# [Build Log] Graphite - Streacom FC8 EVO - Z77E-ITX / 3570k (passive/undervolted) / HD 7750



## armourcore9brker

Looking forward to this. Jealous about that 7750. I want one.









There have been some reviews with the 7750 running next to the wall of a case with almost no ventilation and it was fine. Now that case probably had front to back airflow so I can't be sure.

This should be a good build.


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## WiSK

Pretty cool


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## She loved E

pretty sweet. love that case (never seen it before) and really interested how the cooling and wattage will work given the high spec of the rig.


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## SpyderMS

Ordered the CPU today. Just happened to look on Amazon and it was down to $199, a $30 difference from NewEgg, and $20 down from the lowest I've seen it online so far. Came really close to ordering the motherboard as well, but I'm heading to the hills to go camping this weekend, so I thought better of it as it would bring my funds down pretty low... will take another look on Sunday night or Monday maybe. Ordered some Startech 6" round SATA cables as well.

I'm considering sleeving the PicoPSU and SATA cables. The cost of tools and materials will be high enough that I will likely have someone do it for me, who already has everything, and is experienced at doing it. The PicoPSU only has 14 wires total, and I don't plan on sleeving anything in the future at this point, so I think that would be the best route to take.

I've also been reading some threads about de-lidding Ivy Bridge processors to replace the stock TIM. Seems easy enough, with some big gains to be had in cooling performance, which is pretty critical in a passively cooled case, so I may consider doing this as well. Anyone know if it's best to replace the TIM on a video card as well?

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *She loved E*
> 
> pretty sweet. love that case (never seen it before)


Thanks! I forget how I came across them... just looking through lots and lots of Mini-ITX cases, trying to find something that'd actually look good in a living room. I have an nMediaPC 6000B case which is considered an HTPC case, but it's basically the size of a mid-tower laid down on it's side. It blends well with the rest of the home theater equipment, but it's still a giant, and not nearly as good looking as the Wesena/Streacom/Origen cases.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *armourcore9brker*
> 
> Looking forward to this. Jealous about that 7750. I want one.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There have been some reviews with the 7750 running next to the wall of a case with almost no ventilation and it was fine. Now that case probably had front to back airflow so I can't be sure.
> This should be a good build.


That's good to hear. I've looked into other ways to help cool it, and found the Thermalright HR-11, but I wonder how effective it would really be in a passive case. Hell I don't know if I'd even have room in there for it...


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## SpyderMS

So this week I've received almost everything, enough to start putting it together at any rate. The only part I'm still waiting on is the 7750, which I'll order tomorrow.

Today I got around to taking pics of everything as well, so here they are...


Spoiler: Pics!



Group shot:


Streacom FC8WS EVO Front:


Streacom FC8WS EVO Interior:


Streacom FC8WS EVO Interior with drive bay removed:


Misc extras for the case, including four copper heat pipes, and mounts for both AMD and Intel:


160w Pico-PSU and 196w power adapter:


3570k:


Low voltage (1.25v) DDR3:


6" round SATA cables


Z77E-ITX:


Testing fitment:


Lookin' good!




I receive my Arctic Silver 5 tomorrow, and will be putting everything together on Saturday while at work, as long as there's no work to do *crosses fingers*


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## pr0totype

Looks really interesting, subbed!


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## Mike-IRL

That PSU looks fine to me, I'd say as long as you don't run LinX and furmark together or something you'll stay below 150W in terms of DC power draw. Ivy's 95W TDP is pessimistic anyway so I'd have no qualms running that build on a PSU I knew could deliver 150W.

Looks like an interesting build though, subbing because I'm curious about your power draw.


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## SpyderMS

Thanks for the subs everyone








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mike-IRL*
> 
> That PSU looks fine to me, I'd say as long as you don't run LinX and furmark together or something you'll stay below 150W in terms of DC power draw. Ivy's 95W TDP is pessimistic anyway so I'd have no qualms running that build on a PSU I knew could deliver 150W.
> Looks like an interesting build though, subbing because I'm curious about your power draw.


Don't take my word for it, but armourcore9brker had mentioned that the 196w power supply would actually give the computer up to 196w of power, even with the '160w' Pico-PSU... I have no idea how that works, but even if it can only do the 160w, I'm sure I'll be well under that. I saw a review of the same 7750 the other day used with an 4.4GHz overclocked 2600k, and total system usage was well under 150w under load.

Speaking of the 7750, I ordered it this morning, and it'll be here Saturday. I love Amazon Prime









Ordered the Kill-a-watt as well, but it won't be here til Tuesday. I didn't feel the need to get that early


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## armourcore9brker

It's 192W btw.









It works because the brick provides 192W of 12V power. The Pico-PSU only takes some of that and converts it to the various other voltages needed for the system. The 12V line just gets passed through the Pico with no extra regulation. I've always had a high power Pico-PSU but a close friend of mine was able to use a 200W Xbox brick with an 80W Pico to power a normal mITX board + a discrete GPU.


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## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *armourcore9brker*
> 
> It's 192W btw.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It works because the brick provides 192W of 12V power. The Pico-PSU only takes some of that and converts it to the various other voltages needed for the system. The 12V line just gets passed through the Pico with no extra regulation. I've always had a high power Pico-PSU but a close friend of mine was able to use a 200W Xbox brick with an 80W Pico to power a normal mITX board + a discrete GPU.


That is insane, LOL. I never would've thought that would work. Thanks for the explanation though


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## void

Damn I love that case, a heap of power and gaming ability in that tiny box. Interested to see the interior shots of it all together.


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## SpyderMS

Soo.... it's built! Unfortunately I left my camera at home so I'm not able to upload pics at this time, but I do have some information to report, and some questions to be asked...

First, some observations: Silence is awesome... I almost didn't want to put the 7750 in because I knew that no matter how quiet it was, it was going to ruin the complete silence of when it was fanless, LOL. Also, Intel HD 4000 is surprisingly capable for light gaming. The two SSDs in RAID0 are insanely fast... I haven't had the opportunity to benchmark them yet to see if I'm getting ~1GB/sec speeds, but just clicking around Windows was almost fun just because everything was so fast it was messing with my brain. Note that this could probably be the same experience I would've had with just a single drive on SATA3. I had one of the SSD's on my 'old' build but only running at SATA1 speeds. Windows definitely boots incredibly fast, as has been reported by other ASRock Z77E-ITX users, although since I'm running in RAID, there are a few extra seconds during POST for the RAID controller. The heatsink side of the case only gets mildly warm to the touch even when gaming. I did not run anything for a long period of time though, so I will have to try again after a good gaming or benchmarking session.

Some performance pics I snapped with my phone. These were taken while running Half-Life 2: Lost Coast benchmark at max detail. I think resolution was 1600x900 in windowed mode. I ran Crysis at max detail in the same resolution and windowed, and the results were very similar. Also this is 'with' the 7750 installed. The system idles around 31c-35c and about 30w. Ambient temperature is 25c.



These temps are acceptable to me... the problem lies in running Prime95, which hit 100c in seconds. Obviously there are limitations due to the passive nature of the case, but I'd like some insight on whether you all think this is just 'what it is' or if improvements can be made without adding fans into the mix (which would defeat the purpose). This was also my first time ever using Prime95... could it just be User Error? LOL

Also, the 4-pin Pico-PSU connector does not fit in the provided hole in the case. The single 'pin' connector fits fine, but my 192w adapter uses the 4-pin, so I'm at a loss on what to do. I figure I need to make the hole larger, as well as put in two holes for the mounting screws, but not sure if that's something easily done with just a dremel, or what.

One last thing, the Wi-Fi seems to be acting up. It appeared to be working fine while I was at work (where I put it together) but when I got home at first I was getting terrible download speeds (30-50kbps). I tried messing with the antennae a bit, and the situation reversed, download speeds went up (although not quite as high as they should be) and upload speeds went into the toilet. My guess is maybe the internal Wi-Fi connection is 'shorting' or something?... I'll have to look at it later.

Hoping to get some additional benchmarks done later tonight, and maybe some pics as well.


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## SpyderMS

Here's a few pics. After putting the top on the case, it seems to idle more around 45c-50c. I ran Prime95 again and it took longer to hit 100c this time. I thought it was stabilizing at 101c but then it went to 102, and 103, so I stopped the test. Media playback uses very little CPU, so temps stay in the 50's.

Everything installed:


With HDD tray:


All connected. Raspberry Pi on the left and standard 3.5" HDD on the right, for scale.


Ready to watch some movies


Mmm, RAID...


Prime95 Torture test:


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## WiSK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SpyderMS*
> 
> I ran Prime95 again and it took longer to hit 100c this time. I thought it was stabilizing at 101c but then it went to 102, and 103, so I stopped the test.


Prime95 is a bit extreme test for a CPU that's passive cooled, but you could try it with one or two cores active instead of all 4. Also you could measure the temperature of the heatpipes and of the fins on the outside heatsink. Perhaps it can give you insight into how much heat is being removed.


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## stealthybox

that is a sweet setup.


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## armourcore9brker

Glad to see it all put together.









Does the 7750 extend past the edge of the board at all? It doesn't look like it and from all the measurements I've seen of it, it shouldn't.

How are the temps on the 7750? Have you tried stress testing it with MSI Kombustor?


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## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *WiSK*
> 
> Prime95 is a bit extreme test for a CPU that's passive cooled, but you could try it with one or two cores active instead of all 4. Also you could measure the temperature of the heatpipes and of the fins on the outside heatsink. Perhaps it can give you insight into how much heat is being removed.


How do you disable the cores? Measuring the heatpipe temp would be a good idea. I'll probably pick up one of these, seems decent enough.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *stealthybox*
> 
> that is a sweet setup.


Thanks man, I kinda like it myself








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *armourcore9brker*
> 
> Glad to see it all put together.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Does the 7750 extend past the edge of the board at all? It doesn't look like it and from all the measurements I've seen of it, it shouldn't.
> How are the temps on the 7750? Have you tried stress testing it with MSI Kombustor?


I don't recall, but just looking at the pics it looks like if it does, it's definitely not by much, 10mm at the most? I haven't recorded the temps of the card while gaming yet... I need to get my Steam folder back on the drives. The games were originally tested on a spare 250GB laptop drive, as I'd forgotten to bring the SSDs to work when I built it









Thought I'd post a pic of my old rig in it's new home. I moved it in to the garage where it will serve to download torrents and stream them to the rest of the house







My apologies for the horrible cellphone-in-low-light picture quality. I meant to get a pic of it next to the Streacom case, but forgot







I'll be removing the monitor, keyboard and mouse from it, and it will just be a big black box in the garage. I have a Chrome extension in the new rig that sends torrents to it for downloading, and makes monitoring them easy.


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## WiSK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SpyderMS*
> 
> How do you disable the cores?


Start Prime95, click away the first box about Gimps, choose _just stress testing_. Then it asks you if you want to run _torture test_. Before you click that, open windows task manager, find prime95.exe in the process list, right click it and choose _set affinity_. Then click off two cores, e.g. leaving CPU2 and CPU3 checked, and press okay. Then go back to Prime95 and where it asks _number of torture test threads to run_, type 2 instead of 4.


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## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *WiSK*
> 
> Start Prime95, click away the first box about Gimps, choose _just stress testing_. Then it asks you if you want to run _torture test_. Before you click that, open windows task manager, find prime95.exe in the process list, right click it and choose _set affinity_. Then click off two cores, e.g. leaving CPU2 and CPU3 checked, and press okay. Then go back to Prime95 and where it asks _number of torture test threads to run_, type 2 instead of 4.


Ahh, thanks! Interesting that they don't just have an option in the software.


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## WiSK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SpyderMS*
> 
> Ahh, thanks! Interesting that they don't just have an option in the software.


I think maybe you need to be administrator to set affinity. I know that [email protected] sorts its own affinity and that asks for administrator rights when starting.


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## SpyderMS

*Gaming performance post*: Will be updated as I run tests.

i can tell you I'm already satisfied with how well this system performs. It's no quad-SLI powerhouse but it more than meets my needs for gaming.


Spoiler: Heat Issues



There are definite heat issues with the video card in this case. When playing video, streamed or otherwise, it is not an issue, but when playing Skyrim, I could hear the fan getting very loud as it reached toward 100% speed. I had Hardware Monitor running in the background to keep track of temperatures, and when I exited the game, I saw that temps had reached 81c on the GPU (processor temps on the other hand, were surprisingly low). I removed the lid and ran the game again. No audible increase in fan speed, and after exiting the game, Hardware Monitor showed nearly 20c difference in max fan temps. Unfortunately I think this means I definitely need to get ventilation cut into the side of the case where the GPU fan is located.

Case On:


Case Off:




*MSI Kombustor*


Spoiler: Case Off









Spoiler: Case On






*Skyrim @ 1080p Ultra Detail 8x AA / 16x AF*


Spoiler: Whiterun



2012-10-22 20:57:39 - TESV
Frames: 1730 - Time: 61448ms - Avg: 28.154 - Min: 13 - Max: 46







Spoiler: Winterhold



2012-10-22 21:01:14 - TESV
Frames: 1110 - Time: 48314ms - Avg: 22.975 - Min: 19 - Max: 30





*Just Cause 2 @ 1080p*


Spoiler: The Dark Tower



2012-10-22 21:30:34 - JustCause2
Frames: 3387 - Time: 120323ms - Avg: 28.149 - Min: 20 - Max: 52





*Medieval 2: Total War*


Spoiler: 1080p Max detail - 8x AA / 16x AF



2012-10-22 21:45:19 - medieval2
Frames: 8705 - Time: 377429ms - Avg: 23.064 - Min: 14 - Max: 38





*Civilization 5*


Spoiler: 1080p - 2xAA - Max Detail



2012-10-22 23:09:48 - CivilizationV_DX11
Frames: 43315 - Time: 706825ms - Avg: 61.281 - Min: 32 - Max: 338



*Crysis*


Spoiler: 1080p - 8x AA - Very High



2012-10-22 23:57:59 - crysis
Frames: 3789 - Time: 169776ms - Avg: 22.318 - Min: 10 - Max: 41


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## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *armourcore9brker*
> 
> Does the 7750 extend past the edge of the board at all? It doesn't look like it and from all the measurements I've seen of it, it shouldn't.
> How are the temps on the 7750?


Confirmed this tonight, it does not extend beyond the motherboard at all, seems to be lined up perfectly.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *WiSK*
> 
> Prime95 is a bit extreme test for a CPU that's passive cooled, but you could try it with one or two cores active instead of all 4. Also you could measure the temperature of the heatpipes and of the fins on the outside heatsink. Perhaps it can give you insight into how much heat is being removed.


Results of this were a bit more acceptable. Only ran it for 10-15 minutes or so, but it seemed to be leveling off just above 80 degrees. This was with the top off the case, but the top doesn't seem to affect the processor quite as much as the video card. In fact some benchmarks show the top on giving the processor lower temps. I'll have to look more in to that...


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## WiSK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SpyderMS*
> 
> There are definite heat issues with the video card in this case. When playing video, streamed or otherwise, it is not an issue, but when playing Skyrim, I could hear the fan getting very loud as it reached toward 100% speed. I had Hardware Monitor running in the background to keep track of temperatures, and when I exited the game, I saw that temps had reached 81c on the GPU (processor temps on the other hand, were surprisingly low). I removed the lid and ran the game again. No audible increase in fan speed, and after exiting the game, Hardware Monitor showed nearly 20c difference in max fan temps. Unfortunately I think this means I definitely need to get ventilation cut into the side of the case where the GPU fan is located.


GPU temp of 81C while gaming isn't in itself a problem, I'm guessing it's the high fan speed that bothers. If you are thinking of cutting a hole in the side, try first making a test lid out of cardboard, and see how the fan reacts. Try also making a shroud to channel air directly from the lid to the fan.


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## Dyson Poindexter

Love passive builds. People these days are too afraid of high temps. As long as it's stable, there's no need to worry. Intel has safeguards for actual thermal damage. We have servers at work that stay at TJMax for months at a time.


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## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *WiSK*
> 
> GPU temp of 81C while gaming isn't in itself a problem, I'm guessing it's the high fan speed that bothers. If you are thinking of cutting a hole in the side, try first making a test lid out of cardboard, and see how the fan reacts. Try also making a shroud to channel air directly from the lid to the fan.


I wasn't too worried about the 81c temp, more about the 92c temp during the MSI benchmark, although I suppose that is apples and oranges. The sound does bother me a bit, but only because I know some simple ventilation could help it quite a bit.. The fan on this card is quite small, so the whine at high speeds can be pretty annoying. I don't know if there is room to fit much of a shroud. There is very little room above the GPU to route anything, and it would have to route over it and to the back of the case where the ventilation is. I'll see what I can work on though. The cardboard idea is interesting, I will have to try that...


Spoiler: Side view showing lid clearance







Wi-Fi miraculously got better today. Still not where it should be (my Galaxy Nexus pulls 13 down, 9 up, for example) but it's definitely better than it was.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Dyson Poindexter*
> 
> Love passive builds. People these days are too afraid of high temps. As long as it's stable, there's no need to worry. Intel has safeguards for actual thermal damage. We have servers at work that stay at TJMax for months at a time.


I'm with you 100% on that. This has been something i've wanted to do for a while. Wish the card could be passive as well but I think I would have to sacrifice too much power for that. It is completely inaudible when watching movies and surfing, and sound from games will mostly drown out the video card, so I should be happy with it.


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## WiSK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SpyderMS*
> 
> Unfortunately I think this means I definitely need to get ventilation cut into the side of the case where the GPU fan is located.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *WiSK*
> 
> If you are thinking of cutting a hole in the side, ... Try also making a shroud to channel air directly from the lid _side of the case_ to the fan.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SpyderMS*
> 
> I don't know if there is room to fit much of a shroud. There is very little room above the GPU to route anything ...


Quotes snipped for clarity.

Since you have no other case fan, the hot air coming off the heatsink has no reason not to be sucked back around in front of the fan. This is because the fan is the only place causing negative pressure. If you make a cut in the side next to the fan, putting a shroud between the fan and case wall will ensure the fan is getting cool air only. With the shroud, that negative pressure will be displaced to outside the case, and the overall effect will cause the inside of the case to have positive pressure and exhaust through the holes on the base and elsewhere.


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## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *WiSK*
> 
> Quotes snipped for clarity.
> Since you have no other case fan, the hot air coming off the heatsink has no reason not to be sucked back around in front of the fan. This is because the fan is the only place causing negative pressure. If you make a cut in the side next to the fan, putting a shroud between the fan and case wall will ensure the fan is getting cool air only. With the shroud, that negative pressure will be displaced to outside the case, and the overall effect will cause the inside of the case to have positive pressure and exhaust through the holes on the base and elsewhere.


Ahhh, thank you for the clarity, that makes considerable more sense than what I had been imagining


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## xbmc fan

Hi guys,

I hope it is not to rude to interrupt your thread. I've a big problem with my Streacom FC8 EVO and ASRock H77-ITX:

There is not enough space for the internal USB 3.0 cable under the heatpipe:


I haven't measured it exactly, but only half of the space that would be needed is there









Looking at your pictures with your Z77E-ITX the placement of the USB 3.0 Header looks way better. But you didn't connect them right? Did you forget to order the internal USB 3.0 cable or where you suffering the same problem like me? (Btw. the placement of the PSU looks way better!)

Best Regards,
Robert


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## SpyderMS

Hello XBMC Fan, not rude at all









I actually couldn't find a short USB 3.0 header cable. Is yours shorter than 50cm? If so, can link me to where you ordered yours? I looked at pictures of the H77 board... that definitely seems to be an issue since it is much closer to the CPU socket than on the Z77 board.

All of the header cables I've found, even the kind that aren't female-to-female, all have a lot of hard plastic above the connectors; although I'm not entirely sure why, as I've seen some USB3-to-USB2 cables that appear to be heat-shrinked, which would be a lot more flexible. I wasn't able to find any right-angle adapters, but even if one existed, I think your PSU connector is too close as well. You might try taking your current cable apart, and/or seeing if you can cut away the hard plastic that keeps the cable from being flexible. You can see from the picture on this page that the connector itself is fairly small.

What CPU are you using? If it has a TDP of 65w or less, and depending on what you're using your PC for, you might try removing one or two of the heatpipes on the right (over the header connector). The old version of the FC8 was only rated for 65w and less, and came with only two heatpipes.

Last but not least, Streacom has a Thermal Riser that can be used to raise the heatpipes higher. Here is one German site that sells it.. More can be found on Streacom's list of places to buy. This actually might be the most efficient solution, but probably also the most expensive. Might save you from ruining your USB 3.0 cable though...


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## xbmc fan

Thanks for you reply.

I'm using the one streacom is offering: http://www.streacom.com/products/sc30-usb3-internal-cable/ it is 40cm long. It is available at caseking.de. An alterative german shop is this http://www.conrad.de/ce/de/product/986173/USB-30-Anschluss-Kabel-intern-19pol-40-cm/SHOP_AREA_17130&promotionareaSearchDetail=005# If you can go with 45cm google "DeLock 83124"

I've already cut away the black plastic, but there is some more nasty white plastic underneath it. And even if I would remove it, the space will be very cramped and I guess the cable wil touch the heatpipes.



Removing a heatpipe would't help, because both are completly in the way and also my Core i7-3770S would not be so happy about it









The thermal riser is perhaps a good idea, but requires heavy bending of the heatpipes And this part is only or FC9 and FC10.

At the moment I'm thinking about to return my ASRock H77-ITX and buy a Z77E-ITX. It will also cost some money, but be the cleanest solution.


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## SpyderMS

If you did cut away the plastic, you might be able to bend the wires at a 90 degree (or more) angle away from the CPU socket, and add a very small amount of super glue (do this outside of the case, of course). Once the glue dries, the wires should be permanently bent 90 degrees, hopefully enough so that they do not touch the heatpipes (test this before adding the glue).

Thanks for the link! I live in the US but found a UK/German retailer that ships here for cheap (QuietPC). Their price is also less than half of what Case King charges (€5.27 vs €13.90)

Other than that, I think you are correct that getting the Z77 motherboard would be a good idea. So far it has served me well, and you'll be getting a number of other extras along with it.


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## xbmc fan

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SpyderMS*
> 
> Thanks for the link! I live in the US but found a UK/German retailer that ships here for cheap (QuietPC). Their price is also less than half of what Case King charges (€5.27 vs €13.90)


Nice price. Conrad has also a local store in many german cities, so I can buy it there without shipping







I think the "twisted pair" design will make it a bit more flexbile than the streacom.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SpyderMS*
> 
> Other than that, I think you are correct that getting the Z77 motherboard would be a good idea. So far it has served me well, and you'll be getting a number of other extras along with it.


You are right, I ordered the Z77 today.


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## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xbmc fan*
> 
> You are right, I ordered the Z77 today.


Let me know how it works out! You'll probably receive your board before I get my cable, LOL


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## xbmc fan

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SpyderMS*
> 
> Let me know how it works out! You'll probably receive your board before I get my cable, LOL


Perhaps I should better wait until you get it







No just kidding I will let you know, but it won't be finished before next year


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## SpyderMS

Ha ha, no worries, Quiet PC said shipping would be something like 5-20 business days


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## geck0

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xbmc fan*
> 
> I've already cut away the black plastic, but there is some more nasty white plastic underneath it. And even if I would remove it, the space will be very cramped and I guess the cable wil touch the heatpipes.


I would have tried to use a hot airgun and blow some hot air on the white plastic stuff, and then bend it while still warm...


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## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *geck0*
> 
> I would have tried to use a hot airgun and blow some hot air on the white plastic stuff, and then bend it while still warm...


That's not a bad idea


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## IEATFISH

Another option is to wire it yourself. Just make a small extension cable that is wired as tight as you can possibly make it, perhaps even trimming down the USB header height.


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## SpyderMS

Just a minor update. Got around to opening up the hole for the power supply to fit. I think I would've preferred the hole be on the left side, rather than the right, to keep cables away from the heat pipes... For now, I've routed the cable that that direction anyways, to pull as much of it away from the heat pipes as possible. I still haven't ordered a laser thermometer to check the temps of the pipes or fins though. Even at load it takes a while for them to warm up though.

Since holes were needed to mount the power cable, I re-drilled into the plastic mount to make sure the holes were precise. Because of this, I couldn't use the screws that came with it... which was fine, cause I lost them. Found some replacements at Ace Hardware.

Full disclosure, I didn't do the actual drilling... a friend did










Spoiler: Pics








I drilled the ventilation hole into the side of the 'lid' as well, for the VGA card. Massive difference in temperatures... I haven't looked at exact numbers just yet but I know the card was hitting over 100c when I played Civ5 the other day, pre drill.... just from the fan noise I can tell they're much lower now. Streacom should definitely consider doing this in-house... I'll put pics up of the ventilation hole after I've finished cleaning it up with a file, and I hope to build a shroud of some sort as well to help with the air flow.


----------



## SpyderMS

Some updated temp/energy readings

Apparently the thermal paste has cured, and now I'm able to run Prime95 on all four cores without it immediately hitting 100c+.


Spoiler: Prime95 - Four Cores pic







I also ran both Prime95 and MSI Kombustor to measure maximum energy use at full load of both CPU and GPU. It never went past 121w.


Spoiler: Kill-a-watt pic







With the new ventilation hole for the GPU, I'm also seeing temps max out around 71c while playing Civ5 or running MSI Kombustor, so upwards of a 20-30c drop.


Spoiler: Civ5 Temps







Now the bad news... I'm getting constant crashes when doing anything power intensive. I'm really not sure what the cause of this... as I had zero issues until drilling the holes in the case on Tuesday. I even played for 10 hours last Sunday, with the video card hitting 100c almost the entire time, and it didn't crash once. I've ruled out the HD 7750, SSDs, and memory, so the only thing left is the CPU and motherboard. Unfortunately I'll have to wait some time to order either of these to figure out which one it is... in the meantime, I'm basically unable to play games for longer than 5-15 minutes or so :'( Once I get some spare cash, I will probably order an i3-3225, as that was my alternate choice of processors, and I'd be interested to see what differences there are between it and the 3570k in this system.


----------



## armourcore9brker

Probably because of the GPU.

No hole + hot GPU = GPU throttling and lower power draw.

Hole + cool GPU = No throttling and power usage goes up.


----------



## SpyderMS

It seems to happen even when using the integrated GPU (7750 not even in PCI-E slot). Also, 120w is far below what the PSU is rated for, and when playing Civ5, wattage never goes above the low 90's.

Edit: Not sure what I did, but it's rock solid now... just ran Prime95 for almost two hours, 30 minutes of it I had MSI Kombustor running as well. CPU stabilized at 87c, GPU stabilized at 84c til I put in a piece of paper to act as a crappy shroud. This reduced temps to 79c. Enabling a -20% drop in AMD Overdrive's Power Control Settings reduced temps further to 70c (Kombustor was running the entire time I was doing this). Power Control reduction will reduce performance as well, but I can at least leave it low until I need more performance, to keep fan noise to a minimum.

Edit #2: put together a bit better shroud... if anyone knows any good ideas for a more permanent solution than construction paper, do tell!

New shroud is performing fantastically. Kombustor had a difficult time brininging the temps to 64c.


Spoiler: Kombustor w/ Shroud


----------



## SpyderMS

Getting some benchmarking done tonight...


Spoiler: AS SSD



Something is weird here... should be hitting speeds 3x this. I can only assume it's because the drive is now 90% full (damn games...)






Spoiler: Haven: Default Settings









Spoiler: Cinebench









Spoiler: 3DMark06



http://www.3dmark.com/3dm06/17071862





Spoiler: HL2: Lost Coast


----------



## sp1976

SpyderMS - what a great job you're doing here.
I'm just 2-3 days from building very similar machine. It's not easy to find passivly cooled chasis with high WAF








I ordered:
Case: Streacom FC8 Evo (from caseking.de - shipping form Germany to Poland in 2 days







)
PSU - dedicated Streacom nanoPSU
MB: Asus P8H61-I
CPU: Intel i3 3220T (35 TDP)
SSD: Samsung 830 64GB
RAM: G.SKILL DUAL DDR3 2x2GB 1600MHZ RIPJAWS X CL9 FOR SANDY BRIDGE
Remote: streacom IRRC + Logitech Harmony Remote
Keyboard: one of those small Rii mini keyboards

Build is for XBMC machine ( to replace my xtreamer player in bedroom). I'm reading this tread with most interest cause I'm starting to think about expanding capabilities of my HTPC with graphics card for light gaming.
In bedroom I have also Xbox 360 buy it's really noisy. For single player gaming I could use my HTPC machine (Steam Big Picture + PC adapter for Xbox 360 controller).

And here are my goals:
1. either use passively cooled graphics card (but as I understand with this passively cooled Streacom case it could be risky?)
2. or use graphics card with fan AND switch from iGPU (used for xbmc purposes) to graphics card (light gaming). Why switch? Using iGPU with switched off dedicated GPU gives total silence during watching movies. Is it even possible? @ HDMI cables: one for iGPU and the other for graphics card?
3. maybe PCIe extension cable and graphics card outside the Streacom case? And dedicated "box" for this graphics card? Used ONLY for gaming?

What I'm trying to achieve is totally silent machine for xbmc (iGPU only? Passively cooled graphics card - rsiksy? passively cooled graphics card but outside the Streacom case?) and a little compromise during light/medium gaming (graphics card with fan but switched off during watching movies? graphics card with fan but outside the Streacom case also switched off during watching movies?)

Spyder MS can you attach photos of case with the shroud option?








Have you tried switching between iGPU and AMD?

Maybe there is possibility (I know some notebooks have such possibility with Radeon graphics) to set up iGPU as a default graphics and AMD for chosen games. Can you check this?

Once again, great thread.


----------



## xbmc fan

Just a short update: My ASRock Z77E-ITX arrived and everything is assembled, including USB 3.0 Front on the front







Haven't tested much yet, but it boots up from a complete off to Windows 8 Desktop in ~6 Seconds


----------



## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sp1976*
> 
> 1. either use passively cooled graphics card (but as I understand with this passively cooled Streacom case it could be risky?)


It's tough to say without trying, although it is true that, with no airflow at all, your passive card would essentially be baking in its own heat. That being said, so was my 7750 before I cut a hole in the side, and although it would get very hot, it worked, and didn't crash. The most powerful passive low-profile card I could find was the HIS Silence H657HJ1G. This is a 50w TDP card, which is comparable to the 7750 (in energy use only, not performance) which is 55w (75w max through Power Control). The one on NewEgg does not have the best ratings, but it's the only one I know of. Other than that you would have to drop to a 6450, of which there are a few options. The 6450 also is only 30w TDP, so it may be more suited to an environment with little to no airflow... however, I would not expect to game much on this card. You would probably be better off putting the money toward an i3-3225 or i5-3570(k) with Intel's HD 4000 integrated graphics. You wouldn't have to worry about the heat from these, and overall you would use less energy than by adding a discrete card. Alternately you could go with an AMD Trinity processor which for gaming, performs better than Intel's HD 4000, or if you can... wait for Haswell, which should double Ivy Bridge graphics performance.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sp1976*
> 
> 2. or use graphics card with fan AND switch from iGPU (used for xbmc purposes) to graphics card (light gaming). Why switch? Using iGPU with switched off dedicated GPU gives total silence during watching movies. Is it even possible? @ HDMI cables: one for iGPU and the other for graphics card?


I briefly thought about this as well, but when I'm watching movies, I can't hear the fan anyways. I sit about 8 feet away from my PC though, so perhaps if you are sitting closer, you might be able to hear it... but honestly it should not get very loud when watching movies. Using two HDMI cables may not be an efficient option either, as your PC will not likely switch to the one that is 'active' automatically, which means you would have to go through the trouble of changing it each time. You might be able to set up some kind of automation to do this with a simple press of a button on your keyboard or media remote, I'm not really certain...
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sp1976*
> 
> 3. maybe PCIe extension cable and graphics card outside the Streacom case? And dedicated "box" for this graphics card? Used ONLY for gaming?


This would be the very last thing I would choose, because it wouldn't be any different than putting the card in the case itself. The box would also need to be custom built (unless you spend a ridiculous amount of money for one of the few that already exist for use with laptops) and it would need a variable speed fan, which means more wiring, and the fan would always be on which would defeat the purpose of it being silent.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sp1976*
> 
> What I'm trying to achieve is totally silent machine for xbmc (iGPU only? Passively cooled graphics card - rsiksy? passively cooled graphics card but outside the Streacom case?) and a little compromise during light/medium gaming (graphics card with fan but switched off during watching movies? graphics card with fan but outside the Streacom case also switched off during watching movies?)


With AMD's drivers (and I'm sure nVidia as well) you can set up custom profiles that can be enabled/disabled via hotkeys, including enabling manual fan control. I have a profile for the default settings, one for 20% reduction in power, and one for both 20% reduction in power, and manual fan control set to 20%. At 20% I have a very hard time hearing the fan sitting two feet away from it. I think this would be your best option if you just want silence during movies. It won't kill the fan completely... but in my opinion it's close enough.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sp1976*
> 
> Spyder MS can you attach photos of case with the shroud option?





Spoiler: Pics







This shroud is merely temporary until I can figure out something that's fully contained on the inside of the case, and less made out of construction paper... but it works great for what it is.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sp1976*
> 
> Have you tried switching between iGPU and AMD?
> Maybe there is possibility (I know some notebooks have such possibility with Radeon graphics) to set up iGPU as a default graphics and AMD for chosen games. Can you check this?


My ASRock board has something called VirtuMVP, which among other things, allows you to connect your HDMI cable to the integrated GPU, yet it will use your external GPU when needed. You can manually select which programs will use VirtuMVP in the VirtuMVP settings. I have not done much testing with VirtuMVP at all, as I previously thought it was the source of some stability problems (it was not). I'm not certain, but I also thought that I read somewhere that connecting to the integrated chip and using VirtuMVP will give you less overall performance than if you connected directly to your discrete card; but that on the flipside, it would give you far more performance than only using the integrated GPU. Again, I've not done any testing myself to verify this... there may not be any performance difference at all, or it could be negligible... I really don't know yet... but it's another option that might work for you.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xbmc fan*
> 
> Just a short update: My ASRock Z77E-ITX arrived and everything is assembled, including USB 3.0 Front on the front
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Haven't tested much yet, but it boots up from a complete off to Windows 8 Desktop in ~6 Seconds


Nice! Do you have the option set in the BIOS for the Ultra Fast Boot for Windows 8? It's an option only for Windows 8, so I haven't tested it yet. I just assumed you must have it set if you're getting 6 second boot times. I'm getting about 15-20 second boot times with Win7, but I also have RAID enabled, which takes a few seconds on it's own.

*For both of you... and others using this case, or other Streacom cases*, I found a potential issue with this motherboard which I believe may be the cause of the instability of my system. The heatpipes are basically laying right on the northbridge heatsink, and are in direct contact with it. I noticed after a crash that my CMOS battery was hot which was kind of curious, so I tried touching the northbridge heatsink and it pushed down, as if it wasn't fully in contact with the chipset beneath it. I realized that the heatpipe could be heating up the heatsink more than normal, causing the thermal paste to become soft, and at the same time, pushing down on one edge, causing the other side to come up off the northbridge, as it's only held down in 3 corners instead of 4 (and obviously not very well). I'm going to see if my computer stays stable providing pressure is put on the heatsink, keeping it flush with the northbridge. If it is the problem, I'm not sure how I will fix it, since the bend in the heatpipes is right there... would not be easy to bend them over the heatsink... might have to file the heatsink down


----------



## zirbio

Hello,

First, SpyderMS nice build men! You are in the limit with this case! Congrats.

I've built a computer with this case, the Streacom F8 EVO, it's awesome but I'm having some issues too. But firstly, I'd like to describe the components I chose to use:

1. Asus p8h77-i
2. I3 3225
3. Pico psu (150 watts)
4. Kingston 4gb ram memory
5. Crucial m4 ssd 128 GB

The temperatures of the core are around 60ºc (not Fahrenheit) when I'm using the XBMC, but with the Aeon skin (for those that doesn't know this is a heavy load skin), this temperatures are ok for my, I set up the limit on 72ºC, the problem I found is on the motherboard, because the temperatures rise up to 60ºC, and this is the limit that the Asus suite sets to the motherboard, I'm getting worry. Someone has any ideas on that?

P.S. Sorry if I haven't express good, English isn't my first language


----------



## SpyderMS

Hello Zirbio, the processor's temp is 60 or the motherboard? If just the processor, then you are perfectly fine. The maximum operating temp for Ivy Bridge is 105c, which you are well below. Even my Core-i5 has hit 105 before but the processor has built-in protection that drops the clock speed in order to not rise above that temperature.

Edit: it has not hit 105c in this case using the heatpipes... wanted to clarify that.


----------



## zirbio

Sorry, I haven't express myself correctly, I was talking about the motherboard not the processor.


----------



## SpyderMS

No worries. I downloaded the manual for your motherboard but couldn't find any mention of maximum operating temperature. Where did you find this information?


----------



## zirbio

I read too, but I didn't find anything.
I found the information in the official program of Asus (the Asus suite) there is an alert set up to 60ºC max. to the motherboard and 76ºC to the processor.

Thanks a lot for your cooperation.


----------



## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *zirbio*
> 
> I read too, but I didn't find anything.
> I found the information in the official program of Asus (the Asus suite) there is an alert set up to 60ºC max. to the motherboard and 76ºC to the processor.
> 
> Thanks a lot for your cooperation.


Ahh, that is probably a user-adjustable setting so you can keep tabs on your heat without actually monitoring it visually all the time. I would not be concerned about it.


----------



## zirbio

great! but what would you say that is the temperature limit for the motherboard?


----------



## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *zirbio*
> 
> great! but what would you say that is the temperature limit for the motherboard?


I've never heard of a temp limit for the board itself... Your northbridge will get pretty hot. I believe mine has been causing crashes because of the lack of airflow in this case. I'll be purchasing one of these, and replacing the stock northbridge heatsink with it, in hopes that it will fix, or at least reduce, my problems.


----------



## zirbio

Ok thanks a lot, I think i'm getting too much worry with this
I'm thinkin of buying a passive GPU. do you recomend anyone? or you don't recomend at all.


----------



## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *zirbio*
> 
> Ok thanks a lot, I think i'm getting too much worry with this
> I'm thinkin of buying a passive GPU. do you recomend anyone? or you don't recomend at all.


That's what I'd considered before getting the 7750. It's hard to say whether it would be a good idea with this case or not... normally you have 'some' kind of air circulation in a case, because of the case fans and such... with no fans at all, the card would just sit in their own heat.

If I were to get one, I'd consider this 6450 by Gigabyte. It has a decent size heatsink, and good reviews. I liked this one from ASUS as well, but the heatsink looks like it might not be as efficient.


----------



## zirbio

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SpyderMS*
> 
> That's what I'd considered before getting the 7750. It's hard to say whether it would be a good idea with this case or not... normally you have 'some' kind of air circulation in a case, because of the case fans and such... with no fans at all, the card would just sit in their own heat.
> 
> If I were to get one, I'd consider this 6450 by Gigabyte. It has a decent size heatsink, and good reviews. I liked this one from ASUS as well, but the heatsink looks like it might not be as efficient.


Thank you for your answer, but i'm getting worried with the temperatures of my motherboard, and I think that GPU, wont help. I read on another forum that the circuits of the motherboards shoudn't be more than 60ºC which makes sense.


----------



## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *zirbio*
> 
> Thank you for your answer, but i'm getting worried with the temperatures of my motherboard, and I think that GPU, wont help. I read on another forum that the circuits of the motherboards shoudn't be more than 60ºC which makes sense.


Ah no worries. Perhaps when I have some extra money lying around I'll order one just for experimentation purposes


----------



## sp1976

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *zirbio*
> 
> Hello,
> 
> First, SpyderMS nice build men! You are in the limit with this case! Congrats.
> 
> I've built a computer with this case, the Streacom F8 EVO, it's awesome but I'm having some issues too. But firstly, I'd like to describe the components I chose to use:
> 
> 1. Asus p8h77-i
> 2. I3 3225
> 3. Pico psu (150 watts)
> 4. Kingston 4gb ram memory
> 5. Crucial m4 ssd 128 GB
> 
> The temperatures of the core are around 60ºc (not Fahrenheit) when I'm using the XBMC, but with the Aeon skin (for those that doesn't know this is a heavy load skin), this temperatures are ok for my, I set up the limit on 72ºC, the problem I found is on the motherboard, because the temperatures rise up to 60ºC, and this is the limit that the Asus suite sets to the motherboard, I'm getting worry. Someone has any ideas on that?
> 
> P.S. Sorry if I haven't express good, English isn't my first language


Hi, finally I've managed to built my HTPC using Streacom FC8 EVO. My built is very similar
1. Asus P8H61-I rev. 2.0
2. i3 3220T (35 TDP)
3. NanoPSU 150W (the one from Streacom)
4. G.Skill 2x2GB RAM
5. Samsung 830 SSD 64GB

CPU temp. around 45ºC. MB arodun 40ºC.
OS is Windows 8, almost no programs, only xbmc.
So I think your temps could be lower. I found info that using better thermal grease helps.

I tried to play SW: The Force Unleashed 2 - playable only on low details







However wireless Xbox 360 controller (via usb adapter) works perfectly. So for now I stick with my console for gaming









I've encountered problem with remote (usb eHome reiver plus Harmony remote). I tried to power on/off with remote but I couldn't achive it with my motherboard. I managed to power on from power off state with mouse click (cable connection), with WOL, but no success with remote









I wrote to ASUS is there any hidden BIOS setting (similar to ASRock mobos). Unfortuantelly USB header is not powered by 5V SB (pin 9, the vilolet one) and my Streacom (wesena) internal IR Receiver is useless.


----------



## Matzno

Hi!

SpyderMS, this is almost exactly the build I'm looking to build! Thank you for all posts.

I wonder if you believe it is possible to run the 7750 without cutting up the side of the chassi. If I understand your testing correctly, you reached risky GPU temperatures while running benchmark software. Did the GPU run tio hot while gaming aswell?
I'd like to be able to play Diablo 3 decently, but it's always nice to avoid modifying the chassi.

Again, thanks for a great thread!


----------



## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Matzno*
> 
> Hi!
> 
> SpyderMS, this is almost exactly the build I'm looking to build! Thank you for all posts.
> 
> I wonder if you believe it is possible to run the 7750 without cutting up the side of the chassi. If I understand your testing correctly, you reached risky GPU temperatures while running benchmark software. Did the GPU run tio hot while gaming aswell?
> I'd like to be able to play Diablo 3 decently, but it's always nice to avoid modifying the chassi.
> 
> Again, thanks for a great thread!


Possible, yes, but as you mentioned, the heat would get pretty high. on occasion. I think I was more worried about the sound of the fan really... which was incredibly loud and of high pitch due to the small size of the fan. The card itself will drop it's performance automatically once it gets hot enough, in order to not push the card past it's operating temperature limit, so just keep that in mind... you might be sacrificing performance, as well as having a very loud card, just to keep from cutting a hole. I think once I get around to adding some u-channel modling around the sides of the hole, as well as a better looking shroud, it will actually look pretty decent. I'm saving up for a trip to Europe in March, so those plans are temporarily on hold. Unfortunately I haven't tried Diablo 3 on this setup, or looked into how well it runs on anything similar, so I'm not sure I can comment on how well it would run; but as of now, I have been running quite a few games with everything maxed at 1080p without much issue (I don't mind playing with average FPS in the low 30's or high 20's though either)


----------



## Matzno

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SpyderMS*
> 
> Possible, yes, but as you mentioned, the heat would get pretty high. on occasion. I think I was more worried about the sound of the fan really... which was incredibly loud and of high pitch due to the small size of the fan. The card itself will drop it's performance automatically once it gets hot enough, in order to not push the card past it's operating temperature limit, so just keep that in mind... you might be sacrificing performance, as well as having a very loud card, just to keep from cutting a hole. I think once I get around to adding some u-channel modling around the sides of the hole, as well as a better looking shroud, it will actually look pretty decent. I'm saving up for a trip to Europe in March, so those plans are temporarily on hold. Unfortunately I haven't tried Diablo 3 on this setup, or looked into how well it runs on anything similar, so I'm not sure I can comment on how well it would run; but as of now, I have been running quite a few games with everything maxed at 1080p without much issue (I don't mind playing with average FPS in the low 30's or high 20's though either)


Alright, I guess a hole in the side is the way forward then if I want to use a graphics card. Just have to come up with some creative design =)
I probably don't want to stress the components more than necessary anyway. I'm looking for a build that is stable over time.

Is your system still running below 120W? I'm hoping to use the Nano150 PSU adapter, and it maxes out on 150W.
If I add TDPs of the components (MB, Processor, Graphics card, SSD etc.) I end up pretty close to 150W...


----------



## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Matzno*
> 
> Is your system still running below 120W? I'm hoping to use the Nano150 PSU adapter, and it maxes out on 150W.
> If I add TDPs of the components (MB, Processor, Graphics card, SSD etc.) I end up pretty close to 150W...


When gaming it has never gone over 100w, usually around the high 90's at most, dropping to the mid 70's when not being stressed as much (but still gaming... mid 30's at idle). I hit 141w once when running both Prime95 on all four cores, as well as MSI Kombustor; but in real life scenarios you would probably never see that, so 150w would probably work no problem, but keep in mind the PSU is not 100% efficient, so I'm not certain it would provide the full 150w. Also, if you are using exactly the same components, the totals add up to well over 150w. TDP of the i5-3570k is 77w, TDP of the Radeon 7750 is 75w (some places it is mentioned as 55w, but I believe this is only when Power Control is set to -20%, I'm not certain....). But again, even stressing components 100%, I have never seen over 141w. Anandtech also recently did a review of the FC10 using an i3-3225 and a passive 7750. Obviously there is a 20w difference between the i3-3225 and the i5-3570k, but keeping that in mind, their system never went beyond 75w or so with Prime95 and Furmark at full load.

Also a word of warning, cyberspyder bought his PSU from Streacom/PerfectHomeTheater, and had major problems with it, as seen in his post here. I ordered my PSU from mini-box.com, prior to seeing the post about the Nano150, just because i was looking for more power. Even if you ended up having similar issues though, a replacement power brick would not be difficult, nor expensive to obtain.


----------



## giacomoleopardo

Hi Spyder, just a quick tip:
I'm about to buy FC8 Evo, but I need Asus p8z77-i deluxe as motherboard (for hackintosh). Now, as you can easily check, that motherboard has a particular cpu placement, and has a particular DIGI+VRAM sort of "vertical piece".
That said, I'm asking you: in your opinion, do the heatpipes allow some particular bends? Do you think I'll be able to fit this mobo in FC8?


----------



## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *giacomoleopardo*
> 
> Hi Spyder, just a quick tip:
> I'm about to buy FC8 Evo, but I need Asus p8z77-i deluxe as motherboard (for hackintosh). Now, as you can easily check, that motherboard has a particular cpu placement, and has a particular DIGI+VRAM sort of "vertical piece".
> That said, I'm asking you: in your opinion, do the heatpipes allow some particular bends? Do you think I'll be able to fit this mobo in FC8?


I think the VRM board is just a bit too high for this particular case. You can see in xbmcfan's post his pipes barely clear his PicoPSU, which I think might be a little shorter than the VRM board on the ASUS. Because the CPU socket on the ASUS is closer to the wall of the case, you would have to make some pretty extreme bends as well. That doesn't mean it is impossible to use this case with bent pipes... but it would be quite an expensive risk to take, and I would recommend you use some type of pipe bending tool, such as this one on Amazon. If you bend the pipes using pliers or something else, you risk damaging the inside of the pipe. I used pliers for mine, but I only made very, very minor bends.

The FC9 and FC10 have higher mounts that can be used in conjunction with a riser. Anandtech actually did this using the exact board you are looking to use. Even then it looks to have barely cleared the VRM board (although the pipes for the FC9/10 have much less of an angle on them than the FC8 pipes). This is obviously a much more expensive solution... although it would allow the use of a dual-slot passive videocard (as Anandtech did).


----------



## giacomoleopardo

I missed anandtech review, and you gave me a piece of very useful information! I have to think about it seriously.
Anyway I'll post results as soon as I can get to a working solution.
Thanks man, I appreciate your help!


----------



## 2002dunx

Why would you use that Asus board for a 55W CPU when numerous cheaper options are available ?

dunx


----------



## WiSK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *2002dunx*
> 
> Why would you use that Asus board for a 55W CPU when numerous cheaper options are available ?


If you're talking about the Anandtech review, they wanted that motherboard for the HTPC features. Ian Cutress had the board anyway for the mITX round-up review. His reason for not using a K chip are pretty poor. It seemed to be based on a review of the Origin Chronos by Dustin Sklavos who saw temps of 93C on an overclocked i5-3570K. This leads him (Ian) to conclude: "_While one of the features of the Z77 platform over H77 is overclocking, this is a little at odds with the mITX premise. Small form factor scenarios do not often react well with heat, especially paired with inadequate cooling or large heat producing GPUs._" I think the word noob applies here.


----------



## giacomoleopardo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *2002dunx*
> 
> Why would you use that Asus board for a 55W CPU when numerous cheaper options are available ?
> 
> dunx


Long story! i'm looking for displayport (or minidisplayport) onboard, but my machine has to be an hackintosh and don't want/need discrete graphic card. Zotac z77 itx was my primary choice, take a look here if you want, it turned out they claim to have a mini displayPort fully functional on that board, but IT'S NOT TRUE! Pluggin my 27 inches Apple Cinema Display (the non-thunderbolt one) gave me zero results! Since asus p8z77i deluxe is a great mobo, and it's greatly supported in hackintosh community I decided to give it a shot.
Now, that machine I built is running with a low profile nVidia quadro NVS 295 in a Streacom fc7 evo case, and I will use in my studio with a 1080p Samsung via hdmi and it's fine by me, but my new rig has to be completely silent and no need of gpu. So here I am!


----------



## Digitalninja126

Awesome build. Interesting SFF builds are always fun to read/watch.


----------



## VertigoInc

System keeps around 37-40C idle, and up to 60-62C when running Guild Wars 2 at medium settings.
The pipe bender used wasn't right for the diameter of the pipes, so they did get flattened a bit.
Do get one that fits the heatpipe diameter exactly for better results.

Using:
Streacom FC8B EVO
ST-FC8B EVO

Streacom NANO150 PSU Adapter
ST-NANO150

Streacom SC30 USB3.0 Internal Cable
ST-SC30

Streacom ST-OB2 DVD±RW/Blu-Ray Reader
ST-OB2

Intel® SSD 520 Series 120GB 2.5"
SSDSC2CW120A310

ASUS P8Z77-I DELUXE/WD, Socket-1155
P8Z77-I DELUXE/WD

Intel® Core i7-3770S Processor - Socket-LGA1155, Quad Core, 3.1GHz, 8MB, 65W, HD4000, Boxed w/fan
BX80637I73770S

Kingston DDR3 HyperX Beast 16GB - 2400MHz 2x8GB KIT CL11 HyperX Beast
KHX24C11T3K2/16X

Noctua NT-H1

Microsoft Windows 8 Pro

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## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *VertigoInc*
> 
> Using:
> ASUS P8Z77-I DELUXE/WD, Socket-1155


WOW, that is a hell of a job with those pipes. I was scared just to bend mine even slightly (though was doing it without a pipe bender). That definitely takes some balls. Nice first post









Can I ask; why would you choose this board for this case. I'm assuming you could see that there would be a problem with the daughterboard?


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## gnoled

Thanks for sharing that vertigo!

I have a similar spec but in a silverstone sg05 which is a noisy rattletrap trashcan.

Ordering the Streacom today!


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## aragok

hi spyderms
i'm italian
sorry for my english . I want to buy this case streacom f1c or f7c for my mini pc with i3-3225 mobo gigabyte and i think for hd 7750 but i have fear for temperature.....
if ia not put hd 7750 i think that is best f1c....what do you advise me?


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## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *aragok*
> 
> hi spyderms
> i'm italian
> sorry for my english . I want to buy this case streacom f1c or f7c for my mini pc with i3-3225 mobo gigabyte and i think for hd 7750 but i have fear for temperature.....
> if ia not put hd 7750 i think that is best f1c....what do you advise me?


I sent this in reply to your PM as well, but I'm also including it here in case anyone else who is interested comes across it.

You would need the F7C in order to fit an HD 7750. It is the same case as my FC8, but without the heat pipes. I also see that the FC7 EVO has ventilation built into the side where your graphics card will be. With that in mind, and the fact that you will also be able to have a case fan on the opposite side near the back, and the CPU fan creating air movement inside the case, you will have a much better cooling situation than I did in my FC8 EVO. I think it will work out great.

If you do decide to go without the 7750, then the F1C will be a great case as well. If you play games though, then I highly recommend getting the F7C and the Radeon 7750. There is quite a bit of graphics power in the 7750 and I don't think you will have any problems with it in the F7C. Good luck


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## aragok

thank you...the fan of card coincides with the lateral hole?


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## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *aragok*
> 
> thank you...the fan of card coincides with the lateral hole?


It does not, unfortunately... but honestly I would go for it anyways. In the worst case scenario, you could build a shroud inside the case that would help direct air from the ventilation area to the fan itself. Even without the shroud though, the card will work no problem, it just might get somewhat loud during heavy gaming. You shouldn't hear it at all when watching movies or just browsing the internet though.


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## SpyderMS

You can see my graphics card here. The positioning of the fan is basically exactly in the center of the case. Keeping that in mind, this is a close representation of where the fan is in relation to the hole in the FC7 EVO case. Keep in mind this is not exact... only an estimate.


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## aragok

mmmm i put a video card more long


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## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *aragok*
> 
> mmmm i put a video card more long


You aren't likely to find one that is both low profile, single slot, and long. These things just don't go together.


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## aragok

you're right ... but why make that hole so wrong in the case?

you think that if i put this vga in the case is ok or i must do a hole so you have done?

if i use the itek diamond7?


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## meph365

I am looking to make a Haswell build using the FC8 Evo case.

It appears that the following motherboards are incompatible due to the CPU socket being in the top half of the board:

ASRock Z87E-ITX
ASUS Z87-ITX
EVGA Z87 Stinger

However I have found two boards where the CPU is located in the bottom half of the board:

Gigabyte Z87N-WiFi
MSI Z87I

I would be very grateful if anyone could help me take a look at the layout of these two motherboards and confirm whether they would likely be compatible? I am particularly interested in the Gigabyte Z87N-WiFi as it is already in stock locally.


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## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *aragok*
> 
> you're right ... but why make that hole so wrong in the case?
> 
> you think that if i put this vga in the case is ok or i must do a hole so you have done?
> 
> if i use the itek diamond7?


The hole is probably for an 80mm fan, similar to the one in the opposite corner/side. It would help provide front-to-back airflow in the case.

I absolutely think the card will be fine in the case. Even when I didn't have my hole drilled, the card had no problems. It would get hot, sure... but more importantly it was loud. If it was only getting hot, and not so loud, I probably would've been fine with not drilling the hole.

The Itek Diamond 7 case looks pretty good, and it's VGA cooling solution is considerably more ideal. You could probably even fit a two-slot card in there, which means you would have a larger range of choices to choose room, possibly even a passive card like this one from HIS.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *meph365*
> 
> I am looking to make a Haswell build using the FC8 Evo case.
> 
> It appears that the following motherboards are incompatible due to the CPU socket being in the top half of the board:
> 
> ASRock Z87E-ITX
> ASUS Z87-ITX
> EVGA Z87 Stinger
> 
> However I have found two boards where the CPU is located in the bottom half of the board:
> 
> Gigabyte Z87N-WiFi
> MSI Z87I
> 
> I would be very grateful if anyone could help me take a look at the layout of these two motherboards and confirm whether they would likely be compatible? I am particularly interested in the Gigabyte Z87N-WiFi as it is already in stock locally.


I mocked up an image to show you how the Gigabyte might look in this case. It appears like it would work very well.. possibly a better fit than my ASRock Z77E-ITX even. The only thing I 'might be concerned about is the placement of the 24-pin power connector. If the pico-PSU is too high to where it touches the heatpipes, you might need to get an extension cable to move it out of the way.



You are correct in thinking that the other boards would not work because of socket placement. The heatpipes are simply too long to support the socket so close to the wall like that. I suppose some creative (and extremely careful) bending of the pipes might allow them to work, but you would have to really want one of those boards... and/or really want passive cooling.


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## aragok

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SpyderMS*
> 
> The hole is probably for an 80mm fan, similar to the one in the opposite corner/side. It would help provide front-to-back airflow in the case.
> 
> I absolutely think the card will be fine in the case. Even when I didn't have my hole drilled, the card had no problems. It would get hot, sure... but more importantly it was loud. If it was only getting hot, and not so loud, I probably would've been fine with not drilling the hole.
> 
> The Itek Diamond 7 case looks pretty good, and it's VGA cooling solution is considerably more ideal. You could probably even fit a two-slot card in there, which means you would have a larger range of choices to choose room, possibly even a passive card like this one from HIS.
> I mocked up an image to show you how the Gigabyte might look in this case. It appears like it would work very well.. possibly a better fit than my ASRock Z77E-ITX even. The only thing I 'might be concerned about is the placement of the 24-pin power connector. If the pico-PSU is too high to where it touches the heatpipes, you might need to get an extension cable to move it out of the way.
> 
> 
> 
> You are correct in thinking that the other boards would not work because of socket placement. The heatpipes are simply too long to support the socket so close to the wall like that. I suppose some creative (and extremely careful) bending of the pipes might allow them to work, but you would have to really want one of those boards... and/or really want passive cooling.


diamond is better than f7c?

http://www.xtremehardware.com/recensioni/case-e-modding/itek-diamond-5-e-7-mini-itx-di-lusso-201210267732/?start=4


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## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *aragok*
> 
> diamond is better than f7c?
> 
> http://www.xtremehardware.com/recensioni/case-e-modding/itek-diamond-5-e-7-mini-itx-di-lusso-201210267732/?start=4


I can't speak from experience, but it is obvious to me that it has more room for the cooler, an better ventilation. Whether or not it as the build quality of the Streacom/Wesena cases, or the feature set, I have no idea. I think you are wanting me to give you concrete answers, but since your situation is not identical to mine, it would be impossible for me to do so. Unfortunately there is always some measure of risk when building your own computers.


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## aragok

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SpyderMS*
> 
> I can't speak from experience, but it is obvious to me that it has more room for the cooler, an better ventilation. Whether or not it as the build quality of the Streacom/Wesena cases, or the feature set, I have no idea. I think you are wanting me to give you concrete answers, but since your situation is not identical to mine, it would be impossible for me to do so. Unfortunately there is always some measure of risk when building your own computers.


the diamond have more space?

in this image i can see that the diamond is porr space respect f7c?


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## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *aragok*
> 
> the diamond have more space?
> 
> in this image i can see that the diamond is porr space respect f7c?


Going by dimensions, the F7C is a larger case

Streacom F7C: 240 x 250 x 100mm (W x D x H)
Diamond 7: 245 x 165 x 95mm (W x D x H)

The Diamond is a little wider though, which is why there is room for a two slot VGA card, but it is not quite as deep. That shouldn't be an issue though, it has plenty of room for all components.


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## aragok

Thanks for all. The diamond7 is large 23, 5 cm not 16, 5.
Someone told me that the f7c that is way batter in costructive quality.
But i've never seen them live, the diamond with his holes is cooler, the f7c seems to have spaces better organized.


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## SpyderMS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *aragok*
> 
> Thanks for all. The diamond7 is large 23, 5 cm not 16, 5.
> Someone told me that the f7c that is way batter in costructive quality.
> But i've never seen them live, the diamond with his holes is cooler, the f7c seems to have spaces better organized.


I think you missed the first part of the measurement I put on there, which was 245mm. I pulled the dimensions directly from the link you gave me.

The build quality of the Streacom cases is definitely top notch.


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## aragok

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SpyderMS*
> 
> I think you missed the first part of the measurement I put on there, which was 245mm. I pulled the dimensions directly from the link you gave me.
> 
> The build quality of the Streacom cases is definitely top notch.


yes http://www.ncube.it/

the correct misure is 95mm(H)x236mm(D)x245mm(W)

is more or less as f7c.... you waht prefer f7c or diamond7 for quality and space and cooler?


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## aragok

http://www.bloghtpc.com/2012/11/analisis-streacom-f7c.html

the f7c evo is more space than f7c ??


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## eggDK

Did any of you guys consider getting the HD7850 instead? I know it would require more extensive modification of the case, in order to take in air.. But the performance should be quite a lot better, no? Besides, the standard cooler looks better than on the 7750...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B009T96CJG/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new


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## halfday

Hi SpyderMS

I am digging up this thread as I am currently working on the same configuration - VERY interesting, thanks for sharing your experience! I was wondering how you made the blowhole for your HD 7750 gpu fan. Did you use a dremel, a hole saw or else? I've never modded a case and I don't want to mess with my case









Thanks


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## SpyderMS

Howdy, I actually had a friend do it for me. He had a drill press, so it was fairly easy. You could probably use a Dremel as well, especially if you have the Rotary Tool Workstation for it to keep it steady. If I could do it over again though, I would have marked the correct spot for where the fan would be better. I just used some general measurements to get a rough idea where the center was; and it was very close, but ideally you would want the fan shroud to cover the fan perfectly, and maybe want the hole itself 1/4" or so larger than the diameter of the fan on the card to have some wiggle/breathing room.

Also, I ended up taking off the heatpipes entirely, and sticking with the stock cooler. The heatpipes continually caused the computer to crash, my assumption being that they were simply too close to the northbridge heatsink on my Asrock Z77-ITX. If you're not going with the same board though, you may not have the same issues; but in the end, I paid a premium for a case that I can't use the defining feature of. I will likely be moving everything into a Lone Industries L2 case in November, when my preorder will be available.

An additional note, the GeForce GTX 750 and 750 TI are both roughly double the performance of the Radeon 7750, and use about the same amount of energy. It would be wise to consider waiting for a single slot version of that card if you are planning to use this for gaming. You might be able to modify one of the existing Low Profile 750's for use in a single slot case. The Galaxy GTX 750 TI takes up a single slot, but has a dual slot cooler. This would be the easiest to modify since you could just replace it with your own cooler, or modify the existing one, if that's even necessary. There is some room between the case wall and the low profile Sapphire Radeon 7750, so perhaps it might fit without modification, but I ended up buying the Gigabyte GTX 750 TI, which is dual slot, and would require extensive modification in order to fit. I'm currently using a 90 degree PCI-E Riser card to ghetto rig it in my case (top removed) until the L2 arrives. The difference in performance is phenomenal.


Spoiler: Pics of the Gigabyte GTX 750TI in my Streacom





Old dusty Radeon 7750


Side-by-Side


PCI-E riser card


'Top' down view


View from the 'bottom' of the case



Quote:


> Originally Posted by *halfday*
> 
> Hi SpyderMS
> 
> I am digging up this thread as I am currently working on the same configuration - VERY interesting, thanks for sharing your experience! I was wondering how you made the blowhole for your HD 7750 gpu fan. Did you use a dremel, a hole saw or else? I've never modded a case and I don't want to mess with my case
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks


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## halfday

Hi there,

Thank you so much for this very detailed feedback.
I will definitely have a look at the Dremel workstation - might fits my needs. I still don't know If I will go with your solution (blowhole + fan grill or duckt) or drill only some holes like a XBMC forum member did: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=136350



I don't have any heatpipes issue as I am using a DH77DF Intel motherboard + Core i3 3225

I read the reviews of the GTX 750 and I must say that they are really impressive. The thing is that I am more a casual gamer than a hardcore one and I managed to get a refurbished 7750 for less than $50... Might reconsider when a true LP single slot gtx 750 will come out though


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