Chiaki - Heavily Modified uSFF Gaming Rig

[Simmons]

Hello all! I've decided to add my one case mod to EHW. This was a project that I completed in January 2017. The intention was to build a high-airflow, sleek, and portable gaming rig. I was inspired by a few other owners of this case to perform this mod, and now I am left with the ultimate portable LAN Box.

 

This build was one of those cases of falling in love with a specific computer part, despite there being many inherent flaws. In this case, it was the Lian Li PC-TU 100. The case is a small portable machine, but suffers from highly restrictive airflow, GPU overheating issues, and lack of clearance for a decent CPU cooler due to the PSU mounting location. So this mod was all about correcting those issues!

 

Parts List:

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased For $0.00)

CPU Cooler: be quiet! PURE ROCK SLIM CPU Cooler 120W ($20.00)

Motherboard: Asus Z170I PRO GAMING Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard (Purchased For $0.00)

Memory: Kingston FURY 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (Purchased For $79.00)

Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (Purchased For $229.00)

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 Nano 4GB Video Card (Purchased For $360.00)

Case: Lian-Li PC-TU100B Mini ITX Tower Case (Purchased For $0.00)

Power Supply: Athena Power 400W 80+ Bronze Certified Mini ITX Power Supply (Purchased For $45.00)

 

Case Fan: Noctua NF-A9x14 29.7 CFM 92mm Fan (Purchased For $0.00)

Case Fan: Noctua NF-A9x14 29.7 CFM 92mm Fan (Purchased For $0.00)

Case Fan: Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilent Fan PM-2 40mm x 20mm (Purchased For $14.95)

Case Fan: Fractal Design FD-FAN-SSR2-92 24.6 CFM 92mm Fan (Purchased For $0.00)

Case Fan: Fractal Design FD-FAN-SSR2-60 20.0 CFM 60mm Fan (Purchased For $0.00)

Case Fan: Fractal Design FD-FAN-SSR2-60 20.0 CFM 60mm Fan (Purchased For $0.00)

Case Fan: Fractal Design GP12-WT 52.3 CFM 120mm Fan (Purchased For $0.00)

 

Monitor: ViewSonic XG2401 23.6" 144Hz Monitor (Purchased For $239.99)

Keyboard: MK Disco RGB LED Backlit TKL Mechanical Keyboard (KBT Brown Switch) (Purchased For $100.00)

Mouse: Razer Mamba Tournament Edition Wired Laser Mouse (Purchased For $65.99)

Sound Card: Schiit Fulla 2 (Purchased For $99.99)

Headphones: Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 ohm Studio Headphones w/ Hard Case (Purchased For $160.00)

Other: Antlion Audio ModMic Attachable Boom Microphone - Noise Cancelling with Mute Switch (Purchased For $54.99)

Other: Razer Firefly - Cloth Gaming Mouse Mat (Purchased For $59.99)

 

Other: Phanteks PH-CB-Y4P 4.3" 4 Pin PWM- Y Splitter Fan Cable (Purchased For $5.98)

Other: Philmore 3.5mm Gold Plated Stereo Snap-In Panel Mount Phone Jack (Purchased For $8.95)

Other: Ugreen Gold Plated 3.5mm 1/8" Male to 6.35mm 1/4" Male TRS Stereo Audio Cable (3ft) (Purchased For $8.99)

Other: Grifiti Chiton Fat 14 6" x 15" Neoprene Keyboard Sleeve (Purchased For $14.98)

Other: Zeskit 4', 3.5mm, Braided Nylon Stereo Audio Cable (Male to Male) (Purchased For $5.99)

Other: COCOFU Micro USB Cable,3FT 6FT 10FT Nylon Braided Micro USB Cable(Black+Gray)(3Pack) (Purchased For $8.85)

Other: 60mm Black Finger Grill / Guard (Pack of 4) (Purchased For $8.50)

Other: Xbox Wireless Controller and Play & Charge Kit Bundle (Purchased For $74.99)

 

Other: 3M Scotch Heavy Duty Mounting Tape, Clear (4010) (Purchased For $5.43)

Other: 6ft - U-channel edge molding for PC panel mod windows (Purchased For $3.99)

Other: ModMyToys 3-Pin Power Distribution PCB - 3-Way Block (plus 3-pin Female-to-Female 12") (Purchased For $11.13)

Other: M1 Single-G mini PC Case Feet - Silver (Purchased For $24.99)

Other: Smoked Tinted Transparent Cast Acrylic Sheet 12" x 12" x 0.118" (1/8") Gray (Purchased For $9.75)

Other: 44 Keys Mini IR Remote Controller for 3528 & 5050 RGB LED Strip Lights - US (Purchased For $3.75)

Other: Vandal Resistant Illuminated Momentary Switch - Silver - 18/16mm - White Ring (Purchased For $11.95)

Other: x50 - Female ATC Terminals (Purchased For $2.95)

Other: 8-pin PCIE Female Connector - Black (Purchased For $0.59)

Other: 24-pin ATX Female Connector - Black (Purchased For $0.59)

Other: Black MDPC-X Small Sleeve (50ft) (Purchased For $14.98)

Other: Original MOLEX Pinremover - MDPC-X Edition (Purchased For $19.99)

Other: MDPC-X Crimp Tool (Purchased For $47.99)

Other: IEC 320 C14 Male Plug (Purchased For $0.99)

Other: IEC C13 C14 Male Female Inline Chassis Socket Plug Rewireable Power Connector (Purchased For $2.46)

Other: 120mm Overkill "Ring" PC Fan Grill (Purchased For $0.00)

Other: Modder's Mesh PC Fan Grill (Purchased For $0.00)

 

All Parts Purchased for $0.00 were given to me as gifts from family members.

 

 

 

Below is image of the stock case, pre-mod.

 

[Simmons]

 

Edited April 27, 2020 by ENTERPRISE

[Simmons]

 

Edited April 27, 2020 by ENTERPRISE

[ENTERPRISE]

Oh nice ! That is one sexy looking box. How long did that build take you ? I can see you already had some parts in hand from your parts list...you have to love hording parts right !

[Simmons]

Hahaha yes that is correct. Many of the parts were given to me as christmas gifts, so I marked them as $0.

 

It took me roughly a month and a half. The biggest hangup I had was dealing with swapping the PSU and re-sleeving the second one. But aside from that, it went very well.

[ENTERPRISE]

Gotta love those gifts ! Glad it went smoothly, looks great.

[Simmons]

Thanks mate. I love this computer. Only had to replace the GPU so far (love getting used mining GPUs )

[ENTERPRISE]

What GPU are you running in it now ? Or is the R9 Nano the new one ?

[Simmons]

It's currently got a Gigabyte GTX 1070 Mini in there now. It's a bit tighter up the sidepanel now, but still works like a charm.

[ENTERPRISE]

Oh nice, bet that was a nice performance boost GPU wise for you

[Simmons]

Indeed. The only thing that was a shame was losing the FreeSync on the monitor, but the performance boost was worth it.

[ENTERPRISE]

Indeed. The only thing that was a shame was losing the FreeSync on the monitor, but the performance boost was worth it.

 

Ahh that is a shame, I am assuming it is not one of the monitors that got Gsync support recently ?

[Simmons]

Unfortunately not. However, it hasn't bothered me too much. Primarily I find myself playing lighter weight games on this box, I.E. Rocket League, Cobalt, and whatever else we find ourselves playing at the LAN Centers.

[ENTERPRISE]

Unfortunately not. However, it hasn't bothered me too much. Primarily I find myself playing lighter weight games on this box, I.E. Rocket League, Cobalt, and whatever else we find ourselves playing at the LAN Centers.

 

Yeah that is fair enough, its not a heavy gaming machine, though I am sure it pulls its own weight ! Gsync is nice but lets face it, it is not the be all and end all.

[Bastiaan_NL]

That is a cute and good looking case!

Respect for fitting it all in such a tiny box, I always find myself buying bigger cases just to make it easy to install

[Steven]

This is the type of mod I like.

[Simmons]

Glad you like it. The only real change from its conception was that I had to replace the Fury Nano with a GTX 1070. It was a great upgrade, but it was only necessary when the obviously mined-on preowned Nano finally died. It made the case a little messier since I had to add a low-profile pcie power exention cable, just so the power cable would fit between the side panel and the GPU.

 

Still love this little rig. I get so many comments about how people think its a portable guitar amp.

[ENTERPRISE]

Glad you like it. The only real change from its conception was that I had to replace the Fury Nano with a GTX 1070. It was a great upgrade, but it was only necessary when the obviously mined-on preowned Nano finally died. It made the case a little messier since I had to add a low-profile pcie power exention cable, just so the power cable would fit between the side panel and the GPU.

 

Still love this little rig. I get so many comments about how people think its a portable guitar amp.

 

It is a great concept, I showed your rig to my partner yesterday and she loved it, though it was really ''Cute" especially the fact that it had a little handle so you can carry it around. I have not built any small rigs around her yet so she used used to my massive beefy towers...then I bring home a rackmount case for the CFP...so yeah she does not see small rigs often haha.

 

Something we need here in the UK and possibly US are more artisan modders that provide services for others. I miss those days

[Simmons]

Hey folks, time for an update for this rig.  So ever since I moved back in February, this lovely little system has become my portable VR/Streaming rig.  I am absolutely loving beat saber, and definitely need to grind harder to get further into Expert+(+) difficulty.  However, the 6600k in this system is definitely showing its age.  I was absolutely shocked to see a CPU bottleneck, but I guess 4 threads is no bueno.

 

So I am currently in the process of waiting for parts to ship the the second revision of this build.  I intend to replace the CPU/Mobo and upgrade to a 10700, as well as add in an additional 1TB SSD.  Hopefully I can get some photos taken while I work on this.  And also, since it is such a process to disassemble and reassemble this thing, I intend to stream the rebuild tomorrow (Thursday, 1Oct) on Twitch.

 

Check me out on my Twitch     if you all want to observe this madness!

[axipher]

Looking forward to this, I'll try to join in a Discord Voice Chat to keep you company on the stream if you want

[Simmons]

The more the merrier!

[ENTERPRISE]

Bummer if I was not so busy and have noticed this, I could have streamed this to the home page of the forums (Yes we can do that now)

[axipher]

18 hours ago, ENTERPRISE said:

Bummer if I was not so busy and have noticed this, I could have streamed this to the home page of the forums (Yes we can do that now)

 

Even for the site's 18+ rating, it would have still needed a further "Listener's Discretion is Advised" warning and a Mature Rating, it was fun though.

[ENTERPRISE]

33 minutes ago, axipher said:

 

Even for the site's 18+ rating, it would have still needed a further "Listener's Discretion is Advised" warning and a Mature Rating, it was fun though.

LMAO. Yeah I mean I guess that would go without saying. "You may be offended by the following content"...that could be anything from swearing...to watching someone use an Apple Mac