Going from mATX to Mini iTX ...

[Cov]

CPU: Yorkfield Q9550

RAM: G.Skill PQ Series

HDD: WD10EADS

SSD: Intel X25-M (34 nm)

Comparison HDD / SSD

PC Mouse: MS Basic Mouse

Case fan: Scythe Kaze Maru 140 mm / 500 RPM

PC case: Lian Li PC-Q07

 

[Cov]

Comparison mATX / Mini iTX

 

[criccio]

Sub'ed.

 

[Cov]

8 GB RAM ...

 

[MaSsAcRe]

8GB RAM...talk about [H].

How's that Q07? Oh and nice bedsheets

 

[darkmatter08]

Pretty cool build. Actually I have a very similar set of parts arriving tomorrow. Same Zotac 9300ITX board, same Lian Li MITX case, same Q9550 processor, 1TB HDD... We think alike. Can you confirm the version of your zotac board? Where did you order your parts from? Thanks

-darkmatter08

 

[Cov]

Thx darkmatter, I ordered all parts from here.

The version of the Zotac GF 9300 iTX is ... 236-DA105-0J1 BF ... I guess that means Version 01.

The Zotac board is surprisingly cool ... not even warm (1900 x 1200).
The Northbridge of my old mATX Asus P5E-VM hdmi felt constantly very hot !

As well have I figured now that intermittent problems with my OS are definitive fault of my old RAM: Geil Black Dragon.
Because I put the new G.Skill PQ RAM in that mATX board and all the issues I was so puzzled about, have disappeared !

Intel's stock cooler is too loud. Think I'm gonna order the MeOrb soon.

Having installed Windows 7 just now, the SSD really blows me away !
Works in lightspeed .. makes NO sound .. feels cool / not even warm .. is light like a feather (80 g instead of 630 g) .. and almost as small as a credit card.

incredible !

 

[Cov]

The first row shows the system in idle, and the second row while using Intel Burn Test for 469.48 seconds.

Here is the test result

Test result of the Intel X25-M

1. Why do other people have better CristalDiskMark results ? Could I do anything to imrove that ?

2. While the CPU was cooling down, core 3 and 4 don't seem to decrease below 38 and 40 degrees respectively.
Do you think that might be stuck temperature diodes again ? I thought Intel have fixed these problems.

3. At full load, the temps can go up to almost 100 degrees. Is that acceptable still ?
I noticed that during the test, the 100% load broke down a few times. I guess some kind of heat protection kicked in and about 5 seconds later it went back to 100%.

4. Does anyone know what the difference between GPU Diode and MCP is, as can be seen on the Everest readings above ?
I presume that MCP is the Northbridge, that's why I labeled it that way in brackets, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

[Concentric]

I would be surprised if that 500rpm Scythe gave you much airflow. I just got 3 of the 1200rpm version and if I undervolt them they hardly push anything. Very quiet fans though, recommended.

 

[fr500]

Hey, at last you got you build going, looks mighty fine congrats!

Is there space for a 9800gt there? The MeORB fits but you need another heatsink for the chipset

 

[Cov]

Is there space for a 9800gt there? The MeORB fits but you need another heatsink for the chipset.

Hi, I'm afraid the space for a discrete graphics card is only 19.5 cm.
I just hope, the manufacturer will come out with smaller cards in the future, since Mini iTX is getting more popular.

I'm not sure why the Northbridge needs another heatsink, but it would be nice if you can recommend one.
I think finding the correct size might not be so easy.

 

[fr500]

You do need one, this user used an extreme silencer II cooler.

You could use a band sanding machine to trim down the size of the heatsink on the interfering area.

Maybe you can use an NT-06 cooler?

 

[Roliath]

I would be weary of running the cpu that hot, perhaps try to replace TIM and reseat?

 

[Cov]

Hi, first of all I use Intel's stock cooler. Yeah, the tiny version.

Then I actually have not used any thermal paste.
But I can't imagine that thermal paste could decrease the temps by more than maybe 5 degrees or so.

I will replace the Q9550 with the E8400 later, just to see if the temps will change after Intel's Burn Test .

 

[TheBlueChanell]

Hi, first of all I use Intel's stock cooler. Yeah, the tiny version.

Then I actually have not used any thermal paste.
But I can't imagine that thermal paste could decrease the temps by more than maybe 5 degrees or so.

I will replace the Q9550 with the E8400 later, just to see if the temps will change after Intel's Burn Test .

you didn't use any tim?

Nice build though.

I'm patiently awaiting the time when I can get my hands on the 785G Minix board so I can build a nice little office pc in the Q-7.

 

[fr500]

TIM can make any difference, up to 7 deg I've read sometimes even more with artic freeze, and 7 deg here is a lot

 

[Zero82z]

Then I actually have not used any thermal paste.

The stock cooler comes with pre-applied thermal paste, so unless you removed that, you are using thermal paste.

 

[Cov]

Hi, I left the new stock cooler in the box and used the same cooler from my other system (E8400) instead.
To avoid mess I just wiped the remaining thermal paste off of that one.

Anyway, I will give the coollaboratory liquid metal pad a try soon.

 

[Zero82z]

Hi, I left the new stock cooler in the box and used the same cooler from my other system (E8400) instead.
To avoid mess I just wiped the remaining thermal paste off of that one.

That was not very intelligent of you.

 

[Cov]

What do you have to do to get a title like this .....

 

[criccio]

What do you have to do to get a title like this .....

Fold. A lot.

 

[Zero82z]

What do you have to do to get a title like this .....

 

[WhiteFireDragon]

nice little project. you'll be cutting out some of the case to fit that 140mm fan right?

 

[Cov]

Hi thanks ... yeah, that's gonna be a challenge, to get an absolutely perfect circle cut out of the front panel.

The turbine fan of the i-Cute inspired me for doing that ..

 

[Markdek]

Nice build, very interesting....the Lian-Li is a passive box eh? Hence, why you're putting a fan on it?

I here tell Zotac even has an i7 micro motherboard...amazing...!

 

[Markdek]

Oh yeah, one more comment; pretty high temps on the Q9550....you need a better cooler, eh?

 

[Cov]

Alright, I have replaced the Q9550 (E0) with my old E8400 (C1) to run IntelBurn Test again, and here are the results while using the same CPU cooler like before.

• The maximum temperature the dual had during this test was 71 degrees while the Quad reached almost 100 degrees.
• The dual took 660.5 seconds while the quad took 393.9 seconds for the same test.
• The speed for the dual was given as around 20.000 GFlops (Giga Floating point operations per second) while the quad had around 33.000 GFlops.

Have to say, that the dual (core # 1) has a stuck temperature diode, meaning it does diplay the correct temps from 38 degrees upwards, but it would not go any lower than 38 degrees.

With the quad I have the strong suspicion that core 3 doesn't go lower than 38 degrees and core # 4 doesn't go lower than 40 degrees.

I thought Intel had rectified that temperature problem, have they not ?

 

[Zero82z]

I thought Intel had rectified that temperature problem, have they not ?

1) They didn't really fix it, although the sensors used in i7 CPUs are generally better.
2) It doesn't make a single bit of difference. Idle temperatures are 100% meaningless.

 

[Markdek]

+1, what "Zero..." said.

 

[Dangman]

1. Why do other people have better CristalDiskMark results ? Could I do anything to imrove that ?

Well most of the CristalDiskMark results I've seen have been done with motherboards with an Intel chipset. Considering Nvidia's record of slower storage controllers, that's probably why your scores are lower: Your mobo has an Nvidia storage controller. Can't do anything about that.

 

[Cov]

Hi Danny Bui, cheers for your reply ... btw, how was your trip to China ?

 

[Dangman]

Hi Danny Bui, cheers for your reply ... btw, how was your trip to China ?

It was awesome. Totally visiting that country again some day.

 

[Marcam923]

Very Nice!

 

[Markdek]

Cov, how is your system running? Is it finished? What do you think about the controversy about the AMD uatx 785g chipset not really having 7.1/8 channel audio?

 

[Cov]

Cov, how is your system running? Is it finished?

Hi dekruyter, well ... having used the Mini iTX system with the Q9550 for almost a week now, I can't see any space for complaints.

1. Although the idle temps of the quad have gone up by 10 degrees compared to the E8400, the system runs just fine and does everything at least as smooth as the mATX one.
Might get a different CPU cooler soon and applying some thermal paste seems cruicial too.

2. On my old system before, I used to switch it on and go to toilet or make some hot chocolate because when I came back to the desk, the system was just about ready to be used.

On this new Mini iTX system I don't have time for things like that anymore. After I press the on-button, it takes about 30 seconds until the screen smiles cheeky at me.
The new SSD rocks my boat.

3. I have gone through the ordeal and put everything into that PC case for the time being.
I can't understand how people can squeeze in all the cables from a full sized PSU. That things really is dominating the whole case.
After I managed with a lot of patience and moving my hands in extra slow motion to put it all together, later I noticed a significant raise in temperatures.

The temps of the CPU, IGP and the HDD had gone up so much that I was worried. Not enough airflow because every little square mm seemed to be occupied by something. No space to breathe at all.
I then took the PSU out of the case while the cables stayed connected, meaning the PSU is now located behind the PC case. And the HDD is on the left hand side / outside of the case.
Temps have then gone back to normal.

4. I have received a letter just today from our main post depot.
They asked me to attend with some proof of purchase (PayPal) within the next 7 days.
It's the PicoPSU with adapter that I ordered in middle of last month.

So it has taken them 3 weeks for delivering a parcel as small as a microwave meal.
Well, I had chosen the cheapest shipping charges ($20) ... and that just takes longer.

As soon as I have picked it up, I will test it and let you know how it works.

What do you think about the controversy about the AMD uatx 785g chipset not really having 7.1/8 channel audio?

Sorry, but I am not familiar with that issue.
To me the normal surround is absolutely sufficient. Hell, even stereo would do.

 

[Cov]

The new PSU

 

[Cov]

That's how it looked with the old full size PSU

And here is the same system with the new PicoPSU instead ..

Everything just fits nicely, like tailored to my needs .. and it works out of the box.

Please note that the CPU is a Core2Quad Q9550. Some people did stubbornly refuse to believe that a quad would work with a PicoPSU.

Hi, with the PicoPSU I was able to reduce the cable clutter by 95%.
At this moment, the 150W adapter is in use for about 8 hours and feels only warm.
The PicoPSU feels between cool and warm.
That of course would change, once the CPU would be under full load for a longer period of time.

Looking at the internals, I realize how much space I save by using this solution over a full ATX PSU.
The available space is incredible.

As a side note I would recommend ordering this set from short-circuit in the USA rather than from a company in Europe.
The reason is that first of all, you might know that this 150W version is not available anywhere in Europe. And secondly the price you pay for items, shipping and import tax is still lower than the rip-off prices at our local online-shop.

Carl has been very courteous and responsive when I purchased this set.
I would have loved to order the M350 PC case as well, as it cost only $36.95 which converts into £ 22.02 or 25.74 Euro.
The very same case cost in European online-shops 49.99 Euro = $ 71.75 = £ 42.75
Maybe another time.

 

[Benlehot]

since you are not using the atx psu anymore, do you have a big hole in the back of your computer case ?

i'm looking to buy the same case and I want to use an external psu !

 

[Cov]

Yes, there is a big hole as can be seen here ..

Actually this sytem has become very cool this way. Nothing is worse than a cramped case where you haven't got any space for airflow.
Besides this, you could use a CPU cooler almost as big as the full width of the case (193 mm).

Regarding the big hole, I'm contemplating of putting an extra case fan into that frame maybe.
But actually I don't mind that hole at all because as it is on the back side, I can't see it anyway.

Depending on your needs, I can only recommend this PicoPSU & adapter set.
That's what you mean by saying "external PSU", right ?

 

[Benlehot]

yes, that's what I meant!

I'm not sure about this case. The hole in the back is not the best thing if you don't want dust in your pc !