'Thin' client ITX system

[cptwhite_uk]

I have an i5-6500 / ITX Asus Prime H110 mobo / 16Gb DDR3L combo, and I'm looking to build the wife a new thin client she can use for home office work.

Looking at an external brick PSU / thin client case to minimise bulk on here desk.

Never build a PC like this before but assume it's not too hard? I will go for an NVME drive and use the onboard GPU, so only need to worry about the case and choice of external PSU. I was going to aim for a 120W DC brick, which I would assume should be ample?

I was looking at the Akasa Cypher MX3 case:

http://www.akasa.co.uk/update.php?tp...=A-ITX38U3-M1B

Is there anything I need to consider before pushing the button on purchases? I'm assume the case will have internal power adapters to fit 24 pin / 8 pin standard mobo inputs, but maybe I'm wrong?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

External power brick quality is very important for such systems,and not all are created equally. I would make sure you look for ones made by Delta,FSP or Seasonic.

NVME SSDs also do run hotter,so I would check some of the TPU reviews for ones which have decent thermal characteristics.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Repeat post!

[cptwhite_uk]

Any thoughts on the internal power connectors CAT, will the relevant adapter cables be included with the case, to work with a standard mini ITX board?

[DDY]

Just a few things on terminology to save on confusion;

Thin clients are designed to remotely connect to servers which do the heavy lifting, basically the thin client is a fairly minimal bit of hardware which only task is to remotely connect to a server that runs the software. I suspect you’re not after a true thin client, but rather a small form factor PC that’s built around the ITX platform for general tasks.

Thin-ITX is a, well, thinner version of mini-ITX. Thin-ITX has the same footprint as mini-ITX but has a thinner profile (e.g. rear I/O plate is shorter) and usually carries an on-board DC to DC power supply, enabling the use of a ‘laptop brick’ style power supplies without any additional hardware. To use a ‘laptop brick’ with a mini-ITX board normally requires a plug-in style DC-DC PSU, like a ‘Pico PSU’.

Some retail thin-ITX boards include both standard size I/O plates and thin I/O plates, so you can use the thin-ITX board in either thin-ITX or standard ITX (all the way up to ATX) cases.

Mini-ITX boards will however not fit in a thin-ITX case.

The other important thing to consider would be the voltage and connector needed for the specific thin-ITX board, or DC-DC PSU and ‘brick’ PSU combo. Best to check the manual for the specific board or DC-DC PSU.

[cptwhite_uk]

Thanks DDY that's very helpful. I assumed I'd need some DC to DC converter presumably to take it form 19V (from the brick) to 12V for the system. So in the case (no pun intended) of the Akasa Cypher MK3 Mini ITX case I've linked, what else would I require? I presume some DC-DC converter?

[DDY]

The Akasa Cypher MK3 is a thin-ITX case (Thin mini-ITX) case so you'll need a thin-ITX board to go in it.

Asus does make thin-ITX H110 boards, you'll know if it's thin-ITX one because it'll have a T on the end of the model, e.g. ASUS H110T

With a thin-ITX board, you'll typically only need the exteral PSU (e.g. laptop brick charger) since the DC-DC PSU will be baked on to the motherboard.

Take the ASUS H110T (below), note the laptop charger style connector on the left. The manual states this board supports both 12V and 19V input.

Making a guess, the connector is a 7.4 by 5.0mm DC jack that's common to Dell and HP laptops. A typical say 19V Dell laptop charger will plug straight in to the back of the H110T. As for wattage, a 90W Dell charger would do, a 130W if you want the headroom.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Any thoughts on the internal power connectors CAT, will the relevant adapter cables be included with the case, to work with a standard mini ITX board?

I was under the assumption you already had a thin-ITX motherboard which has a barrel style connector integrated into it.

If its a normal motherboard you would need a PicoPSU(or an equivalent):
https://www.quietpc.com/st-nano-psus?product=3746
https://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=10#picoPSU-120

The one issue is that the DC-DC PSUs themselves can get hot if you are pushing near to the max rated wattage number. Another issue is that you will need a CPU cooler which is 26MM or lower in height:
https://www.reddit.com/r/sffpc/comme..._miniitx_case/
http://www.akasa.co.uk/update.php?tp...=AK-CC7129EP01
http://www.akasa.co.uk/update.php?tp...=AK-CC7122EP01

I would probably look at undervolting and underclocking the CPU as a result.

[Rob_B]

Is there a reason you're using those components and want to go with that case? If so faire enough, if not then you could buy a Dell/Lenovo/HP 1 litre(ish) PC for similar to what you could probably sell your CPU alone for (?)

[cptwhite_uk]

To be honest I've learnt a few things, Thin ITX is a thing, for starters. It's a standard ITX board I'm working with, so I guess I need to consider my options. I might end up getting a ready made NUC and sell the current platform on.

[cptwhite_uk]

Ended up with Silverstone Milo ML05 - which is a very compact ITX case that supports standard ITX boards and SFF power supplies, and a single slot LP dedicated GPU. I intend to use it vertically, not horizontally, although it's not intended to be used that way really. However it has space for a side mounted 120mm slim (15mm) fan, onto of the mobo/cpu with a dust filter, and room on (what will be in my case) the top for 2x 80mm exhaust fans (no dust filter). Build quality is on point, and I only paid £32 - they're £40 new anyway. If you just want a basic compact system I can recommend it. It's also not very deep, and a little taller than a Dell 7010 SFF case, so it's not very deep when positioned on a desk. In the orientation I intend to use it, the USB ports point upwards at the front which means they're out of the way and less likely to get caught when moving your hands around.