CCD MI-6: Performance in a 6.7L MIcrotower

What are the tubing runs like...?

Here are a couple pics of my checkout rig with the Corsair H80. I took off the sides of the loft so you can see the routing.
The tubing length is about right to route it past the 24pin conn and the USB 3.0 header cables.

AIO routing2c.jpg AIO routing3c.jpg

The tubing isn't too flexible so is wants to bend outward unless you tie it down. I had not trouble putting the case cover on.
 
Is that set up to push air from inside the case out through the radiator, or to pull air from outside into the case through the radiator?
 
Is that set up to push air from inside the case out through the radiator, or to pull air from outside into the case through the radiator?

The direction of the fan is up, so it's pushing air (from inside) through the radiator.
 
I didn't notice any throttling while gaming, but just to be sure I just ran Heaven Benchmark three times. It started with 55°C and around 1860 MHz, and ended after the third run with 78°C and an average of around 1797 MHz. But I think this depended on the load on the GPU, since I still saw some scenes of the benchmark where the 1080 was over 1.8 GHz, even in the third run where it started to get toasty...

I also did screenshots of the benchmark results, but... yeah, I think something got mixed up... (from left to right: run 1 to 3)
View attachment 86992

As you can see, the second run got a better score than the first one, but the GPU was already at 74°C (Might be because of a bug that sometimes heaven benchmark gets locked at 60 FPS...)

During gaming, as far as I know, the GPU always stays above 1800 MHz, no matter what the temps are. And regarding that the GPUs boost clock is rated at 1771 MHz by Gigabyte, I would say that it doesn't throttle at all...


For the fan, I had a similar idea before I settled with the Noctua fan. But after removing the original shroud, I saw the problem (click on the thumbnail for a bigger picture):
View attachment 86991

The heatsink has kind of steps in it... the smallest and thinnest area is where the original fan is mounted on. The next area is enough space for the fan blades, and a little bit over 92mm wide. Which means, that the only fan that would fit onto the GPU and into the MI-6 at the same time, is the NF-A9x14...

I also had the idea to sand down the fins to the left and right of the fan, so the middle area would be bigger, and a 120mm slim fan could fit, but unfortunately the farthest left and farthest right heat pipe is too close to the fins, and I couldn't sand the heatsink down enough without destroying the heat pipes...

The best solution for an air cooled GTX 1080 in the MI-6 would be the Gaming Box Version of the card, like it's shown in post #1182. The 130mm fan would cool the GPU far better than the 92mm small Noctua, and be maybe even a bit quieter doing so. I contacted the Gigabyte Support and asked them if they would sell the fan shroud of the Gaming Box Version of the 1080 as a replacement part, so I could mount it on my regular GTX 1080... but they didn't quite understand my problem, and just said that it would woid my guarantee if I disassembled my Gaming Box... (Which I don't even have...)

For fan controlling, I first had it attached to a 4-pin motherboard connector, running the fan constantly at full speed. Later, I bought this adapter:
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B005ZKZEQA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
My fan curve is a plain line from 0°/0% to 50°/70%, and then the fan speed stays at 70%, since the Noctua doesn't accelerate further from this point.




Yes, it was exactly the same for me. The biggest device for me was my monitor, the MI-6 literally fits into one of those folding boxes, together with all cables and peripherals... and it still was more powerfull than any other huge tower standing there. IMO this WOW-effect is by far the best part of the MI-6

Little Update:
Thanks to Amazon Prime Day I was able to purchase NFS Payback quite inexpensive. But that game came with two big problems:

The first one was that the game usually freezes my whole PC after 15 min of gaming whith an oced CPU. After disabling the 3.7 GHz on my Ryzen, it ran well for a while.

But the second thing is that the GPU gets hotter than before, maxing out at 87° C... During Gameplay, it stays at around 85 to 86° C...
At first I thought that I did a bad job when I reapplied new thermal paste on GPU and CPU on Saturday, but heaven benchmark had similar temps to before... So I don't know what the game is doing that the PC gets so freaking hot...

Has anyone else encountered problems like this? And I know that it isn't healthy for the hardware to run that how over a long time... I maybe have to install two 60mm fans at the bottom of the case in front of the PSU, just to help the hot air blowing out. (the top of the case gets so hot I can barely touch it)
 
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Little Update:
Thanks to Amazon Prime Day I was able to purchase NFS Payback quite inexpensive. But that game came with two big problems:

The first one was that the game usually freezes my whole PC after 15 min of gaming whith an oced CPU. After disabling the 3.7 GHz on my Ryzen, it ran well for a while.

But the second thing is that the GPU gets hotter than before, maxing out at 87° C... During Gameplay, it stays at around 85 to 86° C...
At first I thought that I did a bad job when I reapplied new thermal paste on GPU and CPU on Saturday, but heaven benchmark had similar temps to before... So I don't know what the game is doing that the PC gets so freaking hot...

Has anyone else encountered problems like this? And I know that it isn't healthy for the hardware to run that how over a long time... I maybe have to install two 60mm fans at the bottom of the case in front of the PSU, just to help the hot air blowing out. (the top of the case gets so hot I can barely touch it)
that means that the game it fully utilizing your cpu and gpu, more so that anything else you play. try capping your fps to 60 so it doesn't work as hard and think about upgrading your cooling.
oh and heaven is old not even close to what newer games demand.
 
I finally decided to do it! I pre-ordered! Minimalist case for me. I had a really hard time deciding between minimalist or front I/O. If the front I/O option did not include the power button, I might have gone for it. In the end it was the clean look of the minimalist case and the extra internal drive mounting location that won out over the front I/O. Anyway, I’m really excited for this case. I plan on air cooling with stock GPU cooler and Big Shuriken II for the CPU.
 
I finally decided to do it! I pre-ordered! Minimalist case for me. I had a really hard time deciding between minimalist or front I/O. If the front I/O option did not include the power button, I might have gone for it. In the end it was the clean look of the minimalist case and the extra internal drive mounting location that won out over the front I/O. Anyway, I’m really excited for this case. I plan on air cooling with stock GPU cooler and Big Shuriken II for the CPU.

Good to hear, case is great. Big Shuriken 2 works really well on my 8700k.
 
Good to hear, case is great. Big Shuriken 2 works really well on my 8700k.
I also might copy you and swap out the scythe fan for that enormous slim fan you put on yours. I’ll have to see how I feel about the fan noise. I tend to be a bit less picky than some when it comes to fan noise, and so I lean toward cooling performance over silence. You said that big fan was a noise level improvement at the cost of cooling, right?
 
I also might copy you and swap out the scythe fan for that enormous slim fan you put on yours. I’ll have to see how I feel about the fan noise. I tend to be a bit less picky than some when it comes to fan noise, and so I lean toward cooling performance over silence. You said that big fan was a noise level improvement at the cost of cooling, right?

No it is actually a bit cooler, about 3C under load.
 
I have not received any response acknowledging my pre-order. Does that mean it was not received?
 
I have not received any response acknowledging my pre-order. Does that mean it was not received?

Frazhna,
Hmmm, you should have gotten a note right on the webpage, saying your preorder was received.

Pm me and we can figure it out.

I have been kind of on the fence, as far as whether the webpage acknowledgement is enough, or if I should send out a verification email as well. I will start emailing to make sure.

Thanks,
Fire
 
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In the build video on the website, it says the CPU cooler is the Big Shuriken2, but it doesn’t look like the big shuriken 2 that I find when I search for it. Is it just a different fan or something?
 
In the build video on the website, it says the CPU cooler is the Big Shuriken2, but it doesn’t look like the big shuriken 2 that I find when I search for it. Is it just a different fan or something?
Good eye. I had a Gamerstorm 120x20 on there from previous testing, and just left it on. The shuriken is only 58mm with the std 12mm tall fan, so the 20mm fan fits pretty well.
 
Good eye. I had a Gamerstorm 120x20 on there from previous testing, and just left it on. The shuriken is only 58mm with the std 12mm tall fan, so the 20mm fan fits pretty well.

Fire how did that Gamerstorm compare to the Scythe fan?
 
Is the cut-out on the mid-panel in gen 2 of the MI-6 actually big enough to access the CPU cooler backplate/fasteners? I love my gen 1 MI-6, but I had a need to swap CPUs the other day, and I had to completely remove the motherboard to gain access to the CPU cooler backplate/fasters. While I could access the fasteners on one edge of the backplate, the fasteners on the other edge of the backplate were barely covered. I had a flashback to dealing with my Cooler Master Elite 110. Whew! what a pain to deal with.
 
Is the cut-out on the mid-panel in gen 2 of the MI-6 actually big enough to access the CPU cooler backplate/fasteners? I love my gen 1 MI-6, but I had a need to swap CPUs the other day, and I had to completely remove the motherboard to gain access to the CPU cooler backplate/fasters. While I could access the fasteners on one edge of the backplate, the fasteners on the other edge of the backplate were barely covered. I had a flashback to dealing with my Cooler Master Elite 110. Whew! what a pain to deal with.

Sorry to hear about the backplate hassle. Unfortunately the cpu position on MBs varies with mb model and mfgr, and the cooler backplate varies too. So I made the cutout based on some estimates.
I did enlarge the cutout for more clearance on the SE. I'll post the models to show the difference.
 
I haven't seen obstructed screws. I had found some tight fits for some CPU cooler backplate flanges between the MB and the case divider.

For the SE I revised the cutout. Here is a good comparison of the MB cutouts between FE and SE.
EDIT -- corrected the pic below... Also, the distances are from the MB mounting holes, for easy reference.

MB cutout changes.png


I widened the opening for the backplate flange, and for M.2 memory.

Here are some visual fit checks I did for the backside of some MBs (1151 300 series and AMD AM4 series).
 
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--Next Batch Update--

Now at 73 pre-orders for the MI-6 SE batch, so should reach the 100 case target in 2-3 weeks. Then get the production going!

Looks like I already have enough front I/O board assemblies, so 1 less worry about getting components in.
 
--Next Batch Update--

Now at 73 pre-orders for the MI-6 SE batch, so should reach the 100 case target in 2-3 weeks. Then get the production going!

Looks like I already have enough front I/O board assemblies, so 1 less worry about getting components in.

Good to hear Fire, glad the next batch is selling well. Took a look at the rear cutout pics you posted, looks like you have it handled for most of the itx boards.
 
I'm not sold on the powder coat. Would it be easy to sand the finish off to re-paint it? Or maybe sell a primed one. Since white is off the table I'm curious how viable it is to paint myself. I want to go all out colorful design etc. Probably not practical at this stage in development I realize.

Been in a modding mood lately =P.
 
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I'm not sold on the powder coat. Would it be easy to sand the finish off to re-paint it? Or maybe sell a primed one. Since white is off the table I'm curious how viable it is to paint myself. I want to go all out colorful design etc. Probably not practical at this stage in development I realize.

Been in a modding mood lately =P.
EnzoFX ,
Oh yeah, I could get you a case with no finish. That wouldn't be a problem. The bare aluminum will be a bit scratched up from the fabrication process, but ready for you to paint however you want.

That might be a better idea than trying to remove the powder coat. It is very durable so work is slow using a sandblaster, so sandpaper would take forever. I did get some chemically dipped to remove the powdercoat, but that was expensive, uses some really nasty solvents and I only found 1 shop that would do it here in the Phoenix area. So it might be hard for you to get done, depending on where you are.

Fire
 
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I've been running the H60 AIO for a while now with no issues. There is some pump noise, but this is my first water cooler so i assume that is typical. The H60 is not the 2018 version.

We are at about 85 preorders now, so making progress and expecting to kick off payments and mfg by the end of the month.

-Fire
 
Looks pre-orders are at about 93 now, so only 7 more needed to kick off the next batch, woo hoo!

Planning out the orders for components and fabrications has been taking some time, but I'm hoping to get a survey out in the next week to gauge loft interest.
Then get loft manufacturing going right after the batch of cases.

-Fire
 
After we get to the payment option, how long would it take? From producing and sending it to us? 10 weeks?
 
I found a killer deal on the Auros GTX 1080 gaming box. Microcenter was selling it for $460 after rebate (less than the 1070 version!) I’m not too excited about the RTX cards and their high wattage, so I went for the gaming box 1080. I can’t wait for my MI-6! In the meantime, my 1080 sits in my ncase without proper ventilation. Even though it’s intermittently throttling, it’s an enormous upgrade from my GTX 770. The 130mm fan is pretty quiet, even at full speed.
 
I am wondering if there will even be any ITX versions of the 20xx series of GPUs...?!?

I am wondering the same thing. With the improvements Pascal had in both power and cooling I expected Turing to be even better. Looks like the opposite is actually true.
 
just got the email to pay for it starting at 11:30pm MST today until September 4. Excited, since i missed the first batch but glad i waited because of the little revisions!

Nice Firewolfy must have gotten his 100 pre orders, you will really like your MI-6.
 
My big shuriken II just arrived over the weekend. I was thinking that all I had left to do was order the case, then I got the email notification for the start of the orders! Now all I have to do is wait by the mailbox. :D
 
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