Fanless build - need advice

[at0mac]

I currently have a Hackintosh server that is also being used as my mediacenter, but there are a few things that annoys me about it, so Im thinking of dividing it into a proper NAS (Like the QNAP TS-421) and a fanless mediacenter.

The two most annoying things is hard drive noise, even when I have the most noiseless drives I could find (Hitachi 5K3000), sleep mode is not working on my MB (ASRock B75M-ITX), I have no bluetooth support (so am using a wired keyboard) and have no Wifi (no need for it, but would be nice to have) and have no blu-ray (because there is no drive slot in the case, Fractal Node 304).

All that I want to resolve in one awesome build!

Also, I am thinking of letting the same machine replace my 2011 Mac Mini for daily use.


But I need to know a few things first so hope you guys can help

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Building blocks
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CPU:
Intel i3 3225 (already have)

MB:
Gigabyte GA-H77N-wifi

RAM:
Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 2133 MHz

Graphics:
Build in HD4000 and HDMI

LAN:
Build in Realtek

WiFi:
Dell DW1515

Bluetooth:
IOGear GBU521

OS Drive:
Plextor M3 Pro 64GB SSD (already have)

Data drives (for apps/home folder + local files for working with pictures and encoding Blu-ray):
2x Intel 520 Series 240GB SSD (in RAID0 = 480GB) (already have)

Blu-Ray:
Sony BD-5850H

PSU:
Seasonic X400 fanless (already have)

PSU mod:
Lian Li PE-03B

Case:
Streacom FC10

CPU cooling:
Streacom HT4 + LH4


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Questions:
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• First of all my main issue is that I can´t find anyone selling the Streacom LH4 heat pipes, and without them I can not use this MB.

Anywere you find a seller of those heat pipes?

​

• If I don´t find the heatpibes I need another MB, in case I still want to mod in the ATX PSU I will need it to be a ITX MB.

Any other ITX MB with the CPU area matching standart SH2 area on this drawing that works well as a Hackintosh?


​

• If I don´t find the above, then I have to move to mATX and find another PSU solution (most likely some PICO PSU and a bunch of adapters). Is the Asus P8Z77-M Pro a good choice or you have any better mATX options for me that fit for the heat pipes?

I hope you guys will take a look and help me out before I buy anything

 

[Adrian B]

Interesting build.

http://www.streacom.com/contact/

I would contact Streacom direct and see if they can suggest a supplier in your local area. Failing that, they may supply you direct. You can only try.

Good luck

 

[at0mac]

Fanless build - need advice about motherboard

I just contacted them

Lets see if they can help me out with the heat pipes.


If not I am instead considering the Asus P8Z77i-Deluxe, mostly because I know it fits perfectly but also because the placements of the 24 pin power plug and SATA connectors are more ideal:

The Gigabyte card have them all kind of there where the heat pipes go, could be hard to find space for them.





The Asus on the other hand, all connectors are much better placed so no worries:



I can read here on the forums that the P8Z77-i Deluxe can be bit of a handful to make work as a Mac, is it complicated?

 

[at0mac]

The more I think about it the more the Asus board seems like a good idea, because it solves my heatpipe issue and gives me much easier cable routing.

The complete "wish list" looks like this:



Do that seem like a good combination that should not be super difficult to build?

 

[Dschijn]

You should better use one of the pico PSUs. The Seasonic is a great PSU but will never fit inside the case.

 

[at0mac]

• You should better use one of the pico PSUs. The Seasonic is a great PSU but will never fit inside the case.

What makes you say that? The PSU is only 16x15x8.6cm large, the MB is only 17 wide, so with the tota internall width of about 38 there should be plenty of room, even the height of the case witch is 10cm is below what I need. Just a small modding with cutting a hole to fit

 

[Dschijn]

Where do you want to cut?
I am just worried about the heat inside the case, because the passive PSU will radiate heat under load which will be captured inside the case.
The pico or mini PSUs are external and provide enough power for that CPU.

Take a look at this build:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-builds/95903-giacomoleopardo-silent-macmini-6-2-step-step-guide.html

 

[Going Bald]

View attachment 56128

I can read here on the forums that the P8Z77-i Deluxe can be bit of a handful to make work as a Mac, is it complicated?

P8Z77-i is an easy board to install on and OC. There is a potential problem I see using this board with the case you want - to wit: which direction do the heat pipes go? With the board orientation of the pic above, the pipes can't go toward the bottom because of the RAM or towards the top because of the backplate I/O connections. If they go to the left you have blocked the PCIe card slot, but they can't go to the right because of the daughter board for the capacitors - it is just as high as the RAM modules.
I just don't see this board working with that case unless you can bend the heat pipes to clear the daughter board.

 

[at0mac]

Where do you want to cut?
I am just worried about the heat inside the case, because the passive PSU will radiate heat under load which will be captured inside the case.
The pico or mini PSUs are external and provide enough power for that CPU.

Take a look at this build:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-builds/95903-giacomoleopardo-silent-macmini-6-2-step-step-guide.html

Ahh yes you are right about the heating issue... Anyway, I kind of have a buyer for the X400 PSU so its not a problem to go pico

 

[at0mac]

P8Z77-i is an easy board to install on and OC. There is a potential problem I see using this board with the case you want - to wit: which direction do the heat pipes go? With the board orientation of the pic above, the pipes can't go toward the bottom because of the RAM or towards the top because of the backplate I/O connections. If they go to the left you have blocked the PCIe card slot, but they can't go to the right because of the daughter board for the capacitors - it is just as high as the RAM modules.
I just don't see this board working with that case unless you can bend the heat pipes to clear the daughter board.

Streacom makes an heatpipe riser that can go above the daughter card, like they did on Anandtechs build. So no problem. The riser is called HT4.

EDIT: Scratch that, I now read more closely the Anandtech build log and see that they bended the riser a little to make it fit... Not ideal...
Which make me reconsider once more...


I found out that Streacom recommend the Asus P8Z77-M board due to the placement of the CPU, which is ideal for the heat pipes.
It also happens to be the board the guys over at endpcnoise use for their FC10 builds (though that is the Pro version and a HT4 riser) and it´s recommended for OSX by the user ZenBR.
It has ideal placement of SATA ports, the Pico PSU can be hidden away below the optical drive tray and extended to reach the 8pin power connector. Sadly it has no onboard wifi like the other boards, but there is good space for the WDN4800 if I go pico so no worries.

All in all the complete build would look like this: