Looking to shrink things to the point of being unable to shrink them anymore, I've stockpiled some pennies and parts. Current kit is a 2400G and Gigabyte ITX board, no RAM (may prove handy) a pair of SSD's and a SFX PSU. Keeping my options open with regard to a GPU as I know the 2400G isnt going to be mind blowing so the possibility of adding one in future would be handy I've looked at the Dan V3 and Lazer3d LZ7 and Kolink Rocket, but I'm undecided, any other ideas for a sub 9L case?
If you decide to not go with a discrete GPU then this is about as small as it gets https://www.amazon.co.uk/Win-BQ696-...ie=UTF8&qid=1544615410&sr=8-5&keywords=in+win
Have you considered the NFC S4 Mini? I know it's not sub 9l, but the NCase M1 is all sorts of awesome and would give you loads of scope for a full-fat GPU and decent size CPU cooler (92mm tower or 120mm top-down).
Dan A4 seems excellent (not seen one in the metal), and has been well received with its high quality materials & finish. The LZ7 looks great too, home grown British quality in acrylic. No so fussed on the Kolink as it's derivative IMHO. I'd second the NCase M1 also, having bought one on the MP here a couple of months ago. I was initially not that taken with it, but a resprayed chassis smartened it up and the build went well. Even better now that I have sorted the fans by swapping for quiet Noctua 'Coffee & Cream' goodness.
The Chopin and NFC S4 look great but theres no option really with the Chopin for a semi beefy graphics card and looks like they have stopped producing the S4 The M1 is interesting hadnt seen that, it will need some more investigation as it seems to tick a lots of the boxes. The L7Z is annoyingly alluring and as said its home grown which is a nice change.
Off the top of my head: NCase M1 - 'biggest' small ITX 'shoebox' case, but lots of flexibility in component choice Streacom DA2 - Similar to the Ncase M1 in most respects, slightly easier mounting of a side 240mm rad Dan A4 - 'shoebox' case with internal PSU, full length GPU Louque Ghost (currently shipping first batch) - Similar to the Dan A4, but with expandable top & bottom sections if you want to add larger radiators or overheight GPUs Zaber Sentry - 'console' case with internal PSU, full length GPU NFC S4 Mini (next batch available next year) - 'console' case with external PSU, short GPU Lazer3D LZ7 - 'cube' case, internal PSU, short GPU ASRock Deskmini GTX/RX: really tiny, based on mini-STX. Ungradeable CPU and technically upgradeable GPU, but requires MXM GPU (so effectively bundled with the case & board given scarce availability), more expensive than discrete parts. Zotac Magnus: similarly small, but without even a vague nod to upgradeability (and just as expensive).
As an M1 owner I can say it is worth the price. I wanted black initially but they didn't have it so I got silver. Best forced choice ever, the silver is so much nicer. My only issue now is that I have caught the watercooling bug and it is a little small for what I want to do unfortunately so I am looking at "upsizing" to a define nano. S.
Well, an LZ7 is now on order (I think) so hopefully be here tomorrow. Nearly ordered one of the others as I was getting annoyed with the config tools, Overclockers one wont let you change the front panel and the LZ7 site was adamant any address I entered had no delivery options. Thankfully the overclockers one works on mobiles fine which is confusing but meh, its done. The AM4 board I have is DOA so doing an RMA on that so going to lob my FM2 setup in for now then migrate when I've got the new board an a large M.2 I can amalgamate the two drives onto, or two M.2's. Got a little modding to do re the cooling, and cables as, well a 40cm ATX 24pin cable is OTT when its about 15cm away at most. Doubt it counts as a mod etc as its a pre cut case but I may modify it somehow.
Well, annoyingly the supplier of said case has managed to not package the good and send them, offering no real idea of when just a "sorry our build team are busy" no clue on time scales which is somewhat infuriating. Not sure what they are building bad bunging it into a box but who knows.
That's a bit disappointing, but iirc Lazer3D is pretty much a one-man band operating out of his own house, so I could see how you might end up with a delay (especially at this time of year). Hope it's resolved soon - and I expect a build log when it does arrive!
It's not through him, he was having problems with his address lookup tool so I user overclockers, chased again earlier an they haven't responded so I've no idea what's actually going on bar it's "not yet shipped" so no doubt it'll be after Christmas now. Edit, quick chat, lots of the use or hope and estimate so, yeah not a clue
Well, good news I had a text last night around half nine saying its now dispatched and another this morning saying it'll be delivered tonight, so ready for that I've er "modded" CPU cooler and fan to fit using isulation take, sticky pads and cable ties Should have a few mm clearance from the base of the PSU, I will see about a different cooler at some point just working out what fits as AM3 CPU placement on ITX boards is rubbish.
Lots of photos, I'm not messing about with that CPU cooler again now the fans been zip tied! Cooler height is 63.26mm apparently, thats a Phanteks PH-TC12LS heatsink with a slim Noctua 120mm on top so 48.26mm (phanteks quote sizes in inches!) plus the 15mm fan. Going to see how it runs, heat wise is fine, more the acoustics with 7mm clearance from the underside of the PSU I suspect it ll be a little noisy with some fan noise, shame as its a cracking cooler. May slap a Cryorig C7 onto it which is only 48mm high thatll solve the height issues for sure. Tried uploading an image of the board as is currently but its failing. Likely do a shed load while I put it together an then upload in one mass splat. Where on earth do you post build logs these days anyway? Last one I did we back in the CPC days
If I were posting a build log then I'd do so in the Hardware forum, although I'm not sure if that's what you're supposed to do...
Well, its kind of together, photos to come. I forgot to take into account the stack height of the CPU and mount from the Mobo so theres about 1mm of space if that so its noisy. That and the cables are stupid long literally forcing the top down to close it. So, new CPU cooler and see about new cables, urgh! Actually, on that note. If I'm using an 8750K which is a 95W TDP CPU, but with the GPU die disabled, could I wedge a 65W cooler in? Or am I asking for fire?
Unless you're caning it 24/7 it should be fine... on the warm side, but fine. If you did hit thermal throttling issues you could try underclocking/volting it...
If I ever build into another ITX case again (doubtful) I will buy the full kit. Crimpers, pins the lot.
