[compnovo]

I just did a fun little project tonight.
A friend asked me to build a small form factor desktop for him, nothing fancy just something powerful enough to watch ripped movies and run a navigation program on his sail boat. I got an HEC SFF case and stuffed an i5-2400 processor on a Foxconn 1155 mobo with the H67 chipset into it, along with a Kingston 128 SATA2 SSD and 4GB of 1333 Corsair RAM. No video card or optical drive, he'll use an external DVD burner to install his other programs, and we wanted to keep the moving parts to a minimum.
This is my first build with one of the new Intel processors, and I'm impressed with the graphic abilities, considering it will never to used for high-end gaming (he isn't into that). I was somewhat concerned when installing the proc because it seemed to take more force than I'm comfortable with to lock it down --- I checked that thing eight ways from Sunday to make sure I had it set right before I locked the lever. Everything went fine when I installed Win7 HP (64-bit, OEM) so I must have done it right.
I'm like a kid at Christmas when I get a box of parts from Newegg and have a PC an hour later.

[LiveBrianD]

Can you post links to the components? I've looked into doing something like that for other family members (ex. AMD A4/A6/A8 or i3, 4GB RAM, integrated graphics, sff case, etc), but question the quality of some of those SFF cases. Antec has the ISK300-150, but that's pretty small and you can't put even a 65W CPU in it without overheating issues. The next biggest case Antec has is a small ATX tower (not micro-ATX), and many micro-ATX cases or larger mini-ITX cases are from brands I've never heard of, and use proprietary power supplies (how can I be sure that those won't blow up the motherboard?), so that I can't find a decent replacement. Yes, the 775/1156/1155 CPU levers do require quite a bit of force, that's normal (just make sure you line up the notches on the sides).

[mjd420nova]

During dry runs I find out how the chip mounts and the fan/s hardware. Most I mount on the bench before mounting in a case. Some of these smaller MOBO have some different mounts that can stress when mounting chips. It shouldn't take that much to seat or clamp bar. Checking for bent pins would be the next or even just a slight mis-alignment and it pinches a post. But if all is well, carry on.

[compnovo]

mjd420nova, on 15 March 2012 - 04:46 PM, said:

During dry runs I find out how the chip mounts and the fan/s hardware. Most I mount on the bench before mounting in a case. Some of these smaller MOBO have some different mounts that can stress when mounting chips. It shouldn't take that much to seat or clamp bar. Checking for bent pins would be the next or even just a slight mis-alignment and it pinches a post. But if all is well, carry on.

Thanks mjd,
I too alway assemble on a bench, and the first thing I looked for was bent pins. Couldn't find any, and the system posted and loaded Win7 without a hitch, which I doubt it would do if any pins were damaged. I still wonder if I did something wrong, though, I've never had to use this much pressure before with Intel or AMD sockets.

[compnovo]

LiveBrianD, on 15 March 2012 - 02:54 PM, said:

Can you post links to the components?

Here you go...
Processor: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115074
Mobo: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813186211
Case: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811121114
The RAM is just Corsair value stuff, 1333, and the SSD is a 128GB SATA2 Kingston I got on sale a while back and have been saving. If you look closely at the case you'll see it will not work with any expansion cards, but our plan all along was to use the onboard graphics.

LiveBrianD, on 15 March 2012 - 02:54 PM, said:

Yes, the 775/1156/1155 CPU levers do require quite a bit of force, that's normal (just make sure you line up the notches on the sides).

That's good to hear, and I made darn sure those notches were lined up.

[compnovo]

Hey guys, I just figured out my screwup. I put a 95w proc on a 65w mobo. I'm surprised the thing works at all. I obviously didn't research this well, and what is weird is that one of the reviewers did the same build so I thought I was good to go.

The wattage isn't listed on Newegg's site, I just went to the Foxconn site and checked the specs on the board.

Oh duh...

This post has been edited by compnovo: 15 March 2012 - 06:55 PM

[LiveBrianD]

As I recall, the lever on my 1156 board was harder to push than the ones on older 478 Pentium 4 systems I've messed with (different CPU socket design altogether btw).

I notice the power supply in it is a HEC-200SA-2FX, and am reading this: http://www.newegg.co...#scrollFullInfo about it. I dunno, I've heard shuttle psus aren't great but family members have 2 of those and they work just fine, even after about 7-8 years of use.

[compnovo]

LiveBrianD, on 15 March 2012 - 07:07 PM, said:

As I recall, the lever on my 1156 board was harder to push than the ones on older 478 Pentium 4 systems I've messed with (different CPU socket design altogether btw).

I notice the power supply in it is a HEC-200SA-2FX, and am reading this: http://www.newegg.co...#scrollFullInfo about it. I dunno, I've heard shuttle psus aren't great but family members have 2 of those and they work just fine, even after about 7-8 years of use.

Yeah, it's always a crapshoot with budget boards and their PSUs but I've been pretty lucky (hope the luck holds ). The Foxconn kit (case, mobo, PSU) I used for my media center PC is still running great so you never know....

Good old Newegg, they're letting me RMA the Foxconn board with just a small hit for restocking (small price to pay for not doing enough research). The only other option was an Asrock board, there isn't a big mini-itx selection --- it has much nicer features than the Foxconn but my buddy is going to have to pay twice as much.

[LiveBrianD]

I am thinking that some of the cheaper things out there, like that case, psu, and motherboard, are similar in quality to a cheap OEM PC - good enough, but you can't overclock on it. On the other hand, those pc manufacturers have a much bigger brand name on the line. I'm assuming that Asrock probably isn't bad at all as far as budget brands go - they are a division of ASUS after all. Honestly, if Antec would offer something like a SFF version of the Antec 300 case, I would seriously consider it. As it is, I'm stuck there. I'm thinking that maybe one of those $30 rosewill cases is decent (at least their cases seem ok, and then I can put in my own antec earthwatts psu so that I know quality is good enough in general).

Since your buddy isn't doing heavy stuff on it (video editing, gaming, virtualization, etc), I doubt the board features are a big deal. That foxconn board wasn't all that bare-bones. (except that there's no 802.11 adapter as far as I saw, so you're stuck with usb adapters if you need that.)

It looks like the Kingston 120GB SSDs are about $190, right? Normally, I think an SSD would be a bit pointless for a budget machine, but if you're using it on a boat, it makes sense (as you mentioned, moving parts).

[LiveBrianD]

compnovo, on 15 March 2012 - 06:53 PM, said:

Hey guys, I just figured out my screwup. I put a 95w proc on a 65w mobo. I'm surprised the thing works at all. I obviously didn't research this well, and what is weird is that one of the reviewers did the same build so I thought I was good to go.

The wattage isn't listed on Newegg's site, I just went to the Foxconn site and checked the specs on the board.

Oh duh...

I have to wonder though - they say it's a max of 95W, but in reality, what is it? If the CPU isn't under full load most of the time (pretty unlikely, unless you're editing video or something, and keeping in mind that a lot of things aren't able to take advantage of 4 cores), you likely won't hit that 95W TDP ceiling. If you run a stress testing program, I suppose the machine might crash or something (or throttle). By the way, the i3s and below are 65W. (T versions are 35W.) The 1155 i5s and i7s are 95W. I suppose that they figure that you won't be putting a powerful CPU in a mini-ITX motherboard since that'll only go in a tiny case anyway with limited airflow. How well does the machine work that way? As it is, hwmonitor is reporting that my CPU is using 12W (the TDP on my i5 is 95W), and it's completely idle.

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 15 March 2012 - 09:02 PM

[compnovo]

LiveBrianD, on 15 March 2012 - 09:00 PM, said:

compnovo, on 15 March 2012 - 06:53 PM, said:

Hey guys, I just figured out my screwup. I put a 95w proc on a 65w mobo. I'm surprised the thing works at all. I obviously didn't research this well, and what is weird is that one of the reviewers did the same build so I thought I was good to go.

The wattage isn't listed on Newegg's site, I just went to the Foxconn site and checked the specs on the board.

Oh duh...

I have to wonder though - they say it's a max of 95W, but in reality, what is it? If the CPU isn't under full load most of the time (pretty unlikely, unless you're editing video or something, and keeping in mind that a lot of things aren't able to take advantage of 4 cores), you likely won't hit that 95W TDP ceiling. If you run a stress testing program, I suppose the machine might crash or something (or throttle). By the way, the i3s and below are 65W. (T versions are 35W.) The 1155 i5s and i7s are 95W. I suppose that they figure that you won't be putting a powerful CPU in a mini-ITX motherboard since that'll only go in a tiny case anyway with limited airflow. How well does the machine work that way? As it is, hwmonitor is reporting that my CPU is using 12W (the TDP on my i5 is 95W), and it's completely idle.

I found an i5-2400S that runs at 65W so my choice was to change the mobo or the proc. Since Newegg won't accept returns on procs my choice was made for me.

MAYBE if I was building the PC for me I would have taken the chance since everything seemed to be working fine, but this is for a friend and I don't want him to have any problems.

[LiveBrianD]

Odd that they won't accept processor returns - after all, intel's CPUs 775 and later don't have pins. What motherboard did you change to?

[compnovo]

LiveBrianD, on 16 March 2012 - 04:04 PM, said:

Odd that they won't accept processor returns - after all, intel's CPUs 775 and later don't have pins. What motherboard did you change to?

I went with this one:
http://www.newegg.co...ntent-_-text-_-
I really didn't have any choice on Newegg, it was the only mini-itx they offer that supports 95w procs. Should be alright, good caps and some extras my buddy will like (remote, USB 3.0, etc.).
Newegg has a long-standing policy on processors: if it isn't damaged you can exchange it within 30 days but if it's damaged you can't even exchange it, and that includes bent pins. Before upgrading to the current Phenom a while back I had an AthlonII X4 that arrived with a bent pin. Fortunately I was able to straighten it because this is a classic case of "you touch it, you own it".

[coastie65]

compnovo, on 17 March 2012 - 08:53 AM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 16 March 2012 - 04:04 PM, said:

Odd that they won't accept processor returns - after all, intel's CPUs 775 and later don't have pins. What motherboard did you change to?

I went with this one:
http://www.newegg.co...ntent-_-text-_-
I really didn't have any choice on Newegg, it was the only mini-itx they offer that supports 95w procs. Should be alright, good caps and some extras my buddy will like (remote, USB 3.0, etc.).
Newegg has a long-standing policy on processors: if it isn't damaged you can exchange it within 30 days but if it's damaged you can't even exchange it, and that includes bent pins. Before upgrading to the current Phenom a while back I had an AthlonII X4 that arrived with a bent pin. Fortunately I was able to straighten it because this is a classic case of "you touch it, you own it".

The asrock is a good board. They are an offshoy of ASUS that statrted out making boards for mass producers of computers. Now that they are going for the entusiast crowd the quality has improved greatly and they are a pretty good choice for someone looking to save a little ( if you like ASUS ).

[compnovo]

coastie65, on 17 March 2012 - 11:02 AM, said:

The asrock is a good board. They are an offshoy of ASUS that statrted out making boards for mass producers of computers. Now that they are going for the entusiast crowd the quality has improved greatly and they are a pretty good choice for someone looking to save a little ( if you like ASUS ).

That's good to hear. Like I said earlier, I don't mind taking chances when I'm building for myself but I like the ones I build for family and friends to be as stable as possible.

[LiveBrianD]

compnovo, on 17 March 2012 - 08:53 AM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 16 March 2012 - 04:04 PM, said:

Odd that they won't accept processor returns - after all, intel's CPUs 775 and later don't have pins. What motherboard did you change to?

I went with this one:
http://www.newegg.co...ntent-_-text-_-
I really didn't have any choice on Newegg, it was the only mini-itx they offer that supports 95w procs. Should be alright, good caps and some extras my buddy will like (remote, USB 3.0, etc.).
Newegg has a long-standing policy on processors: if it isn't damaged you can exchange it within 30 days but if it's damaged you can't even exchange it, and that includes bent pins. Before upgrading to the current Phenom a while back I had an AthlonII X4 that arrived with a bent pin. Fortunately I was able to straighten it because this is a classic case of "you touch it, you own it".

If you were to do this again, and had done more research, would you have stuck with an i5 and been forced to get a board that supports 95W CPUs, or would you have gone for an i3 (or S version of the i5) instead? That asrock looks good though. I'm not sure if I'd use one of those for overclocking, but for a basic machine, they sound fine. With the remote and wireless, I suppose they're thinking that you'll want that for an HTPC. Good luck with this!

[Evildave]

I like the 'Legos' cases. Way more fun. Buy a big bulk box of legos and base plate(s), and a sff power supply with more than enough juice. Go nuts! Just make sure it has good air circulation. Plus, EXPANDABLE! Need another drive bay? Add more legos!

https://www.google.c...r+case&tbm=isch

http://www.google.co...cts?q=lego+bulk
http://www.google.co...cts?q=lego+base

[Evildave]

Almost forgot the other thing you'll need...
http://www.google.co...lATX+switch+kit

[LiveBrianD]

lol... I've heard that legos are a bit insulating though. Still, I bet you can do some pretty crazy designs with those if you like. (and yet someone did a completely plain black lego case: http://www.wired.com...lab/lego-pc.jpg boring!)

[coastie65]

compnovo, on 17 March 2012 - 11:25 AM, said:

coastie65, on 17 March 2012 - 11:02 AM, said:

The asrock is a good board. They are an offshoy of ASUS that statrted out making boards for mass producers of computers. Now that they are going for the entusiast crowd the quality has improved greatly and they are a pretty good choice for someone looking to save a little ( if you like ASUS ).

That's good to hear. Like I said earlier, I don't mind taking chances when I'm building for myself but I like the ones I build for family and friends to be as stable as possible.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I have two wanting me to build one for them or actually their kids. One is a neighbor and her 14 year old daughter is a gamer, but not so much with her present desktop. She does have an Xbox 360 and PS3, but for some reason wants a Gaming PC as well. She does real well in school, so her mother agreed to to buy her one and was shopping around some. We were talkng about it and I told her I could build her one much cheaper. I showed them this thing that I built and they liked what they saw. The other one is someone who goes to school with nephew. He has a PS3, but the games are getting ahead of his PC ( early Gateway FX w/ 775 based intel Quad ). His father was looking at some of those boutique things, but wasn't happy with the reviews he had seen. My Nephew mentioned that I had just built a beast, so they came over to have a look and asked me I would build one. I said it shouldn't be a problem.