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NCASE M1: a crowdfunded Mini-ITX case (updates in first post)
- Thread starter wahaha360
- Start date
It's not really comparable between systems because of the varying GPU coolers. I'll be testing with an MSI GTX 970 Gaming that I also just bought. It will probably dump a ton of heat in the case.
This build uses a 3x 120 mm setup:
http://www.chiphell.com/thread-1175913-1-1.html
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Plan on making it a ducted setup if you want temps to be reasonable, otherwise the gtx970 just recycles its own hot air
panther_king, just to add my 2 cents:
my M1 system (listed below) originally had the Noctua NH-L9i. It's a nice low-profile cooler and very quiet, but the temps were higher than I liked.
I switched for the Noctua NH-C14, and there's been no looking back. I have two fans, NF-A14 as the "main" fan, NF-F12 as the "bottom" fan (under the heatsink). Both fans are set on a curve and as inchikiboze states, the fan noise is bordering inaudible unless i have my ear pressed against the left side of the case. For reference, when I'm tinkering with the M1 it's on a desk basically beside me (within 1 foot).
I don't have a GPU in the system yet, but there's no question: at stock/idle/normal usage, the loudest component is the Silverstone SX600-G SFX PSU. Under load tests, the CPU heatsink fans do get louder but nothing unbearable.
Idle temps are in low 30s, with ambient temperatures in the low 20s. Not record breaking but very happy all things considered. Load temperatures get to the mid 60's, and these are "unrealistic" conditions only seen when running such a test... I might handbrake on that system once in awhile and it will peak in the low 50s.
With this setup, the tradeoff is the heatsink's orientation prevents installation of a HDD on the fan bracket, but this wasn't a concern to me.
I have a 7950 Windforce 3X so I already know how these heatsinks perform, the only issue is that the GTX 970 has a higher power draw.
May you elaborate? I am currently waiting for my case in the mail but I have an H100I and GTX 980ti EVGA SC ACX2.0+. I don't plan to put anything on the bottom of the case so I would imagine an duct solution is possible. Are there any available builds showing a custom duct and how its made. Additionally, what temp differences do you see?
I had gaming loads put the card at 75-80c+ after 10-15 minutes, mostly MWO. It wasn't stable at those temperatures at stock clocks unless I took the side panel off
The card is tall enough to block most of the air from going into the 'upper' compartment of the case, and it ends up recycling a lot of its own exhaust hot air. I thought this was a well-known thing already, with the front page post having explained that blower style cards are highly recommended?
Anyways, I ended up going with a long-winded 1.5 year journey from GTX670 to GTX970 to fully custom watercooling loop, and now somewhat regret going custom watercooling when I think it would have sufficed to have a big aircooler for CPU along w/ ducting from the intakes on the case floor directly into the fan shroud of the MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4g.
I think there are a few images floating around with ducted setups - any type of paper or plastic panel or cover to ensure that the GPU fans pull air directly from the bottom intake of the case should be good enough to ensure much cooler temps. Necere may be able to chime in with some image examples, I did a quick google search and was pointed directly to this thread:
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1041205684&postcount=342
The card is tall enough to block most of the air from going into the 'upper' compartment of the case, and it ends up recycling a lot of its own exhaust hot air. I thought this was a well-known thing already, with the front page post having explained that blower style cards are highly recommended?
Anyways, I ended up going with a long-winded 1.5 year journey from GTX670 to GTX970 to fully custom watercooling loop, and now somewhat regret going custom watercooling when I think it would have sufficed to have a big aircooler for CPU along w/ ducting from the intakes on the case floor directly into the fan shroud of the MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4g.
I think there are a few images floating around with ducted setups - any type of paper or plastic panel or cover to ensure that the GPU fans pull air directly from the bottom intake of the case should be good enough to ensure much cooler temps. Necere may be able to chime in with some image examples, I did a quick google search and was pointed directly to this thread:
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1041205684&postcount=342
Phuncz
2[H]4U
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I too am happy I went proper aircooling after having watercooling. I achieved much lower noise and good temperatures with the right heatsinks, fans and orientations. My build: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1041593449&highlight=kabuto#post1041593449
I am thinking of getting a GTX 980 Ti Hybrid for my Ncase and was looking to install the rad in the right side of the fan bracket. Can anyone give me recommendations on what the best CPU air coolers would be that would allow for this config. I imagine it will need to be pretty low profile. Possibly the Noctua NH-U9S with the fan in pull? Any help is greatly appreciated!
yoyo0221
Gawd
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Did you use AIO's or custom watercooling?
Watercooling in general, regardless of AIO vs custom, will have a higher noise floor due to the pump. See the AMD fury x reviews for more details on that
Thank you very much for your reply. I think its well known that the blower style is better however I got the 980ti on a deal. My main concern was how much of a difference it would make. Seeing high temps certainly does worry me and I was curious if making a duct would provide significant results, which you did shoe. Many Thanks!
I thought some people put dual 120mm fans under the GPU instead of ducting. The idea is to put enough positive air pressure at the bottom of the case so that the any air including hot air will be forced to an area of lower pressure, which is the top of the case, and outside. On that note, I don't think the GPU's 10mm thick fans have enough static pressure to draw in much air from outside (the bottom) even with ducting, thus they need to be supplemented with 120mmx25mm fans.
Ducting would be the more elegant solution, the way I see it. Less fans/moving parts, and no chance of recirculating hot air unless the air manages to go outside the case then back in.
With 2 sets of fans, you'll also have more turbulence from different fans spinning at different speeds/blowing air at slightly different angles, and you still run the chance of the GPU fans recirculating the hot air, or some mix of hot exhaust + cold intake from the 2 extra fans
Yeah, unfortunately:
Wow, I'm really surprised the C14S doesn't fit. I mean, I know it wouldn't fit with the fan on top but even in low profile mode?
Yeah fair enough, but IMO it will be interesting to see how a top flow vs. tower cooler performs in the M1 taking into account the entire system rather than just the isolated CPU performance. I know that many people went with an aftermarket GPU cooling design (opposed to a reference blower) so observing how each type of cooler manages with the hot air dump into the case may be useful.
Can I fit an R9 Fury X with a full ATX PSU? I was pretty much ready to start ordering parts, but then I read the reviews of the 600w silverstone SFX on new egg. They are absolutely horrifying. Now I'm trying to determine the following:
Would the R9 Fury X fit with an ATX PSU?
Is it possible to cram two 120mm AIO coolers in with an ATX PSU? (I assume it would be one rear mounted, and one mounted somewhere in the middle of the two side mount slots.)
Would the R9 Fury X fit with an ATX PSU?
Is it possible to cram two 120mm AIO coolers in with an ATX PSU? (I assume it would be one rear mounted, and one mounted somewhere in the middle of the two side mount slots.)
no-username-declared
n00b
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There are only four 120mm fan locations in the NCASE: two on the side bracket and two on the floor. I don't see any way that you could fit an ATX PSU and two AIO 120mm coolers in the NCASE.
Curiositie
Limp Gawd
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Maybe if instead of two AIO's you used a L9x65 and set the fury's rad over the CPU, and used the fan as exhaust?
yoyo0221
Gawd
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Yup same here, no big deal for me though it was just the PS bracket
cwjakesteel
n00b
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How much does the Ncase weigh? It's not on the specs on the main site.
ghostwich
2[H]4U
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I don't think that's necessarily accurate and I don't know why this line of thinking is so prevalent. If you have a properly controlled (PWM) pump you can get it damn near silent.
(That is to say, if you have a properly controlled anything, you can get far less noise.
)
yoyo0221
Gawd
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Not true....I have a Apogee Drive II and its damn near silent. Sound mostly comes from the Noctua Industrials that I have on the rad. Not a fan of the fury x, love my GTX980ti
Qrash
Gawd
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Yep, I got mine too. Woo hoo!
rayjayturbo
n00b
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Received my v3 case today. v4 case came in last week, air was much quicker than surface shipping
The case itself, excluding the accessories box, is 4.2 lbs/1.9kg.
Yes, planes tend to be faster at traversing thousands of miles of ocean than container ships.Received my v3 case today. v4 case came in last week, air was much quicker than surface shipping
rayjayturbo
n00b
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Yep, about 2 months faster
Nobu
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I don't think that's necessarily accurate and I don't know why this line of thinking is so prevalent. If you have a properly controlled (PWM) pump you can get it damn near silent.
(That is to say, if you have a properly controlled anything, you can get far less noise.
In fact, I have a non-pwm D5 pump and it's near silent (can't hear it, unless the case fans are off or you're right next to the case). If I had rubber under it to stop it from vibrating against the case it would be essentially silent. Of course, my loop is pretty low-restriction (D5->Raystorm CPU block->Koolance GPU-220->280x45mm Rad), and my case is also pretty large (HAF XB EVO), though the pump is mounted to the side panel.
inchikiboze
Weaksauce
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Here's a crazy idea: maybe you could just barely fit the Fury X rad next to the card on the bottom of the case and use intake? The card is only 7.5 in (190.5 mm) long, so you couldn't mount and bolt the rad in the dedicated 120 mm spot on the front floor, but you might be able to squeeze it in there offset a bit with some ghetto rigging and creative tube routing. That would leave you room for an ATX PSU and your cpu cooler up top, but I wouldn't want to bet $750+ on the parts only to find out it doesn't work. Also, the Fury X rad being offset from the airflow holes on the bottom means that part of the rad would be obstructed, which might affect performance, not to mention the fact that you're dumping that heat back into the case, unlike with a blower. Maybe a terrible idea. Anyone with better geometry/thermodynamics skills than me, or a Fury X lying around, care to weigh in?
Pat-Roner
Weaksauce
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Amazon uses DHL wich is a parcel service with in house customs.
They do every thing them selves, hence the higher cost.
Postal service is goverment, and they handle A LOT more packages than DHL.
Guess that makes sense. Though it was surprisingly cheap at only ~$7.
The C14S fits without the top fan ("low profile mode"), however you are only left with just a little over 15mm between heatsink and the inside of the side panel fan bracket.
The C14 would allow 25+mm, so one could comfortably fit a normal 25mm thickness fan, but the C14S only permits a slim fan. In my opinion, (without data to prove it yet), having a slim fan might perform poorer than a normal thickness fan on a smaller heatsink, such as the L12 from an acoustic perspective.
This is why the C14 original is the most ideal solution for silent air cooling, if you don't need the front 3.5" hdd mounts
I think this is right. I just finished my build using a C14 and put in a 25mm thick NF-F12 Noctua fan in the lower part of the cooler. The nice thing is that the clips that hold the provided 140mm fans work for the 120mm fans.
Here are my pics.
Wow; I think you may even have the same motherboard.
So far it is doing great. I haven't done any tweaking of the fan profile yet; I've just left it stock and it is really quiet, though I haven't really pushed it at all and don't plan to do any overclocking.
One last slightly blurry pic all put together:
