Say Hello To My Little Friend!!!

[pumaz]

I built my first Mini ITX a few months ago for the Lounge but it made my main rig look old, bulky and clumsy! So I set about building a new rig based on the same SG05 I used on my first ITX build but I didn't want to comprimise on power!!!

Parts Used

Silvestone Sugo SG05 450w
Gigabyte H67N-USB3-B3
Intel i7 2600K
Corsair H50 CPU Cooler
NVidia PNY GTX 580 (Reference Design)
Corsair Vengeance Arctic White 8GB (2x4GB)
Samsung F3 1TB Hard Drive
Apache 120mm Fan
External USB powered DVD writer (only plugged in when needed)

First problem
The GTX 580 is about 4mm too long for the case, The solution was to measure and cut away some of the metal behind the plastic fascia. If you're careful this works a treat and you won't lose any mounting holes for the front fan. I performed this mod with a jigsaw and drill and afterwards the GTX 580 fitted fine and there wasn't any bulging of the front fascia.

Second problem
I wanted to use a 3.5" hard drive and the only way to do this was to mount the radiator directly on to the case upside down with the pipes running along the bottom of the case. I then mounted the fan on to the radiator pulling air through in to the case. I also had to anchor the pipes to one of the screws on the fan using a cable tie to stop the very stiff pipes from pressing against the Ram.

Third problem
Where to mount the 3.5" Hard Drive? The only solution i could come up with was to fashion a mounting plate to stretch across the case out of a metal cover from an old HiFi tuner! I measured cut and bent into shape the mounting plate and drilled 4 holes so i could screw the hard drive on to it using rubber mounts to cut down on vibrations. I also drilled 2 holes that lined up with existing holes on the case to secure the hard drive mounting plate.

Well everything worked so here's some pics.

I decided against an SSD as from previous experience apart from booting in to Windows quickly and initial quick loading of programs it's not really worth it. Well not until I can get a 1TB for under £300 lol

I went for the Gigabyte H67 as again from experience, overclocking CPU's like the i7's doesn't offer any real world noticeable difference and wanted to keep temperatures down. Also had nothing but good experiences of Gigabyte boards

So that's it then, No overclocking, No SSD but plays BF3 like a dream on a Tiny Cute little PC

 

[pumaz]

Looks awesome. I do miss my mini itx

Isn't 450W a bit low though?

You would think so

Before I started this little project I entered all the parts I was using in to an online wattage calculator and it said I would need 420w

It's been up and running a few days now without any problems, I've ran prime several times, ran Heaven a few times and played various games inc. BF3

 

[pumaz]

Its a H67 nice system im thinking of something similar, where would the hdd usually go if you were to install a optical drive?

Using the components I'm using this is the only way to securely install a 3.5" HD, the mounting bracket I made would be easy enough for most on this forum to make. It would also be possible to mount a 2.5" drive on the underside of the mounting plate by drilling 4 more holes on the inside of the 3.5" drive holes if you see what I mean!

On the subject of internal optical drive, I would say it's not worth the space it takes up to install one. Also it's actually cheaper to buy a little USB powered external drive and just plug it in when you need it.

The optical, and hard drive cages that come with the Sugo SG05 just take up too much room as well as obscuring the fan for a performance build like this.

 

[pumaz]

Btw ignore the extra red sata cables I have pluged in and coming out back of case, was just backing up hard drives and removed them since

 

[pumaz]

Thanks for all the comments guys

My idle temps at the moment (been on all day) 29 and max temps after prime and heaven were 52.

I used the apache because it's quieter than the case or corsair fans.

Been running this rig for a couple of months now and not a single problem, I've also built 2 other systems based on the 450w SG05 and 1 on the 300w SG05. Both 450w's have i5 and GTX 560Ti with 3.5" Drives bungied across the case instead of the metal bracket I made for my main rig. This I find works really well and is easier and cleaner to do than the bracket mod. The 300w as a i3 540 and GTX 460 which i'm hoping to upgrade to i5 760 and GTX 560Ti fingers crossed the PSU copes!

I've also used an antec Kuhler 620 for one of the builds (rest all have H50's) and it's a decent cooler although I find the fan a little loud.

I still believe the SG05 is the best case and also think that Mini-ITX is the future, ATX just looks so big and clumsy now!!!

 

[pumaz]

Aww I want one.

How much did it all cost in the end if you don't mind me asking, after all the modding?

For my main rig it was between £900 - £1000, most of that being taken up by the GTX 580 and the i7.

After building 4 rigs based on the SG05 I would recommend the following as the sweet spot.

SG05 450w (for an extra £20 it's a no brainer!)
i5 2500k (Obviously!)
GTX 560Ti (no case mod needed and as bags of power and I just prefer Nvidia drivers)
3.5" Hard Drive fitted using the bungee method (I used a combination of shoe lase, washers and screws. Again no case mod required)
H50 or similar for cooling (make sure you mount the Rad with Hoses at the bottom)
External USB powered DVDRW Drive (no point in taking up precious space or blocking air flow in the SG05)
8GB Memory (it's cheap, why not!)

Motherboard is your choice really and is down to whether you want to overclock or not. I'm happy not!

A rig like that would cost around £650 but it would be money well spent and you'll be