Actual dimensions of and good cpu coolers for JNC81-LF?

WillyTrombone · Post by **WillyTrombone** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 8:02 pm

I have a quick question for anyone with physical access to a Jetway JNC81-LF. While I realize the Mini-ITX specification calls out 170mm X 170mm for the board size, some of the pictures I've seen online lead me to believe it might be just a little smaller than that (like maybe 165 or so), and I'm hoping a kind soul out there might be willing to take a ruler or tape measure to their board and tell me the exact length of the side containing the video/sound/USB/etc. ports.

Reason being, I have a really cool HTPC project brewing that will involve some fabrication around a re-purposed/salvaged container for the case that measures 255x170x85 mm inside (unfortunately, I'm going to have to keep its exact nature under wraps until I'm done). I need a board that's small enough to fit yet powerful enough to render HD content. I think a Mini-ITX might work but I want to be sure before I start plunking down cash (well, credit) for parts.

Also, can anyone recommend a cooler that will fit on the board and in the case? I was thinking of the Zalman CNPS 7000B-Cu originally, but then I realized that doesn't include the AM2 in its list of supported hardware. The 7500, unfortuntely, looks like it would overhang the critical edge of the board (which won't work with my case plans) and would probably interfere with the chipset cooler, although I'm sure I could "adjust" a couple fins without TOO much negative impact.

Anyway, if it looks like this crazy idea might work, I'll deck it out with a 4350e, 4 gigs of ram, 2x250 gig laptop drives to run in raid-0, a pico-PSU, and I haven't really decided on whether I want to try to fit a slim optical drive (both in terms of space and power) or just go with an external unit. And then for extra cooling, any cheesy 80 mm fan should work -- considering my case will be have about 1/10 the volume of an ATX mid tower, I expect a single digit cfm rating will still be far more than adequate, and plenty quiet for the living room.

thanks in advance.

WillyTrombone · Post by **WillyTrombone** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 11:05 pm

well crapola. It looks like the money that would have gone toward the internal parts for this project are going to have to go toward a deductible on my car insurance (I'm unhurt, FWIW, thanks to some german engineering, quick reflexes, and a whole lot of lucky stars)

I'd still love to hear any answers, though, if anyone can provide them. Although there's a good chance that by the time I'm ready to tackle this job again, the technology available might be significantly more accommodating to my requirements.

And since my project is shot for now, I guess I can give up the goods. I was going to build an HTPC in 30 cal ammo can. I've seen mATX builds in 50 cal cans but nothing whatsoever in a 30 cal can. After taking a few measurements of the inside of the can, I think I understand why. The height is exactly 17 cm. If I build a tall enough stand-off, I might be able to take advantage of an extra 3 or 4 millimeters in the lid. Oh well. I'll still do it if the commercial cases are as big and bland as they currently are when I'm ready/motivated to build an HTPC.

jmk · Post by **jmk** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:11 am

I measured my Jetway NC81-LF and the board size is exactly 170 x 170 mm. The corners of the board are (fairly) rounded, though, as you can see in any picture of the board. Hope this helped.

WillyTrombone · Post by **WillyTrombone** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 11:39 am

that does help a lot. thank you.