Way back in December 2010 , we built an awful Mini - ITX gambling microcomputer dub the Wee Ass - Kicking Machine . It featured a Core i7 - 870 CPU , aGeForce GTX 460 GPU , 4 GB of DDR3 , a 1 TB heavy drive , and a 120 GB SSD - all crammed into a Silverstone SG07 human body not much larger than a shoebox . The total cost ? Around $ 1,600 ( at the time ) .
It ’s , uh , been a while since then , though , and I think it was high sentence we ramp up another Mini - ITX gaming PC . This one ’s not quite as small , but it ’s get down a lot more dynamism . We ’re using theBitFenix Prodigy , which has room for a full - size of it ATX PSU , lashings of hard ride , and even a 240 mm radiator ( if you swing over that mode ) , while still being small enough to be lugged around by its convenient carrying handles .
Let’s See What Fits
Just because this is a Mini - ITX build does n’t intend we ’re mess up around with integrated graphics . Pah . Pshaw . And other facial expression of scorn . Nope , when we progress a gaming rig , we practice a real distinct graphics menu . This time we ’re go with an MSIGTX 670Power Edition , which is factory overclocked but still sips power like the relaxation of theKeplerlineup .
We ’ll use our sweet - spotIvy Bridge CPU , the 3.4GHz Core i5 - 3570 K , on aZotac Z77 WiFi Mini - ITX circuit board . The board has one full - size of it x16 PCIe 3.0 expansion slot , two DIMM slots , USB 3.0 , and 6Gb / s SATA . We ’ll fill those DIMM slots with two 4 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3/1600 DIMMs , and utilise a 240GBCorsair Force GS SSDand a3 TB HGST Deskstarfor volume storage .
The most of import part of the build is the font . The BitFenix Prodigy is large for a Mini - ITX chassis , but that just signify there ’s room for more stuff . It can accommodate a full - size of it PSU ( although 140 mm is really the maximal depth ) , up to six knockout drives and six SSDs , a farsighted videocard , and , thanks to its big main compartment , a full - size strain cooler or even aliquid cooler .
Because most of our favorite gentle wind cooler would interfere with the PCIe slot , and we did n’t need to give up the lone 5.25 - inch bay just so we could instal a 240 mm radiator , we opted for an all - in - one liquid‑cooling grommet : Thermaltake ’s Water 2.0 Performer . This will give us plenty of headroom for overclocking the 3570 K to a unfluctuating 4.4GHz .
Building It
The Prodigy is spacious for a Mini - ITX case , but that still means it ’s a scrap of a complicated build . Here ’s what I had to do .
take away the four thumbscrews holding the side panels in spot and remove the panels . bug out the four clip holding the front panel in place , and remove that too . Grip the top heavy drive cage by its top and bottom clips and slide it out of the case . sprain the case on its side and take away the six screws retain the down cage to the chassis and polish off that cage ( paradigm A ) .
Image A
Attach the SSD to one of the case ’s six mounting points - either at the bottom of the face , the interior of the left side venire , or the side of the PSU compartment ( prototype B ) . It does n’t really matter which of the many SSD mount points you apply . You could just mount the SSD into one of the hard drive tray , but it ’d be nice to leave those free for extra hard movement afterwards on . Replace the severe driveway cage . Stand the case upright .
icon B
switch over the front panel and remove the two gaoler holding the optical drive bezel in place ( persona C ) . On the front of the chassis , pry off the alloy bezel in front of the opthalmic drive tray . Replace the front panel and slue the optical drive into the bay , cease when it ’s flush . Secure with the same M3 fucking you used for the SSD .
Image C
Unscrew the four thumbscrew procure the PSU backplate . You ’ll desire as short a PSU as you’re able to get for this : anything longer than 140 mm and you ’ll have a strong time routing the cables . As tantalizing as it is to go modular , a nonmodular PSU will be wanton to treat with here . bond the backplate to the PSU and instal into the chassis , but do n’t put all four thumbscrews back in , as you may need to be able to slide the PSU out subsequently for ease of wiring ( image D ) .
simulacrum D
bump off the CPU socket protector and add the CPU . Lower the gate arm to batten it ( trope E ) . Add the RAM . Although the Prodigy has room for the large skyscraper - style aviation coolers we like in our builds , those coolers do n’t diddle skillful with our solitary PCIe slot , so we ’re going with a pee tank .
Thermaltake ’s Water 2.0 Performer ( catchy ! ) is an Asetek - built dual - sports fan 120 mm all - in - one cooler that should keep our processor nice and chilly . But first we have to add the backplate . Find the Intel backplate and forgather it for Socket 1155 per Thermaltake ’s command . Attach it to the nates of the motherboard . foregather the retaining snip and screws in the socket mob .
Take the motherboard I / O shield , bulge off the tabs covering the Wi - Fi feeler porthole , and install it into the case back . Unscrew the pillow slip ’s 12 centimeter eat up fan and set it aside . instal the motherboard into the case using four screws ( epitome F ) .
Image E
Image F
Take the all - in - one cooler and one of the 12 atomic number 96 fans , as well as four of the put on screws and four automatic washer . lam the screw through the washers , through the climb hole at the back of the case , through the fan ( making indisputable it ’s oriented to exhaust out of the case ) , and into the mounting holes on the radiator . Attach the pump social unit to the mainframe with the socket ring . Turn to tighten , alternating in an X pattern .
Take the other devotee , put to blow air through the radiator out of the case just like the first , and establish it on the side of the radiator . stop up the fans into the included Y cable and into the CPU_FAN header , and plug the ticker social unit into the SYS_FAN heading near the SATA ports ( image G ) .
ikon G
Now is a good time to route some power‑supply line . Bring the 8 - pin and 24 - pin ATX power cables and one PCIe cable around the front of the PSU to the ripe side of the case . Route a SATA magnate cable along the left side to the hard drive bays , connect one porthole to the arduous movement , then terminate it at the SSD , give the middle port for a future second drive ( mental image H ) . Route the other SATA power cable along the bottom of the case , up the front dialog box , and into the routing hole just above the optical movement . Pop the top devotee filter off and route the cable’s length above the optical drive and plug it in ( image I ) . Route SATA data cables from the blue 6Gb / s SATA ports to the SSD and HDD , and route one from a cherry 3Gb / s port wine to the opthalmic drive .
Image atomic number 1
Image I
unplug the HD_Audio cable from the side panel and connect the motherboard terminate to the mobo , as the port will be impossible to access once the GPU is in place . escape the 24 - tholepin motherboard power cable length through the front of the PSU casing and into the port on the motherboard . launch the 8 - stick through the cutout toward the rear of the casing ( image J ) and plug it in . At this full stop you may reattach the top hard drive coop if you desire ; I ’ve left it out to improve airflow .
Image joule
Plug the USB 3.0 header into its place below the radiator ( image K ) . Connect the front 12 cm fan to a 3 - oarlock - to - Molex arranger and link that to one of the Molex adapters . Re‑attach the other oddment of the HD_audio cable television service to the remaining side cover charge ( ikon L ) and put the cover back on the side , pull the front - panel heading through toward the GPU slot and plugging them in .
Image K
Image L
Unscrew the expansion‑slot cover plate and the expansion‑ expansion slot covers , and remove them . add the GPU , making indisputable the 8 - pin ATX power cable can still reach out its plug . supplant the cover plate and secure both it and the GPU with the three thumbscrews ( image M ) . lam the PCIe power cable system through the same hole as the ATX power cable and plug both 6 - pin plugs into the GPU . Secure the PSU home base to the frame with its four thumbscrews , double - check up on your wiring , and shut the subject back up . Screw the Wi - Fi antennae into their Emily Price Post on the I / oxygen larboard .
Image M
Firing it up
The first thing I did with the mini machine was boot into the BIOS and do a uncomplicated multiplier overclock on the CPU . I impart the livestock potential difference and bclock the same but cranked up the turbo multipliers on all the cores to 44 for a single core , 43 for two cores , and 42 for more . This give me a nice , static bourgeois overclock of up to 4.4GHz for single - thread tasks . The MSI GTX 670 is factory‑overclocked , so I resisted further overclocking in an endeavor to keep the noise from its fan down .
Against our zero - degree , the mini - carriage loses in every benchmark save ProShow Producer , where its high clock speeding are more important than the zero - full stop ’s 12 thread . But our zero - point has a hexa - core central processing unit , a duple GPU , and costs a mess more money - and it ’s not nearly as portable . For the price , we get a hell of a tidy sum of rig in a small footprint , and we even get carrying handles . Besides , the firm CPU and GPU on this baby imply that it ’s still blisteringly good .
The downside of Mini - ITX is that you only get one PCIe one-armed bandit and two RAM one-armed bandit , so you ’ve get to be heady with your form . The good news is that this machine still has elbow room for all the essentials and no gaunt space , while still being upgradeable . We ’d lief make into the Prodigy again , and we ’re proud of we can make a charge - ass ( and luggable ) semi in such a modest package .
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