The quest for the best SFF gaming rig money can buy in 2018 !

[SFF.Master]

Hello guys, i have been toying with the idea of building the perfect most high-end money no object SFF gaming machine, but i need advice on the parts, so far i came up with these :

CPU : Intel Core I7 8700K + Delidding Tool + Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra
MOBO : ASRock motherboard Motherboards Z370 GAMING-ITX/AC
RAM : Corsair CMK32GX4M2F4000C19 Vengeance LPX 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 4000 C19 1.35V
GPU : Zotac GTX 1080ti Mini
SSD : Samsung 960 PRO Series - 2TB
HDD : 3x Seagate 5TB Barracuda Sata 6GB/s 128MB Cache 2.5-Inch (yes, i need that much space, RAID 0 )
PSU : SilverStone Technology SX800-LTI 800W, SFX-L, 80 Plus Titanium
Case : SilverStone ML08B-H
CPU Cooler : Noctua Low-Profile Quiet CPU Cooler for Intel 115x Based Retail Cooling NH-L9I
Optical Drive : Dell Latitude Laptop 6X 3D Blu-ray Burner BD-RE Double Layer Blue-ray Writer

i wanted to have a DR.Zaper sentry case but never could find it in stock so i opted for that SilverStone case instead, is there anything else that is better than it in this same form factor with smaller or the same foot print ?

also do you guys advice changing any part listed here for an even higher end one ? it's a money no object build i just want the most power i can get in a tiny machine to hopefully hook it up to a 65 inch OLED T.V

Peace !

 

[Morris]

If money is really no object, you can find Zabers on eBay going from anywhere between $350 and $600. There's one up right now at $600.

 

[FoskcoRS5]

https://www.sfflab.com/ DAN A4 is available for pre-order. Couldn't fit the 3x5TB drives in it, but you can't fit them in the Sentry either.

SFF and 3.5in drives don't really go together, its not often you'll find boutique cases like these designed to support them.

 

[SFF.Master]

https://www.sfflab.com/ DAN A4 is available for pre-order. Couldn't fit the 3x5TB drives in it, but you can't fit them in the Sentry either.

SFF and 3.5in drives don't really go together, its not often you'll find boutique cases like these designed to support them.

these are 2.5 inch drives meant for a laptop

 

[FoskcoRS5]

these are 2.5 inch drives meant for a laptop

Holy cow, I didn’t know they made 5TB in 2.5in.

I’m bad at reading.

I know the ZS-A4 can “technically” fit three 2.5in drives, and it has a similar design to the DAN A4, but you can only get it on taobao.

The picture in the hyperlink shows the two hard drives. It comes with a bracket that supports three with a thinner GPU. It’s just going to be tight.

 

[tinyitx]

The User Manual of ML08B-H depicts a reference style cooling GPU where the hot air is forced out of the case rear by its blower. With a non reference cooling card, hot exhaust might have a hard time to exit the case and might be recirculated back as there is no rear case fan(s) for active exhaust. Purely relying on passive exhaust, this might lead to a thermal problem.

Also, the Zotac 1080Ti Mini has a width of 125mm and this exceeds the max allowable width (121mm) of the chassis. Well, it is 4mm only and just maybe Silverstone is being conservative with the width restriction. You need to double check this aspect.

Also, ML08B-H can handle a third 2.5'' device, depending on the length of the expansion card. It does not specify the length of the expansion card but judging from the picture, it seems to me a Zotac 1080Ti Mini is going to block the space for this third 2.5'' device. You need to double check this point as well.

When you build this, maybe you can start a Build Log thread and I am sure many people will be interested to see this project becomes a reality.

 

[SFF.Master]

If money is really no object, you can find Zabers on eBay going from anywhere between $350 and $600. There's one up right now at $600.

not sure if these ebay sellers are reliable, also to be honest money a is no object but nobody likes to be ripped off by scalpers if you know what i mean

Holy cow, I didn’t know they made 5TB in 2.5in.

I’m bad at reading.

I know the ZS-A4 can “technically” fit three 2.5in drives, and it has a similar design to the DAN A4, but you can only get it on taobao.

The picture in the hyperlink shows the two hard drives. It comes with a bracket that supports three with a thinner GPU. It’s just going to be tight.

i would like to keep the slim console like form factor of the SilverStone case

The User Manual of ML08B-H depicts a reference style cooling GPU where the hot air is forced out of the case rear by its blower. With a non reference cooling card, hot exhaust might have a hard time to exit the case and might be recirculated back as there is no rear case fan(s) for active exhaust. Purely relying on passive exhaust, this might lead to a thermal problem.

Also, the Zotac 1080Ti Mini has a width of 125mm and this exceeds the max allowable width (121mm) of the chassis. Well, it is 4mm only and just maybe Silverstone is being conservative with the width restriction. You need to double check this aspect.

Also, ML08B-H can handle a third 2.5'' device, depending on the length of the expansion card. It does not specify the length of the expansion card but judging from the picture, it seems to me a Zotac 1080Ti Mini is going to block the space for this third 2.5'' device. You need to double check this point as well.

When you build this, maybe you can start a Build Log thread and I am sure many people will be interested to see this project becomes a reality.

thanks for this input i will try to check the measurements of the case and the components

last but not least is there anything in this build that can be improved on ? like the cpu cooler for example or the ram ? motherboard ? PSU ?

 

[tinyitx]

I suspect NH-L9i is going to have a tough time to handle 8700K. It is a hot CPU. Delidding will help, and possibly undervolting.
You might want to go to the thread below and see what other people will say:-
https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/8700k-noctua-nh-l9i-what-are-your-temps.6811/#post-86861

NH-L9i, according to Noctua, is designed for 65W TDP CPU only. 8700K is 95W and is listed with a red 'X' as not recommended.
https://noctua.at/en/nh_l9i_tdp_guidelines

Two alternatives to consider:-
a) Silverstone AR06
It has four 6mm heatpipes (vs two of the NH-L9i) and is rated at 95W TDP. It runs a 92mm thin fan.

b) ID Cooling IS-60
This has six 6mm heatpipes and runs a 120mm thin fan. This is probably a better guy to handle an 8700K, after changing the stock fan to a more powerful Noctua fan.

 

[SFF.Master]

I suspect NH-L9i is going to have a tough time to handle 8700K. It is a hot CPU. Delidding will help, and possibly undervolting.
You might want to go to the thread below and see what other people will say:-
https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/8700k-noctua-nh-l9i-what-are-your-temps.6811/#post-86861

NH-L9i, according to Noctua, is designed for 65W TDP CPU only. 8700K is 95W and is listed with a red 'X' as not recommended.
https://noctua.at/en/nh_l9i_tdp_guidelines

Two alternatives to consider:-
a) Silverstone AR06
It has four 6mm heatpipes (vs two of the NH-L9i) and is rated at 95W TDP. It runs a 92mm thin fan.

b) ID Cooling IS-60
This has six 6mm heatpipes and runs a 120mm thin fan. This is probably a better guy to handle an 8700K, after changing the stock fan to a more powerful Noctua fan.

i can't find any reviews for that ID cooling IS-60 heatsink, it has 6 pipes vs silverstone's 4 pipes i wonder if it really performs better ...