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After this, this and this I decided to get a HD 7950 and the SG05 mini itx case.
I didn't want to compromise on power (relatively speaking) for the sake of a small build. After much research (I didn't know anything about current pc hardware before last Friday), the sweet spot for me in terms of budget was the HD 7950. So after looking around at card sizes I decided to go for the sapphire HD 7950 (linked below). The only thing is that it was about 4mm too long, so I decided to see if I could squeeze it in or cut it down to size.
Didn't find too much online when I was looking to see if I could actually do this, so going to post this here in case anyone else is looking for the same thing I was. The spec is an SG05-450, i5 3570k, Gigabyte Z77N WIFI mobo, and a Sapphire HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 graphics card.
Below is what the card looked like as new. (I forgot to take a picture before starting, so I had to use this one I did not take)
Here is the card without the shroud. Without the shroud, from the back-plate to the end of the PCB, the card measured exactly 1mm shorter than the available space inside the SG05. So with that I knew (hoped...) I could get it in with some modification.
I removed the shroud and using electrical tape I marked how much shorter the shroud would have to be to fit (very snugly) into the case. As you can see in the image below, taking into consideration to total length it was only a very small bit that needed to be taken off the end (highlighted in red as it was too dark)...
...so I chopped it off with a hacksaw! (I recommend a dremel or the like, as I now have a hacksaw'ed thumb
) If you are going to attempt this, be careful not to damage the the mounting hole for the screw, as it is right beside where I had to cut.
It cleaned up quite nicely with some electrical tape.
Following the 'hacking', I screwed the shroud back onto the card. As you can see in the three images following, it was a very snug fit. It went in very easily at this point. For it to fit, I had to remove all the components, including the front fan, harddrive/SSC/Disc tray mounting brackets, and PSU. It should take no force to insert the 7950, just patience, it should be placed diagonally from the top of the case, the back of the card should be tilted into the back-plate slot first, then the card swung round into position. After it was carefully maneuvered into place I sat it against the inside of the case (just above here it was to be finally placed) out of the way of the motherboard and installed the motherboard. I didn't want to risk putting the card in after the mobo, as it would have been too tight a fit, but it goes in easily if it's put in first.
The most difficult part of the whole thing was definitely the cable management and installation at the end. It was very fiddly trying to get some of the cables in from only one side of the case, as the graphics card was firmly in place and this point and not going anywhere. If the cables are managed well, the airflow seems to be pretty decent considering the case size. The graphics card idles between 31c to 36c, usually towards the lower end. It has maxed out (so far) at 65c, when benching it with Heaven 4.0 (that is when the room was cold enough for it to idle at 32c). The i5 3570k idles between 25c and 31c, have not checked its max.
Here is a picture of it beside a 22 inch monitor. It's so tiny and unassuming, very happy I went for it over a big bulky case.
I didn't want to compromise on power (relatively speaking) for the sake of a small build. After much research (I didn't know anything about current pc hardware before last Friday), the sweet spot for me in terms of budget was the HD 7950. So after looking around at card sizes I decided to go for the sapphire HD 7950 (linked below). The only thing is that it was about 4mm too long, so I decided to see if I could squeeze it in or cut it down to size.
Didn't find too much online when I was looking to see if I could actually do this, so going to post this here in case anyone else is looking for the same thing I was. The spec is an SG05-450, i5 3570k, Gigabyte Z77N WIFI mobo, and a Sapphire HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 graphics card.
Below is what the card looked like as new. (I forgot to take a picture before starting, so I had to use this one I did not take)
Here is the card without the shroud. Without the shroud, from the back-plate to the end of the PCB, the card measured exactly 1mm shorter than the available space inside the SG05. So with that I knew (hoped...) I could get it in with some modification.
I removed the shroud and using electrical tape I marked how much shorter the shroud would have to be to fit (very snugly) into the case. As you can see in the image below, taking into consideration to total length it was only a very small bit that needed to be taken off the end (highlighted in red as it was too dark)...
...so I chopped it off with a hacksaw! (I recommend a dremel or the like, as I now have a hacksaw'ed thumb
) If you are going to attempt this, be careful not to damage the the mounting hole for the screw, as it is right beside where I had to cut.
It cleaned up quite nicely with some electrical tape.
Following the 'hacking', I screwed the shroud back onto the card. As you can see in the three images following, it was a very snug fit. It went in very easily at this point. For it to fit, I had to remove all the components, including the front fan, harddrive/SSC/Disc tray mounting brackets, and PSU. It should take no force to insert the 7950, just patience, it should be placed diagonally from the top of the case, the back of the card should be tilted into the back-plate slot first, then the card swung round into position. After it was carefully maneuvered into place I sat it against the inside of the case (just above here it was to be finally placed) out of the way of the motherboard and installed the motherboard. I didn't want to risk putting the card in after the mobo, as it would have been too tight a fit, but it goes in easily if it's put in first.
The most difficult part of the whole thing was definitely the cable management and installation at the end. It was very fiddly trying to get some of the cables in from only one side of the case, as the graphics card was firmly in place and this point and not going anywhere. If the cables are managed well, the airflow seems to be pretty decent considering the case size. The graphics card idles between 31c to 36c, usually towards the lower end. It has maxed out (so far) at 65c, when benching it with Heaven 4.0 (that is when the room was cold enough for it to idle at 32c). The i5 3570k idles between 25c and 31c, have not checked its max.
Here is a picture of it beside a 22 inch monitor. It's so tiny and unassuming, very happy I went for it over a big bulky case.
