Wanted to build something small, efficient and silent for internet, watching movies and light gaming.
I love the style of the TU200 case so decided to build myself a new system.


Old parts from previous builds:
MSI HD6450, will upgrade this later for a passive HD7750
Samsung M8 1TB 2.5" HDD
Samsung 830 120gb SSD
Noctua NF-S12A PWM Fan

New parts:
MSI b75ia-e33 motherboard
Intel Xeon E3-1220Lv2 17w TDP CPU (2.3 Ghz, 3.5 Ghz Turbo Boost)
PicoPSU-160-xt + 12v Adapter
Samsung 2x4GB 1.35v Memory (MV-3V4G3D/US)
NH-U9B SE2 CPU Heatsink

Testing is done at ambient 20C.

Running Prime 95 for one hour the CPU peaked at 60C with no fans. Playing WoW on low settings the GPU topped at 65C. Idle temps are around 40C. Note that I delidded the CPU IHS. Before the delid CPU peak temp was 62C. Not much difference but i used MX-4 between the die/IHS. With Coollaboratory Liquid ultra/pro I could probably knock the temps down around the 55C range, but I'm fine with how the temps are now.

I added the Noctua NF-S12A PWM case fan because i want to upgrade the GPU to a passive HD7750. Just a little airflow to prevent heat getting trapped inside the case. It's running standard at 500 rpm.

I'm very sensitive to high frequency noise. The system sits in my bedroom and is inaudible at night from where I sleep. The loudest component was the power adapter.

The first power adapter I bought was the FSP 150W (FSP150-AHBN1) - This adapter produced a very loud high pitched whine when the systems is in idle. Loud enough to gave me an headache. When I loaded prime95 the whine was gone. The store where I bought the adapter recommended me a lower wattage power adapter. Adapters I tried:

Seasonic 80w (SSA-0901-12) - Idle 21W, Load 48W (Prime95+Furmark)
Meanwell 80w (GS90A12-P1M) - Idle 24W, Load 51W
FSP 84W (FSP084-DMAA1) - Idle 21W, Load 53W
Delta 90W (Got this one from a QNAP NAS) - Idle 21W, Load 49W
FSP 120W (FSP120-AHAN1) - Idle 24W, Load 52W

Power consumption is measured with a kill a watt meter. Seasonic is the most efficient overall and I'm using it for now. I calculated that with a HD7750 GPU the system will draw around 80-85w at full load so I will use the FSP 120 when I upgrade.

Pictures:





MB with delidded CPU:






2.5" HDD in Scythe Himuro Mini suspended with Sharkoon Vibe Fixer:

What's sitting between the noctua and the case? Looks like another fan or some sort of adapter?

It's a 140mm to 120mm fan adapter. I don't need much airflow (with current setup, completely passive is no problem), the case only have 140mm fan mounting holes in the front and the 140mm fans I tried was too loud for me so I went with a 120mm fan.

What's the benefit of delidding the CPU, when you have to put the lid back on to make the CPU clamp in to the socket?

I wouldn't recommended it for an average user. I used a vice and hammer to delid it and felt confidence enough doing it. What I got is slightly better temps and more even temps between the cores.

I'm curious about why you chose this Lian Li case. It is really quite big for MiniITX and as you are not running a full size PSU or many components, I would have thought that one of their much smaller cases would have been more suitable.

Yeah, true. I did consider other smaller cases also but I liked the unique look of this case so I went with this one.

Seems I'm not the only one with PSU noise at idle. (I have PicoPSU160XT+192W power brick from mini-box)

Are all the other power bricks noise-less? The 60W one I got from mini-box is fine.

Other power bricks are much better than the 150w one, but when the computer is off they do make a slight buzz or whining noise. I have the Seasonic on a switch so I can cut off the power completely.