Powerhouse SFF project

Destination · 19 Jun 2010 at 11:38

How about your noise levels, whats noisy, what isn;t, did you repalce any fans to limit noise?

Big modular psu, do you think modular is the way to go in such a case?

Psypher5 · 19 Jun 2010 at 12:05

the fans arent too bad, the 120 is the loudest (all will go for asthetics though and ill put some silent ones in for measure)

the gfx card has a squeal too it too (known nvidia bleh) and ill try and replace when i can, (480?) and the cpu cooler being stock irritates me. But water could fix that

modular defo, however ill be looking for something with small cables (designed for an sff case maybe) as the cables are just way too long and un organised on the corsair (gfx card ones especially)

having the hdd loose in the cd bay is vibration central aswell.

Destination · 19 Jun 2010 at 12:50

Nice real world answers m8.
I am thinking of using the same case, for a home server type setup, and probably won't use a gfx card at all initially, just the i3 onboard.

Be interested to know what cooler you eventually plump for, if the stock is loud.

I am considering a pico PSU, simply for space and noise, but a nice modular effort should bring similar effects, still quite undecided on that score.

Psypher5 · 19 Jun 2010 at 12:57

only problems i can see is i dont seem to find any atx (powerful power supplies) with small cables! cant stick that fancy 450w silverstone in as i doubt it would boot lol

ill probably go for an h50 for the cooler in all honesty, cheap and does the job (with a fan change as apparently stock is audible) unless i really fancy a custom set up.

Destination · 19 Jun 2010 at 14:37

aye on the DFI board you can use the h50, won't be able to on the gigabit board which i will likely pump for, unless a zotac revision proves beneficial.

Will be waiting till end of July anyway.

Psypher5 · 19 Jun 2010 at 15:16

apparently an h50 will fit the giga with a washer/spacer on the underside to negate the bit that stops it fitting normally. ill be looking into that more though

on the dfi ill have to cut some of the backplate away to get the h50 to fit snug anyway

depending on how i7's perform i may sway to the giga, usb 3 is tempting.

Psypher5 · 19 Jun 2010 at 23:19

the gigabyte is pushing high clocks over at XS.

im talking 4ghz +.

mmmmmmmmm so tempting, anyone want a dfi?

Psypher5 · 28 Jun 2010 at 19:20

Right, little update!

ram rma'ed and got 8gig working again

This machine flies! fans need sorting (noise wise) so i think an h50 might be in tune sometime.

locrieth · 1 Jul 2010 at 12:41

Nice little system, I'm really interested in building a little portable gaming system I can take down to my bros place. Been looking at the li-lian PC-Q08B to base it in and then either the dfi p55 or the gigabit h55n-usb3. Has anyone tried fitting the h50 with any success on either of those boards, cause I've read about lack of support and mosfet crushing? Also are there any gfx cards that are known not to fit in that case? I know you can remove the bottom hdd caddy to fit longer cards in.
specc'd a couple of machines up just need money now

fireisdangerous · 2 Jul 2010 at 00:46

Just built my q08 (i got the silver version). I managed to fit a corsair h50 with one fan in by using the small form factor silverstone 450w power supply, i think that if you used slim 12cm fans yu could have 2 fans in the push/pull config.

I will try and post sum pics over the weeknd once ive worked out how to make cables look less messy.

Psypher5 · 2 Jul 2010 at 01:00

get some pics up anyway

fireisdangerous · 5 Jul 2010 at 22:38

Psypher5 said:
get some pics up anyway

Here are some pics, pretty impossible to tidy the cables as there is knowhere to route them.

Psypher5 · 5 Jul 2010 at 22:49

that psu is TINY!

fireisdangerous · 5 Jul 2010 at 23:35

Psypher5 said:
that psu is TINY!

It is indeed, but its 450w so plenty enought power. I currently have a
5770 in there but will be changing that for a 5850 or 5870.

Psypher5 · 5 Jul 2010 at 23:36

i doubt itd pump the juice for my rig (especially if i want a 480 + ssd + watercooling)

fireisdangerous · 5 Jul 2010 at 23:39

Psypher5 said:
i doubt itd pump the juice for my rig (especially if i want a 480 + ssd + watercooling)

at the moment i have an I5 750 cooled by a corsair h50, 4gb ddr3, 40gb king king ssd, 500gb hard drive and a blu rey/hd dvd drive. So hopefully enought to power a 5850 or 5870

Just wish i could come up with a better way of routing the cables!!

surfsquid · 7 Jul 2010 at 12:17

fireisdangerous said:
Just wish i could come up with a better way of routing the cables!!

There's always a way! hide them behind the mobo,even if there's no room to hide them at least tie them together so theyre a bit neater. check out my build in a similar size case: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18154163&highlight=itx+build

Psypher5 · 7 Aug 2010 at 21:22

sup people.

found a little german website with some guy watercooling a q08.

imo i think hes ruined the top/backpanel (backpanels needed due to new layout) but its very inspiring... I'll defo rob his dvd drive mount location!

Oh Ed not again. · 7 Aug 2010 at 22:11

Looks awesome chap, nice to see another Silverstone 450w being put to good use. PSU makers really need to start sticking some high wattage into SFF, loads of people seem to be downsizing. Definitely a market to be tapped there.

2nd getting an H50 in there as well, fantastic pieces of kit that work brilliantly in SFF cases. DiNovo still going OK too?

Psypher5 · 7 Aug 2010 at 22:21

thats not mine btw

hopefully im going to roof mount a 240 rad and going custom water, just for more breathing room really! and chuck in an ssd, with a 480 (or whatever)

dinovos going strong

ive charged it twice since i got it haha

so nice having a wireless keyboard though