The TBG Ultra-Compact Micro ATX Build

[Ari Altman]

Hello, Ari,

      Thank you for your informative reply.  I spent some time on this situation, and learned the following:

(a) The USB drive in question was not recognized by the BIOS, no matter what USB port I used;
(b) 4 other USB drives I had on hand-all containing data so they couldn't be used to load Windows 10-were recognized as bootable drives by the BIOS on all the USB ports.

I purchased a different brand of drive and used it to load my operating system with no problems.
The original drive is now recognized in Windows File explorer, but still not by the BIOS.
I purchased another USB drive of the specific brand in question and tried everything again, and the drive was again recognized by Windows File Explorer but not the BIOS. The drive was returned to the vendor for a refund.

I have a feeling that there is a code glitch in either the BIOS or the USB drive software that precludes the drive being recognized as a bootable drive in this combination; I've never run across this situation before, and was a bit frustrated until I was able to obtain a different brand of drive.

Glad you figured it out. What brand of flash drive did you use? It sounds like it may have a flaw in its design that prevents it from being used as a boot drive.

[mm0047]

Ari,

     The drive brand in question is PNY.  I purchased it at Staples.  First (and last) time I will be buying this brand of drive.

[Ari Altman]

Ari,

     The drive brand in question is PNY.  I purchased it at Staples.  First (and last) time I will be buying this brand of drive.

Interesting. While PNY isn't the top-rated flash drive manufacturer, they've been around a long time. My go-to brand is actually SanDisk - it really can't be beat.

[JackH]

I just finished putting together this Micro ATX build. (Almost built the previous version of this build with the AMD processor.)

Thanks for the article and putting it all together. No problems with the build. This is a fast and super quiet computer. The only thing I did differently was the graphics card. I used the EVGA GTX 960 from my old system since the price/availability on cards are so unstable. Still fast enough for my needs. I also added the rear 120mm fan.

I am not much for overclocking so I left everything at default settings. 

Thanks again for the information and excellent build article.

--Jack

[Ari Altman]

I just finished putting together this Micro ATX build. (Almost built the previous version of this build with the AMD processor.)

Thanks for the article and putting it all together. No problems with the build. This is a fast and super quiet computer. The only thing I did differently was the graphics card. I used the EVGA GTX 960 from my old system since the price/availability on cards are so unstable. Still fast enough for my needs. I also added the rear 120mm fan.

I am not much for overclocking so I left everything at default settings. 

Thanks again for the information and excellent build article.

--Jack

Welcome to the TBG Forum, JackH! Glad you had a positive experience building the $1,400 Micro ATX PC. It's really pretty ideal for just about everyone - most people don't realize that compact cases can hold everything you need!

[Shinrouen]

Love the look of the new Silverstone LD01's. When will a review be out?

[Ari Altman]

Love the look of the new Silverstone LD01's. When will a review be out?

Actually, SilverStone offered TBG a sample of this case as soon as it hit the market, but we've held off because we no longer have nay mATX test boards on hand. Testing with an ITX board is always possible, but it won't quite show off the potential of the case.

To help decide whether to go ahead with reviewing the case, it would be great to know what you would like to learn more about in an LD01 review.

[Shinrouen]

Ari,

With the migration towards ITX do you still see there being much of an enthusiast space for mATX? It almost seems like no-man's land for this segment. I love the looks and without any decent viable mATX boards supporting the Ryzen 200 series I wonder if it makes sense to use an ITX module? But then it seems overkill in terms of storage and space.

The 3-sided glass panels look outstanding but I wonder how airflow would be affected along with temperatures and acousics.

[Ari Altman]

Ari,

With the migration towards ITX do you still see there being much of an enthusiast space for mATX? It almost seems like no-man's land for this segment. I love the looks and without any decent viable mATX boards supporting the Ryzen 200 series I wonder if it makes sense to use an ITX module? But then it seems overkill in terms of storage and space.

The 3-sided glass panels look outstanding but I wonder how airflow would be affected along with temperatures and acousics.

Actually, there are now some great mATX boards for the Ryzen 2000 series - they've literally hit the market over the past week. I think that's a great use case for a micro ATX case. But yes, generally there has been a trend towards ITX as the importance of expansion slots lessens. What mATX gives you, however, that ITX really can't, is ease of use in with a lower footprint than any ATX case. ITX cases always require a bit more work to build in.

From my preview of the LD01 case at CES earlier this year, I'm pretty confident that thermals will be more than adequate, but that's something that could definitely be examined if a TBG review goes forward.

There are a few other reviews in the works right now, but if TBG does another case review in the near future, it will probably be the LD01.