Cogs Mini folder build Part 1 -Small & Cheap - Overclock.net

cognoscenti · 03-20-08

The main idea was to have a folding PC that was compact and cheap.
Since its main purpose in life was folding there was no point spending a lot of money on it.

The board I chose is Quad core ready, overclock friendly and has on-board video.
The on-board video was important to me so i wouldn't have to buy a separate graphics card and to maintain the theme of simplicity.

Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L QuadCore Ready motherboard $66.99 or £35
Link

1 x Q6600 G0 Stepping

I bought this cooler because it was nice and cheap but still up to the task and it also had the decent screw type fasteners with backplate. I really don't like the plastic push in variety.
The spec recommends it can cool up to a pentium4 @ 3.73ghz but I will push the boundaries here.

I went for this Case as it looked about the size I wanted and was around $60 or £30 delivered.
It is slightly bigger than I expected even though it is designed for the smaller sized motherboards.
Ideally you want a case where there is no provision for optical drives and so on, as that would cut down the overall size a lot.
With the case open you can connect up and install the OS etc and once finished it never needs a DVD drive again.

Trendsonic Venus Desktop Case Black 450W PSU + Audio + USB2.0 ATX + UK power lead

Here is what I mean...
If you turned the psu on its side and had it above the motherboard the size of the case needed would be alot smaller.
So again a case that is not alot bigger than the motherboard with just enough room for the power and hard drive would be even better than this case.

It also turns out that the fan generated more noise than I was happy with
Its 450w but the 80mm fan inside it was by far the loudest thing in the case.

I pulled the power supply apart and removed the fan from inside it.

So as the PSU would not fry itself I needed to replace the cooling with some other fan.
Here you can see I put on a 120mm fan with variable speed control.
The speed switch goes across and out the back of the rear slots so you can use it with the case sealed up.

To save even more space a laptop hard drive could be used.

I put some sound dampening foam on the edges of my hard drive so that any reading/writing/seeking would not be as audible.

Wireless card installed... The idea was to not use a montior so the machine can be running out of the way and out of sight.
I would unplug it from here and power it up wherever it was going to sit.

Well the board overclocks not bad for a £30 motherboard... Q6600 @ 3.2ghz on air folding away at around 57c.

Hope you enjoyed this little experiment!

**grunion** · 03-20-08

Very nice

I see the addiction has set in

How about giving the SMP affinity changer a try?

Also looks like you have some head room on temps.

cognoscenti · 03-20-08

Thanks Grunion. Its only just been put together so I have yet to finalise the folding configuration I will keep on there.

I was pleasantly surprised that the little cpu cooler kept it within its thermal limit under full load.

When I have more time I will modify this whole setup and install a mini watercooling arrangement.

Mhill2029 · 03-20-08

I love this.....simple and efficient. Nice coggy. +REP

cognoscenti · 03-20-08

Thankyou

roningai · 03-20-08

Quote:

When I have more time I will modify this whole setup and install a mini watercooling arrangement.

**TheLegend** · 03-20-08

Very nice work cog.

I take it this guy is a 24/7 folder? Those times look pretty good as well.

Starscream · 03-20-08

Just curious- does the on-board video handle that monitor's resolution well enough?

scottb75 · 03-20-08

To save more space and create less hassle for you, you could try using a two-port KVM Switch. That way you would only need one keyboard, and you wouldn't have to mess around unplugging and replugging the monitor.

**dr4gon** · 03-20-08

kvm switches are kind of expensive, unless you know of any good cheaper ones. Most don't seem to support what I use, usb mouse, usb keyboard, and DVI

Anyways, nice build. I'll have to look at that affinity changer, it looks really interesting. is there a thread here on overclock about it? Looks like it could help all of us since most are using core 2s.

03-20-08	#1 (permalink)
cognoscenti 51° 31' 0 N 0° -6' 0 E Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Winebar Posts: 4,146 Rep: 416 Unique Rep: 189 Trader Rating: 3	Cogs Mini folder build Part 1 -Small & Cheap The main idea was to have a folding PC that was compact and cheap. Since its main purpose in life was folding there was no point spending a lot of money on it. The board I chose is Quad core ready, overclock friendly and has on-board video. The on-board video was important to me so i wouldn't have to buy a separate graphics card and to maintain the theme of simplicity. Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L QuadCore Ready motherboard $66.99 or £35 Link 1 x Q6600 G0 Stepping I bought this cooler because it was nice and cheap but still up to the task and it also had the decent screw type fasteners with backplate. I really don't like the plastic push in variety. The spec recommends it can cool up to a pentium4 @ 3.73ghz but I will push the boundaries here. I went for this Case as it looked about the size I wanted and was around $60 or £30 delivered. It is slightly bigger than I expected even though it is designed for the smaller sized motherboards. Ideally you want a case where there is no provision for optical drives and so on, as that would cut down the overall size a lot. With the case open you can connect up and install the OS etc and once finished it never needs a DVD drive again. Trendsonic Venus Desktop Case Black 450W PSU + Audio + USB2.0 ATX + UK power lead Here is what I mean... If you turned the psu on its side and had it above the motherboard the size of the case needed would be alot smaller. So again a case that is not alot bigger than the motherboard with just enough room for the power and hard drive would be even better than this case. It also turns out that the fan generated more noise than I was happy with Its 450w but the 80mm fan inside it was by far the loudest thing in the case. I pulled the power supply apart and removed the fan from inside it. So as the PSU would not fry itself I needed to replace the cooling with some other fan. Here you can see I put on a 120mm fan with variable speed control. The speed switch goes across and out the back of the rear slots so you can use it with the case sealed up. To save even more space a laptop hard drive could be used. I put some sound dampening foam on the edges of my hard drive so that any reading/writing/seeking would not be as audible. Wireless card installed... The idea was to not use a montior so the machine can be running out of the way and out of sight. I would unplug it from here and power it up wherever it was going to sit. Well the board overclocks not bad for a £30 motherboard... Q6600 @ 3.2ghz on air folding away at around 57c. Hope you enjoyed this little experiment! __________________ The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.--Augustine (354-430) Hayley Westenra Q6600 @ 4017.37 MHz on Striker II Q6600 3802.47 MHz (422.5 * 9) 790i Ultra Q6600 4152.04 MHz (461.34 * 9) 8-8-8-18 790i Ultra

03-20-08	#3 (permalink)
cognoscenti 51° 31' 0 N 0° -6' 0 E Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Winebar Posts: 4,146 Rep: 416 Unique Rep: 189 Trader Rating: 3	Thanks Grunion. Its only just been put together so I have yet to finalise the folding configuration I will keep on there. I was pleasantly surprised that the little cpu cooler kept it within its thermal limit under full load. When I have more time I will modify this whole setup and install a mini watercooling arrangement. __________________ The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.--Augustine (354-430) Hayley Westenra Q6600 @ 4017.37 MHz on Striker II Q6600 3802.47 MHz (422.5 * 9) 790i Ultra Q6600 4152.04 MHz (461.34 * 9) 8-8-8-18 790i Ultra

03-20-08	#5 (permalink)
cognoscenti 51° 31' 0 N 0° -6' 0 E Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Winebar Posts: 4,146 Rep: 416 Unique Rep: 189 Trader Rating: 3	Thankyou __________________ The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.--Augustine (354-430) Hayley Westenra Q6600 @ 4017.37 MHz on Striker II Q6600 3802.47 MHz (422.5 * 9) 790i Ultra Q6600 4152.04 MHz (461.34 * 9) 8-8-8-18 790i Ultra

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Cogs Mini folder build Part 1 -Small & Cheap

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