Introduction:
After testing the excellent Silverstone GD04 , the interests of a very compact box capable of accepting a configuration performance proves to be a real advantage for integration into a lounge and manufacturers seem to make real efforts in this direction .
While there is still a good year while "HTPC HD drive was based on an ATX motherboard see MicroATX form factor, the arrival on the market MPC7A GF9300/9400 alias and its hardware acceleration enabled our platforms s enfranchise an additional video card and therefore settle for a smaller package.
In 2009 the success of the mini ITX Zotac GF9300 thanks to an integrated wireless card, but mostly its PCI Express 16x allowing the addition of true 3D map, which opened a new market, one of the "mini- ITX gamer. Indeed, after having proved they could overcome any constraints associated with HD playback 17cm/17cm despite their size, the mini-ITX boards can now receive the largest processors and the most powerful video card .
With this in mind we started looking, configuration mini ITX format most efficient way in a housing as compact as possible.
Choosing Configuration:
Although it is evolving, it appears that the sector Mini-ITX is still quite undeveloped. However, the reference current Mini-ITX enclosures, the SG05 and 80 + 300W power supply is so far unavoidable.
As for motherboards, DFI is well known in the community "gamer" to offer its products to large overclocking capabilities. The manufacturer now offers mini ITX motherboard "Gamer" of the moment: the MI-P55- T36. We will test its ability to rise in frequency through a Core i5 750 and a kit DDR3 2GHz. To cool all these people, we will test kit Corsair Hydro H50 seems that on paper the ultimate cooling, lack of availability of Thermalright AXP-140.
Since the time we hoped to test in practice the future of storage, ie DSS, Corsair P64 is a model that will allow us to judge the progress of the technology 100% silent when faced with mechanical disks.
Tested on numerous occasions on the net, the Silverstone SG05 will therefore favor of this test. Its format "Shuttle" of (WxHxD) 222 mm x 176 mm x 276 mm makes it a relatively compact housing or even portable. It can receive a slim optical drive, hard disk format standard 3.5 p and 2.5 per second format Perfect for use on paper for a ssd drive system and 3.5p for storing data.
Compatible with mini-ITX and mini-DTX, it comes with a 120mm fan blade design which recalls a golf ball, probably the same model as in the GD04.
His power is 300W 80 + certified. She has three SATA connectors, 3 molex 4pins, a floppy drive power. The cable length is relatively short, perfectly designed for the size of the box. By cons, although it is probably related to its modest power, it is a pity it is that with a 4 pin CPU in addition to the conventional 24-pin. 8pin connector would have been more, as cable sheathing.
Silverstone offers in the traditional bundle of hardware, an IDE adapter to IDE slim slim optical drive. Our first reaction was to think it was a real plus significant. Until me to realize that the motherboard does not have IDE port.
After a tour on the net, it appears that very few Mini-ITX motherboards still have an IDE port, the choice of Silverstone is curious in the end. Replacement in the bundle the adapter with a "Slim SATA to SATA" or "ide to sata slim" would be a real plus when you see the price of these accessories to the unit.
DFI P55-MI-T36 Motherboard
A mini ITX motherboard DFI! A year ago or two, we never expected that to happen, but the evolution of the market has opened a breach in which the Taiwanese manufacturer was engulfed in without half-measures: socket LGA1156, P55 Chipset 2 slots DDR3 1600MHz, 3 SATA connectors, 2 USB 2.0 internal chip realtek AL885 7.1 associated with Creative X-Fi drivers, two fan connectors, 1 x 8pin CPU and a PCI Express 16X.
The rear panel is also richly endowed: 5 USB 2.0 powered eSata a SPDIF optical and coaxial, 2 PS2 ports and six audio jacks. Small detail "DFI", a button "Clear MOS is present.
There is simply no equivalent on the market. His bundle is proportional to the size of the card, 2 SATA cables, a power molex to 2 4pins Sata 2 connectors and smart. The card also comes with drivers on a CD and a CD suitable for X-Fi chip and a multilingual user manual.
Who says DFI Ultra Complete bios and said this is the case, we would be lost in the possible settings. Interestingly for those looking to overclock, it is possible to save four profiles in bios, the CPU VCore is adjustable from 1 to 2v and the VRam 1.2 and 2.6 v! The block (equivalent FSB of Core i3 i5 and i7) is adjustable from 100-500 MHz (133 original). In short, as an advertisement saying: "It has everything a great".
Intel Core i5-750
The processor which will be associated with an Intel Core i5 750, the first quad-core LGA1156 (Lynnfield) clocked at 2.67 GHz and 8 MB of cache. Its overclocking potential should be revealed by this motherboard.'s VID is 1.25V and TDP of 95W.
G. Skill DDR3-2000 Memory:
Listed memory, and to not be crippled in our attempts to rise in frequency, is a kit 2x2GB G. Skill DDR3-2000 MHz Ripjaws was chosen because it offers the best price / performance. Only 10% more expensive than the 1600MHz kit for 25% of perf in addition, it is a shame to miss out.
Cooling Corsair Hydro H50:
Offer liquid cooling system compact and powerful, ready to be used for the price of a large CPU cooler, the bet is tempted by Corsair with H50.
The concept is simple: a waterblock / pump that attaches to the place the cooler connected to a small radiator 120mm deported. Compatible with Intel and AMD AM2/AM3 LGA775/1156/1366, it comes with a 12cm black fan base PWM. The pump plugs into a 3-pin connector and the radiator is fixed on the location of a 12cm fan.
Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 v2 Graphics Card:
The graphics card chosen for this test is simply the most powerful compatible with the housing, the ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB DDR5 V2, the fan is considered quieter than the original, which is part of a use in the living room, an advantage. His performance should help to play in good conditions to nearly all current games. This is becoming one of the leading price / performance.
SSD P64 Corsair:
We all agree that a HTPC worthy of the name must be as quiet as possible. The use of an SSD drive system provides increased performance and silence. Its use to store its data on a disk 5400 rpm almost inaudible over can be paused by the system when not solicited. Corsair sent us a P64 which, as its name suggests, has a capacity of 64 GB is based on the controller and Samsung's second generation with a cache of 128 MB It boasts a read speed of 220 Mb / s and 120Mo / s in writing and is compatible with the trim . Its aluminum shell gives it a nice finish.
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