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[Scratch Build] The Slim Machine - A two inch uSFF case

12K views 73 replies 18 participants last post by  WiSK 
#1 ·
The Slim Machine

Here's a log for my next scratch build. I will go even smaller with this case, and going air cooled. The purpose for this build is to have a Steam Machine-like gaming/entertainment computer that can fit in my living room setup as with gaming consoles (though I don't own any consoles right now). It is not meant to be super powerful, but still good enough to run most games at 1080p in at least medium settings. Small size, low cost and power consumption will take priority over maximum performance. With that said, I will overclock a Pentium G3258 to see how far I can push it with this setup.

This was an off-shoot from my Golden Box build log that I recently started, but the form factor of that planned case wasn't slim enough for my states. I had to go even slimmer! So I think it's different enough to get its own build log. This will be a slow planning process at first, since I already have a working PC and can't afford to finish another complete PC at the moment.

I mainly drew inspiration from the NFS S3 cases and the PlayStation 4. It will be about as thin as both, but they will be somewhat larger in width and depth, though not much larger than the PS4.

Here are the goals for this case:
  • Roughly two inches in height and ~5 L volume at the most
  • Slimmest form factor that will fit an optical drive
  • Smooth 1080p gameplay for nearly all games
  • Easy to build and designed with user-friendly upgrading in mind
  • Could accommodate expansion cards up to 10.5 inches in length
  • No external PSU or power adapter, all internal
The last one is a big deal for me, as I feel it would set it apart from most uSFF builds. Also, it would take advantage of the extra room this case would have if it were going to be at least 12 inches from front to back.
Parts List

  • Motherboard: Mini-ITX H87 or H97 motherboard
  • Processor: Intel Core i3 or i5 processor (max. 55w TDP)
  • Memory: 8GB DDR3-1600 RAM[/B]
  • Graphics: GTX 960 (overclocked version possible)
  • Storage: 2.5" 1 TB hard drive, maybe also a 120GB SSD for the OS
  • Power: Seasonic 250SU 80 Plus (already bought)
  • Optical Drive: Panasonic UJ265 6X Blu-Ray burner (already bought)
  • CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i or Silverstone AR05
The Slim Machine's internal layout will look like the layout on the right in the following picture. The power supply will go in the empty space of the bottom right of the case.



For reference here is my first scratch build (which I am still working on). It is 6 x 12 x 13 inches in size. The Slim Machine will be about 1/3 of that size.



Some notes on the case and components:

I also have a 2U 90 degree PCIe riser, and have ordered an extender. The extender will attach to the riser to move the GPU farther away from the motherboard, without having the bracket run into it. I'm also open to the idea of using a flexible riser, which will make cutting out the back panel much easier.

You might be asking, why a 250w power supply if an equally matched DC-DC power supply will also do the job?

Three reasons:

- It's simply cheaper to buy the Seasonic PSU than it is to buy a Pico PSU and the AC-DC power brick together.

- I want to take full use of the space a 12 x 12 in case would provide. A 1U Flex ATX power supply would fully integrate into the case well, and a similarly sized power brick would just look ghetto stuffed in there with added cables to the mix.

- It will give me some headroom to upgrade CPU and GPU to more powerful ones, such as the MSI 760 Gaming ITX. But the way Maxwell is going, they might surprise us with future low power graphics cards. GPU choice has recently been made easier. I'm now set on the GTX 960.

The Slim Machine will be shorter than the max height of the ITX spec, but it's meant only to accommodate the most low profile fans and memory (though standard memory heatsinks would likely fit too).
 
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#3 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reindoonicorn View Post

Nice! So you changed your mind about which layout to go with? I recall you originally went with the left design.
I wanted something that takes up less space viewed from the front- the side you are looking at the most. Because it's meant to go on a living room entertainment setup, the depth of case in a TV cabinet/stand doesn't matter as much as it does on a desk, so I figured I can do with making it 5 inches longer in that direction. The PS4 is pretty close to it in size, as well.
 
#8 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by WiSK View Post

Subbed
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Quote:
Originally Posted by InfraRedRabbit View Post

subba-hubba!
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Originally Posted by mmm99 View Post

Looks awesome! No case fans?
Thanks, everyone. No additional fans on this case, just the ones for the CPU, GPU and the power supply. Closest I would get to using a case fan might be to use an adapter bracket to attach a slim 120mm fan to the Noctua heatsink, if a 92mm fan doesn't cool enough.

Continuing on with the design phase. I don't want to rip off any console design too much. But I can do the next best thing- design it after a concept! Here is a picture of my favorite PS4 concept drawing. It is elegant and not overdone like most of the amateur concept designs.

My case would look a lot like that one. So for materials, a black acrylic sheet will be used for the front and aluminum sheets for the back and sides, all 1/8" (3mm) but I could possibly go 0.09" with the aluminum.

I want to make the case look really sleek and classy and that would extend to the power button and LEDs as well. It is possible that I'll be using capacitive sensor for the power button, to break away from the usual power switches seen in other custom cases. Adafruit sells a capacitive sensor that is very simple and does not require a microcontroller.



It's powered with 1.8 to 5.5 VDC so just hook it up to the power and ground pins of the motherboard and it should be ready to go. And it's even cheaper than a vandal switch. I'll test if it can work behind 1/8" of acrylic, and if not I'll need to make some tweaks to the front panel design.

The metal sides are more self-explanatory- cut to size and bend tabs to connect to each other. It will have a brushed finish. I could either leave the metal bare or paint them black with a paint that goes on thin.
 
#9 ·
Bought some other parts yesterday. First, the Seasonic SS-250SU and another right angle riser card. Why another riser? I found it in black! Also, it is sold in 'Murica so shipping times are faster! Here's where I bought the riser for those that are curious.



I am still waiting on the small extender card that offsets the GPU horizontally. Can't complete my build without it, and last shipping update the package was still in China over a week ago
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Also I made more changes to the case dimensions now after realizing that the Noctua fan is not gonna fit in a case exactly 2 inches in height. This is counting for the thickness of the aluminum which would take up 0.094" each on top and bottom, or about 0.19" or 3/16" in total. That would bring the usable height down to 1.81" and with the standoffs and mother board, less than 1.5" for vertical clearance. However all I need to do is extend the case height by 1/8" and it should be able to fit. I am not 100% sure yet, but I will get the fan before finishing the case and then building around it.
 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reindoonicorn View Post

I'm loving the capacitive touch power button! When you build the computer can you go into detail on the wire soldering and how you connect it to the motherboard? That would be great!
It should be straightfoward, so I can explain it right now. The only thing you would need to solder is the included 4-pin header to the pads of the sensor PCB. Then you'd connect two out of those 4 pins, using the standard female-female Dupont connector wires that are used to hook up every motherboard to external inputs.



The VDD on the sensor connects to the PWR header on the motherboard, and GND to the motherboard's power GND.

There is a tiny LED built into the sensor to check if it is working. The OUT can be optionally wired to your own custom made sensor pad.
 
#13 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reindoonicorn View Post

Wow thats pretty simple. Looks easy to mount too.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention!
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Welcome
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I'm still making on a decision for motherboards. I could opt for a H87 over a H97 to save money and there won't be a huge difference in features for the purposes of the build. The only thing I would not have is M.2 support. That would bring down my total maximum hard drives in the case from 3 to 2.

Also, there's the possibility of going Thin Mini ITX, but that means I won't be able to overclock the CPU. I still need to find more sources on how a G3258 performance stock in most games versus overlocked, and have already asked on the G3258 owners thread. Then with stock speeds I could use shorter, less expensive CPU fans.
 
#15 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by void View Post

Damn, I'm subbed for sure.
Thanks
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My PCIe extender just arrived yesterday so I am able to align the GPU properly. Power supply probably won't get here until early next week.

Still haven't pulled the trigger on a motherboard. Also I have another board to sell, from a mining rig, that will offset the costs completely. Once I have it I will be able to do a mock-up fitting of the parts, just using cardboard and acrylic before starting out with the actual case.
 
#16 ·
the G3258 is pretty average at stock, with most reviews/tests ponting towards a 4.4ish OC needed to bring its core for core performance up to scratch with the i3 speed. that said i have read reviews where these sort of OC's have been done just using the stock cooler, so it should be achievable using something like the LP Noctua cooler (i forget the model).

see the A4 case thread on this site - guy is OC'ing his 4770k to 4.0ghz using the same LP Noctua with not too much excess heat.
 
#18 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by AMDZombie View Post

Subbed!
Thanks
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Quote:
Originally Posted by InfraRedRabbit View Post

the G3258 is pretty average at stock, with most reviews/tests ponting towards a 4.4ish OC needed to bring its core for core performance up to scratch with the i3 speed. that said i have read reviews where these sort of OC's have been done just using the stock cooler, so it should be achievable using something like the LP Noctua cooler (i forget the model).

see the A4 case thread on this site - guy is OC'ing his 4770k to 4.0ghz using the same LP Noctua with not too much excess heat.
Gonna stick with OCing the processor then. See what I can get out of it with a stock cooler first, and pick the aftermarket cooler based on the temp readouts I get.

For the motherboard I decided to get something in between, feature-wise, and bought a Asus H87i-Plus. Just cost me $88 shipped so saved some money to stay within budget.

 
#19 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by ccRicers View Post

Thanks
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Gonna stick with OCing the processor then. See what I can get out of it with a stock cooler first, and pick the aftermarket cooler based on the temp readouts I get.

For the motherboard I decided to get something in between, feature-wise, and bought a Asus H87i-Plus. Just cost me $88 shipped so saved some money to stay within budget.

the ASUS H87 mobos have been confirmed to be good for G3258 OCíng then? its been really hard to find good info on which cheap boards have unlocked multipliers - planning a G3258 in my Powermac G5 mod case just to fill the case haha
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by InfraRedRabbit View Post

the ASUS H87 mobos have been confirmed to be good for G3258 OCíng then? its been really hard to find good info on which cheap boards have unlocked multipliers - planning a G3258 in my Powermac G5 mod case just to fill the case haha
It should be possible, since it's been announced in several tech articles that H87 is one of the non-Z chipsets Asus has opened up to overclocking. Asrock has done something similar in the past with the Fatal1ty but that's one specific board. This time it's with a large set of motherboards. I don't know if Intel will disapprove of this but taking advantage of it now.
 
#21 ·
My power supply arrived yesterday. All I am waiting for is the motherboard so I can start the prototype phase for the case! I'll also be testing the parts to make sure they run and maybe some benchmarks... it will be using the stock cooler for now so don't expect anything too exciting.
 
#22 ·
Yup, definitely subbing.... looking forward to the build
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#23 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by deafboy View Post

Yup, definitely subbing.... looking forward to the build
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Thank you
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I was going to post some pics of the power supply from my laptop, but I forgot to take my flash drive with me, where I moved the pictures to. Here are the pics of the power supply.



Although it is new, it didn't come with any branded packaging. It was just the PSU itself.





A size comparison with a 3.5" hard drive



Although I already knew the size of the PSU, I was still surprised at how small it is when I unwrapped it.
 
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