[Mostly Complete] Project: PC-WN (Enthoo Evolv ITX)

[KronosOne]

EDIT:  Updated the title to the somewhat name change and status of the build.

 

 

Hello all and welcome to my build log.  This build log is a culmination of upwards of two years of research and planning and will be my first real computer build (non-work related).  My only real previous experience with building a computer for myself was a junkyard HTPC / bootleg NAS built from spare, replaced parts from my last job as a IT Tech.  While she still runs nice and is currently strapped to my TV to provide that oh so enjoyable Netflix / Twitch / Youtube viewing pleasure, she is by no means a gaming computer.  That role is currently being filled by a now almost 3 year old MSI gaming laptop and while like the HTPC she still runs nice, I felt it was time to finally break my own personal financial blockade and start working on something that can last me for quite a few more years.

 

Anyway, enough about the back story, on to the actual computer!  

 

Let us begin with the parts:

 

CPU ~ Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0 GHz Quad-Core Processor (Acquired)

 

CPU Cooler ~ Corsair H110i GT 113.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (Acquired)

 

Motherboard ~ Asus MAXIMUS VII IMPACT Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (Acquired)

 

Memory ~ G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (Acquired)

 

Storage 1 (SSD) ~ Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB (Boot, drivers and utility applications) (Acquired)

 

Storage 2 (SSD) - Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB (Steam library / Games) (Acquired)

 

Storage 3 (HDD) ~  Western Digital Black 1T 7200RPM (Fast storage applications) (Acquired)

 

Storage 4 (HDD) ~ Western Digital Green 3TB 5400RPM (Mass storage / media) (Acquired)

 

Video Card ~ Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card (Acquired)

 

Case ~ Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Mini ITX Tower Case (Acquired)

 

Power Supply ~ Corsair 760W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (Acquired)

 

Operating System ~ Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (Acquired)

 

Exhaust Fan ~ Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 140MM 1150RPM 67.8CFM 24DBA (Acquired)

 

Updates to follow once more parts start rolling in.

[itachipirate]

-snip-

 

Video Card ~ Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card

 

I've heard bad things about the Asus GTX 970, the cooler has heat issues and the power delivery system is very bad. I'm not sure if this extends to the Asus 980s but I'd still steer clear of Asus 9xx GPUs. People swear by the Gigabyte G1 9xx GPUs, and the MSI ones are good too

[ImBleu]

I'd advise against the H100i, but that's because mine had a pump that broke and then leaked over my motherboard.

[KronosOne]

I've heard bad things about the Asus GTX 970, the cooler has heat issues and the power delivery system is very bad. I'm not sure if this extends to the Asus 980s but I'd still steer clear of Asus 9xx GPUs. People swear by the Gigabyte G1 9xx GPUs, and the MSI ones are good too

 

I will have to look into this as at one point I did have the 970 on my build log instead of the 980.

 

 

I'd advise against the H100i, but that's because mine had a pump that broke and then leaked over my motherboard.

 

I will be going with the H110I GT, which hopefully does not have the same issue.

[KronosOne]

Update #1

 

One of the fringe benefits of working shift hours is that for most of the "week" you are around at home when the delivery companies are running.  Thankfully, today was one of those days where I don't start until the evening, so when the Purolator truck pulled up in front of my house, I was there to meet him.  After tearing the boxes open, a nice opportunity to use my oft forgotten DSLR to snap some in progress pictures presented itself.

 

Cannot say enough good about NCIX on this one, the packages arrived in under 3 business days from what I presume is their warehouse in the GTA, a rather incredible feet given that I normally have to wait upwards of two weeks for most of my previous online shopping trips, even from sellers within Canada.

 

 

A couple of glam shots of the case itself.  Not particularly small for a MITX, but I do have aspirations to put a custom loop in it some day, which it is well suited for.  The massive 200mm intake fan is visible and will hopefully provide enough fresh air to the system as I plan on having the radiator fans exhausting along with a rear 140mm.

 

 

 

Dry fit the AX760 PSU in to see how much room I would have to work with.  I think it looks quite nice and the logo is visible with the side panel on thanks to the large window.  I am musing with the idea of using some carbon fiber wrap during the "Beautification" stage of the build to cover it up for a cleaner look, but we shall have to see.

 

 

To bad the weekend is coming up or I would probably have more components to show off.

[KronosOne]

Ummmmmmm......

 

 

UMMMMMMMM......

 

 

*sigh* everything is alright inside.... Thank god for extra packing material, still kinda... rough job done by the shipping company...

 

 

A few more bits and bobs arrived along with the CPU.  Spare SSD bracket just in case I want to expand down the road and the PWM fan hub from Phanteks.  I'm probably not going to be using it, since I overestimated how many fan ports I actually needed.  None the less, I will mount it in the case since the mounting screws sit behind the mobo.  If I needed more ports down the road, it would mean removing the whole lot, which would be a pain.

 

[mosin40]

Subbed

[era506]

Awesome! Very similar build to what I'm currently planning to build. Would love to see pictures of the finished build.

[KronosOne]

There was interest about what can actually fit inside of this kind of case, so I figured I would get off my lazy ass and about post up some more stuff on this build.

 

It's been done for a little over a month now and running fine since then (apart from the horrendous NVidea driver issues with Witcher 3 and causing the video to lock up every now and then... which of course only started to return after I thought I had fixed it when the story was getting really interesting).

 

 

Yes that is a Corsair H110I GT that I managed to fit inside.  It does not normally work, as the brackets that support the removable radiator tray are too long, however I simply just bent them down (and did a rather mess on it honestly).  I now have my dremel back after loaning it out, so once I get a few more ascetic parts to upgrade, I will be cutting the supports down to length.  No, there is no issue with support even at their current state as it is also supported on either side by sliding into the mobo wall & screws on the window side of the case.

 

 

Semi glam shot of the case with the LED turned on (yea, can't really see it because of how crap the lighting is in my office.  For those that are wondering, the space between the GPU and the PSU cover is about 0.75 cm.  I have had no issues with temps so far, hovering in the high 60s to low 70s when under 99% load with W3.

 

 

EDIT:  Tolerances are also INSANELY tight for the 140mm exhaust fan, at the start I though I would have to order a 120mm one, but I was somehow able to get it to fit on the lowest part of the cutout.  I might not be able to get the anti-vibration grommets I ordered from Dazmode to fit in, even at only 2mm thickness.

[KronosOne]

As for my future upgrade plans, I have a couple of ideas of what I want to do:

 

1.  Longer SATA cables

 

Currently using the 30mm long ones from dazmode, however, they are a bit too short for me to feel comfortable with for long term and I actually already have longer ones sitting on another table waiting to get installed once my second SSD arrives / tear down the system for other work.

 

2.  Applying carbon fiber vinyl wrap to the inside.

 

I want to continue with the very much used black / red colour theme and some accents would be nice inside.

 

3.  Individually sleeved power cables for the mobo.

 

As the GPU cables are simply hidden by the bracket, I figure I could save a bit of cash on just doing up the mobo ones to look nice.  Would also make for a much easier time cable managing them if I get shorter ones as it's a bit... cramped behind the mobo tray.

 

4.  Something to make it feel more.... unique?

 

I'm a huge fan of Star Wars and the build as it's going has a distinctly Sith feel to it, so I've been puttering around with different ideas on how to improve it / make it more interesting.  The other idea that tossed around in my addled mind has been doing up some kind of "HAL 9000" idea (see this thread http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/382770-evolv-itx-hal-9000-mod/)

[era506]

As for my future upgrade plans, I have a couple of ideas of what I want to do:

 

1.  Longer SATA cables

 

Currently using the 30mm long ones from dazmode, however, they are a bit too short for me to feel comfortable with for long term and I actually already have longer ones sitting on another table waiting to get installed once my second SSD arrives / tear down the system for other work.

 

2.  Applying carbon fiber vinyl wrap to the inside.

 

I want to continue with the very much used black / red colour theme and some accents would be nice inside.

 

3.  Individually sleeved power cables for the mobo.

 

As the GPU cables are simply hidden by the bracket, I figure I could save a bit of cash on just doing up the mobo ones to look nice.  Would also make for a much easier time cable managing them if I get shorter ones as it's a bit... cramped behind the mobo tray.

 

4.  Something to make it feel more.... unique?

 

I'm a huge fan of Star Wars and the build as it's going has a distinctly Sith feel to it, so I've been puttering around with different ideas on how to improve it / make it more interesting.  The other idea that tossed around in my addled mind has been doing up some kind of "HAL 9000" idea (see this thread http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/382770-evolv-itx-hal-9000-mod/)

 

#1 noted. Will look for longer SATA cables then. For #3, any recommendations for custom cables?  I'm probably reusing my current PSU (Corsair AX850) and was thinking on getting Corsair's own kit of individually sleeved cables in black.

[KRImSIN]

It's sooo pretty.

[KronosOne]

#1 noted. Will look for longer SATA cables then. For #3, any recommendations for custom cables?  I'm probably reusing my current PSU (Corsair AX850) and was thinking on getting Corsair's own kit of individually sleeved cables in black.

 

I'm not really well read up on custom cable makers, but from what I have seen on this forum, Hexagon PC and Icemodz are popular choices.  I was contemplating the corsair stuff, however, I also want a specific pattern of colouring for the cables, which leads me to another company.

[era506]

I'm not really well read up on custom cable makers, but from what I have seen on this forum, Hexagon PC and Icemodz are popular choices.  I was contemplating the corsair stuff, however, I also want a specific pattern of colouring for the cables, which leads me to another company.

 

Right. Hexagon PC's cables look nice, though I think I will go with Corsair's since I don't mind them being all-black (I'm not picky with the interior's colors, right now I'm thinking all black with the red accents here and there from the motherboard and cpu cooler led).

[era506]

(...)

 

 

Yes that is a Corsair H110I GT that I managed to fit inside.  It does not normally work, as the brackets that support the removable radiator tray are too long, however I simply just bent them down (and did a rather mess on it honestly).  I now have my dremel back after loaning it out, so once I get a few more ascetic parts to upgrade, I will be cutting the supports down to length.  No, there is no issue with support even at their current state as it is also supported on either side by sliding into the mobo wall & screws on the window side of the case.

 

 

(...)

 

EDIT:  Tolerances are also INSANELY tight for the 140mm exhaust fan, at the start I though I would have to order a 120mm one, but I was somehow able to get it to fit on the lowest part of the cutout.  I might not be able to get the anti-vibration grommets I ordered from Dazmode to fit in, even at only 2mm thickness.

 

By the way, you are using the H110i GT, right? I believe the new H110i GTX is slightly smaller (140mm x 322mm x 27mm vs 140mm x 312mm x 26mm), would that 1 cm less length prevent you from bending the supported brackets? If so, I might consider getting the H110i GTX instead of the H100i GTX which is the one I'm currently planning to get.

[mosin40]

@KronosOne can you measure the space between the space between the rad (with fans included) and the metal cover around the case?? I really want to use the Enthoo mITX case for my future build, and i will probably do some custom watercooling and i guess that's a good spot to mount a pump/res combo there (above the metal cover around the GPu)

 

Edit: Build looks great, have you thought of a name for it??

[robbiesoto]

New name suggestion,

 

 

 

Project: CWN (Currently without a name)

[KronosOne]

@KronosOne can you measure the space between the space between the rad (with fans included) and the metal cover around the case?? I really want to use the Enthoo mITX case for my future build, and i will probably do some custom watercooling and i guess that's a good spot to mount a pump/res combo there (above the metal cover around the GPu)

 

Edit: Build looks great, have you thought of a name for it??

 

I can certainly do so once I get home from work tomorrow / this morning.  I had plans to do a full loop in this case, however the fact that I would have to sacrifice my HDD storage for a front rad keeps me from doing it (I like my storage). 

 

For a while I was considering ordering the new Caselabs X2M case as a replacement and doing a full loop in it, however the price of shipping plus the couple of extra's I would want push it into the 400$ CAD range, something that I can't quite stomach at this very moment, let alone eat into most of a custom loop budget I would set for myself.  I also don't really push the system overly hard in terms of OC and the AIO + Stock heatsink on the GPU are more then enough to keep my system temps in check.... for now

 

By the way, you are using the H110i GT, right? I believe the new H110i GTX is slightly smaller (140mm x 322mm x 27mm vs 140mm x 312mm x 26mm), would that 1 cm less length prevent you from bending the supported brackets? If so, I might consider getting the H110i GTX instead of the H100i GTX which is the one I'm currently planning to get.

 

I am using the GT model correct.  The 1cm difference in length might possibly remove the need for modding the support brackets, but I can't really be certain until I measure it out.

 

I sadly haven't figured out a name quite yet, I am totally open to suggestions however.

[mosin40]

I can certainly do so once I get home from work tomorrow / this morning. I had plans to do a full loop in this case, however the fact that I would have to sacrifice my HDD storage for a front rad keeps me from doing it (I like my storage).

For a while I was considering ordering the new Caselabs X2M case as a replacement and doing a full loop in it, however the price of shipping plus the couple of extra's I would want push it into the 400$ CAD range, something that I can't quite stomach at this very moment, let alone eat into most of a custom loop budget I would set for myself. I also don't really push the system overly hard in terms of OC and the AIO + Stock heatsink on the GPU are more then enough to keep my system temps in check.... for now

I am using the GT model correct. The 1cm difference in length might possibly remove the need for modding the support brackets, but I can't really be certain until I measure it out.

I sadly haven't figured out a name quite yet, I am totally open to suggestions however.

Thanks a lot

If i'm getting the enthoo itx i'd probably install a 240mm rad in the top and a 120mm rad in the back so i won't sacrifice the storage

[speedyinfinity_3014]

How's the cooling performance? Is there any blockage with the top fans or does it flow freely? Also would you recommend the AF140?

[KronosOne]

OP finally delivers the goods (It only took a few extra days)

 

I measured out the space between the bracket and the top of the rad + fans.  Looking at 11.5cm or 4.3 inches.  I think the pump mount that is purchasable separately adds to the height as well, so it will be tight if you want to add a res + pump combo onto this area.

 

 

 

I still don't understand what you did to fit the H110i GT in there. What support bracket did you bend back? I plan to use the H110i GT for my build, however if it can't fit i'll go with a Kraken X61. (H110i because it looks alot better!)

 

I used my potato level paint skills to try and illustrate what I mean by the bracket:

 

 

Normally the brackets on either side of the case extend to roughly where the red line is, this prevented me from installing the rad mount with the radiation screwed in.  Even though Phanteks has listed up to 280mm rads fit in the top, I think these specs where for a custom rad, not one of the AIO which is bigger due to having to mount the reservoir within the unit.

 

 

By the way, you are using the H110i GT, right? I believe the new H110i GTX is slightly smaller (140mm x 322mm x 27mm vs 140mm x 312mm x 26mm), would that 1 cm less length prevent you from bending the supported brackets? If so, I might consider getting the H110i GTX instead of the H100i GTX which is the one I'm currently planning to get.

 

After giving it a quick measuring, it [might] work without having to mod.  I say that in brackets because after the bending, I can't be really all that sure how long they actually were.  In the end, if you are not willing to do some bodge work, I would just recommend getting a 240mm AIO, the difference in performance is not that huge and it would save some headache.

 

Lastly a couple of orders have come in over the last few weeks from Dazmode.  Can't say enough good about this company, really spot on with the service and seem to work some strange kind of magic over Canada Post as they always seem to deliver my orders from them almost a week before the expected delivery date.  I most certainly will be going to them once I get around to watercooling my rig.

 

 

[KronosOne]

Small update:

 

Hmmmmmm more tasty storage, can never get enough of this stuff.  Now where is that extra bracket I got...

 

[era506]

OP finally delivers the goods (It only took a few extra days)

 

I measured out the space between the bracket and the top of the rad + fans.  Looking at 11.5cm or 4.3 inches.  I think the pump mount that is purchasable separately adds to the height as well, so it will be tight if you want to add a res + pump combo onto this area.

 

 

 

 

I used my potato level paint skills to try and illustrate what I mean by the bracket:

 

 

Normally the brackets on either side of the case extend to roughly where the red line is, this prevented me from installing the rad mount with the radiation screwed in.  Even though Phanteks has listed up to 280mm rads fit in the top, I think these specs where for a custom rad, not one of the AIO which is bigger due to having to mount the reservoir within the unit.

 

 

 

After giving it a quick measuring, it [might] work without having to mod.  I say that in brackets because after the bending, I can't be really all that sure how long they actually were.  In the end, if you are not willing to do some bodge work, I would just recommend getting a 240mm AIO, the difference in performance is not that huge and it would save some headache.

 

Lastly a couple of orders have come in over the last few weeks from Dazmode.  Can't say enough good about this company, really spot on with the service and seem to work some strange kind of magic over Canada Post as they always seem to deliver my orders from them almost a week before the expected delivery date.  I most certainly will be going to them once I get around to watercooling my rig.

 

 

Yeah, right now I'm thinking on getting the H100i GTX, which is a 240mm rad and should fit. I'm also considering the Kraken x61 from NZXT, it's a 280 mm rad and it's actually 280 mm long, so it should also fit, despite being an older AIO, it seems quite capable from some reviews.

[speedyinfinity_3014]

Thanks so much! Is the cooling performance good? And would you go with an AF140 or an AF120? Also your paint skills aren't that bad.

[speedyinfinity_3014]

Yeah, right now I'm thinking on getting the H100i GTX, which is a 240mm rad and should fit. I'm also considering the Kraken x61 from NZXT, it's a 280 mm rad and it's actually 280 mm long, so it should also fit, despite being an older AIO, it seems quite capable from some reviews.

Between those two, even though I favor Corsair, I'd chose the X61. The H100i GTX doesn't appeal to me as much because the tubing comes directly from the top; however, I do like the aluminum branding on the radiator but if you're going to be running a push system then it won't even be visible. 

 

Although I'm also thinking about the X61, it's the best performing AIO (from everywhere i look), but the 400mm long tubing...