down to ~74C running Geekbench, but that's the upper limit of what Intel recommends so I went ahead and started underclocking it. At 3.8 GHz, we were already at much more comfortable temperatures and at 3.6 GHz, things capped at 60C and consistently stayed lower.

I still need to learn more about underclocking/undervolting, and I've also never played with overclocking so this is a bit of an adventure, but HWMonitor has reported my Wattage staying as low as 67.54W during one Geekbench.

There's a lot of learning to do before I can run any actual stress tests, I tried running Prime95 at a few points of fooling with settings and every time my system immediately spiked to the 90 or 100 C's... During one test, things were flickering and so unstable I was worried I might not be able to shut the tests down (but I did manage).

If anyone is interested in helping me get a handle on the CPU's thermals and stability, I'd appreciate it. I tried asking on /r/overclocking but I don't know how active or helpful that subreddit actually is.