MATX 350d 2011 Build Advice.

cypto · 3 Nov 2013 at 21:23

MATX/E-ATX 350d x79 Build

First of all gear I've got so far:

Corsair 350d (Absolutely adore this little case)
Corsair AX 860 PSU
few packs of Corsair SP120 fans

Graphics cards
Quadro 6000 + EVGA GTX 680 SC

PC needs to serve two purposes one as a great little gaming rig and two function as a workstation PC when needed. Mainly work in Autodesk maya + adobe suite

My current plan was to go down the 2011 socket route with a 4930k and a RAMPAGE IV GENE however been told by 5UB it's not certain they will be getting any more IV Gene boards.

5UB said:
Good morning,

These are end of life now, we have ordered more, but no guarantee that we will get any stock unfortunately.

So... Any advice other than waiting to see if they get any more 2011 gene boards in or look elsewhere for the board? Could this possibly mean a new 2011 matx board is coming out similar to the 2011 rampage back edition?

Cheers

cypto · 3 Nov 2013 at 21:47

That was ultimately what I was hoping for, just a refresh of the MATX boards for Ivy-e.

Horsepower wise it's a case of not having to wait so long on ray-tracing renders (currently woking off a macbook pro) which can take anywhere from 35 mins to 4 hours for a final render.

The Quadro card was a sneaky bay buy that was titled incorrectly "Quatro" instead of "Quadro" but it all helps to build a great rig.

cypto · 3 Nov 2013 at 21:55

Indeed or I'll be looking for a haswell-e matx board and chip. Although that isn't until Q4 2014 If I remember right. Which again wouldn't make sense for Asus to abandon the high end MATX users until then.

cypto · 3 Nov 2013 at 22:04

That is the main problem the only options are

ASRock X79 Extreme4-M
Asus Rampage IV GENE
MSI X79MA-GD45 LGA 2011

however the Asus Rampage board steamrolls the other two boards on features and I've always been impartial to Gigabyte and Asus when it comes to choosing motherboards.

cypto · 3 Nov 2013 at 22:13

That's all the MATX 2011 socket boards I've been able to find that exist.

cypto · 3 Nov 2013 at 22:23

That is something I have started to realise, suggestions on a 350d sized ATX case? As the idea behind the 350d was so it was portable but not lacking on performance or cooling.

Another option is to pick up the board somewhere that has it in stock, but then will asus just roll out a new board a few weeks later?

cypto · 3 Nov 2013 at 22:53

Had a quick look on the forest and they have the Asus board in stock, so might just bite the bullet and go for it, before they are too out of stock.

Seems a waste to just buy another case when the 350d is just that good and ticks all my boxes.

cypto · 4 Nov 2013 at 00:16

Could be way off the mark here, but after quite a while of looking at the case had a thought. It would require quite a bit of modding but it would be possible to put a ATX board in the 350d. The same way the PSU goes into the Silverstone SG10 case. and then mount the extra hard drive to the floor of the case.

I mean I would have to make a bracket for the PSU along with a way of extending the PSU cable to the back of the case.
The Pci-e slots would also have to be extended down replacing the old PSU cutout.

cypto · 4 Nov 2013 at 07:59

looked into that, the section that the PSU screws into is pop-riveted to the base and side panel. removing that and fabricating a replacement part with the extra 3 pci-e slots it should work. Going into uni today so will talk to the technicians to see if they have the equipment to do it.

The power cable would use a right angle going straight into the PSU (the PSU being flipped over so the port is at the bottom) and an extension with a pugin socket at the back on the new panel.
Your basically just moving the socket from the PSU to the back of the case using a short cable and fittings.

Would also need to find a way to add the three extra standoffs for the motherboard. Then either fitting them on or cutting a new mid section.

Also sized up the new Rampage IV black edition board and it fits with ease. So technically it would be a 350d with a E-ATX board in it.

cypto · 8 Nov 2013 at 21:06

Minor update for this project.

With the help of a dremmel and power file the back section was removed after removing the rivets with a drill. Below is a small paper mockup showing the new panel that will be cut from either 22 gauge steel or aluminium to extend the PCI slots.

Don't worry time will be spent perfecting the finish of the metal. This is just after the initial cut.

cypto · 8 Nov 2013 at 21:55

Doomedspeed said:
Im liking how this is going, maybe you should make it a project log (in that section).

I was considering that, it initially started off as just a question since the board was out of stock with no ETA. However it has no turned into a full fledged project without me realising it.

Spudbrains said:
What is the paint colour by the way? Or are you planning to sandblast it and respray it?

The case seems to be powered coated matt black. Going to use some scraps to see If I can match the paint if not I will sandblast and respray it.

cypto · 11 Nov 2013 at 10:47

Let me rephrase that, "Little for a fitting 2 graphics cards and a full size board" case.

However did follow the NCase kick-starter page and it is a great little case but needed the extra room for the two cards and expansion, that and there isn't a ITX 2011 board.

One thing I could ask you is to take a few close up shots of the power supply extension cable specifically where it connects to the back of the chassis for reference.

/edit

As doomed speed mentioned this has turned into a little more than just a question but a full project. And with that all further progress of this build has been moved to the project log section.

[thread=18557589]Visit the Project Log - Click Here [/thread]