Dimastech Mini V1.0 and Easy V3.0 Test Benches
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2015-05-07
·
1,839 words · ~9 min read
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i've received a number of complaints about the practice of teasing upcoming
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content and frequently resorting to potty humor in the intros of my videos i
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wanted to address both of these issues once and for all with an official
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statement but instead i opted to remind you guys to make sure you're subscribed
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so you don't miss our upcoming tour of the sennheiser factory which is coming very soon and to introduce the topic of
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today's video with an analogy open-air
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test benches versus traditional cases are kind of like boxers versus briefs
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the pros and cons of the look is open for debate but we can't deny that while
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boxers provide more air flow and allow
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for easier access to key components they just don't wrap
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things up in a tight little package the same way briefs do and the same goes for
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test benches versus cases thanks guys you've been a terrific audience
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the cooler master neptune 240m features an exclusive pump design and their new
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celencio fans to provide impressive near silent performance click now to learn
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more normally on a case i would look at the
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inside and the outside but the demos tech mini v1 and ezv3 are open test
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benches so there is no outside really so we're going to do more of like a setup
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guide thing today then focusing on the mini v1 start by taking off the aluminum
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thumb screws on the sides and sliding out the bottom tray screw the rubber
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feet into the bottom with your hands next assemble the vandal switches for
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the front by using the included wiring diagram this was a little jankier than
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i'd have hoped because the clips aren't really the right size for the nubbins on
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the back of the switches but it will work as long as you don't accidentally
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pull them off take off the fastening nuts put them through the holes in the
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front then tighten the nuts from the back if you want more complete front i o
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the mini v1 has one empty spot for a usb 3 port and the ezv3 has room for a more
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complete set but neither of them includes this accessory by default the
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next step involves one of the coolest pieces of case hardware i've seen in a
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while the mini v1 includes these nice tall metal standoffs that lock the board
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in place with so much strength that you can actually pick up the entire test
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bench by the motherboard if you really wanted to but it still allows it to be
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swapped toollessly it should be noted that my
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ezv3 came with more traditional screw-mounted standoffs for some reason
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though it's gang time again for this next step the instructions simply say
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use the special m4 screws in m4 not to
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attach the pci support bracket and i was like
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okay special whatever that means turns out they meant this one
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then i went to install it and while dimas tech could have simply put holes
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for this instead they went with slits for some reason you know just in case
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your motherboard has its pci slots in an
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unusual location or something it's not a huge deal but it meant that i had to
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actually put a graphics card onto the bench for a test fit in order to align
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it correctly next up is the flex fan and this has to be the most ba snake ARM
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thing i've ever seen on a computer component anyway the ARM screws into
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either of the two threaded holes that are positioned for easy supplementary
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airflow over a multi-way graphics card setup or the CPU area it's strong enough
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to hold a single 120 millimeter water cooling radiator and fan which is
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fortunate because while the easy v3 features triple 120 or dual 140 radiator
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mounts on both sides those are only suitable for a custom loop so that means
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that neither of these test benches actually has any other position where a
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pre-filled one dual 120 radiator could
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be installed back to the way most people will be
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using the flex ARM though especially if they're using a CPU heatsink for a fan i
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still think the ARM itself is great but the bracket could use a little work as
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it is it requires a custom screw and nut when with a wider hole it could have
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just used standard fan screws and
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i think a larger bracket one with eight screw holes four for one 40 mil and four
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for 120 mil wouldn't have cost much more and would have given a lot more
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flexibility to how it can be used drive installation is taken care of by
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removing the appropriate drive cage so just undo the thumb screws at the front
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and slide it forward then by screwing five and a quarter inch devices in
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directly and by putting rubber grommets in place for your three and a half inch
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devices then screwing them in with the non-special screws for a nice stable
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anti-vibrational mount to mount the power supply the manual simply says use
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6 32 screws something that won't be challenging for very experienced
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builders but may give paws to newcomers to the computer assembly game and then
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once those are in you're pretty close to done i initially didn't really like the
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power supply mount because it looked like it was just kind of going to end up
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hanging there but once you put the bottom tray back in and then screw that
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in from the sides it rests on it and
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yeah there's there's no flex left in the back of it so no big deal there
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the on the fly drive mount position on the left side of the mini v1 is super
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handy just put the appropriately threaded thumb screws into a two and a
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half inch or three and a half inch drive with a rubber spacer in between stick it
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in there and slide it into place i wish there were more cable management options
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that didn't involve running across the top or the front of the bench especially since the power and reset buttons are
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right there but again not a huge deal given it is an open-air bench which
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leads us to the conclusion dmstack actually reached out to us not just to
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do a review but to ask if we were interested in switching from the
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high-speed pc tech stations that you guys normally see in our videos to
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theirs exclusively and while the mini v1
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and its bigger brother the ezv3 are solid well-built test benches
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that we will use it's not such a slam-dunk victory that i'm ready to
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throw my tech stations in the garbage let's start with where the high speed
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pcs come away with an advantage number one is sheer speed for a bench where
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motherboard swaps are a daily occurrence the nylon posts are faster for two
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reasons one they are easier to slide on once the board is in position and two
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they are plastic so you can move around faster without worrying about scratching
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the underside of a board potentially damaging it
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number two is fan mount positioning if you just want a fan the flex fan system
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is great for pointing it at wherever your hot spots are but if you want an
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all-in-one CPU cooler especially a dual 120 rad one the demus techs fall short
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and number three is footprint even the mini takes up more space on a desk than
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the excel atx high speed pc tech station
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which i guess leads us into the demus tech advantages number one is if you're
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using it as an actual case and you're looking to pimp out your bench they've
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got a ton of really great accessories xlatx adapters for the mini drive
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mounting adapters a better power supply support and even their red x shrouds to
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let you tack more radiators onto your system number two is they look a lot
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better than the ones we normally use in person and more importantly for us on
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camera so if you want your test hardware to look more presentable let's say you
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you know want to take photos of it for a forum that you remember or whatever else
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the ezv3 and mini v1 come away clear winners here number three is build
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quality some of our tech stations feel like they're going to come apart when
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you lift them they've been in use for a couple of years not gonna happen ever
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with the steel construction of these units and then finally number four is
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assembly time it only takes about 15 minutes even struggling with the manual
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a little to assemble one of these out of the box for an experienced builder
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whereas the high-speed pc ones do take quite a while to put together so in
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summary there's room for improvement better documentation in particular would
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be great and i'd really like to see a better system than a little screw cap
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container for all the mounting hardware maybe something that clips onto the
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bench for easy storage but all in all this is a quality product and great as a
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presentable looking test bench or open air case for custom water coolers and
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air coolers speaking of presentable looking you guys
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may have noticed i've been wearing this shirt lately and wondering where you can
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get one well for the value price of just 19.95 you can have your very own keep on
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digging shirt just like this one here so whether it's our brohams at ubisoft
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telling us about the cinematic experience of gaming at 30fps or really
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any other company that just seems determined to make everyone hate them
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american isps anyone you'll be ready with encouragement and a pixel art
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shovel if we all work together maybe we can create a network of tunnels through
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the earth's core with high speed heat and pressure resistant trains that run
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through them revolutionizing worldwide travel forever
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or not also guys so i think that's it like this video if you liked it dislike
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