Doing my first itx build

[Turbof1]

Budget (including currency): 600-800 euro's

Country:  Belgium

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Light video editing (shotcut), home entertainment.

Other details: itx build

 

Hey there! Thought I'd start a thread about my first mini pc build. I have done normal atx builds in the past, but I am having a more specific use case for this buld.

for my job I often do some video editing at home (giving the laptop from work does not have the hardware to do it properly) in the evening. Given I also need to take back those hours, this often conflicts with my normal responsibilities during the dayjob.

I am also looking to replace my current, chunky htpc (more like a bulky matx case really) for my home entertainment system. I use my main atx build for proper gaming, but I do like to game from time to time on my bigger tv screen with the htpc. Next to that I use it to watch movies etc.

However, the platform itself is from 2012. Basically in need of an upgrade

 

I figured a mini pc build would be the best course of action, something I can easily take along to my work place and when I get back home easily plug back in.

To try to keep costs down, I am spreading the purchase of parts over a few months. So i will not be immedately be getting all the components and have it up and running, but I can start atleast with it.

The parts will be a mixture of new components, used ones and components I recuperated out of the current htpc.

 

Current part list:

 

-Case: second hand Fractal Node 202. Usually costs around 100 euro's, bought it for 57 euro's second hand, including 2 case fans. Already bought and underway.

• Cost: 57 euro's (already bought)

 

-Motherboard: Asrock B550 Phantom Gaming Gaming-ITX/ax. I wasn't able to find a good second hand AM4 itx motherboard and this is unfortunately the most expensive part. I landed on this to get a good price to features ratio. 2 m.2 slots, 2.5gigabit ethernet, good build quality. I could have gone cheaper with an A520 or lower B550 mobo, but these options seem dodgy and I would always sacrifice something. So I landed on this as a compromise. Already bought and underway.

• Cost: 230 euro's (already bought)

 

-RAM: G.skill trident z 3000mhz 2 x 8 GB. I have a kit of these at home unused so I will be using that. I might upgrade in the future, only if needed, to a 32GB kit.

• Cost: 0 (already owned)

 

-CPU: 3700x. Since Shotcut can use up to 8 cores (if 4K rendering), I am looking something that can deliver on that. In that sense I will buy a a second hand 3700x.

• Cost: 100 euro's (already bought)

 

-CPU cooler: Cryorig C7. Currently have this one installed in my htpc and I will be reusing it (I have the AM4 brackets). Ideal cooler for a small build.

• Cost: 0 (already owned)

 

-Storage: 2TB nvme drive utlimately, 512GB sata drive initially. I will be reusing my Kingston SSD sata drive from the current htpc initially for storage. Down the line I do want a nvme drive in it with enough storage to not run into storage limitation for the next few years. EDIT: I put in the 512GB sata drive. I changed my mind a bit on this and instead going for an expensive 150 euro's 2TB, I bought an 80 euro's 1TB WD Blue SN570. If I ever need to upgrade, I can use the extra m.2 slot on the back of the motherboard.

• Cost: 150-200 euro's (for new m.2 nvme drive) 80 euro's (new m.2 1TB drive)

 

-PSU: Cooler Master V550 SFX Gold. basically the cheapest brand new modular SFX psu I could find. I can score one for 55 euro's.

• Cost: 55 euro's

 

-GPU: I am reusing my 1050ti from my htpc. Shotcut is not gpu intensive (the requirement is a directx 11 compatible card). Given this is a small card and only needs the power from the pcie slot, it is excellent for the build. I miiiiggghhht eventually replace it with a better card, but it's not needed at all right now. Just need a card to get a video output and that can do some light gaming if really needed.

• Cost: 0 (already owned)

Total projected costs: around 617 euro's.

Total eventual costs: 522 euro's

 

I'll be adding pictures along when I get the parts in and am building the pc. Again, it'll be a slow burner because I am spreading the costs and so the purchases across a few months .

[Turbof1]

Update: found a 3700x for 100 euro's, so that's a good saving on the cpu.

 

[Turbof1]

We got the first package in, the node 202 .

 

Lovely case. It is a second hand one, but everything is included and not a single scratch on this. Includes 2 fans. A good deal for 55 euro's including shipping. I would have spend double of that were I to buy it brand new.

 

I also included the ram kit. Nothing fancy, just  a16gb g.skill ddr4 3000mhz kit.

 

Tomorrow. I am going to pick up the atx motherboard, on friday the 3700x.

 

I also still need to strip the cryorig c7, kingston 512gb ssd and 1050ti from my htpc. Recycling at its best!

 

[Turbof1]

Aaannndd we got the mobo in!

 

So tiny, right about the size of my hand! And expensive too .

 

Tomorrow the cpu will be in. At that point I can put together all the necessary components to see if everything works. I would still need the sfx psu to actually build it into the chassis, but I can hook it up to a normal psu outside the case for a test run.

[Turbof1]

Picked up the CPU today, the 3700x. Very well packaged and cleaned for a second hand cpu. Second hand is always a risk, but a seller being careful with selling it in a good visual condition, is also more likely to have taken good care of it.

 

Came with the full box and amd cooler (the spiral rgb one I believe?). Way too chunky, just going to use this one:

 

 

Or atleast I was... You see, the cryorig c7 comes with its own backplate which tries to incooperate compatibility for several different sockets. That does include AM4, but the backplate overlaps partially with a small backplate panel that acts as a headsink for stuff on the back of the motherboard. I don't really want to remove the backplate, but when I did try to do so I discovered that also kept the headsink at the backI/O in place...

 

I unfortunately can't make it compatible with the stock amd backplate either, so I had to drop the C7 and insert the wraith stealth cooler I had laying around. An inferior cooler, but it'll have to do.

 

After that I popped everything in place:

 

 

Hooked up a GPU and PSU I used a couple of months ago for a test spin aaannddd... No picture. Bummer. The lights of the mobo and ram were on, so the board had power. Also when booting the fans did run.

 

I started troubleshooting, replacing the ram and gpu. Still no picture. I suspected it was either the shiny new motherboard or the used cpu... . Loathing the second hand buy a bit, and not looking forward to the prospect of removing my 5600x from my main pc, I put it away for a moment.

 

Then I remembered I didn't try a different PSU. I figured it was unlikely to be that considering the board did get power and I put that psu away in a perfectly working condition. But given it was low fruit, I gave it a try and replaced it with a different one.

 

And that did the trick, got screen output! Extremely weird issue, but I am glad at the same time given the actual components work and I need to buy a new sfx psu anyway.

 

Next week I will be buying that psu, which will allow me to build the system into the node 202. Still short of the m.2 nvme drive, but I can put that in later.

[Turbof1]

I finished up the build today!

 

I did buy the nvme drive sooner than expected, and changed my mind: I went for a 1TB one instead of 2TB. The reason I decided on this is two-fold: the 512gb ssd sata drive looked to have some issues that seem to be gone for now, but I am a bit suspicious of a failing drive. Also given this was the windows drive in the 2012 pc, putting it into the new pc meant it is a platform switch which could mess up drivers. For that reason, I bought the nvme drive right away to get a fresh install going on the nvme drive. Second, I figured 1TB should be enough for quite a while, with the option of buying second nvme drive whenever needed and installing it in the slot at the back of the motherboard.

 

Some pictures of the hardware:

 

 

The cable management was... challenging to say the least. I think this is undoable with a none-modular PSU. One issue I had was that the cables coming with the PSU are quite stiff The sata SSD drive also needing the sata cables also was a hassle. Luckily there is quite a bit of space in front of the PSU to push the cable in. Luckily the graphics card does not need auxilliary power from the psu, getting the power instead from the pcie slot. Saves the hassle of that.

 

An other issue I had was the pcie riser. I ran into stability issues. it caused blue screen of death with the message "video tdr failure". At first I thought it was the platform switch without a fresh install, but after reinstalling the graphics card drivers it still had the same issues. Now suspecting a hardware issue, I reseated the pcie riser. After that, I had no video output anymore. After another reseating I now have a stable and working system. The thing is, the riser piece of the node 202 exists out of 2 pieces. So riser piece 1 in the motherboard pcie slot, riser piece 2 in riser piece 1 and then the graphics card in piece 2. This effectively creates 3 possible points of failures. Visually everything initially looked to be put in together just fine, but one thing or another must have had a bad connection somewhere. Anyway, it got fixed.

 

The final product:

 

I had a lot of fun building this. Looking towards the future, there are some upgrade paths like a ryzen 5000 series cpu and a better GPU. For now, this will do nicely!