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So I took the DormBox guide from the TR back to School guide and modified it a bit to build a new all-purpose/gaming machine. Here is my results:

This was a huge downsizing for me as you can see (yes that's a Corsair 850D):



My build is as follows:

Processor: i7-4770K
CPU Cooler: Corsair 100i
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.Sniper M5
RAM: Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A Cas9 8GB
SSD: KIngston HyperX 240GB
HD: 2 - 3TB Seagate Barracuda 7,200 RPM
VideoCard: I am still rocking a NVIDIA 560Ti (notes on this below)
CD/DVD/Bluray: Asus bluray
Powersupply: EVGA (full modular) 750W (Seriously a 10 year warranty that's crazy)
Case: Corsair 350D

Here's what it look like completed:




(sorry for the bluriness)

Just a few notes about it, I was keen on the color of the Mobo but as I got it all together it didnt become an issue as you can see. It was a little tight working in the case As I opted to place the radiator in the top and orient that fans to pull. I have 2-240mm Fans pulling into the case keeping positive pressure. It is very very quiet. As for the case, Corsair built another quality Obsidian case.

As for the Video card, I was fully prepared to pull the trigger to buy an R9 280x but since eveyone had them on sale this past weekend no one has them in stock. NewEgg, MicroCenter, and Fry's are all out. So now I don't know what to put in it. I was thinking a Nvidia 760 of some sort But I just dont know.

I am using the Creative on-board sound instead of my previous Asus Xonar DSX card. I'm not to sure about it. I did get all the changeable amps for free from Newegg so I might try them out before I opt back to the Asus Xonar DSX.

Looks nice and tidy
Wait for the OEM's like Asus and Sapphire to launch their own cards, rather than stickering the reference boards with that awful cooler. I'd be looking to try an R9 290 in the new year once the hysteria for quiet Tahitis has died down a bit.

Pretty nice. How much clearance is there behind the back of the 3.5" HDDs and the motherboard tray? The one thing I don't like about that case is the low number of 3.5" bays, but if there is clearance enough to stack more drives without interfering with the motherboard SATA port cables (say, if there is at least 1/2" behind the drives above the plane of the motherboard) it would be a lot more appealing.

Not much room. I'd say less than 1/2 inch. Quite honestly that was one of the drawbacks, I am hoping that maybe Corsair will offer an add on drive cage that has maybe 2 to three more slots as there is plenty of room for one. I had all six bays in my 850D with drives, so downsizing was a chore. I bought 1 3TB HD and re-purposed the other. All the drives go in without screws they use retention and little drive 'holders'. I loved this as sometimes its hard to deal with the little screws for them.

The cable routing isn't as clean as I would like it but over time I'll mess with it to clean it up further.

Thanks for the pictures! Most of the feelings I see on the 350D is that it's relatively large for a mATX case, but I think it looks pretty efficient for everything inside, like it's much smaller than a mid ATX build, but without looking too cramped.

Nice.

I'm thinking of putting together a secondary DAW box using spare parts, but would prefer to keep it compact. I picked up a couple of those $20 "Hot Deal" Antec mini-towers recently. Too bad Micro-ATX Socket AM3+ boards with decent southbridge & IGP basically don't exist, as both of the spare CPUs I've got on hand for this build are AMD (my options are a 1090T or an FX-8320). I suppose given the intended usage I can live with the older south and IGP; I've got an M5A78L-M I could use for the FX, or if I go with the 1090T I've got an older AM3 micro-ATX board that would work.

Compared to the 85 liter Corsair Obsidian 800D or 113 liter Obsidian 900D, the 41.7 liter micro-ATX Obsidian 350D looks compact.

In another thread, I wrote:

Mini-ITX BitFenix Prodigy = 32.6 liters
Mini-ITX Silverstone SUGO SG08 = 14.8 liters
Micro-ATX Silverstone SUGO SG10 = 23.0 liters
Micro-ATX Rosewill Line-M = 27 liters
Micro-ATX SUGO SG04-FH = 28.9 liters (including handle)
Micro-ATX Silverstone Temjin TJ08-E: 30.2 liters
Micro-ATX Fractal Designs Arc Mini = 40.9 liters
Micro-ATX Corsair Obsidian 350D = 41.7 liters
ATX Rosewill LINE Glow = 35.6 liters

The H100i's radiator looks like a good fit in your photos.


JBI!, There haven't been any good micro-ATX socket-AM3+ motherboards in a while.

JustAnEngineer wrote:

JBI!, There haven't been any good micro-ATX socket-AM3+ motherboards in a while.

Yes, I know. AMD (or the motherboard vendors, or both...) seem to have decided that micro-ATX users only want APUs. If you want AM3+ you've pretty much either gotta go full ATX, or get a board with ~5 year old chipset tech on it.

AM3+ is dead, there was an excellent frontpage post when it was announced that AM3+ was no more....

1. Secure all major console wins and put 8 AMD cores into all next-gen consoles.
2. Create API to run games optimised for 8 AMD cores much better on the desktop.
3. Cancel all 8-core desktop processors and announce that you're abandoning the market.