newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2005
- Messages
- 28,472 (4.24/day)
- Location
- Indiana, USA
| Processor | Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz |
|---|---|
| Motherboard | AsRock Z470 Taichi |
| Cooling | Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans |
| Memory | 32GB DDR4-3600 |
| Video Card(s) | RTX 2070 Super |
| Storage | 500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache |
| Display(s) | Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28" |
| Case | Fractal Design Define S |
| Audio Device(s) | Onboard is good enough for me |
| Power Supply | eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3 |
| Software | Windows 10 Pro x64 |
The goal was to build a full Windows 8 PC that was smaller than my cable box.
Lets start with the parts list:
AMD Athlon 5350
ASUS AM1I-A
Crucial Ballistix Tactical 4GB DDR3-1600 Low Profile Memory
Kingston V300 120GB SSD
Fractal Design Silent Series 50mm Fan x2
Habey EMC-600BL Black Heavy duty 3mm aluminum Case w/ 60W Power Supply
A shot of the case after unboxing, check out the screw driver for scale!:
Shot of the inside of the case, look at that cute little PSU:
I/O Shield Installed. This case is kind of odd, the I/O shield doesn't snap into place like most cases. Instead it just kind of rests in the opening, almost like the opening is a hair to big, which made trying to get the motherboard in with the I/O shield in the right spot tricky. The I/O shield kept falling out of place:
Motherboard installed, finally, after some struggling! I finally had to give up and unhook that power cable running to the side of the case for the power brick to plug into. Otherwise the audio port section of the motherboard would not go in. At first it looks like that cable is flexible, but it is actually rigid for about an inch into the case. As it was, I still popped the plastic support piece out of the metal part, which is why it is sitting at a slight angle in this picture. It should be sticking straight out into the case. I didn't realize this until I went to plug the power brick in and it wouldn't go in because the center pin was off center:
CPU and Memory installed. The stock fan on the heatsink had to be replaced by the Fractal Design fan because the stock fan is too tall and the case couldn't close with it. The power cable is still not fixed in this picture:
SSD is installed. Yes it just rests there not attached to anything. It'll be fine, you'll see in a second:
This bracket holds everything in place, and makes sure the SSD doesn't move around. The SSD actually perfectly wedges between the fan on the heatsink and the side of the case. It isn't a tight fit, it slides in and out with no force at all, if I flipped the case over without the bracket the SSD would just fall out. But it seems like that space was designed to hold the SSD, even though I know it wasn't. You are supposed to screw the SSD/HDD to that bracket, but none of the holes lined up with a clear spot in the case, so I was forced to leave the SSD free floating. I might get some double-sided tape later and tape it to the bracket:
Finally the final product under my TV next to my cable box(Yes, I know it is dusty. It doesn't look that bad in real life, the camera flash really shows the dust.):
Overall, I'm happy with the build. There is a space on that bracket up towards the top of the motherboard area(by the VRM section) to mount another 50mm fan to exhaust through the vent in the side of the case. I'm not sure if I'm going to install that fan or not. I bought one to put there if needed, but I'm not sure if I will.
Temperatures are actually pretty good, I was surprised. With the processor at 2.1GHz under full OCCT load, the CPU never went above 70°C. The case has a lot of vents in it, and because it is made of thick aluminium it acts like a large heatsink. The case does get warm to the touch when I was running OCCT.
The CPU is actually pretty overpowered for what I need, so I backed the clock speed down to 1.3GHz and dropped the voltage to 0.9v. Now in OCCT temps never go above 65°C, in fact I never saw higher than 63°. During HD media playback the CPU temp never goes over 40°C and the case doesn't even get warm to the touch.
I know a lot of people see that tiny fan and think "OMG, it is going to be so loud!" Nope. The Fractal Design fan is totally silent from more than 1FT away. In fact, even when I was doing testing with the top off and the case sitting on the desk next to me, I couldn't hear the fan.
Lets start with the parts list:
AMD Athlon 5350
ASUS AM1I-A
Crucial Ballistix Tactical 4GB DDR3-1600 Low Profile Memory
Kingston V300 120GB SSD
Fractal Design Silent Series 50mm Fan x2
Habey EMC-600BL Black Heavy duty 3mm aluminum Case w/ 60W Power Supply
A shot of the case after unboxing, check out the screw driver for scale!:
Shot of the inside of the case, look at that cute little PSU:
I/O Shield Installed. This case is kind of odd, the I/O shield doesn't snap into place like most cases. Instead it just kind of rests in the opening, almost like the opening is a hair to big, which made trying to get the motherboard in with the I/O shield in the right spot tricky. The I/O shield kept falling out of place:
Motherboard installed, finally, after some struggling! I finally had to give up and unhook that power cable running to the side of the case for the power brick to plug into. Otherwise the audio port section of the motherboard would not go in. At first it looks like that cable is flexible, but it is actually rigid for about an inch into the case. As it was, I still popped the plastic support piece out of the metal part, which is why it is sitting at a slight angle in this picture. It should be sticking straight out into the case. I didn't realize this until I went to plug the power brick in and it wouldn't go in because the center pin was off center:
CPU and Memory installed. The stock fan on the heatsink had to be replaced by the Fractal Design fan because the stock fan is too tall and the case couldn't close with it. The power cable is still not fixed in this picture:
SSD is installed. Yes it just rests there not attached to anything. It'll be fine, you'll see in a second:
This bracket holds everything in place, and makes sure the SSD doesn't move around. The SSD actually perfectly wedges between the fan on the heatsink and the side of the case. It isn't a tight fit, it slides in and out with no force at all, if I flipped the case over without the bracket the SSD would just fall out. But it seems like that space was designed to hold the SSD, even though I know it wasn't. You are supposed to screw the SSD/HDD to that bracket, but none of the holes lined up with a clear spot in the case, so I was forced to leave the SSD free floating. I might get some double-sided tape later and tape it to the bracket:
Finally the final product under my TV next to my cable box(Yes, I know it is dusty. It doesn't look that bad in real life, the camera flash really shows the dust.):
Overall, I'm happy with the build. There is a space on that bracket up towards the top of the motherboard area(by the VRM section) to mount another 50mm fan to exhaust through the vent in the side of the case. I'm not sure if I'm going to install that fan or not. I bought one to put there if needed, but I'm not sure if I will.
Temperatures are actually pretty good, I was surprised. With the processor at 2.1GHz under full OCCT load, the CPU never went above 70°C. The case has a lot of vents in it, and because it is made of thick aluminium it acts like a large heatsink. The case does get warm to the touch when I was running OCCT.
The CPU is actually pretty overpowered for what I need, so I backed the clock speed down to 1.3GHz and dropped the voltage to 0.9v. Now in OCCT temps never go above 65°C, in fact I never saw higher than 63°. During HD media playback the CPU temp never goes over 40°C and the case doesn't even get warm to the touch.
I know a lot of people see that tiny fan and think "OMG, it is going to be so loud!" Nope. The Fractal Design fan is totally silent from more than 1FT away. In fact, even when I was doing testing with the top off and the case sitting on the desk next to me, I couldn't hear the fan.
