Cherry Dude

Hi there Looking back at my old post, I found one from 2016 where I considered the different options of buying a NAS or going the DIY route. I ended up buying a WD My Cloud Mirror gen. 2. and have been pretty pleased with it. Well that's an understatement, coming from no NAS at all, it has been fantastic! Anyways, now the TB's are calling me as the two 3TB drives in JBOD are almost filled. (don't worry, have backup on other drives) SO! Once again, I let the cry be heard: Buy or DIY. But that's pretty boring since I see the same question ever so often, so to make a little more difficult/easier there are some criteria. I use absolutely zero of the WD's limited features, and I know some say that you will lean into this and that and can’t live without it, but I don't see that coming for me. As it might be obvious from 1. I am looking for a NAS only to function as storage, serving the files to my PC and media player. I'm thinking something in the line of 8 -12 TB available in the end. Alternatively, something that enables you to upgrade later on. (Which is impossible with the now filled WD) Strangely enough it is the lack of need for all kinds of features that I find a little difficult, since most of the DIY builds seem to be for more enthusiastic users. The same goes for the buy option - I mean the Asustor AS4004T for example looks nice, and fits four drives, but am I paying (too much) for features that are just going to collect dust. At the moment of writing I realise that an external drive connected to the router could also be an option, but I am far more interested in what you good people have to say.

Thanks for the reply Nick. Oh cool, I'll check out your cables.

Hey there So, I have decided to make my own PSU cables for my SF450. I have the Dan Cases A4-SFX (Both v1 and v2) and thought it would be cool to have cables that are not way to long. I have some experience with soldering and management wires, but will be new to crimping which will be cool, also for other projects. (I am thinking of getting this crimper) As I am based in Europe, Shakmods seem like a good place to get the wire (18 awg), connectors and pins. I have been looking for the SF450 pinout with no luck. Is it safe to assume it is the same as the SF600? Looking at Corsairs PSU cable compatibility list, as well as the FS series manual, it seems wattage is the only difference. Original has been so nice to make a pinout for the SF600, at it seem pretty idiot proof, which for some reason appeals to me… Anyway this was a pretty long rant, so the short version again: Is Corsair SF450 pinout same as SF600?

Well hot to the touch, so much I cant hold my finger on it. But have also been getting insane CPU temps - turns out it is the case, all panels off = no problems at all

Could work. I'm currently using the Ncase M1, but moving on to the Dan A4-SFX where there is no room for such solutions

You've got a point Jovidah Unfortunatly there is zero space to work with, which is what lead me to the exhaust-out-of-top solution(?) The whole placement of the motherbopard heatsink seems a little odd in regard to avoiding blowing hot air on them, see image here. EDIT: Well maybe not so odd after all, this seems to be the same layout for numerous other mini-ITX motherboards. Oh well.

Hi there So I have ben noticing the heatsinks on my Asus Z170i pro gaming is getting very hot, perhaps deu to the close proximity to the cpu cooler which exhaust right into it. I have a 6700k with a Cryorig C7 cooler. Anyone else with similar setup experiencing this, and is the "overheating" of the heatsink something I should worry about? Pretty new to mini-ITX builds but the components sure do sit close to each other, especially around CPU cooler... The only solution I have come up with so far is to get new cpu cooler that can be reversed to exhaust out the top and intake trough the bottom/heatsink - don't know if this is the way to go?

Hi again Alexford Just out of curiosity, have you considered airflow and temperatures with all that goodness crammed in to such a small space? I have been looking at some Ncase M1 builds (a similar small case, albeit a few cm larger) and there seems to be people in both camps regarding if it is going to run too hot. Any thoughts on your build

Just to get a little discussion going: A few have already voted for the Fractal Design Node 202, but I see some complains regarding poor airflow. True, false, not worse than every other mini-ITX, any comments?

Now added

TL;DR: Vote for best, smallest, mini-ITX case supporting full size GPU and traditional cooling. I have more or less decided to abandon my beloved Fractal Design Define R5 for my upcoming build. (well if all mini-ITX goes wrong, it will gain the glorious title of Life Saver, and be happily used again) This time it is going to be a mini-ITX build, with portability as a high factor. The main criteria are as follows: Should be able to take full size GPU, in this case the ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080. The case will be traditionally cooled, that is no water-cooling, so this should be taken in to consideration. Cubic cases are acceptable as long as they are “tiny” I have added a few cases in to particular order to get things started – feel free to add other suggestions, and promptly vote on them when added, in the comments. Experiences with builds, bad airflow cases, and so on, are also most welcome. Happy voting, Cherry Dude!

Oh no late 2016!? My patience is going to be challenged, but for a semi-transportable (or at least easier and a little bit cool) VR machine, I might just manage ;-)

Excellent argument. Looking very much forward to hear about your finished build and how it runs.

Very nice build, been complementing the same ever since I saw the Dan case. One question regarding the PSU, I know you stated amazon review as the reason for the shift, but a quick glance at Toms Hardware seems to favor the Silverstone. Although not exhausting all options, the PSU tier list gives some indicators that might be helpful. Best regards Cherry Dude!

Using a likewise dubious app I have a noise floor of 20 in the room (with pc on not far away), and 44 right by the cooler of the PC - which is fine for me.