Edit:
A Recent addition, this system is now 95% complete, just a few cosmetic touches to finish, but the addition of a 6600XT really rounded things right off.
As well as a solid boost in Timespy to 9346 https://www.3dmark.com/spy/22920011

 
This here is my update to my 10 year old HTPC, bringing it from a AMD APU 3850 / HD7770 up to the modern day! The computer gets used by family, friends, streaming, and long ago, the occasional LAN box!
 
Well Far too often the HTPC cannot handle what people want to do, and it really struggles with 4K content if it is not optimized. While I was in the process of building my new personal system I noticed that Asus is selling a basic, but feature rich B550 board in a plain green PCB. It spoke to me, and so project little green machine was started!
 
Every rivet on this old M-ATX portable case was drilled out, every panel sanded, and cuts were made allow for better air flow into the system. The system is a front bottom breather, and going from a 160w package to a 300w package was going to require an improvement to air flow.
 
After painting every part and re-riveting the case back together, part of the next problem was going to be incorporating the cables into the build, they would not be completely hidden like modern builds, there is no place to hide them with this simple case, so they had to be routed in a way that works with the build, I made sure the Sata cables were routed smoothly enough to look proper.
 
Yes, the final product might be a touch dry on the outside, but I very much enjoyed the whole process.
 
I really did want to find an RTX 3060, but they are not readily available and I still do have the Titan X laying around to use. For the time being, this will do.
 
Asus B550M C/CSM
Ryzen 5 5600x In ECO-45w Mode Cooled by a Phenom X4 Cooler
64gb 3200mt Micron E-Bin Running at 3600mt 1.2v
Nvidia GTX Titan X (Maxwell) running at 75% power target with custom fan curve
Intel 670p 512gb M.2
2x Platter 7200rpm Storage 2tb drives
eVGA B5 550W Modular
 
Scores a respectable 5,963 in Time Spy.
 
So, up first, the glory shots.
 
The Color theme is Satin Ivory / Detroit Diesel Alpine Green
 
 
 
 
Now, what it was before (Cellphone photos)
Before I took it apart, I had taken a last photo, it was a GA-970A-UD2 FM1 socket, with a APU A8-3850, 8gb of DDR3 1866, and an HD7770 (which was added just 6 months after it was built, as the on die GPU proved to be just too slow.
 
 
At that point, the old case shell was inspected to see what needed to be done.
 
 
 
 
Then re-assembly after painting the parts, and initial pass at tidying up the cables behind the HDD cradle
 
 
 
 
And there we have it! I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did making it.

Nicely done retro build you have made for yourself.  Congratulations to you.
 
How long do it take you to drill all the rivets?  For me, drilling rivets is as much fun as scraping paint.  Also, how did you get way with doing your build in the kitchen?
 
Again, I like your build and thank you for sharing.

That's a sweet little machine! I like it. It would have been a bit painful for me to limit the CPU like that lol, but maybe you'll happen across another cooler some day that fits the theme and offers a little more performance. Or maybe you don't need it. In any case, you've made a cool thing, nice work. Enjoy it! 

Nike_7688
That's a sweet little machine! I like it. It would have been a bit painful for me to limit the CPU like that lol, but maybe you'll happen across another cooler some day that fits the theme and offers a little more performance. Or maybe you don't need it. In any case, you've made a cool thing, nice work. Enjoy it! 

Thanks!, however on the topic of limiting the CPU, not really as bad as you might think.


In Cinebench, the score running in 88w/65a/90a (all default PBO behavior for the 5600x) scores 11117 in R23. Which is within 1% of the default score average. The chip was running at 4350mhz all core @ 1.22v and peaked at 70°C after 10 min
Running the CPU in the group H eco mode 60w/45a/65a, with a voltage offset of -80mv, and a negative PBO Boost voltage offset of 4 (PBO offset is linear in steps 1-10), while yes there was a performance drop to a score of 10047, the cpu was running at an all core speed of 3950mhz @ 1.01v peaking at 55°C after a 10 min load.

 
That's a 9.7% score reduction all core score reduction for a 31.8% power reduction, and 21.5% temperature reduction.

In GPU benchmarks, and games for that matter, the CPU still boosts all the way up to 4700mhz on partial loads (gaming). Ryzens PBO-2 Is just amazing, this is everything I wanted Turbo to be back when they introduced it to PhII X6.
 
For the GPU, running it at 75% PL, is resulting in a maximum power draw of 175w, down from 233w. This card liked to run at 233w of the rated 250w, with a boost behavior of 1202mhz, which is 10.5% faster than the default 1076mhz Nvidia rated the card at. Running at 75% limit this Titan X it still has enough power to hit it's reference boost of 1076mhz. For what the system is doing, it is more then enough! In this case, with a soft GPU fan curve, it is maxing out at 67°C after extended loads.

It's all good! No offense was taken, most people are taken aback by my push for maximizing PPW over raw performance. I spent weeks learning how PBO ticked on my main system and took that experience over to the Little Green Machine, a name which has three meanings.

AMD Used to be Team Green
Nvidia Is currently Team Green
Aiming for the highest PPW returns is Green.
 
On this topic, with my 3090 in the main system, I absolutely love the way the NV Boost works now vs its Type 1 and 2 implantations, and the opportunistic nature and scalability of it. This and AMDs PBO-2 are the tools I wish we've had all this time.

A lot of work went into this mod and the results are fantastic. 

rjohnson11
Why not add this to the mods rigs website?:
 
Mods Rigs - Powered by EVGA
 

 
I have!
https://www.modsrigs.com/detail.aspx?BuildID=43962
 
Though I cannot figure out how to get the link to show on forums account, any insight? I could have sworn I've gone through all the menus.

Looks great. I love that you kept the Blueray drive in there.

It's a sleeper lol. If it had a glass side panel it wouldn't work. Enclosed it's a sleeper build for sure.

Lordred

rjohnson11
Why not add this to the mods rigs website?:
 
Mods Rigs - Powered by EVGA
 

 
I have!
https://www.modsrigs.com/detail.aspx?BuildID=43962
 
Though I cannot figure out how to get the link to show on forums account, any insight? I could have sworn I've gone through all the menus.

Check step 8 here:
 
https://forums.evga.com/FindPost/1083539

Lordred

rjohnson11
 
Check step 8 here:
 
https://forums.evga.com/FindPost/1083539

Guide must be out of date, or there is a problem with modsrig or my account. There is no such option as outlined in the help post. But thanks for the try rjohnson.
 
 

After you have setup your mods rigs page, select "edit this rig" on the default mods rigs page... http://www.modsrigs.com/myBuild.aspx for the rig you want to display, change "Who can see this rig?" to Public & check mark "Set as primary rig", click "Save Primary Information". The mods rig button will be created and shown under your current Ribbons count under your profile picture inside threads.
 
This is the old step above. Choose set as primary rig and save primary information and see if that works. 

So, small update, I managed to get my grubby hands on a Sapphire 6600XT Nitro+ for the Little Green Machine. Now I'm considering this package good and done, it runs anything that can be thrown at it now, and should be a good little toy for any visitor who wants to play, or try out any game when they come over.
 
Despite the internet hate that the 6600XT is getting I really think it is a solid little card, 140w target, this one I have already found to take to a -50mv offset on the high end P-state, and has resulted in a full load draw around 125w. Has no issue keeping cool, and is a huge performance uplift over the old Titan X.
 
 

Looks great! This is cool

Updated photos, so I have the Radeon in the computer and everyone who uses it is ever so happy.
 
The 6600XT despite the internet grumbling, is a good card, and is a perfect balance for this system. With a score kissing 10k in timespy after getting everything situated. 

 
 

 

 

bobmitch
Really like the photos...great job on the build!

Thanks! I do photography as well, combining both is always fun.