SENTRY: Console-sized gaming PC case project

[StevenMattera]

Dang, nice job you did there.

What is the width and thickness of the tape you used?

3/8" Wide and 7/16" Tall. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BQL29G/

Nice build log. One thing that came to my mind - I'm not sure if sealing intake to blower fan is a good idea because you're limiting the airflow from the outside to the area directly under the blower intake (which is limited by the area of perforation), while it could take the air from the sides as well. This of course depends on how much of heat is radiated to the air around the card.

I will probably just remove it. It was something I was testing, but when it comes to all the PSU cables and the PCIe riser I don't think much air from the CPU chamber is coming up to the GPU chamber. I will test this out this evening with FurMark, as I wasn't seeing any slow downs with PUBG.

StevenMattera - One more thing - you should use black M3x6 screws for the front panel USB header as well - the same ones used for the case cover and GPU compartment bracket.

Will change that. I wasn't sure which ones to use as I think the manual it came with didn't include which to use and I think I missed the page while flipping through the online manual on my phone. One thing I did notice while taking my case apart quite a few times was that one of my M3x6 screws started to strip and I think it was because I was tightening them too much with the built in wrench. Switched to my precision screwdriver set and this helped a lot!

 

[RevoFox]

Received the track & trace mail on 20-07-2017 and received the shipment last Wednesday 26-07-2017 in The Netherlands (5th shipment, two black Sentry's Unit No. #0631 and #0677 with Order No. #862).

The package and content are in excellent condition, big thanks to the Sentry team!!

Soon I will order all the components, it’s definitely going to be a Ryzen 1700 setup

 

[Berk Gulbakanoglu]

Hey people, this is a bit odd but could anybody with a sentry please weigh their build for me(with parts in it but without the gpu if possible)? Just trying to gauge if I could take it on a plane with me.

 

[SaperPL]

Hey people, this is a bit odd but could anybody with a sentry please weigh their build for me(with parts in it but without the gpu if possible)? Just trying to gauge if I could take it on a plane with me.

We have weighted the build with quite heavy gigabyte windforce 3X gpu, SFX-L, Cryorig C7 and 2.5" hdd, and I believe it was something around 6 kg.

 

[Kelby S]

SaperPL ZombiPL Any updates on international shipments? I believe mine was sent in the 3rd Shipment and the last tracking update was June 12th. Patiently waiting for my sentry

 

[SaperPL]

SaperPL ZombiPL Any updates on international shipments? I believe mine was sent in the 3rd Shipment and the last tracking update was June 12th. Patiently waiting for my sentry

People from 2nd shipment were just getting their cases last week and this week. Note the fact that it took around two ~ two-and-a-half weeks to prepare each shipment, so you'll probably have to wait two more weeks for your case.

As for updates on international shipments - I don't think we have any better way other of getting more information about the packages than you have with your tracking numbers. We just have an overview on tracking all packages in the shipment, but the way it's implemented is not perfect. It's quite time consuming to keep up with what got delivered, and't we can't just sit and check those over and over while there's still more orders to ship.

 

[Kelby S]

People from 2nd shipment were just getting their cases last week and this week. Note the fact that it took around two ~ two-and-a-half weeks to prepare each shipment, so you'll probably have to wait two more weeks for your case.

As for updates on international shipments - I don't think we have any better way other of getting more information about the packages than you have with your tracking numbers. We just have an overview on tracking all packages in the shipment, but the way it's implemented is not perfect. It's quite time consuming to keep up with what got delivered, and't we can't just sit and check those over and over while there's still more orders to ship.

Understandable I didn't know if you had heard anything else from the shipping company that you had been in contact with a few updates ago. Thanks!

 

[StevenMattera]

Nice build log. One thing that came to my mind - I'm not sure if sealing intake to blower fan is a good idea because you're limiting the airflow from the outside to the area directly under the blower intake (which is limited by the area of perforation), while it could take the air from the sides as well. This of course depends on how much of heat is radiated to the air around the card.

There was no difference with it on or off with the furry donut of death maxing out my GPU. Both runs during a 5 min span the FPS averaged between 91 and 92 FPS and ran at 88C. So I just left it out seeing as it isn't doing anything.

Hey people, this is a bit odd but could anybody with a sentry please weigh their build for me(with parts in it but without the gpu if possible)? Just trying to gauge if I could take it on a plane with me.

As I was going into my build to remove the weather sealing around the GPU I weighed mine with and without the GPU.

• With the GPU and vertical stand: 16 pounds (7.26kg)
• Without GPU and with vertical stand: 13 pounds (5.9kg)
• With the GPU and without vertical stand: 15.2 pounds (6.89kg)
• Without GPU and without vertical stand: 12.2 pounds (5.53kg)

 

[Berk Gulbakanoglu]

There was no difference with it on or off with the furry donut of death maxing out my GPU. Both runs during a 5 min span the FPS averaged between 91 and 92 FPS and ran at 88C. So I just left it out seeing as it isn't doing anything.



As I was going into my build to remove the weather sealing around the GPU I weighed mine with and without the GPU.

• With the GPU and vertical stand: 16 pounds (7.26kg)
• Without GPU and with vertical stand: 13 pounds (5.9kg)
• With the GPU and without vertical stand: 15.2 pounds (6.89kg)
• Without GPU and without vertical stand: 12.2 pounds (5.53kg)

We have weighted the build with quite heavy gigabyte windforce 3X gpu, SFX-L, Cryorig C7 and 2.5" hdd, and I believe it was something around 6 kg.

Thank you very very much!

 

[JimmyB0206]

Can anyone confirm if it's possible to fit a couple of slim 120mm fans underneath a reference GPU? Was looking at the Scythe Slip Stream which is 12mm thick and as your able to fit an SSD under a reference GPU (which is normally 7mm thick), just curious as to the clearance between the SSD and GPU and whether the extra 5mm would be an issue? Thanks in advance

 

[StevenMattera]

Can anyone confirm if it's possible to fit a couple of slim 120mm fans underneath a reference GPU? Was looking at the Scythe Slip Stream which is 12mm thick and as your able to fit an SSD under a reference GPU (which is normally 7mm thick), just curious as to the clearance between the SSD and GPU and whether the extra 5mm would be an issue? Thanks in advance

Looking into my case it doesn't look like there is room for it. Even if there was you would be right against the GPU cooling plastic. You would be better off with 40mm fans on top if you wanted additional airflow in the GPU chamber.

 

[Morzy]

Can anyone confirm if it's possible to fit a couple of slim 120mm fans underneath a reference GPU? Was looking at the Scythe Slip Stream which is 12mm thick and as your able to fit an SSD under a reference GPU (which is normally 7mm thick), just curious as to the clearance between the SSD and GPU and whether the extra 5mm would be an issue? Thanks in advance

I recall one of the Zaber dudes saying the max thickness for the 2.5" drive near the mb was like 10mm? Not sure about the GPU area but I do agree you'd be better offf using 40mm fans.

 

[Cabblake]

So I haven't posted any pics yet. I have been busy trying different things with temps in my case. Waiting for fans and stuff of that nature. Today I finally received my 40mm fans. I tried a couple of things and this is what I ended up coming up with.
Reading what everyone had been trying and watching other build logs. I first decided to throw in all of my components and see what temps would be like. I have a 1080 ti sc black, ryzen 1600, corsair vengeance 3000 on the asrock x370 board. Things were toasty. The gpu was around 79. Not to bad right. Well my CPU with the noctua l9i was Scott hung at 87 at one point. My first though was to put some 40mm fans in the gpu compartment and exhaust air out the top to see if that would make a difference.
I made the order and decided to see what else I could do so I got creative. I cut up a 3 ring binder made of flimsy plastic and sealed the gpu and CPU compartment off from one another. That took down temps of both by about 10c on the CPU and around 2c on the gpu. Today I repurposed the pci plates that fit in the graphics slots. I ended up putting both 40mm fans side by side just above the CPU fan blowing down at the board. This took temps down to 68c. I couldn't get the temps over 68c no matter what I did. The gpu to me is cooling just fine. I may stick some 40mm fans in that end exhausting air out

 

[Cabblake]

Picture of the extra fans and a little repurposing.

 

[Cabblake]

I'm loving my sentry.

 

[Cabblake]

Can anyone confirm if it's possible to fit a couple of slim 120mm fans underneath a reference GPU? Was looking at the Scythe Slip Stream which is 12mm thick and as your able to fit an SSD under a reference GPU (which is normally 7mm thick), just curious as to the clearance between the SSD and GPU and whether the extra 5mm would be an issue? Thanks in advance

I have a 1080ti in my sentry and it stays nice and cool. I did not go with a blower card. I would suggest closing off the CPU and gpu compartment. And just see what temps are like before you add fans or buy them in anticipation of your case if you don't have it yet. I bet it cools good. It's hard to say if you will be able to add fans bc of all the variables. Every case could be slightly larger or smaller. Not but much but possibly enough that would prevent you from adding a 120mm fan. Also it would depend on the gpu. Then there's the fact of mounting them without vibration or rubbing the gpu shroud or fans.

 

[masteralef]

Cabblake- did you try doing EJ24's trick of using foam weatherstripping to act as a shroud for the CPU fan?

 

[SaperPL]

Can anyone confirm if it's possible to fit a couple of slim 120mm fans underneath a reference GPU? Was looking at the Scythe Slip Stream which is 12mm thick and as your able to fit an SSD under a reference GPU (which is normally 7mm thick), just curious as to the clearance between the SSD and GPU and whether the extra 5mm would be an issue? Thanks in advance

There's ~9mm below the GPU and that's how thick some standard 2.5" drives are today. This space varies because the blower shroud surface isn't flat so around the intake you have slightly more space, maybe 2 or 3 mm more.

 

[JimmyB0206]

I appreciate all the responses guys. Might buy a couple of 40mm and slim 120mm fans and see if it actually works, will be no big loss if it doesn't. Just wanted to see if anyone had actually tried it I'll report back once I have tried it.

In terms of sealing off the CPU & GPU compartment, what would be the best material to use?

Also, general question, what CPU and GPU is everyone rocking and what are temps like during idle and gaming? Personally, I have the Cooltek LP-53/Noctua combo cooling a delidded i7 4770K with Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut paste and a Gigabyte 980Ti G1 Gaming. CPU runs at about 43 idle and 70 on intensive games and GPU runs at 82.

Finally, I don't know if it's gone unnoticed as I can't find much info related to it except a few articles and YouTube videos, Galax have brought out a single slot 1070. I contacted KFA2 (Galaxs European brand) and they said it would be available from Overclockers very soon. Was thinking about purchasing this and strapping a couple of Noctua fans in the GPU chamber to help cooling. What's everyone's general consensus?

http://www.kfa2.com/kfa2/graphics-card/kfa2-geforcer-gtx-1070-katana.html

 

[7x1x]

Also, general question, what CPU and GPU is everyone rocking and what are temps like during idle and gaming? Personally, I have the Cooltek LP-53/Noctua combo cooling a delidded i7 4770K with Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut paste and a Gigabyte 980Ti G1 Gaming. CPU runs at about 43 idle and 70 on intensive games and GPU runs at 82.

Finally, I don't know if it's gone unnoticed as I can't find much info related to it except a few articles and YouTube videos, Galax have brought out a single slot 1070. I contacted KFA2 (Galaxs European brand) and they said it would be available from Overclockers very soon. Was thinking about purchasing this and strapping a couple of Noctua fans in the GPU chamber to help cooling. What's everyone's general consensus?

http://www.kfa2.com/kfa2/graphics-card/kfa2-geforcer-gtx-1070-katana.html

Thermal Benchmarks:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OBakpOngHpbeAaUKV0FzQX2qHQEf-EaqRn4XMIXWO4E/htmlview#

There was some discussion on page 92 about the KFA2

The Katana, while being a very neat little card, has a single slot cooler that isn't quite up to par.

Now take that already poor cooler, put it in less-than-ideal conditions, and make it keep the card at the same 82 degrees it already struggles with. What do you think happens?

The fan ramps WAY up, the clock speed drops WAY down, and you're now playing games with a hair dryer.

 

[Cabblake]

I appreciate all the responses guys. Might buy a couple of 40mm and slim 120mm fans and see if it actually works, will be no big loss if it doesn't. Just wanted to see if anyone had actually tried it I'll report back once I have tried it.

In terms of sealing off the CPU & GPU compartment, what would be the best material to use?

Also, general question, what CPU and GPU is everyone rocking and what are temps like during idle and gaming? Personally, I have the Cooltek LP-53/Noctua combo cooling a delidded i7 4770K with Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut paste and a Gigabyte 980Ti G1 Gaming. CPU runs at about 43 idle and 70 on intensive games and GPU runs at 82.

Finally, I don't know if it's gone unnoticed as I can't find much info related to it except a few articles and YouTube videos, Galax have brought out a single slot 1070. I contacted KFA2 (Galaxs European brand) and they said it would be available from Overclockers very soon. Was thinking about purchasing this and strapping a couple of Noctua fans in the GPU chamber to help cooling. What's everyone's general consensus?

http://www.kfa2.com/kfa2/graphics-card/kfa2-geforcer-gtx-1070-katana.html

I'm not sure if you read my rant about tinkering around. But I used a cheap solution to seal the compartments. I used a bendable plastic 3 ring binder. I just cut it to fit and used double sided 3m tape to keep it in place. It work d great and only cost about 3 dollars. Also I looked into the single slot cards and there performance is slightly better than blower cards but significantly louder. This was tested in abnormal atx case with plenty of case fans. So if you put one of there single slots in a sentry I think you may have a jet ingine on your hands. Also they will run just as hot as a blower bc they still used pretty much the same method to cool. There is a vapor chamber with directed air from the fans to the exhaust. I am recommending abnormal blower style gpu for everyone. If my 1080ti stays cool with just slight fan noise. I bet a lot less than a blower style. I have tested and retested and even saturated it for hrs and it barely reached 72c. Delta is 73F in my house.

 

[Justice Ranger]

So I haven't posted any pics yet. I have been busy trying different things with temps in my case. Waiting for fans and stuff of that nature. Today I finally received my 40mm fans. I tried a couple of things and this is what I ended up coming up with.
Reading what everyone had been trying and watching other build logs. I first decided to throw in all of my components and see what temps would be like. I have a 1080 ti sc black, ryzen 1600, corsair vengeance 3000 on the asrock x370 board. Things were toasty. The gpu was around 79. Not to bad right. Well my CPU with the noctua l9i was Scott hung at 87 at one point. My first though was to put some 40mm fans in the gpu compartment and exhaust air out the top to see if that would make a difference.
I made the order and decided to see what else I could do so I got creative. I cut up a 3 ring binder made of flimsy plastic and sealed the gpu and CPU compartment off from one another. That took down temps of both by about 10c on the CPU and around 2c on the gpu. Today I repurposed the pci plates that fit in the graphics slots. I ended up putting both 40mm fans side by side just above the CPU fan blowing down at the board. This took temps down to 68c. I couldn't get the temps over 68c no matter what I did. The gpu to me is cooling just fine. I may stick some 40mm fans in that end exhausting air out

An open air cooler with the GPU compartment sealed did the trick. Good to know. How is the noise? I assume it's quieter than a blower card and hopefully performs slightly better given the temp headroom.

Also, anyone else can chime in here, what is the max LxWxH GPU I can fit in there. I'm looking at the compatibility spreadsheet and it's not clear.

 

[SaperPL]

Also, anyone else can chime in here, what is the max LxWxH GPU I can fit in there. I'm looking at the compatibility spreadsheet and it's not clear.

1) I assume you've seen/are talking about this: http://zaber.com.pl/img/Sentry/GPU.svg

2) It's "not obvious" because there is no standardisation in card measuring, or if there's any, vendors aren't complying to it. You have to measure the card on your own or visually inspect/compare images on vendor's site to figure out how did they measure their card.

3) Rule of a thumb is - keep to reference sized PCB - if distance from the bend of slot bracket to the top of the PCB is far more than ~6mm, it means the card is taller than reference and you might have hard time fitting it inside or connecting PEG power plug.

4) We're supporting dual slot gpu's which is ~41mm of card total thickness.

I hope that's enough of a clarification.

 

[JimmyB0206]

I'm not sure if you read my rant about tinkering around. But I used a cheap solution to seal the compartments. I used a bendable plastic 3 ring binder. I just cut it to fit and used double sided 3m tape to keep it in place. It work d great and only cost about 3 dollars. Also I looked into the single slot cards and there performance is slightly better than blower cards but significantly louder. This was tested in abnormal atx case with plenty of case fans. So if you put one of there single slots in a sentry I think you may have a jet ingine on your hands. Also they will run just as hot as a blower bc they still used pretty much the same method to cool. There is a vapor chamber with directed air from the fans to the exhaust. I am recommending abnormal blower style gpu for everyone. If my 1080ti stays cool with just slight fan noise. I bet a lot less than a blower style. I have tested and retested and even saturated it for hrs and it barely reached 72c. Delta is 73F in my house.

Ah perfect! Just went through your post and seems like a cheap modification for a dip in temps. Any temperature reduction I will take to be honest. Might pick up some adhesive 1mm thick closed cell foam to seal mine up.

Do you have any pictures of how you sealed the compartment? Did you do a cut out for the PCIE cables to the GPU?

 

[StevenMattera]

Cleaned up my desk and rearranged it a bit to make it sort of photo worthy. (Top Left is my work laptop, Left is my personal laptop that I mostly use to rip my BluRay collection to my Plex Server.)

 

[ChiaPet1021]

Ah perfect! Just went through your post and seems like a cheap modification for a dip in temps. Any temperature reduction I will take to be honest. Might pick up some adhesive 1mm thick closed cell foam to seal mine up.

Do you have any pictures of how you sealed the compartment? Did you do a cut out for the PCIE cables to the GPU?

I'd be interested in pics or more detailed instructions as well, since I'm planning on using an open air-cooled 1080ti. Thanks for the insight!

 

[SeanP]

If you used a external PSU could you have room for a CD ROM drive even if I had to cut a slit out in the front?

 

[SaperPL]

If you used a external PSU could you have room for a CD ROM drive even if I had to cut a slit out in the front?

Theoretically yes, if you remove the PSU you should have enough of space internally for slim ODD, but in practice that means you'll ruin the front panel powder coating around the cutout. Generally not recommended.

Rather than this, if you want to go this way, I'd go for a short ITX sized GPU (using external PSU will limit your GPU options anyway) and make a cut-out in the GPU side-wall for the disc insertion as well as shave-off the edge of the case cover. This is probably better option to mod the case to support ODD.

 

[Ej24]

If you used a external PSU could you have room for a CD ROM drive even if I had to cut a slit out in the front?

Maybe? I have no idea how you'd mount it inside the case. Just get an external USB disk drive and hide it under the Sentry while horizontal.

 

[StevenMattera]

Maybe? I have no idea how you'd mount it inside the case. Just get an external USB disk drive and hide it under the Sentry while horizontal.

I second this. If you want a good external this is the one I use: http://www.lg.com/us/burners-drives/lg-WP50NB40-external-blu-ray-dvd-drive

 

[blaight]

I tried to buy a Sentry via Ebay. Went up to 230 Euro without shipment. Any estimation when retail could be realized?

 

[Morzy]

I did see this recently,
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dr-Zaber-Se...268133?hash=item3aebdd8ba5:g:QtkAAOSw2k9ZeVHs

 

[blaight]

Wont ship to Germany.

 

[SeanP]

Maybe? I have no idea how you'd mount it inside the case. Just get an external USB disk drive and hide it under the Sentry while horizontal.

OK that could work. Still it would be nice. Especially with the HD Plex 300 watt it wouldn't limit your GPU.
Hopefully they will be selling again soon.

 

[Ej24]

OK that could work. Still it would be nice. Especially with the HD Plex 300 watt it wouldn't limit your GPU.
Hopefully they will be selling again soon.

They don't make the 300 anymore. I think it's now called the HD plex 400? It's more capable now. I think a slim external USB drive should fit under sentry, in the horizontal position, with the stock feet.

 

[StevenMattera]

They don't make the 300 anymore. I think it's now called the HD plex 400? It's more capable now. I think a slim external USB drive should fit under sentry, in the horizontal position, with the stock feet.

It could fit under the vertical stand, but not with the feet that comes with the case for horizontal. You would have to get custom feet to prop it up or just place it on top.

 

[Ej24]

It could fit under the vertical stand, but not with the feet that comes with the case for horizontal. You would have to get custom feet to prop it up or just place it on top.

That makes sense, I have custom aluminum feet under mine that are a little taller.

 

[StevenMattera]

So I tried to overclocking my system today. I was able to dial in a 3.6GHz @ 1.2V on my Ryzen 1700. Here is a spreadsheet with benchmarks, temps and settings. (Ambient Temp is 24C and CPU temps were recorded with HWMonitor.)

 

[Cabblake]

Ah perfect! Just went through your post and seems like a cheap modification for a dip in temps. Any temperature reduction I will take to be honest. Might pick up some adhesive 1mm thick closed cell foam to seal mine up.

Do you have any pictures of how you sealed the compartment? Did you do a cut out for the PCIE cables to the GPU?

Here is how I sealed the gpu and CPU compartment. It not 100% bc there are other gaps in places but it's sealed enough to make a thermal difference.

 

[ZombiPL]

​

Sentry manufacturing process - weekly update​

We're in a half-way of assembling process of 6th transport Sentry cases. White units are almost finished (top covers need to be screwed) and at this moment we are working with black cases. By the end of this week we should start packaging process of all cases for this transport (6th out of 7).

Meanwhile we've noticed that last two weeks were also very busy for our supporters who already have their cases. We received many new photos with really nice builds and some of them we are showing below. We encourage everyone who still didn't send pictures of their new desk environment to post some photos in our forum topics or to send them directly to us, so we would be able to show them to other supporters. Many people need some motivation to start their PC assembling process, so you have a chance to help them