[Build Log] Mini-ITX Middle school student build 01

[DonkeyOatie]

After our first build here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2328703/build-log-mini-itx-middle-school.html one of my students is planning to put this together as her first computer, for productivity and gaming.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($82.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($55.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake Core V1 Mini ITX Tower Case ($50.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($26.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $703.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-31 16:23 EST-0500

The parts are on order and we will be starting after exams. I have the case already and she thinks
it is cute.

Like the other thread, a copy of all photos will be compiled in this first post as well as the posts to which they are related. A couple of other students are working on saving enough.

Parts arrived in good condition and on-time from Newegg. Again, I paid a little more to get all the parts from a single supplier.

The Thermaltake Core V1 I like the look of it and the way it works. We shall see how it works in practice.

The panels all remove, including the bottom.

And the side drive-mount pairs.

Only a 2.5" SSD and a 3.5" HDD are going in.

Here's the motherboard out of the box. The same one as my own system.

I/O dust shield in place (for a while)

PSU is easy to put in because bottom of case is removable. The cables will fit, but semi-modular would have been better.

Drive caddy 1Tb HDD and 120Gb SSD (Barracuda + MX100)

Overview of system so far.
Right

Rear

Top

Right side

From the top with WiFi antenna leads

Left side and room to stow cables.


Here's the latest photos with the cables adjusted from the top.

and the bottom showing how, by removing the bottom of the case, it is easy to pack the unused cables away after they have been tied up individually.

Top down

Very quiet and the 200mm fan cools well. Can only tell it's on by the slight vibration.

Disk SSD/HDD side

Back, a bit blurred.

GPU side, yet to be fitted. We'll wait until the basic benchmarks have been run using the iGPU.

Boot screen.

 

[Outlander_04]

The only thing that may cause a problem is the extra cabling from the psu . A modular power supply can be very useful in small cases . Other than that its a nice build

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The double chamber case, with the PSU below the motherboard tray looks like it will work well. The build and the photos will tell the story, however. I like the look of the case and being able to take off the top, sides, and the bottom will help a lot. If it were my money, I might go up to the Antec Basiq 550, which is semi-modular.

Her parents are 100% on board and understand that the computer can be used for gaming AND school work.

It's intended to be budget-friendly, but not cheap.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Parts arrived in good condition and on-time from Newegg. Again, I paid a little more to get all the parts from a single supplier.

In my classroom again. It's the end of the trimester, so the build will be delayed while exams take place, but the new Construction Crewe is ready to go. I pushed the case and subsidized it by $10. I want to see how it builds.

The student fronted up a little more for a PSU upgrade and I got this one at a good price.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

A bit of unpacking and looking at the case today. It's exam week but I would have needed a bigger stick to beat them off

The Thermaltake Core V1 I like the look of it and the way it works. We shall see how it works in practice.

The panels all remove, including the bottom.

And the side drive-mount pairs.

Only a 2.5" SSD and a 3.5" HDD are going in.

I'm thinking of using this case for a dedicated overclocking machine (G3258) to show my students how it works. With the panels removed it's a cheap test-bed.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

After much delay, the build continues. (Exams and a major musical production have occupied the protagonist.)

Here's the motherboard out of the box. The same one as my own system.

I/O dust shield in place (for a while)

PSU is easy to put in because bottom of case is removable. The cables will fit, but semi-modular would have been better.

Drive caddy 1Tb HDD and 120Gb SSD (Barracuda + MX100)

Overview of system so far.
Right

Rear

Top

The owner likes the accidental BLUE theme.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Outlander-04 You are right about the PSU. There is plenty of space for the cables to be stowed down in the hold, but a semi-modular would be much easier.

Here's the latest progress. We're putting the cables in to plan the cable management. Everything will be taken out and the unused cables wrapped up and tied down behind the PSU.

Right side

From the top with WiFi antenna leads

Left side and room to stow cables.

The case is very easy to build in with the ability to remove all the side and top panels and being able to remove the bottom will make it easier to pack up the unused cables.

Anyone who wants photos of specific parts of the build for their own information, please let me/us know.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Basic cable management today. The good part is the case. Being able to remove the bottom of the case means that we were able to use cable ties on the loose cables and then push them up into the space behind and next to the PSU. A Semi-modular would have been better, but this works fairly well and much better than my ML07. There a modular PSU is essentials. Photos when they are vetted.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Here's the latest photos with the cables adjusted from the top.

and the bottom showing how, by removing the bottom of the case, it is easy to pack the unused cables away after they have been tied up individually.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

At last. First POST. Booted on first attempt.

Top down

Very quiet and the 200mm fan cools well. Can only tell it's on by the slight vibration.

Disk SSD/HDD side

Back, a bit blurred.

GPU side, yet to be fitted. We'll wait until the basic benchmarks have been run using the iGPU.

Boot screen.

 

[blue_smoke]

snip

i Think your post posted twice lol.

Anyway, I really, really, really wanted an ITX rig, but I just couldn't compromise the quietness and temps of the mid-ATX nature of the NZXT Source 210. I was originally looking at the Core V1, but now looking at it, I was going to get a non-modular power supply, and that looks like it would have been hell.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Not posted twice. To keep things managable, copies of all photos go into the first post so that you can scan through the whole build without fighting through pages of stuff (You'll see what I mean if you look at the other build log of mine)

The build is silent. I'm not deaf and I cannot hear it 1 -2 feet away on my desk and it runs cool (so far). The 200mm front fan pushes a lot of air quietly. Although I was a bit concerned at the start, the two chamber system works well and the non-modular PSU worked well. Bundling the unused cables in the 'basement' works very well. I would recommend this case for a mini-ITX build and I have other students thinking about their own builds.

 

[blue_smoke]

Not posted twice. To keep things manages, copies of all photos go into the first post so that you can scan through the whole build without fighting through pages of stuff (You'll see what I mean if you look at the other build log of mine)

The build is silent. I'm not deaf and I cannot hear it 1 -2 feet away on my desk and it runs cool (so far). The 200mm front fan pushes a lot of air quietly. Although I was a bit concerned at the start, the two chamber system works well and the non-modular PSU worked well. Bundling the unused cables in the 'basement' works very well. I would recommend this case for a mini-ITX build and I have other students thinking about their own builds.

In my climate and dust situation with a cat, living in a dusty climate, etc, if I had an ITX system, my PC would be wrecked with dust within a month. My Rosewill Ranger-M already has crap tons of dust in it after 2 months and I just did a cleaning and there was a lot of dust in it. The ATX nature of the Source 210 will make most of the dust fall on the bottom of it. I cannot stand dust filters, they literally reduce fan efficiency by, I'd say, at least 60 percent with my testing. Hopefully my source 210 will have lots of airflow.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

OS loaded. The 128Gb SSD boots about three seconds slower than mine 12 seconds rather than 9, but it's still very fast.

Next week we will start to run basic benchmarks and fit the GPUs. It's going to have a GTX750ti, but I have a GTX970 lying around that we will try, so we can compare. We will get data on iGPU, 750ti, and 970.

We're not professionals, but the information will be 'real-world-idiot' testing.

 

[blue_smoke]

pfft

Here's expected fps lol

HD 4400
Fallout 3 - 23/32/43
FONV - 24/35/42
Skyrim - 20/25/32

750 ti
Fallout 3 - 43/62/73
FONV - 44/65/72
Skyrim - 40/55/62

GTX 970
Total annihilation in every game lol