Alright, here we go. I've gotten the itch again.
So here's the deal. A while back, I took my old rig, which was using a bitfenix prodigy with a whole bunch of mods, and split it into two. Many of the parts, including the AsRock z77-itx, went into an HTPC rig. The rest of the parts went into an mATX rig using a CaseLabs M5 and a Asus ROG board.
Well, I severely misjudged a couple things - first, just how freaking large CaseLabs cases are, even when they're trying to do small form factor, and second, how much I absolutely love small form factor builds.
So that brings me to what my plan is. First, I'm going to buy a cheapo mATX B75 motherboard for the HTPC and mount the thing on the wall - the case its in is horribly designed and has no airflow on top of vibrating like a drum.
Second, I'm changing how I'm building my new gaming rig. Here are the priorities and such:
1) Small, portable form factor. This means that it has to be small, preferably have handles or other such easy points from which to carry it, and have some way of protecting itself during transport. (Yeah, that sounds like it's an rpg character, but hey.)
2) Open construction. I want this thing to be as much of a test bench as possible, even though it's going to be watercooled. That means quick disconnects at the back of the case so the cpu and graphics card can be drained easily to swap out parts, and it means I unfortunately can't crack open my PSU for fear of, you know, killing someone. The reason I want this is threefold: To get a little airflow over the motherboard, since it won't have any fans, to be able to swap parts around easily, and because it's going to look freaking awesome and people are going to want to ogle it.
3) Silence. The CPU and GPU are going to be watercooled, the hard drives are (hopefully) going to be mounted on rubber straps. The reservoir and pump are going to be enclosed inside the (SFF) radbox, decoupled on memory foam and surrounded by sound-dampening foam to mitigate the highs and vibration noises.
So here's the deal. A while back, I took my old rig, which was using a bitfenix prodigy with a whole bunch of mods, and split it into two. Many of the parts, including the AsRock z77-itx, went into an HTPC rig. The rest of the parts went into an mATX rig using a CaseLabs M5 and a Asus ROG board.
Well, I severely misjudged a couple things - first, just how freaking large CaseLabs cases are, even when they're trying to do small form factor, and second, how much I absolutely love small form factor builds.
So that brings me to what my plan is. First, I'm going to buy a cheapo mATX B75 motherboard for the HTPC and mount the thing on the wall - the case its in is horribly designed and has no airflow on top of vibrating like a drum.
Second, I'm changing how I'm building my new gaming rig. Here are the priorities and such:
1) Small, portable form factor. This means that it has to be small, preferably have handles or other such easy points from which to carry it, and have some way of protecting itself during transport. (Yeah, that sounds like it's an rpg character, but hey.)
2) Open construction. I want this thing to be as much of a test bench as possible, even though it's going to be watercooled. That means quick disconnects at the back of the case so the cpu and graphics card can be drained easily to swap out parts, and it means I unfortunately can't crack open my PSU for fear of, you know, killing someone. The reason I want this is threefold: To get a little airflow over the motherboard, since it won't have any fans, to be able to swap parts around easily, and because it's going to look freaking awesome and people are going to want to ogle it.
3) Silence. The CPU and GPU are going to be watercooled, the hard drives are (hopefully) going to be mounted on rubber straps. The reservoir and pump are going to be enclosed inside the (SFF) radbox, decoupled on memory foam and surrounded by sound-dampening foam to mitigate the highs and vibration noises.