SENTRY: Console-sized gaming PC case project

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Here's some quick results. I'll add more details and comments tomorrow

So far this is just the data from the i7-4790K at stock, 4.0-4.4ghz, 88W. Each test was run 3 times and the average core temperature recorded for each run. These averages from each run are what make up the bars on the graph. It seems the lp53 came in anywhere from 5-11C cooler in every test.


Also it should be noted that the lp53 does fit parallel with the ram. It clears the vrm on my Ga-z97n-wifi by about 1.5mm. That seemed to improve temps about another 2C though the same would be true of the noctua too.
 
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dam_j said:
Is the LP53 a lot louder ?
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I'm using the noctua fan otherwise it won't fit so, volume of noise is similar but the sound itself is slightly different.

I'll post pictures soon. Probably make a small review thread so I don't take over sentry thread. I'll post the link when it's up. Probably tomorrow.
 
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Thank you for your test results already Ej24, and I look forward to reading your review. The Noctua fan looks pretty good already but assuming it would fit between the ram and the IO doodads, I'd love to know if a bigger fan like a slim 120mm would improve the performance of the heatsink? I found a standalone 120mm which has double the airflow of the noctua: http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/case-fan/xtraflo-120-slim/. I'm also wondering how the cooling performance of an oversized fan is affected if the fan is mounted off center. I'm guessing that otherwise most of the airflow of a too wide fan might just pass around the cooling fins as the airflow is more important at the extremity of the fan blades. Maybe some ducting of the airflow would help?

Beside the Noctua, I haven't managed to find a standalone PWN 92mm fan that is not bundled with a cooler. Per the numbers below, I can see why the TR TY100 is referenced in other threads. The fan on the C7 also look interesting in terms of airflow number, but neither the TR-TY100 nor the C7's fan seem to be available standalone, and even the AXP100 cooler seems to be hard to find (or expensive)

Manufacturer's airflow numbers:

Noctua (92mm): up to 57 m³/h
Cryorig C7(92mm) : up to 67 m³/h
Silverstone Argon AR05 (92mm): up to 67 m³/h
Thermalright AXP-100 / TR-TY100 (100 mm?): up to 75 m³/h

Cooler master xtra flow 120 slim (120mm): 99 m³/h
 
If we can't get the C7 then what CPU cooler can we use for i7 7700 processor? Would the NH-L9i be fine even though it isn't really rated for it? I don't really want to mess around with the LP53 situation unless I know there is a solid solution to the height issue.
 
Shadyace25 said:
If we can't get the C7 then what CPU cooler can we use for i7 7700 processor? Would the NH-L9i be fine even though it isn't really rated for it? I don't really want to mess around with the LP53 situation unless I know there is a solid solution to the height issue.
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The lp53 is significantly better than the nh-l9i. After testing the lp53 I can't recommend the nh-l9i for K series Cpu's anymore. The noctua nf-a9x14 fan brings the lp53 down to an acceptable height and it can be purchased by itself for ~$15.

If you have a 65w locked cpu you'll be fine with the nh-l9i, unless you want an overkill cooler.

I'm a little busy this weekend but I'll try to get a review with better graphs and photos up tomorrow.
 
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nico_h said:
Thank you for your test results already Ej24, and I look forward to reading your review. The Noctua fan looks pretty good already but assuming it would fit between the ram and the IO doodads, I'd love to know if a bigger fan like a slim 120mm would improve the performance of the heatsink? I found a standalone 120mm which has double the airflow of the noctua: http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/case-fan/xtraflo-120-slim/. I'm also wondering how the cooling performance of an oversized fan is affected if the fan is mounted off center. I'm guessing that otherwise most of the airflow of a too wide fan might just pass around the cooling fins as the airflow is more important at the extremity of the fan blades. Maybe some ducting of the airflow would help?

Beside the Noctua, I haven't managed to find a standalone PWN 92mm fan that is not bundled with a cooler. Per the numbers below, I can see why the TR TY100 is referenced in other threads. The fan on the C7 also look interesting in terms of airflow number, but neither the TR-TY100 nor the C7's fan seem to be available standalone, and even the AXP100 cooler seems to be hard to find (or expensive)

Manufacturer's airflow numbers:

Noctua (92mm): up to 57 m³/h
Cryorig C7(92mm) : up to 67 m³/h
Silverstone Argon AR05 (92mm): up to 67 m³/h
Thermalright AXP-100 / TR-TY100 (100 mm?): up to 75 m³/h

Cooler master xtra flow 120 slim (120mm): 99 m³/h
Click to expand...

The noctua fan already overhangs the cooler by a bit. If you could figure out how to attach a larger fan, I suppose it'd help. I've yet to find many other fans as consistently quiet as noctua so it's up to you. I have 120mm noctua fans I could try. They're too tall for sentry but it'd indicate whether or not a slim 120 that pushes more sir would be worth it.
 
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Ej24 said:
The noctua fan already overhangs the cooler by a bit. If you could figure out how to attach a larger fan, I suppose it'd help. I've yet to find many other fans as consistently quiet as noctua so it's up to you. I have 120mm noctua fans I could try. They're too tall for sentry but it'd indicate whether or not a slim 120 that pushes more sir would be worth it.
Click to expand...
First of all thank you for all the test and I would greatly appreciate it if you can do the test with any 120mm that you have lying around. Also again my question from before did you install the fan as it was shown in the image I posted at the beginning of page 56(this page).

nico_h said:
Thank you for your test results already Ej24, and I look forward to reading your review. The Noctua fan looks pretty good already but assuming it would fit between the ram and the IO doodads, I'd love to know if a bigger fan like a slim 120mm would improve the performance of the heatsink? I found a standalone 120mm which has double the airflow of the noctua: http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/case-fan/xtraflo-120-slim/. I'm also wondering how the cooling performance of an oversized fan is affected if the fan is mounted off center. I'm guessing that otherwise most of the airflow of a too wide fan might just pass around the cooling fins as the airflow is more important at the extremity of the fan blades. Maybe some ducting of the airflow would help?

Beside the Noctua, I haven't managed to find a standalone PWN 92mm fan that is not bundled with a cooler. Per the numbers below, I can see why the TR TY100 is referenced in other threads. The fan on the C7 also look interesting in terms of airflow number, but neither the TR-TY100 nor the C7's fan seem to be available standalone, and even the AXP100 cooler seems to be hard to find (or expensive)

Manufacturer's airflow numbers:

Noctua (92mm): up to 57 m³/h
Cryorig C7(92mm) : up to 67 m³/h
Silverstone Argon AR05 (92mm): up to 67 m³/h
Thermalright AXP-100 / TR-TY100 (100 mm?): up to 75 m³/h

Cooler master xtra flow 120 slim (120mm): 99 m³/h
Click to expand...
Thanks for bringing up the question again. I had the same curiosity. Based on the way the noctuna was installed in the heatsink it should fit fine. What I am most worried about is actual performance. Hopefully Ej24 can run some test with 120mm fans.
 
Rysen said:
First of all thank you for all the test and I would greatly appreciate it if you can do the test with any 120mm that you have lying around. Also again my question from before did you install the fan as it was shown in the image I posted at the beginning of page 56(this page).


Thanks for bringing up the question again. I had the same curiosity. Based on the way the noctuna was installed in the heatsink it should fit fine. What I am most worried about is actual performance. Hopefully Ej24 can run some test with 120mm fans.
Click to expand...

I originally zip-tied it to the heat pipes which stick out quite a bit from the main body of the cooler, but ultimately just decided to use rubber bands as the zip ties kept slipping.
 
I just posted my brief review of the LP53. I made a new thread so that I wouldn't take up so much space in the Sentry thread.
 
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chx said:
How so? The first batch is 1000 cases, I believe 878 cases are sold.
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Single units from first batch are sold out, there are still double packs and long run available though.

By the way it looks like we've overestimated the interest in double packs...
 
Ej24 said:
I just posted my brief review of the LP53. I made a new thread so that I wouldn't take up so much space in the Sentry thread.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the review, mate. I think I'm just going to go with the nh-l9i and a locked i7 7700. I don't really want to mess the rubberbands or anything like that.
 
Wait just saw the tom's review for the nh-l9i and it is even worse than the intel stock cooler.

I'm thinking of just staying with the intel cooler as it comes with the i7 7700 and the nh-l9i is actually quite expensive for the performance.
 
just for information: at the moment I'm using i7-7700K set with cooler from noktua and MX-4 thermal compound. I installed while its processor is limited to 4200 MHz, and have no key problems in the housing FD node 202, and my temperature sometimes reach near 80 degrees after a few hours in battlfild1.
 
[QUOTE = "SaperPL, должность: 1042785908, член: 278939"] Одиночные единицы из первой партии проданы, есть еще двойные пакеты и долгосрочной перспективе, хотя сроки.

Кстати, похоже, что мы переоценили интерес в двойные пакеты ... [/ QUOTE]
SaperPL said:
Single units from first batch are sold out, there are still double packs and long run available though.

By the way it looks like we've overestimated the interest in double packs...
Click to expand...

One of the biggest regrets of my life is that I could not order a single white body. I'll wait a few more days, and if nothing changes (maybe you can find a way to sell them back one at a time) I'll have to buy a set of two.
 
dtagirov said:
One of the biggest regrets of my life is that I could not order a single white body.
Click to expand...

Mail order bride? ;)

But no, that is a shame. Where are you located? Maybe we can find you someone interested in getting a black case that's close enough to make a group order viable?
 
Has anyone compared how the compatible coolers perform passively? I've got an underclocked undervolted i3 6100 and I'm hoping to run it passively with a picoPSU and linear supply in this case. The math says the Noctua will work but I'd be curious to know if any of the coolers outperform it without the fan.
 
Hi, I picked up a sentry, I plan to build a (ry)zen PC when it comes out, what components are the best for SFF and I should buy now? Any advice on best RAM/PSU for this build would be appreciated, thanks.
 
Justify said:
Hi, I picked up a sentry, I plan to build a (ry)zen PC when it comes out, what components are the best for SFF and I should buy now? Any advice on best RAM/PSU for this build would be appreciated, thanks.
Click to expand...
Wait till we know more about Ryzen and Vega
 
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SaperPL said:
Single units from first batch are sold out, there are still double packs and long run available though.

By the way it looks like we've overestimated the interest in double packs...
Click to expand...

I saw in earlier posts you mentioned that managing "stock" on IndieGoGo is trickier than you would think, but do you think it's possible to work out reallocation of the double-pack "stock" into single-item sales? I'm like dtagirov and missed out on the white case. If he were at least in the same country I'd work out a double-pack split, hahah
 
Justify said:
Hi, I picked up a sentry, I plan to build a (ry)zen PC when it comes out, what components are the best for SFF and I should buy now? Any advice on best RAM/PSU for this build would be appreciated, thanks.
Click to expand...

If you must buy something now, a good psu likely won't be obsolete in the next few months haha. So I'd suggest the Corsair SF450 or SF600 depending on how powerful of a system you intended to build. If you can afford it, I'd suggest the 600W as it gives you room to get more powerful components in the future but will also be more efficient even at low power consumption. The Corsair psu's are easily the best sfx psu's on the market in terms of component quality, warranty, and features for the price. I have read that the Silverstone sfx psu's have had issues with fans being loud, failing, etc. So the corsair is my suggestion.
 
I realized I never really posted a summary of the LP53 results here.

DSC_0087.jpg

In a comparison with the ever popular Noctua NH-L9i, the Thermolab LP53 performs 6-10C better in all tests when using the Noctua NF-a9x14 fan from the noctua cooler. I did not test it with the stock fan pictured above as it will not fit in sentry with that fan.

I don't think the lp53 is necessary for 65W cpu's unless you are obsessed with temperatures. It is however a much better option for unlocked cpu's 77W and above. During normal gaming, at 18C ambient, in an open air setup my i7-4790K (88W, stock, no OC) with the LP53 stayed at 74C or below in even taxing games like GTA V, Cities Skylines, and insanely modded Skyrim. Previously with the Noctua it would reach the 80+C mark in such games.

As it is only very popular in it's home market of Korea there are few vendors that sell Thermolab coolers in Europe and almost none in the USA so eBay is the recommended source for purchasing this cooler. Expect to pay $50-60usd. As always try to find a seller with many many reviews as they're less likely to be a scam.

Maybe Zombi and Saper can purchase one and report back what they think. As they are engineers I'd be very curious to see what they think of it and it's performance.

To follow the discussion on this particular cooler head over to this thread.
 
Ej24 said:
I realized I never really posted a summary of the LP53 results here.

View attachment 15884

In a comparison with the ever popular Noctua NH-L9i, the Thermolab LP53 performs 6-10C better in all tests when using the Noctua NF-a9x14 fan from the noctua cooler. I did not test it with the stock fan pictured above as it will not fit in sentry with that fan.

I don't think the lp53 is necessary for 65W cpu's unless you are obsessed with temperatures. It is however a much better option for unlocked cpu's 77W and above. During normal gaming, at 18C ambient, in an open air setup my i7-4790K (88W, stock, no OC) with the LP53 stayed at 74C or below in even taxing games like GTA V, Cities Skylines, and insanely modded Skyrim. Previously with the Noctua it would reach the 80+C mark in such games.

As it is only very popular in it's home market of Korea there are few vendors that sell Thermolab coolers in Europe and almost none in the USA so eBay is the recommended source for purchasing this cooler. Expect to pay $50-60usd. As always try to find a seller with many many reviews as they're less likely to be a scam.

Maybe Zombi and Saper can purchase one and report back what they think. As they are engineers I'd be very curious to see what they think of it and it's performance.

To follow the discussion on this particular cooler head over to this thread.
Click to expand...

At this moment we see that it is almost no possibility to get LP53 in Poland (we would need to import it from somewhere) and to make proper benchmarks before the end of the campaign. On Thursday we should receive our package with coolers and we will be making some tests. We will make a comparison of 95W Intel BOX cooler, Cryorig C7, Zalman CNPS2X, Scythe Kozuti and Noctua LH-N9i. We will be using i7-6700 Non-K for our benchmarks.
 
SoSquidTaste said:
I saw in earlier posts you mentioned that managing "stock" on IndieGoGo is trickier than you would think, but do you think it's possible to work out reallocation of the double-pack "stock" into single-item sales? I'm like dtagirov and missed out on the white case. If he were at least in the same country I'd work out a double-pack split, hahah
Click to expand...

I don't think so. It looks like this:

- We cannot modify perks that are already taken.
- We have an upper limit for white cases for campaign and we will see if we can manage getting a time slot for more white units after the campaign.

We can theoretically add a new perk but there are few problems with that:
- if we were to add more single white units based on what's left now in double packs and after that people come and pick up all those double packs then we have more orders than we are sure we can deliver. We don't want that.
- There are people that decided on this white Sentry purely because of it being somehow limited and if we start adding more white units they will be angry and they might refund.
- We already told the facts above quite a few people so if we were to add only few units and they wouldn't be able to get them then they would be especially angry at us. And we don't want to add another 100 white units.
- People that couldn't take white units or first batch at all would just start jumping over to this new perk and there would be only a mess in campaign perks and more white units that take more time to make (that's why we planed on making more long run units weekly than in the first batch, by the way)

The only thing that I can tell you is to find a friend you can share the double pack with whites or, if you've got the money to do that, buy a double pack for yourself and maybe resell it. It's weird but there are already people asking if this will be the same good investment as Dan's A4-SFX after the campaign since there might be a lot people that won't brake the "no crowdfunding" rule but they'll want to pick those up from someone when they are already delivered.


by the way: UPDATE ON ORDER NUMBERS because i think some of you might not be getting something here...
Order number is not the number you will get on your sentry because:
- There may be people before you that ordered double packs with single order number making your Sentry number higher than your order number
- There may be refunded orders before you making your Sentry number lower than your order number
- Keeping the numbers specifically according to your order number would make the packaging process more complex and in effect would make the wait longer especially for high order numbers.

We will try of course to reward the first ones who picked up the sentry with the numbers accordingly but we'll decide arbitrarily how many of those will be numbered so strictly considering the above.


Anyway what's your order numbers guys? I wonder how fast were people on the forums to back the campaign :D
 
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SaperPL said:
I don't think so. It looks like this:

- We cannot modify perks that are already taken.
- We have an upper limit for white cases for campaign and we will see if we can manage getting a time slot for more white units after the campaign.

We can theoretically add a new perk but there are few problems with that:
- if we were to add more single white units based on what's left now in double packs and after that people come and pick up all those double packs then we have more orders than we are sure we can deliver. We don't want that.
- There are people that decided on this white Sentry purely because of it being somehow limited and if we start adding more white units they will be angry and they might refund.
- We already told the facts above quite a few people so if we were to add only few units and they wouldn't be able to get them then they would be especially angry at us. And we don't want to add another 100 white units.
- People that couldn't take white units or first batch at all would just start jumping over to this new perk and there would be only a mess in campaign perks and more white units that take more time to make (that's why we planed on making more long run units weekly than in the first batch, by the way)

The only thing that I can tell you is to find a friend you can share the double pack with whites or, if you've got the money to do that, buy a double pack for yourself and maybe resell it. It's weird but there are already people asking if this will be the same good investment as Dan's A4-SFX after the campaign since there might be a lot people that won't brake the "no crowdfunding" rule but they'll want to pick those up from someone when they are already delivered.


by the way: UPDATE ON ORDER NUMBERS because i think some of you might not be getting something here...
Order number is not the number you will get on your sentry because:
- There may be people before you that ordered double packs with single order number making your Sentry number higher than your order number
- There may be refunded orders before you making your Sentry number lower than your order number
- Keeping the numbers specifically according to your order number would make the packaging process more complex and in effect would make the wait longer especially for high order numbers.

We will try of course to reward the first ones who picked up the sentry with the numbers accordingly but we'll decide arbitrarily how many of those will be numbered so strictly considering the above.


Anyway what's your order numbers guys? I wonder how fast were people on the forums to back the campaign :D
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868 :D
 
SaperPL said:
Anyway what's your order numbers guys? I wonder how fast were people on the forums to back the campaign :D
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When I clicked on the double black sentry perk it was around 10 backers. By the time I typed my card info and submitted I was somewhere in the 50's. I can rest easy knowing I'm in the first 100! :D other than that I don't care about my case number, I'll just be happy to have sentry very soon!
 
ZombiPL said:
At this moment we see that it is almost no possibility to get LP53 in Poland (we would need to import it from somewhere) and to make proper benchmarks before the end of the campaign. On Thursday we should receive our package with coolers and we will be making some tests. We will make a comparison of 95W Intel BOX cooler, Cryorig C7, Zalman CNPS2X, Scythe Kozuti and Noctua LH-N9i. We will be using i7-6700 Non-K for our benchmarks.
Click to expand...

Forgive my ignorance, is eBay not available in Poland? Or is it that many of the eBay sellers won't ship there?

It is available as the cooltek-lp53 in several European countries. Here is a link to distributors in Europe. Perhaps it would be easier to obtain from one of them?
 
Ej24 said:
Forgive my ignorance, is eBay not available in Poland? Or is it that many of the eBay sellers won't ship there?

It is available as the cooltek-lp53 in several European countries. Here is a link to distributors in Europe. Perhaps it would be easier to obtain from one of them?
Click to expand...

The "key thing" in my statement was time. It is not that we can't get this cooler at all. We have Tuesday and every company we ask or check on the website when we could receive the package, they say 5-7 working days, "next week" or "by-the-end of next week". The best one was "transport takes 1-4 working days, shipment within 72 hours". Next week is the end of the crowdfunding campaign. The only time we can make such coolers benchmarks is this weekend. This is the last chance we can test all of them, to be sure everyone who are still undecided will get even better information how "their" cooler will perform in Sentry.
 
Justify said:
Will we be customs charged on our sentry?

edit: my sentry is shipping to the UK
Click to expand...

No, it wont, as long as you won't finish up your BREXIT from EU before we ship your perks :)

Eu countries shouldn't be paying customs fees and also most of the non-eu countries have limits under which you're not treated as commercial importer of the product and you shouldn't be paying customs charges.
US for example has this limit as high as $800 so even when they include shipment into the value it shouldn't affect US backers.
 
Morzy said:
Can you project when you plan to retail the Sentry?
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Probably somewhere near summer, or maybe even closer to the end of it. Who knows. At this moment we can't predict anything, because our crowdfunding campaign isn't over yet. We will know more after every backer will get Sentry in his hands.
 
SaperPL said:
Anyway what's your order numbers guys? I wonder how fast were people on the forums to back the campaign :D
Click to expand...

I'm order 23, but some people who ordered before me dropped out, so I'll have a lower number. I wish I could have entered my credit card information ahead of time. That's what really slowed me down.
 
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