Scratch Build – In Progress Aetos - A 3D printed ITX build for the AMD R9 Nano - Finished! 29/07/16

 
Hello again!
 
This project is going to be run parallel to my other project, Argentum (which isn't on here yet thanks to Bit's annoying progress rules), it's a tiny ITX, air cooled build that aims to make the most of what the form factor can offer.
 
So a while back AMD approached me and asked if I'd like to do a build for them as part of the launch for their upcoming R9 Nano card.  Given how Argentum is shaping up to be a beastly, giant of a rig, I couldn't help but feel drawn to the idea of building something at the opposite end of the spectrum at the same time.  The brief was simple, make it small and make it powerful.  I'd like to offer a big thank you to AMD who are fully financing this project along with allowing the opportunity to begin with!
 
Specs:
 
So in lieu of the brief, I chose the following components:
 
CPU: Intel i7 6700k
Motherboard: EVGA Z170 Stinger
RAM: 16GB Kingston Fury Black 2400MHz
Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i
Storage: 2TB Samsung 850 Evo
GPU: AMD R9 Nano
PSU: Silverstone 450W Strider Gold
 
Now some of you may be thinking "why no M.2" or "How come not that X99 Asrock board".  Well those would be sensible points to make.  A HyperX 480GB Predator drive is on the way, but I made a mistake.  It turns out the Stinger has a near useless Key E M.2 port, which means no Predator unfortunately.  So that's being shelved for the next build (spoilers...) instead.  As for X99, well for a start I think that board is hideous, but even if it looked good I'd have an issue.  Something doesn't quite seem right about using a CPU with near as dammit the same TDP as the dedicated GPU.  One of the key points about the Nano is its low power usage, which would be completely nullified by some mahoosive 150W+ CPU.  There's also the matter of cooling the things.  X99 CPUs need hefty cooling, meaning I'd need a bigger cooler, which would have cut my options down significantly.
 
Renders:
 
And as usual, here's a batch of renders of what the build should look like.  These are sans components as they still haven't arrived yet.
 

 

 

 

 
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Progress:

Today I received a very interesting email stating that the parts had been printed! So I zipped of to collect them et voila. Must say I'm very happy with the finish, going to need next to no prepping for the next stage.

I received the mechanical sample a couple weeks back, didn't share any photos though as I felt it would be a bit boring by itself.

Banana for scale
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Well dayum you are pushing the pc modding envelope again aren't you?

Count me in for this log.

 

Oooooo, keeping an eye on this thread! Best of luck with the build, great start so far!

 

Those 3D printed parts looks amazing! I really like that the layers are so "non-visible"

SLS Cheesecake!

 

yep! - yep! - yep!
looks cool (as in well ventilated), compact, and cool (as in neat-o)

my next build is going to be itx - maybe using one of these cases once you get production up and running! ehh

 

Did someone say "banana for sale"?

The printing process makes your projects too fast. Also, You should go nuts for the next one and push the 3d. You still have some 90 degree aspects to your building.
-That said, This design is still freaking delicious.

 

Haha cheers man, should be an interesting quick project this.

Thanks!

SLS is beast, shame it costs so much though. It's just so much easier to work with too than other print materials.

Could be an interesting idea trying to a take a variant of this to market. This exact one is way too specialised (it'll basically only fit a limited few components) for mainstream sales, but if I found a way of producing it cheaply enough it could be fun.

In that case I promise the next design I print will be absolutely mental

Luckily for you there's going to be quite a bit more to this project on the handy front. It won't be a particularly long log, but it should have some pleasing substance to it by the end. Also the logs would be much longer if Bit didn't insist on only physical progress for logs (it's not the same going from the modding section :/). Unfortunately the hundreds of CAD hours that go into some of these things don't really count much as progress.

 

Voronoi goodness

 

Holy ****! I swear I've imagined cases very similar to this but I don't have the skills, tools or budget to actually make them. I love the idea of bringing more organic shapes into case design and to me this is the best thing you've ever done. I can't wait to see more!

 

I didn't know the banana was an official scale to measure with.

But it looks like a great build, I hope you can fit all of that in what looks like a really tight fit.

 

Love the design man, subbed

 

Aye I've been wanting to use it in a case design for ages, when the opportunity presented itself I jut had to take it

Cheers man, means a lot

Organic shapes are definitely lacking in the PC realm, although I guess a lot of that's a function of how the components themselves are very rectangular in nature.

Yeah it's going to be a mental job getting everything in there, haven't really left any room for error either. Also bananas are still easier to work with than inches

Thanks Richard! Love how your motherboard tray came out, that thing's beautiful, almost a shame to anodise it really.

Oh and if anybody's interested in a little more back story for the build (and I guess me too) I was asked to take part in a short 30 minute interview on AMD's livestream today

http://www.twitch.tv/amd/v/14245742?t=31m55s

My mic seems a bit weird but hey nothing I can do about that now, usually sounds quite different to that over skype/twitch directly.

 

you might like https://www.viz.tamu.edu/faculty/ergun/research/topology/images.html

 

Those are really cool, gotta love procedurally generated models.

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UPDATE!

Aye and a big one at that.

So yesterday I spent the best part of a day over at Parvum Systems helping out (well, I think I helped?) with the cutting of the midplates for Aetos. The plan was to have them machined from 10mm acetal, which all worked out rather well in the end. There were loads of pains trying to get the files to load up properly, but we managed to work through everything eventually. Massive shout out to Justin and Shaun for making this possible, seems once again Parvum Systems rescues a project!

Fits like a glove


Placed the printed shell on top, seems to fit right too!
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Gotta love acetal chips. Like fluffy bunny lint.

OK, I'm wondering how you will mount the sides. Magnets again?

 

You know it although they're not entirely held on with them this time. I'll be using screws for the most structural parts, magnets for the rest. The magnets simply allow for a fairly strong fixing with no visible exterior mounts.

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Small update today. I ordered some special, orange anodized screws for this build last week, which arrived on Saturday. I figured they'd be a nice way of injecting a little bit of colour to the frame without going overboard, plus they fit nicely with the theme.

The two halves are now tapped and fitted together, I also installed the mounting magnets into their cutouts.

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Color: It's not to late to toss some plexi in there.

 

Very slick design Maki, looks awesome.

Only problem with your ridiculously lifelike renders for me is it's a big spoiler of what's to come.

 

No. Just no.

Cheers man! Aye it's a double edged sword, I too enjoy the mystery of working towards an unknown goal. Thankfully my other project (which I haven't posted here yet thanks to the "progress" rules should help with that, keeping the main renders until later on.

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What's that? Do I hear an update??

Yes! Finally the hardware has arrived!!!! Well, most of it anyway. Scan certainly took their time with this one, I was beginning to worry that the motherboard would go out of stock again before it was sent. This is very big news as it means I can once again progress with the build. I didn't want to go any further until the hardware got here in case I needed to make any alterations.

Quite a colourful bunch really


The Z170 Stinger is finally here. It's by no means a fancy board when it comes to features (no proper M.2 port seems criminal) but at least it does look very nice.


With the IO shield installed






Dominator Platinums, we've all seen these before. Best bit is these won't even be used, they're the wrong ones rofl. I need the low profile versions for this build, apparently my parts list edit didn't make it through. So whilst I wait for the proper ones, I'll rough it with these (they won't fit in the case).


This drive is really cool, but completely pointless for this build as there's no slot. I originally misread the spec sheet for the mobo, in the same way the plats weren't cancelled, neither was this. I'll use it in a future build.


Does look fancy though


2TB of SSD? Sure, why not?


Teeny weeny power supply, looking forward to seeing how this performs


One of the best bits about Noctua products is clearly the packaging. I mean just look at it, it's beautiful, shame the fan is vomit coloured though. I'll have to do something about that...




So pretty
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About the Silverston SFX 450W , I have the 600W, really good choice But will it be powerfull enough to power your system ?