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WorkLog - neilhart's Mini-ITX into Lian Li PC-Q25 [Complete]

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Re: WorkLog - neilhart's Mini-ITX into Lian Li PC-Q25 with Lion

Hi, neilhart

Thanks for the BIOS info. I spent 2 weeks trying and trying to make a workable USB installer, but the whole bloody thing just can not pass the boot up.

Since I got this mobo recently, I checked the factory BIOS is 06/10/2011. Thanks for giving me hope again.

As I found out, there are 3 BIOS for Zotac H67ITX-C-E so far. 03/17/2011

06/10/2011

03/14/2012

I am sure the second and third are no good for Lion. But I recalled I can install Snow Leopard via iBoot Legend with them. Just share some useful info.

Now, do you by any chance still have the 03/17/2011 BIOS backup file? If so could you share it, please? I guess it's the only way I can make the hacintosh with this mobo. Thanks in advance as always.

Least but not last, some of my experiences regarding the Lian li case. The cable manage management is mess. In my case after I re-organize and reduce the cables, the noise reduced accordingly. Hope that will help.

All the best,

Nathan
 
Re: WorkLog - neilhart's Mini-ITX into Lian Li PC-Q25 with Lion

zhangtrinity said:
Hi, neilhart
...
...
Now, do you by any chance still have the 03/17/2011 BIOS backup file? If so could you share it, please? I guess it's the only way I can make the hacintosh with this mobo. Thanks in advance as always.
...
...
Nathan[/quote

Nathan I am out of town this week but will locate my archive BIOS copy and post it this weekend.

neil
 
Re: WorkLog - neilhart's Mini-ITX into Lian Li PC-Q25 with Lion

Thanks million.

In the mean time, I had a second look at your cable management. It's the best I've seen with a Lian-li case. Definitely better than mine. So my previous comment is wrong, I don't think the cable block the air flow. Sorry about it.

And can you tell me what kind of input devices are you using? Third party mice and keyboard or Apple's Magic ones? If it's apple, which Bluetooth are you using?

That's all by now. Thanks again .

Nathan
 
Re: WorkLog - neilhart's Mini-ITX into Lian Li PC-Q25 with Lion

zhangtrinity said:
Thanks million.

In the mean time, I had a second look at your cable management. It's the best I've seen with a Lian-li case. Definitely better than mine. So my previous comment is wrong, I don't think the cable block the air flow. Sorry about it.

And can you tell me what kind of input devices are you using? Third party mice and keyboard or Apple's Magic ones? If it's apple, which Bluetooth are you using?

That's all by now. Thanks again .

Nathan

I did not get a chance to return home yet. I will up load the BIOS info in the next few days.

Cable routing is one of my hot buttons. On the Lian Li project, I did cut to length every PSU lead and re-terminate to get rid of all of the extra wire length that also blocks some air flow. Also the SATA cable routing in theory is better then routing in the space above the motherboard.

My work space for hacks and my production system is on a 4 port USB keyboard/ mouse, DVI monitor switch. It is not unusual that I have 4 machines going concurrently. While I do have Apple BT Magic Mouse, Track Pad and Keyboard, I use cheap USB PC keyboard and mouse.

neil
 
Re: WorkLog - neilhart's Mini-ITX into Lian Li PC-Q25 with Lion

Nathan and anyone that needs a copy of the 03/17/2011 BIOS for the Zotac H67-ITX-C-E mother board please down load the attached zip.

The BIOS installer runs at DOS level - one way is to use Windows and run the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, V2.1.8 (Google for it) to make a USB Flash Drive stick bootable.

Un-zip the archive to the USB stick.

Boot the Zotac system from the USB stick and run the BIOS update utility, ZTEFUDOS.EXE, found in this archive. Insure that you use the option to same a copy of your installed BIOS before installing the file "BACKUP.ROM".

Again ... USE AT YOUR OWN RISK ... If you are not comfortable with this, then don't do it as there is always the risk you will "brick" your motherboard (and have to RAM back to Zotac to recover).

Again, this is the BIOS that I use with this MB and have had great success with the late versions of Snow Leopard and all of the Lion versions.


neil
 

Attachments

  • Zotac-BIOS-Archive.zip
    3.8 MB · Views: 326
Re: WorkLog - neilhart's Mini-ITX into Lian Li PC-Q25 with Lion

The "Mini-ITX into Lian Li PC-Q25 with Lion" is now closed from my perspective. The final problem was too much noise to meet my original objective of being only whisper.

This is the final form:

1-Final.jpg

2-Final.jpg

3-Final.jpg

4-Final.jpg


And this is the right side with the SATA cable dressing and the cabling to the 5 slot SATA back plane.

Note that I added the Zalman CPU fan controller to the custom front panel. Normally the system will run fine, even at stress full load set on lowest setting. However during my testing, at the one hour mark the CPU temps are in the mid 80s C, and by turing up the CPU fan to full speed the CPU temps drop nearly 10 degrees C (but the CPU fan noise is very noticeable).

5-Final.jpg


Now for the business side - please note that I changed out both Lian Li fans in favor of noctua units (model NF-S12B for the top fan and model NF-P14FLX for the front fan). The top fan is power from the MB second fan header. The front fan is powered by the PSU 12VDC harness with a speed reducer in line. Both of these fans are only a whisper.

Also note that I swapped out the Radeon HD6870 for an ASUS EN9600GT SILENT (no fan - no noise) and then added a SILENX EFX-12-15T 120 mm fan to the bottom panel to supply fresh air the GPU card. This fan is also low noise.

Then not seen is the swap out of the stock PSU fan for a SILENX IPX-76-14 120 mm fan.

6-Final.jpg


System Description:

Chassis: Lian Li PC-Q25 Black
MotherBoard: Zotac H67ITX-C-E running BIOS 03/17/2011
CPU: i7-2600K
GPU: ASUS EN9600GT SILENT
Memory: Kingston 1600 DDR3 8GB (2 x 4 GB)
Drive 1 : boot = SSD 120 GB OCZ Vertex SATA 3,
Drive 2 & 3: data = Seagate ST3500418AS 500 GB
Drive 4 - Time Machine = Seagate ST31000333AS 1 TB
Front Panel - custom plate my layout from Front Panel Express
OS: OS X 10.7.3

Well this is a wrap. I will respond to questions but am off to hack my first Ivy Bridge machine.

neil
 
Re: WorkLog - neilhart's Mini-ITX into Lian Li PC-Q25 with Lion

neilhart said:
The "Mini-ITX into Lian Li PC-Q25 with Lion" is now closed from my perspective. The final problem was too much noise to meet my original objective of being only whisper.

This is the final form:

1-Final.jpg

2-Final.jpg

3-Final.jpg

4-Final.jpg


And this is the right side with the SATA cable dressing and the cabling to the 5 slot SATA back plane.

Note that I added the Zalman CPU fan controller to the custom front panel. Normally the system will run fine, even at stress full load set on lowest setting. However during my testing, at the one hour mark the CPU temps are in the mid 80s C, and by turing up the CPU fan to full speed the CPU temps drop nearly 10 degrees C (but the CPU fan noise is very noticeable).

5-Final.jpg


Now for the business side - please note that I changed out both Lian Li fans in favor of noctua units (model NF-S12B for the top fan and model NF-P14FLX for the front fan). The top fan is power from the MB second fan header. The front fan is powered by the PSU 12VDC harness with a speed reducer in line. Both of these fans are only a whisper.

Also note that I swapped out the Radeon HD6870 for an ASUS EN9600GT SILENT (no fan - no noise) and then added a SILENX EFX-12-15T 120 mm fan to the bottom panel to supply fresh air the GPU card. This fan is also low noise.

Then not seen is the swap out of the stock PSU fan for a SILENX IPX-76-14 120 mm fan.

6-Final.jpg


System Description:

Chassis: Lian Li PC-Q25 Black
MotherBoard: Zotac H67ITX-C-E running BIOS 03/17/2011
CPU: i7-2600K
GPU: ASUS EN9600GT SILENT
Memory: Kingston 1600 DDR3 8GB (2 x 4 GB)
Drive 1 : boot = SSD 120 GB OCZ Vertex SATA 3,
Drive 2 & 3: data = Seagate ST3500418AS 500 GB
Drive 4 - Time Machine = Seagate ST31000333AS 1 TB
Front Panel - custom plate my layout from Front Panel Express
OS: OS X 10.7.3

Well this is a wrap. I will respond to questions but am off to hack my first Ivy Bridge machine.

neil

fantastic thread! i have mine running 10.7.4 with the i3 2125. my aim is to only use the HD3000.

I have an Airport mini-PCIX card installed and i have full sound etc etc. but i can not get the HD3000 running at all. i have tried all sorts and as far as i got was for the graphics card to actually display as the Intel HD3000 with 64MB RAM which is incorrect as it has no acceleration at all. Could you please share some information as to how you run your machine with the HD3000? Its so frustrating that i have tried so many times to get this HD3000 working and everyone i speak with says its easy lol.

Thanks very much!
 
Neil
I am sorry to hear noise was a problem.
Was it a particular component or a mix of them?
I noticed this case has two big fans, were they the culprit ?

CPU cooler looks interesting,quiet ?
I saw a real tiny case where they installed a big shruiken without fan.
(The spcr thread project )

I wish this case had flipped PSU to get air from side of case,but no vents on side that would work. Duct work from psu to top of case might have helped but then clearance problem with CPU and cooler.

This case had a little more clearance between cpu and psu then some others.
The layout still has cpu and psu fighting for air. Was heat kept reasonable ?

A Seasonic fanless PSU would kill noise but you still have heat you need to kill.
That means fans and noise.
 
It is good now. However I spent way too much on quality fans. And then I had this need for performance, the i7-2600k, which really is overkill for most tasks.

neil
 
It is good now. However I spent way too much on quality fans. And then I had this need for performance, the i7-2600k, which really is overkill for most tasks.

neil

Great looking case mod... Any chance that the Corsair Hydro Series H60 cooler (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181030) could be used to replace the existing 120mm fan? The specs show that the rad is 27mm and the fan is 25mm. I can't tell from any photo I can find if there is room between the power supply and the top of the case for this set up.

Thanks!
 
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