Spent yesterday trying to figure out how to replace the two computers recently lost, see the Computers & Lightning Strikes_Lightning Strikes & Growing Ganja – ‘Karmi’s Musings’ post for more info, i.e. the former ‘Antec Jr.’ & ‘CM130’ Test Computers. Had also mentioned trying to trim down the amount of computers I had (previously six desktops & two laptops).

Lightning knocked out two a few days+ ago, and then I gutted the ‘InWin’ computer yesterday for its Mini ITX MoBo. ‘InWin’ was mainly built just to see what building a Small Form Factor (SFF) would be like, and I never did like the InWin’s super small case; however, its Asus PRIME H310I-PLUS mini-ITX MoBo would certainly fit into the Cooler Master Elite 130‘s case!

IT’S ALIVE!

I still had the ‘DIYPC’ computer, but it has a AMD micro-ATX board which is too big for the 130’s case. Actually, the only reason that I keep it around is because it is an APU – Ryzen™ 5 3400G APU – which offers a GPU on the AMD processor (almost rare for AMD). It’s probably headed to a storage shed in the future since I never use it – 9/1/2022 UPDATE: It was just moved to a storage shed ‘n is now listed on the Buy Low or BYOC – ‘Build Your Own Computer’ page as being on a “semi-retired ‘Standby‘ list”. I like Cooler Master Elite 130‘s SFF case, which is about as small of a case that I care for, and it is big enough for a good sized GPU ‘n a CPU Liquid Cooler. OK…let’s get started.

Step 1. a) Removed the dead Asus PRIME A320I-K mini-ITX MoBo from the 130’s case. b) The EVGA 500W ATX PSU was still good. c) GeForce GTX 1050 Ti OC 4GB GDDR5 (GV-N105TOC-4GD) GPU was still good, requires no power plugs, and is very efficient for a GPU. d) 16GBs memory (8×2) was still good, and the set was compatible wid the Asus PRIME H310I-PLUS board. e) The Cooler Master MasterLiquid Lite 120 AIO CPU Liquid Cooler was already installed, was connected to the Ryzen™ 9 3900X, and I had saved the Intel brackets ‘n such that came wid it (NOTE: The PSU in the 130’s case is installed just above the CPU area which basically eliminates the use of a Fan/Cooler for powerful CPU’s). f) ICY DOCK ExpressCage MB732SPO-B was installed and has 2×2.5′ SSD SATA Hot Swap bays, plus space for an Ultra Slim ODD (9.5mm) or Slim ODD (12.7mm) device.

Step 2. a) prepped Asus PRIME H310I-PLUS mini-ITX board by connecting needed Intel brackets for the hookup of Liquid Cooler. b) installed the Asus PRIME H310I-PLUS mini-ITX board. c) Removed its 8GB memory chip and installed the 16GBs (8×2) memory set from damaged board.

Step 3. a) tested the Intel® Core™ i9-9900 Processor from the damaged old ‘Antec Jr.‘ computer, and it was still good. b) installed it. c) connected all wiring to MoBo and ICY DOCK device. d) connected the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Lite 120 AIO CPU Liquid Cooler. e) re-connected PSU to 130’s case. f) installed GeForce GTX 1050 Ti GPU.

‘Frank‘

I normally name my computers by the case’s name, if I built it, but this build included parts from three different cases so I pondered a new name. Frankenstein was a natural fit for this project! So it is now Frankenstein, ‘Frank‘ for short, and I have placed it on the Mobile cart wid ‘Rose‘.

  • All tests have been done, and ‘Frank‘ gives special thanks to ‘Antec Jr.‘ & ‘CM130‘ & ‘Inwin‘ for their contributions to this project!

That now gives me three full-time Desktops, one stored/standby Desktop (DIYPC), and two Laptops. I’ll be busy updating the Buy Low or BYOC – ‘Build Your Own Computer’ page after posting this!? 😉

LINUX IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES – you never know what you’re gonna get!

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