SENTRY: Console-sized gaming PC case project

So it seems similar to model FF-1 from the image below, do you think FF-13 will fit ? (despite from being tall and maybe ugly) :)
View attachment 24961

yes, FF-1 were used in the prototypes, now we've got similar feet, 6.5mm tall, but made from a bit different material that is softer. Those Chinese feet are made of plastic which isn't perfect.

We have tested FF-1, FF-2, FF-3, FF-6 and FF-9 and decided on FF-1 since the performance was significantly dropping when moving from 6.4mm feet to 4mm tall FF-9.

All feet with 8mm hole should fit - it's just a round 8mm hole. The only thing to note is that the E minus D should not exceed 7mm as it might mean you'll be touching the motherboard with it. It's not a problem, since you can shave some plastic off, but that's just heads up.
 
yes, FF-1 were used in the prototypes, now we've got similar feet, 6.5mm tall, but made from a bit different material that is softer. Those Chinese feet are made of plastic which isn't perfect.

We have tested FF-1, FF-2, FF-3, FF-6 and FF-9 and decided on FF-1 since the performance was significantly dropping when moving from 6.4mm feet to 4mm tall FF-9.

All feet with 8mm hole should fit - it's just a round 8mm hole. The only thing to note is that the E minus D should not exceed 7mm as it might mean you'll be touching the motherboard with it. It's not a problem, since you can shave some plastic off, but that's just heads up.
Did you guys try the cyroig c7 with the noctua fan? Can you test this? The noctua fa is 1mm smaller so it might perform better.
 
We haven't but we already know that's not a great idea. If you remember, we were testing noctua with 25mm fan to see how it would perform and it was worse than NH-L9i original fan. What is more, before we even did the tests, I asked noctua if there's a chance they might be doing a NH-L9i with 25mm fan bundled instead of 14mm one for Sentry and A4-SFX users and they kindly explained that they won't do it because it's not a good idea and they were right.

In general the intel's fan will be the best performer within those facing directly the panel perforation unless there's another fan that can suck a lot of air from the sides. Fans made to be directly mounted on the inlet are optimised for dense perforation that is really letting through quite a lot of air, but that cannot happen with sff cases that pose a risk of damaging the internals if the mesh is bent. This is additionally important in Sentry and cases that have open frame design, meaning the cover completes the frame for its rigidity, because dense perforation would make the panels more flexible.

It's just that C7 isn't really designed for this kind of SFF, but for a 60mm height and at that size it's simply outstanding if you don't have the problems with it's mounting.

Rather than mounting noctua fan on C7, I'd be more interested in mounting C7 fan on the NH-L9i :)
 
Rather than mounting noctua fan on C7, I'd be more interested in mounting C7 fan on the NH-L9i :)

I'm planning to do just that. I have a problem with mounting C7 as well. The mounting bracket conflicted with some of my board's components on the back which forced me to use little plastic rings Cryorig provided instead. I'm suspecting that the heat sink not aligning perfectly with the heat spreader of my CPU caused the cooler to perform worse than it should have. I simulated my CPU (7700k) to perform as if it was a 6500 like my brother's. My C7 performed worse than my brother's (68C vs 60C) which is cooled with a stock cooler. When Sentry arrives it will probably perform even worse than it does in my current case so I'm thinking of buying NH-L9i. Though, I won't use the Noctua fan as I honestly think it is just plain ugly and that's where I will scavenge the C7 fan and put it on the L9i heat sink.
 
We haven't but we already know that's not a great idea. If you remember, we were testing noctua with 25mm fan to see how it would perform and it was worse than NH-L9i original fan. What is more, before we even did the tests, I asked noctua if there's a chance they might be doing a NH-L9i with 25mm fan bundled instead of 14mm one for Sentry and A4-SFX users and they kindly explained that they won't do it because it's not a good idea and they were right.
:)



What about using noctua with 25mm fan, but one with open frame construction? Or use regular 92 mm fan and cut his sides, its fan is held to the bottom of the casing anyway.
 
Got mine just now and it had some damage pretty similar to that other guys internal box. Like a strike right in the middle of the box with a fair amount of force. It made it all the way through every layer off boxes and bags chipping a bit of powder coat at the rear :(. Atleast it didnt strike right on a side or the front. I dont see any obvious perforation of the black wrap that was around the box.

th_IMG_20170515_175436306_zpsuorjkkmn.jpg





 
Can you contact us directly through the e-mail with your info or tell us here which shipping company handed you the package? We'll have to figure out which courier company is handling the packages like this and why.
 
Can you contact us directly through the e-mail with your info or tell us here which shipping company handed you the package? We'll have to figure out which courier company is handling the packages like this and why.
Ok I will send email
 
Ok I will send email
Let people in the forums know which company did this just in case they later on find problems with the case due to transport damage that are not easily visible at first. That way they can double check if they got the same courier.
 
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Got mine just now and it had some damage pretty similar to that other guys internal box. Like a strike right in the middle of the box with a fair amount of force. It made it all the way through every layer off boxes and bags chipping a bit of powder coat at the rear :(. Atleast it didnt strike right on a side or the front. I dont see any obvious perforation of the black wrap that was around the box.

th_IMG_20170515_175436306_zpsuorjkkmn.jpg






OMG. Which courier company in XXI century uses hooks for transporting insured packages?

Sentry is packed in:
-a foil bag,
-a printed carton box,
-thermal shrinkable foil,
-2 big foams,
-big, 5-layers carton transport box,
-black stretch foil.

If it's not enough maybe we should add something more?

In Poland if you see that the package is damaged you have to fill a special form, in which you write why you refuse to take it. I don't know if in your country you can fill it and take the package, but for sure you should make some papers with your courier. If you didn't see any damage before signing the transporting papers, then there might be a problem. I think we have to make some changes for the future packages to avoid such situation.... maybe some additional stickers...
 
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It was GLS going through germany to Denmark and the strike to the body was so hard it tore the welds on the plate inside the cover off. It looks like something kind of pointy struck it at a flat angle and still managed to go through everything. I didnt hand sign any physical papers stating anything at all. I was just handed the package scanner with a blank screen and did an unintelligible blob of a signature on a small touch screen before I even got to touch the package and he sprinted off to his truck.
There is a detailed damage report form on their page.
 
It was GLS going through germany to Denmark and the strike to the body was so hard it tore the welds on the plate inside the cover off. It looks like something kind of pointy struck it at a flat angle and still managed to go through everything. I didnt hand sign any physical papers stating anything at all. I was just handed the package scanner with a blank screen and did an unintelligible blob of a signature on a small touch screen before I even got to touch the package and he sprinted off to his truck.
There is a detailed damage report form on their page.
jesus
 
Got mine just now and it had some damage pretty similar to that other guys internal box. Like a strike right in the middle of the box with a fair amount of force. It made it all the way through every layer off boxes and bags chipping a bit of powder coat at the rear :(. Atleast it didnt strike right on a side or the front. I dont see any obvious perforation of the black wrap that was around the box.

It's like the courier was afraid that something was alive inside the box and they took a spear to it... That's brutal; I really hope things work out for you. Considering the damage done, this seems like more than just careless package handling.
 
It's hard to imagine this was just a drop, I think there was velocity involved which sounds more than just an accident that can be excused with an apology. Hope it all works out.
 
It's like the courier was afraid that something was alive inside the box and they took a spear to it... That's brutal; I really hope things work out for you. Considering the damage done, this seems like more than just careless package handling.

It's hard to imagine this was just a drop, I think there was velocity involved which sounds more than just an accident that can be excused with an apology. Hope it all works out.


We solved this problem on our side. We're sending another courier with top cover.

Sentry is designed to take more hits than other pc cases, but if someone is acting on purpose, then this rule doesn't work. This i why you all should check your packages before signing delivery papers. We are doing our best to deliver you your cases in the best shape, but sometimes it isn't enough. Maybe we will try to add some stickers like "no hooks" or "don't give it to barbarians". We'll figure it out.
 
We solved this problem on our side. We're sending another courier with top cover.

Sentry is designed to take more hits than other pc cases, but if someone is acting on purpose, then this rule doesn't work. This i why you all should check your packages before signing delivery papers. We are doing our best to deliver you your cases in the best shape, but sometimes it isn't enough. Maybe we will try to add some stickers like "no hooks" or "don't give it to barbarians". We'll figure it out.

I would die laughing if my PC case showed up with a "Not for barbarians" sticker on it. :p
 
It was GLS going through germany to Denmark and the strike to the body was so hard it tore the welds on the plate inside the cover off. It looks like something kind of pointy struck it at a flat angle and still managed to go through everything. I didnt hand sign any physical papers stating anything at all. I was just handed the package scanner with a blank screen and did an unintelligible blob of a signature on a small touch screen before I even got to touch the package and he sprinted off to his truck.
There is a detailed damage report form on their page.

That's horrible. I would be very angry and simultaneously quite sad if I was in that situation. So much anticipation, shattered by a rogue delivery barbarian. They're a scourge upon the earth. I hope it gets resolved quickly!
 
Are you guys that PSU you use? I would like one more silent than you do and that it is semi-passive. Is there a list of sentry compatible PSUs? Or can I use the Dan a4 list?
 
Are you guys that PSU you use? I would like one more silent than you do and that it is semi-passive. Is there a list of sentry compatible PSUs? Or can I use the Dan a4 list?

In general, all SFX/SFX-L units should fit. Our internal pass-through power cable has quite flexible connector on C13 end (the one that goes into the socket on PSU) so even in worst case scenario when the PSU C14 socket is rotated in a way the angled cable is facing front of the case, it will bent enough to fit there.

My advices would be:
1) pick SFX unit rather than SFX-L - it'll be easier to route the cables and will let you mount secondary 2.5" drive
2) look out for ribbon-type modular cables - those are really stiff and will make the build harder, look for standard braided cables.
3) there's no real need for modular cables - those will be unnecessarily longer than non-modular ones.
4) check P4/P8/EPS12V cable length if using PSU with non-modular cables - this one may be a bit short, you might need an extender depending on connector location on the board.

My recommendation is still silverstone semi-passive 450W 92mm sfx unit for a reasonable build.

Got mine this morning, just waiting on parts now to start my new build... first since at least 2013 :D

Good to hear. Make sure to post some photos of your build :)
 
Still waiting on the US shipments to hit landfall. Super excited. If anyone is in the US, definitely post when you get yours
 
Hi everyone, what's the problem with the MSI GTX 1080 gaming x compatibility with the case? Vendor specs fit in the sentry layout, right? Sorry if this question has been already answered,
 
Hi everyone, what's the problem with the MSI GTX 1080 gaming x compatibility with the case? Vendor specs fit in the sentry layout, right? Sorry if this question has been already answered,
Most cards with a non-reference pcb fit when power isn't connected to them, but the peg connectors stick out too far once connected. The Sentry specs are for both the GPU and peg connectors combined if I remember correctly.
 
Most cards with a non-reference pcb fit when power isn't connected to them, but the peg connectors stick out too far once connected. The Sentry specs are for both the GPU and peg connectors combined if I remember correctly.

You are right. The biggest problem is the height - total clearance for GPU + connectors is 130mm. This means that cards using a standard PCB will fit - mainly Founder's Editions blowers + some custom cooled ones based on the standard PCB like the listed Gigabytes. Anything with an over-sized PCB won't fit.

In general, all SFX/SFX-L units should fit. Our internal pass-through power cable has quite flexible connector on C13 end (the one that goes into the socket on PSU) so even in worst case scenario when the PSU C14 socket is rotated in a way the angled cable is facing front of the case, it will bent enough to fit there.
My recommendation is still silverstone semi-passive 450W 92mm sfx unit for a reasonable build.

What about the Corsair SFF series (450W/600W)? I have the 600W one and it's a tiny little thing, plus it's fully modular and semi-passive (fan barely even needs to start up). Their quality is top notch, probably the best SFF PSUs out there.
 
You are right. The biggest problem is the height - total clearance for GPU + connectors is 130mm. This means that cards using a standard PCB will fit - mainly Founder's Editions blowers + some custom cooled ones based on the standard PCB like the listed Gigabytes. Anything with an over-sized PCB won't fit.



What about the Corsair SFF series (450W/600W)? I have the 600W one and it's a tiny little thing, plus it's fully modular and semi-passive (fan barely even needs to start up). Their quality is top notch, probably the best SFF PSUs out there.

I have the same one as well as the 450 in an office pc. They're super efficient, cool, the fan never spins. The only argument against the SF series from Corsair is the hard ribbon cables and the price. They're both quite expensive for the wattage. But if you want one of the best, it's available. Just be ready to deal with stiff ribbon cables.

On a side note
I pulled my ribbons apart into separate wires. I wish I could say that made it easier to work with. They're still stiff and ungainly. Now they're more like a birds nest of stiff individual wires :facepalm:
 
Got my build finished now. It looks so clean on the desk. Near dead silent in idle, and it doesn't make too much noise under load. Specs are:
Intel Core i7-7700K (Delidded)
Noctua NH-L9i
ASUS ROG Strix Z270i Gaming
NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition
Corsair SF600
Corsair LPX 3000MHz DDR4 16GB
Samsung 850 EVO M.2 Sata 500GB SSD

No notable issues with cable-management. The Corsair ribbon-cables aren't optimal no, but i didn't have any issues with it.
0uFbLhR.jpg
 
Got my build finished now. It looks so clean on the desk. Near dead silent in idle, and it doesn't make too much noise under load. Specs are:
Intel Core i7-7700K (Delidded)
Noctua NH-L9i
ASUS ROG Strix Z270i Gaming
NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition
Corsair SF600
Corsair LPX 3000MHz DDR4 16GB
Samsung 850 EVO M.2 Sata 500GB SSD

No notable issues with cable-management. The Corsair ribbon-cables aren't optimal no, but i didn't have any issues with it.
1st Very nice setup!
2nd What keyboard and mouse do u have? (Sorry doesn't belong here)
and 3rd Isn't the 1080ti throttling like crazy?
 
1st Very nice setup!
2nd What keyboard and mouse do u have? (Sorry doesn't belong here)
and 3rd Isn't the 1080ti throttling like crazy?

It's a Vortex Pok3r and a Mionix Castor. :p
I haven't looked at actual clocks yet, but it does throttle to some degree in a heavy title like Ghost Recon: Wildlands.
 
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It's a Vortex Pok3r and a Mionix Castor. :p
I haven't looked at actual clocks yet, but it does throttle to some degree in a heavy title like Ghost Recon: Wildlands.

Throttle as in not hitting its listed factory base or boost clock? Or throttling as in not using gpu boost 3.0 to boost above the listed clocks?
 
Got my build finished now. It looks so clean on the desk. Near dead silent in idle, and it doesn't make too much noise under load. Specs are:
Intel Core i7-7700K (Delidded)
Noctua NH-L9i
ASUS ROG Strix Z270i Gaming
NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition
Corsair SF600
Corsair LPX 3000MHz DDR4 16GB
Samsung 850 EVO M.2 Sata 500GB SSD

No notable issues with cable-management. The Corsair ribbon-cables aren't optimal no, but i didn't have any issues with it.
0uFbLhR.jpg
TEMPS PLEASE!!! That's exactly my setup except I have lower speed 32gb of memory and 2tb ssd and a different motherboard.
 
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Throttle as in not hitting its listed factory base or boost clock? Or throttling as in not using gpu boost 3.0 to boost above the listed clocks?
Okay, so i just gave the system a try in Ghost Recon for approx. 2 hours (This is pushing the GPU 100% all the time). The official clocks of the 1080 Ti FE is 1480MHz base and 1582Mhz boost. In Ghost it was constantly above the boost clock of 1582MHz, and i'd say average at about 1620MHz (Using GPU Boost 3.0 as you mentioned). I am VERY pleased with this. The temperature of the GPU was steady at 84C, as this is the thermal limit Nvidia put in place. So my initial comment about throttling was actually wrong.

TEMPS PLEASE!!! That's exactly my setup except I have lower speed 32gb of memory and 2tb ssd and a different motherboard.
Idle:
CPU: 38-40C
GPU: 35-38C

Full load:
CPU: 75-80C (I only hit 80 in synthetics, which i don't spend much time on since it doesn't reflect real-world scenarios in any way)
GPU: 83-84C

I'd like to use this opportunity to recommend delidding too. I've dropped the CPU temperature in a game like Ghost Recon from 98C to 75C max.
EDIT: I should mention that this is combined with a -65mV undervolt, even though the difference is very small.
 
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Okay, so i just gave the system a try in Ghost Recon for approx. 2 hours (This is pushing the GPU 100% all the time). The official clocks of the 1080 Ti FE is 1480MHz base and 1582Mhz boost. In Ghost it was constantly above the boost clock of 1582MHz, and i'd say average at about 1620MHz (Using GPU Boost 3.0 as you mentioned). I am VERY pleased with this. The temperature of the GPU was steady at 84C, as this is the thermal limit Nvidia put in place. So my initial comment about throttling was actually wrong.


Idle:
CPU: 38-40C
GPU: 35-38C

Full load:
CPU: 75-80C (I only hit 80 in synthetics, which i don't spend much time on since it doesn't reflect real-world scenarios in any way)
GPU: 83-84C

I'd like to use this opportunity to recommend delidding too. I've dropped the CPU temperature in a game like Ghost Recon from 98C to 75C max.
EDIT: I should mention that this is combined with a -65mV undervolt, even though the difference is very small.
Well there it is. It works fine with NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti FE even if its not supported. Thank you niclas90. I think if you had the lp53 you wouldn't need to undervolt by any amount.
 
Well there it is. It works fine with NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti FE even if its not supported. Thank you niclas90. I think if you had the lp53 you wouldn't need to undervolt by any amount.
I undervolted my 4790k by -0.050v. Doesn't affect performance at all. Dropped temps nicely and cpu peak power consumption is down by about 30w according to hwmonitor. If you can maintain performance, why not save heat and power?
 
While you guys are talking about undervolting, I'd like to note some things here: with enhanced speed step, turbo boost and custom power limit features on current intel CPUs, you should check if your undervolt is really giving you the same performance as on stock settings. With lower wattage coming from undervolting you may experience throttling, more aggressive speed step power saving and less aggressive turbo boosting on load, even if on idle everything looks as expected.

You should test before and after comparing it in CPU bound benchmarks to see if you really have the same performance.

That's just the note to others who are figuring out what will they buy - getting a i7-7700K and undervolting it may mean you'll "castrate" it down to i7-7700 power level which means you are unnecessarily overpaying for the CPU. Silicon lottery is also significant here and those who have successfully undervolted their chips may have just won the better piece of a die.

Finally I believe that 7700K is something that gets its fame from being able to crank up its clocks up to 5GHz on off-shelf AIO water cooler and that's not going to happen in Sentry unless you use shorter card and figure out AIO mounting...
 
While you guys are talking about undervolting, I'd like to note some things here: with enhanced speed step, turbo boost and custom power limit features on current intel CPUs, you should check if your undervolt is really giving you the same performance as on stock settings. With lower wattage coming from undervolting you may experience throttling, more aggressive speed step power saving and less aggressive turbo boosting on load, even if on idle everything looks as expected.

You should test before and after comparing it in CPU bound benchmarks to see if you really have the same performance.

That's just the note to others who are figuring out what will they buy - getting a i7-7700K and undervolting it may mean you'll "castrate" it down to i7-7700 power level which means you are unnecessarily overpaying for the CPU. Silicon lottery is also significant here and those who have successfully undervolted their chips may have just won the better piece of a die.

Finally I believe that 7700K is something that gets its fame from being able to crank up its clocks up to 5GHz on off-shelf AIO water cooler and that's not going to happen in Sentry unless you use shorter card and figure out AIO mounting...
This is a good point, and i have bechmarked the CPU in Intel XTU to ensure that the performance is actually identical. Undervolting shouldn't be necessary after delid anyways, but lower temps is always nice if it doesn't compromise performance.

Well there it is. It works fine with NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti FE even if its not supported. Thank you niclas90. I think if you had the lp53 you wouldn't need to undervolt by any amount.
I was looking at LP53 with the NF-A9x14 fan, but i'm not willing to modify/remove the heatsink on the Z270i Strix or go with another motherboard, so it had to be this way for me atleast :p
 
It's been about two weeks since my case shipped; I'm in Asia. The tracking of the first week shows the package being transferred all over Poland (4 different post offices), this second week shows the case just sitting idle at the post office in Zabrze. Should I be worried?
 
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