Project: Lian-li PC-Q07 "Pixel-Crusher"

I've been planning this build for a while now, I've always believed the PC-Q07 had the potential for something a bit special

Heat however has always been the problem with this case when you try to shoehorn some high end kit into it.
Trying to keep it "clean" looking, while dealing with the heat has never been easy.

Until now!
Fastforward to May 2012.

Process shrinks, Power efficient designs, More speed and more importantly, a bit less heat to deal with!
Maybe, just maybe, it's now possible to create a gaming masterpiece into this beautiful little box?

We've had some rather interesting hardware releases so far this year. (from an Overclocking mad,SFF nut's perspective)

i5 3570k
Ivybridge despite it's lukewarm reception is perfect for this build.
It doesn't start to really heat up until you go north of 4.5ghz and this is more grunt than this build will ever need.

Asrock Z77E-ITX mITX motherboard.

Finally!, it's been almost 2 years now since the Gigabyte H55N-USB3 got us sff monkey's worked up with a board that overclocked like a full sized board.

Z68 ITX was a washout, no manufacturer made a decent board.
Being an overclocker I moved up to mATX with no ITX board worth having.

I chose the Asrock over the Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe for a few reasons.
The Asrock boots into Windows in under 15 seconds, the Asus takes 25 seconds. (using latest gen SF ssd's)
They both overclock the same despite the Asus board having more power phases.
Asrock bios is streamlined and super fast to setup and go, it doesn't have all the tweaks of the Asus but as mentioned previously it doesn't hinder it's overclocking prowess at all.

8gb (2x4gb) Samsung green.
Every overclocker worth his salt has a few sticks of this mental clocking ram.

EVGA GTX670 SC
This uses the reference GTX 670 "short" pcb measuring 175mm, card overall length is 240mm.
The PC-Q07 has 200mm to play with to shoehorn a GPU into.
So, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure the stock cooler will be going

The obligatory components shot

So how the hell am I going to cram all that into a PC-Q07 and keep it cool and quiet?

Cpu cooling: Corsair H60 with an 1100rpm, 120mm Scythe Gentle Typhoon.
I've used this combo many times in small builds, potent and quiet, it will tame the i5 3570k @ 4.5ghz in near silence.

Gpu cooling: The mighty Thermalright Shaman is the only cooling solution I'd trust in this build, it's a miracle it fits, but it really does look like it's meant to be there.
Component density on the "short" pcb GTX 670's is very high.
These short cards do heat up quite rapidly, it will be even worse in this little box.
I can't use the fantastic Thermalright TY-140 fan supplied with the cooler due to space restrictions at the bottom of the case, I have 13mm to play with.
I'm going with a 2000rpm, 120mm Scythe Slipstream 12mm thick case fan.
I'm projecting mid to late 60's temps with a mild overclock on the GTX 670.

EVGA GTX 670 SC with stock heatsink removed and the Thermalright Shaman fitted


The sheer size of the Shaman with the Asrock board balanced on the GTX 670



The Psu is also part of the cooling equation in this build, it's the exhaust.
I'm using positive air pressure from the other coolers to enhance the cooling of the build, by having them both as intakes.
The Psu I'm using is the Nexus NX-5000 530w.
It's the most compact "full size" ATX Psu you can buy at only 125mm long.
41A on it's single 12v rail, it's highly regarded in the sff overclocking community.
I did consider the Silverstone 450w, but the small fan won't exhaust air fast enough in this build.

The Nexus NX-5000 with un-needed lines removed and shortened cables (pain in the ass)
I can only urge you not to mess with psu's if you don't know what you are doing, you can quite easily put yourself in hospital (or much worse)

Case Mods.

Optical drive bay removed to make way for the H60.
Windscreen bond the Optical drive bay cover back in.
Top Blowhole intake for the H60.
Bottom intake for the GTX 670.
Shortening and braiding the case's power, reset and led cables.
Taller feet for improved airflow into the bottom intake.
Intake dust filters.
3.5" drive mount to fabricate and fit.

Plenty of trimming on the rear of the case, it's only designed to take a single slot card, to fit the GTX 670 it invloves a fair bit of cutting.

(case mods done and just removed the masking tape)




Almost done


One little monster, totally unassuming

reserved 3

Looking forward to this. Had a modded Q07 for awhile and loved it just no room for a decent graphics card till now. Where is the rad going? Also I changed the front panel to USB3 with a replacement adaptor i found. How much was the mobo?

Squeezing a 670 in there should be great for such a tiny little enclosure. Good luck, update this faster!

Patience, it's coming
More pics tomorrow, it's been a long day!

Where are you planning on mounting the HDD/SSD? On the side panel or hanging from bungee cord from the rad? I'm intrigued seeing as you've chopped off both places where they could normally sit

I've also just received an AsRock Z77E-ITX but have yet to install it. Looks like a nice little board although my system will be used with an Ivy i3 when they come out and will be completely passively cooled.

Borden said:

Where are you planning on mounting the HDD/SSD? On the side panel or hanging from bungee cord from the rad? I'm intrigued seeing as you've chopped off both places where they could normally sit

I've also just received an AsRock Z77E-ITX but have yet to install it. Looks like a nice little board although my system will be used with an Ivy i3 when they come out and will be completely passively cooled.

Click to expand...

You can see the ssd velcroed to the side of the psu in the last shot.
The 2gb hd sits vertical just below the optical drive bay bezel on a mount made up from the drive rails from the bottom of the case.

I'll get some more pics up later when I get back from work.

Epic simply epic and not to mention fantastic looking... oh wait I did mention

Stoner81.

Holy Cow! that Shaman is amazing. I'm loving this, kudos to you!

Owning a PC-Q11 I know how tough these lil' beauties are to work in, especially when shoving serious hardware in, one can only imagine how you've coped with even less space.


Hope you didn't scratch the case.

Scryus said:

Squeezing a 670 in there should be great for such a tiny little enclosure. Good luck, update this faster!

Click to expand...

That is a big fan on a small card.

hey, I want to build a similar system with a gtx 560. I'm very curious to know if you achieved your goal of getting these components cooled silently in idle??

malkurZDA said:

hey, I want to build a similar system with a gtx 560. I'm very curious to know if you achieved your goal of getting these components cooled silently in idle??

Click to expand...

The goal was to pack a high end, overclocked gaming system into a notoriously difficult case to cool.
The guy who I built it for is over the moon with it, he's an avid gamer and it's thrashed daily.
It's totally stable even in the hottest weather that we've had so far.
Fantastic little build.

To answer your question, it is near silent at idle yes.
I wouldn't build a gaming system into one in it's stock form though, you just cant shift the heat without modding it.
You need to go into mini builds like this knowing all the pitfalls or you'll be seriously disapointed (and out of pocket) when you find you can't keep the temps in check.