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

Awesome. I was planning on buying an Arctic accelero 3 to run with a pair of NF-F12 fans. Right now the blower card maxes around 83c at stock levels.

The FE coolers are designed to target around 84C max. However, the thing to pay attention to is what clocks are you seeing while hitting those temps.

Chapeau is very correct in that better cooling for the GPU will affect the GPUs boost ability. It can be the difference in you running at 83-84C at ~1800Mhz or 70C at ~2000Mhz. As for the CPU, you can pretty much have a reasonable cooler on it and OC it with good results as long as you stay within a decent temperature range.

EDIT:

However, keep in mind that a CPU running at 5GHz on a 240mm AIO vs 4.5GHz on a 120mm AIO can make a big difference for certain games depending on the situation.
 
Does someone know where I might be able to get the SATA power cable from this post: https://imgur.com/a/sPtlZ

Specifically this is the image: https://i.imgur.com/qZePRYc.jpg

I hope to get this for use with my SF450 corsair PSU.

I'm not sure who does those exact cables, nice looking set btw.

CableMod-cables-810x608.jpg


This is a Cablemod set and they do a very similar SATA cable. They have single up to quad SATA connectors with adjustable lengths.
 
The FE coolers are designed to target around 84C max. However, the thing to pay attention to is what clocks are you seeing while hitting those temps.

Chapeau is very correct in that better cooling for the GPU will affect the GPUs boost ability. It can be the difference in you running at 83-84C at ~1800Mhz or 70C at ~2000Mhz. As for the CPU, you can pretty much have a reasonable cooler on it and OC it with good results as long as you stay within a decent temperature range.

EDIT:

However, keep in mind that a CPU running at 5GHz on a 240mm AIO vs 4.5GHz on a 120mm AIO can make a big difference for certain games depending on the situation.
Cool, thanks for the info. I tried overclocking again and using Intel's stress test I hit a max of 74c at 4.0GHz. during gaming it was under that by 1-2c, at ambient temp of around 78-80F, I'm pleased with that and will stick with 4.0GHz for a while and see what the GPU cooler does for me.
 
I'm not sure who does those exact cables, nice looking set btw.

CableMod-cables-810x608.jpg


This is a Cablemod set and they do a very similar SATA cable. They have single up to quad SATA connectors with adjustable lengths.

What you have pictured looks nice. I am thinking black-blue myself. I have the same gigabyte Z170 board, i5 6600k processor, but corsair SF450 psu.
1. Is that 24-pin long enough to reach the PSU and motherboard? They lineup very close to the PSU, but was not sure if that thickness can fit with the gap between the PSU and the motherboard power connector. 2. I assume the 3rd one is the CPU power cable - is that long enough? to go under the board and come out via the top to CPU power?
3. Would you by any chance happen to remember under which category to you choose that SATA power in cable mod?
 
An update on my build:

Finally Aquaero has arrived!
I guess there isn't a whole lot to add in addition to my on-going build saga. But I couldn't resist installing the Aquacomputer Cuplex Kryos Vision CPU block with it's cute little display. Originally, I wanted to use it's on board water temperature sensor but it turns out the acrylic model has its temperature probe on the base plate. Not ideal as this is really the IHS temperature more than anything else. However, it's intresting info anyway.

So for this build revision we have the following additions:
Aquaero 6 LT - an onboard controller that does temperature sensors, drives the fans/pump as well as lighting.
Hubby 7 - an internal usb hub
Kyplex Kryos Vision CPU block
Vision desktop display
Noctua NF-A12x15 fans
Noctua NF-A9x15 fan
Different case feet

As there is nowhere to mount the Aquaero in the M1, I used the trusty Dremel installation method:
Before:


After:


But the goodies are really all inside where the lcd on the CPU block has a bunch of scrolling pages:


The USB hub lives on top of the pump where it's not so visible with the side panel off:


And finally a clearer picture that shows the slightly more tidy cable work... What a pain it was to get to this point!

I'll admit - I could still do better but getting everything wired up was a struggle.

The Noctua fans are amazing - quiet, powerful and far more steady under PWM control. Really these are THE fan to use in an SFF build.

When I have time I'll update with a peak at the desktop vision display and what the Aquasuite software looks like.
 
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What you have pictured looks nice. I am thinking black-blue myself. I have the same gigabyte Z170 board, i5 6600k processor, but corsair SF450 psu.
1. Is that 24-pin long enough to reach the PSU and motherboard? They lineup very close to the PSU, but was not sure if that thickness can fit with the gap between the PSU and the motherboard power connector. 2. I assume the 3rd one is the CPU power cable - is that long enough? to go under the board and come out via the top to CPU power?
3. Would you by any chance happen to remember under which category to you choose that SATA power in cable mod?

Those pictures I found for an online review of Cablemod just to show you the SATA cable, I got my cables from Aliexpress. 24pin 300mm, 8pin power 400mm, PCI power 300mm.

49cf529042.jpg


The easiest way to find thos cables at cablemod is to just google Cablemod and click the Configuration link, then go in and choose your PSU and which cables you want.
 
An update on my build:

Finally Aquaero has arrived!
I guess there isn't a whole lot to add in addition to my on-going build saga. But I couldn't resist installing the Aquacomputer Cuplex Kryos Vision CPU block with it's cute little display. Originally, I wanted to use it's on board water temperature sensor but it turns out the acrylic model has its temperature probe on the base plate. Not ideal as this is really the IHS temperature more than anything else. However, it's intresting info anyway.

So for this build revision we have the following additions:
Aquaero 6 LT - an onboard controller that does temperature sensors, drives the fans/pump as well as lighting.
Hubby 7 - an internal usb hub
Kyplex Kryos Vision CPU block
Vision desktop display
Noctua NF-A12x15 fans
Noctua NF-A9x15 fan
Different case feet

As there is nowhere to mount the Aquaero in the M1, I used the trusty Dremel installation method:
Before:


After:


But the goodies are really all inside where the lcd on the CPU block has a bunch of scrolling pages:


The USB hub lives on top of teh pump where it's not so visible with the side panel off:


And finally a clearer picture that shows the slightly more tidy cable work... What a pain it was to get to this point!

I'll admit - I could still do better but getting everything wired up was a struggle.

The Noctua fans are amazing - quiet, powerful and far more steady under PWM control. Really these are THE fan to use in an SFF build.

When I have time I'll update with a peak at the desktop vision display and what the Aquasuite software looks like.

OMG Chapeau that looks great, but damn son you have that thing stuffed. ;)
 
What you have pictured looks nice. I am thinking black-blue myself. I have the same gigabyte Z170 board, i5 6600k processor, but corsair SF450 psu.
1. Is that 24-pin long enough to reach the PSU and motherboard? They lineup very close to the PSU, but was not sure if that thickness can fit with the gap between the PSU and the motherboard power connector. 2. I assume the 3rd one is the CPU power cable - is that long enough? to go under the board and come out via the top to CPU power?
3. Would you by any chance happen to remember under which category to you choose that SATA power in cable mod?
Here are custom cable lengths I copied from a previous post months ago:

nCase Custom Cable Lengths:

250mm for 24 pin,
400mm for 8 pin,
200 or 300mm for pci power depending on if you want to go across the top of the card or loop it under the bottom, If you are mounting 2.5 drives in front and are getting SATA power cables 200mm.
 
Here are custom cable lengths I copied from a previous post months ago:

nCase Custom Cable Lengths:

250mm for 24 pin,
400mm for 8 pin,
200 or 300mm for pci power depending on if you want to go across the top of the card or loop it under the bottom, If you are mounting 2.5 drives in front and are getting SATA power cables 200mm.

Yeah 250mm would be fine for the 24 pin but a lot of places only offer 100mm size increments, so you have 200mm or 300mm.
 
An update on my build:

Finally Aquaero has arrived!
I guess there isn't a whole lot to add in addition to my on-going build saga. But I couldn't resist installing the Aquacomputer Cuplex Kryos Vision CPU block with it's cute little display. Originally, I wanted to use it's on board water temperature sensor but it turns out the acrylic model has its temperature probe on the base plate. Not ideal as this is really the IHS temperature more than anything else. However, it's intresting info anyway.

So for this build revision we have the following additions:
Aquaero 6 LT - an onboard controller that does temperature sensors, drives the fans/pump as well as lighting.
Hubby 7 - an internal usb hub
Kyplex Kryos Vision CPU block
Vision desktop display
Noctua NF-A12x15 fans
Noctua NF-A9x15 fan
Different case feet

As there is nowhere to mount the Aquaero in the M1, I used the trusty Dremel installation method:
Before:


After:


But the goodies are really all inside where the lcd on the CPU block has a bunch of scrolling pages:


The USB hub lives on top of teh pump where it's not so visible with the side panel off:


And finally a clearer picture that shows the slightly more tidy cable work... What a pain it was to get to this point!

I'll admit - I could still do better but getting everything wired up was a struggle.

The Noctua fans are amazing - quiet, powerful and far more steady under PWM control. Really these are THE fan to use in an SFF build.

When I have time I'll update with a peak at the desktop vision display and what the Aquasuite software looks like.
This is amazing! That is a lot of components you manage to squeeze in there. May I suggest a 92mm fan grill. :)
 
Yeah 250mm would be fine for the 24 pin but a lot of places only offer 100mm size increments, so you have 200mm or 300mm.
Agreed. I ordered my cables from AliExpress and went with 300mm for the 24-pin.
 
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Here are custom cable lengths I copied from a previous post months ago:

nCase Custom Cable Lengths:

250mm for 24 pin,
400mm for 8 pin,
200 or 300mm for pci power depending on if you want to go across the top of the card or loop it under the bottom, If you are mounting 2.5 drives in front and are getting SATA power cables 200mm.

Thanks for the information. I will use this as a baseline.
 
This is amazing! That is a lot of components you manage to squeeze in there. May I suggest a 92mm fan grill. :)

Yeah - you know finding a black one is exceedingly hard. I've already put my hands into that rear fan a handful of times.. ahahaha (see what I did there?) I might have to paint one up.

Hmm... is the CPU block or anything else really preventing from having that fan at the back to be put inside? Then it will be really stuffed! :)
Amazing job @Chapeau!
I actually have 2 x slim 92mm fans at hand. Just a bit time poor at the moment but there is definitely room for internal placement too. My gut feeling is that the single slim fan just doesn't have enough grunt for that thick radiator so I had planned on push/pull - but if I can get away with a single that would be nice for noise.
 
Yeah - you know finding a black one is exceedingly hard. I've already put my hands into that rear fan a handful of times.. ahahaha (see what I did there?) I might have to paint one up.


I actually have 2 x slim 92mm fans at hand. Just a bit time poor at the moment but there is definitely room for internal placement too. My gut feeling is that the single slim fan just doesn't have enough grunt for that thick radiator so I had planned on push/pull - but if I can get away with a single that would be nice for noise.
A black dust cover, or filter might be more restrictive, but could work out well for aesthetics.
 
I've found my fingers in the blades of the a12x15 fans on the bottom of my case a few times. I really need to do the Chapeau radiator mod so I can get those fans inside the case! Probably won't have time for a while though, and what time I've had has been spent overclocking my RAM. So. Tedious.

In other news, I really like the looks of my monoblock in the M1, and it frees up some vertical space (or I guess horizontal since the mobo sits vertical?), but I think the CPU temps would be better with a normal block. Hard to tell with how awful KL is sometimes temp-wise. Maybe I'll revisit a Ryzen build when the 12nm stuff supposedly comes out early next year.
 
My Z270i monoblock ports are side by side, whereas I could mount my cpu block so that the ports are stacked vertically. I could mount a 92x25mm fan and 92mm radiator with the cpu block but not the monoblock.
 
Ordered an Acellero III for my 1080ti.

Hoping to just have that sit on the 120mm PWM fans I have in the bottom and have them exhaust for better temps. Currently with the stock blower cooler, it is hitting the 82-83c target and is ~100-200mhz over the boost clock advertised.
 
Currently with the stock blower cooler, it is hitting the 82-83c target and is ~100-200mhz over the boost clock advertised.
I want to understand because I should get a similar one when in stock. Does blower have access to fresh air? If it sucks heated air from surrounding, it doesn't help.

Does the extra 100-200MHz mean you have OCed it? If so why, not enough perf at stock speed?

Someone told me his never exceed 85c with blower maxed at 45% and I hope it will be the same for me.
 
Ideally, the blower would be pulling fresh air from the bottom of the case. So airflow outside the case matters as well. If the bottom of the case can't breathe well enough, or if it's getting recirculated air from the other vents, then temps will suffer accordingly.
 
I want to understand because I should get a similar one when in stock. Does blower have access to fresh air? If it sucks heated air from surrounding, it doesn't help.

Does the extra 100-200MHz mean you have OCed it? If so why, not enough perf at stock speed?

Someone told me his never exceed 85c with blower maxed at 45% and I hope it will be the same for me.

The blower has a 120mm fan pointed at its intake, so it should be getting plenty of fresh air.

I do not have it OC'd, but from what I understand, the pascal cards just OC themselves until it reaches its thermal limit (83-84c in this case) or something else like a power limit from my understanding. (someone please correct me if I am wrong here)
 
The blower has a 120mm fan pointed at its intake, so it should be getting plenty of fresh air.
If there is not enough space between fan and blower then it may hurt the airflow, which is a complex science.

I do not have it OC'd, but from what I understand, the pascal cards just OC themselves until it reaches its thermal limit (83-84c in this case) or something else like a power limit from my understanding. (someone please correct me if I am wrong here)
Almost that... https://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/gpu-boost/technology
 
Windowed M1?

pc-q38-01.png


Nah, it's the new PC-Q38.

AnandTech article here.

That looks nice, but it is also a little bigger than the M1. Not much, but some... Something to think about. I lucked out. I bought one and it fits snugly but directly into this little padded handbag I usually use for carrying microphones around. It's going to come in super handy for light trips with the M1. I would love to have an even smaller case, but OTOH there are so many more cooling options with something like the M1 over the even smaller ones that are available. To the PC-Q38's credit, it seems to have more GPU options and less limitations in that department.
 
Aye, 20 litres for the Q38, which is a hefty increase on the M1. I really like the appearance of the Q38, and even though I don't like windowed cases I think they've nailed the windowed side panel. I'd be concerned about there only being two fan mounts (2 x 120mm in the roof), plus there's a lot of wasted space in front of the motherboard between the PSU and GPU... But all that said, I think this is a pretty good mass-market mITX chassis, and at £100 it's a lot cheaper than an M1.
 
Just as a FYI if you want a windowed M1 here in the USA and cannot do the job yourself contact Performance-pc.com They can do the mod for you. You send your side panel to them and they will add the window. There is a fee of course.
 
Aye, 20 litres for the Q38, which is a hefty increase on the M1. I really like the appearance of the Q38, and even though I don't like windowed cases I think they've nailed the windowed side panel. I'd be concerned about there only being two fan mounts (2 x 120mm in the roof), plus there's a lot of wasted space in front of the motherboard between the PSU and GPU... But all that said, I think this is a pretty good mass-market mITX chassis, and at £100 it's a lot cheaper than an M1.

They only list it as having 2X120mm top fan support but looking at the pictures both the bottom and rear have the same ventilation slots as the top. You can see 4 mounting screws on the back (unsure of size) and I haven't found a clear pic of the bottom but even if it didn't have mounting holes you could add them.

One nice thing is if you wanted to do a custom loop that rear panel would be a great place to mount a pump/res.
 
Yeah, I saw the vents on the back but wasn't entirely sure how big a fan you might be to fit there, or how much benefit you'd get from fans on the far side panel...
 
Hey guys I’ve been going crazy trying to find a specific silver Ncase M1 build which had a beautiful pink under glow lighting done to it.

Anyone seen it? Link if you have.

Also, how does 1 do an under glow effect?
No lights in the inside of the case but under the case is a surrounding glow.

Thanks
 
Hey guys I’ve been going crazy trying to find a specific silver Ncase M1 build which had a beautiful pink under glow lighting done to it.

Anyone seen it? Link if you have.

Also, how does 1 do an under glow effect?
No lights in the inside of the case but under the case is a surrounding glow.

Thanks
This one?
 
That's a lovely setup, unfortunately he doesn't mention what type of lighting he is using.
 
Just as a FYI if you want a windowed M1 here in the USA and cannot do the job yourself contact Performance-pc.com They can do the mod for you. You send your side panel to them and they will add the window. There is a fee of course.

I'm very interested in this. Do you know what kind of window material do they use? Is it acrylic or tempered glass? Also, do you know about how much it cost?
 
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