Phanteks Mini XL: Dual System (Silent and Gaming)

[Bossman]

I've been meaning to replace my 10 year old Coolermaster system that was still running Windows XP for a while now. I wasn't gaming anymore so it didn't really make sense to spend a fortune and something that was quiet was all that was needed. However I did want to play GTA V which gave me an excuse to do a complete rebuild and get to try some of the latest hardware at the same time.

One of the things that I got a bit obsessed with when deciding what to buy was a low power, 100% silent system and before Christmas I got the following collection of hardware with the intention of building 2 systems in one case to suit my needs:

System 1) 100% Silent, no moving parts (except for an optical disc), low power usage system for work, browsing, office, remote desktop, watching TV etc.
System 2) Mid tier Skylake system for gaming.

I could have built 2 separate PCs or done the normal thing and got a laptop for work but where's the fun in that? Plus, I hate Laptops!

Specs:
System 1:
AMD APU 5350 Kabini
ASRock AM1H-ITX
8GB Team Group 1600Mhz DDR3
256Gb Crucial MX200 SSD
BR-DVD RW
TBS DVB-S2 Satellite TV Card (yet to be installed)
Lite-On 90W power brick
Arctic M1 Passive CPU cooler

System 2:
i5 6600 CPU (awaiting arrival)
ASRock Z170M Extreme4
8GB DDR4 (yet to buy)
PSU (yet to buy)
R9 390 (yet to buy)
SanDisk Ultra II 480Gb SSD
Samsung 950Pro 256Gb M.2 SSD
Corsair H60 AIO CPU cooler

Hardware. Not really sure why Phanteks don't sell this case pre-bundled with the ITX upgrade kit.

This case suits my needs exactly and the AM1 motherboard can be powered from a 90W power brick which means the CPU can be passively cooled and negates the need for 2 power supplies or a PSU power splitter. If you were to use 2 power supplies in this case one of them must be SFX and sit at the bottom of the case next to the graphics card which looks awful in my view.

Here you can see the 12V DC input to power the system.

Just the ITX system installed at the moment. I've also removed the drive bay cages and the 3 pre-installed 140mm fans.

There is room above the ITX system for a thin radiator which is something I'd like to try and utilize. It's also a bit of a shame the rubber gromit for the cables is not next to the end of the motherboard. I've shortened the cables and made custom length power cables from the motherboard to the SSD.

Cable tidying is no trouble whatsoever, I've routed the braided SATA cable behind the back of the SSD itself to the bottom of the case. The other output, next to the fan hub, on the SATA power cable is to power the case lighting, which is great by the way!

I wanted to swap the standard CPU cooler which is ugly and a nightmare to fit to a passive one.

Arctic M1 Passive is a decent sized fanless heatsink.

Fitting it was much easier than the stock heatsink and idle temps with the case closed are about 8-10ºC warmer than with the stock heatsink and still under 30ºC. For me this system isn't going to be under load very much if at all.

This gives you an idea of how big it is in comparison to the board in the case yet there's still plenty of room in the case.

Next thing is to buy the bits for the second system which I expect to happen in the next 2-3 weeks. In the meantime I'll be adding the TV Card, stealthing the Blu-Ray drive as it looks awful as it is now and attempting to do something with the horrendous USB 3.0 header cables.

I want to also dismantle the ITX drive bay housing that you get with the ITX upgrade kit as I won't use all the sockets and I'd like to make it look more like it's integrated into the system. Not sure where I'll go with that just yet.

I also plan to watercool the system at some point which is why the drive cage has been removed, there is plenty of room in this case for a couple of radiators and I may be tempted to put a bay reservoir above the optical drive too.

 

[OracIe]

Looking good! Hopefully we can help each other out as we're essentially doing the same thing!

 

[Bossman]

Looking good! Hopefully we can help each other out as we're essentially doing the same thing!

Definitely. I'd certainly be interested to see what you do with your watercooling setup and what you do with the drive bay extension switches/sockets thing you get for the second system.

 

[Bossman]

Got all the hardware for the mATX system now. Just in the process of overclocking R9 390 and i5 6600 non-K. I'll post some photos up of progress with both systems in the case over the weekend, although at this stage it's not much to look at while the benchmarks are running.

The plan is:
1. Stealth the BR-RW drive
2. Sort out the cooling and the cabling
3. Re-position the front I/O panel for the mATX system as the 5 1/4" bay that comes with the ITX upgrade Kit is pants and to do it justice would mean integrating it into the front panel rather than have it in a drive bay.

 

[Bossman]

Better late than never. I've got the second system up and running and I've spent the past month retiring my old system completely and overclocking the new system. It's up at 4.3Ghz at the moment but I think there's room for improvement still.

Here's the bits, including some second hand purchases.

Including the M.2 SSD. I love this, just a shame you can't see it when the graphics card is installed.

This is the built system with the mess of wires. However when overclocking the graphics card I was maxing out the temps at 94ºC, therefore I had to install a fan at the base of the case. I was also hoping to install the AIO cooler at the back of the case as but there wasn't quite enough room with the additional width of the radiator so I had to fit it into the top of the case. This presents other problems because the wire for the fan isn't long enough, it'll have to be reworked.

The cables are still to be sorted out. I'll be customising some of them and replacing others. I think I'll go for an orange/black theme to match the Z170 heatsink. I think this might mean I'll have to spray the silver arctic passive heatsink to match.

This will have to be sorted out.

Not a fan of this at all. It's pretty terrible. It looks lost in the front of the case. I really don't understand why Phanteks didn't release this case with the ITX upgrade kit pre-installed with the buttons and I/O already integrated somewhere else. It's like something from 1998.

Either way I'll be dismantling the I/O bay and taking the sound jacks and buttons and housing them somewhere else that looks more integrated into the system. I haven't decided where yet, most likely it'll be at the front near the top as there's currently a weird, what i'd call, a large forehead on this case and it needs something there.