NOTE: See *Update at the bottom for Silverstone SST-NT07-115X Cooler update notes.
This review is rather long, so if you're anxious, jump to the conclusion at the bottom.
Disclaimers:
1. I'm not a gamer!
2. I'm an Electrical Engineer not a professional reviewer, so please take this review as is. I wrote it for those of you who want to pursue building a system like this.
3. I've researched a lot before building THIS system. I'm fully aware of the compromises I've made and I don't care about other options at this point. I wanted to build a system with a desktop class processor in the smallest form factor. If I wanted it to be the quietest or the fastest, it wouldn't have been the smallest.
4. This is the same review for the case as is for the MB. I will post a separate review for the cooler. And with that...
Parts:
MB: Gigabyte GA-H87TN LGA 1150
CPU: Quad Core Intel i5 4570s (65W)
Cooler: Silverstone AR 04
Paste: Arctic Silver AS5-3.5G %
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB DDR3 SO-DIMM 1600 (PC3 12800) (BLS2K8G3N169ES4)
SSD: Plextor PX-128M5M mSATA 128GB SATAIII MLC
Case: Silverstone PT13
PS: Anker for HP Compaq Presario CQ40... [19V 4.74A 90W]
KB: Logitech Mini Controller
OS: Windows 8.1 Pro 64bit
Price does not matter as I bought them from all over the place. Look them up.
Installation:
Everything was fun until I got to the cooler. That's right...at the very beginning. The problem starts with the case being not tall enough to accommodate any (very) low profile cooler, so the only option (so far) is Silverstone's very own AR04 cooler. I did try to put a Zalman in it, and it didn't make it. BARELY. I was ready to machine the posts of the case that hold the MB, as I needed probably less than 1mm to close the case. Sad. Even though, as nice as Zalman looked, I was disappointed with its convex rather than flat cooling pad. Please read Zalman's review on Amazon...I'll post pictures.
Without going into other details, I had the following issues with the Silverstone AR04 cooler:
1. The clips that hold the cooler in place have to be pressed with Extreme pressure before they latch. You must be able to hold that MB flat or otherwise you bend it and flex it beyond normal. Be very careful. Because of this, I had to take it down and try several times to put it on.
2. By doing this, I've observed that very little thermal paste actually got transferred from the CPU to the cooler. And yes, I've applied it very thin, but the problem is that the cooler lacks a thermal pad so there is no flat (and thick, and strong) surface touching the flat surface of the CPU. Worse, by needing so much pressure to affix it, my guess is that the cooler actually flexes and instead of sitting flat on the processor, it forms a little `dome' above it. Now, with silver paste, I could probably apply it thicker...but for now it'll stay in place.
3. The biggest issue is, however, that one of the posts interfere with a cap on the MB. This may or may not be valid only for this type of MB. That cap ended up being pushed a little on one side, and I was NOT happy about it! I basically relied on the cap legs' ability to stretch a little bit. A little bit too much, and there goes your pretty MB. I've tried flexing/rotating that post away from the cap...I only needed very little, but the steel is really thick and strong and I don't think it moved a bit. And not because I'm not strong enough, but because there's no room to grip it (without damaging something, anyway). I was also ready to grind it a little bit but I didn't in the end. If you have a Dremel tool, I STRONGLY recommend grinding a little bit off of that post. You will not damage or affect its integrity or structure. Please see the pictures and you will understand what I mean.
Having the Zalman and the Silverstone next to each other, I did like Zalman's approach with a back plate and bolts. Regardless of Zalman's other issue, it did look better designed/made than the Silverstone. If I had more money to throw away, I'd keep Zalman's hardware and retrofit it to the AR04. May be next time.
After the cooler hurdle, everything else went on smoothly and fast. The mSata drive helps a lot and gives you a clean looking system, as you don't really need to run any cables. And going back to the cooler, it sits very-very close to the mSata drive. If you need to remove the drive, it's not impossible, but not fun either. And yes, you can insert it back, but again, be cautious and patient.
Be careful when routing the front USB cable. When you close the cover, the cable flexes inward and interferes with the cooler. I've used a little sticky cable tie that came with the case, but anything will work...hot glue, double tape or just some messing around with it. I've also routed all the LED and button wires through and under the front PCB, just to give it a cleaner look when opened. I really like it that way. Check the pictures for reference.
The RAM I've bought was not listed on Gigabyte's site as compatible, but I bought it anyway. Moreover, after it came I've realized I've purchased a 1.35V RAM, while Gigabyte recommends 1.5V. Long story short, THIS 1.35V RAM works and does not get hot. Don't hold me liable if you try another type, brand or even similar model and it doesn't work. Again, it works on mine.
The nice part about having an mSata drive even with a case this small is that you can put an additional bigger 2.5" HDD inside for Media. That's what I intend to do with mine. In order to not go crazy later, I'd recommend installing the HDD brackets on the case. This way, when you need them, they're there.
For Power Supply I've purchased an Anker from Amazon. A little research for the plug type will take you to this one:
Anker® New AC Adapter/Charger + Power Supply Cord for Laptop HP Compaq Presario CQ40 CQ43 CQ45 CQ50 CQ60 CQ62 CQ72; HP Pavilion DV4 DV5 DV5T DV5Z DV6 DV6Z DV7 DV7T DM4 DM1 DM1Z; HP G42 G62 G4 G6 G6X G7 G50 G60 G70; HP EliteBook Notebook PC Series 2530P 2730P 6930P 8440P 8530P 8530W 8730W; HP Envy 14 14T 14-1110nr [19V 4.74A 90W 18-Month Warranty]
I don't have any connection with them, but Anker stuff seems to have rather positive reviews across all their product line. I'm happy with the stuff I bought. The PS does get hot, but it's stable. Check the Thermal images for reference.
Testing:
Please check the pictures for the mSata transfer speeds and overall benchmark scores. Again, I don't do this stuff for a living, so I only used freeware/trial software for benchmarking. And they're not the newest and the latest because that's what I've used in all my other machines, so I get a real apples-to-apples comparison.
All in all, the system ranked very well in benchmarks, impaired obviously by the lack of a graphic card. And I really don't care about that. I was surprised, however that in PerformanceTest 8.0, under graphics benchmarking, Intel Graphics 4600 was no better than the 4000 (but I don't know what kind of tests are being performed). Oh well...
It was cool to see the CPU at 3.591MHz with TurboBoost active during some testing.
The system boots in less than 8sec. With the time the TV takes to switch inputs (from nothing to something), it feels much faster. Shut Down is close to 1sec, feels almost instant.
Fan speed and noise is constant for the most part, but it increases to higher - louder levels during any tests or activity. With the System next to the 50" TV in the Living Room, there is some audible noise, but is covered by pretty much every other noise in the room. Once you play back any media, the fan is inaudible.
I will place the system inside the Entertainment Center, behind glass doors (cooling in the back) and there is no sound I can detect, so not an issue for me.
I don't play too much and I don't do benchmarks every day, so I doubt I'll hardly ever crank the processor and the fan speed to become an issue. But, in all honesty, I would not call the AR04 a quiet fan.
Power Consumption (measured with a Kill-A-Watt):
- OFF (with wired KB and wired mouse): 3.2W
- Idle (Windows desktop, mozilla web page etc): 16.5-17W
- Idle with external WD MyPassport 2TB attached: 18W
- With some SSD activity (opening Mozilla, Photoshop, etc): 32W. After a couple of seconds, going back down to 18W
- CPU Stress Test: 68.9W
- CPU Arithmetic: 63W
- CPU Multimedia: 68W
- Memory Bandwidth: 55W
- FPU Julia: 82W (!)
- FPU Mandel: 86W (!)
Thermal:
Please check the pictures.
During Idle, everything is fairly cool and stable. I'm still not happy with how the cooler sits on the processor...but I'll leave it for the moment. I did notice higher temps on one side of the cooler, I'll investigate more. If I'm bored, I might take it off and put more thermal paste between the fins, to give it a more `flat' contact surface.
On the MB, except some power regulator, no chip was hot by any measure. I was pleasantly surprised how cool the Chipset remained during heavy benchmarking. Thanks Gigabyte for a (literally and figuratively) cool design.
During most normal operation, the CPU temp was hovering around 51degC, while System temp was at 36degC.
During Memory Bandwidth benchmark, Memory modules jumped to 44.7degC. After the test, they've cooled down to 34degC.
During the File System benchmark, SSD controller heated up to 41degC, again, still cool by any measure.
Conclusion:
Some negatives:
Not happy about the fan and the fan installation.
No speaker/beeper to help with troubleshooting.
Unstable audio over HDMI (needs further testing before declaring it an issue)
The System is pretty and tiny. Not NUC tiny, but Desktop Tiny. You're talking desktop class processor, not mobile processor. The case is basically as big as three stacked DVD cases (see pictures). It's unobtrusive, understated and very well made.
The machine is not a benchmark killer system, but it is very-very fast. This + Windows 8.1 = a lot of love. Very, very enjoyable to work, play and get entertained on it. Everything from boot till shut down is silky smooth and very fast.
If you want quiet/fan-less, you have to go the Akasa Euler way, but you trade off in size and weight. Moreover, Akasa Euler is rated for processors up to 35W, but there are reports that a 65W will do just fine in it. I'm still tempted, but again, I do like the size and the lightweight of the current configuration.
No `Smart TV' will ever come close to this, so I will soon build another one for another room.
****Update
As a user suggested I have tried the Silverstone SST-NT07-115X Intel Socket LGA1156/1155/1150 Low Profile CPU Cooler and I have to say it's night and day better in clearance with components around it, mounting and ultimately cooling. Thanks again for the tip! Pics can be found at the Silverstone PT13 case review.
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