Starting off, we installed the new Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac motherboard that was kindly supplied by Asrock for this build.
The Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac and its I/O shield were quickly installed along with some DDR4 memory by G.Skill’s Ripjaws V lineup.
Powering the system is Silverstone’s SX500-LG power supply, which we felt was a crucial hardware choice for this build as its 120mm fan will not only help draw in more air, but also help keep the operating volume to a minimum. With a 500w output we can also get away with using some high-end hardware such as the Intel Core i7-6700K and Gainward GTX 980 Ti.
Next we installed a pair of WD Red 1TB 2.5" hard drives as secondary storage and they slotted into place in a matter of seconds thanks to those ingenious tool-free drive cages.
Naturally, we opted for a high-speed SSD for the primary storage by installing the Plextor M6e 512GB M.2 drive on the backside of the Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac motherboard. As mentioned earlier, the cut-out in the motherboard tray made it easy to install not just the CPU cooler but also the M.2 drive.
Speaking of the CPU cooler, we used the Silverstone Argon Series AR06 which we have featured in previous Mini-ITX builds that called for a low-profile cooler. The AR06 works really well, though the blue and white fan didn’t suit our build at all. Ideally our build would have looked best with an all-black fan or perhaps even a red LED fan.
Finally the GTX 980 Ti was installed, but before we could slot it into place the PCIe riser cards had to be installed. The first card is a 90 degree adapter and Silverstone has included a pair of screw threads that allow the elbow join to be fixed into place. Next there is a straight extension riser that extends to the graphics card. With the adapters in place you can install a wide range of graphics cards. One of the longest cards we have on hand is Gainward’s GTX 980 Ti at around 3cm longer than a standard GTX 980 Ti and it fits with plenty of room to spare.
