here's a bump. i did a build for a member of ocr who said i could post pictures! so here's a few =) this was a small form-factor build with a really reasonable price point considering the hardware in there. it's got something wonky with the in-Windows temp sensor so the BIOS reports it correctly but hwmonitor doesn't, but it appears to be idling at 24c (75F, in a 67F room) and under max CPU load and heat stress stays below 40c. really incredible machine, considering how quiet it is. just doing the burn-in and then it's ready to ship.
the specs:
cpu: i5-6600
graphics card: gtx 1060
mobo: ga-h170n-wifi
ram: g.skill 1x8gb ddr4 2400
ssd: kingston 240gb
hdd: wd blue 1tb
psu: corsair cx600
cpu cooler: h60
odd: asus dvd-rw
case: corsair obsidian 250d
os: W10
can i take a few minutes and talk about this case? this case is incredible for the price (85$). it's so well thought-out. so much room for wire routing, so many little nooks to stash stuff, and the fans it comes with are easily 30$ worth up front. i mean, look at how open this is! for a mini-itx case, having this much room to work with is fantastic. it also is well designed to keep each major component in its own thermal zone. the psu draws and vents directly outside the case with no internal air used. the gfx card can do that as well with an EE-type card, but even this one mostly draws and vents directly outside the case. and that little notch in the ODD tray? that's to allow for gfx card power plugs to fit in there easily, so you don't have to pull the ODD tray to take out a long card. so simple, so effective. another QOL thing - there's a notch by the P4 connector to allow you to route that cable behind the motherboard easier, so you don't have a big stray cable right there. the front panel cords are 3x as long as they need to be to allow for routing as well. and - probably the coolest part of the design - it's made so that the psu and hdd bays are externally accessible, so you don't need to climb into the case to access either. so nice for the price, easily the most fun working on this case that i've ever done. and it fits in the tiny case form factor!
here it is with the cpu cooler in the wrong spot. i had some issues getting that in there along with the ODD - i wanted the pipes to go up, but they interfere with the ODD, and then i wanted them like this, but it blocks both RAM slots then. i wound up with them down, which creates the possibility of air bubbles within the pipes, but this should be fine. these close-loop systems rarely have issues with air and i couldn't hear bubbles after several minutes listening with a stethoscope for cavitation. note the size of the gfx card, up for comparison. it's almost the exact length of the inside of the case
here's a pic with everything in. look at how clean the sight lines are for the center of the case. there's one cable - the USB3 cable, which i couldn't hide thanks to the mobo design - and that's it. also note the gfx power (yellow/black on bottom right) in that slot. really nice design there.
a final shot of it all buttoned up. again, look at those sight lines. a nice psu (or one with individually sleeved cables) and some cold cathodes and this design is a work of art, hiding all the junk but leaving a ton of view space.
a size comparison. i have a fairly small wallet. this case is really freaking tiny.
hanging out with my gaming system, server, and music pc. i swear those cords are normally hidden.