Hardware Gigabyte GA-H55N-USB3 mini-ITX Motherboard Review

As above, the Bit-Tech review found this to be an inconsistent gaming 'board, which is a shame because otherwise I think it's a great platform. The other issue is that this is an H55 'board, and H55 chipsets and P55 processors are a poor combination;

That leaves you with an H55 board and Clarkdale processors, which are all dual core, which is unfortunately not the future of gaming. The HyperThreaded (quasi-quad) Clarkdales are also brutally expensive compared with actual quad cores like the i5 750. That's why I ended up with the DFI after all. Regarding the rest of your build, I'm also going ahead with a custom-cased mITX gaming platform, but I'll be using a GTX460 rather than the 5770. I'd be interested to know which cooler you're planning on using in the PC-Q08 - an H50-1?

Modding the backplate isn't very difficult AFAIK - it involves Dremelling a few mm off the backplate's mounting points so they don't interfere with some components.

 

I recently built a system with the following components:

PC-Q07
H55N-USB3 ITX
XFX 5750 dual height gfx
i3 530 at 3.6ghz and have an i5 750 arriving today
4gb corsair XMS3
antec 380w 80% earth power psu


Firstly the Q07 is an amzing looking tiny case! I can hold it in one hand.
It does need a fair amount of work to get a decent gfx card in there.

You need to remove the 3.5" HDD bracket at the base. There is room for a 2.5" screwed to the base or you can use the space in the 5.25" bay for a HDD.
I also had to cut the second slot myself on the back plane. This is easy though as there is loads of vents there, I just used tin snips then filed it down.

The XFX 5750 is only 184mm in length and it was a tight fit. You will need to plug the power cables in before seating the card. I think you may just squeeze a 190mm GTX460 in there and may consider it myself (I only bought the 5750 as a stop gap whilst I found something more powerful!

I currently clocked the i3 530 at 3.6ghz at 1.2v and temps with prime and furmark are approx 70c cpy and 75c gpu so I am quite happy.
I want to install a 750 today so I may need to add some custom cooling, I am thinking about putting a 80mm fan blowing hot air out of the top of the chasis.

Overall I am really pleased with the build, I hate the i3 stock cooler so I am currently looking for a decent aftermarket cooler that will fit!