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

icc0rz said:
I would just stick with the NH-C14, but exchange the fan for a NF-P14r Redux PWM and adjust the pwm to hit 100% at 80C.

Consider using components which generate less heat(< Watt) if you want a quiet cooling solution.
Click to expand...

icc0rz and Hanakuso (love the name), thanks for the advice. Hanakuso, you're right that I'm not using the HDD bracket, so my side panel is bare. I wasn't aware that you could put a 120 mm fan under the heatsink on the C14 and still have everything fit in the M1--nice! I'll consider the 3 x 120 mm solution. For now, I think I'll swap for the blower 760 and take icc0rz's suggestion with the NF-P14r. Hopefully, those two things together will bring my temps down a bit and keep me fairly quiet, and it'll only cost me a few bucks for the fan. Thanks!
 
Hi Guys, looking for some advice about my next build. Main priority for me is silence.

Build:
CPU: Waiting for Skylake
CPU Cooler: Top down, Noctua L12?
Mobo: Waiting for Skylake
PSU: Silverstone SFX 500LG (Heard bad things about SFX 600 noise wise)
GFX: MSI Twin Frozr V GTX 970 or Asus GTX970 Mini
HDD: Seagate Barracuda.

So I'm thinking of getting the MSI Twin Frozr V GTX 970 purely for the fanless mode (Strix won't fit). But I'm concerned about the cooling.

The plan is to have 2x 120mm low noise intakes from under the gfx, a 92mm exhaust at the back. I'll be using the side mounted hard drive cage. Since I'll be using a top down cpu cooler (Noctua L12), I pretty much have to have the one side fan as intake (if I can fit one in). Won't I have insufficient exhaust? I'd prefer a positive pressure setup since the house gets very dusty.

Also, having two intakes blowing into the graphics card, doesn't that sort of negate the point of passive cooling, noise wise? Anyone have experiences with noise on the Asus mini GTX970?

Any ideas of a positive pressure setup?
 
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Well, the side without a fan would still radiate heat...just not as efficiently. You might be able to squeeze one in there despite what the specs say, but I wouldn't count on it. At least they gave the option? o_o
 
hokxj said:
I'll be using the side mounted hard drive cage. Since I'll be using a top down cpu cooler (Noctua L12), I pretty much have to have the one side fan as intake (if I can fit one in).
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The Noctua NH-C12 will cool better than the L12 and will not interfere with mounting the hard drive cage. The NH-C12 can have two fans attached, one on top and one underneath. These will provide good intake and cooling of the CPU and motherboard componenets. I believe there is a similar Cryorig heatsink (the R1 Universal?) that also suits your plans.
 
hokxj said:
The plan is to have 2x 120mm low noise intakes from under the gfx, a 92mm exhaust at the back. I'll be using the side mounted hard drive cage. Since I'll be using a top down cpu cooler (Noctua L12), I pretty much have to have the one side fan as intake (if I can fit one in). Won't I have insufficient exhaust? I'd prefer a positive pressure setup since the house gets very dusty.
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Positive pressure means you have more intake airflow than exhaust airflow, which is what the case is designed for. You don't need any exhaust fans, though it can certainly help.

hokxj said:
Also, having two intakes blowing into the graphics card, doesn't that sort of negate the point of passive cooling, noise wise?
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You generally still need case fans running with semi-passive components (i.e., components that turn their fans off at idle). The bottom fans are the case fans in this situation.

Qrash said:
The Noctua NH-C12 will cool better than the L12 and will not interfere with mounting the hard drive cage. The NH-C12 can have two fans attached, one on top and one underneath. These will provide good intake and cooling of the CPU and motherboard componenets. I believe there is a similar Cryorig heatsink (the R1 Universal?) that also suits your plans.
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The NH-C12 is a good fit, though it may be difficult finding one since it's been discontinued. The Cryorig C1 is the cooler you're thinking of, but it does have some fitment issues. Basically, with a motherboard with centrally-located socket, the cooler hangs over the front of the board where it interferes with the SFX PSU. Mounting the PSU on the ATX bracket instead can work, though that of course prevents the front 120mm mount from being used on the fan bracket (and by extension, the 3.5" HDD cage). It might be possible that the C1 can be mounted in other orientations on a board with a socket closer to the top or bottom of the board, but I haven't seen anyone confirm that.

Edit: I did find this pic of the Cryorig mounted on an EVGA Z87 Stinger board, and it seems to fit with the cooler oriented vertically:

0img_0264.jpg



Another cooler worth considering is the Scythe Kabuto II, which makes good use of the available space and still allows for the 3.5" HDD cage to be used.
 
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I think the Dark rock TF will fit fine, it'll just suck to install, especially if you have something like a P8Z77I-Deluxe or Impact VII with a daughter board/ huge heatsink.
 
hokxj said:
Hi Guys, looking for some advice about my next build. Main priority for me is silence.

Build:
CPU: Waiting for Skylake
CPU Cooler: Top down, Noctua L12?
Mobo: Waiting for Skylake
PSU: Silverstone SFX 500LG (Heard bad things about SFX 600 noise wise)
GFX: MSI Twin Frozr V GTX 970 or Asus GTX970 Mini
HDD: Seagate Barracuda.

So I'm thinking of getting the MSI Twin Frozr V GTX 970 purely for the fanless mode (Strix won't fit). But I'm concerned about the cooling.

The plan is to have 2x 120mm low noise intakes from under the gfx, a 92mm exhaust at the back. I'll be using the side mounted hard drive cage. Since I'll be using a top down cpu cooler (Noctua L12), I pretty much have to have the one side fan as intake (if I can fit one in). Won't I have insufficient exhaust? I'd prefer a positive pressure setup since the house gets very dusty.

Also, having two intakes blowing into the graphics card, doesn't that sort of negate the point of passive cooling, noise wise? Anyone have experiences with noise on the Asus mini GTX970?

Any ideas of a positive pressure setup?
Click to expand...

I think I have gone for a cooling setup that aims for silence at idle, with a reasonably quiet system under load. I maximised the number of fans in my case, and have gone for a positive pressure setup to minimise dust.

Two 120mm GTs on the bottom, and two fans on the side panel that have low startup RPMs. THe bottom fans tend to sit around the 300-600 rpm mark at idle (depending on ambient temps), and the side fans usually idle around the 300 and 600 mark for the CPU and PSU respectively. At idle I find mine pretty much as silent as it can get with a 2.5" hdd making pretty much most of the noise.

Under load the two bottom fans spin up to around 1200, and make some airflow noise.

I am interested in seeing how quiet the 500L can be. I found the original 450 psu fan to be seriously terrible, as it would almost drown out the sound of a 3.5" drive.
 
Qrash said:
The Noctua NH-C12 will cool better than the L12 and will not interfere with mounting the hard drive cage. The NH-C12 can have two fans attached, one on top and one underneath. These will provide good intake and cooling of the CPU and motherboard componenets. I believe there is a similar Cryorig heatsink (the R1 Universal?) that also suits your plans.
Click to expand...

How can you mount 2 fans on that ? I just picked mine up today, at looking at it atm. It comes with one 140mm fan and i cant see how you can fit another fan on it ? Maybe a 80mm, but i dunno

And my Shark SilentStorm SFX 500 Gold came in the mail aswell ! Wow that thing is small, and its even a SFX L. Cant imagen how small a real SFX is. It feels like a quality psu. Really heavy and solid ! Hopefully it will be silent

CPU - Check
GPU - Check
Ram - Check
Motherboard - Check
PSU - Check
Coolers - Check
Ncase - Stuck in customs :(
 
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No, the C12P is one fan only. The C14 can mount two fans but has configuration problems with mounting the bottom fan in certain situations (hits PSU bracket). The C14S is the newest model, no one has verified using it in the M1 as of yet.
 
Vittra said:
No, the C12P is one fan only. The C14 can mount two fans but has configuration problems with mounting the bottom fan in certain situations (hits PSU bracket). The C14S is the newest model, no one has verified using it in the M1 as of yet.
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Sorry for my mistake about mounting a second fan on the NH-C12.. I thought the C12 was a slightly smaller version of the C14. Perhaps one of the other heatsinks would be better. However, if the NH-C12 is desired I see that there are a few NH-C12 SE14 models (with 14 cm fan) still available on Amazon.
 
The C12P is more effective with a better fan, but that carries an additional cost that might be better served towards a different heatsink. The 140 it includes is neither PWM or static pressure oriented. I had a 2150rpm Gentle Typhoon on mine with a ULNA (Ultra Low Noise Adapter) dropping it down to about 1500rpm, and it was both quieter and a few degrees cooler than that included 140.
 
Soooo i was checking out my SilentStorm SFX 500 Gold. Its seems like a nice psu, expect the cables that comes with it.

Im going to run 2 drives and one ODD, but if i do that, i have to use both sata cables that comes with the psu, because 1 connector is 2 sata and one IDE... Who uses IDE these days :( Is it possibel to get a IDE to sata power cable ? Since i dont wanna run with both cables plugged into the psu, getting more wire then needed

And is there any risk doing it ? Since it goes from the sata with 4 cables to the IDE, and the sata to sata with 5 cables.

Sorry if its a silly question, but dont wanna fry anything

rJbFnth.png


Picture is from Phuncz post reviewing this psu
 
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Do you mean the 4-pin Molex plug ?
Yeah it's stupid they still include it.

This is easily found everywhere:

image03.jpg

Search for "molex to sata".
 
So there is no risk using it ? I mean, when from the sata on the psu runs 5 wires, and then 4 to the ide. Will it still get the amount of power needed ? Probely a stupid question, but yea, i honestly dont know :D
 
Leska said:
So there is no risk using it ? I mean, when from the sata on the psu runs 5 wires, and then 4 to the ide. Will it still get the amount of power needed ? Probely a stupid question, but yea, i honestly dont know :D
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You'll be missing 3.3V but most drives don't use it. Just check the label on the drive, if it's 5V or 12V you're good.
 
Thanks alot for the help. The convetor will be used on the ODD and just checked it. It says 5V, so everything should be fine
 
I suggest people watch the Vortez and KitGuruTech youtube videos about the Dark Rock TF before getting too excited about it.
 
Those are some mighty fine points you have. For anyone reading, were concerned about the heat a GPU would put in a 3.5" drive mounted on the bottom of the case. Although I am eager to purchase a new 2.5"HDD, I was wondering if my logic is sound.

The 3.5" drive is for low access files, meaning I only open the drive if I am going to watch a movie. I do not install games on this drive so the GPU would be at idle if I ever access the drive. Do you think heat is a major problem or its just something to keep track of. Games are installed on the 2.5" HDD that would be mounted next to the radiator. In summary, the GPU would never be under load if the HDD is being used.
 
Hey necere.
I have a couple of questions for you.

Do you plan on waiting for corsair to release their sf600 before tweaking the sfx bracket to ensure maximum compability?

Can you post some pictures of both sfx brackets (v1 and v3) so I can actually understand the difference, speciffically in terms of height of the psu.

I've ordered today my gtx 980 ti hybrid, and since I'm running a full atx psu, the psu is gonna stay outside the case until corsair releases the sf600.

I'm just wondering if I really need that revised sfx mounting bracket.

Another thing. I noticed on the website that if I want to buy a set of new panels for my v1 I will need to order the no odd separate and will once again end up with an unused top panel.
Any chance you could sell a panel set with the no odd included and not the other one.
It just seems like a waist of money and metal.
I really want the no odd panel without that back screw and from what I understood the new top panels are not compatible with the v1 side and front panels.
 
XelNika said:
It will. Just make sure to use the last power connector on the cable for one of them. The power cable is actually an issue with the proposed one down, one up solution; the standard SATA power cable on the SX600 isn't long enough.
EDIT: It has come to my attention that perhaps it could work, but you would have to use the first two connectors since those have 20 cm of cable between them whereas there's only 10 cm between each of the last three.

ZWSSncUl.jpg
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You could snap open the SATA power and move them up and down the power cable. I have no pictures but just imagine that little plastic cover opens and you can then slide the plastic guy anywhere on the cable. Just some helpful info.
 
question about some fans and radiators.

i currently have a reference 970 and h105 on the cpu, looking to change it up.

im wanting to do a 120mm on the gpu and one on the cpu too. i was looking at the h75 or h80i (wont use corsair link), thoughts on any others? not sure if the differences will really matter. i like the h105 except for its really flimsy tiny elbows on the tubing (h105 broke and leaked last time it was out of the case)

looking to add a back exhaust and this is what im looking at
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002QVLBPO...UTF8&colid=2SRZ1IXGMHXZB&coliid=ID8YM2MXAQTA6

good? and is it worth it to put a fan on top of the psu to exhaust?
 
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No Hands 55 said:
question about some fans and radiators.

i currently have a reference 970 and h105 on the cpu, looking to change it up.

im wanting to do a 120mm on the gpu and one on the cpu too. i was looking at the h75 or h80i (wont use corsair link), thoughts on any others? not sure if the differences will really matter. i like the h105 except for its really flimsy tiny elbows on the tubing (h105 broke and leaked last time it was out of the case)

looking to add a back exhaust and this is what im looking at
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002QVLBPO...UTF8&colid=2SRZ1IXGMHXZB&coliid=ID8YM2MXAQTA6

good? and is it worth it to put a fan on top of the psu to exhaust?
Click to expand...

The H80i is a VERY tight squeeze over the motherboard - not due to the 38mm rad but the thicker hoses. its very doable but requires putting serious strain on the fan bracket as the hoses usually rest up against the radiator from the inside. i tried it initially and swapped out the H80i because it was too hard to manage with the dual 120mm rad solution - much easier to have 2 slim rads next to each other (given thats pretty tight as it is anyway.
 
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callumbolch said:
The H80i is a VERY tight squeeze over the motherboard - not due to the 38mm rad but the thicker hoses. its very doable but requires putting serious strain on the fan bracket as the hoses usually rest up against the radiator from the inside. i tried it initially and swapped out the H80i because it was too hard to manage with the dual 120mm rad solution - much easier to have 2 slim rads next to each other (given thats pretty tight as it is anyway.
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good to know thanks. thats how i feel currently about the h105. EXTREMELY tight fit. ill probably go with 2 H75s then for my new setup. Thanks!
 
A large PSU exhaust fan won't really be possible with the current PSU mounting hardware as it has additional aluminium structure up to the top panel to help keep the exhaust separate from the rest of the case. You would be getting in a slim fan at best, and one thats also pretty small, the benefit of which is possible, but needs to be weighed up against noise and cost/effort to install. If you took off the psu baffle, you might be able to get in a larger slim fan.
 
grazina said:
Hey necere.
I have a couple of questions for you.

Do you plan on waiting for corsair to release their sf600 before tweaking the sfx bracket to ensure maximum compability?
Click to expand...
Based on the published photos, no change is needed.

grazina said:
Can you post some pictures of both sfx brackets (v1 and v3) so I can actually understand the difference, speciffically in terms of height of the psu.

I've ordered today my gtx 980 ti hybrid, and since I'm running a full atx psu, the psu is gonna stay outside the case until corsair releases the sf600.

I'm just wondering if I really need that revised sfx mounting bracket.
Click to expand...
The Corsair SF600 is regular SFX, not SFX-L, and has an AC inlet orientation that's fully compatible with the V1/V2 SFX bracket. There are two changes made to the V3 bracket: it sits 2mm higher to allow a little more room for the SFX-L modular connectors; and a cutout on the flange which is specifically designed for the AC inlet orientation on the Sirfa/High Power SFX-L based models (used by Silverstone, Sharkoon, Chieftec, Scythe). Comparison pic:

VH0vJa6.png


grazina said:
Another thing. I noticed on the website that if I want to buy a set of new panels for my v1 I will need to order the no odd separate and will once again end up with an unused top panel.
Any chance you could sell a panel set with the no odd included and not the other one.
It just seems like a waist of money and metal.
I really want the no odd panel without that back screw and from what I understood the new top panels are not compatible with the v1 side and front panels.
Click to expand...
I've brought it up with w360 and he says it's something we can do. Don't expect it for a bit though, since the panel kits will be shipped to the US with the M1 V4s.
 
Curiositie said:
Talking about the still terrible mounting system?
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In large part, yes, however also the performance seems to be well below it's stated 220W limit.

cowsgomoo said:
guru3D seems to have better luck with it:

dugAHOz.png
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Was this test done in open air, or in an actual enclosure? That's the crux of the matter, and I'm not seeing it mentioned, though I'll admit I only have the time to briefly skim their review at the moment.
 
pointfiveo said:
Sorry if this has been asked before but couldn't the SFX-L support have been improved further by making the flange lower and increasing that 2 mm to say 5 mm? There's at least 3 mm between the top of the power cable connector and the top panel when the power cable is plugged into the PSU.
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The bracket can't be raised any more, though for kind of a dumb reason: the screw hole at the front of the bracket - where it attaches to the front of the chassis - is as close as it can be to the bend. Raising the bracket moves the bend up relative to screw hole, which needs to stay where it is to maintain compatibility with all versions of the chassis.
 
Necere said:
Based on the published photos, no change is needed.

The Corsair SF600 is regular SFX, not SFX-L, and has an AC inlet orientation that's fully compatible with the V1/V2 SFX bracket. There are two changes made to the V3 bracket: it sits 2mm higher to allow a little more room for the SFX-L modular connectors; and a cutout on the flange which is specifically designed for the AC inlet orientation on the Sirfa/High Power SFX-L based models (used by Silverstone, Sharkoon, Chieftec, Scythe). Comparison pic:

VH0vJa6.png


I've brought it up with w360 and he says it's something we can do. Don't expect it for a bit though, since the panel kits will be shipped to the US with the M1 V4s.
Click to expand...

I'm more than happy to wait. Even thinking about getting the silver set to future proof myself in case I want to change the case down the line. But doing it it know would also mean getting an extra silver odd cut out panel that will never be used. I'm also interested in that new side panel you mentioned might be coming with the v4. Do you plan on having that has an extra as well?
 
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