Sponsored by: and ME! Thanks to Parvum I'm back again for another build. 2 Projects in one year cant be a bad thing 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 CPU: Pentium G3258 Anniversary Edition PSU: Silverstone SFX Series 450W Modular. Rest still TBC! 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 as the system will be water-cooled of course! The system will be water-cooled of course! 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: 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
CPU & Motherboard came last week: Cant quite get my head around how small the board is considering how much stuff is actually on it! The PSU: 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!
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: 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): 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! 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. 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!
Always nice to see Parvum builds. Subbed! Do they build the ITX cases on assignment? Cannot find them on their website at all. What are the dimensions?
ITX cases are being built as final pre production prototypes...got one a few weeks back. They are supposedly going on sale soon.
More hardware arrived yesterday, thanks to a couple of good bargains on ebay: Got a great deal on the memory, its like new, and while not top of the line, the GTX 670 is still a very capable 1080p gaming card, especially as this isnt going to be my primary rig! Finally got around to installing it tonight. Hardware testing tomorrow before taking it back down again ready for watercooling, cable braiding etc.
Yes! They arrived in time for the weekend - thanks v.much (and thank your contacts for me too ) That AX120 looks v.nice with some white fittings: However, DHL are useless! They sent my EK waterblocks to Austria instead of the UK by mistake so they didnt arrive as expected. Apparently they are now in Brussels! Gonna have to try and claim back my priority 1 day shipping grrr. Anyway, in the mean time I have been painting! I couldn't leave the motherboard heat sinks red, in a blue/white case so I did something about it: And while the paint was drying, I continued my cable braiding marathon! ATX connecter now done, along with a few others (pump cable, power/reset cables etc):
Here is some of this mornings work! Fans all painted and back together: Fitted to rad: Mounted the pump to the floor of the case: and the motherboard is back together - nice & blue!
So this is where I got to this weekend. Not quite as far as I would have liked, but at least its starting to take shape now! The business side of the case. It only comes with mounts for two SSD's so an extra mounting hole had to be drilled to fit the HDD (no biggie). The SSD is mounted directly behind the HDD. I'm certainly not looking forward to the cable management - there is not alot of room in this tiny case for stashing cables!
Really great work. The Cable management is fun in the back of them... probably made it a hell of a lot harder for yourself with that full size drive! Look forward to some more. Great photos!
Yes, I gathered that would be the case with the drive... will have to see how I go Quick update! The waterblocks finally arrived - GPU block is installed. With the waterblock on the GTX 670 is the perfect size for a mini ITX PC Nearly ready for sorting out the tubing!
Is a single 120mm RAD enough to cool both a CPU and GPU? In this case, are you only doing it because the CPU is of a low TDP?
