Need Help Choosing Components

[KidUnknown]

Hello I posted earlier on this forum but it never showed up.

I think its just a problem on my end and hopefully im not posting a duplicate.

Here is my current parts list

Case - Silverstone FT03 miniITX

Mobo - Gigabyte GA-z170N-Wifi Mini ITX

CPU - i7 Skylake 6700k

CPU Cooler - Corsair h60

Memory - DDR4 hyperX

Graphics Card - GTX 970 Reference

SSD - Samsung 850 evo

PSU - Silverstone SFX 80 plus gold

- All other peripherals (keyboard, mouse, monitor, optical drive) I already own

Will these components work well for building a hackintosh?

Thanks for any feedback,
Jake

 

[Kazbah]

Do yourself a favor and get Silverstone short cable kit for the PSU, you will thank me.
My own build is hosted in a FT03 (mATX) and these short cables are really making a difference.
I am not a fan of Corsair's H60 .. I had bougth one and returned it because of the noise it would produce and the replacement unit they sent me crapped on me. Luckily I was there when it happened and was able to shutdown before things started to melt.
Since then I moved to a Air cooler and very pleased with the performance and low noise level

 

[KidUnknown]

Do yourself a favor and get Silverstone short cable kit for the PSU, you will thank me.
My own build is hosted in a FT03 (mATX) and these short cables are really making a difference.
I am not a fan of Corsair's H60 .. I had bougth one and returned it because of the noise it would produce and the replacement unit they sent me crapped on me. Luckily I was there when it happened and was able to shutdown before things started to melt.
Since then I moved to a Air cooler and very pleased with the performance and low noise level

Hey - thanks so much for the response, Good call on the short cables. As for the h60, I owned one previously and had no problems. However ill make sure to watch it closely. Also, I cant imagine air cooling being sufficient for a build this small. Do you think I would have success going with air instead of water?

Keep in mind I am using a FT03 mini not a standard FT03

 

[Kazbah]

Air flow and not size is the deciding factor ...you also have to consider that you will have to 'stock' the tubes of the H60 (11.5 inches) inside the case .. but in acase that small options are limited. The H60 will fit. Anything else from Corsair will either force you the abandon the optical tray or drive bays.

Are you planning on overclocking ? If not, you can save yourself some money by getting a H170 motherboard and a non-K CPU
If you do not overclock the included stock cooler that comes with the CPU will be sufficient and will provide a clear zone for air to go thru.
What are you gonna use it for anyway ? Do you really need a i7 or would a i5 do just as well (that is another $100)

Doing some more checks and seems the chosen graphics card is too long according to Silverstone specification you have clearance for 250mm. You will have to go with a smaller card like this one or upgrade to a case that has more clearance. the downside is that the card will exhaust into the case.

Now if you wanna go the overclock, full performance, custom or AIO water cooling or air premium cooler, full length graphics and no compromise route in a relatively small case may i suggest .. Fractal Design Define Nano ... Manual (No optical drive bay)
I would use this case if i was building a full custom water cooling (CPU + GPU) computer.

OR

with a more Mac-like look, removable optical bay,overclock, full performance, AIO water cooling or air premium cooler, full length graphics I would suggest BitFenix Prodigy Artic White ... Manual

OR the FT03 full version if you really wanna go with that look

 

[KidUnknown]

Air flow and not size is the deciding factor ...you also have to consider that you will have to 'stock' the tubes of the H60 (11.5 inches) inside the case .. but in acase that small options are limited. The H60 will fit. Anything else from Corsair will either force you the abandon the optical tray or drive bays.

Are you planning on overclocking ? If not, you can save yourself some money by getting a H170 motherboard and a non-K CPU
If you do not overclock the included stock cooler that comes with the CPU will be sufficient and will provide a clear zone for air to go thru.
What are you gonna use it for anyway ? Do you really need a i7 or would a i5 do just as well (that is another $100)

Doing some more checks and seems the chosen graphics card is too long according to Silverstone specification you have clearance for 250mm. You will have to go with a smaller card like this one or upgrade to a case that has more clearance. the downside is that the card will exhaust into the case.

Now if you wanna go the overclock, full performance, custom or AIO water cooling or air premium cooler, full length graphics and no compromise route in a relatively small case may i suggest .. Fractal Design Define Nano ... Manual (No optical drive bay)
I would use this case if i was building a full custom water cooling (CPU + GPU) computer.

OR

with a more Mac-like look, removable optical bay,overclock, full performance, AIO water cooling or air premium cooler, full length graphics I would suggest BitFenix Prodigy Artic White ... Manual

OR the FT03 full version if you really wanna go with that look

Holy cow! Thanks so much for all the feedback. It has been extremely beneficial.

I want to answer a few of the questions you asked.

1. I do plan on overclocking and don't mind spending the extra few 100 it will cost for overclock-able parts.
2. I plan on using the build for a few purposes. The first is to run osx for the increase in optimization and support for the adobe suite. I do a lot of graphic design/3d modeling. I also develop ios applications in Xcode and so I will be using it for that. The second big reason is to have windows loaded in dual boot. I want to be able to develop other apps in Microsoft visual studio and I would also like to have the ability to play relatively heavy AAA title games.

I have seen people "hack" the ft03 mini by cutting off some metal pieces towards the top that are used for structural support (though not imperative) and that way they are able to fit the longer sized graphics cards. I also saw linus tech tips build video in which he talks about how crucial it is to have a blow style GPU cooler. Do you know of any small form factor 970 GPU's that have blower style cooling?

And honestly for some unknown reason I love the ft03 mini case too much to not use it. So this build has to work with it.

Thanks again man,
Jake

 

[khriswithak]

I use this case for my build. I love the design but it definitely limits you with what type of components you can use. Read very carefully the sizes for everything to make sure you'll have clearance. I couldn't find a 970 or 980 blower style card that was less than 10.5" long so I went with this 960 from MSI since it's the perfect size (9.5" long) and I didn't feel like cutting/hacking my case to make the longer cards fit. While its a great GPU for graphics software, I wish I could step up to something a little more powerful for my video editing.

Another problem with using a more powerful graphics card is that they require a more powerful PSU which is hard to find in the SFX size that this case requires. So be careful with going down that route (check the power requirements for the graphics card). Also, more power usually means more heat so your airflow needs to be great with this case. I wrapped all the wires around the walls as much as possible so that there is a nice channel of unobstructed air going up through the middle/center of the case.

The stock 140mm fan at the bottom of the case is also really loud. I switched mine out for a Noctua 140mm fan and it's whisper quite now.

At the moment I currently have plans to just make a whole new build later this year based on mATX + Skylake parts and a much more powerful graphics card in a different case since my power/speed requirements won't work with this case (as much as I love it).

 

[KidUnknown]

I use this case for my build. I love the design but it definitely limits you with what type of components you can use. Read very carefully the sizes for everything to make sure you'll have clearance. I couldn't find a 970 or 980 blower style card that was less than 10.5" long so I went with this 960 from MSI since it's the perfect size (9.5" long) and I didn't feel like cutting/hacking my case to make the longer cards fit. While its a great GPU for graphics software, I wish I could step up to something a little more powerful for my video editing.

Another problem with using a more powerful graphics card is that they require a more powerful PSU which is hard to find in the SFX size that this case requires. So be careful with going down that route (check the power requirements for the graphics card). Also, more power usually means more heat so your airflow needs to be great with this case. I wrapped all the wires around the walls as much as possible so that there is a nice channel of unobstructed air going up through the middle/center of the case.

The stock 140mm fan at the bottom of the case is also really loud. I switched mine out for a Noctua 140mm fan and it's whisper quite now.

At the moment I currently have plans to just make a whole new build later this year based on mATX + Skylake parts and a much more powerful graphics card in a different case since my power/speed requirements won't work with this case (as much as I love it).

Dude thanks so much for your post - it helped me very much.

Its funny, your profile picture of the case with the apple sticker covering the Silverstone logo is exactly what I was going to do with mine. Fortunately I found a place that sells the discontinued silver version of the FT03 mini so im going to opt for a white apple sticker instead of a black one. Also I was wondering, what material did you make your apple logo out of? Or is it just a sticker?

Good call on the Noctua fan instead of the stock one. However, I heard most Noctua fans displaces the air all over instead of shooting it up in a more concentrated manner - like the air penetrator does. Have you found that to be the case?

Also take a look at this PC They managed to fit a GTX Titan Super clocked edition inside it. That card is 10.5 inches. Here is a link to the spec sheet

Thanks again for your feedback dude

 

[khriswithak]

I watched the video you linked to and I'm not sure how they fit that GPU in there. They either modified it a little (perhaps shaved some off the bottom) or its pressed right up against the bottom of the case. If that is the case then they've completely blocked off some of the airflow that would otherwise get from the bottom case fan to the GPU fan (not a generally good idea). Also, it looks like they are using a 450w PSU (same one I have) but that graphics card they are using clearly states that it needs at least a 600w PSU. So I'm not sure how well that computer would work (or how long it'll take before it gets damaged) but I would advise against a build like that (but I'm no expert). You'd rather be safe than sorry. If you do go with that card then you should probably get this PSU.

Airflow for the case depends a lot on what you put inside of it. I'm not using the bracket/mount for the optical drive/ssd/hdd so I put a huge water cooler radiator and a 120mm Noctua pull fan on top of that (with this bottom 140mm Noctua fan underneath the case for a push pull configuration). This allowed for the best possible cooling for my i7-4790K 4.0ghz cpu without anything obstructing the airflow from the bottom fan straight to the top of the case (a nice clear space right up the middle). It also allowed for my GPU to get some air thrown its way. My CPU idles at about 30 degrees celsius and never really goes past 65 degrees during intensive tasks. Not that my system is the perfect build, just sharing what I did.

If you manage to put that GTX 970 or 980 in there along with the optical drive/ssd/hdd mounting bracket then it could get kinda hot in there with all the cables as well. So just make sure you keep studying and researching everything before hand. I bought the case first (since I knew I was definitely going to go with that case no mater what) and then I did all the measurements myself before buying any of the components to make sure it would all fit nicely and neatly. Thats the disadvantage with going with a nice small build (versus all those huge ugly cases that I hate). If you want it to be powerful then all the pieces need to fit perfectly in order for the best cooling. I think a skylake build is more power efficient in general so thats a plus. The GPU/PSU is my only concern for you.

P.S - I just cut the apple logo out of a glossy black vinyl sticker sheet that I had. The logo from the case is not flush/flat so there are dips and groves. When you place your sticker over it there will be parts that indent where those groves are. So it won't look perfectly smooth (and depending on the light you can see traces of the original case logo. Maybe you can find something to fill the case logo with in order to make it completely flush.

Good Luck with everything. Let me know what you decide on doing and how it goes.

 

[KidUnknown]

I watched the video you linked to and I'm not sure how they fit that GPU in there. They either modified it a little (perhaps shaved some off the bottom) or its pressed right up against the bottom of the case. If that is the case then they've completely blocked off some of the airflow that would otherwise get from the bottom case fan to the GPU fan (not a generally good idea). Also, it looks like they are using a 450w PSU (same one I have) but that graphics card they are using clearly states that it needs at least a 600w PSU. So I'm not sure how well that computer would work (or how long it'll take before it gets damaged) but I would advise against a build like that (but I'm no expert). You'd rather be safe than sorry. If you do go with that card then you should probably get this PSU.

Airflow for the case depends a lot on what you put inside of it. I'm not using the bracket/mount for the optical drive/ssd/hdd so I put a huge water cooler radiator and a 120mm Noctua pull fan on top of that (with this bottom 140mm Noctua fan underneath the case for a push pull configuration). This allowed for the best possible cooling for my i7-4790K 4.0ghz cpu without anything obstructing the airflow from the bottom fan straight to the top of the case (a nice clear space right up the middle). It also allowed for my GPU to get some air thrown its way. My CPU idles at about 30 degrees celsius and never really goes past 65 degrees during intensive tasks. Not that my system is the perfect build, just sharing what I did.

If you manage to put that GTX 970 or 980 in there along with the optical drive/ssd/hdd mounting bracket then it could get kinda hot in there with all the cables as well. So just make sure you keep studying and researching everything before hand. I bought the case first (since I knew I was definitely going to go with that case no mater what) and then I did all the measurements myself before buying any of the components to make sure it would all fit nicely and neatly. Thats the disadvantage with going with a nice small build (versus all those huge ugly cases that I hate). If you want it to be powerful then all the pieces need to fit perfectly in order for the best cooling. I think a skylake build is more power efficient in general so thats a plus. The GPU/PSU is my only concern for you.

P.S - I just cut the apple logo out of a glossy black vinyl sticker sheet that I had. The logo from the case is not flush/flat so there are dips and groves. When you place your sticker over it there will be parts that indent where those groves are. So it won't look perfectly smooth (and depending on the light you can see traces of the original case logo. Maybe you can find something to fill the case logo with in order to make it completely flush.

Good Luck with everything. Let me know what you decide on doing and how it goes.

Hey man, its been a while since I read your last post. I have gone ahead and built the machine and installed windows along side osx. So far the build is running great on windows, but not so great on osx.

Here is my build as of now.
CPU: i7 6700K (never overclocked so kind of a waste)
GPU: GTX 970 PNY (Perfect size and has blower cooler)
MOBO: GIGABYTE H170N-WIFI
Power Supply: SilverStone SFX 600w (although my build never exceeds 450W)
CPU Cooler: Corsair h60
SSD: Samsung EVO 500gb
RAM: 16gb DDR4 3000hz

The CASE: I found the SilverStone ft03 mini in the color silver being sold in the UK, so I paid the 100 bucks for importing to the US and now I have got myself a totally discontinued "rare" mini-ITX case!

I installed windows to check performance, and after running the benchmarks and monitoring the temps/usage, and it is safe to say that I am extremely impressed with the results. It runs quiet as a mouse, thanks to the 140mm noctua serving as the intake fan.

Now my only trouble is actually getting the Hackintosh up and running. I have tried guides with some success, but they almost always lead to failure.

So I was wondering if you had some insight into the installation process on a Skylake machine. I remember you had talked about wanting to rebuild your PC and upgrade to Skylake. I appreciate any type of feedback.
Thanks

 

[khriswithak]

I debated moving to Skylake a lot but ultimately decided to just wait till the new generation of graphics cards are supported (GTX 1070/1080 or AMD 480). I might build a Skylake based HTPC but that probably won't be for another couple of months also.

Sorry to hear you've had trouble with your hackintosh build. I wonder what the issue could be. Does it boot up at all into OS X? Have you installed the Nvidia web drivers for that GPU?