Custom Build PC Family - V-Squared/v2-How-to-DIY-Mini-PC GitHub Wiki

Table of Content

PC Comparison (v4)

Improvements v4 → v3

  • Switched to 4 Groups: ( Work | Gaming | Design | Lightning )
  • Naming of Groups is very intuitive. It makes picking the right PC for the reader very easy.
  • Changed product name from ViCase to ViPC. Now have two different names for two different products
  • Re-Introduced AM1 with a great placement. Deliver great entry level value and expands usability of ViPC
  • Added number of cores in table to promote all Game PCs have 4 cores

Table

Features ViPC-1 ViPC-3 ViPC-750 ViPC-970 ViPC-620 ViPC-1200 ViPC-6400 ViPC-6700
Group Work Work Game Game Design Design Lightning Lightning
Noise Level (*1) quiet silent normal normal quiet quiet silent quiet
Grade (*2) consumer industrial consumer industrial industrial industrial industrial industrial
CPU►Model A-5350 i3-6100 A-5350 i5-6400 i5-6400 i7-6700 i5-6400 i7-6700
CPU►Clock 2.05 3.7 GHz 2.05 3.6 GHz 3.6 GHz 4.0 GHz 3.6 GHz 4.0 GHz
CPU►Cores 4 2 4 4 4 4 4 4
CPU►Cooler boxed Cooler-L boxed Cooler-XL Cooler-XL Cooler-XL Cooler-XL Cooler-XL
Memory 4GB-DDR3 8GB-DDR4 8GB-DDR3 8GB-DDR4 16GB-DDR4 32GB-DDR4 8GB-DDR4 16GB-DDR4
GPU►Model Radeon R3 HD 530 GTX 750 Ti GTX 970 K620 K1200 HD 530 HD 530
GPU►Memory Shared Shared 2GB-GDDR5 4GB-GDDR5 2GB-DDR3 4GB-GDDR5 Shared Shared
GPU►CUDA Cores 0 0 640 1664 384 512 0 0
SSD►GB 120 GB 480 GB - 240 GB 240 GB 512 GB 480 GB 500 GB
SSD►Speed 450 MB/s 520 MB/s - 520 MB/s 520 MB/s 2500 MB/s 1040 MB/s 2500 MB/s
HDD►Size 500 GB Blue - 500 GB Blue 1 TB Red 1 TB Red 2 TB Red - -
HDD►Benchmark 150 - 150 150 150 MB/s 300 MB/s - -
Display►Total Ports 2 2 6 6 4 6 2 3
Display►4K 1 @ 30 Hz 1 @ 30 Hz 2 @ 60 Hz 2 @ 60 Hz 1 @ 60 Hz 6 @ 60 Hz 1 @ 30 Hz 2 @ 60 Hz
Ubuntu / Windows 10 (*3) Ubuntu Home Home Home Pro Pro Home Home
Extras►Wireless No No No No No 802.11 a/c No 802.11 a/c
Extras►Arduino No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
ViCase Model Value Mini Value Small Mini Mini Alu Alu
PSU 200W 300W Gold 200W 400W Gold 300W Gold 300W Gold 300W Gold 300W Gold
Extras►Case Light No Blue RGB RGB RGB RGB No No
ViPC Cost 395 827 617 1359 1194 2086 980 1466
  • (*1) How quiet is your ViCase:
    • Silent: as virtually inaudible, like a person shallow breathing at 1 m ( 3 feet ) distance.
    • Quiet: as in barely noticeable, like a person normal breathing at 1 m ( 3 feet ) distance.
    • Normal: Regular PC noise. More quiet than a standard Desktop case with same components.
  • (*2) Grade:
    • Consumer: Designed to be used for several hours per day
    • Industrial: PSU, CPU Cooler, HDD are selected of parts where the manufacturer gives expected failure after 24/7 for 10 years
  • (*3) : You choose your Pre-Installed OS:
    1. Home: Windows® Home, Full Edition with support, 64-Bit is included in price. Discount $110 US for Ubuntu.
    2. Pro: Windows® Pro, Full Edition with support, 64-Bit is included in price. Discount $140 US for Ubuntu.
    3. Ubuntu Linux Ubuntu

8 ViPC Models (v4)

ViPC-1

Very quiet and environmentally friendly budget PC. The 120 GB SSD makes responsive and fast to boot. The Athlon 5350 CPU with integrated graphics is snappy for modern internet browsing, web apps and office applications. In the spirit of a Budget PC it comes with Ubuntu. If however you are more comfortable with Windows you can upgrade to Windows 10 Home full edition for $110 US. Up to 2 Displays allow for smooth multitasking.

ViPC-3

High quality and super silent work horse. Made from industrial grade components it is designed for heavy duty work. The latest i3 Gen 6 Skylake is very fast, especially in combination with a 250 GB SSD and 8 GB DDR4 RAM. The i3 packs enough punch for common work including consumer Video Editing. Up to 2 Displays allow for smooth multitasking.

ViPC-750

Very affordable Mid Level PC gaming, delivering a marked step up from consoles in terms of image quality, frame rates and features. Cost wise it might be even lower cost versus a console if you consider that for MMO you do not need a yearly subscription and that you can buy your games now on Steam, which has frequent insanely discounted deals. The Athlon 5350 CPU is a quad core CPU, meaning that all high end games will play. Most games will play 30 ... 60 fps in High to Ultra High settings on 720p. 1080p will also play smooth with lowered quality settings. ViCase fist into a briefcase and is comfortable to bring to your friends.

ViPC-970

High End Game PC with enough performance for 3 Display surround gaming, 4K gaming and playing those ultra demanding games in high settings. What sets ViPC-970 apart from other Game PC is the three chamber airflow design which will reduce the noise of your PC letting you enjoy your game play. ViCase fist into a briefcase and is comfortable to bring to your friends.

ViPC-620

Powerful, stylish yet affordable Design Workstation build from industrial grade components made for heavy duty work, including long working hours and overnight batch jobs computing. It is also quieter than other PCs with same parts. ViPC-620 is build with ViCase, which is so small that place or hand it behind your Display so it works just like an All-In-One PC. Or you can easily carry it in your briefcase to work or demo in different locations.

ViPC-1200

Ultra High End Design Workstation build from industrial grade components made for heavy duty work. Step up features of ViPC-620: i7 Quad Core, 32 GB DDR4 and K1200 which is twice as fast and support four 4K Displays @ 60 Hz. Also the disk system packs a punch with the M2. PCIe SSD that is about 500% faster than a regular SSD combined with 2TB WD Red in Disk RAID. ViPC-1200 is build with ViCase, which is so small that place or hand it behind your Display so it works just like an All-In-One PC. Or you can easily carry it in your briefcase to work or demo in different locations.

ViPC6400

Extreme CPU and SSD performance that fits into a silent Mini PC. Ideal for Data Base Server, Photo & Video Editing and Development work needing Virtualization. Thanks to ViCase you can convert any display into an All-In-One PC. The small size make it convenient to bring your ViPC where you need.

ViPC6700

Insane CPU and SSD performance that fits into a silent Mini PC. Ideal for Data Base Server, Photo & Video Editing and Development work needing Virtualization. Thanks to ViCase you can convert any display into an All-In-One PC. The small size make it convenient to bring your ViPC where you need.

Cost Calculations (v4)

Cost Item ViPC-1 ViPC-3 ViPC-750 ViPC-970 ViPC-620 ViPC-1200 ViPC-6400 ViPC-6700
CPU 44 130 44 204 204 330 204 330
CPU-Cooler 0 19 0 49 49 49 49 49
Motherboard 35 90 35 90 90 175 90 175
Memory 27 53 45 53 108 255 53 108
GPU 0 0 125 335 160 299 0 0
SSD 40 136 0 80 80 350 160 350
HDD 40 0 40 70 70 140 0 0
Arduino 0 0 9 9 9 9 0 0
Case 79 109 79 169 109 109 109 109
Service Fee 100 100 100 100 125 150 125 125
OS 0 110 110 110 110 140 110 140
PSU 30 80 30 90 80 80 80 80
ViPC Cost 395 827 617 1359 1194 2086 980 1466

New Components

These are components that are new in v4 and not documented in the usual places:

6 ViCase Mini PC Models (v3)

Entry: Silent i3 Workstation

This computer is virtually inaudible when working, even under constant full load! The i3 packs enough punch for common work. Up to 2 Displays allow for smooth multitasking.

  • CPU 33%
  • Disk 20%
  • GPU 20%
  • Mem 50%

Mid: Silent i5 Workstation

Step up features over Entry: For a little more cost this computer doubles performance in all areas except GPU. Ideal if you need more speed, e.g. for Virtualization.

  • CPU 66%
  • Disk 40%
  • GPU 20%
  • Mem 50%

Ultra: Silent i7 Workstation

Step up features over Mid: The M2 PCIe SSD is extremely fast and so is the i7 CPU. This is an extremely fast powerhouse that still remains inaudible. Ideal for most demanding applications as long as you do not need extreme GPU performance or CUDA GPU computing.

  • CPU 100%
  • Disk 100%
  • GPU 20%
  • Mem 80%

GTX: Quiet powerful 3D Workstation

This is a powerful 3D Workstation with 640 Cuda Cores with 2 GB GDD5 and four 4K Displays @ 60 Hz. Great balance of fast SSD and large size HDD. Combined with the i5 you get a powerful 3D Workstation that remains relatively quiet. Powerful and cost efficient 3D Workstation for: Adobe Creative Cloud, 3D Design, Video Editing, etc ...

  • CPU 66%
  • Disk 50%
  • GPU 80%
  • Mem 50%

Quadro: Quiet High End 3D Workstation

Step up feature i7 Processor plus nVidia Quadro with 4 GB GDDR5 and more memory. Ideal for very demanding work.

  • CPU 100%
  • Disk 70%
  • GPU 100%
  • Mem 80%

Extreme: Quiet Ultimate 3D Workstation

Step up feature larger and much faster M2. PCIe SSD. With its 500% faster bandwidth you can cut through disk intensive design work. 32 GB of DDR4 memory add to the performance gain for very demanding use cases.

  • CPU 100%
  • Disk 100%
  • GPU 100%
  • Mem 100%

PC Comparison (v3)

Improvements v3 → v2

  • Skylake only, which is Intel's 6th (and latest) Generation
  • Grouping into 3 Groups, each group with low and high end version
  • Added Noise Level
  • Added Cost Calculations
MoBo Feature Entry Mid Ultra GTX Quadro Extreme
Noise Level silent (*1) silent (*1) silent (*1) quiet (*2) quiet (*2) quiet(*2)
CPU►Model i3-6100 i5-6500 i7-6700 i5-6500 i7-6700 i7-6700K
CPU►Clock 3.7 GHz 3.6 GHz 4.0 GHz 3.6 GHz 4.0 GHz 4.0 GHz
Memory 8GB-DDR4 8GB-DDR4 16GB-DDR4 8GB-DDR3 16GB-DDR4 32GB-DDR4
GPU►Model HD 530 HD 530 HD 530 GTX 750 Ti K620 K1200
GPU►Memory Shared Shared Shared 2GB-GDDR5 2GB-DDR3 4GB-GDDR5
GPU►CUDA Cores 0 0 0 640 384 512
SSD►GB 120 GB 240 GB 500 GB 250 GB 250 GB 512 GB
SSD►Speed 450 MB/s 900 MB/s 2500 MB/s 540 MB/s 540 MB/s 2500 MB/s
HDD►GB - - - 1 TB WD Red 1 TB WD Red 2 TB WD Red
HDD►Benchmark - - - 150 MB/s 150 MB/s 300 MB/s
Display►Total Ports 2 2 3 6 4 7
Display►4K 1 @ 30 Hz 1 @ 30 Hz 2 @ 60 Hz 4 @ 60 Hz 1 @ 60 Hz 6 @ 60 Hz
Windows 10 (*3) Home Home Home Home Pro Pro
Extras►Wireless No No 802.11 a/c No No 802.11 a/c
Extras►Arduino No No No Yes Yes Yes
Extras►Case Material Steel Alu Alu Alu Alu Alu
Extras►Case Light Blue Blue Blue RGB RGB RGB
ViCase PC Cost 631.00 785.00 1173.00 1045.00 1,291.00 2,140.00
  • (*1) Silent: as virtually inaudible or technically 15 dBA. The PC noise is equivalent to a person shallow breathing at 1 m ( 3 feet ) distance.
  • (*2) Quiet: as in barely noticeable or technically 25 dBA. This is caused by adding the hard disks. Under full load the GPU fan will increase to 35 dBA
  • (*3) Operating System: You choose your Pre-Installed OS:
    1. Windows® Full Edition 64-Bit is included in price, see table if it is the Home or Pro Edition
    2. LINUX Ubuntu at $110 US discount for Home Edition and $140 US discount on Pro Edition.

Common Specs

Common Features Detail
High-tech Dust Filter Ultra low airflow resistance.Ultra low noise.Magnetic quick release mount.Washable.
Three Chamber Cooling This is a new and innovative cooling system resulting in greatly reduced computer noise. Two key improvements over traditional PC cooling: 1) Each of the three heat generators (CPU, GPU, PSU) takes in cold air from outside versus hot air from inside the case. 2) Hot air is immediately removed from case without heating up other components first.
ViCase-VESA Bracket Interface Four sets of Twin-slotted holes on bottom of case to hang onto ViCase-VESA Bracket. Supports mounting connectors in four directions: Up, down, left, right.
ViCase-Feet Interface Compatible with ViCase-Feet to place you PC portrait and reducing its foot print by -60%.
Shock Mount Rubber Grommets to dampen shock and reduce vibration of disks Flex ATX PSU to avoid resonance noise between HDD, PSU fan and CPU fan.
Noise Dampening 1) Butyl Noise absorption foil on inside of case to absorb noise.2) Large diameter low speed CPU fan
Security Kensington Lock Port
12 USB Ports 6 x USB 3.0 port (SuperSpeed)5 x USB 2.0 (HighSpeed)1 x USB 2.0 internal for optional Arduino
Skylake Skylake is the latest Intel CPU Generation, introduced just at the end of 2015. This generation came with big changes: New DRAM socket (DDR3 → DDR4), new CPU socket: (1150 → 1151) and RAID support for all Motherboards. All ViCase Models use Skylake. So for many years to come upgrading is easy and low cost as the new sockets are here to stay.
Network Ethernet Gigabit Port, WiFi Antenna mounting holes
SSD Cache SSD Caching gives you the best of both worlds: This new technologies marries the speed of SSD with the size and low cost of HDD. As you use your system it learns which files you use frequently and keeps them on the SSD cache. Your computer automatically becomes faster.
Turbo Boot All systems are configured for very fast boot
Disk RAID All chosen motherboards support Disk RAID. In ViCase models with more than one drive we have already configured it to give you the fastest possible performance. In case you add drives later, you can add RAID too at no extra cost.
Turbo Boost All CPUs and motherboards in all ViCase Models support Turbo Boost. When your app needs more performance the CPU kicks into a higher gear to deliver you a smoother user experience.
Audio 2 x 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo port1 x 3.5 mm Microphone Port4 x 3.5 mm Loudspeaker Port Dolby 2.0 ... 7.1 (only in models: Ultra and Extreme) Dolby® Digital Plus Home Theater Edition 7.1 Codec support (via HDMI)
Size 245 x 245 x 108 mm,9.6" x 9.6" x 4.3", 6 Liters
Power Supply Industrial Level, Server Class, 300W Power Supply80 Plus Gold certified, > 90% efficiency, Double Burn-In for reliabilityMTBF of > 100,000 hours = 50 Years @ 40 hour work weeksSafety: CE,FCC,TUV,UL/cUL
Power Distribution Two standard PC Power outlets C13 , 600W max, 110 ... 240V, 6A Fuse user replaceable. Ideal to power and protect Displays. Cables not included.
Surge Protection Integrated Surge Protection on Power Line for the PC and all devices connected through power distribution. Response time < 1 ps and maximum surge < 6000 A.
Power Inlet C14 standard PC inlet. Cable is not included. 110V ... 240V

Cost Calculations (v3)

ViCase PC Cost Table

Based on cost in newegg.com USA in Jan 2016

Cost Item Entry Mid Ultra GTX Quadro Extreme
CPU 130.00 204.00 330.00 204.00 330.00 414.00
CPU-Cooler 19.00 19.00 49.00 49.00 49.00 49.00
Motherboard 90.00 90.00 175.00 90.00 90.00 175.00
Memory 53.00 53.00 108.00 53.00 108.00 255.00
GPU 0.00 0.00 0.00 125.00 160.00 299.00
SSD 50.00 100.00 192.00 96.00 96.00 350.00
HDD 0.00 0.00 0.00 70.00 70.00 140.00
Arduino 0.00 0.00 0.00 9.00 9.00 9.00
Case 79.00 109.00 109.00 109.00 109.00 109.00
Service Fee 100.00 100.00 100.00 130.00 130.00 200.00
Windows 10 110.00 110.00 110.00 110.00 140.00 140.00
ViCase PC Cost 631.00 785.00 1173.00 1045.00 1,291.00 2,140.00

What is included in the Service Fee

  • Purchasing all PC parts
  • Shipping cost from PC parts dealer to system integrator
  • Incoming Quality control and any RMA handling costs
  • Assembly
  • Installation of OS and drivers
  • Burn in test
  • Packaging and material for shipping

What is not included in the Service Fee

  • Additional customization
  • Shipping cost and insurance from System Integrator to end user
  • Technical support for Windows (You get full version authorized to get support from Microsoft)

PC Comparison (v2)

About v1

  • The configurations we used in the V² Configurator at the time of our Indiegogo Campaign
  • Made of AM1 and Haswell

What is v2 about

  • It is the first Configuration we made
  • Haswell only, which is Intel's 5th Generation
  • Still use ViCase as Product Name

Table

MoBo Feature Entry Turbo GTX Quadro Extreme
Noise Level silent (*1) silent (*1) quiet (*2)... normal (*3) quiet (*2)... normal (*3) quiet (*2)... normal (*3)
CPU►Model i3-4160 i7-4790S i5-4590S i7-4790K i7-6700K
CPU►Clock 3.6 GHz 4.0 GHz 3.7 GHz 4.4 GHz 4.2 GHz
Memory 4GB-DDR3 16GB-DDR3 8GB-DDR3 16GB-DDR3 32GB-DDR4
GPU►Model CPU integrated CPU integrated GTX 750 Ti K1200 K1200
GPU►Memory Shared Shared 2GB-GDDR5 4GB-GDDR5 4GB-GDDR5
GPU►CUDA Cores 0 0 640 512 512
SSD►GB 250 GB 250 GB 250 GB 250 GB 512 GB
SSD►Benchmark 540 MB/s 540 MB/s 540 MB/s 540 MB/s 2500 MB/s
HDD►GB - - 1 TB WD Red 1 TB WD Red 2 TB WD Red
HDD►Benchmark - - 150 MB/s 150 MB/s 300 MB/s
Display►Total Ports 3 3 7 7 7
Display►4K @ 60 Hz Ports 0 0 4 4 4
Extras►Wireless No No No No 802.11 a/c
Extras►Arduino No No No Yes Yes
Extras►Case Value Alu Alu Alu Alu
Extras►Case Light Blue Blue RGB RGB RGB
  • Operating System: You choose your Pre-Installed OS:
    1. Windows® 10 (64-Bit) is included in price
    2. LINUX Ubuntu at $99 US discount.
  • (*1) Silent: as virtually inaudible or technically 15 dBA. The PC noise is equivalent to a person shallow breathing at 1 m ( 3 feet ) distance.
  • (*2) Quiet: as in barely noticeable or technically 25 dBA. This is caused by adding the hard disks. Removing the disks from the configuration will make your PC silent again when operating under idle to medium loads.
  • (*3) Normal loudness: as in noticeable background noise or technically 35 dBA. This is caused mostly by the GPU fan.

Full Customization

Above table shows 6 Base configurations. This gives you a convenient starting point. More configuration options are available in the V²Configurator. We will modify it so that you one out of the six Base Configuration and then can customize your PC.

PC Comparison additional details

New Skylake Motherboards:

Skylake additional details

MoBo Feature Entry Mid Ultra GTX Quadro Extreme
MoBO H170M H170M Z170 H170M H170M Z170

Haswell additional details

This is for the Haswell Comparison, we need to update this table for Skylake! Additional details not available on the web pages:

MoBo Feature Entry Turbo GTX Quadro Extreme
CPU►Benchmark 5041 9600 7211 11218 11024
CPU►Cores 2 4 4 4 4
CPU►Hyper Threading No Yes No Yes Yes
CPU►TDP 65W 65W 65W 100W 100W
GPU►Model HD 4400 HD4600 GTX 750 Ti K1200 K1200
SSD►Interface SATA 3 SATA 3 SATA 3 SATA 3 M.2 NVME
SSD►Cache (*1) No No No No Yes
HDD►Free Bay 1 1 0 0 0
Cooler►Fan Ø 90 mm 90 mm 90 mm 120 mm 120 mm
Cooler►Design low noise low noise low noise 5 heat pipes 5 heat pipes
Cooler►Speed 1200 RPM 1200 RPM 1200 RPM 700 ... 1600 RPM 700 ... 1600 RPM
Motherboard H81M-ITX H81M-ITX H81M-ITX H81M-ITX Z170-ITX/ac
Socket 1150 1150 1150 1150 1151
Approx. Weight 2.5 kg 2.5 kg 3 kg 3 kg 3.5 kg
Wireless No No No No 802.11 a/c
  • (*1) SSD Cache is a function of Gen 6 Intel CPU

Choose Base Models for efficient building

How is this relevant

If we choose the parts of the different base models right it is possible to build a base system and test it. A base system includes:

  1. Case
  2. Power Supply
  3. Motherboard
  4. Boot Disk

One Power Supply for all Models

  • We choose high quality 80 Plus Gold 300W. It is quiet, powerful, cool and high quality
  • One power supply for all PCs makes it easy to build one base model that can be configured into any final shipping PC
  • The customer has complete freedom it expand the PC later, since any possible configurations are covered by this PSU

One Motherboard for all common models

We choose one Motherboard for all common models. Relatively low cost of this Motherboard combined with high run rate makes it cost efficient to always have some pre-build and tested systems available with it. Only for the high end model we choose one with the special features:

  1. M.2 Socket for NVME aka PCIe SSD (about 5x faster than SATA3)
  2. 4k @ 60 Hz Display connector

One Motherboard only will allow to build base models and test them. For more information, please see the → "Proposed assembly workflow" below.

All memory are DDR4

This reduces inventory burden and parts management overhead.

Memory, CPU, GPU are easy to change

After the PC is already assembled and tested you can do the final assembly even without a screw driver. Just open the top cover, change parts, close cover. Voila!

Disks are almost easy to change

We minimize the number of time that the SSD ned to be changed. We have one common SSD in all models: 250 GB. The procedure for changing disks:

  1. Open 4 motherboard screws and remove the motherboard.
  2. Open 4 screws on bottom of case to loosen the Disk Screws
  3. Slide the disk out of the bay. Keep screws and rubber grommets mounted.

Proposed assembly workflow

Split Assembly into Base-Assembly and Final-Build

Benefits:

  1. Better workload balancing. In times of few orders you can build and test base systems
  2. When order comes in the assembly of the Final-Build is fast

Base-Assembly

  1. Assembly of Case + PSU + Cable Tree + Arduino in ViPanel
  2. Assembly of Motherboard.
    1. If you received new CPU and Memory, insert those so you can make IQC
    2. If have no CPU and memory, use the Pentium G CPU and burn in memory
  3. Add the burn in boot disk. It is a 64 GB Linux SSD configured to automatically test all components. We have a custom burn in software that works with the PSU Monitoring in Arduino + ViPanel.
  4. Run 4 hours burn in

Final Assembly

  1. Receive customer order
  2. Take CPU, Disks, Memory and GPU from shelf or order with vendor
  3. Final Assembly
  4. Final Test and Burn in. If system was build from parts that all have been burned in already, the final burn in can be only 30 minutes. Otherwise 4 hours.

Packaging

ViCase shipment comes from Village with additional packaging materials to package the assembled ViCase securely and on top of it to provide additional fastening of the large parts: CPU Cooler, GPU Card and PSU.

#Questions / Decisions to finalize Base PCs

1) Should we switch to Gen 6 now?

  • Pros:
    • More modern
    • Custom feels he is investing into a PC for the future
    • Long term availability of motherboards and CPUs (some Motherboards of 1150 already no longer available)
    • One memory type only, reduce inventory burden and management overhead
  • Cons:
    • DDR4 RAM is more expensive
  • Conclusion: → DDR4

2) Should we make boot disk mPCIe?

  • Pros: More bays available for HDD
  • Cons: Runs hotter, less reliable
  • Conclusion: → 2.5"

Reference

New Skylake Motherboards:

Power Supply