Going Tiny Pt. 2

In a recent post, I talked about a miniature book sized desktop, the Lenovo M93p Tiny. I also mentioned briefly the foray into the Mini-ITX form factor. In a continuity of this subject, I present to you the story of my latest pet project;

The Mini-ITX Workstation;

This project got started due to my need for a dedicated, hardware based, workstation to emulate a client's computer. Due to the particular setup, I did not want to use a virtual machine. I was looking into two separate avenues;

1. Recycle a Z87 chipset build I am using as a server and buy a server.
2. Build a brand new Mini-ITX system using a chipset and form factor I never used before.

Since I am all about giving a chance to new experiments as well as building customized PC's I easily chose potion 2 and went about researching hardware options to make this build a reality. Given the fact that my timing was great, between Black Friday and Boxing Day, I was aiming to complete the build at a deeply discounted price!

So now that the choice was made, what about the components?

- I knew I wanted an Intel system with an i3 processor and a 97 series chipset;
- I wanted a full sized power supply  not included with the chassis;
- A chassis that looks sleek without breaking the bank;
- Enough room in the case for 2 hard drives (1 SSD and 1 SATA).

In regards to the budget, I wanted to spend less than 400$ on the motherboard, CPU, case and power supply. I already had memory and hard drives at hand.

Around Black Friday, I came across a total build price of about 330$. I even ordered some parts, but then cancelled the order. However, on Boxing Day, I ordered again, this time from a different supplier, and I got my parts in trickles, finally putting the rig together on January 2nd. It took them three shipments for all of the parts to arrive.

The build;

I have never before worked with such a small case. I had done some HTPC and mATX builds in the past. I even put together from a bare bones system an Intel NUC. So for my clunky big hands the tiny case was a challenge in dexterity. Here are some tips;

- Put the CPU, cooler and RAM on the board prior to mounting it.
- Plug the SATA cables on the board prior to mounting it.
- Plug the power button and led wires from the case to the board before mounting it.
- Plug the power cables from the power supply to the board before mounting either the board or power supply.
- Depending on the case mount either the assembled board or power supply first.
- Once all is mounted and plugged, do a POST.
- Once the system POST completes ok plug your HDD(s) and install the OS.

My parts list;

- Case; Raijintek Aluminum Series Metis Mini-ITX Case Window
- Motherboard; ASUS H97I-PLUS mITX LGA1150 H97
- CPU; Intel Core i3 I3-4360 Haswell 3.7GHZ Processor LGA1150 4MB Cache Retail
- RAM; G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9 Memory- Power Supply; Corsair CX Series CX430M 430W ATX 12V  Modular Power Supply
- SSD; Corsair 60GB SSD- HDD; Seagate 2TB 7200rpm Seagate Baracuda 7200.12

Over all, it took me about an hour from un-boxing to first POST. The install of the OS went smoothly and all is well. I will update the post later with some comments after I use the system for a while. I am using this as a secondary workstation for editing online content and simulating a user’s office so no heavy work or gaming of any kind. In the end, I think that the small form factor workstations are a great way to save power consumption and space in an office environment.