robytoberts

20 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

You're not gonna find anythign smaller than an Xbox 360 without a mITX motherboard. 

 

Assuming your PCI-E card is a half slot, you could look at something like the Silverstone ML series (ML05 for example)

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/J7mLrH/silverstone-case-ml05b

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/cCdFf7/silverstone-ml09b-htpc-case-ml09b

 

If your board is mATX, the ML03 might work for you but IDK if it's actually the same size as the 360 or not

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/bWR48d/silverstone-case-ml03b

Cheers man! My system is currently in a FTZ01 so maybe I could start a little family of Silverstone rectangles...

22 hours ago, SuperCloneRanger said:

silverstone sg13 

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/silverstone-sugo-sg13b-mini-itx-chassis-black-ca-403-sv.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/silverstone-sugo-sg13wb-mini-itx-chassis-black-white-sst-sg13wb-ca-423-sv.html

 

 

kolink satelite

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/kolink-satellite-micro-atx-cube-case-black-ca-005-kk.html

 

 

 

Cheers for the reccomendations! I think the sg13 is the one Linus used for his VR PC right?

23 hours ago, jaslion said:

Xbox 360 emulation requires a really powerfull pc and is still very buggy. Just get a cheap xbox one that will work better.

If it's a bit buggy I'm not too worried, I'll probably keep the 360 in storage anyway - I just thought this could be a fun project and a good use for old but still working PC parts. From what I'd read it didn't seem that the PC needed to be an absolute beast, what kind of specs do you think it would need?

I'm looking for any recommendations for a mini itx case that fits a single slot GPU and won't completely break the bank.

I'm thinking of upgrading my 5(ish) year old PC later in the year, and am planning to repurpose some of the old parts to make a pc just for emulating my 360. I love my xbox but it makes an unholy amount of noise and is quite big and heavy so I'd really like to be able to play my 360 games without having to wear ear defenders. also I feel it would be a fun project and a good use of still working old parts.

However I dont want to build it all into a massive case which is bigger and heavier than the 360 itself, I'd like something the same size or ideally smaller. Was wondering if anyone could recommend some cases - only specifications are that it can take a single slot expansion card, isn't 100s of pounds like some of the Streacom pcs and as mentioned already is ideally smaller than an Xbox 360 (the smaller the better). I'm in the UK so ideally it'd be available here as I'd rather not ship from the US but all reccomendations welcome!

Cheers!

Hi,

I've got a slightly weird issue with my Acer Chromebook 14 which seems to be connected to the latest Chrome OS update v81.0.4044.94 (although I'm not 100% sure, it could just be coincidental timing).

Basically, when connected to my home network on the 2.4GHz bands, it only gets about 5-10% of the download speeds it normally would. I usually get around 25-50 Mbps, but on my chromebook now I'm lucky to get 0.25 (according to the google speed test). Sometimes it also refuses to connect altogether or drops in and out. Basically it's unusable except for very light web browsing. Our network is set up with the router downstairs, then two other powerline hotspots with different SSIDs in other places - usually I just connect to whichever has the strongest signal depending on where I am. It's the same problem whether I'm trying to connect to the router or the hotspots. Distance doesn't seem to matter so I don't think it's a signal problem, and my phone and PC connect to any of them fine with normal speeds.

What's also strange is that my Chromebook will connect to the 5GHz band on the router, and gets normal download speeds with no issues. It's also really strange to me that it does still connect to the router/hotspots just gets completely unusable speeds. As I say, it seemed to occur after the latest chrome OS update but it could be coincidental timing, I only noticed it after the update but might just be reading too much into things. 

tl;dr - chromebook gets very low speeds or unreliable connection on 2.4GHz band, but find on 5GHz, seemed to start occuring after latest chrome update

If anyone has any fixes/suggestions that would be amazing, I've never really done much digging around under the hood of my chromebook before (because normally it just works with no issues...) so am not really sure where to start. 

Cheers!

It turns out, in my infinite wisdom, it was plugged in upside down, which I had ruled out as I didn't think it was possible...

Hi,

I've just rebuilt my system in a new case (Silverstone Fortress Ftz-01) and done a kind of soft upgrade. I've kept my old gigabyte  motherboard which only has a usb 2.0 header. So I've bought an Alaska adapter so I can connect the front usb 3.0 cable. They'd only be running as usb 2.0 but that's better than nothing

However, having installed the adapter, the front ports are not working. The PC (windows 10) recognises that things are plugged in but I get an error message of 'usb device not recognised' and devices are unusable.

My best guess is it's a driver issue, but I'm not really sure where to start, there doesn't seem to be much information online as I'm guessing downgrading your front usb isn't commonly done.

Any ideas/solutions greatly appreciated. Cheers !!

Hey kids,

After an experience with a rx590 that made an attempt to deafen me that left me scarred and deformed, I'm currently looking at doing a build for a capable gaming/productivity machine which is as efficient and quiet as possible. 

From what I've seen, the 1660ti is the best performance/watt card available right now and would get excellent framerates at 1080p which is exactly what I need. 

However, the number of different cards from different manufacturers is ridiculous - in the UK it ranges from tiny 1 fan designs to 3 fan beasts, with about a £120 difference in price between the cheapest and most expensive. 

Those of you who own 1660ti or have experience with them..... which cards are getting the best thermal/acoustic performance? I'm not too worried about factory overclock - the base speeds are more than good enough, I just want a card that will be as quiet and cool as possible under load in possibly quite a cramped SFF case. 

tl;dr - Which 1660ti design gets the best thermals and is quiet as a mouse?

Thanks in advance for the help!

Cheers for all the help!

In the end I contacted the seller and they agreed to do a full refund. I think for now I'll stick to my ailing 750ti and look to upgrade when I can do it properly with a new case/psu/both

On 11/25/2019 at 1:41 PM, TVwazhere said:

Cooling in these types of cases are great for the GPU, and pretty good for the CPU. Both the GPU and the low profile CPU tower fans are up against ventilation slots on either side of the case allowing them to draw  in fresh air without the need for additional case fans in the system, however you can still add fans for extra GPU intake depending on the thickness of the GPU. 

 

Node 2020 example Build List:

https://pcpartpicker.com/builds/by_part/GsZ2FT

Picture taken at random

 

Silverstone ML08 build lists:

https://pcpartpicker.com/builds/by_part/6htWGX (ML08H, has a handle)

https://pcpartpicker.com/builds/by_part/bvfmP6 (ML08, no handle)

 

Silverstone RVZ series build lists:

https://pcpartpicker.com/builds/by_part/MqmxFT

https://pcpartpicker.com/builds/by_part/zmgPxr

https://pcpartpicker.com/builds/by_part/RgVBD3

 

They all have the same concept of having CPU and GPU isolated from one another, so you dont have to worry about them exchanging hot air. 

Super helpful man, thankyou! Will be good to take a look at some actual buiilds

7 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Assuming its a Nitro+, the default fan curve is going to be very aggressive. I'm not familiar with the RPM numbers of the card though. You can fire up Wattman or HW monitor and have a look at the fan curve and see for yourself though. 

Sorry man I should have been clearer - I was just wondering what sort of fan speeds it would be running at in a better optimised case. I could then force mine to run at those fan speeds using Wattman and see if the noise is acceptable. If that makes sense?

5 minutes ago, NineEyeRon said:

I have a 140mm intake blowing straight into the GPU space on my ITX case. It really helps keep the temps down.

Sadly without bending the laws of time and space I'm not sure I'm gonna get a 140mm anywhere near the GPU with the way my case is set up!

12 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Can confirm, with proper Airflow the Sapphire card is not loud, but once the fans have to spin above ~70% the card starts to become as loud as a reference blower card. Increasing airflow is the only way to get the noise level down. 

Thanks, that's good to hear. I assume you've got a sapphire card at the moment, do you know what sort of fan speed it's running at under load?

1 minute ago, Theguywhobea said:

 

I suspect that if you have that card it's probably not the GPU that is making that noise but it's your power supply, especially if you have the OEM power supply, what's probably happening is that now that you're drawing so much more power the little 40mm fan is having to spin up to max RPM and the OEM fan is CRAZY loud.

 

glad you've some experience with the case! And yeah it's the dual fan nitro+ model.

I've done some tests artificially ramping the GPU fan up when not running any games and it does seem to be contributing a lot of the noise - however based on what you've said looks like it's only running on such high fan speeds because the case is not giving it enough air. 

Looks like it might be that I need to look at a different case (as I'm kind of stuck with the PSU it came with without some heavy modding) - as you've said the PSU is straining so the fan is going crazy, also the GPU is running at higher temps than necessary because the heat from the PSU is coming right beneath it.

I recently took the plunge and upgraded my 750 ti which was beginning to chug horribly to the sapphire RX 590 Special Edition that I found an excellent deal on eBay for manufacturer refurbished.

In terms of performance, it's fantastic, I'm getting great fps on ultra settings on 1080p on a lot of the games I play (Witcher 3, Doom etc.). However, when playing games, it is incredibly loud, to the point that there's no way I could play anything without noise cancelling headphones on; it sounds like there's an industrial AC unit on my desk. I've checked the fan curve, and the fans are at about the lowest they can be whilst still giving a sensible temperature under load. I've not overclocked it at all, it's just running at stock speeds.

It's currently in a fairly small form factor case which puts it right above a hot PSU (EVGA Hadron Air), so I'm wondering whether getting a bigger case and giving it more room to breathe will bring temps and noise down or if it's just a really noisy card.

Was just wondering if anyone has this card or a similar sapphire card in their set up as has found the same issues. Was considering upgrading my case anyway so if its worth it I'll do it, but if it's just a hot, noisy card no matter how much air it gets, it's gonna be going back on eBay real soon.

Any help/comments would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers!

thanks for all the suggestions! 

In the end I managed to find a really good deal on a rx590 refurbished on eBay - having some issues with noise levels, but performance-wise it's perfect. 

On 11/18/2019 at 8:47 PM, Fasauceome said:

 

300 watts is too close to the 500 watt PSU you have? Even my rig doesn't pull 500 watts.

I am probably being a bit over-cautious, PC part picker suggested it would be closer to 400w but admittedly that's probably unlikely to ever happen in real life. Other issue is that the PSU has the world's smallest fan so am slightly worried about noise and thermals if it's towards the higher end of it's wattage. 

You're probably right that it would be fine but I have been thinking about semi-upgrading for a while and this seems as good an excuse as any. 

On 11/19/2019 at 5:35 PM, 20_below said:

It's discontinued so it may be hard to find, but I have been using the Corsair 250D case for the last 3 years and I love it. It can fit a full length GPU, lot's of hard drives and multiple case fans and it's just a small little black box as you described. My current case has two 3.5 inch hard drives, two 2.5 ssd's and and nvme in it, a single 200mm front fan, two 120mm side fans and two 80mm rear fans. It's a little big for an ITX case, but I've had no problems with carrying it around when needed. 

I think I remember looking at the 250D when I was first looking for cases! You're right sadly, think it's gonna be hard to find now but might be able to find one on ebay. Thanks for the suggestion!

On 11/19/2019 at 11:31 AM, Otto_iii said:

Going to make 2 proposals, one i think is too "Xbox" but maybe okay, other should look decent enough, is very cheap, but not sure about availability in UK

1. Silverstone RVZ03 without the LED plugged in looks reasonable enough, has fantastic thermals, built for full size PSU, and large graphics cards, not easy but easier to build into then Node 202 or Dr Zaber and way cheaper while having better thermals.  I really doubt its subtle enough for what your looking for, but thought i'd mention it though as size (14 liters) vs price vs thermals its one of the best cases out there.

  Reveal hidden contents

with LEDs off

 

 

2. You said "neat black box" though, not stand-up configuration, so if for some reason the TU-150 somehow isn't available, is pricier then you like, or you decide 20% size difference between 19.9 liters is a big deal compared to the 23.75 liters dimensions of TU-150, see if the Cougar QBX and Cougar QBX Kaze (mesh version) appeal to you since they are very cheap(about 50-60 USD$), and have a great layout on account of basically ripping off the Ncase M1 internally, but with more affordable materials like plastics instead of aluminum, also upsized a bit ofc

Picture of QBX Kaze (open mesh version)

  Reveal hidden contents

I'm going to guess you are like me and wish the NCase M1 had better availability and a better price, for that reason, it might not be as minimalist but if i could go ITX (i wanted to, but M-ATX was just way simpler,cheaper) and was budget conscious i'd go with either of the above. 


Overall i agree with others the TU-150 is pretty good call if the price isn't too high, size too large, or availability isn't issue, but thought i should mention these two as they are both standouts for ITX imo that many people ignore. 

Thanks for the in depth info!! I do like the silverstone console type cases but really not a fan of the way they look even with the LED off. I might need to think about what's actually most important to me though, especially as the RVz03 isn't that expensive. 

The cougars are pretty much exaclty what I'm looking for - look really similar to the Hadron but with a 'proper' PSU. Doesn't seem to be much availability at al in the UK but I might have a dig around ebay and see what I can find

On 11/18/2019 at 6:47 PM, richie30 said:

Yea was easy as pie..

 

I have custom cables which were for another case but they fit perfectly snug.

 

The psu cables go up into the top and down the back to make things nice and can store the extras up here aswell.

 

I dont have a gpu so my h100i is in the bottom. Holds 4 fans comfortably 2 harddrives can be installed 2 2.5 or 1 2.5 1 3.5

 

Just dont handle it with greasy hands it will show but wipes of easily with a screen cleaning spray

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome, thanks for the info!!

On 11/18/2019 at 6:41 PM, TVwazhere said:

The TU-150 is a good ITX case, and can hold fairly beefy hardware, but if you're going for as small as possible, you can get cases like the Fractal Design Node 202 or the Silverstone ML08 which are about 35% smaller, but can still hold full sized GPU's and a couple of 2.5" SSD/HDD's. So it really comes down to what you value in a SFF case.

Thanks for the heads up! I'm not 100% sure if I'm honest - doesn't seem to be anything that quite fits perfectly. I like the size of the Fractal and Silverstone as well as the console style shape but not 100% sold on the aesthetics. Do you know how good the kind of long box style ones are cooling-wise?

5 hours ago, richie30 said:

Lian li tu150.. even has a carry handle

 

Its small minimalistic and easy to work in

That's pretty much perfect! you had any experience building in one?

1 hour ago, TVwazhere said:

What's your full system specs? Case Budget? Shopping Location (country)?

At the moment I've got a 4th gen i5 running, graphics card is as yet unpurchased so couldn't say but I've my eye on the sapphire RX 590 special edition. Storage is currently a single ssd and a laptop HDD but I'm gonna migrate the HDD over to an ssd so will be max 2 sata ssds. Budget is probably £120 absolute max and country is UK

I've currently got a system built in a evga hadron air. It was a massive pain in the a** to build in but I'm pretty happy with it now - it's tiny and looks really nice. 

However I'm thinking of grabbing a new graphics card, which is going to push the power consumption a little closer to the 500w power supply limit than I'm comfortable with. I can't upgrade the PSU as the hadron has a weird server power supply unit, which means I'm gonna need to find a new case. Was hoping to get some recommendations from you lovely people. 

I'd like:

• Room for a full size graphics card (I don't mind if that means using a riser)
• Clean, simple looks (just a neat black box, maybe a window but no weird 'gamer' features or unnecessary rgb)
• Robustness (I move around a lot and don't want to worry about throwing it in the back of a car)
• As small as possible

that's pretty much it. I'm very unlikely to ever go into water cooling so I don't need tons of space. I basically just want the Hadron air but without the fingerprint magnet front panel and server power supply. 

Thanks in advance

Cheers for the help, I'll have a scour around eBay and see what I can find