Ah right, you mentioned that. Not a suitable technique for production, as it will greatly increase cost, but for a scratch build this is perfectly viable. Good luck!
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Concept The Slim Machine: a 4L gaming build
- Thread starter CC Ricers
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Ah right, you mentioned that. Not a suitable technique for production, as it will greatly increase cost, but for a scratch build this is perfectly viable. Good luck!
Would you have more detailed shots of your modded cable, and a wiring diagram ?
This is very interesting and I would like to do the same with the PicoBox Z4-ATX-200, as shown on their website :
I would have thought that Pico-Box would be able to supply custom wire harnesses on request with the Z4. Anyways, the Z4's pinout looks different and I don't know if it will translate well from the HD-PLEX 160w DC unit, but here is a wiring diagram.
Four of the wires are a straightforward 1 to 1 connection to 4 pins of the CPU connector, so these are left as they are. The most important part here is the split of two ground wires from the PSU to the PEG connector. The blue colored pin is for the "sense" wire and the GTX 950 wouldn't power on properly without it. The other two 12v wires go to two on the PEG connector and the middle one is left unconnected.
Four of the wires are a straightforward 1 to 1 connection to 4 pins of the CPU connector, so these are left as they are. The most important part here is the split of two ground wires from the PSU to the PEG connector. The blue colored pin is for the "sense" wire and the GTX 950 wouldn't power on properly without it. The other two 12v wires go to two on the PEG connector and the middle one is left unconnected.
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Thanks a lot ! I had also asked Frank Tang wether they can provide custom cables, but your diagram helps me understand how it works 
EDIT : minimum ordering quantities for custom cables are 50 units. They do not advise to use the Z4 with external GPUs though.
EDIT : minimum ordering quantities for custom cables are 50 units. They do not advise to use the Z4 with external GPUs though.
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No problem Aquelito!
Got a new job now so I can hopefully finish this build a lot quicker now. The GTX 1060 is now looking to be my top choice for a replacement graphics card. It stomps all over games at 1080p and still can keep the system running under 200w.
But first, I still gotta finish that case So more metalworking ahead.
Got a new job now so I can hopefully finish this build a lot quicker now. The GTX 1060 is now looking to be my top choice for a replacement graphics card. It stomps all over games at 1080p and still can keep the system running under 200w.
But first, I still gotta finish that case
So more metalworking ahead.
Wondering if it would be worth it to get a run of 50 custom cables (and maybe even a custom version of the Z4-ATX-200 with a more aggressive heatsink for more heat dissipation?) with a more optimal harness done for the community here. If it's not outrageously expensive, I'd be willing to help fund such a project and then we could sell them on demand through the future buy/sell boards. Anyone interested in helping with said project?
Nice to know. That would save me lots of time, not having to sand the heastsink to a perfect finish. I'll just wait a bit longer and re-apply with a different thermal paste for the final installation.
Yesterday I made a custom wire harness from the 4+4-pin CPU cable from the HD-Plex. Since the 160w power supply doesn't have a dedicated header for PEG I have to split it to make my own. The first 4 pins connect to power the CPU as usual. The other 4 pins have been modified to run cables for a 6-pin PEG connector. Two 12v cables, and three ground. Two of the grounds merge into one going back to the 4+4 header on the HD-Plex.
So how did it turn out?
It turned out pretty awesome, I would say. The HD-Plex is handling it like a champ. You may notice the larger power brick on the left side being used. I chose not to use the Dell 150w brick to test this time, but instead the whole system is using a HP 200w brick in order to cut my risks of overload on a system where I'm still going in blind with power consumption.
I ran some Valley and Fire Strike benchmarks and then played some Borderlands 2 for a while. No problems noticed so far. In GPU-heavy workloads, the performance is capped by the TDP limit, just as I want it. Cables are cool to the touch, and any heat is from usual sources (HD-Plex heatsink, graphics card and power brick)
Love the mod to make a 6 pin for your gpu! Is there any chance you could elaborate a little more in to it, as I'm about to doing a mod like this myself! Thank you!
Edit: I didn't see the pin-out, Thank you!
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The Z4 is about the same height as a Pico, isn't it? I think if the Pico can fit in the S4 Mini for instance, so would the other one. Bigger heatsinks would either make it flare out on the sides, or maybe you're thinking of extra-tall heatsinks like those in some ram modules. Extra-tall heatsinks would be more justified in those small PSUs than on DIMMs which are just more for style than practicality.
It seems weird to bump this thread, but this project is not dead in the water. i just put it on hold for now with my 12L scratch build taking priority.
When I get around to it, I will just throw in a different sort of build, a budget Hackintosh that can do some light gaming, because I miss having a Hackintosh since the days of owning a Intel Bad Axe mobo. Parts bought shouldn't exceed $250, so yea it's really budget
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Now I'm getting around to thinking up how to design the inner frame, and in particular the motherboard tray. I can't use PEM fastener standoffs as I don't have access to the tools to install them, and regular screw-in hex standoffs will protrude too much from the bottom, so I'm thinking of clever workarounds.
Then I noticed my unused Dell Optiplex SFF case has standoffs that are punched in/pressed in from a sheet metal base, like this:
They are cone-shaped elevations that are part of the whole sheet, so all you need are the screws to hold the motherboard in.
I'm thinking of taking the concept with bent aluminum sheet. But I can't punch or press indents on the sheet here, so it will be something similar in design. What if I took a sheet and did 45 degree bends around the holes to raise the level above the bottom of the case?
Here's a cross section view of what I'm thinking of:
So the "standoffs" are the raised areas from the diagonal bends. These areas will only touch the very close area round the holes. There will be a large cutout on the middle so it's not like the bumps will touch length-wise across the whole motherboard. I don't know if anyone here has done that with their cases but it seems to work fine with a lot of OEM cases in steel, and aluminum might be able to hold just about as well.
When I get around to it, I will just throw in a different sort of build, a budget Hackintosh that can do some light gaming, because I miss having a Hackintosh since the days of owning a Intel Bad Axe mobo. Parts bought shouldn't exceed $250, so yea it's really budget
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Now I'm getting around to thinking up how to design the inner frame, and in particular the motherboard tray. I can't use PEM fastener standoffs as I don't have access to the tools to install them, and regular screw-in hex standoffs will protrude too much from the bottom, so I'm thinking of clever workarounds.
Then I noticed my unused Dell Optiplex SFF case has standoffs that are punched in/pressed in from a sheet metal base, like this:
They are cone-shaped elevations that are part of the whole sheet, so all you need are the screws to hold the motherboard in.
I'm thinking of taking the concept with bent aluminum sheet. But I can't punch or press indents on the sheet here, so it will be something similar in design. What if I took a sheet and did 45 degree bends around the holes to raise the level above the bottom of the case?
Here's a cross section view of what I'm thinking of:
So the "standoffs" are the raised areas from the diagonal bends. These areas will only touch the very close area round the holes. There will be a large cutout on the middle so it's not like the bumps will touch length-wise across the whole motherboard. I don't know if anyone here has done that with their cases but it seems to work fine with a lot of OEM cases in steel, and aluminum might be able to hold just about as well.
You could maybe use a vice if you're careful and have something to serve as the anvil. Or an arbor press if you can justify picking up a relatively cheap one: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=226400
The top left standoff on Mini-ITX would be problematic since it's inset. So you'd have to be able to cut the raised section on both sides of the standoff location instead of just the middle section.
The arbor press looks like a good tool, probably would to be too big to put in my very limited workshop space though lol. I'll think about that option. I'll try the C-clamp approach first. The OP in that thread had issues with the head swiveling which I would think would be easily solvable if you just flip the clamp around and press with the non-swiveling end. Of course placing the sheet on a sturdy non-moving surface as well. Also, a lot of the execution seems to be in drilling the most appropriate hole size for the fasteners you use.
Rather than bending the entire sheet, you could have the standoffs as 'tabs' that are bent up from the sheet individually and then back to parallel again.
Whoa, good thinking. I would have never considered doing that. I could do 180 degree bends with a small space in between, then add in a nut in the spaces to reinforce the screws.
The tabs would have to be very small, so they don't touch the traces of the motherboard. Or I could use thin plastic washers.
Um, what about gluing a stack of nuts to the base sheet with epoxy? Seems much simpler to me and does the job just as well.
Sooo, I'm coming back to this again. Reason being that I have a better idea of what I could more easily produce as far as case parts go. I'm going with a different design for case but with a similar layout overall. Still all aluminum, and it is gonna have a very HTPC look.
Also, the graphics card I'll be using is going to be updated to a GTX 1050 or 1050 Ti, short ITX size (<6 inches).
The GPU fan will face upwards, so only one side will need vent holes. Also using screws to hold more flat pieces, and only two sheets will need to be bent now. And no visible screws for the front, top and bottom.
Also, the graphics card I'll be using is going to be updated to a GTX 1050 or 1050 Ti, short ITX size (<6 inches).
The GPU fan will face upwards, so only one side will need vent holes. Also using screws to hold more flat pieces, and only two sheets will need to be bent now. And no visible screws for the front, top and bottom.
Small update: I purchased some case parts. Metal bars, yay!
I bought a 4 pack of 3/16" metal bars shown here. That's enough for the front and the back sides of two cases.
Although the case will be slim, it will have a tough, chunky look and feel.
I bought a 4 pack of 3/16" metal bars shown here. That's enough for the front and the back sides of two cases.
Although the case will be slim, it will have a tough, chunky look and feel.
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