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

Someone have a sfx-L unit witohut problems?
I think i will get the sx700L platinum and i dont know if its too large
 
Someone have a sfx-L unit witohut problems?
I think i will get the sx700L platinum and i dont know if its too large
SFX-L PSUs tend to fit better with the fan facing into the case. I have a GPU with backplate and there is enough space. The SX700 has best compatibility due to the lower stickout of the connectors, then the SX500, and then the SX800 (or the Lian Li PE 750; same OEM) which has quite protrusive connectors.
 
SFX-L PSUs tend to fit better with the fan facing into the case. I have a GPU with backplate and there is enough space. The SX700 has best compatibility due to the lower stickout of the connectors, then the SX500, and then the SX800 (or the Lian Li PE 750; same OEM) which has quite protrusive connectors.
I'm running the SX700 without issue (also with a NH-C14S and a slim top 140mm fan). I posted some pictures of it a few pages back. PSU Fan facing outward.
 
SFX-L PSUs tend to fit better with the fan facing into the case. I have a GPU with backplate and there is enough space. The SX700 has best compatibility due to the lower stickout of the connectors, then the SX500, and then the SX800 (or the Lian Li PE 750; same OEM) which has quite protrusive connectors.

I'm running the SX700 without issue (also with a NH-C14S and a slim top 140mm fan). I posted some pictures of it a few pages back. PSU Fan facing outward.

Thanks!
I will buy the sx700 this week.
And yes, more pics coming
 
I've come across multiple references to bottom mounted fans being ineffective. Has anyone tested if this is a because the case is too low to the ground and interferes with any work that a bottom intake fan does?

There has been one or two people that had put on taller feet on the M1 to raise it up so that better airflow would occur on the bottom fans. In theory anyway. To be honest I don't remember what the results were. Perhaps they will chime in?
 
There has been one or two people that had put on taller feet on the M1 to raise it up so that better airflow would occur on the bottom fans. In theory anyway. To be honest I don't remember what the results were. Perhaps they will chime in?

I replaced the feet with taller ones because I wasn't going to install bottom fans. I hoped this would allow better airflow for the graphics card fans. A long time ago someone did a comparison and showed taller feet helped. The problem is that too tall looks bad. Here is a photo of the feet I used:

Interior -case bottom - closeup (Large).jpg
 
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I raised mine as well - Definite improvement in airflow.

Ideally a fan should have at least 1 fan diameter of free space on both sides for optimum efficiency. Any bit extra you can give it will always help.
 
BTW I believe the best configuration for the video card in this case is the blower type with a duct from blower to bottom to pick up fresh air and not suck the air from case which also disturb case air flow the more the blower spin.

No picture now but I will post one the day I'll build a new setup.
 
BTW I believe the best configuration for the video card in this case is the blower type with a duct from blower to bottom to pick up fresh air and not suck the air from case which also disturb case air flow the more the blower spin.

No picture now but I will post one the day I'll build a new setup.

A long time ago an owner tested with bottom fans and then with no fans, but with ducts in their place. He posted his results here which showed the ducts to be as effective (I can't remember if ducts were slightly better or slightly worse), but with less noise of course.
 
A long time ago an owner tested with bottom fans and then with no fans, but with ducts in their place. He posted his results here which showed the ducts to be as effective (I can't remember if ducts were slightly better or slightly worse), but with less noise of course.
Interesting... I plan to go from round duct (blower) to square to match bottom.
 
Where did you guys get those feet? I plan on running an accelero exhaust setup, so the more airflow at the bottom, the better.
 
Where did you guys get those feet? I plan on running an accelero exhaust setup, so the more airflow at the bottom, the better.

My case feet are the M1 Single-G PC Case Feet - Silver from Mod-One. The feet are 39 mm in diameter and 17 mm tall. They also come in black.

These case feet come with attachment bolts that are too large for the case feet holes at the bottom of the case so the holes have to be drilled out larger. The bolts have to be threaded down into these feet from inside the case. Take note that the bracket at the front of the case that supports the USB and Audio ports needed to have two bottom corners cut off to accommodate the head of these bolts. I just cut them at a diagonal angle with a dremel. The cuts are not visible from the outside of the case.
 
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I've come across multiple references to bottom mounted fans being ineffective. Has anyone tested if this is a because the case is too low to the ground and interferes with any work that a bottom intake fan does?

Totally ineffective, and it comes from the proximity of fans to the video card, not distance of air to be drawn in. Don't bother as these cards are really effect without any addition air flow. If you understand how reference cards work they are totally sufficient without forcing any addition air on them.
 
Can someone please tell me (or show me a pic) of the screw I'm supposed to use to secure the side panel fan mount to the Ncase. Not the 2 baby ones that go into the front side, but the 2 that attach to the bcak bracket in the rear. I just want to be sure I'm not using the incorrect screw by mistake.
 
79de5b2b9a.jpg


The 2 screws above the red rectangle on the right, picture was originally used to show something else.
 
Totally ineffective, and it comes from the proximity of fans to the video card, not distance of air to be drawn in. Don't bother as these cards are really effect without any addition air flow. If you understand how reference cards work they are totally sufficient without forcing any addition air on them.

There are too many reports of reference cards generating too much noise, and I'll be trying to reuse my old card (fairly short non-blower R9 270) anyway as I have low requirements from a gaming perspective so I might be able to fit an intake fan on the base towards the front of the case.
 
Can someone please tell me (or show me a pic) of the screw I'm supposed to use to secure the side panel fan mount to the Ncase. Not the 2 baby ones that go into the front side, but the 2 that attach to the bcak bracket in the rear. I just want to be sure I'm not using the incorrect screw by mistake.
I don't have a pic on hand, but you want the two long M3 threaded screws.
 
79de5b2b9a.jpg


The 2 screws above the red rectangle on the right, picture was originally used to show something else.

I think the screws for fastening the rear edge of the side bracket are the same type as the two screws in the red rectangle.
 
Hello! I joined the number of happy owners of the beautiful Ncame m1. It stands on the table for two weeks and I broke my head in the solution of the equation: motherboard (compatible with hackintosh) + CPU + CPU cooler + RAM + PSU + max silence. I chose the following components:
  1. Asus ROG Strix 270i
  2. Intel Core i7-7700k
  3. Corsair Dominator Platinum *
  4. Corsair SF600
  5. Noctua NH-L12
I have some doubts about compatibility of the memory (height of the radiator) and Noctua NH-L12. What do you say about this? What about alternatives? Thank you!
 

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Hello! I joined the number of happy owners of the beautiful Ncame m1. It stands on the table for two weeks and I broke my head in the solution of the equation: motherboard (compatible with hackintosh) + CPU + CPU cooler + RAM + PSU + max silence. I chose the following components:
  1. Asus ROG Strix 270i
  2. Intel Core i7-7700k
  3. Corsair Dominator Platinum *
  4. Corsair SF600
  5. Noctua NH-L12
I have some doubts about compatibility of the memory (height of the radiator) and Noctua NH-L12. What do you say about this? What about alternatives? Thank you!

Welcome to the club. I don't know from experience if the Dominator ram has clearance issues. I am using Corsair Vengeance and it is very low profile and works very well.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...on=Vengeance&N=100007611 601190328&isNodeId=1

Any of the non led versions should work fine.
 
Hello! I joined the number of happy owners of the beautiful Ncame m1. It stands on the table for two weeks and I broke my head in the solution of the equation: motherboard (compatible with hackintosh) + CPU + CPU cooler + RAM + PSU + max silence. I chose the following components:
  1. Asus ROG Strix 270i
  2. Intel Core i7-7700k
  3. Corsair Dominator Platinum *
  4. Corsair SF600
  5. Noctua NH-L12
I have some doubts about compatibility of the memory (height of the radiator) and Noctua NH-L12. What do you say about this? What about alternatives? Thank you!

That RAM won't fit under the NH-L12. The memory is 55 mm tall and there is only 43 mm of space under the heatsink fins (so no 92 mm fan attached to the underside).
 
Thank you for reply! And what about Noctua NH-L12? It's really compatible with the Ncase m1 and quiet enough?

I was just checking Noctua's list of compatible ram and the Dominator is listed as non compatible but the Vengeance is compatible.

As far as this cooler and the Strix go Noctua lists the Strix as compatible with NH-L12. If you look at the ncase compatibility sheet it shows that it will mount, but you have the heat pipe bends at the top which Noctua doesn't recommend. I have done some searching on this issue and it seems many people have gone ahead and mounted it in this orientation anyway and had very good results. With the NH-C14 being discontinued it is probably one of the best choices for the ncase.

Edit: I was just checking the installation manual on the NH-L12 and they say to avoid mounting with the heat pipe bends pointing upward as this "may" reduce cooling performance. So there is nothing really bad about it but it might not work at it's full capacity.
 
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If I choose Noctua NH-L12, do I need additional cooling from the side?

I would add another 120mm fan on the right side of the fan bracket. Many users do this to not only better cool the motherboard but to provide cool, filtered air to the PSU. Just mount your PSU with the fan facing in.
 
My case feet are the M1 Single-G PC Case Feet - Silver from Mod-One. The feet are 39 mm in diameter and 17 mm tall. They also come in black.

These case feet come with attachment bolts that are too large for the case feet holes at the bottom of the case so the holes have to be drilled out larger. The bolts have to be threaded down into these feet from inside the case. Take note that the bracket at the front of the case that supports the USB and Audio ports needed to have two bottom corners cut off to accoomodate the head of these bolts. I just cut them at a diagonal angle with a dremel. The cuts are not visible from the outside of the case.

Too bad, I'd rather not drill my case.

Is there a list of the most preferred air coolers (with high requirements for silence) for the M1?

Noctua C14, then the U9S.
 
I just mounted the NH-L12 to the Asus Z270i and heatpipes any way but up is was a no go. I had to bend the pipes to fit correctly even facing them upwards. My temps are pretty decent though during testing. I'll revisit this tonight when I delid to see if I can get heatpipes down to work.
 
I just mounted the NH-L12 to the Asus Z270i and heatpipes any way but up is was a no go. I had to bend the pipes to fit correctly even facing them upwards. My temps are pretty decent though during testing. I'll revisit this tonight when I delid to see if I can get heatpipes down to work.

Have you considered removing the heat spreader on the left side of the cpu socket? I am assuming that is what's getting in the way correct? I had to remove it on my Stinger MB in order to get the L12 to fit too. Month in and have yet to notice any issues. Guess because the fan is still blowing air in that general area it didn't make that much of a difference without it.
 
Too bad, I'd rather not drill my case.

An alternative to drilling would be to use Sugru. This stuff is incredibly easy to apply (think playdough), is very secure, and also removable with a hobby knife. I've used it to mount hard drives and fans within my current ATX chassis. It also deals with heat up to about 160 Celcius- when I finally get around to my M1 build, it'll be my ducting material if I decide to use ducting.
 
Good news, the Noctua C14S (Stock A14-PWM fan on bottom) fits with an ASRock Z270 fatal1ty ITX... with higher than normal profile RAM....

7700K at 5.1Ghz (+130mV offset, High/Level1 LLC)

Delidded... obviously. (Not bare die, as that would not post, but Thermal Grizzley conductonaut (liquid metal) between die and IHS, with the black crap removed from the IHS so there's less/no gap) (Gelid GC-extreme between IHS and C14S, will swap that out when I'm sure I won't be harassing it anymore)

Max temp at 74F ambient is... 80C with one fan and Prime95 small FFT (non-avx).

This is why I went for the M1 over the DAN, room for a proper CPU cooler.

I have a U9S I'll need to sell, it just didn't cut the mustard for absurd overclocking.

http://valid.x86.fr/xhedjh
 
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Hi guys, I've been a long time lurker (close to 2 years of oggling the M1) and am finally ready to pull the trigger. I'll be porting over my 4770k, z97 ROG Impact, and GTX 970 build from a Silverstone Ml07b.

Unfortunately, the Silver with optical drive slot is out of stock. Does anyone know when the next production run is? The web store says every ~8 months, so I guess I'm asking when I should expect to see it in stock again?

I've been considering the same case - I have a slot load blu-ray writer in my FT03 - I mostly use it for ripping audio CDs but a slot version case is mandatory.

In theory, I could order a slot panel later but with my luck, I would order the case and it would be the last run and I'd end up never getting the right panel...
 
Hi guys, I've been a long time lurker (close to 2 years of oggling the M1) and am finally ready to pull the trigger. I'll be porting over my 4770k, z97 ROG Impact, and GTX 970 build from a Silverstone Ml07b.

Unfortunately, the Silver with optical drive slot is out of stock. Does anyone know when the next production run is? The web store says every ~8 months, so I guess I'm asking when I should expect to see it in stock again?

The FAQ is a little out of date at this point. The next production run will probably be in April/May.

I've been considering the same case - I have a slot load blu-ray writer in my FT03 - I mostly use it for ripping audio CDs but a slot version case is mandatory.

In theory, I could order a slot panel later but with my luck, I would order the case and it would be the last run and I'd end up never getting the right panel...
So an update on this: currently we're looking at more like late June/July for the next run. We schedule new production when current inventory gets low, and it looks like we have enough to last us at least another month or two.
 
I rescind my statement about the U9S not holding up:

Delidded conductonaut relidded 7700k [email protected] w/ Gelid GC-extreme, ambient 75F (p95 non-avx small FFT) after a couple minutes:

C14S: 80C
U9S: 82C

The U9S is quieter, and that's in open air, and the U9S will have a massive airflow advantage in the case... decisions decisions...

Edit: Applied conductonaut to IHS -> U9S interface.

[email protected] (+.01V, P95 was fine, but overwatch is fantastic as crashing oc'ed computers that aren't stable)

U9S Gelid GC-extreme: 83C
U9S Conductonaut: 80C

Not bad I guess. I think I'll run the U9S instead of the C14S, because I'll use the rear 92mm port on the M1 as an intake.
 
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Have you considered removing the heat spreader on the left side of the cpu socket? I am assuming that is what's getting in the way correct? I had to remove it on my Stinger MB in order to get the L12 to fit too. Month in and have yet to notice any issues. Guess because the fan is still blowing air in that general area it didn't make that much of a difference without it.

I have not considered this, as I'd rather not risk possible issues down the road. As it sits, my temps are acceptable up to 4.6Ghz lidded with heatpipes up. I consider this great, as my chip does it at low voltage. Also I see no point attempting to run 5Ghz or 85C++volts (Random guess) when I can do 4.6Ghz at 65C gaming with a toasty GPU below. I'll be shooting for further dialing in of chipset and core voltage drops at 4.6Ghz after the delid, regardless of temp headroom.
As far as fitting goes I didn't get my delid tool in today so I didn't check other positions.. USPS, way to go.. I'll be able to shed more light on things come Monday. Happy to get a tool finally, the vice method hasn't been so kind to the IHS in the past regardless of insulation.
 
For anyone curious, I do have the Dark Rock TF working on the Z270i. I had to switch to G.Skill Aegis RAM which has no heat spreader. Even then there is still some interference between the bottom heat pipes and RAM but not enough the break anything. The backplate is annoying to work with because of components on the back side of the board. Overall this thing uses up all available slace in the case, both fans fit even with the air filter and fan bracket.

Ill see if I can get some shitty cell phone pics. Still waiting on finding a 1080ti to complete the build, might try and do some custom cabling in the meantime.
 
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