Parts list
- Motherboard: Supermicro X11SCV-Q LGA-1151 Mini-ITX motherboard (link)
- Heatsink: SilverStone Technology SST-NT07-115X-USA (link)
- Thermal paste included
- RAM: 32GB DDR4 SODIMM (link)
- Single SODIMM preferred for easy expansion to 64GB
- CPU: Intel Celeron G4900 (link)
- Supports any 8th/9th gen Intel Core series (Celeron, Pentium, i3, i5, i7 etc.) up to 65W TDP
- SATA DOM:
Motherboard overview
This board has a pretty good amount of I/O. DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI, Dual NIC, and dual USB-C. Neat!
Full size 24-pin ATX power and 8-pin EPS, which is surprising considering the max supported TDP is 65W. It also has two DDR4 SODIMM slots, AKA laptop RAM. At the top left you can see the 5 onboard SATA and USB 3.1 case header.
Taking a closer look at this section, we have the front panel header, M.2 2230 slot (x1 bus for Wi-Fi), M.2 slot for NVMe storage (2242 and 2280 lengths are supported).
I love that they’ve crammed a full size PCIe x16 slot here. Not that there’s no locking mechanism.
Build out
I’ve covered how to install Intel CPUs a million times before, so I won’t cover it here. I’m using an Intel Celeron G4900 that I harvested out of a HP 290. This board supports quite a few CPUs so long as you keep the TDP to 65W or lower. Note that it does not support Xeon CPUs.
My SATADOM boot drive (I’ll be using TrueNAS on this box) is 64GB. I don’t need one that large, 16GB would be just fine. 16GB and 64GB were the same price, so I went with the larger capacity drive. Some SATADOMs like this one have a larger external casing which can be an obstruction to surrounding components. Also, this one has an external power wire that we won’t be using, since this motherboard has native SATADOM support. Plug it into the Yellow-Orange SATA port, and you’re off to the races.
I’ve installed it to show what it looks like, but you’ll have to remove it to install the RAM and the CPU cooler. It’s best to install the SATADOM last.
There’s limited room for the SATA ports next to it, but there should be just enough space for a cable to latch in.
I’m using 2x16GB Micron SODIMMs because it’s what I had laying around. If you’re purchasing new, I would highly recommend starting with 1x32GB because you can easily add another in the future to max out the motherboard at 64GB.
I’m not using any particular NVMe for this build, I just wanted to see if a full size heatsink would fit. It does, just barely.
Silverstone makes an excellent affordable low-profile heatsink that pairs perfectly with this build. The NT07-115X actually sits lower than a few components on the motherboard, meaning clearance should never be an issue.
It comes with a mounting bracket, but we won’t need it since the motherboard has one permanently affixed.
It’s simple with no frills. At least it has a PWM fan!
Make sure to remove this protective film before use.
Silverstone is even nice enough to include thermal paste. It’s no Gelid GC Extreme, but it should work just fine for the level of CPU cooling we need here.
Clearance with the SATADOM when the heatsink is installed is pretty tight, but there’s room.
Use FAN1 for the CPU fan connector.
