Shrinking & Beautifying Your Smallish mITX DIY Rig?

[Smartypants]

Currently, I am still testing out the various combinations but for the photos taken, I was using these... you can click on some of the photos for more info.


PenK G3258
on stock Intel HSF, option to run stock, 4GHz@1.10V (mostly) or up to 4.5GHz@1.285V





Team Elite 1600
the only 2 x 2GB pair of spare RAM I can find for now, the clon22 edition from years ago

Silverstone ST45SF-G 450W Gold
Full Modular SFX PSU





Asrock Z87E-ITX
Has 6 SATA ports matching exactly the 6 SATA bays for 2.5" devices on the Milo ML06!





Silverstone Milo SST-ML06 mITX Case








HTH

Did the PSU come bundled with the case ? How much was it ?

 

[MacClipper]

No PSU is bundled with this case, do check the PC Theme price list for $ info.

 

[Smartypants]

No PSU is bundled with this case, do check the PC Theme price list for $ info.

$135 . . . pricey

 

[MacClipper]

And it's a real beauty, isn't it?

For this test rig, it is also absolute overkill but I threw it in to complement the all black and gold aesthetics of the Asrock mobo and Silverstone case.

You can consider the humbler 300W sibling at about half the price, non-modular though iirc.

 

[MacClipper]

My lil' blog entry for the Silverstone Milo ML06 case is here if you want to read everything on a single page
Source

FYI

 

[Smartypants]

And it's a real beauty, isn't it?

For this test rig, it is also absolute overkill but I threw it in to complement the all black and gold aesthetics of the Asrock mobo and Silverstone case.

You can consider the humbler 300W sibling at about half the price, non-modular though iirc.

You need to find a low profile gfx and stick it in, that single slot mustn't go to waste !

 

[MacClipper]

lol

Spoken like a true hw geek- every port, every slot must be filled... think for a HTPC, for many iGPU may be enough liao bah.

 

[MacClipper]

Incoming, the next stop in Shrinking & Beautifying... we are gonna hyperspace from 7l to just 1.4l, a massive drop of exactly 80% in size/volume!

 

[MacClipper]

The Intel Thin mITX Platform, Briefly
Introduced at Computex 2011, this is Intel's effort to empower endusers to DIY super compact All-In-One PCs with off the shelf components. The end results are small enough to be attached to the back of your TVs or LCD monitors yet powerful enough to run today's modern software like the latest versions of x64 Windows. Well, some mobos do end up being stuffed into flat casings together with LCD itself, all too reminiscent of the iM@c.



The Archetypal Intel DH61AG Thin Mini-ITX Motherboard
hosted by missingremote.com

Above is what a typical Thin mITX motherboard may look like, in fact this is one of the very first Thin mITX models. The placement of components on these Thin mITX motherboards is standardised and tightly controlled with regards to the CPU socket (standard LGA) and RAM (SODIMMs only).

This results in interesting spin-offs such as really tiny heatsinks much flatter than the Intel stock HSF or even Thin mITX casings which are totally fanless, acting as a giant heatsink itself.

Intel continually updates its info base with an annual Thin mITX catalog, available here
Intel Catalog



...

 

[Felfirez]

Looking at the board I think the only limitation is the size of peripheral connectors. i like/love/want/neeeed

 

[t258jgn]

maybe you need this for the Intel board

 

[MacClipper]

Silverstone
SilverStoneTek Home

With the SST-PT13B Case, Silverstone have introduced a really compact and beautiful 1.4 litre Thin mITX case which magically seems hardly any larger than the motherboards themselves.



Official Specs
Silverstonetek>Petit Series>PT13

Accompanying the case on its journey to completion will be the obligatory Silverstone AR04 Ultra Slim HSF, FSP power brick and the Asrock H8TM-ITX motherboard as depicted below.

Fast forward to a sneak preview to the end results, with the Ol' Blue Eyes CD and celebratory can of Tiger providing size comparisons.

...

 

[MacClipper]

Unboxing
more on the bottom big white box later...

...

 

[Illusionist_85]

Ml04 can put 1 2.5 hdd n 3.5 hdd n a optical drive hor? Thinking to get a compact system

 

[eyz]

noticed the asrock h81tm is able to push out 4k videos, as opposed to the 'fat' version.

where do you get your silverstone casing and the h81tm mobo?

a bit of confused, what setup are you using with the intel board?

 

[MacClipper]

...where do you get your silverstone casing and the h81tm mobo?

a bit of confused, what setup are you using with the intel board?

These cases are test samples from Silverstone itself while the H81TM mobo probably came from either Asrock or the distro.

If you are referring to the original Intel mobo, it was posted only to illustrate the archetypal mobo in the brief introduction to the Thin mITX platform, as was previously stated.

Seems the term archetype may have somehow obfuscated the whole effort, I do hope that you are less discombobulated by now...

 

[t258jgn]

Mac GorGor have u finished setting up the rig?

Waiting for your reports.

Might setup one for the time being until the new revision Mac Mini arriving 4th quarter

 

[eyz]

thanks got it. yes less discombobulated, only after i did some lookup on the profound words that you used.

checked out the pricelist for the few known store, but yet to see the h81tm listed.

i just realised the mobo is used with laptop ram and it's horizontal slotted. the i/o has great differences.

These cases are test samples from Silverstone itself while the H81TM mobo probably came from either Asrock or the distro.

If you are referring to the original Intel mobo, it was posted only to illustrate the archetypal mobo in the brief introduction to the Thin mITX platform, as was previously stated.

Seems the term archetype may have somehow obfuscated the whole effort, I do hope that you are less discombobulated by now...

 

[MacClipper]

Mac GorGor have u finished setting up the rig?

Waiting for your reports.

Might setup one for the time being until the new revision Mac Mini arriving 4th quarter

Clues already given out here leh...

...

Fast forward to a sneak preview to the end results, with the Ol' Blue Eyes CD and celebratory can of Tiger providing size comparisons.

...

Anyway, I usually only post my projects after they are completed. The above is the actual completed test rig lor.

thanks got it. yes less discombobulated, only after i did some lookup on the profound words that you used.

checked out the pricelist for the few known store, but yet to see the h81tm listed.

Local market quite unaware of Thin ITX platform so far.

You interested in the H81TM too? Maybe can ask t258jgn to procure a set for you, he's a big time dealer in these forums.

 

[MacClipper]

...i just realised the mobo is used with laptop ram and it's horizontal slotted. the i/o has great differences.

Precisely why I had indicated all these points earlier if you care to look back...

...
Above is what a typical Thin mITX motherboard may look like, in fact this is one of the very first Thin mITX models. The placement of components on these Thin mITX motherboards is standardised and tightly controlled with regards to the CPU socket (standard LGA) and RAM (SODIMMs only).

...

Every Thin mITX mobo actually look very alike with a quick glance cos Intel has dictated a strict format to them. And you have found out why they are called Thin too, the I/O plate is half height...