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

Thanks. Actually, I am going to share 3 cards on an x1!! Yes, I expect a massive performance cut haha, but it should be more than enough bandwidth for mining (if it wasn't clear, that's why I'm doing this).

But I will run some tests out of curiosity. A single 1080 Ti suffered a 20% performance hit on an x1/USB-wired riser (Unigine Heaven 1080p max settings). I expect a 1080 Ti + 1070 + 1070 on an x1 to suffer a much more significant hit each, but it will be fun to see how much.

Thx for the explanations!
I wasn't sure it was for mining but with 3 cards on an x1 it is now quite obvious!

I made a quick search but it looks like USB3 PCIe riser x4 doesn't exist. Probably because USB3 can not support such a bandwith, dunno...
 
Thx for the explanations!
I wasn't sure it was for mining but with 3 cards on an x1 it is now quite obvious!

I made a quick search but it looks like USB3 PCIe riser x4 doesn't exist. Probably because USB3 can not support such a bandwith, dunno...

USB 3.0 wiring can support ~ PCIe 3.0 x1 bandwidth, so technically an x4 riser with 4 ports would make sense, and an x1 riser with 4 ports would be severely oversaturated, but these riser cards are made solely for mining, and you hardly need any bandwidth for that, so my guess is they are x1 to save cost...

If you meant the single port ones, yes USB 3.0 wiring cannot even fully saturate an x1, so they are all x1, like the one I'm using now for the 1080 Ti:

K2ZZVZh.png


Mind you, that is an old M.2 to PCIe x4 adapter off of eBay that didn't work. I had to get a unit from Delock, which was significantly more expensive (and seems to have more components on the PCB), which worked. Here are the two, and you can see the tiny x1 riser card next the box, which will be replaced by the one I posted with 4 USB ports.

tVcrDhI.png


If anyone is thinking about adapting an M.2 port, I recomend the Delock adapter. There's also one from bplus that works, but has been sold out everywhere.

I digressed wildly there.
 
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Thanks!
Looks really good.

I think I might just take a Dark Rock, if it can fit my future board (waiting for a Z370 actually). Maybe I'll replace the 135mm fan with a 120mm one mounted on the fan bracket, as otherwise it a large portion of the fan is being blocked. Or maybe even try to mount the 135mm somehow on the bracket, though I don't think that's really possible.

In any case, the fan seems really close to the side, so it should be possible to cool the CPU with a fan mounted on the fan bracket, right?
It really is dependant on your motherboard. I also have the Dark Rock TF on a different Gigabyte board and it fits great with the fan bracket with either a 120mm fan or HDD cage. The 135mm fan sits about 6-7mm back from the side bracket so I wrapped some adhesive black foam around it to duct to the side intake
 
What's the best solution for the air intake on the bottom, considering an open air cooler GPU? I'm currently using only ducts, but as i need to filter all intakes, results are a bit underwhelming. Getting up to 70 °C at 50% fan speed on an evga gtx1070. I'm think of replacing it with 2 fans, as it seem to be the most popular option. edit: What kind of fans are recommended for this use case?
 
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i put in a couple corsair quiet SP fans and they did just fine keeping the 1080 GPU cool under load and pushing warm air out the top, if i didnt have them new in box in my desk if have use a couple noctua SP fans.

https://s26.postimg.org/4272qgd55/File_003.jpg

i added the 120mm side fan and have since rotated the CPU cooler so its pulling fresh air from side fan and pushing it out the back with the 92mm

temps are good now on CPU and GPU
 
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I am using very ugly Startech 2 Molex to 8-pin adapters (put in LP4PCIEX8ADP into Amazon and you'll find them). I say very ugly because the cables are yellow/black and the connectors are white. But they're high quality and they get the job done. Needless to say, for what I'm doing looks don't matter, in fact I'm almost going for an overcrowded/messy theme if there's such a thing. You can probably find black ones if you look very hard (the vast vast majority aren't for some reason). I'm not sure if it's a good idea to do a single 8-pin + adapted 2 molex to 8-pin into a single card. I'm sure it'll work, but you MAY have stability issues.

What are you using for the 8-pin adapters? I'm looking to upgrade my GTX 780 to a Vega 56 but my Silverstone 450w PSU doesn't have the 2x8pin power cables.

I just wanted to check in because I was a little surprised by the lack of Vega posts. I've had mine for a couple of weeks, but I've been traveling and really haven't had the chance to use it.

Long story short, I have a V1 NCase with the same 450W PSU from Silverstone. I'm running a custom loop on it and got a hold of a Vega 64 air card for my LG UC88 ultrawide freesync monitor. I also had to use the 2x8pin adapter. However, upon full load it could couldn't cut it. Even at undervolt, I was getting hard shutdowns at random times.

I have since gotten a hold of the full EK block for Vega (btw it fits without issue in the NCase) and I grabbed a SF600 as well. Now Vega runs <60C at full max with an Apogee Drive II and an Oc'd 4790k and I have no shutdowns. FPS is much more stable and impressive now due to no thermal throttling.

I really thought the 450 would be enough with an undervolt, but I think the lack of 2x8 pins on the 12v rail hurt too much. Vega 56 may/may not be ok depending on what else you have running? My watt meter shows about 60w at idle, 210w while mining, and I'm rarely over 400w while gaming. Depending on stressing the cpu + gpu, I can touch 500w though.
 
I just wanted to check in because I was a little surprised by the lack of Vega posts. I've had mine for a couple of weeks, but I've been traveling and really haven't had the chance to use it.

Long story short, I have a V1 NCase with the same 450W PSU from Silverstone. I'm running a custom loop on it and got a hold of a Vega 64 air card for my LG UC88 ultrawide freesync monitor. I also had to use the 2x8pin adapter. However, upon full load it could couldn't cut it. Even at undervolt, I was getting hard shutdowns at random times.

I have since gotten a hold of the full EK block for Vega (btw it fits without issue in the NCase) and I grabbed a SF600 as well. Now Vega runs <60C at full max with an Apogee Drive II and an Oc'd 4790k and I have no shutdowns. FPS is much more stable and impressive now due to no thermal throttling.

I really thought the 450 would be enough with an undervolt, but I think the lack of 2x8 pins on the 12v rail hurt too much. Vega 56 may/may not be ok depending on what else you have running? My watt meter shows about 60w at idle, 210w while mining, and I'm rarely over 400w while gaming. Depending on stressing the cpu + gpu, I can touch 500w though.
Overclocked, the 4790k platform can draw as much as 350w (toms), though average is much less. With the gpu, some fans, and a hdd or two I could see it getting to 450w.
 
So after following this thread for more than a year my build is now complete and I've been running it at work for a few weeks now without any problems. I work in VFX for the film industry and I do a lot of 3d work and editing. I absolutely love it and it would never have been built if it wasn't for the wealth of information on this forum so thank you all.
My build is centred around an Ryzen 1800x and a MSI 1080ti FE with an Accelero xtreme 3 cooler. Quite shocked as how low my temps are using this cooler. Hopefully I can answer any questions anyone else has looking for a similar build. I found the whole build pretty straight forward but I did do a lot of research beforehand. Actually the trickiest part was putting the Accelero cooler on the 1080ti which was a bit fiddly. I also managed to retain the FE backplate with the cooler using nylon bolts which I was pleased about. I'm controlling the MLpro 120 fans with MSI afterburner and they are plugged directly into the gpu while exhausting out of the bottom of the case. I chose the corsair MLpro fans for this build as I've used Noctua fans for years but I prefer the noise of the Corsairs when spinning over 1000rpm. Create more of a whoosh than a hum. Maybe this is due to the magnetic levitation.
My case fans at idle run at around 600rpm and are barely audible. In fact I can't here them in the office and the case is on my desk.
My GPU at idle runs at around 24 degrees and at 98% load runs at only 59 degrees.
Ive OCd my CPU to 4ghz and its stable and temps are also good. If anyone wants detailed benchmarks and temps I can upload them.
Room temperature was 22 degrees.

build_begin.jpg

stripped.jpg


heatsinks_accelero.jpg backplate_accelero.jpg
1080ti cooler assembly. Adding the VRM and mosfet heatsinks was a bit tricky. I used thermal glue and you have to be so careful not to have them touching the edges of the surface mounted capacitors.
The backplate i put on using the original nuts and screws from the FE cooler and some m2.5 nylon bolts.

ncase_complete.jpg


Since tidied the cables at the bottom :)

gpu.jpg







.
 
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So after following this thread for more than a year my build is now complete and I've been running it at work for a few weeks now without any problems. I work in VFX for the film industry and I do a lot of 3d work and editing. I absolutely love it and it would never have been built if it wasn't for the wealth of information on this forum so thank you all.
My build is centred around an Ryzen 1800x and a MSI 1080ti FE with an Accelero xtreme 3 cooler. Quite shocked as how low my temps are using this cooler. Hopefully I can answer any questions anyone else has looking for a similar build. I found the whole build pretty straight forward but I did do a lot of research beforehand. Actually the trickiest part was putting the Accelero cooler on the 1080ti which was a bit fiddly. I also managed to retain the FE backplate with the cooler using nylon bolts which I was pleased about. I'm controlling the MLpro 120 fans with MSI afterburner and they are plugged directly into the gpu while exhausting out of the bottom of the case. I chose the corsair MLpro fans for this build as I've used Noctua fans for years but I prefer the noise of the Corsairs when spining over 1000rpm. Create more of a whoosh than a hum. Maybe this is due to the magnetic levitation.
My case fans at idle run at around 600rpm and are barely audible. In fact I can't here them in the office and the case is on my desk.
My GPU at idle runs at around 24 degrees and at 98% load runs at only 59 degrees.
Ive OCd my CPU to 4ghz and its stable and temps are also good. If anyone wants detailed benchmarks and temps I can upload them.
Room temperature was 22 degrees.

View attachment 36743
View attachment 36744

View attachment 36745 View attachment 36746
1080ti cooler assembly. Adding the VRM and mosfet heatsinks was a bit tricky. I used thermal glue and you have to be so careful not to have them touching the edges of the surface mounted capacitors.
The backplate i put on using the original nuts and screws from the FE cooler and some m2.5 nylon bolts.

View attachment 36747

Since tidied the cables at the bottom :)

View attachment 36748






.

Very nicely done, where did you manage to fine an original NH-C14?

The cooler combo you have, Noctua NH-C14 and the Arctic Accelero Xtreme 3 are probably the best combo I have seen for air cooling in the Ncase. Both are able to utilize 2 X 120mm fans and manage to produce some really good temps at low noise levels.

Glad you are happy with the build.
 
Very nicely done, where did you manage to fine an original NH-C14?

The cooler combo you have, Noctua NH-C14 and the Arctic Accelero Xtreme 3 are probably the best combo I have seen for air cooling in the Ncase. Both are able to utilize 2 X 120mm fans and manage to produce some really good temps at low noise levels.

Glad you are happy with the build.

I think I got really lucky with the C14. I went on Amazon UK and there was a company which had one in stock new. I did'nt believe it at first and had to double check with them that it wasn't a C14s which had been listed wrongly. It arrived promptly too.
 
I think I got really lucky with the C14. I went on Amazon UK and there was a company which had one in stock new. I did'nt believe it at first and had t
o double check with them that it wasn't a C14s which had been listed wrongly. It arrived promptly too.

I got the same one from Amazon UK! :D It's been a few months and I still haven't installed it as I am doing something else with my M1 now and my new massive air purifier has drowned out the grinding noise from my AIO pump (which inspired the switch to air initially), but I am doing the same air cooling setup as you with a C14 and an Accelero Xtreme III, which I'll get around to eventually. It's the way to do air cooling in the M1. You know, if you'd gotten the EVGA 1080 Ti SC2 instead of the reference design, you could have kept the faceplate and not had to deal with those pesky heatsinks. You would have needed a copper shim though. Just FYI if anyone else is considering it, but your setup looks amazing, well done!
 
So after following this thread for more than a year my build is now complete and I've been running it at work for a few weeks now without any problems. I work in VFX for the film industry and I do a lot of 3d work and editing. I absolutely love it and it would never have been built if it wasn't for the wealth of information on this forum so thank you all.
My build is centred around an Ryzen 1800x and a MSI 1080ti FE with an Accelero xtreme 3 cooler. Quite shocked as how low my temps are using this cooler. Hopefully I can answer any questions anyone else has looking for a similar build. I found the whole build pretty straight forward but I did do a lot of research beforehand. Actually the trickiest part was putting the Accelero cooler on the 1080ti which was a bit fiddly. I also managed to retain the FE backplate with the cooler using nylon bolts which I was pleased about. I'm controlling the MLpro 120 fans with MSI afterburner and they are plugged directly into the gpu while exhausting out of the bottom of the case. I chose the corsair MLpro fans for this build as I've used Noctua fans for years but I prefer the noise of the Corsairs when spinning over 1000rpm. Create more of a whoosh than a hum. Maybe this is due to the magnetic levitation.
My case fans at idle run at around 600rpm and are barely audible. In fact I can't here them in the office and the case is on my desk.
My GPU at idle runs at around 24 degrees and at 98% load runs at only 59 degrees.
Ive OCd my CPU to 4ghz and its stable and temps are also good. If anyone wants detailed benchmarks and temps I can upload them.
Room temperature was 22 degrees.

View attachment 36743
View attachment 36744

View attachment 36745 View attachment 36746
1080ti cooler assembly. Adding the VRM and mosfet heatsinks was a bit tricky. I used thermal glue and you have to be so careful not to have them touching the edges of the surface mounted capacitors.
The backplate i put on using the original nuts and screws from the FE cooler and some m2.5 nylon bolts.

View attachment 36747

Since tidied the cables at the bottom :)

View attachment 36748






.

Very nice setup indeed :)
What RPMs are you getting from the ML120 fans when you set the fan control to the min. %?
I'm running the SC2 bios on my 1080ti FE and the ML120s goes down to 440 rpm when set to min. (0 %).
I also tested with the NF-f12 and they stop completely at 0 %, but I too prefer the ML120 at higher RPMs.
 
...the EVGA 1080 Ti SC2 instead of the reference design, you could have kept the faceplate and not had to deal with those pesky heatsinks. You would have needed a copper shim though. Just FYI if anyone else is considering it, but your setup looks amazing, well done!

More info or link(s) on this (please) , for science...!
 
More info or link(s) on this (please) , for science...!

It's hard to find any one source, this is info I've accumulated thru lots of research. Basically, a lot of people have tried to install an NZXT G10/G12 on their EVGA GPUs without taking off the awesome EVGA faceplate. Unfortunately, EVGA's mounting prevents an Asetek pump to be installed because of 4 tabs protruding into the GPU area; the cold plate comes within ~ 2 mm of the GPU. So the way to do it is by using a copper shim. Surprisingly, it hardly affects temperatures and people were still seeing ~ 50C with an AIO installed. So I thought, would it be possible to install an Accelero Xtreme 3 using this method? I remember doing research on this and confirming that people had used an Accelero + copper shim on other cards, but couldn't find anyone who had done it on a new EVGA while keeping the faceplate. So I looked at the dimensions/shape of the Accelero coldplate and concluded it would work. That's my recollection at least, it was a few months ago and I still haven't done it because of my mining project (running my 1080 Ti outside). I don't think I found anyone who had done/documented EVGA faceplate + copper shim + Accelero. I'll definitely do it sooner or later, but my conclusion after exhaustive research was that it would work. It would definitely look better to keep the faceplate and the backplate vs. using the annoying Accelero heatsinks. And the new EVGA ICX faceplate is bananas, so it's definitely worth it.
 
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This maybe kind of unrelated, but I am experiencing terrible noise coming from my speakers with my Ncase build. I have my PC connected to my receiver and TV both via HDMI, but whenever the GPU is under load I get this horrible noise coming from my speakers, this also happens from my motherboards optical output. Could this be because everything is so tightly packed inside the Ncase that the different components are causing interference to the GPU/Mobo, also the Corsair SFX 600 PSU may be to blame, but at this point I am pretty much out of ideas. Anyone else ever experience this with your SFF builds?

GPU: Asus GTX 1080TI Strix
MOBO: Asrock AB350 ITX
PSU: Corsair SFX 600
 
This maybe kind of unrelated, but I am experiencing terrible noise coming from my speakers with my Ncase build. I have my PC connected to my receiver and TV both via HDMI, but whenever the GPU is under load I get this horrible noise coming from my speakers, this also happens from my motherboards optical output. Could this be because everything is so tightly packed inside the Ncase that the different components are causing interference to the GPU/Mobo, also the Corsair SFX 600 PSU may be to blame, but at this point I am pretty much out of ideas. Anyone else ever experience this with your SFF builds?

GPU: Asus GTX 1080TI Strix
MOBO: Asrock AB350 ITX
PSU: Corsair SFX 600

This isn't an uncommon issue and I believe interference can often happen when multiple devices share the same "ground". I'm no expert on the matter, but I always separate the "ground" of my audio devices(TV and PC) from the amplifier using a "ground loop isolator".
But before you start purchasing stuff to try and fix the issue, try isolating the cause. Make sure that the noise isn't coming from the receiver it self. Try to disconnect the TV. Double check which combo actually triggers the noise.

Another option is of course to use a USB DAC (external sound card) and something like AudioQuest's JitterBug. Personally, I prefer the DragonFly for clear audio, though the Realtek chip should be sufficient for most.
 
Anymore heatsinks I need to attach before I put on the Accelero? This is an EVGA 1080 to SC2 if it helps. I think I have my bases covered but should there be anymore put on on the right side of the card?

I did one of these on a 970 but it's been a while, can't remember! Thanks!
 

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Anymore heatsinks I need to attach before I put on the Accelero? This is an EVGA 1080 to SC2 if it helps. I think I have my bases covered but should there be anymore put on on the right side of the card?

I did one of these on a 970 but it's been a while, can't remember! Thanks!

I think you have them all covered, looks good.
 
Anymore heatsinks I need to attach before I put on the Accelero? This is an EVGA 1080 to SC2 if it helps. I think I have my bases covered but should there be anymore put on on the right side of the card?

I did one of these on a 970 but it's been a while, can't remember! Thanks!

Isn't it possible to use the faceplate of the SC2 cooler to help distribute the heat? I believe I saw someone do that.
 
Isn't it possible to use the faceplate of the SC2 cooler to help distribute the heat? I believe I saw someone do that.

I was thinking about doing the same, but due to the tabs that hold it on and the large cylindrical heat pipes over the VRMs on that plate, you'd have to remove the tabs and grind down the pipes to get it to fit. I'm using Akasa thermal adhesive tape with this so I'll be able to remove the heatsinks in case of an RMA, which I'd like to keep as an option.
 
It's hard to find any one source, this is info I've accumulated thru lots of research. Basically, a lot of people have tried to install an NZXT G10/G12 on their EVGA GPUs without taking off the awesome EVGA faceplate. Unfortunately, EVGA's mounting prevents an Asetek pump to be installed because of 4 tabs protruding into the GPU area; the cold plate comes within ~ 2 mm of the GPU. So the way to do it is by using a copper shim. Surprisingly, it hardly affects temperatures and people were still seeing ~ 50C with an AIO installed. So I thought, would it be possible to install an Accelero Xtreme 3 using this method? I remember doing research on this and confirming that people had used an Accelero + copper shim on other cards, but couldn't find anyone who had done it on a new EVGA while keeping the faceplate. So I looked at the dimensions/shape of the Accelero coldplate and concluded it would work. That's my recollection at least, it was a few months ago and I still haven't done it because of my mining project (running my 1080 Ti outside). I don't think I found anyone who had done/documented EVGA faceplate + copper shim + Accelero. I'll definitely do it sooner or later, but my conclusion after exhaustive research was that it would work. It would definitely look better to keep the faceplate and the backplate vs. using the annoying Accelero heatsinks. And the new EVGA ICX faceplate is bananas, so it's definitely worth it.

FYI Another option to gluing lots of small heatsinks to the graphics card when switching to the Arctic Accelero Xtreme III was posted in June by rfarmer. He posted the photo below that showed small heatsinks on each of the RAM chips, but also a large black heatsink covering the VRMs and other components. This heatsink is the Gelid Icy Vision GTX1070/1080 Enhancement Kit and it seems to me to be a simpler solution, though of course it means another purchase.

a02a0d3b8f.jpg
 
FYI Another option to gluing lots of small heatsinks to the graphics card when switching to the Arctic Accelero Xtreme III was posted in June by rfarmer. He posted the photo below that showed small heatsinks on each of the RAM chips, but also a large black heatsink covering the VRMs and other components. This heatsink is the Gelid Icy Vision GTX1070/1080 Enhancement Kit and it seems to me to be a simpler solution, though of course it means another purchase.

Yes, I was considering this for my 1070 before I got the 1080 Ti. I actually got the Gelid kit, it was $15 from eBay, never used it. This works, but only on the 1070 and 1080 reference PCBs, not the 1080 Ti. Gelid hasn't released a version for the 1080 Ti and neither has anyone else. For the 1070 and 1080, you don't even need heatsinks on the RAM honestly, just the VRMs.
 
Can someone take a look at this and tell me what they think regarding voltage and temps?

CERFbnq.png

Ambient is about 78-80F with these temps. GTX 1070 blower card below.

This is a stock 3.5Ghz 4770k with a Noctua C12P cooler, using the 140mm fan but mounted about 2" away from the heatsink mounted on the side bracket, heatpipes towards the right, Silverstone ST45SF-G PS.

I've been running it like this for 4 years. I played around with bumping the multiplier up to get it around 4.0Ghz, it was stable but I decided the elevated temps were not worth it, think it was 85-90c at load. I re-seated the thermal paste earlier this year when I added more RAM so I know that's good.

My question is, how can I bring temps down and overclock? I know very little about overclocking, I think those voltages being shown are normal, set to auto in the bios; temps seem high to me. I wasn't sure if a small exhaust fan would help, can't really fit another side fan with the current 140mm on the side bracket. When I first built this I ran a NF-F12 directly over the heatsink with PWM and determined the fan was too loud for the temp range, but I forget the exact temps.

Should I not worry much about the temps? I know Haswell tends to run hot but a lot of you guys are able to achieve much better temps than I've been running on air.
 
Can someone take a look at this and tell me what they think regarding voltage and temps?

CERFbnq.png

Ambient is about 78-80F with these temps. GTX 1070 blower card below.

This is a stock 3.5Ghz 4770k with a Noctua C12P cooler, using the 140mm fan but mounted about 2" away from the heatsink mounted on the side bracket, heatpipes towards the right, Silverstone ST45SF-G PS.

I've been running it like this for 4 years. I played around with bumping the multiplier up to get it around 4.0Ghz, it was stable but I decided the elevated temps were not worth it, think it was 85-90c at load. I re-seated the thermal paste earlier this year when I added more RAM so I know that's good.

My question is, how can I bring temps down and overclock? I know very little about overclocking, I think those voltages being shown are normal, set to auto in the bios; temps seem high to me. I wasn't sure if a small exhaust fan would help, can't really fit another side fan with the current 140mm on the side bracket. When I first built this I ran a NF-F12 directly over the heatsink with PWM and determined the fan was too loud for the temp range, but I forget the exact temps.

Should I not worry much about the temps? I know Haswell tends to run hot but a lot of you guys are able to achieve much better temps than I've been running on air.

Have you tried mounting the fan directly to the heatsink? 2" is quite a gap, air needs to blow between the fins. I would try that first and possibly mounting additional fans to the fan bracket.
 
Have you tried mounting the fan directly to the heatsink? 2" is quite a gap, air needs to blow between the fins. I would try that first and possibly mounting additional fans to the fan bracket.

I just checked and it's more like 1".

sJnXfdw.jpg


I can't use the stock fan because it's 140mm and the way it attaches to the C12p cooler would push it out of the case, that's why I tried the NF-F12 fan. I guess I have 2 things I can try. I remember at the time not noticing a difference between using the ultra low noise adapter and the low noise adapter (not sure if I connected directly, as it was so long ago). I guess I should bypass the adapter completely and assess temps that way and also see how it runs with the 120mm attached directly to the heatsink (now to find those attachment clips...).
 
I just checked and it's more like 1".

sJnXfdw.jpg


I can't use the stock fan because it's 140mm and the way it attaches to the C12p cooler would push it out of the case, that's why I tried the NF-F12 fan. I guess I have 2 things I can try. I remember at the time not noticing a difference between using the ultra low noise adapter and the low noise adapter (not sure if I connected directly, as it was so long ago). I guess I should bypass the adapter completely and assess temps that way and also see how it runs with the 120mm attached directly to the heatsink (now to find those attachment clips...).

That is the first thing I would try. It is a Noctua fan so shouldn't be too loud even at full speed. Try the fan mounted to the heatsink with full speed fans and see if that helps.
 
I actually don't think I ever tried the 120mm on the heatsink directly, I can't remember if they're was clearance issues or if I just figured it wouldn't make a difference.

Still though, seems most people just mount the fan to the side bracket on the Ncase.
 
So after following this thread for more than a year my build is now complete and I've been running it at work for a few weeks now without any problems. I work in VFX for the film industry and I do a lot of 3d work and editing. I absolutely love it and it would never have been built if it wasn't for the wealth of information on this forum so thank you all.
My build is centred around an Ryzen 1800x and a MSI 1080ti FE with an Accelero xtreme 3 cooler. Quite shocked as how low my temps are using this cooler. Hopefully I can answer any questions anyone else has looking for a similar build. I found the whole build pretty straight forward but I did do a lot of research beforehand. Actually the trickiest part was putting the Accelero cooler on the 1080ti which was a bit fiddly. I also managed to retain the FE backplate with the cooler using nylon bolts which I was pleased about. I'm controlling the MLpro 120 fans with MSI afterburner and they are plugged directly into the gpu while exhausting out of the bottom of the case. I chose the corsair MLpro fans for this build as I've used Noctua fans for years but I prefer the noise of the Corsairs when spinning over 1000rpm. Create more of a whoosh than a hum. Maybe this is due to the magnetic levitation.
My case fans at idle run at around 600rpm and are barely audible. In fact I can't here them in the office and the case is on my desk.
My GPU at idle runs at around 24 degrees and at 98% load runs at only 59 degrees.
Ive OCd my CPU to 4ghz and its stable and temps are also good. If anyone wants detailed benchmarks and temps I can upload them.
Room temperature was 22 degrees.

View attachment 36743
View attachment 36744

View attachment 36745 View attachment 36746
1080ti cooler assembly. Adding the VRM and mosfet heatsinks was a bit tricky. I used thermal glue and you have to be so careful not to have them touching the edges of the surface mounted capacitors.
The backplate i put on using the original nuts and screws from the FE cooler and some m2.5 nylon bolts.

View attachment 36747

Since tidied the cables at the bottom :)

View attachment 36748






.

Wow.. that C14 box is quite something....
Nicely done with the build (y)
 
I got the same one from Amazon UK! :D It's been a few months and I still haven't installed it as I am doing something else with my M1 now and my new massive air purifier has drowned out the grinding noise from my AIO pump (which inspired the switch to air initially), but I am doing the same air cooling setup as you with a C14 and an Accelero Xtreme III, which I'll get around to eventually. It's the way to do air cooling in the M1. You know, if you'd gotten the EVGA 1080 Ti SC2 instead of the reference design, you could have kept the faceplate and not had to deal with those pesky heatsinks. You would have needed a copper shim though. Just FYI if anyone else is considering it, but your setup looks amazing, well done!

I really wanted a card which had an adequate cooling face plate already to save me from using the mini heatsinks. Good to know for the future. I looked at an MSI gaming X 1080 which I've got which would have been ideal as but of course the PCB is too wide for the N-Case. I wasn't aware of the EVGA 1080 Ti Sc2 in this regard but it was out of stock everywhere when I was buying initially. In the end it was a little more homework but the FE card is running well.

Very nice setup indeed :)
What RPMs are you getting from the ML120 fans when you set the fan control to the min. %?
I'm running the SC2 bios on my 1080ti FE and the ML120s goes down to 440 rpm when set to min. (0 %).
I also tested with the NF-f12 and they stop completely at 0 %, but I too prefer the ML120 at higher RPMs.

My fans are set to run at 20% at idle and they're also running at around 450rpm. Their super quiet at this speed so not worried about having them stop. As well they most likely add a little bit of airflow by dragging a bit of air out from the top of the case through the small gaps around the gpu .
 
Are the pipes touching the case? Could be an issue if they are.
It's not touching.
That is the first thing I would try. It is a Noctua fan so shouldn't be too loud even at full speed. Try the fan mounted to the heatsink with full speed fans and see if that helps.
Removed the adapter (kept the fan on the bracket) and max CPU temps were 67c while gaming... That was easy :eek:.

Now to start looking into overclocking a bit.
 
Well that is good to hear.
Yea, I'm going to work on making my own attachment clips if I can to get the fan on the heatsink directly, but I'm the meantime this is good.

Also considering to move to an ATX PSU, mostly for noise (ST45SF has some annoying ticks) but I think it could also help with temps slightly. Is the general consensus that you need to use a PCI-E riser to lower the GPU with an ATX PSU? I'm looking at the Seasonic seafocus plus 750w, which is 140mm but modular.
 
Yea, I'm going to work on making my own attachment clips if I can to get the fan on the heatsink directly, but I'm the meantime this is good.

Also considering to move to an ATX PSU, mostly for noise (ST45SF has some annoying ticks) but I think it could also help with temps slightly. Is the general consensus that you need to use a PCI-E riser to lower the GPU with an ATX PSU? I'm looking at the Seasonic seafocus plus 750w, which is 140mm but modular.

I think it depends on the PS. Some PS S units have the modular connectors offset slightly so rotating the PS in the ATX mounting bracket can place the PS connectors just beyond the end of a graphics card. The Seasonic Focus Plus 750 has nice flush connectors, but they are in two rows that are fairly symmectically centered. You would almost certainly need to use connectors on both rows.

Focus-plus-gold-004.png

Have you considered a Corsair SF600? Many owners have found it to be fairly quiet and some report that the fan rarely comes on. A slightly better fit in the case than an ATX power supply may be one of the SFX-L units from Silverstone and Lian Li.
 
I think it depends on the PS. Some PS S units have the modular connectors offset slightly so rotating the PS in the ATX mounting bracket can place the PS connectors just beyond the end of a graphics card. The Seasonic Focus Plus 750 has nice flush connectors, but they are in two rows that are fairly symmectically centered. You would almost certainly need to use connectors on both rows.

View attachment 36923

Have you considered a Corsair SF600? Many owners have found it to be fairly quiet and some report that the fan rarely comes on. A slightly better fit in the case than an ATX power supply may be one of the SFX-L units from Silverstone and Lian Li.
Yea I've considered it but I hear people saying it's louder than the SF450 when it turns on and I've heard the same thing about the SFX-L unit. I'm sure it's probably better than the ST45SF but if I'm going to swap PSUs for quietness I thought I'd just go ATX.

Are there any issue dropping the GPU using a riser?
 
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