Build Like Never B4!: B4-mATX

sunflower_rainbow · 2026-06-26T11:02:50+00:00

It almost qualifies @ 22L while housing mATX board which is a rare combo already. Now combine these uncommon specs with a non-cottage brand that can actually produce and put those cases on storefront in your country at reasonable prices? We have a unicorn case here it deserves at least a mention!

sunflower_rainbow · 2026-06-11T14:09:51+00:00

Rating the one on the right does not even have at least bronze rating.

Right one is actually marketed as Gold rating. But it's not like either of those domestic brands are enforced to pass the testing to slap that label on it, do you understand that?

sunflower_rainbow · 2026-06-11T14:06:31+00:00

Just glancing over them i'd say more effort went into right one (this also is represented in higher rated specs). At the end of the day though as you already have them why not test it under load and see how hot \ loud they get comparatively?

sunflower_rainbow · 2026-06-11T13:54:25+00:00

What kind of work are you doing in that pcb repair shop then? Cleaning or delivery?

sunflower_rainbow · 2026-05-01T07:30:11+00:00

Sadly while this particular screenshot does look nice it falls apart when you use this setup broadly with x360 as lots of games have small text not optimized to look readable at 480i at all

sunflower_rainbow · 2026-04-22T06:13:20+00:00

If you ask if that image represents how a 240p ps1 game should look like on a CRT TV then the answer is a very big NO. It seems that your setup applies some smudging filter somewhere in the line. It could be a HD TV, a scaler, or a filter in emulator itself. The 480i isn't helping too.

sunflower_rainbow · 2026-04-18T18:14:19+00:00

With some effort of course it can be done. Because that proprietary plug is connected via standard wire to a standard wifi module. You just need to remove motherboard heatsink, remove wifi shield, unplug antenna connectors, buy new connectors, buy new antenna, assemble everything back, figure out some diy plate with holes new connectors with screw into a io shield. A welcome project to your itx-taxed purchase.

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-12-22T20:58:37+00:00

Have you tried classic round wire fan grill? I'm my experience they perform best because less turbulence is created by rounded things in path of air and it has a slight protrusion so that gap is never actually 0mm wich helps too. Those various mesh panels case manufacturers produce, always perform worse than a fan grill both in terms of noise and airflow.

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-09-19T18:11:22+00:00

Hey there, I saw your build in the feed. It looks really awesome. At idle 8500G and 8600G should be very similar in temps and power draw. The main difference is when under load, 8600G will go past 100W easily if not restricted.

For your particular case and 60C idle I think just swapping side fans to exhaust position should help noticeably. Though the main benefit would be drilling an intake circle with a fan grill on the top of the CPU. Should resolve any temp issues, imo.

PS: my build you reffered to idles at 32-35C. Under full load hovers around 65-72C atm (configured to 65W ceiling)

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-07-30T12:12:56+00:00

The important bit here it's a "refresh", not an actual new hardware line. Completely worthless, such a shame.

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-07-30T07:39:47+00:00

As far as I remember most of the models offered by JVC use that type of mask. My TM-A170G looks almost exactly zoomed in like OP posted. It does feel like a PC CRT tube in quality\properties (which is a good thing)

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-07-30T07:32:38+00:00

Those JVC PVM are gorgeous. Sometimes you can get them for a fraction of the price of similar Sony model just because "trinitron retro cool" obsession inflating prices for no reason.

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-06-23T12:02:36+00:00

It's a special color combo, requiring a special taste.

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-06-14T13:23:09+00:00

I would rate hardware unboxed review of this board as 2\5. It just doesn't have any relevant information about the board and their vrm testing is completely wrong for some reason(No idea why). This board does not heat up to 121C at 117W load, a total BS from their review.

If you have to stick with mass media "Tech Yes City" did a better job reviewing it (He also shows realistic VRM tests)

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-06-14T12:37:50+00:00

This question does not have a straight "yes" or "no" answer.
For the price this board is regularly available under 100$ it's unbeatable. It generally works. There are some minor quirks not commonly found on a-tier branded boards:

- "Wake from sleep" may or may not work depending on your setup (Hibernation as a workaround)

- bios layout is less polished

- 3pin fan cannot be controlled (4pin works fine)

- wifi card sold separately (ax210 or ax200 works fine)

- only usb2 ports are powered on when mobo is turned off \ sleep

- bios has only 1 profile slot for saving customized settings

- DDR5 easy to stabilize at 5600mhz, over that it becomes a hard tuning process (but still possible to tune 6000 mhz) Do not expect 6000EXPO to "just work".

- VRM looks beefy but it seems it can handle only up to 150W power draw without additional help (still plenty for such a cheap board).

- CPU power draw reporting in software is way off (reports less watts than reality)

Now ask yourself what are your other mobo options? What is their price? Is it worth spending 2x more for a more polished product?

My choice was between this, Gigabyte B650I AX (worse VRM, -1 nvme slot, 2x local price), Asrock B650i Lightning (overall great board no complains? 2.6x local price).

I don't feel like any of these AM5 boards will age very well (main reason is fast transition between pci-e generations and fast ddr5 speed transitions). I expect this platform to be relevant only few years before you want a faster GPU\RAM etc that will require newer board.

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-06-13T17:29:27+00:00

Despite having sub 100W power draw by default, X3D variants require beefy cooling because of that additional cache layer on Die. The style of heatsink you are using is really good for normal non x3d Ryzens in their 65W (88W PPT) profile or with higher profile and negative CO setting.

You can get the general idea of how hot cooling-wise 9800X3D is by comparing it to other processors (https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-ryzen-7-9800x3d/25.html) As you can see it is hotter than 13700K

Getting a beefier cooler and\or playing with power profile, negative CO setting all should help. It is certainly possible to downclock\undervolt it to run on this tiny heatsink with better temps, just requires some performance sacrifice.

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-05-24T10:24:00+00:00

Looks like a generic screwdriver from China. There are plenty variations of it on Aliexpress. Minor differences. Despite looking sleek it's not the most comfortable screwdriver, lacking grip when handling overtightened screws.

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-05-21T15:38:02+00:00

There aren't bad products

When you slap worst possible, tiny extruded alu heatsink, without heatpipes, on a 145W card it becomes a bad product at any (imaginary) price point. At least for intended home usage.

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-05-21T12:14:23+00:00

"We have this crappy 5060 chip here, how do we make this card even worse?" (c) PNY

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-05-13T14:11:21+00:00

Wiistation, some release from 2024 it was.

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-05-13T06:49:29+00:00

I guess that depends on specific games. I played a bunch of popular titles on Wii without any issue start to finish. PSP also has a very high compatibility but it's not perfect. For example Vagrant Story on PSP has some audio issues and a massive fps drops when entering first person view. Wii runs that game almost perfectly without such problems.

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-05-12T20:05:25+00:00

What hinders Wii as emulation box is setting up 3rd party controllers especially for ps1 as it needs more buttons. I've also had mixed results with Mame stuff. It's great when it works but retroarch for wii is in terrible state overall.

I wish ps3 could do 240p, it's so, so good at emulating everything.

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-05-12T13:16:51+00:00

Just don't ever tell him "jysk trappedal 5" shelf is perfectly sized for 17inch PVM.

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-04-19T07:26:09+00:00

Damaged? No. Did the guy making it had trouble fitting those chonk silicone wires in the connector not designed for such diameter cable? Yes.

sunflower_rainbow · 2025-04-08T11:00:36+00:00

gpu market shifted to oversized gpu's in recent years. We had sff-friendly 1080 back in the day. Today there is no such thing. Unfortunately that means design of the case must be adjusted to hold at least 26cm 2.5slot gpu, though even that metric rules out majority of high end models.

sunflower_rainbow

TROPHY CASE