Remember Those Two New Computers I Was Building? They're Done...

"Mercedes Streeter" (smart) 02/07/2018 at 15:23 • Filed to: Computers

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I’ve finally finished them.

These two builds had a bit of a learning curve to them.

Apparently ASRock boards have a common issue where if you use a tv as a HDMI output, sometimes the tv will see the PC as an unsupported format during post. After a week of fighting both PCs, I gave up and bought a monitor for a few dollars from Goodwill.

Now they post. There was nothing wrong with either board, the tv just couldn’t see their Bios!

The little computer is destined to become a desktop that becomes a laptop with the help of a Motorola Atrix Lapdock.

Yeah, it’s going to look a litttttttle weird in its laptop configuration.

What is an Atrix Lapdock? It’s an accessory for a Motorola smartphone where you can “dock” the phone to it and turn your phone into a laptop. As it turns out, these things are super popular with the Raspberry Pi community to make “Pi-tops”. Logically, a mini-Windows computer should be able to use it too. Windows will see it as a HID device and it’ll operate as a laptop with desktop architecture.

The little ASRock Deskmini 110W build is called “Legacy 510” (Embraer Legacy 500 + Intel HD 510). It’s designed to replace a ten year old MacBook that I accidentally killed one night after too many glasses of wine. The replacement was originally supposed to be a MacBook Pro, but we all know what happened with that thing.

- ASRock Deskmini 110W - $130

- ASRock H110M-STX - (came with the Deskmini)

- Pentium G4400. - $50

- 4GB Corsair Value Select - $50 (have to get the RAM ASRock specifies or it won’t post).

- Custom LED low profile CPU cooler (I cobbled together some Amazon items). - $15

- 500 GB HDD from the MacBook it’s replacing.

- Motorola Atrix Lapdock - $20

Total cost = $265

And now for my favourite of the two builds, meet the CRJ750!

This one is the ITX build. (CRJ700 aircraft + GTX 750).

This one is meant to test game mods before I put them into the “production” computer I call the “DC-10-60”.

- Raijintek Metis Plus - $60

- ASRock H110M-ITX - $60

- Core i3-7100 - $100

- GTX 750 - $15

- 4GB RAM (come on, ASRock) - $50

- 1 TB HDD salvaged from another PC in the house.

Total = $285

This one also suffered from the same issue that comes from having a H110 ASRock board. The monitor solved it for this one as well.

And finally, my bestie made a decal for the DC-10-60:

facw > Mercedes Streeter 02/07/2018 at 15:28

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Nice. Need to get around to building a new machine for myself.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > Mercedes Streeter 02/07/2018 at 15:49

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That little case looks like a PITA to build in.

I built my wifes computer in a Corsair 88R and her PSU was non-modular and I thought that was bad.

Mercedes Streeter > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back 02/07/2018 at 15:51

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The little case is actually super easy to build in. The motherboard mounts to a drawer that slides out of the case. You build the board, connect the front on, then slide it back in!

Mercedes Streeter > facw 02/07/2018 at 15:53

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I can build it for you! :D lol

deekster_caddy > Mercedes Streeter 02/07/2018 at 16:04

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Those are some sweet looking machines! Here’s my recent build, I hammered together a bunch of parts to make a “portable” gaming system with an old ‘all-in-one’ monitor stand they were throwing away at the office.

look over my silly build pics for a laugh, but it works great

https://flic.kr/s/aHsm2eD8Rg

facw > Mercedes Streeter 02/07/2018 at 16:05

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Building it myself is part of the fun! Though it has been ages since I built a machine. Big obstacle at the moment is that I hate the high RAM prices, though I’ve got a few other minor annoyances as well.

I also might redo my HTPC. I just bought a 4K TV, but the maximum HDMI resolution the Radeon HD 4670 in there supports over HDMI is 1080p. Could get a beefier card, but space and noise limitations make that a bad idea, so I’m thinking about just swapping in a new system where the integrated graphics support 4K@60.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > Mercedes Streeter 02/07/2018 at 16:15

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What about the PSU? Or the hard drive?

HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute > Mercedes Streeter 02/07/2018 at 16:21

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That’s fucking awesome. I’ll never be able to do that, likely.

Also don’t know if you noticed, but I used to be The slammed, cambered, 2000 fart can Civic Type R-icer :P

Roadster Man > Mercedes Streeter 02/07/2018 at 16:46

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I really like that green case. I just built a new rig and it POST’ed on the first try. Love it when that happens! Glad to see some fellow PC builders on Oppo.

hedbutter > facw 02/07/2018 at 17:28

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If you’re scared of RAM prices, dont look at video cards :(

hedbutter > Roadster Man 02/07/2018 at 17:29

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I did a motherboard swap in early december and had that happen. not a better feeling out there, hahaha

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Mercedes Streeter 02/07/2018 at 17:40

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That little build looks neat! I’ve been wanting to put together a small form factory desktop to run Linux on and use as a Media Center :)

Mercedes Streeter > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back 02/07/2018 at 17:48

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PSU is external, looks no different than a laptop power cable. Max TDP for the CPU is 65 watts, though I’ve read people putting more powerful chips in these things to no detriment.

The HDD sits under the drawer. It supports a M.2 unit and two 2.5 drives.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > Mercedes Streeter 02/07/2018 at 18:01

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Wow! Very cool build! Thanks for sharing.

facw > hedbutter 02/07/2018 at 18:19

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Luckily, I picked up a 1070 in 2016, so I am set there. Would be a dealbreaker otherwise.

Mercedes Streeter > HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute 02/07/2018 at 18:50

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You’ll be able to one day!! I mean, I built these three computers all in the span of what, 3 months? And they’re the first computers I’ve ever built. Most parts come with instructions so it’s not much worse than playing with LEGO. :)

Aha! I wondered where you disappeared to, noted! 

HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute > Mercedes Streeter 02/07/2018 at 20:35

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I disappeared to the land of depression for a bit, then came back and decided new year, same me.

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Oh and new name :) and LEGOS are a good way to make it seem easy. I’m not done being a kid yet

Mercedes Streeter > HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute 02/07/2018 at 21:56

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Awe hun. Depression is a horrible thing! <3

If you’re ever feeling down or whatever, you could always contact me!

the_smart_car@yahoo.com

224-303-8039 (call, text, whatever)(this doesn’t trace back to my irl identity so it’s okay)

I don’t think we ever be done being kids!!! I hope 2018 is your best year yet!

HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2018 at 06:56

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Thanks, and things should gt better this year. I’m moving again so that could either be good or catastrophic. Don’t know where yet, hopefully back to Chicago :)

hedbutter > facw 02/08/2018 at 08:42

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Nice! I got a 1060 in 2016, and its been doing fine. I’ve been debating on upgrading for awhile, but that wont be happening until GPU prices drop. Just gives me more time to save for it (and finish my basement office)

facw > hedbutter 02/08/2018 at 09:07

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Yeah, honestly I felt the ~$475 I spent on it was way too much for a video card (probably would have gotten a 480, but they were out of stock everywhere, and I do have a 2560x1600 screen so it’s not like the power is wasted), but I feel less bad when I see Newegg is selling the same card at $610, and that actually seems to be a decent price for a 1070 these days.