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whm1974
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Great mITX build!!!

Mon Sep 07, 2015 8:42 pm

I just read this from the Labor Day Shortbread:

http://wccftech.com/custom-sff-radeon-r ... processor/

This a really neat build stuffing all that hardware in a case that size. Putting the video card(and upside down) the and SSDs in the other side of the case behind the motherboard is really thinking outside the box.

At least one least thing I would change is add another two SO-DIMM modules to enable quad channel mode.
 
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Mon Sep 07, 2015 9:35 pm

SSDs in the other side of the case behind the motherboard


That's become the new norm in the last year or so as SSDs have taken off. The idea is to dump the drive cages so that there's a clear front-to-back airflow path through the case with minimal obstructions.
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whm1974
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Mon Sep 07, 2015 9:49 pm

That makes sense to do that.
 
whm1974
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Tue Sep 08, 2015 1:21 am

I didn't know it is possible to have four memory slots on a MiniITX motherboard.
 
JustAnEngineer
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Tue Sep 08, 2015 4:42 am

For an LGA2011-v3 motherboard, four memory slots is the minimum that you should have to match the four memory channels of the processor. An 18-core hyper-threaded Xeon needs more memory bandwidth than a consumer quad-core CPU does. The EPC612D4I motherboard used in this build does have four 260-pin SODIMM slots. It could be populated up to 32 GiB with currently-available modules.

I would have suggested that a no-compromises workstation still works better in the micro-ATX form factor. Mini-ITX usually requires compromises.
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whm1974
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Tue Sep 08, 2015 7:17 am

An 18-core hyper-threaded Xeon needs more memory bandwidth than a consumer quad-core CPU does.

Which is why I'm supprise the dude didn't fill all four memory slots instead of just two.
A no-compromises workstation still needs the micro-ATX form factor.

Even so it is neat how this guy can put so much hardware in a SFF like this. I like the way he did the video card.
 
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Tue Sep 08, 2015 8:44 am

WTB E5 1699...

But yeah, hurry up and quad channel that thing, starving each core with half bandwidth and less than 1GB per is sad.
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Tue Sep 08, 2015 7:29 pm

That is a sweet machine. I wonder why AMD can't be bothered to add extra memory channels in their design. I especially like how they show off the nano.

Reading the link, is this contest why there are no nano's available for review? Because they are being given to these sites doing mITX builds for the contest?
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Tue Sep 08, 2015 7:52 pm

whm1974 wrote:
I just read this from the Labor Day Shortbread:

http://wccftech.com/custom-sff-radeon-r ... processor/

This a really neat build stuffing all that hardware in a case that size. Putting the video card(and upside down) the and SSDs in the other side of the case behind the motherboard is really thinking outside the box.

At least one least thing I would change is add another two SO-DIMM modules to enable quad channel mode.

That video card extender cable has got to slow things down. I suppose it does not matter much with the slower CPU's available to the mITX form factor.
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whm1974
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Tue Sep 08, 2015 8:07 pm

That video card extender cable has got to slow things down.

Still neat however. That cable opens up possiblitys.
 
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Tue Sep 08, 2015 8:30 pm

Might lead to some of those mITX motherboards having the PCIe slot duplicated on both sides of the board for just such an occasion. Not sure how they would solder that, but still. :D
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whm1974
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Tue Sep 08, 2015 8:43 pm

Might lead to some of those mITX motherboards having the PCIe slot duplicated on both sides of the board for just such an occasion. Not sure how they would solder that, but still.

I like the way the video card is put into the case. I would have never thought of that if I haven't seen it.
 
whm1974
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Wed Sep 09, 2015 9:37 am

I would would like to do a build using this case if I was going to do an mITX build.
 
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Wed Sep 09, 2015 9:38 am

That video card extender cable has got to slow things down.


Nope, as long as you stay in whichever PCI-e spec you are trying to use there is no difference in bandwidth or external latency. There is an inherent latency increase due to physics of course but the bus has enough slack between I/Os to account for this or we would already see performance differences for ports at the far end of motherboards.

3.0 has reduced the farthest you can go before errors kick somewhat but I ran various 2.0 cards around 3 feet total without issue. I'm not sure but I suspect signal noise becomes a problem before copper trace length latency does.
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Wed Sep 09, 2015 10:05 am

Cool! Obviously a much higher end build than mine but I've been playing around with the idea of using an extension cable to add a GPU to that build as recently as last week. I'll probably put a R7 240 in mine if I get around to it.
 
whm1974
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Wed Sep 09, 2015 11:05 am

Yeah I would go with a lower spec and much cheaper CPU if I was going to do a build like this. Like the 5820K and max out the memory as well. And replace the Nano with a mITX size 970 for Linux gaming.
 
whm1974
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Wed Sep 09, 2015 2:28 pm

Are they any other mITX cases that "flips" the motherboard and/or offsets the video card with a cable?
 
JustAnEngineer
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Wed Sep 09, 2015 8:04 pm

Since this is such an impressively small form factor for a powerhouse workstation, I have moved this thread to the SFF station.
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whm1974
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Wed Sep 09, 2015 8:10 pm

Thanks. And you are right this does belong to the SFF station.

I would like to see some benchmarks on this.
 
whm1974
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Thu Sep 10, 2015 4:44 pm

Liking the idea of the video card being able to draw cooler air from outside the case, I searched Newegg to see what I could find. Nothing remotely like the above, but this may be the next best thing:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811139033

The motherboard is laid flat and the video card draws air in from the side.

Here is a thought for mATX boards. Move the x16 slot to the bottom, flip the board so the video card can draw air from the top or side and have up to four usable slots.
 
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Thu Sep 10, 2015 5:46 pm

You're really excited about this build...

You can get retail cases that are similarly sized. It's a cool custom case don't get me wrong, but small custom cases are a dime a dozen now days on modding sites.

I'm into custom cases more than the next guy typically, but other than a cool looking design I see nothing interesting being done here. In fact I'd question some of his choices.
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whm1974
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Thu Sep 10, 2015 5:57 pm

You can get retail cases that are similarly sized. It's a cool custom case don't get me wrong, but small custom cases are a dime a dozen now days on modding sites.

Yeah but this is the first case I've seen or heard of that "flips" the motherboard to the other side so the video card can draw air from the top.
I'm into custom cases more than the next guy typically, but other than a cool looking design I see nothing interesting being done here. In fact I'd question some of his choices.

As do I. I would at least fill all the memory slots so the CPU wouldn't starve for bandwidth.
 
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Thu Sep 10, 2015 6:02 pm

Similar configurations exist. Then there's the ones that draw from the side panel (motherboard laying flat or a flex cable used) and ones that stuff the card at the bottom of the case with air vents to pull in cool air (think of this case turned upside down).

*edit* in fact my .50 cal ammo can PC used the side vent approach with a flex cable and that measured 11 x 5.5 x 6.75 which works out to a little smaller in total volume than this case.
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NovusBogus
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Sun Sep 13, 2015 10:25 pm

Very impressive. Not gonna lie, builds like that give me the urge to put on that day-job hat and design something totally off the wall involving flexible PCIe cables. Say...does anyone know if building a case entirely out of plastic causes any electrical problems?
 
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Mon Jan 11, 2016 10:55 am

chuckula wrote:
SSDs in the other side of the case behind the motherboard


That's become the new norm in the last year or so as SSDs have taken off. The idea is to dump the drive cages so that there's a clear front-to-back airflow path through the case with minimal obstructions.


One of the prime reasons I invested in a Corsair Air 540 (which only has one GPU and no water-cooling :P ; in retrospect, an mATX case + motherboard would've been better). Having six 120/140mm case fans with direct access to the GPU & CPU (just 1-3") is killer.

Corsair's George Makris (the guy behind most of their cases) said that they tested all sorts of new "case designs" (BTX, vertical, etc.) and the only common factor to better cooling: put case fans closer with direct airflow access. That's it.
 
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Mon Jan 11, 2016 2:16 pm

I wonder if that case is for sale. It looks like it was hand cut out of heavy aluminum stock. 6.54" x 9.61" x 7.40" gives 465 cubic inches or 7.61 Liters.
Convert wrote:
Similar configurations exist. Then there's the ones that draw from the side panel (motherboard laying flat or a flex cable used) and ones that stuff the card at the bottom of the case with air vents to pull in cool air (think of this case turned upside down).

*edit* in fact my .50 cal ammo can PC used the side vent approach with a flex cable and that measured 11 x 5.5 x 6.75 which works out to a little smaller in total volume than this case.
Do you have a link to a picture? I'd like to see that.
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spiritwalker2222
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Mon Jan 25, 2016 12:41 pm

Who would use that build? Doesn't seem to make sense to have 18 "slow" cores with a GPU.
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whm1974
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Mon Jan 25, 2016 12:57 pm

spiritwalker2222 wrote:
Who would use that build? Doesn't seem to make sense to have 18 "slow" cores with a GPU.

I have no idea. Now that I think about this, I would rather go with a mATX minitower that can fit a 980 Ti and go with the 5820K with 32 GB of memory and all channels filled. That would be far more useful for me.
 
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Mon Jan 25, 2016 1:29 pm

Looking through the pictures I don't get why the video card is on an extension cable. It looks like it has just been moved to where a 2nd PCIe slot would be, but I don't see anything in the way of the existing slot that would prevent the card from just sitting in it's normal spot.
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Re: Great mITX build!!!

Mon Jan 25, 2016 1:45 pm

There are stand-offs in the corners for the shield which covers the MB, and one of the stand-offs is right where the video card would be.

Here is a pic with the shield in place.
http://cdn.wccftech.com/wp-content/uplo ... ano_24.jpg

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