Silverstone Sugo SG06 ITX build

[DDY]

Quick update, I've upgraded the Pentium G620 to a Core i5 2300. I was bored of waiting for AMD's BD, coupled with the absence of announced let alone available AM3+ ITX boards I decided now would be as good as any to upgrade, otherwise it looks like I'd be stuck with the G620 for a while.

Why the i5 2300? No particular reason other than the reasonable price I found it used on the bay, performance isn't too different to its faster brothers and there is no point going for the overclockable 2500K on a H67 motherboard.

To keep temps low on my thermally challenged machine I undervolted the 2300 to 1.0v.

Idle 50W
CPU: 40°C
GPU: 37°C

Loading was carried out using Furmark and Prime 95
GPU & CPU load 244W
CPU: 62°C (CPU load only 80W)
GPU: 87°C (GPU load only 222W)

3DM11: 178W
P3492 (Unrecognised CPU)

New stats with modded CM GeminII and i5 2300 @ 1.0v

Idle 52W [+2W]
CPU: 34°C [-6°C]
GPU: 40°C [+3°C]

GPU & CPU load 240W [-4W]
CPU: 68°C (CPU load only 99W) [+5°C +29W]
GPU: 87°C (GPU load only 198W) [--°C -24W]

3DM11: 179W [+1W]
P4206 (Unapproved GPU drivers) [+1110]

What's surprising is the tiny increase of power draw during the 3DM11 bench and significant reduction of power draw during the furmark burn test, perhaps the work of updated GPU drivers.

Maybe if a wild AM3+ board appears and AMD BD chips are well priced in the future; I may go for an upgrade, but I consider this build to be complete; this machine is as fast and quiet as it can go without significant further expense or modification.

Thanks for the comments, was fun building my first non proprietary SFF gaming machine.

[kmac]

Really like your cooler mod!! This is a very cool build. Fantastic that it is passive to boot.

[Pob255]

Lovely idea in bending the cooler, you do have to be careful you don't crack or fold the heatpipe, just a hairline is enough to let the liquid boil out and a fold or crease can mess up the capillary action reducing the pipe efficiency.

And the front fan is well placed to get some air flow over the cooler.

And I'm not surprised on the temps not changing with a different cpu 3dm11 is a gpu dependent benchmark, as with most games it doesn't really use multiple cores well once you get past 2
Try a video encoding benchmark, like handbrake, that's actually going to give the cpu a workout.

Still a lovely job there.

edit: I would give you thanks but for some reason the thanks button is MIA

[DDY]

Having done the Handbrake bench in CAT's thread I can tell you the CPU load figures are similar to the CPU stability tests I carried out using Intel Burn Test - these are the figures above. 3DM11 temps were ommited (I fogot to note them), but they were significantly cooler than the IBT and Furmark GPU tests, from the power consumption figures you should have a good idea how much lower the temps were.

As for bending the heatpipes; the Geminii's fins are quite close together, that helps by maintaining the heatpipe's cross section as it's being bent but also obscures them from view - hopefully they're still in good shape!

[DDY]

I finally got around to upgrading my ITX build, from that discussion we figured the best I could do with my budget is to upgrade the HD6870 with a GTX670 2GB.

Rather than type an essay, here are my observations in points;

• I got the POV Charged 2GB GTX670, pretty much a vanilla reference GTX670, for £260. The card came with Borderlands 2 and Assassins Creed 3 via free download coupons as part of a NV promotion.
  
  
• I've said it already, it's a job and a half to upgrade the graphics card in the SG06 and I'm sure this difficulty is common with other SFF rigs. I had to pull everything out of the case simply because there isn't enough space for the card to squeeze in with any other component installed. I actually have to place the graphics card into the empty case first and then move the motherboard in under it. Check out the pics below.
  
  
• <cue the groan> The reference GTX670 cooler blows. The fan is crap, more specifically, the fan's motor is really noisy, it sounds like a faulty bearing and it seems to be a common problem with reference GTX670s. I'm not sure if it's worth sending back if I'm only going to be sent another one with the same issue. "Then why not exchange it with a non reference GTX670?" you ask; three reasons;
  - The reference design is the only one that I'm certain will fit
  - The blower type cooler is essential for getting rid of hot air since there are no exhaust fans in the SG06
  - It was by far the cheapest GTX670 available
  
  
• I've never spent anywhere near £260 for a graphics and what caught me by surprise was the shockingly poor build quality, it's not just the fan, the heatsink shroud is flimsy and the card is extremely light, no doubt due to a small heatsink. Most of the cards that I've bought at much lower price points have tangibly better levels of fit and finish, granted the fit and finish isn't the most important aspect of a graphics card, I'd expected a more 'complete' product which in my opinion is already overpriced.
  
  
• Power consumption;
  
  Figures are peak sustained power consumption.
  
  

  Test     | 6870 | 670  | Diff 
  ------------------------------
  Idle     | 52 W | 52 W | 0  W     
  3DM11    | 179W | 208W | 29 W  (note; 3DM points are P4206 and P7757 respectively)
  IBT only | 99 W | 100W | 1  W  (Intel Burn Test, shouldn't really be a difference, but whatever)
  FM only  | 198W | 208W | 10 W  (Furmark Test)
  IBT + FM | 240W | 246W | 6  W

  As it turns out the GTX670 doesn't draw that much more power than the HD6870 but is substantially faster, although, it's worth keeping in mind the HD6870 tests were run a while ago and drivers may have changed since then. Also I've only run synthetic tests which may not reflect power consumption during practical use.
  
  The weirdest thing is; my system with the Pentium G620 and HD6870 draws as much power as a Core i5 2300 @ 1.0V and GTX670! Which could mean many things, of which could include rubbish data...
  

Anyway, make of it what you will. I'm off to play more BL2.