Building the Mini Maestro

01 Bare bones

Stripping down the case is one of the best things to do at the start of a build. When all the panels are off, it helps you see what you are working with and gives you as much room as possible – a must for cramped ITX systems. Plus, it’s a good chance to see the case without all the hectic mess that’s about to unfold. Without any glass panels, this chassis looks pretty intimidating, considering its size. Right, let’s get into this mini beast. First, pull off the side panels using the concealed push pins. Easy-peasy. The same goes for the top panel. To get the front panel off, remove the plastic clasp pins that secure it before popping it off with the push pins again. Once that’s done, we can take out the dust filter and – boom – there’s a meaty-looking skeleton (oh, the irony).

02 In goes the CPU

As with all Intel CPUs, it’s vital that you don’t touch the bottom pins. These are super-delicate, so just gently pinch the sides of the chip when placing it on the motherboard. Lift up and raise the retention arm. To do so, you have to push it outward to unhook it, then lift the arm up to reveal the socket, leaving the plastic cover in place. Next, we need to match up the arrow on our Intel chip with the arrow on the motherboard.