LAZER3D LZ7 MINI-ITX CASE build advice

[Slap]

Good morning dons

I would like to have a go on first SFF build on a budget of aprox £550 with future upgrade potential. It will be mainly used for flight sims/games.

I have components left over from an old build if parts can be of use:
Windows 8 pro OS

MSI HD 7970 Lightning BOOSTED Edition 3072MB

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor

OCZ ZX Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply

Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gbs Solid State Hard Drive

Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9

Also, does one have to buy external CD Rom player to install Windows with these SFF cases?

Thanks for any help

 

[orbitalwalsh]

download windows to USB

also you'll need an SFX PSU

 

[Slap]

Thank you orbitalwalsh for advice.
I have my windows OS on a disk(?).

 

[Quartz]

Just download the ISO and use Rufus to put it on a USB key. You might even just be able to just copy the whole DVD to the USB key (remember to copy hidden files etc).

 

[Slap]

Brilliant, thanks Quartz.

 

[tamzzy]

you'd need a z77 mini itx board no? these can cost quite a lot (even if they're second hand)
also the only other step up would be the 3770k if you find the 2500k lacking grunt in the future.
also as it's mini itx, it can only take 2 sticks of ram at any time. so to upgrade you'll have to swap your ram for 2x8gb sticks.
seeing as you don't have a mobo...might be worth a consideration to upgrade the platform, rather than being tied to your 2500k.

also, as mentioned earlier, you'll need a sfx/sfx-l sized psu

lastly, your gpu is too big to fit into the case. you'll need a gpu designed specifically for sff pc to fit.

 

[Slap]

Thank you tamzzy for all that info, very helpful. I will start researching components for my build, but I fear they will laugh at my £550 budget ...=/

 

[tamzzy]

but I fear they will laugh at my £550 budget ...=/

is the case included in the budget?
if the case is from a separate budget, it's potentially doable - you have members market access, so you can flog your current items for ~£150, giving you a £700 budget

 

[Slap]

Thanks for good advice tamzzy! Yes the
case is included in
budget but can bump it up to £700 if I wait a couple of months..
I forgot about members market, thx!

 

[Slap]

My new mini build is up and running. I cannot praise this case enough! it cost an arm and leg but worth every penny imho! I think it is an incredible piece of design/art!. My days of massive cases are over, I am converted 100%. If I'm being nit-picky, the only criticism is that the case screws could be a little flusher.
This was my first build after 6 years being out of the loop and I must say how incredibly idiot-proof it was to build with mobo/bios/Win10 (drivers/hardware setup etc).
No issues at all (apart from wrong speed ram detected/quick fix in BIOS settings np) and, compared to my old system, she really flies! Like night and day.
80% of components where bought from OCUK, only had to go elsewhere for a better price on a couple of components.
OCUK are a great E-seller, most probably the best imho (I've been with them for over 16 years), but do check for deals is the only advice I can give if penny pinching.
The thing that truly makes OCUK great is the support/knowledge from there users/forums. Thank you.

Components bought for build:

• Lazer3D LZ7 Mini-ITX.(amazing case)
  
• Corsair SF450 450W SFX Silent PSU/Power Supply.
  
• MSI B450I GAMING PLUS AC (Socket AM4) Mini-ITX Motherboard.
  
• Zotac NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB Mini Graphics Card.
  
• AMD Ryzen 5 Six Core 2600 3.90GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail.
  
• TeamGroup 480GB L5 Lite SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 3D NAND Solid State Drive.
  
• Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey.
  
• Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 Low Profile CPU Cooler- 92mm/NF-A9x14 PWM premium fan.
  
• Be quiet 140mm case fan
  
• Corsair SF450 450W SFX Silent PSU/Power Supply.
  
• Win10 Pro 64 (bought legit for £20 on well know selling site/one install only)
  
• AOC Q3279VWFD8 32" monitor (absolute bargain at £200!)

Sims/games installed:

Condor 2 soaring
IL2 Cliffs Of Dover Blitz edition
Rise Of Flight
Eagerly waiting for IL2 "Flying circus"
Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Some pics of build:
https://imgur.com/ROkhIZo
https://imgur.com/DTbFT1N
https://imgur.com/LDcL9ef
https://imgur.com/HDYpx5W
https://imgur.com/ow5h2QW
https://imgur.com/pi5kyt6
https://imgur.com/ferM2hn (my old Dell 24" next to OAC monitor for size comparison)

Thank you all for your help and support on my build! Priceless and much appreciate as always.

If anyone has any questions, please ask and I will do my best to answer (nothing kinky please...).

Arigato!

 

[tamzzy]

v nice.

one thing to add though, set the offset voltage to -0.1v (well...between -0.05v and -0.1v depending on #siliconlottery), if you're not planning on overclocking.
especially with a small cooler and case, this will give more headroom for PB2/XFR2 to work its magic

 

[Slap]

v nice.

one thing to add though, set the offset voltage to -0.1v (well...between -0.05v and -0.1v depending on #siliconlottery), if you're not planning on overclocking.
especially with a small cooler and case, this will give more headroom for PB2/XFR2 to work its magic

Thanks tamzzy.
I presume these settings are through BIOS.
Remind me what PB2/XFR2 does please? (brain hurts from late nigh sesh...).

Cheers

 

[Slap]

Yes not planning to OC just yet. All seems to be working fine for now. The air cooling/design of this case really does help to keep things cooler (and the Be quiet 140mm case fan of course).

 

[Slap]

Pic of my Bios Tamzzy for reference. Am I getting close ? :
https://imgur.com/2xAqoZY

 

[tamzzy]

@Slap

PB2 is the newer implementation of...you guessed it...PB1, which gives finer granularity over core clocks depending on how many cores are loaded. in contrast, PB1 only had this implementation for the first 2 cores.

(source: https://www.anandtech.com/show/12625/amd-second-generation-ryzen-7-2700x-2700-ryzen-5-2600x-2600/5)

XFR 2 is temperature dependent, ie, if your CPU is cool enough, then your all core speeds will be boosted, but vcore stays the same

PB2 and XFR2 is implemented in CPU microcode, so is independent of the mobo

PBO is different from PB2 and XFR2 in that it requires mobo compatibility (ie, not all boards support it). PBO takes into account temperature and voltages and boosts voltage for a higher clockspeed, if both temp and voltage are not at its limits.
the issue with PBO is that it tends to give too much voltage, hence the CPU will hit its temperature limit faster - therefore if one uses PBO, one will preferably require a negative offset (anywhere between 0.05v to 0.1v) to hit the max PBO boost clocks.
(see my previous post for why MSI wasn't the best - but now is)

shamelessly stolen image, but i think explains PB2, XFR2, PBO very well.

source: http://www.xanxogaming.com/reviews/gigabyte/b450-aorus-pro-wifi-english/4/

 

[tamzzy]

Pic of my Bios Tamzzy for reference. Am I getting close ? :
https://imgur.com/2xAqoZY

set CPU core voltage to offset, from auto
see: https://www.overclock.net/forum/13-amd-general/1718046-msi-finally-added-offset-mode.html

 

[Slap]

@Slap

Wish I never asked now lol...
Thanks man

 

[tamzzy]

if your board doesn't have voltage offset, then you're running on an older bios.
you can update the bios to the latest version if you want the added functionality.

 

[Slap]

Thankz T. I did install latest Bios. Got the offset options and changed settings to 0.0500v in cpu voltage offset.
Also got offset option on cpu nb/soc voltage.

pic: http://imgur.com/a/T4Z8xLu

 

[tamzzy]

@Slap set the CPU offset mark to negative from auto. IIRC auto = positive
usual range is -0.05 to -0.1v. play with it and i'd aim for -0.1v (as long as no crashes)
-0.1125v if you have a good chip