Solved Which AM4 itx board for NCASE?

[parneshr]

Planning on building a SFF workstation in an NCase M1. Processor will be R7 1700 and will put in atleast one 3.5 inch drive. Looking at the Asrock and Gigabyte boards. Asrock ticks all boxes except the lack of USB 3.1 and Gigabyte ticks all boxes except putting one in the case might be a bit of a hassle with the connectors on the top edge.

Would the GB be that much of a hassle in NCase? Which board would be recommended?

 

[Boil]

Your choices are pretty much Biostar (X370 / B350), Gigabyte (X370), & ASRock (X370 / B350)...

I would go ASRock myself...

No news if ASUS or MSI are planning on coming out with any ITX mobos...

 

[carbonitetoast]

Looking through pictures on google, it seems like the ASRock board would be better for you with connectors on the side.

https://www.google.com/search?q=nca...UICygC&biw=2560&bih=1307#imgrc=Ve--TLzO8IGm7M:

 

[parneshr]

Thanks, thats what I thought. Will be looking at the ASRock b350 or x370.

 

[Pelican]

The connectors at the top aren't a dealbreaking issue. There are also pictures and build logs where people have used mobos that have the 24 pin connector at the top of the mobo, e.g the ASRock x99e ITX/ac which had the connector further left.

 

[Boil]

The connectors at the top aren't a dealbreaking issue. There are also pictures and build logs where people have used mobos that have the 24 pin connector at the top of the mobo, e.g the ASRock x99e ITX/ac which had the connector further left.

That EPS 8-pin location though...

 

[parneshr]

I

The connectors at the top aren't a dealbreaking issue. There are also pictures and build logs where people have used mobos that have the 24 pin connector at the top of the mobo, e.g the ASRock x99e ITX/ac which had the connector further left.

I think it depends on the case and the layout of other components. In the NCASE, I don't think it's the best option.

 

[jeshikat]

At least in the M1 though the top panel is removable, so a 24-pin along the top edge is more manageable than it is on other cases.

 

[Pelican]

I think it depends on the case and the layout of other components.

That is true of any SFF build though. It might not be the best option because of the 8-pin Boil mentioned, but I can't think of a technical reason why it won't work in the setup parneshr described, although I've not built in the NCASE M1 before. From what I've seen of build logs, if you can't drop the cable down from the top to reach the 8-pin, you can surely just route it between the CPU and the video card across the mobo?

 

[parneshr]

That is true of any SFF build though. It might not be the best option because of the 8-pin Boil mentioned, but I can't think of a technical reason why it won't work in the setup parneshr described, although I've not built in the NCASE M1 before. From what I've seen of build logs, if you can't drop the cable down from the top to reach the 8-pin, you can surely just route it between the CPU and the video card across the mobo?

Not saying it can't be done but it may be more of a hassle potentially. Having said that, the 3.5 inch drives can be mounted with ports on the top edge. I'll see what prices the boards come at in Oz.

 

[grumpyrobin]

Is there any readily available case that is smaller than the M1?

Edit: removal of not-so-smart comment that I didn't mean.

 

[Boil]

Is there any readily available case that is smaller than the M1?
As awesome as the M1 is, I don't like the wasted space.

Wasted space...?!?

Air-cooled or water-cooled; one can fill the M1 up rather quickly...

 

[parneshr]

Is there any readily available case that is smaller than the M1?
As awesome as the M1 is, I don't like the wasted space.

Fair few. Depends on the type you want. In the tower type, there is the Dan Case A4. The console type there is the Sentry and a few others going around. If you need 3.5 inch drives however, most are not as accomodating as the NCase.

 

[Pelican]

Those are nice cases, but I'm not sure either of them are available at this time. I think the people behind the Sentry are still fulfilling orders taken during their Indiegogo campaign. The DAN Case had a second Kickstarter campaign very recently, where you could purchase v2 of their A4 case, but I don't know if you can still order it at this point.

I have to agree with Boil. The M1 doesn't waste space, it offers versatility in a very small footprint. You can still use most standard components in an M1. Once you go smaller, you're getting into niche territory; riser cables, miniature graphics cards, specialist cooling, etc. I think the appeal of the M1 is that it offers the SFF experience without the component restrictions and extra headache.

 

[grumpyrobin]

Yeah, sorry about the flame inducing comment.

No, the M1 case does not waste space.

This is what I really wanted to say but I ended up being lazy and summed it up as wasted space.

The N1, because it is so extremely versatile, it has to be able to accept a plethora of different hardware, hence in my case, because I am trying to make a backpack friendly no compromise case, I am trying to shave as much volume, and centimeters as I can.
When I look at the M1, and I imagine other possible layouts, I realize just how many valuable milimeters I could save if If I had the perfect case.
At this point I should just make my own case,
I am just not fully willing to invest the effort into creating it.

I swear.........instead of worrying so much about comparing case X and case Y I should just stop and make my own, and at least learn from the experience....

 

[Necere]

I feel you on wanting something a bit smaller, to be honest. Having transported the M1 myself, I know firsthand that it's not quite as small and portable as one might want. Not bad by any means - just maybe a little too large to comfortably haul around.

My original design for the Sidearm concept (not the design as I've shown it currently) was very similar to the DAN A4 (though it predated it - and the M1 - by some years, lest I get accusations of plagiarism ), and I still feel like there could be a place for something like that. Obviously, I wouldn't want to do that same concept now, as it would be basically the same as the A4. But something in that same vein, incorporating what I've learned from the M1 project. In some respects my rev3 concept fills that niche, as it does have somewhat more backpack-friendly dimensions, though it's still not 100% in line with my original concept of what I wanted Sidearm to be.

 

[parneshr]

Ended up getting the Asrock AB350 itx from newegg. Waiting on some case fans, ssd and PSU. Build this weekend hopefully.

 

[TheHig]

Ended up getting the Asrock AB350 itx from newegg. Waiting on some case fans, ssd and PSU. Build this weekend hopefully.

Sweet. Happy building and you know.. take some pics.

 

[parneshr]

Sweet. Happy building and you know.. take some pics.

Thanks. Build's up and running. Mainly uneventful but would not get video. Found out that the DVI cable was loose on the monitor after taking apart a third of the build! DOH!

I will post pictures later today in it's own build log. BTW, according to the bios anyway, I got the ram (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232411) which is 2x16GB to work at 3200 by just turning on the xmp profile after updating bios.

 

[kms108]

I might be late to this thread, i'm using the Gigabyte m-ITX board, the positioning seems OK, but I did use custom cables for the 24pin and 8 pin, my setup is using a hard PETG tubing liquid cooling, with a workstation GPU.