Any ideas for a 185W Max mATX build? \ VOGONS

Any ideas for a 185W Max mATX build?

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First post, by appiah4

Posted on 2022-01-18, 07:29

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I recently refurbished an IBN NetVista 6349-71G and it turns out the motherboard is dead. I quite dislike the Pentium 4 platform so not many tears were shed after it, and it did yield a Pentium 4 2.80GHz (not the expected 1.7GHz Williamette dogshit) so all is fine. But what I am really wanting to re-use is the case:

It's is a fine looking (mostly standard) mATX case and I thought it would be fun to build something in it. Front panel connectors are nonstandard but I can deal wit that by changing the connectors and switches. The dealbreaker is the PSU, it's a 185W MAX unit that does 5.0V 14.0A and 3.3V 12.0A (for a 100W MAX combined). That doesn't leave room for much. I was hoping to build a sleeper Socket AM3 system in it, but that PSU just won't cut it. Unfortunately, the PSU is not standard ATX in terms of dimensions, and the only sensible replacement for it would be an SFX, which I don't feel like paying for.

That being the case, I'm trying to figure out what could be a fun Sleeper (or reverse sleeper?) build to do in this. Any ideas?

Reply 1 of 6, by Doornkaat

Posted on 2022-01-18, 07:48

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Maybe you can get an AM1 board for cheap and build a multi media/web browsing machine? AM1 is sort of cool for being a pretty capable (in 2014) SOC platform and it can be upgraded with a discrete GPU to help with hardware acceleration for 4k video.

Reply 2 of 6, by dionb

Posted on 2022-01-18, 10:50

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How much does it do on the 12V line? That's the big question for anything newer - but as it came with a P4-2.8, that's a 68.4W part that draws most of that from 12V, so it's pretty safe to say that anything up to that power.

That means you could put a board with a Ryzen 5 5600X (or even Ryzen 9 5900) in there. Of course that doesn't give you a GPU, but go for a Ryzen 7 5700G and you're still within 65W, but with a monster of an octa-core APU with 5th gen GCN.

Now, a USD 359 APU (plus supporting AM4 motherboard) might be a bit out of budget, but it's within power envelope.

Reply 3 of 6, by appiah4

Posted on 2022-01-18, 11:59

appiah4 Offline

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dionb wrote on 2022-01-18, 10:50:

How much does it do on the 12V line? That's the big question for anything newer - but as it came with a P4-2.8, that's a 68.4W part that draws most of that from 12V, so it's pretty safe to say that anything up to that power.

That means you could put a board with a Ryzen 5 5600X (or even Ryzen 9 5900) in there. Of course that doesn't give you a GPU, but go for a Ryzen 7 5700G and you're still within 65W, but with a monster of an octa-core APU with 5th gen GCN.

Now, a USD 359 APU (plus supporting AM4 motherboard) might be a bit out of budget, but it's within power envelope.

The sticker says 10A for 12V. The PSU is an Acel API1PC11, IBM P/N:24P6880 FRU NO: 24P6883

The Ryzen 5600G is kinda out of budget but a fun little idea. I can't seem to find any good deals on a second hand AM1 platform locally either.

How about a troll mATX Socket 7 DOS build with a Cyrix 6x86 PR-150?

Reply 4 of 6, by Doornkaat

Posted on 2022-01-18, 12:33

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I mean, do you want a troll PC?
What do you do with a PC that doesn't perform well and won't even heat your house?😉

Reply 5 of 6, by appiah4

Posted on 2022-01-18, 15:55

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Doornkaat wrote on 2022-01-18, 12:33:

I mean, do you want a troll PC?
What do you do with a PC that doesn't perform well and won't even heat your house?😉

Well.. Yeah? It's not a bad idea to throw together a bunch of underdog/underappreciated/underperforming hardware and make them work to SOME end.. Not sure what THAT would be in this context, but I guess I could try to build a Cyrix Socket 7 for shits and giggles.. I mean, there's really not much to do with a socket 7 mATX board that is kind of interesting, and an AT board won't fit into this, so..

Reply 6 of 6, by Doornkaat

Posted on 2022-01-18, 16:11

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I say go for it then! 👍 If you have an S7 board that fits why not?😁

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