NCASE M1: a crowdfunded Mini-ITX case (updates in first post)

Think it was estimated at around $55 or so for shipping, not including the customs charges we're likely to get stung with.
 
That will mainly depend on your country's customs agency. Some are much faster than others.
 
Guys does anyone think this might fit with slight modding of the case? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...a&cm_sp=&AID=10440897&PID=3891137&SID=rewrite

It has the width of basically an ITX board and a length of 8.9 inches, with new mounting holes in the case it might work?

I am not looking to turn this into a debate that the NCASE should be for mATX, as I am buying this for an ITX build myself - but I thought it might be interesting to pose the question with this board.

Thanks!
 
Every time I unplug it live, I hear that sizzle that says "you have a 0.1% chance of getting electrocuted every time you try this." Oh, I didn't know that you can hold the power button for 10 seconds.

No, that sizzle is just a small arc created from the gap that initially forms when the contacts inside the plug separate. There is exactly zero chance of you being electrocuted by pulling the plug out of the computer and that sizzle is 100% harmless and NOT a cause of any damage or concern what so ever.
 
But, if you want a strong graphics card like a GTX680 or titan, you are looking at 10.5" or so. Such a card will need a psu capable of 38a. Per EVGA recommendations. can find no sfx or modular units capable of 38a that are <140mm long. I don't know if I am comfortable with one of the Silverstone sfx 450w units. They advertise 37a, and that might do, but the psu may need to run at max and be noisy.


Yep the ST45SF (or -G) might be noisy with a Titan, but there's several people already running that in the SG05 (e.g. josephclemente, xinux). However, a 680 will be fine - even with overclocked CPU it's drawing less than 350W from the wall.
 
Guys does anyone think this might fit with slight modding of the case? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...a&cm_sp=&AID=10440897&PID=3891137&SID=rewrite

It has the width of basically an ITX board and a length of 8.9 inches, with new mounting holes in the case it might work?

I am not looking to turn this into a debate that the NCASE should be for mATX, as I am buying this for an ITX build myself - but I thought it might be interesting to pose the question with this board.

Thanks!

Just eye balling the specs of the board and the case it should fit but I'd wait for confirmation, one way or the other, from Necere. If it does fit, you might not need new mounting points if you let the bottom two holes free float. It may also limit your options in the bottom of the case.


Edit: Got bored and looked around at on newegg for smaller mATX boards. If the that Asrock H61M-DGS fits there are a couple of other boards roughly that size, all H61. The smallest "current" chipset board I found is the ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0. Under neweggs specs its 7.2" wide, which I believe to be false. The old R1.0 board is 7.2" but this one is thinner since they moved the ATX plug from the side to the top of the board. I couldn't find actual specs anywhere so I used an overhead shot of the ECS board Necere tried and scaled it to 6.7" in photoshop. Then I scaled the B75M-DGS R2.0 to match the same mounting hole size and pattern. Ended up right at 7" wide, which I believe is over the limit from I/O plate to PSU bracket. Again this was all done with ye ole eye balls and is probably not 100% accurate. Anyway the whole exercise is moot if an 8.9" board is too long.
 
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No doubt there are ways around the inconvenience. If you do not have a os running, as when booting from a dvd, then you need a manual eject option. My take is why not eliminate whatever issues when you can?

Buy an external DVD-drive. Problem solved!
 
Nice to see the pics of the hardware stuffed in the case and it actually fitting ! I'll be getting the Silverstone modular SFX 450W (fix the fan, Silverstone!) so no problems packing all those cables, but I get where you are coming from.

I like how this project is coming along, it seems very competently done !

I do hope we Europeans get a way to purchase the case in our continent, so shipping and taxes will be minimal. It has already been mentioned a few times but nothing concrete which I understand ofcourse.
 
Things are looking great. Now that I see it with an ATX power supply I think the investment in an SFX unit will be worth it. What a nightmare :D
 
What is the most gpu a SFX unit can drive? Could it push a oc'd 690? 7990? That's the only thing holding me up on deciding if I will do another itx build...
 
What is the most gpu a SFX unit can drive? Could it push a oc'd 690? 7990? That's the only thing holding me up on deciding if I will do another itx build...

You might be able to get away with a stock CPU and stock GTX 690 with the SFX units. Overclocking either, both, or running a 7990 is probably out of the question.


You're probably best off getting at Titan and overclocking everything if you want the most punch the SFX units can handle.
 
1. How does one eject the dvd from the drive? Certainly removing the top panel is possible, but not really practical. If the position of the eject button is standard on slim drives, we need something there.
The eject button is not in a standard location across different slim drives. As was mentioned, software eject will be the primary method.

Does a slim dvd drive operate properly in a vertical position?
I'd think so - better than a regular 5.25" ODD does, even. Slim drives are designed for notebooks, which get tossed around and have to operate in all kinds of conditions a desktop wouldn't be subject to. There are also already desktops with vertical slim drives (e.g. Falcon NW Tiki).

Perhaps the best solution would be to have an opening wide enough to accommodate either a slot loading or tray loading drive.
And ruin the looks? Never! :p

How long can a graphics card be that will not impact a psu that is > 140mm long?
~200mm.

if you want a strong graphics card like a GTX680 or titan, you are looking at 10.5" or so. Such a card will need a psu capable of 38a. Per EVGA recommendations. can find no sfx or modular units capable of 38a that are <140mm long. I don't know if I am comfortable with one of the Silverstone sfx 450w units. They advertise 37a, and that might do, but the psu may need to run at max and be noisy.
As others have said, the SilverStone 450W SFX PSUs can handle pretty much anything short of a dual GPU card. Your options if you want more and need to use an ATX PSU are 1.) mod the cables, 2.) stuff the cables and learn to live with it, 3.) mini-DTX with 2nd slot PCIe x16 (not great options currently).

Regarding the noise issue (if it's an issue - it's not for some), the options with SFX are pretty much 1.) mod the fan, 2.) wait for SilverStone to fix it, 3.) go for a less power hungry build. Personally, I think if the machine is a bit noisy under load it's not really a problem, because it's usually only if I'm gaming and have headphones on anyway.

Guys does anyone think this might fit with slight modding of the case? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...a&cm_sp=&AID=10440897&PID=3891137&SID=rewrite

It has the width of basically an ITX board and a length of 8.9 inches, with new mounting holes in the case it might work?
Something very similar was brought up a while back with some ASUS boards. It's really borderline whether it would fit.
 
I'm not sure if it has been asked, but would a msata drive on the back of the motherboard fit okay in the case. IE: does it look like there would be problems mounting a msata drive on the underside of an Asrock Z77E-ITX? Furthermore, would the slightly thicker than normal msata 480GB msata drive from Mushkin fit?
 
No, that sizzle is just a small arc created from the gap that initially forms when the contacts inside the plug separate. There is exactly zero chance of you being electrocuted by pulling the plug out of the computer and that sizzle is 100% harmless and NOT a cause of any damage or concern what so ever.

Unless you know there is a big chunk of sheathing and insulation missing from above the plug :p
 
I'm not sure if it has been asked, but would a msata drive on the back of the motherboard fit okay in the case. IE: does it look like there would be problems mounting a msata drive on the underside of an Asrock Z77E-ITX? Furthermore, would the slightly thicker than normal msata 480GB msata drive from Mushkin fit?
The motherboard standoffs are 8mm, so I think it should fit.
 
Hey guys, been looking at this sweet case for some time and plan to rock this thing with a Titan and an OC CPU. However I was wondering if you are able to tell me what the reservoir/pump was you used in the photos thanks.:D
 
Hey guys, been looking at this sweet case for some time and plan to rock this thing with a Titan and an OC CPU. However I was wondering if you are able to tell me what the reservoir/pump was you used in the photos thanks.:D
Well, the renders aren't really a good guideline at this point. The reservoir (Tecnofront Nano) is no longer available, and the pump/waterblock (Swiftech Apogee Drive II) isn't likely to be tested for fitment.

What you might consider instead is the Swiftech H220 all-in-one, which I have tested and confirmed that it does fit in the case. It's not a sealed unit, unlike the CLCs from Corsair etc., so it's possible to expand the loop for GPU cooling.
 
Well, the renders aren't really a good guideline at this point. The reservoir (Tecnofront Nano) is no longer available, and the pump/waterblock (Swiftech Apogee Drive II) isn't likely to be tested for fitment.

What you might consider instead is the Swiftech H220 all-in-one, which I have tested and confirmed that it does fit in the case. It's not a sealed unit, unlike the CLCs from Corsair etc., so it's possible to expand the loop for GPU cooling.

Have to mention that the H220 has superior pump compared to all CLCs. It certainly challenges the Apogee Drive II for pressure and noise when testing at similar rpms.

Here's how to add a GPU to the loop of an H220: http://youtu.be/0fpum4J6C2k
 
You can still order one. The campaign for the production of the case hasn't started yet. The one that finished was just to get a couple of prototypes built.
 
@WiSK
Cool with the link to adding a GPU to the cooler.

Is it possible to cool a Radon 7970 (or Nvidia equal) or is that too much heat for it to handle?

Possible to add a radiator more? (both in cabinet and can the pump handle it?)

:)
 
Is it possible to cool a Radon 7970 (or Nvidia equal) or is that too much heat for it to handle?

Possible to add a radiator more? (both in cabinet and can the pump handle it?)

Check Swiftech website for more info. I believe they demonstrated CPU + two Xfire 7970s when it was first released. Pump can easily handle more radiators but remember NCase M1 is only 12 liters so 240 rad is limit of what you can fit easily. (Although, if using short card like 670 and SFX PSU there is possibly enough room in the bottom for another 120 rad.)
 
Necere, do you think you could give me the distance from the fan mount to the SFX PSU plate? Trying to see what kind of AIO watercooling would fit in the 2nd fan slot.
 
I love this case and what it stands for but I’m running into an issue when designing a build.
Water cooling with a 2x120mm radiator requires that the user have an SFX power supply installed. Which as far as I can tell, max out at 450W. Now I’ve never water cooled a PC before but I always sort of assumed the goal was overclocking, which doesn’t seem possible with only 450W to work with.
I guess my ultimate question is, how much power can you really pack into a build with only 450W at your disposal? Additionally, if one makes the jump to an ATX case, are there any places for 3.5in HDD within the case?
 
You can easily overclock a 3570K and GTX 680 with a 450W PSU. I just looked through every 680 review I could find, and I've gathered a couple of conclusions:

1) Almost every reviewer out there uses a 3960X, which is really annoying when trying to determine power consumption.
2) Only three used 2x00Ks/3xx0Ks.
3) Load stock power consumption seems to be around the 250-300W mark, from the wall.
4) Overclocked power consumption seems to be around the 300-350W mark, from the wall.
5) The Silverstone ST45SF-G will be more than enough to power any single GPU setup, while kept at stock. This is a certainty.
6) The Silverstone ST45SF-G will be enough to power any single GPU setup, excluding the Titan, and have plenty of overclocking headroom.

As for the 3.5 HDD query, yes, you can fit one directly under the graphics card, assuming you don't need the third slot. (You can see it in one of the prototype pictures).

Hope that helps.
 
6) The Silverstone ST45SF-G will be enough to power any single GPU setup, excluding the Titan, and have plenty of overclocking headroom.

It's been mentioned before that several users in this forum have Titans in SG05 case, which have a Silverstone 450W PSU. Titan is hardware locked to max 265W power consumption, and since Ivy Bridge CPUs are very power efficient you can still achieve a decent overclock (@ 1.3V-1.4V) while running w/c pump + fans + several hdds using a Silverstone 450W. This is mostly down to the PSU being designed to be able to deliver almost all it's capacity to the 12V rail.
 
@WiSK: Perhaps I should have been more clear, I meant that a 450W PSU would be enough to power any overclocked single card, but not an overclocked Titan. A stock Titan will be fine (I was actually thinking of forum members here when I wrote that). Hence point 5.

That's what I got out of your statement -- makes sense ;)

EDIT: Don't quote flames. - Lethal
 
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Man I moderate forums for a living but it's never the forums where I post. Let's try keep this thread under control, folks. Calling people names because you disagree with them (or believe they are somehow fundamentally "wrong") is juvenile.

Let's see some more pictures of our favorite sexy aluminum case. ;3
 
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right now i have a 680 FTW+ 4gb, h80i, 3770k, and a 450w sfx.

when i switch into this case i will be selling the 680 for a titan (any takers?) and will probably have to change out the h80i.

I was interesting in what you guys would think would be the best replacement for it. my main concern is silence. I was thinking a swiftech 220 or a noctua D14. please share your thoughts.
 
right now i have a 680 FTW+ 4gb, h80i, 3770k, and a 450w sfx.

when i switch into this case i will be selling the 680 for a titan (any takers?) and will probably have to change out the h80i.

I was interesting in what you guys would think would be the best replacement for it. my main concern is silence. I was thinking a swiftech 220 or a noctua D14. please share your thoughts.

Why such a massive cooler? Are you planning on overclocking significantly or only silence? I would think something like a Noctua NH-L9a or Noctua NH-L9i will be nearly as silent? I'm not sure based on the motherboard -- they are 92mm and 95mm.

Edit: Looks like there is about a 4db difference between the D14 and the NH-L9 models.
 
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right now i have a 680 FTW+ 4gb, h80i, 3770k, and a 450w sfx.

when i switch into this case i will be selling the 680 for a titan (any takers?) and will probably have to change out the h80i.

I was interesting in what you guys would think would be the best replacement for it. my main concern is silence. I was thinking a swiftech 220 or a noctua D14. please share your thoughts.

NH-D14 would be too tall for this case.
I was looking at tower coolers for <140mm and they're all with 92mm fans.
Also, Necere said H80i isn't recommended but he didn't say it's impossible... yet. :D
 
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