Your first SFF build

[jmehmn]

Hey All,

*Not sure if a similar thread already exists*

I would love to hear about everyones first builds, be it from the past or for those that are looking to build their very first.

What drew you to the SFF side and what excites you about continuing on with SFF builds?

I remember scouring the booths at the LA Computer Fair in Pomona for CD-R's, clear acrylic speakers, and cathode light kits.
You could always wait until the last day and try and score a good deal from vendors looking to make a sale. Got a copy of D2 Lord of Destruction for $15.

Youtube - LA Computer Fair from '03

This is also the place where I got my very first SFF pc, the Shuttle X SK41G with 256mb of ram.
It took me just that one day to get the HDD, an Athlon XP 1800+, and an MSI FX 5600, after saving up for a minute.

After about a week, it was sprayed matte black, and I made an acrylic window on top with red cathode lighting inside.
I can definitely say that it was Shuttle that got me interested in building and modding smaller.

Wish I had pics of the build, but as it usually goes, that HDD died...

So yea, I look forward to hearing about others first SFF builds and what most are looking forward to down the road.

Best,

 

[Ross Siggers]

A few years back, I used to have a HUGE ole' gaming PC. Built inside an NZXT Phantom if anyone knows that case.

I found myself gaming less and less, until I was barely using it apart from web browsing and the odd bit of photoshop. So I sold it and moved to a mid-range laptop, docked and running the same dual-monitors I was using before. That did the trick for a while, I barely noticed the hardware had changed at first. But I must've swung too far in the opposite direction because I did eventually find myself wanting a bit more. I looked into EGPU's at first, and started fabricating an enclosure myself, but that felt needlessly complex and janky, because I wanted to keep my laptop mobile; hotplugging an EGPU without thunderbolt is well....just no.

I realised about a year and a half(?) ago, that what I really wanted was a SFF build; not necessarily a powerhouse, but something between my last two solutions. It just so happened that my SEGA Dreamcast died around the same time...you can see where this is going.

What I ended up with was FAR more custom than I originaly envisioned, but I'm over the moon with the result. Given the source material, and the amount of hand crafting that went into it, I can be proud of the fact it really is unique. And probably 'inadviseably ambitious' for a first time SFF builder; Big shout to everyone that helped me figure out the PSU, there's a thread on this forum where you can see everyone getting more than a little frustrated at my incompotence ?

So I ended up with a machine that I coined the 'DC-PC'

i7-6700T
8Gb DDR4
4Gb GTX1650
250Gb SSD

Approx. 2.8L internal volume

I never did a build thread here, although there is one over on the LinusTechTips forum for those interested.

Would I do another SFF as labour intensive as this was? Well, actually yes I would, I think to me the attraction of SFF is the flexibility it provides, to build something completely whacky, which most people don't even realise is possible. I'd love to do a water cooled sleeper inside a PS2 next... ?

 

[rfarmer]

First started building computers in the early 2000s with an AMD Athlon 2600+ then 3800+ and finally 6400+, these were far from SFF built in old school mid tower cases. About 2013 I was tired of gaming and moving around a lot so I switched to laptops, I continued to use laptops until the 2013 release of Tomb Raider made me want to get back into gaming. I was due for a computer upgrade anyway so decided against a console and wanted to do another build. Not sure why I went with a SFF case, I was just browsing for cases and decided on the Rosewill U2 Legacy (rebranded Jonsbo U2).



To this day the most difficult SFF build I have ever done. Only the one side panel was removable and this case required a very specific build order. i5 4440, Asus H97, 8GB DDR3 and R9 270 (my one and only AMD GPU, decent performance but drivers were terrible).

 

[jmehmn]

A few years back, I used to have a HUGE ole' gaming PC. Built inside an NZXT Phantom if anyone knows that case.

I found myself gaming less and less, until I was barely using it apart from web browsing and the odd bit of photoshop. So I sold it and moved to a mid-range laptop, docked and running the same dual-monitors I was using before. That did the trick for a while, I barely noticed the hardware had changed at first. But I must've swung too far in the opposite direction because I did eventually find myself wanting a bit more. I looked into EGPU's at first, and started fabricating an enclosure myself, but that felt needlessly complex and janky, because i wanted to keep my laptop mobile if required; and hotplugging an EGPU is well....just no. I realised about a year and a half(?) ago, that what I really wanted was a SFF build; not necessarily a powerhouse, but something between my last two solutions. It just so happened that my SEGA Dreamcast died around the same time...you can see where this is going.

What I ended up with was FAR more custom than I originaly envisioned, but I'm over the moon with the result. Given the source material, and the amount of hand crafting that went into it, I can be proud of the fact it really is unique. And probably 'inadviseably ambitious' for a first time SFF builder; Big shout to everyone that helped me figure out the PSU, there's a thread on this forum where you can see everyone getting more than a little frustrated at my incompotence ?

So I ended up with a machine that I coined the 'DC-PC'

i7-6700T
8Gb DDR4
4Gb GTX1650
250Gb SSD

Approx. 2.8L internal volume

I never did a build thread here, although there is one over on the LinusTechTips forum for those interested.

Would I do another SFF as labour intensive as this was? Well, actually yes I would, I think to me the attraction of SFF is the flexibility it provides, to build something completely whacky, which most people don't even realise is possible. I'd love to do a water cooled sleeper inside a PS2 next... ?

Such an awesome build!! I remember getting a Dreamcast for Christmas with Crazy Taxi and NBA 2K.
Definitely going to check out your build log!

I stuffed an xbox 360 into my PC back in the day. CoolerMaster Wave Master.

Hopefully we get to see that sleeper PS2.

 

[jmehmn]

First started building computers in the early 2000s with an AMD Athlon 2600+ then 3800+ and finally 6400+, these were far from SFF built in old school mid tower cases. About 2013 I was tired of gaming and moving around a lot so I switched to laptops, I continued to use laptops until the 2013 release of Tomb Raider made me want to get back into gaming. I was due for a computer upgrade anyway so decided against a console and wanted to do another build. Not sure why I went with a SFF case, I was just browsing for cases and decided on the Rosewill U2 Legacy (rebranded Jonsbo U2).

View attachment 543

To this day the most difficult SFF build I have ever done. Only the one side panel was removable and this case required a very specific build order. i5 4440, Asus H97, 8GB DDR3 and R9 270 (my one and only AMD GPU, decent performance but drivers were terrible).

Very awesome and clean setup.
Also, I didn't know that it got rebranded.
Remembering the days when PSU's were up top. Kinda rare to see these days.

 

[tinyitx]

Tired of limited building options/customizations of a pre-built system, I switched to building my own PCs as well as for my family and friends in 2002. First system was a P4 Northwood 2.53Ghz + Galaxy GeForce4 Ti-4200 + 1GB single channel Samsung ram in a full tower Chieftec LCX (205 x 522 x 549 = 59L!). ATX mobos served me well over the years.

Then, when my gaming subsided a bit and was a little tired of SLI, I suddenly found the empty extra PCIe slots to be 'wasteful' (as no need of a 2nd display card, sound card, lan card). This prompted me to look into ITX mobos. Another factor is that there were very few good SFX PSUs before but in recent years there are more good ones coming into the market. So, just two years ago, I built my first SFF system (on a Streacom BC1 Mini test bench) and it is still my current system. So, basically I am a newbie to SFF and have much to learn.

 

[AlexTSG]

Wow, this brings back some memories. My first SFF PC, somewhere around 2005, was also a Shuttle XPC.

It was the Shuttle SB65G2 and at the time I was working as a Microsoft Certified Trainer teaching the MCSE track. I needed a PC I could bring to work with all the Virtual PC images setup, and take home to prepare for new courses. The Shuttle XPC was perfect, and I bought it with a matching backpack.

I honestly can’t remember the spec, but I think I had it close to maxed out.

 

[jmehmn]

Tired of limited building options/customizations of a pre-built system, I switched to building my own PCs as well as for my family and friends in 2002. First system was a P4 Northwood 2.53Ghz + Galaxy GeForce4 Ti-4200 + 1GB single channel Samsung ram in a full tower Chieftec LCX (205 x 522 x 549 = 59L!). ATX mobos served me well over the years.

Then, when my gaming subsided a bit and was a little tired of SLI, I suddenly found the empty extra PCIe slots to be 'wasteful' (as no need of a 2nd display card, sound card, lan card). This prompted me to look into ITX mobos. Another factor is that there were very few good SFX PSUs before but in recent years there are more good ones coming into the market. So, just two years ago, I built my first SFF system (on a Streacom BC1 Mini test bench) and it is still my current system. So, basically I am a newbie to SFF and have much to learn.

Oh yea I remember the days of buying all of those extra cards. Going from a 56k card to an ethernet card when DSL came into the home.
How do you like the BC1?
It’s such a great design and concept to have everything in one.

 

[jmehmn]

Wow, this brings back some memories. My first SFF PC, somewhere around 2005, was also a Shuttle XPC.

It was the Shuttle SB65G2 and at the time I was working as a Microsoft Certified Trainer teaching the MCSE track. I needed a PC I could bring to work with all the Virtual PC images setup, and take home to prepare for new courses. The Shuttle XPC was perfect, and I bought it with a matching backpack.

I honestly can’t remember the spec, but I think I had it close to maxed out.

Curious, how was the MCSE test?
I was going for my first MCP back in ‘05. Glad I did, finding out that you’ve gotta renew your A+ and Net+ every 3 years made me glad to have gotten it out of the way.
I ended up running Server 2003 on my shuttle for far too long lol.

 

[DSmithBYU]

A Corsair 250D with a Intel Xeon e3-1245 V3, 2x8GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance, a Samsung 850 EVO 250GB M.2 SSD + 1TB 2.5 SSD, a GTX 1060 6GB & a EVGA 750 B2.

I've moved onto a Salvo Studios S401. I intend to move onto something like a DanCase or Kolink Rocket in the future, once I purchase a 7.68TB SSD.

 

[tinyitx]

Oh yea I remember the days of buying all of those extra cards. Going from a 56k card to an ethernet card when DSL came into the home.
How do you like the BC1?
It’s such a great design and concept to have everything in one.

BC1 Mini is an excellent test bench. I had a BC1 (for ATX mobo) before and was impressed. So, when I decided to go into SFF, I picked up a BC1 Mini (for ITX mobo) in a split second. Material and construction quality are both top notch. It is also feature rich. I particularly like its unlimited air cooler height the display card size. Simplicity + Minimalistic + Compactness are my style.

As much as I still love my BC1 Mini, there are some other ITX test benches becoming available in Taobao in the past 2 years and they all have improved upon the BC1 Mini. So, when the time comes for me to do a new system, I will have more choices.

 

[jmehmn]

A Corsair 250D with a Intel Xeon e3-1245 V3, 2x8GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance, a Samsung 850 EVO 250GB M.2 SSD + 1TB 2.5 SSD, a GTX 1060 6GB & a EVGA 750 B2.

I've moved onto a Salvo Studios S401. I intend to move onto something like a DanCase or Kolink Rocket in the future, once I purchase a 7.68TB SSD.

I liked my 250D. I had the biggest brother as well, the 900D. The sharp lines made it such a badass little case.
The DanCase is looking tempting. Along with the FormD T1.
Funny, I was also eyeing up the node 202, but that Salvo S401 is looking even more tempting.

 

[jmehmn]

BC1 Mini is an excellent test bench. I had a BC1 (for ATX mobo) before and was impressed. So, when I decided to go into SFF, I picked up a BC1 Mini (for ITX mobo) in a split second. Material and construction quality are both top notch. It is also feature rich. I particularly like its unlimited air cooler height the display card size. Simplicity + Minimalistic + Compactness are my style.

As much as I still love my BC1 Mini, there are some other ITX test benches becoming available in Taobao in the past 2 years and they all have improved upon the BC1 Mini. So, when the time comes for me to do a new system, I will have more choices.

Awesome!! Yea I’ve was shopping around for nice open air chassis and thought about going with the YuelBeast Monument Motif.
I’ve seen some copies online as well. Which I also like, but I cringe with how dusty my office gets lol.

 

[mb67]

This was my first SFF build: A Skylake-based ITX build that I did for my Dad for his birthday four years ago. It's hard to believe, but Skylake was still the hot thing back then.

 

[Hatswitch]

I took the i7-860 from a 2010 HP slim and found an Intel ITX motherboard on Ebay, slapped a zotac loud AF GTX 970 (I wish I would have just opted for a reference card, oh well), added some crappy paracord sleeved cables and thought "hey it looks neato." I then got tired of the noise and moved up in size for a bit and watercooling before heading back tot he sub-20 liter range just recently.

 

[tinyitx]

Awesome!! Yea I’ve was shopping around for nice open air chassis and thought about going with the YuelBeast Monument Motif.
I’ve seen some copies online as well. Which I also like, but I cringe with how dusty my office gets lol.

Been there, done that...lol
Moved from my BC1 Mini to J1 (an improved clone of the Motif) last summer but moved back after several months.

taobao | 淘寶

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world.taobao.com

When compared to the BC1,
Cons:
-The J1 is a bit larger, in total size and in amount of material used.
-The cantilever part can sag about 3mm at the hanging end due to the weight of the system.
-Display card's RGB effect cannot be seen but this does not bother me as RGB is not my cup of tea.
-My 2.5 slot display card is facing down and the panel below (no hole in my version...but seems like the panel has a large opening in a later revised version) slightly impede the ventilation

Pros:
-Material quality is very good, just half a notch below the BC1 Mini.
-with a built-in power button
-support ATX PSU
-smaller footprint
-appealing seeing the big C14S in action

Check the few pics of that here:- (post #188)

Post Your Rig/ Setup

Looks good, any plans for a GPU? Thanks I’ll probably throw in my 1070 mini when I decide up upgrade the gpu in my main system.

smallformfactor.net

 

[AlexTSG]

Curious, how was the MCSE test?
I was going for my first MCP back in ‘05. Glad I did, finding out that you’ve gotta renew your A+ and Net+ every 3 years made me glad to have gotten it out of the way.
I ended up running Server 2003 on my shuttle for far too long lol.

By the time I had my Shuttle I was used to writing exams. I started off training the CompTIA A+ and Network +, then I got my first MCSE qualification on Windows NT 4.0. After that because I needed to train the courses, I was almost continuously writing exams to update to Windows 2000 MCSE, then 2003, and so on.

I think it gets easier when you're doing it like that, and to be honest, a lot of stuff that I was teaching 20 years ago for the Windows NT4.0 MCSE is still the same today. So, it's not like you're trying to learn everything from scratch each time, just what's new, or what's being deprecated.

Now with this whole Coronavirus thing it looks like I might be getting back into the training scene (which I haven't done full time for over 10 years). There's huge demand for Virtual Online Training now.

Sounds like the perfect excuse to build myself a new massively overspecced SFF PC again to run all the Virtual PCs and Microsoft Teams meetings! ?

 

[jmehmn]

This was my first SFF build: A Skylake-based ITX build that I did for my Dad for his birthday four years ago. It's hard to believe, but Skylake was still the hot thing back then.

I will admit that I really disliked this case when it first launched. I ended up seeing a mod online that changed my mind completely.

Manta S2 by Mp5mafia

I just remember the thermals being a bit tough on the top rad of my build.
Skylake was the hotness indeed hehe.

 

[jmehmn]

I took the i7-860 from a 2010 HP slim and found an Intel ITX motherboard on Ebay, slapped a zotac loud AF GTX 970 (I wish I would have just opted for a reference card, oh well), added some crappy paracord sleeved cables and thought "hey it looks neato." I then got tired of the noise and moved up in size for a bit and watercooling before heading back tot he sub-20 liter range just recently.

Dope!! The hadron is a nice chassis!!

Love that you reused parts from old builds and got them up and running in something cool!
Funny enough, after my first 970 with an ITX board, I moved up to an mATX board but never ran SLI, and thus I moved back down.

 

[jmehmn]

Been there, done that...lol
Moved from my BC1 Mini to J1 (an improved clone of the Motif) last summer but moved back after several months.

taobao | 淘寶

淘寶（Taobao）讓您隨心淘超值商品，爲您提供流行服飾、美妝洗護、3C數碼、大小家電、家俬家居、箱包皮具、運動戶外、五金工具、玩具等千萬件熱銷好貨，淘寶支持文字或圖片搜索商品。天貓淘寶海外作爲Taobao面向華人的跨境電商平台，覆蓋200多個國家和地區的消費者，其中核心站點包括：淘寶香港（taobao hk）、淘寶台灣（taobao tw）、淘寶澳門、淘宝新加坡、淘宝马来西亚、淘宝韩国（타오바오 사이트）、淘宝澳洲、淘宝加拿大、taobao world。

world.taobao.com

When compared to the BC1,
Cons:
-The J1 is a bit larger, in total size and in amount of material used.
-The cantilever part can sag about 3mm at the hanging end due to the weight of the system.
-Display card's RGB effect cannot be seen but this does not bother me as RGB is not my cup of tea.
-My 2.5 slot display card is facing down and the panel below (no hole in my version...but seems like the panel has a large opening in a later revised version) slightly impede the ventilation

Pros:
-Material quality is very good, just half a notch below the BC1 Mini.
-with a built-in power button
-support ATX PSU
-smaller footprint
-appealing seeing the big C14S in action

Check the few pics of that here:- (post #188)

Post Your Rig/ Setup

Looks good, any plans for a GPU? Thanks I’ll probably throw in my 1070 mini when I decide up upgrade the gpu in my main system.

smallformfactor.net

Thanks for the breakdown!! I need to look more into TaoBao it seems hehe.
Was reading up on this a bit more and it's interesting as I thought Motif was the first, but it seems more people saw the J1 first.
If I get one, I definitely want to watercool it hehe.