The Mini-ITX build begins.

[Lazzer408]

It's SO close. I'll have to make new power/reset buttons, and alter the mounting of the front usb ports, but it might just cram in there with a bit of trimming. The transformer will clear the bottom of the optical bracket but I'll still have to get some shorter capacitors. Mouser has the ones I'll need. I could even fit the dedicated 12v power supply in there too (green) and still have enough room for a fan on the side instead of the bottom (yellow).

 

[Lazzer408]

The 12v power is solved! I managed to fit the Vector Travelmate adaptor just under the video card. I made a new heatsink that is shorter and puts the fins horizontal and parallel the airflow through the case. I have just just enough room for a small fan (probably 2) and the usb pcb just fits in that notch as if it was ment to be. Now to knock out the ATX supply, power/reset buttons, and LEDs.

 

[MKmods]

well done, looks very clean.

 

[Lazzer408]

A little revision to the psu heatsink to try and keep it's heat away from the gfx card. I just found out a 60mm fan just fits in the sides. A couple of those on the side should work great.

 

[Geofrancis]

there are always 200w dc-dc psu's if you cant get get it to fit.

is that a atx or a micro atx psu that your trying to fit into it?

 

[ERazer]

love it love it love it

 

[Lazzer408]

there are always 200w dc-dc psu's if you cant get get it to fit.

is that a atx or a micro atx psu that your trying to fit into it?

The supply for the mobo is a m-atx psu. I have a board from a full size atx that fits as well. The supply under the gpu is a 12v adaptor.

I know about larger DC/DC supplies but could that run the motherboard AND the gfx? If not, then I'll have 2 cables running to the box. One for the DC/DC and another AC line for the 12v internal adaptor powering the gpu. I'm try to build this as self contained as I can with just one AC line ran to it.

 

[Lazzer408]

I gutted every ATX supply I had and found one with a smaller pcb. I'm going to go with a single supply now. The supply itself mounts under the gfx card and will be heat-piped over to a heatsink under the optical bay.

Here's a rough idea how that lays out.

 

[Geofrancis]

is that just a piece of aluminium that you are using for a heatpipe? what about getting one of these zalman hard drive coolers and useing the heatpips from it ?

 

[Lazzer408]

is that just a piece of aluminium that you are using for a heatpipe? what about getting one of these zalman hard drive coolers and useing the heatpips from it ?

http://www.extremereviews.net/images/review_imgs/cool/2HC2-top.jpg

I'd just order heatpipes if I go that route. Cheaper to get them from a manufacture.

 

[Lazzer408]

Here's what I came up with so far.

 

[Lazzer408]

All the wiring is soldered in. Should be powering up soon. Hopefully I don't pop my Zotac.

 

[Geofrancis]

i would check the 12v 5v and 3.3v lines with a multimeter just to make sure that all the voltages are within tolerances. i wouldnt like to test that its working with a motherboard :-/

 

[Lazzer408]

i would check the 12v 5v and 3.3v lines with a multimeter just to make sure that all the voltages are within tolerances. i wouldnt like to test that its working with a motherboard :-/

Already tested but the 12v rail was a bit low (11.86v) during the time 4 test hdds were spinning up. Everything else was stable. This was an old power supply I had laying around. It could have a few dried up caps. I have another known good 300w powersupply just in case.I already modded it.

The reason I went with the main psu in the other corner was because of the width of the pcb. When mounted in front of the motherboard it blocked the usb ports and made it difficult to mount the power/reset button/led assembly. What this also does is leaves room for the Vector 12v adaptor to fit in front of the motherboard and still have room for the switches/leds and the USB board. Looks like the gpu may still get a dedicated supply!

 

[Lazzer408]

Powersupply #1 = FAIL

Gets too hot. The mosfets are fine. The aluminum sink seems to work ok. It's a coil on the output that gets toasty. =( 'll have to try the other supply. I wasn't even sure if this supply was good anyway.

 

[Chicken Patty]

this looks interesting, great job you've done so far. hope you can get the PSU sorted out soon

Subscribed

 

[Geofrancis]

Powersupply #1 = FAIL

Gets too hot. The mosfets are fine. The aluminum sink seems to work ok. It's a coil on the output that gets toasty. =( 'll have to try the other supply. I wasn't even sure if this supply was good anyway.

you should have a look into some of those dell and compaq sff power supplys. they do them in weird shapes you might find one that would fit.

 

[Lazzer408]

you should have a look into some of those dell and compaq sff power supplys. they do them in weird shapes you might find one that would fit.

I've looked at a few of them. The thin one is about 1-1/2". Same as a server psu. I have a 450w server psu and believe me, if I could get it in there I would have.

Here's a pic of the other 300w supply. It's new and didn't have any problem running everything but if I can I'm going to try to fit the Vector adaptor in there also. If not the Vector adaptor then I'll try to fit a 12v power brick inside. I don't have a mill. This is all done with a hacksaw, file, and cordless drill. Thermal management FTW!

 

[p_o_s_pc]

whats that wire?

 

[Cuzza]

I think i've lost the plotline on this one, but its still entertaining.

 

[Lazzer408]

whats that wire?

It's the temp sensor for the fan control.

I think i've lost the plotline on this one, but its still entertaining.

Plot? To cram as much power as I can in as little space as possible and not bust into flames. It's 2.5" tall and runs Crysis on very high. Has everything except a HD tuner. A usb one will work fine for that.

 

[Lazzer408]

Ok, now were getting somewhere. You know what sucks? When you remove a bridge rectifier to shorten it's legs then solder it back in backwards. -DOH!- I blew out a couple diodes in the primary of the supply but she's back up and running again. I'm doing some Prime95 tests now.

 

[Geofrancis]

im surprised you didnt fry the power supply completely.

 

[Lazzer408]

im surprised you didnt fry the power supply completely.

The fuse popped before the surge made it to the mosfets. Lucky for me. The diodes that blew were two back to back zeners that fail shorted incase of a voltage spike from a power surge or something of that nature. It's by design to clamp the spike long enough to blow the fuse rather then have the mosfets exploding into a fireballs. They went through alot to keep the magic smoke inside.

 

[Lazzer408]

I finally got to mounting a thin 3.5" hard drive to the case bottom. A standard thickness drive will fit but I had a thin Seagate 160gb so I used it to free up some room for the gfx fan intake. I need to order a 90 upwards facing sata cable. Sata power also faces 90 upwards. Shifting the drive a touch to the right made room (12mm) for more fans in the side of the case blowing in. I don't think I'll need them.