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"The Full Desktop" @ - Trinity + Mini-ITX @ $350

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BeepBeep2

BeepBeep2

Member
​
Joined
Apr 3, 2012
Location
Barberton, OH
Hey guys. I just wanted to post this over here because maybe it will inspire some ideas/projects for others. :D

A few weeks ago I started exploring options for PCs at Thin Client / HTPC prices in Mini-ITX form factor. I figured Trinity would be perfect for this, since Zacate was a little too slow for my liking.

This is what I ended up with:
A Dual Core Trinity machine with 8GB high end DDR3, 500GB storage, lightning fast boot times and decent overall "daily routine" performance. It will be a great daily driver rig, good enough to do light gaming (ie. medium settings, 720p) and great for any HTPC application. It has integrated WiFi too, through a USB dongle since the enclosure has 2 hidden USB ports. It has a small footprint, only 7.5 x 8.2 x 2.5 inches...significantly smaller than a PS3 slim.

All in all, everything came out to be $364.90 for the whole rig inc. shipping costs.

Rig Specs:
APU: AMD A6-5400K Black Edition Dual Core 3.6 GHz "Trinity" / AMD HD 7540D ($69.99)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M-ITX - Mini ITX Motherboard w/ USB 3.0 / SATA 3 ($84.99 + $5.99)
RAM: G.SKill Sniper Series Low Voltage DDR3 - 2x4GB DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 @ 1.25v ($34.99)
Case: Mini-Box PC M350 Mini-ITX Enclosure (Bundle with PSU, total $92.90)
PSU: Mini-Box/Cyncronics Pico-PSU 120w + 120w AC/DC adapter (Bundle with case, $92.90)
Storage: 500GB Seagate Momentus XT 2.5" Solid State Hybrid Drive ($66.05)
Networking: ASUS USB-N13 USB Wireless N Adapter (will be internally mounted) + Onboard Realtek Gigabit LAN ($9.99)

Total:
$364.90 USD

For what I got, I wouldn't say that was bad at all. I just hope the stock CPU cooler and RAM have enough clearance. :p
They should, I believe... :D

-Sam :)
 
BeepBeep2 said:
Hey guys. I just wanted to post this over here because maybe it will inspire some ideas/projects for others. :D

A few weeks ago I started exploring options for PCs at Thin Client / HTPC prices in Mini-ITX form factor. I figured Trinity would be perfect for this, since Zacate was a little too slow for my liking.

This is what I ended up with:
A Dual Core Trinity machine with 8GB high end DDR3, 500GB storage, lightning fast boot times and decent overall "daily routine" performance. It will be a great daily driver rig, good enough to do light gaming (ie. medium settings, 720p) and great for any HTPC application. It has integrated WiFi too, through a USB dongle since the enclosure has 2 hidden USB ports. It has a small footprint, only 7.5 x 8.2 x 2.5 inches...significantly smaller than a PS3 slim.

All in all, everything came out to be $364.90 for the whole rig inc. shipping costs.

Rig Specs:
APU: AMD A6-5400K Black Edition Dual Core 3.6 GHz "Trinity" / AMD HD 7540D ($69.99)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M-ITX - Mini ITX Motherboard w/ USB 3.0 / SATA 3 ($84.99 + $5.99)
RAM: G.SKill Sniper Series Low Voltage DDR3 - 2x4GB DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 @ 1.25v ($34.99)
Case: Mini-Box PC M350 Mini-ITX Enclosure (Bundle with PSU, total $92.90)
PSU: Mini-Box/Cyncronics Pico-PSU 120w + 120w AC/DC adapter (Bundle with case, $92.90)
Storage: 500GB Seagate Momentus XT 2.5" Solid State Hybrid Drive ($66.05)
Networking: ASUS USB-N13 USB Wireless N Adapter (will be internally mounted) + Onboard Realtek Gigabit LAN ($9.99)

Total:
$364.90 USD

For what I got, I wouldn't say that was bad at all. I just hope the stock CPU cooler and RAM have enough clearance. :p
They should, I believe... :D

-Sam :)
Click to expand...

You should be fine clearance wise, I don't think you need low profile with that case. AMD will definitly aim you towards an awesome deal pricing-wise :D I would have considered saving a few more weeks and buying an A8 or A10, but you can't really gripe with a deal like this :attn:

Bravo!
 
Anonaru said:
You should be fine clearance wise, I don't think you need low profile with that case. AMD will definitly aim you towards an awesome deal pricing-wise :D I would have considered saving a few more weeks and buying an A8 or A10, but you can't really gripe with a deal like this :attn:

Bravo!
Click to expand...
I would have blown up the power brick :D ... if they come with the heatpipe cooler then I wouldn't be able to use it due to its height :(

I can always upgrade it, it's a scalable platform...the picoPSUs are pretty darn cool and go up to 160w.
I think overclocks on stock voltage/undervoltage should help the A6-5400K scoot along pretty well. After all, it's about half the A10-5800K performance wise.
 
BeepBeep2 said:
I would have blown up the power brick :D ... if they come with the heatpipe cooler then I wouldn't be able to use it due to its height :(

I can always upgrade it, it's a scalable platform...the picoPSUs are pretty darn cool and go up to 160w.
I think overclocks on stock voltage/undervoltage should help the A6-5400K scoot along pretty well. After all, it's about half the A10-5800K performance wise.
Click to expand...

Oh lmao I didn't see your PSU specifications. Yeah, I wouldn't get an A10 on that bad boy. Though, the A10-5700 has a TDP of only 65w right? Man, I want to make an APU / x-fire build so bad :cry:
 
Anonaru said:
Oh lmao I didn't see your PSU specifications. Yeah, I wouldn't get an A10 on that bad boy. Though, the A10-5700 has a TDP of only 65w right? Man, I want to make an APU / x-fire build so bad :cry:
Click to expand...
The A10-5700 would probably work with the 120/160w PSU like this but then there's no overclocking fun. :(

At ~$425 this might be doable with the A10-5800...
If the A10-5800 was undervolted as much as possible I think it might work with the 120w PSU too but barely. The 160w would give a bit more breathing room, but after the cost of the CPU, picoPSU and power brick, the project would cost $450-500 lol.

Plus, a lot of the stuff I got is discounted heavily, the ram usually sells for $50, the Momentus XT is a $120 drive most places except newegg and Amazon right now, the USB WiFi dongle is normally $35, but I bought it refurbished, etc...

I think I really made out with a bargain here this time...
The only thing I really had to pay up for was the ASRock board (I think it's expensive) and the CPU.


White Runner said:
That sounds like a pretty cool build which brings me to...

:pics:
Click to expand...
When the stuff comes I'll update the thread :)
I just ordered it tonight.

Technically I should be able to add front panel USB 3.0 ports through the header on the board and a $5 cable, but I don't have a dremel so I won't try.
 
looks like a nice build ... I'm waiting when you finish it ;)

I won an auction yesterday for i3 540 + H55 ITX board and will try to make something with that too ;)
 
It would be $349 had I ordered today, I found out the Momentus drive just dropped to $50 on newegg ><
Oh well...

EDIT:
I forgot I had a pcie-riser cable too...might do something with that.
 
Last edited:
TsunamiJuan said:
Any plan to overclock this system for normal operation? or just gonna leave it stock?
Click to expand...
Looking for about 10-15% OC, 3.8-4 GHz CPU + 4.2 Turbo, then 850-900 MHz GPU...
I don't really want to raise voltage any due to the PSU.

The RAM will most likely run at 1866 9-9-9 ~1.5v if I can manage.
 
I like this case (Milo ML03) as my local store has them and I can toss that under my cable box for my HTPC setup after new year's. Any microATX mobo & PSU can fit in there.


Or even the LC19B-R (but has riser cards and a small PSU).
 
Last edited:
The machine is finally running. I'll have pics up in a new thread (build log) tomorrow morning. ~8 hours from now.

Some things to note -

Memory was ~6mm too tall. I'm glad the case was designed so that I had 2 choices for where to mount the hard drive (2 sides at the top, HDD hangs from a mini-rack). I could have pulled all the heatspreaders, but I really didn't want to.
CPU cooler was 12mm too tall. This means I had to remove the heatsink fan, to install the hard drive, and that didn't work well. I drilled about 30 holes in the core of the heatsink too because it is just an aluminum block. Any extra surface area helps when there is lower airflow.

These were issues because of the 10mm hard drive is to be mounted on a plate above the CPU heatsink and memory (or above the CPU and pcie slot).

Luckily, I grabbed a 60mm fan off of a Socket A heatsink that conveniently fit right between the hard drive and memory on the CPU heatsink. I just used a few drops of hot glue to secure it to the CPU heatsink. Works like a charm...or at least, better than no fan. :p

This 6500 RPM fan is a screamer...so I gotta tone it down a bit. Everything fits now at least. :D
 
Well here is the first one, the rest I need to sort through...Corsair Voyager inserted for scale:
556752_495267267160810_1675798780_n.jpg
 
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