Mini but Mighty - [Sponsored Parvum ITX Build!]

M1keMK

M1keMK

M1keMK

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Joined
10 Dec 2005
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Location
Woking UK
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Sponsored by:
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Thanks to Parvum I'm back again for another build. 2 Projects in one year cant be a bad thing :D

Parvum saw my ROTM winning build based on a custom S2.0 they produced for me and asked if I'd be interesting in testing out their unreleased, but forthcoming mini ITX case... how could I refuse!

Thanks to Parvum for the support. For those of you who dont know them, they are a small UK based company (2 people!) specialising in acrylic cases that are extremely mod-able and based on community feedback. Their current case, the mATX S2.0 can be bought here in the UK via OCUK. Those outside the UK would do well to contact them directly via their website:

http://www.parvumsystems.com/

For those interested, my previous builds can be found below:

Micro but Mighty:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/guru3d-rig-of-the-month-april-2014,1.html

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18593650&highlight=micro+mighty

Obsidian Red

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=348082&highlight=Obsidian+red

TJ07 Dual Loop:

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=241936&highlight=TJ07+dual+loop

On to this build!

Hardware so Far:

Case: Parvum Systems mini ITX
Motherboard: MSi Z97I-Gaming
CPU: Pentium G3258 Anniversary Edition
PSU: Silverstone SFX Series 450W Modular.

I'm really looking forward to giving the little pentium a run - it reminds me of the CPU's I used to buy when I first started out - cheap, but v.overclockable!

Hardware will be mid range as you can tell, but well balanced.

I'm intending to use this build to test out a couple of new techniques/ideas for me that I may transfer to my main rig if they work out ok:

1) Heatshrinkless cable braiding using paracord:


2) Rigid tubing!

The system will be watercooled of course!
 
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The Case:

As Usual with Parvum Systems, their cases come flat packed, and you have to construct them yourself. Pretty novel, but they are incredibly solid once build & the finish is fantastic.

Now, rather than post loads of photos on how it goes together, I did a little video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdDBBCagCCY&feature=youtu.be

A couple of shots of the case:

ParvumConstruction-1.jpg



ParvumITXbuilt-3.jpg


ParvumITXbuilt-2.jpg


The case really is tiny, even compared to my mATX, but parvum assure me there is enough room for a full size GPU + think 120mm rad :)
 
The Hardware:

CPU & Motherboard came last week:

MSIZ97IPentium-1.jpg



MSIZ97I-1.jpg


Cant quite get my head around how small the board is considering how much stuff is actually on it!

PentiumAniversaryEdition-2.jpg


The PSU:

SilverstoneSFX450w-3.jpg


Small, but 37amps on the 12v rail means it can supply virtually all that power down the 12v line!

And to give some context for size... this is it vs. my Enermax 1250watt revo!

SilverstoneSFX450w-4.jpg
 
It is really tiny! I'm impressed Silverstone managed to make such a small power supply fully modular too - that will make a big difference in such a small case.
 
Looking forward to this.

Have Parvum informed you about a release date for this case? I'm currently looking at a Caselabs S3 but a home grown Parvum ITX system would be much better!
 
HalfBakedJake said:
Looking forward to this.

Have Parvum informed you about a release date for this case? I'm currently looking at a Caselabs S3 but a home grown Parvum ITX system would be much better!
Click to expand...

Looking at 4-6 weeks until OCUK have stock. We stress this case was designed literally to keep it small as possible. Support is a single 120mm front, 80mm rear but you can do a lot with well used space and some modding. I've put 3 x 120mm radiators in the same chassis with some love, care and stress.

Literally a breeze for push pull fans on an AIO cooler however.
 
Thanks everyone. Glad you are looking forward to it. Expecting the rest of the hardware to arrive over the next couple of days so look out for updates!
 
Annoyingly I missed the delivery guy today, so rather than testing all the components I thought id test fit the mobo and measure up ready to start thinking about how to Watercool in such a tight space.

The case design has clearly been well thought through:

Plenty of clearence for the thickest 120mm rads + fan, maybe even push pull too. Just about 110mm between the midwall edge and front of the case here:

ParvumTestFit-1.jpg


GPU clearence is also pretty reasonable for such a small case. The case measures 290mm wide, so most high end GPU's should fit (for reference an R9 290x is 278mm long):

ParvumTestFit-2.jpg


Cable management options look good. I was slightly concerned about the positioning of some of the connectors on the board, but the cable holes in the midwall align almost perfectly with the ATX connecter & SATA ports at the bottom. The top hole should help with PCI-E power. The only one that remains a pain is the placement of the 8 pin CPU power connector, but thats more down to MSI's board design. I should also say, that motherboard will be made to match the overall system colours... the red heatsinks look rather out of place!

ParvumTestFit-3.jpg


Finally, the advantage of the SFX PSU is it leaves a decent amount of space around the back for cable management. I may even consider placing the pump here.

ParvumTestFit-4.jpg


I'm now looking into paracord for the sleeving so I can get started on that rather long job! Any tips welcome regarding heatshrinkless sleeving methods etc!
 
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Looks good so far, especially with the cute PSU but I have to say, I don't like the look of that MSI Motherboard. I mean that logo. ew.
 
JCX50 said:
Looks good so far, especially with the cute PSU but I have to say, I don't like the look of that MSI Motherboard. I mean that logo. ew.
Click to expand...

Yes I know, that logo will be going! I'm going to do something about the heatsink as it just doesn't fit in. Couldn't find any half decent blue themed ITX boards anywhere (decent blue boards seem to be harder to find these days...) so I'll do my best with this one!
 
M1keMK said:
Yes I know, that logo will be going! I'm going to do something about the heatsink as it just doesn't fit in. Couldn't find any half decent blue themed ITX boards anywhere (decent blue boards seem to be harder to find these days...) so I'll do my best with this one!
Click to expand...

Be daring and spray the mobo blue? XD
 
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