Unnamed M-ATX build

[confusis]

Along the lines of my old think_micro project, I present [unnamed].

think_micro: (that is an 80mm tower cooler)

New design, Micro-ATX, SFX PSU;
dimensions are 150mm wide, 300mm tall and 280mm deep. 12.6 litres. Made from 3mm acrylic. 60mm cpu cooler clearance, 250mm GPU length

More previews and build progress will come in time

 

[Phuncz]

I hope you are going to do another "blower sticking out" mod, with a Cooler Master V8

 

[confusis]

PSU location blocks such a design..

The blower hanging out design on think_micro was a last minute concession for a LAN party to ensure that I could run the Phenom cpu at a decent overclock

 

[iFreilicht]

An afterthought? That's not at all what it looks like!

Seriously, though, for this new design, how do you plan to cool the CPU?

 

[confusis]

I have 60mm clearance for CPU cooler under the PSU (which is only partially over CPU area, due to SFX's short nature) - which means I can use anything from a Noctua L9a to a Scythe Big Shuriken 2.

 

[Phuncz]

This seems relevant:

 

[confusis]

I won't be using a wraith

I would like to test one though.. AMD are you listening (since you are heavily focused on SFF nowadays)?

 

[Phuncz]

I'd recommend contacting AMD, it might take a while before they would contact SFFN

 

[confusis]

Some design changes:

14.5 litres, some room for cable tidying and whatnot, and easier to build.

 

[iFreilicht]

Love the clean front, but I'm not really a fan of the intake pattern. Maybe just bend the sheets inwards there? Would still hide the fans, probably a bit better even, and look a bit cleaner.

Also, obvious question about this iteration: How much space is there between a reference height GPU and the side panel?

Other than that, this design opens options for very nice Front I/O implementations on the side panel.

 

[DeMoB]

I really like the latest changees!

I agree with @iFreilicht about the front vents though, they spoil the clean lines of the case like that.

 

[Phuncz]

A very nice redesign, I like how the minimal approach still is able to have seperate areas and allow more flexibility in hardware support !
But as said, maybe the inwards bent panel ends would be better than the slots.

 

[confusis]

Thanks guys.

Between GPU and side panel is enough room (20mm or so) for pcie 6 and 8 pin power.

The bend sounds like a better alternative than the vents - it may be more difficult to produce though as I have basic tools!

 

[Tek Everything]

What about replacing the vents with mesh?

 

[confusis]

Trying to keep to a single material - to reduce costs and to keep a sleek look

 

[iFreilicht]

If you're able to bend the two radii on the front and the divider, you should be able to bend the side panels, too.

Restricting yourself to a single material seems like a good idea, though having mesh or some sort of cloth filter on those intakes wouldn't be hurtful to the look in my eyes.

 

[confusis]

Hmmm, good point.

What i was referring to in the difficulty in bending was the inner part (after the bend) would be much smaller than the panel available to me after the other bends - would have to build a tool to help me so I don't scald myself!

 

[iFreilicht]

Ah that's true, you're bending rather close to the edge. But making a tool for this shouldn't be too complicated, right?

 

[confusis]

It should be easy, just a slotted piece of wood to add leverage and to ensure the bend is even

 

[confusis]

So, change of plan. The main reason I was designing a case was because In-Win cases in particular are hard to get in NZ.. However I was browsing our local equivalent of eBay and found a couple of suitably small cases for $10 each used.. Picked up a 12.5 litre In-Win BK-644 SE (for my desktop) and a 11.5 litre BL641 (which is now housing our HTPC).

So, the plan evolves and not without a hitch - heat. Due to the older design of these cases, cooling is... substandard.

Lets start with the basic hardware kit
Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3
AMD FX-8350
1x 8gb DDR3-1600
Gigabyte R7-260 2GB
1x 240gb OCZ Trion SSD
300w SFX PSU (see below)

The issue - GPU temps. The CPU copes fine in this case (it helps that it is underclocked) but the GPU idles at 55c! (ambient of 30c). This means the fan sits at 50-60% which is irritating, and not at all conducive to quality podcast recording.

For context, images;

So yeah. Limited cooling, no intake fans, very little venting. Well built otherwise. Not sure what to do here - I may have to make a new inner and outer front panel to incorporate a couple of 120mm intakes.

On the PSU question - I will be painting+sleeving what i choose, but which of these two would be the better option?:

FSP is a known good brand, PowerMan is In-Win's in-house brand, both are OEM'd by Sparkle, but are different products inside. The Powerman has higher ratings on the UL listing.