I have been looking into these awesome small form factor cases lately, as im looking to downsize my gigantic server case. I originally bought it as my new (at the time) 460GTX wouldnt fit in the Antec Lanboy case that i had, without some shoe-horn action. And i really wasnt in the mood for that kind of modding. Anyway, it is time to downsize and im really not sure what case i want to get.

For the hardware side of things i was thinking of getting something with an i7 in it and probably about 6 gig of ram. I also have heared good things about the ASUS ROG Rampage III or II GENE (MicroATX) motherboards, for there all in one features.

Motherboard

Board Specs: (Version II)

• Intel I7 Processor – LGA 1366
• Intel X58/ICH10R Chipset
• 6 DDDR3 DIMM Slots w/ MemOK! Support
• Supports DDR3 up to 2000 MHz
• PCI Express 2.0
• Supports ATI CrossfireX and nVidia SLI Graphics
• 24-bit X-FI SupremeFX HD Audio
• EAX 4.0 Support
• Tuned for Overclocking
• Onboard Power, Reset, and CMOS Clear Buttons

Board Specs (Version III)

• CPU: LGA1366 socket Intel® Core™i7 Extreme Edition /Core™i7 Processors Chipset Intel® X58/ICH10R
• Memory: 6 x DIMM, max 24GB DDR3
• 2200(OC)/2133(OC)/2000(OC)/1800(OC)/1600/1333/1066 MHz
• PCIe x16 slots: 2 x PCIe2.0 x16 slots, supports dual x16 mode
• Multi-GPU: Supports NVIDIA SLI™ / ATI CrossFireX™
• LAN: Gigabit Intel® LAN
• Audio: SupremeFX X-Fi 2 built-in
• Storage: 2 x USB 3.0
• 11 x USB 2.0
• Exclusive features: ROG Connect
• Game First
• CPU Level Up
• MemOK!

(Hmm.. wonder if i can fit a blockquote within another blockquote…(Edit: No it looks kinda not cool.)) Rampage GEN III or R3G takes more of the great features that Rampage Extreme III have a best seller. It features the Intel X58 chipset, supporting Intel six-core processors i7-980X, 6 GB, and USB 3.0 and SATA (6GB/s(ZOMG!:))) for the fastest data transmission available to consumers.

You can pick these up for about… $432.51 (at the time of printing) Phew… thats a bit much for a motherboard. But really it does come with some nice features. All you need then is a video card, ram and a cpu and your set to go. And with the cheap prices of video cards at the moment, you could actually run SLI / Crossfire quite easily on this board as it totally supports it!

Whats the difference between Micro ATX and Mini ITX?

This one caught me out once, Please note that it is not a fun experience when you byt a MicroATX board and try and fit it into a MiniATX Case. you can however do it the other way around, but still just check that both the motherboard and case are the correct sizes, or otherwize your in for a major headache .

Here is the “official” specs of…

Micro ATX

microATX, also known as µATX (sometimes transliterated as mATX[1] or uATX[2][3] on Internet forums) is a standard for motherboards that was introduced in December of 1997.[4] The maximum size of a microATX motherboard is 244 mm x 244 mm (9.6 inches x 9.6 inches), but some microATX boards can be as small as 171.45 mm x 171.45 mm (6.75 inches x 6.75 inches)[5]. The standard ATX size is 25% longer, at 305 mm × 244 mm (12″ wide x 9.6″ deep). via.

Vs

Mini ITX

Mini-ITX is a 17 x 17 cm (or 6.7 x 6.7 inches) low-power motherboard form factor developed by VIA Technologies[1]. Mini-ITX is slightly smaller than microATX. Mini-ITX boards can often be passively cooled due to their low power consumption architecture, which makes them useful for home theater PC systems, where fan noise can detract from the cinema experience. Beside that specific application, they are commonly used in small form factor (SFF) computer systems. The four mounting holes in a mini-ITX board line up with four of the holes in ATX-specification motherboards, and the locations of the backplate and expansion slot are the same (though one of the holes used was optional in earlier versions of the ATX spec). Mini-ITX boards can therefore often be used in cases designed for ATX, micro-ATX and other ATX variants if desired. via.

In summary:

Mini ITX = 17 x 17cm (or 6.7 x 6.7 inches)

Micro ATX = (the bigger one) = From: 171.45 mm x 171.45 (6.75 inches x 6.75 inches) to 305 mm × 244 mm (12″ wide x 9.6″ deep).

Small Formfactor MicroATX Case Round-Up

So what are we going to put this tasty motherboard in? well i personally prefed the Lan-Li Micro ATX Cases, there just slick. but here are some of the options available.

Silverstone Sugo SG07

The Sugo SG07, with a size that slots in between the venerable SG01 Micro-ATX SFF case from 2005 and the SG05, a powerful Mini-ITX case released in 2009, was designed to take the Mini-ITX platform to a whole new level. It is twice as powerful as the SG05 but only 37% bigger. Its custom 600W power supply, which is rated up to 50?with 80 PLUS Bronze level efficiency and single +12V rail, was carefully chosen and optimized for SG07. Exhaustive testing was conducted to create unique VGA fan duct and exhaust vents that enable SG07 to not only accommodate the longest consumer graphics cards physically (up to 12.2 inches/310mm) but also capable of supporting graphics thermal profile of up to 400W through overclocking. For the CPU and motherboard area, a record-breaking use of 180mm fan (bigger than the Mini-ITX motherboard!) with vortex generating design was utilized to provide possibility of fanless CPU cooling of up to 95W (via CPU cooler such as SilverStone’s NT06-E). But despite having tremendous amount of cooling performance, the SG07 is easy to maintain as well. It employs positive pressure layout with all intake areas fitted with removable filters so dust will not accumulate inside. If the goal is to make the ultimate Mini-ITX system, the SG07 is hard to beat. via here.

Looks to be only available at this time in NZ, but they can ship to pretty much anywhere. Just makes the price tag of, $365 a little much…

Lian-Li V350

This is a bit of an older case now, if cases age? i guess they do, but not as much as hardware, or as quickly anyway.

Antec NSK1380

The NSK1380’s small and compact cube design allows it to fit into virtually any workspace while the inside is spacious enough for your microATX motherboard, up to four full height PCI expansion cards, and four drive bays.

Check it out here

Download the PDF of this Post Here

Just did a bit of a search around for some cool n64 and other console related case mods, heres what i found. Also just installed the lightbox plugin for some cool image action woo light box… and cool case mods.

Here are the thumbnails for those that would like some direct image linkage action

Gallery of Console Related Case Mods!

90 terabyte gravitsapa

basanovich

October 19th, 15:08

All fans to gather and collect – home storage at 90 terrabayt. Under cut the build process. Composition – two motherboards, two power supplies to 1600 Tues May controllers, 64 drives and 40 Carlson.

Upd. 1
This creation is not mine, I’m just a random witness:)

Upd. 2
The question – “Why?”, Was received the following reply:
“Too lazy to keep a home crowd of DVDs, CDs and blur disks, this option is more compact))), plus archive dom.video ))))”

Upd. 3
The network crawled a lot of assumptions about where it works gravitsapa and everything was in order with legitimacy. This man lives in a big city in the middle, Russia is using this thing only for their own domestic purposes. More questions to answer does not want to, because so many nasty things had to read on the forums about themselves from complete strangers to him and embittered people. So just admire, kommentrirovat this topic will no longer be. Forgive all those who ask interesting questions on the case.

Upd. 4
Added the text of the author crafts, two new photos and a report of Everest on iron.

ENGLISH VERSION ADDED.

15 fotochek technological happiness.

The author of this construction has sent me a letter to all interested.
“And so the” hack “!

Makes this “gravitsap for yourself!! Clock, the description of iron in the report. Hardy collected in the raids, mostly reyd5, put experimenting with reyd50.
This is not the first experience of creating such a plywood, before that worked for 2.5 years, nothing has caught fire, and could not … hard above 35 are not heated! Plywood for several reasons: firstly the price issue, had the 1 sheet of plywood for the 500r, the second is that plywood is better than iron absorbs the vibration from the hard, third, ease of processing in dom.usloviyah. Trans. wall-to-door from org.stekla, the photo is almost invisible, which means that the blowdown from the bottom up through hard going pretty strong. Top. Fans are made on the basis of doors, providing access to the interior in case of need. The box has not been fully completed yet, the bottom will filter the dust or the like, until you figured out how to better organize.
Hardy mostly westerns green to 2TB, quiet, cold, and quite reliable. While loss of disk imaging due to faulty hard not happen. Hardy sometimes die, but saves reyd5. More than a year from 48 titles in the work passed under warranty 3 pieces.
People are worried about bespereboyniki, he still has to 3.000Vt, loading him 40-45%%.
Why? … Almost half of the volume occupied by the images blur discs with movies in different years, much of the images of DVD disks. Why so much? – And I have at any second is the “right choice” Well look!
The noise of it very small, seated next to him is possible to communicate almost in a whisper. Valves on 1200ob, spinning more slowly, as they plow on 9 volts.
People are still trying to calculate the savings over and prof.resheniyami … be honest, any prof. solution of this volume will be much more expensive and many times more noisy.
For concerns about the “counter”: a family pays for e-in for all consumable el-in, along with the server and the stove – 2.500-3000r ..
Your Krivorukov Samodelkin. ))
Report Everest:
report.txt”

English version:
“I made this Gravicapa for home using. The Hards are collected in the raids, mostly raid5, from time to time I also make experiments with raid 50. The Hardware report you can get from file report.txt.

This is not the first experience of creating such big data arrays and using plywood for it.
This system has been working for 2.5 years, and nothing has caught fire, and could not … The hard disks’ temperature doesn’t go higher than 35C. Why did I use plywood? There are several reasons for it. First of all, it’s the matter of price. One sheet of plywood at cost 17 $, was enough for it. Secondly, plywood better than iron absorbs the vibration from the hard. Thirdly, it is easy to make at home. The door is made from Plexiglas (it’s almost invisible on photo), it means that the blow from bottom to top goes pretty strong through the hards. Top. The fans are made as doors, providing access to the interior in case of need. The box has not been fully completed yet, the bottom will have dust filters. Hhdd mostly Westerns Green to 2TB, is quiet, cold, and quite reliable. The Hards sometimes die, but raid 5 saves the situation. It’s been working for more than a year and only 3 of 48 hdds were passed under warranty.
Some people are worried about UPS, it still has up to 3.000Vt, its loading – 40-45%%.

Almost half of the volume is occupied by images of blur discs and DVD disks with movies of different years. “So much! What for? “- You can ask. And I’ll answer: “Why not? But then it is optional on my part what to watch “.
It doesn’t make much noise. Sitting next to it you can communicate almost in a whisper. Coolers on 1200 are spinning even more slowly as they plow on 9 volts.
Any professional solution of this volume will be much more expensive and many times more noisy.

Your CrazyHandMader.
Sorry for bad english. ”

The old server, so it was before:

Raid Controllers:

via here, translated from Russian.

So if you are bored one weekend… Very bored, you can always add sleeving to your PC case wiring, to make it look slick and neat. This can be a very tedious job, but rewarding at the end if you happen to have a window in your case and don’t want all the ugly wiring hanging out.

My recommendation, get a power supply with pre sleeved cables. Or you can always just go to amazon and get a pack for about 10$.

Anyway here are some great guides on sleeving your cables:

Overclockers Cable Sleeving Guide

Well after a few requests I am going to post a rough guide to cable sleeving – now before you get too critical I did say rough .

Now before we get started there is one thing I MUST point out and that is that most power type cables tend to inter-twine – in other words the cable that is in the left most hole at one end may not be in the same position at the other end. I HIGHLY recommend that you take your time and do each cable one at a time (if you are grouping cables make sure you label them accordingly so you do not forget their order) because if you get the order incorrect when you go to power up the next time there is a very good chance you will see the magical black cloud!!

The two best sleeving types on the market current are MurderMod Sleeving and Clean Cut PET or CCPT which can be bought at GAMMODS

However I should mention that the sleeving used in this guide is all 1/8″ Techflex PET like this (due to having done this all a few months before the MurderMod sleeving was available)
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal…roducts_id=122

or for the Aussies
http://www.gammods.com.au/store/inde…ath=7_20_18_28

The majority of the heatshrink was 1/8″ as well.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal…roducts_id=206

again for the Aussies
http://www.gammods.com.au/store/inde…ath=7_20_21_51

First thing first and that is you need to decide what exactly do you want to sleeve. Are you going to just do the 24 pin cable? Or are you going to do the pcie, fan, molex and the whole shebang. Next step is to work out if you are going to be doing them individually or in groups. This then helps you work out what size sleeving is going to suit your needs. For individual power cable sleeving and fan sleeving I find that 1/8″ sleeving is perfect. But once you start moving into groups it all comes down to how many per sleeve you are trying to do.

Now there are many different types of sleeving out there as well as kits that give you different lengths/sizes with their appropriate sized heatshrinks as well. These are good but you may end up only using one size and the rest will just sit there. The other option is to buy it in the size that you want and the desired quantity. For sleeving in Aus its hard to go past gammods as they have a large range of sleeving in all sorts of sizes and colours as well as the heatshrink to go with it. Or the more expensive (but oh so worth it) option has arrived with the launch of the MurderMod site which now sells the mdpx sleeving (of Million Dollar PC fame). This sleeving is slightly thicker and is less likely to show the colour of the cable it is hiding. Again as mentioned previously there is no better sleeving available on the market at this time (My Opinion).

Now that you have selected your sleeving size/colour options you are going to need some tools to remove the pins from the various plugs.

For all non molex type plugs you can use tools like the ACRyan one below but I found that they have a tendency to break fairly easily. Actually the easiest thing to use is some standard staples….yes staples:ROTF:

I find that two together once bent into shape are a perfect fit for removing those pesky plugs and if you break them…simply get a couple more

via Cable Sleeving Guide – Overclockers Australia Forums.