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

You don't need a DSLR for shooting good photos, firstly you need good lighting (sun is free, lamps are cheap) and secondly a good camera. Something like a Sony RX100mk2 is already very capable of making good photos, no need to get a huge camera that one doesn't ever take along with them because it's too big.
 
Cannon's PowerShot S110 is pretty good (though a bit old now) and shoots raw+jpeg (if you're into that) for about $150. Has manual focus, apeture, shutter speed, and iso (at once and individually) and a pretty good range of zoom. Grip's a bit small, though.
If you want a good shot now, though, just drop the iso, decrease the shutter speed or open the aperture (if applicable), and get a good platform to place your camera/phone on before setting the timer, for a crisp, blur-free shot. ;)

skhmt said:
Is it dangerous to put a regular HDD under a high TDP (980 ti) blower GPU? It seemed really hot.
As long as the HDD doesn't block all of the vent below the blower's intake it should be fine--most of the heat is blown out the back of the case. The rest will radiate mostly upward, and should be blown out by any exhaust fans you have up there.
Edit: Well, assuming we're talking about the same style cooler. Something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...cm_re=980_ti_reference-_-14-487-068-_-Product
Here's a review of a reference 980 Ti where they took some flir photos of the GPU from a few angles.
 
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Quick question - is anyone using the Samsung SM951 M.2/PCIe ssd in their Ncase M1 builds? I'm assuming it's the slot out on back of the board. Would you have to mount a fan over it or something?
 
Quick question - is anyone using the Samsung SM951 M.2/PCIe ssd in their Ncase M1 builds? I'm assuming it's the slot out on back of the board. Would you have to mount a fan over it or something?

I am, but my mobo m.2 slot is on the front.
 
Is it possible to use accelero xtreme 4 without the huge backside heatsink, using my own heatsinks in frontside ofc.

No store sells accelero xtreme 3 in Finland. =/
 
Is it possible to use accelero xtreme 4 without the huge backside heatsink, using my own heatsinks in frontside ofc.

No store sells accelero xtreme 3 in Finland. =/

Yes it's possible, although you should mind that the shafts going through the four main holes in the PCB around the core extend about 20 or 30mm above the PCB. You can see this somewhat in the following picture:

LmrT0Uk.png

Above the heatpipes on the left, the silver vertical long thumbscrews.
 
Yes it's possible, although you should mind that the shafts going through the four main holes in the PCB around the core extend about 20 or 30mm above the PCB. You can see this somewhat in the following picture:

LmrT0Uk.png

Above the heatpipes on the left, the silver vertical long thumbscrews.

Is that your setup? It's pretty much exactly what I was looking to do.
If so, can you comment on heat/noise?
 
Will a Corsair h75 fit in an ncase m1? If not, does it come with screws to mount only one fan?
 
Will a Corsair h75 fit in an ncase m1? If not, does it come with screws to mount only one fan?
Yes it will fit, but with significant difficulty if using both fans. It looks like it comes with 8 long screws - 4 for each fan - so using it with one fan is straightforward.
 
Is that your setup? It's pretty much exactly what I was looking to do.
If so, can you comment on heat/noise?

Yep that's my build. Heat and noise are excellent in my regard, I've done a more elaborate post in the past but I need to look it up after work.

Also, is that the NH-C14? I have most of this already, just waiting for Skylake availability.
If you are referring to my picture, it's a Scythe Kabuto II, as there were only a few beefy CPU coolers that don't extend past the left fan on the fan bracket.
 
EDIT: added markup and words for obviousness.

Today I exchanged the original fan bracket in my Ncase M1 v1 for the new steel v4 one with the magnetic mesh filter. One problem is that you can't use all four screws apparently when using the v4 bracket with the v1 case. You'll see this in one of the pictures. It's attached well enough with just the screws in the back but you have to mind to not put much force on the bracket or you might strip the threads on the case.

I also took some pictures of angles some people have questions about from time to time. The pictures were done in a lightly cloudy day and with a Sony A6000 using the kitlens at 16mm and F/3.5, resized to 900x600.

lSjRj8d.png


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OLXULzC.png

Here you can see it doesn't line up. I've tried putting the bracket on the inside so the tabs at the back are inside the case, but then the holes in the front of the case misallign to the front.

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The case may have just been bent during shipment--that's what it looks like to me, at least.
 
Wow, nice Lian-Li QC.

The case may have just been bent during shipment--that's what it looks like to me, at least.

This is one of the original batch v1 cases, if it was bent during transport, I would have noticed by now :)

I doubt this is a manufacturing error, I expect that something has changed with the dimensions in between those 4 versions.
BTW: for me this doesn't need to be "fixed" or exchanged, it does it's job and I did it mainly for the mesh.
 
Hey guys.

Bennmeaning to ask this. Those of you that have a GTX 980 Ti, whick model do you have?
Benn looking at the palit jetstream since it the cheapest available right now and with two huge fans will produce great temps. Don't know if it will fit.

I'm running a Gigabyte G1. Probably the best you can get for performance/binning behind the HoF.

It fits *perfectly*, but does take a little bit of finagling to get it to fit in (nothing too ridiculous). See pic below.

XY4NS0R.jpg


P.S. For anyone else wondering, the H100i GTX (as seen in the image above) is a pretty poor choice. The tubing is extremely long and rigid, and will pretty much not let you attach it down without an extreme amount of force. And even then, it'll bow the mounting bracket and prevent the door from staying attached. I'm currently in the process of swapping it out for an H100i, which should be a lot better for a build configuration that I have.

Quick question - is anyone using the Samsung SM951 M.2/PCIe ssd in their Ncase M1 builds? I'm assuming it's the slot out on back of the board. Would you have to mount a fan over it or something?

I'm currently running one. My Z97i PLUS has the M.2 on the back of the board, and it's aligned perfectly over the cutout. The aluminum from the side-panel acts as a, kind of, contactless heatsink and I've noticed 0 thermal throttling.
 
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This is one of the original batch v1 cases, if it was bent during transport, I would have noticed by now :)

I doubt this is a manufacturing error, I expect that something has changed with the dimensions in between those 4 versions.

I too have a V1 and a V4, so I just did a quick check. My V4 fan bracket fits my V1 case frame a bit better than in your photos. If I use the lower set of holes on the V1 frame, the front holes on the V4 fan bracket almost line up with those on the case. A slight inward press on the front edge of the frame completes the alignment. However, if I slide the V4 bracket up to the top set of holes on the case, the misalignment is too great and small amount of pressure is insufficient. Perhaps this is because the upper holes are closer to the corner of the frame so it will not bend as easily. Anyway, I'm surprised the bracket doesn't fit both sets of holes without any pressure.
 
Really strange issue with the steel bracket. I have mine sitting in the box and i'll try to install it on my V1, V2, V3
 
(...)
Here you can see it doesn't line up.
(...)
I'm not happy about this, at all. I had the same problem with the first sample steel bracket they sent me, so I had them move the holes forward. Second sample ended up being too far forward and I asked them to move them back again, but only a little. There shouldn't be differences between how the bracket fits on different chassis versions, but it might be that individual chassis or brackets end up out of tolerance and they match them up during assembly. I don't know at this point.

Anyway, I apologize to you, Phuncz, and anyone else that has this issue with the new bracket not lining up. Please contact us through the website and we'll see about getting replacements.
 
phuncz - it might be worth utilizing the case flex technique provided to those of us with the v2 wobble feet issue - it may assist in lining up your holes a little better if your case is somewhat flexed.
 
Hey guys, dropping in again now that Skylake has dropped. Has anyone hopped on that new EVGA mITX board that's being sold? I'm thinking of heading down to Microcentre and picking it up along with the new processor, but I just wanted to know if anyone's been spectacularly early by jumping on it.
 
hey all, i'm gonna be making a build with the m1 probably at the end of next month. so far this is my planned build:

cpu: i5-6600k
gpu: unsure as of now (question to follow)
mobo: unsure but waiting to see the asrock and gigabyte mini-itx z170 boards come out
ram: 8gb x 2 corsair vengeance lpx ddr4 2400
ssd: 500gb samsung 850 evo m.2 drive (will most likely buy a new laptop within the next couple and pop this in there then replace with a 2tb samsung 850)
cooling: also not 100% (question to follow)
psu: corsair sf600 when it comes out possibly but also toying with the idea of an atx supply for silence reasons

so my few questions are:

1. so i'm unsure about my cooling setup. i'd like to aim for maximum quietness but not sacrificing too much in terms of temps. the setup i think i'm leaning towards is an nh-c14 with a 120mm fan on the bottom (fractal venturi possibly? i would use a noctua redux but their 120s aren't high pressure optimized) and then 2 120mm fans as intakes on the side. as much as watercooling seems cool, i'm not sure i wanna mess with it. which brings me to the gpu...

2. if i were to go with a setup like this, would using a non-reference gtx 970 be okay? either something full sized like a gigabyte 970 g1 or a mini card like the asus 970 direct cu? i was thinking about the mini sized one in order to be able to fit either a fanless psu like a seasonic or a corsair ax760i or something. i know there's a lot of complaints about the silverstone sx-600g being noisy. but maybe the corsair sfx power supply will remedy all that. also have thought about possibly getting something like the evga 980 hybrid but that might be more money than i wanna spend, as i'm not a hardcore gamer per se and the price to value proposition is a whole lot better on the 970. also, assuming i did get a non-reference design, is it worth it to pop a couple fans on the bottom? i've seen posts here stating it's not a huge difference but if it doesn't hurt.

anyway, hope you guys can help out and hope to be joining the ranks in the not too distant future. thanks.
 
Anyway, I apologize to you, Phuncz, and anyone else that has this issue with the new bracket not lining up. Please contact us through the website and we'll see about getting replacements.
Don't sweat it, my problem is not really an issue. If anything, I'd fix it myself with a small file to lengthen the holes. I am however amazed that this seems to be a Lian-Li QC issue.

But if you need ammo to fire at Lian-Li:

YYEqwy4.png


phuncz - it might be worth utilizing the case flex technique provided to those of us with the v2 wobble feet issue - it may assist in lining up your holes a little better if your case is somewhat flexed.
Not worth it for me, my case is stable, not wobbly. So I'd like to keep it that way.
 
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EK just released an expandable AIO. http://www.techpowerup.com/215197/ek-water-blocks-announces-ek-predator-aio-cpu-cooler.html

I wonder if it will fit in the ncase due to the pump/res hanging off one end. i hope it does, because it would make for a pretty perfect cooling setup for the ncase.

I really doubt it. An h100i seems to barely fit and it has a 27mm thick rad + 25mm thick fan. The Predator AIO has a 68mm thick rad + 25mm thick fan.

Then of course, as you noted, the pump/res on the side.
 
Hey guys, dropping in again now that Skylake has dropped. Has anyone hopped on that new EVGA mITX board that's being sold? I'm thinking of heading down to Microcentre and picking it up along with the new processor, but I just wanted to know if anyone's been spectacularly early by jumping on it.

I'm holding-out for the ASRock board. More SATA ports!
 
I really doubt it. An h100i seems to barely fit and it has a 27mm thick rad + 25mm thick fan. The Predator AIO has a 68mm thick rad + 25mm thick fan.

Then of course, as you noted, the pump/res on the side.

The 68 mm thickness includes the 25 mm fans I believe, based on the photos. The CoolStream PE radiator is 280 mm long and has been used in builds posted here earlier. However, the addition of the pump and resevoir to the end increases the length to 295 mm and this would make this very hard to fit in an M1. You might be drilling your own mounting holes into the side bracket, if even that would make it fit.Yin
 
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You might be right. It looks like the rad is twice the thicknesses of the fan, but the rad might have a shroud or something over part of the fan.

Also a ddc pump is roughly 2.44" which is 62mm and it seems like the rad+fan is about the width of a ddc.
 
Am I the only one in this place waiting for Skylake and a decent selection of Z170 m-ITZ motherboards to hit the market? My beautiful NCase M1 is just collecting dust in the corner :/
 
Yes it will fit, but with significant difficulty if using both fans. It looks like it comes with 8 long screws - 4 for each fan - so using it with one fan is straightforward.

Thanks, got it to fit with one fan. It's tight with the long tubes and isn't really giving better temps than the air cooler that came with the x99e-itx/ac, but it's quieter. While it looks possible to get another fan in there, I don't think it's a good idea.
 
Am I the only one in this place waiting for Skylake and a decent selection of Z170 m-ITZ motherboards to hit the market? My beautiful NCase M1 is just collecting dust in the corner :/

You are not the only one. The EVGA is just no good. We should be seeing more over the next couple of weeks as the launch of the remaining Skylake line gets closer.
 
I was looking to get some dust filters for my NCASE and was looking at some DEMCiflex ones, but wanted to know if they are the best out there and which filters I would need to buy for my case. I have one 120mm intake fan at the bottom of my case and a Noctua NH-C14. Would I also benefit in any way in having outtake fans or is the positive pressure enough already?
 
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