Mini ITX Builds + Short Ace Ecco 250 mATX Case Build + Review

[Pob255]

Perhaps I could put a ruler next to it and take a photo as there's nothing to compare it to in terms of relative size.

Do you reckon these mesh filters work better or the sponge filters? I remember in my old old NZXT M59, it used sponge filters and the case never really got dusty (but I always changed hardware around as I found parts on eBay) whereas all my other tower cases have had these mesh filters and they've gotten dusty. Are there other types of dust filters?

Looks pretty much as I was expecting, thin plastic sheet with holes punched in an off set honeycomb pattern.
In theory these sort of filters could work well, the issue I have with them tends to be to things.
1 the material to hole ratio, all filtering system add some air flow restriction, I've seen one of this type of filter where the amount of material between the holes is so large that the overall hole area must of been 30% or less.
2 the size of the holes, if the holes are too large then they are not going to be stopping much, eg the filter in the new coolermaster elite 120 is pretty pointless http://forums.hexus.net/chassis-mods...ni-review.html (why yes I am linking my own thread ) with each hole at ~3mm diameter it's not going to be catching a great deal, it's going to be more of a large fluff & hair screen than a dust filter.

Foam filters tend to be good but they are more of a pain to clean, ideally you need to carefully wash them, you can damage the foam easily if you're not careful, then press them dry between multiple bits of kitchen roll to remove the excess water and finally leave them to air dry for a while before returning them.
The other common filter is a mesh screen filter these are a simple sheet of open weave plastic or wire mesh fixed in a plastic or metal frame, commonly plastic is used and it's heat treated to melt the separate woven strands together to change it from a woven material into a single sheet.
a screen filter can suffer the same issues as I've mentioned for this new type, which is basically a screen filter, however in most normal screen filters found in PC's the holes are around 1mm and the strands are well under that, at a rough estimate I'd say 0.25mm, that is a heck of a difference compared to these new ones both in terms of hole size and material to hole ratio.
Compared to a foam filter, the more standard screen filter isn't quite as good, it'll catch small fluff but it'll not catch as much of the very fine powdery dust as most foam filters do, however cleaning them is far easier and they are more robust than foam.

You've also got the DemciFlex filters http://www.demcifilter.com/ these are just a screen filter but they are using some really fine medical grade mesh that will catch most of the really fine particles as well.

You could probably find 15cm SATA cables but I'm not sure where the cheapest place would be as most places charge delivery. Might be worth checking places like eBay, Amazon or Kikatek.

@phill8800GT,ebay is a great place for short sata cables, I've ordered a couple of these ones http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190691487307 there are places selling cheaper and shorter cables, I went for these ones for the locking heads, one right angled head one standard head, not stupidly expensive and the black round cable should look good too.

[phill8800GT]

Thanks for reading! Glad you enjoyed them.

Thanks for taking the time to share your build! Your build is definitely worthy of it's own thread though as it probably won't get all the views it could be getting in here.

You could probably find 15cm SATA cables but I'm not sure where the cheapest place would be as most places charge delivery. Might be worth checking places like eBay, Amazon or Kikatek.

It's amazing how much difference the right PSU makes! I think I've got a bit too much power but at least that allows for upgrades. 350W is probably find for my build but 450W isn't too overpowered (it's really the Seasonic 520W though!).

I'm not too fond of your massive tower case but as it's something you had I can't really say anything, nothing better than a free case! It really is lovely how quiet a system is when it doesn't have a graphics card and case fans and other stuff. When I first turned on this PC I realised I had almost forgotten how a real PC sounded like as I could always hear the graphics card when gaming.

Oo, where did you get the test bench from? Did you build it yourself?

Have you considered getting a PicoPSU btw? They're pretty efficient and they're tiny and silent too! PSUs are pretty silent now but one less fan does help with noise levels.

Thanks for the comments on the rigs. I was a bit unsure of whether or not the AMD side of things was the right way to go, but I don't regret it in anyway now.

I'll put another build log up when I get the case for my HTPC I was amazed by the 350w Enermax unit I had bought and I didn't expect it to be such a low powered PC but for both my server and my HTPC they are more than fit for purpose. I'm extremely happy as they use such little power. I do have a few 120mm fans in my server and as such its not completely silent but going from that to my i7 with my 8 120x38mm Scythe Kraze 3000 fans, you soon tell the difference!!

I have two of those cases !! They are the original Coolermaster Stacker 810 V1 and I have a V2 which I have built a 939 based rig for my house mate to use rather than her laptop should she wish to. The main reason for the big case is for the hard drives as I'll be adding more so I needed the space to put them in!! I can't see many cases these days that allow you to fit in a lot of hard drives, but I'm glad I still have both of these cases. They wont be to everyone's cup of tea but it sits underneath my desk out of the way and I don't worry about it at all

I have built a few of those test beds myself, I'm selling some Dimas PCI/PCIe back planes as I no longer need them.

To be honest the Server is the most noisiest out of the two rigs and to be honest, I can't remember having a system this quiet so I just ignore it and turn up the music a little more and I don't hear it

[phill8800GT]

@phill8800GT,ebay is a great place for short sata cables, I've ordered a couple of these ones http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190691487307 there are places selling cheaper and shorter cables, I went for these ones for the locking heads, one right angled head one standard head, not stupidly expensive and the black round cable should look good too.

Thank you for the link I will have a check up on it because I would like to really get the server sorted and I think I need to get a few more drives as well, so I think we'll definitely need some more cables anyways!!