My new SFF i3 system.

[Gigantopithecus]

After building a number of SFF rigs with the Lian Li PC-Q08 mini-ITX case and recommending it in one of my previous builder's guides, I decided to build my personal system in this case, with one minor modification: use of an SFX PSU.

Though I really do like this case, with a full-size PSU installed, it is extremely cramped and difficult to work with. Since I've offloaded most of my computationally intense research to my lab's PCs and don't really game anymore aside from the occasional L4D/L4D2 bout, and since I drastically pared down my TV show collection to the bare essentials (Simpsons, X-Files, Walking Dead ), I now only need a single 2TB hard drive and I no longer require a beefier PSU.

Here are the specs:
Lian Li PC-Q08B
SeaSonic SS-300SFD 300W SFX12V v3.1 80+
SFX to ATX PSU adapter bracket (Least expensive I could find one bracket.)
ASUS P8H61-I
Intel Core i3-2100
2 x 2GB Patriot DDR3-1333
Intel X25-M 80GB SSD
2TB Western Digital Caviar Green
LITE-ON DVD burner

The SSD mounts immediately below the DVD burner, and can't be seen in the picture. I removed the middle drive cage (that can hold four 3.5" drives) for better airflow and volt-modded both the 140mm front intake and 120mm top exhaust fans to run on 5V. The stock CPU HSF is PWM and the PSU fan are also nearly inaudible. I might add a 6670 or some other shorter, low-power GPU at some point.

As is, the CPU idles 25-30 degrees over ambient at 105-130F, and the HDD is at a lower 88F. If I add a video card, I'll likely bump the fans up to 7V and get an aftermarket HSF.

Here are a couple pics:

As you can see, use of the SFX PSU really opened the case up, and I'm very pleased with the result! I'll add that Silverstone makes a 450W SFX PSU that has 1 6-pin PCIe connector and 1 6+2-pin PCIe connector that also comes with an adapter bracket, so you could build a system similar to mine with a beefier CPU HSF and longer video card by using the middle rather than lower hard drive cage.

 

[Kukag]

Very very nice looking! I really would love to build something similar to this one day when I get the cash!

-Kukag

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Thanks! The cabling looks like a mess but everything except the 24-pin primary power cable from the PSU is electrical taped against the interior of the side panel, so airflow is not at all obstructed (aside from the main power cable).

 

[DaveSimmons]

Nice build.

I need one more PC now that I've dropped cable and switched to streaming, but I'm still trying which system to replace:
- Music server for FLAC and Napster, could be Atom or Brazos and near-silent
- HTPC, could be i3-2100 but undecided about whether to add a graphics card for better drivers
- Gaming PC to replace my current core 2 E8400

Right now I'm using my Shuttle Atom + Ion for the HTPC, but it's too wimpy for Netflix (using the PS3 for that) or other non-Flash HD video.

I'm using the E8400 with GTX 560 for gaming + music server, but the CPU is a little weak for gaming and it's louder than it should be for music.

Each would need a different sized case. Replacing the gaming PC probably makes the most sense, so I'm trying to decide between a Siverstone SG-06, SG-07, or now your Lian-Li. Then I consider going the opposite direction and getting a Raven RV-02 or Fortress FT-02 to possibly support SLI.

Decisions, decisions.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

How about making your Shuttle (Atom + Ion) your music server, turning your E8400 into your HTPC, and building a gaming PC using your GTX 560? E8400 is a fine CPU for HTPC duties, and would cost you nothing out of pocket! Edit: This is a great, inexpensive LGA 775 mini-ITX board that uses DDR3. E8400 alone will handle anything HD you throw at it with aplomb.

 

[DaveSimmons]

That's a good suggestion on using the E8400 for a HTPC. Any suggestions for a case for it that would fit in < 9" so it can go in my audio rack (open shelves so airflow is good)?

(The Shuttle was my music server until I moved it out of the home office into my living room. I love the tiny form factor and fanless design, but the Atom is weak for HTPC use.)

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Edited link
Its PSU isn't 80+ but it's not junk like most low wattage PSUs that come with mini-ITX cases. (You'd want to sit it horizontally, not vertically, of course.) Its primary negative imho is its use of a slim optical drive. That's no problem for a regular DVD drive but slimline BRD drives are very pricey. Of course if you don't need an optical drive, that's all moot. It'll hold two 2.5" drives.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112294
At $110 shipped that's very inexpensive for a Lian Li. Also has a slim optical drive bay, and only has room for a single 2.5" HDD or SSD.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811154084
That's very inexpensive, and can accommodate a full size HDD and a full size ODD. The PSU is definitely not a 250W'er and the fan in the PSU will go out after a year or two, at least it has in every single SFF I built with it.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Thanks, what's the first one? Newegg says that link is no longer valid.

 

[VirtualLarry]

That's a very interesting case. ITX, yet has room for SIX freaking 3.5" HDs, AND a standard-sized DVD drive. Would make a great mini-ITX server, EXCEPT I cannot find any ITX mobos that have six SATA ports on them, especially ones with an additional SATA or IDE port for the DVD drive.

Even the H67 ITX boards, only have four SATA ports, that I can see. Strange.
Edit: However, the board that you used, has spots on the PCB for six SATA ports, which I would expect would be present on an H67 version of that board. Does it exist? I couldn't find it at Newegg.

Edit: Asus has P8H67-I *DELUXE*, which has Wifi and a different board layout.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131709

They don't seem to offer a P8H67-I non-Deluxe model with the same layout as the mobo you chose, but with all six SATA populated.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813500064
^
2 SATA III ports, 4 SATA II ports.

Of course, you could always slap a PCIe SATA controller card in the PCIe slot - not sure what kind of server needs a discrete GPU...?

 

[VirtualLarry]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813500064
^
2 SATA III ports, 4 SATA II ports.

Of course, you could always slap a PCIe SATA controller card in the PCIe slot - not sure what kind of server needs a discrete GPU...?

Thank you! I couldn't find any, but I think I didn't look at that Zotac, because it had WiFi, and I don't need/want WiFi onboard. I guess it won't hurt anything. I would have preferred a VGA port there instead though.

And how does that esata work, if the main chipset only has six SATA ports? Does it share with one of the onboard ports?

 

[RaiderJ]

That same case is due to arrive at my door tomorrow! Going to be my new ZFS file server (6x2TB). I picked up a smaller SilverStone modular PSU and a short cable set. I'll post some pictures when I get it put together! Gonna be cramped I imagine.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0047CQ1B4

 

[RaiderJ]

That's a very interesting case. ITX, yet has room for SIX freaking 3.5" HDs, AND a standard-sized DVD drive. Would make a great mini-ITX server, EXCEPT I cannot find any ITX mobos that have six SATA ports on them, especially ones with an additional SATA or IDE port for the DVD drive.

Even the H67 ITX boards, only have four SATA ports, that I can see. Strange.
Edit: However, the board that you used, has spots on the PCB for six SATA ports, which I would expect would be present on an H67 version of that board. Does it exist? I couldn't find it at Newegg.

Edit: Asus has P8H67-I *DELUXE*, which has Wifi and a different board layout.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131709

They don't seem to offer a P8H67-I non-Deluxe model with the same layout as the mobo you chose, but with all six SATA populated.

I'm using this board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813500056

In the PCIe slot I have this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816132008

That gives me 8 total SATA ports, 6 for data drives, one for a 2.5" OS drive, and an optical drive. Going to be packed, but I don't think you could fit all that into any other case.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Going to be packed

ha! you're about to find out how much of an understatement that is...hopefully you have a lot of patience. spend the time thinking about cable management before you assemble it else you'll have little to no airflow. looking forward to the pics and temp readings!

 

[RaiderJ]

ha! you're about to find out how much of an understatement that is...hopefully you have a lot of patience. spend the time thinking about cable management before you assemble it else you'll have little to no airflow. looking forward to the pics and temp readings!

Hoping the modular PSU will help that... we'll see!

EDIT: Build log for my server here: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2173256

 

[Gigantopithecus]

My unsolicited advice is to reverse the orientation of your HDDs relative to what I did with mine so that the PSU cabling and the HDDs' power plugs are on the same side of the case, and then to snake the SATA cables around to the motherboard. I've done that when I've packed multiple HDDs into this case thinking that SATA cables are easier to cram out of the way than bulkier and less flexible PSU cables, and less likely to restrict airflow. I didn't with this specific build because it's just one disk and arcing one power cable out of the way was easy.

 

[RaiderJ]

My unsolicited advice is to reverse the orientation of your HDDs relative to what I did with mine so that the PSU cabling and the HDDs' power plugs are on the same side of the case, and then to snake the SATA cables around to the motherboard. I've done that when I've packed multiple HDDs into this case thinking that SATA cables are easier to cram out of the way than bulkier and less flexible PSU cables, and less likely to restrict airflow. I didn't with this specific build because it's just one disk and arcing one power cable out of the way was easy.

Going to have to agree with you there - I have just enough SATA power cables to connect everything. Considering making a custom power cable for all 6 data drives to help clean things up. My SATA data connections on the board are at the top center, so with some small 90 degree cables it should work out.