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

shes coming albg nicely
 

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Pillars said:
In my M1 I've tested the following:
Side intake bottom intake - hot insides temps warm.
Side exhaust bottom intake - cool GPU hot inside/CPU temps
Side intake bottom exhaust - good GPU temps amazing CPU. Case temps good. Best configuration for me.

I use the large noctua top down cooler and an accelero on GPU.
Click to expand...
That’s consistent with my findings as well
 
Qrash said:
There have been conflicting opinions and results about adding fans on the bottom of the Ncase M1. If your intent is to feed air to your graphics card, the effectiveness of bottom fans is affected by the type of graphics card and the design of its cooler:
  • graphics card that exhausts air out the rear of the case (such as an FE-style cooler): a fan under the GPU cooler's fan to feed air into the cooler has been reported to be only slightly beneficial. One user reported that adding a duct below the cooler's fan was quieter and almost as effective.
  • graphics card with cooler that exhausts inside the case (non-FE-style cooler): if the heat output isn't too high, then bottom intake fans can help, but they will also push heated air into the upper half of the case.
  • graphics card with large third-party heatsink (such as Arctic Accelero Xtreme III and IV): bottom fans are needed, but whether they are used as intakes or exhausts depends on the amount of heat produced. High-power cards may be better served by bottom exhaust fans to pull air through the heatsink and out the bottom of the case
My son's M1 has a Gigabyte 1070 with a 3 fan cooler. Adding two of Noctua's thin 120 mm fans as bottom intakes reduced his GPU temperatures by 10 deg. C. The approximately 10 mm gap between the fans and the graphics card cooler reduces turbulence, and hence noise, between the two opposing sets of fans.

In my own M1, I replaced my Zotac 970's small dual-fan cooler with a large Alpenföhn Peter II heatsink. This is thicker than the Accelero Xtreme so I had to use slim fans. I modded the case to install dual Prolimatech 140 mm fans as exhausts and it's working great.

View attachment 73124

I hope this helps.
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Can I see some pictures of what that cooler looks like installed when you have a moment please?
 
Boil said:
I wonder if the AORUS Gaming Box version of the Gigabyte GTX 1080 Mini GPU (aka the Hulk) would fit into the MI-6...?!?

View attachment 66850

That is a 130mm fan on there (as opposed to the stock 90mm fan seen on the GTX 1070 Mini to the left) and there is no shroud (unless you count the Gaming Box enclosure as the shroud)...

This, with an AIO-enabled top section, and possibly a fan mount over the motherboard for pumping plenty of fresh air into the chassis & over the RAM & PCH, maybe a X299 system in a MI-6...?!?
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Qrash said:
There have been conflicting opinions and results about adding fans on the bottom of the Ncase M1. If your intent is to feed air to your graphics card, the effectiveness of bottom fans is affected by the type of graphics card and the design of its cooler:
  • graphics card that exhausts air out the rear of the case (such as an FE-style cooler): a fan under the GPU cooler's fan to feed air into the cooler has been reported to be only slightly beneficial. One user reported that adding a duct below the cooler's fan was quieter and almost as effective.
  • graphics card with cooler that exhausts inside the case (non-FE-style cooler): if the heat output isn't too high, then bottom intake fans can help, but they will also push heated air into the upper half of the case.
  • graphics card with large third-party heatsink (such as Arctic Accelero Xtreme III and IV): bottom fans are needed, but whether they are used as intakes or exhausts depends on the amount of heat produced. High-power cards may be better served by bottom exhaust fans to pull air through the heatsink and out the bottom of the case
My son's M1 has a Gigabyte 1070 with a 3 fan cooler. Adding two of Noctua's thin 120 mm fans as bottom intakes reduced his GPU temperatures by 10 deg. C. The approximately 10 mm gap between the fans and the graphics card cooler reduces turbulence, and hence noise, between the two opposing sets of fans.

In my own M1, I replaced my Zotac 970's small dual-fan cooler with a large Alpenföhn Peter II heatsink. This is thicker than the Accelero Xtreme so I had to use slim fans. I modded the case to install dual Prolimatech 140 mm fans as exhausts and it's working great.

View attachment 73124

I hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information. I think using slim fans on the bottom is better unless you're using an aftermarket GPU cooler, because you have that gap between the GPU fans and the case fans, so air can move more freely to and from each set of fans, and some of that air can also move past the graphics card and to the upper section of the case more easily.

Great job on using 2 140mm fans on the bottom, I didn't think it was possible. What did you mod, from the picture it looks like they fit stock with the 120mm mounts?
 
I've tested slim and regular fans on my M1. With a Raijintek Morpheus II and slim VS Accelero + Reg fans. The morpheus is larger so can't fit regular fans. In a full size the Morpheus kills the Accelero in cooling yet when combined with the slims it was loud and hotter than the Accelero with full size fans.
 
Shottie said:
Can I see some pictures of what that cooler looks like installed when you have a moment please?
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Sure, no problem. Here are 2 photos from my M1 build album:

lgavFPql.jpg

The first photo shows all my parts layed out. The Zotac GTX 970 with the Alpenfohn Peter II is in the top-right quadrant. You can see some of the small copper heatsinks that I glued (with Arctic Thermal Adhesive) to the memory chips and power components.

JDTs7hGl.jpg


The second photo is a close-up of the graphics card installed. The heatsink is right on top of the Prolimatech Ultra Votex 140 mm fans which are set to exhaust air out the bottom of the case.​

QuantumBraced said:
Great job on using 2 140mm fans on the bottom, I didn't think it was possible. What did you mod, from the picture it looks like they fit stock with the 120mm mounts?
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The 140 mm fans have to be rounded in order to not interfere with the side panel mounting clips and the DTX motherboard posts. These fans have the same mounting holes as a 120 mm fan. The fan right behind the Front I/O was mounted using existing holes. The Front I/O cables had to be drawn tightly towards the motherboard side of the case. The rear bottom fan required all 4 mounting holes to be drilled. The two holes near the rear of the case were underneath the rear case feet.

I mounted the fans with soft rubber Noctua posts which have thin heads. The flat rubber heads interfered with the case feet, so I added a blue drive cushion that I cut a notch out of to accommodate the fan mount.

oLvUb4om.jpg
WIWz8w5m.jpg

The blue rubber dive cushions were added to all 4 of the case feet to keep the case level. The cushions are compressed a lot by the case feet so the M1 is only slightly higher than normal.

I also drilled some 1/4 inch holes in some of the more solid parts of the case floor. Earlier, someone posted photos of larger cut-outs they made to increase air flow through the bottom of the case.
 
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Qrash said:
Earlier, someone posted photos of larger cut-outs they made to increase air flow through the bottom of the case.
Click to expand...

I found the photos from that earlier post. Sorry, bu tI didn't record the person's name.
  • The first shows large areas that have been cut out of the case bottom.
  • The second one is after almost completely cutting out the bottom and adding fan grills.
bottom additional cutouts - 2 (Large).jpg bottom completely cutout - 2 (Large).jpg

UPDATE: These photos show cutouts for dual 120 mm fans. Cutouts for dual 140 mm fans would be even larger, of course.
 
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Qrash said:
There have been conflicting opinions and results about adding fans on the bottom of the Ncase M1. If your intent is to feed air to your graphics card, the effectiveness of bottom fans is affected by the type of graphics card and the design of its cooler:
  • graphics card that exhausts air out the rear of the case (such as an FE-style cooler): a fan under the GPU cooler's fan to feed air into the cooler has been reported to be only slightly beneficial. One user reported that adding a duct below the cooler's fan was quieter and almost as effective.
  • graphics card with cooler that exhausts inside the case (non-FE-style cooler): if the heat output isn't too high, then bottom intake fans can help, but they will also push heated air into the upper half of the case.
  • graphics card with large third-party heatsink (such as Arctic Accelero Xtreme III and IV): bottom fans are needed, but whether they are used as intakes or exhausts depends on the amount of heat produced. High-power cards may be better served by bottom exhaust fans to pull air through the heatsink and out the bottom of the case
My son's M1 has a Gigabyte 1070 with a 3 fan cooler. Adding two of Noctua's thin 120 mm fans as bottom intakes reduced his GPU temperatures by 10 deg. C. The approximately 10 mm gap between the fans and the graphics card cooler reduces turbulence, and hence noise, between the two opposing sets of fans.

In my own M1, I replaced my Zotac 970's small dual-fan cooler with a large Alpenföhn Peter II heatsink. This is thicker than the Accelero Xtreme so I had to use slim fans. I modded the case to install dual Prolimatech 140 mm fans as exhausts and it's working great.

View attachment 73124

I hope this helps.
Click to expand...

With the 2 Noctua thins, whilst GPU temps went down, what happened with CPU temps? About the same? Or higher? I've contemplated buying those, but they cost 39 a pop. With delivery (if I'm lazy) that's 90 bucks AUD. My GPU temps are less of a concern than CPU temps in general.. I did have some slim gelid fans on the bottom at one point but found they had an annoying noise profile, and didn't seem to contribute much apart from dropping idle temps massively for the GPU. Load didn't appear to change much.
 
ReaperX22 said:
With the 2 Noctua thins, whilst GPU temps went down, what happened with CPU temps? About the same? Or higher? I've contemplated buying those, but they cost 39 a pop. With delivery (if I'm lazy) that's 90 bucks AUD. My GPU temps are less of a concern than CPU temps in general.. I did have some slim gelid fans on the bottom at one point but found they had an annoying noise profile, and didn't seem to contribute much apart from dropping idle temps massively for the GPU. Load didn't appear to change much.
Click to expand...

I didn't record the temperature of the 6700K, but it was still acceptable in the 60s and 70s (Celsius). It was his 1070 that had been running a bit hot that we were focused on.
 
BTW, the Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM fans are $25 on Amazon Canada with free shipping for Prime members. The Canadian and Australian dollars have almost equal value, so that $49 price is way too high, but I'm sure you knew that already.
 
ive noticed crazy higher temps with this type of gpu with the panel closed. since it blows the hot air out the side of the gpu and with the lower portion of the panel having no vents. gpu temps were hitting 80c at 60%fan speed while playing fortnite
 

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antok86 said:
ive noticed crazy higher temps with this type of gpu with the panel closed. since it blows the hot air out the side of the gpu and with the lower portion of the panel having no vents. gpu temps were hitting 80c at 60%fan speed while playing fortnite
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Here is a crappy photo of my son's M1 with the dual slim Noctua NF-A12x15 fans underneath the Gigabyte 1070. The Noctuas are bringing air into the case from below. Note the 10 mm gap between the top of the fans and the graphics card cooler.

IMAG3870_1.jpg​

To help warm air get out of the case I have removed the third expansion card slot cover and the small rectangular metal plate that is normally above the 3 slot covers. Finally, I have replace the case feet with slightly taller ones. All of these small changes allow cool air to be brought to the graphics card and force warm air out the back of the case. The Noctua fans are quiet and the GPU is 10 degrees cooler.
 
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Qrash said:
Here is a crappy photo of my son's M1 with the dual slim Noctua NF-A12x15 fans underneath the Gigabyte 1070. The Noctuas are bringing air into the case from below. Note the 10 mm gap between the top of the fans and the graphics card cooler.

View attachment 73575

To help warm air get out of the case I have removed the third expansion card slot cover and the small rectangular metal plate that is normally above the 3 slot covers. Finally, I have replace the case feet with slightly taller ones. All of these small changes allow cool air to be brought to the graphics card and force warm air out the back of the case. The Noctua fans are quiet and the GPU is 10 degrees cooler.
Click to expand...

Which case feet did you purchase? I've been looking at changing mine out too.
 
ReaperX22 said:
Which case feet did you purchase? I've been looking at changing mine out too.
Click to expand...

My case feet are the M1 Single-G PC Case Feet - Silver from Mod-One. The feet are 39 mm in diameter and 17 mm tall. They also come in black.

These case feet come with attachment bolts that are too large for the case feet holes at the bottom of the case so the holes have to be drilled out larger. The bolts have to be threaded down into these feet from inside the case. Take note that the bracket at the front of the case that supports the USB and Audio ports needed to have two bottom corners cut off to accommodate the head of these bolts. I just cut them at a diagonal angle with a dremel. The cuts are not visible from the outside of the case.

Other owners have found replacement feet that can be attached with the original bolts.
 
Qrash said:
My case feet are the M1 Single-G PC Case Feet - Silver from Mod-One. The feet are 39 mm in diameter and 17 mm tall. They also come in black.

These case feet come with attachment bolts that are too large for the case feet holes at the bottom of the case so the holes have to be drilled out larger. The bolts have to be threaded down into these feet from inside the case. Take note that the bracket at the front of the case that supports the USB and Audio ports needed to have two bottom corners cut off to accommodate the head of these bolts. I just cut them at a diagonal angle with a dremel. The cuts are not visible from the outside of the case.

Other owners have found replacement feet that can be attached with the original bolts.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Good to know, yeah may try find ones that fit stock. Not a fan of modding my case! XD
 
ReaperX22 said:
Do you have a dust filter on the rear intake? I considered this airflow path, but was concerned about dust.. I had a Noctua 14cm (the one with 12cm holes) on the side as intake, 1 92mm on my D9L heatsink, and 1 92 exhaust. I suspect the direct path of air

I actually removed my side intake entirely to reduce dust intake/noise altogether given i havent been gaming a lot, but my CPU temps are still pretty high in general. 70+ for a very mild 4.2ghz OC on an i5 4690k. fan speeds are pretty low though..
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no I dont run a air filter. dust isn't an issue. even if it was, id rather not have a filter so the fan are quieter and I just dust it out once in a while. but after months of use, the inside is visibly still clean
 
xfan10 said:
no I dont run a air filter. dust isn't an issue. even if it was, id rather not have a filter so the fan are quieter and I just dust it out once in a while. but after months of use, the inside is visibly still clean
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With respect to switching to a window side-panel: I think if I keep using bottom fans as exhaust and the rear fan as intake for the CPU, then air is going to get drawn in through the top panel. In this case I may add a dust filter to the underside of the top panel. I know some people have done this already to keep dust from settling into the case from above. Alternatively, I could switch my bottom fans to intakes and then the positive case pressure should push air out of the top panel. Thoughts?
 
Qrash said:
With respect to switching to a window side-panel: I think if I keep using bottom fans as exhaust and the rear fan as intake for the CPU, then air is going to get drawn in through the top panel. In this case I may add a dust filter to the underside of the top panel. I know some people have done this already to keep dust from settling into the case from above. Alternatively, I could switch my bottom fans to intakes and then the positive case pressure should push air out of the top panel. Thoughts?
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When that panel arrives I plan to trial this.. Might grab a pair of those thin noctuas. I wonder if it'd be worth also altering the direction of my CPU cooler, slapping 2 fans back on it, so it goes straight up (though taking heat directly from GPU then). Then remove the rear exhaust entirely?
 
ReaperX22 said:
When that panel arrives I plan to trial this.. Might grab a pair of those thin noctuas. I wonder if it'd be worth also altering the direction of my CPU cooler, slapping 2 fans back on it, so it goes straight up (though taking heat directly from GPU then). Then remove the rear exhaust entirely?
Click to expand...

All good questions. I think we will see a slew of posts once the window panels arrive and people work to keep their systems cool.
 
I'm so torn... should I put a window on mine? How much wrath am I willing to endure in my relationship... hmmmmm
 
i wish they have a side panel that gas the holes in the lower half where the gpu is and clear window on the upperhalf of the panel
 
I tried taping off the side-vents on my case, and disconnect the fan I had on the bracket there, my temps were up 10-15c because of it. So I'm staying off the windowed panel. :)
 
OfficialMorten said:
I tried taping off the side-vents on my case, and disconnect the fan I had on the bracket there, my temps were up 10-15c because of it. So I'm staying off the windowed panel. :)
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I wish them luck but I think people who opt for the windowed side panel are going to have a really nice view of their very hot components.
 
OfficialMorten said:
I tried taping off the side-vents on my case, and disconnect the fan I had on the bracket there, my temps were up 10-15c because of it. So I'm staying off the windowed panel. :)
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Thanks for reporting the results. Did you use the rear fan location to draw in air for your NH-U9S? There's been talk here about even turning the heatsink around so that its intake side is towards the rear of the case.

rfarmer said:
I wish them luck but I think people who opt for the windowed side panel are going to have a really nice view of their very hot components.
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Yeah, that will be me. Wish me luck!

I have a tower cooler to try with the window side panel, but maybe instead I'll try to find a way to use my NH-C14. It can't draw in air through a solid panel with a 25 mm thick fan so maybe I'll switch to a thin fan mounted right on top of the heatsink fins or use a fan on the underside (orientation?) instead.
 
No, I use the rear as exhaust, turning cooler around is to much work in my eyes, but you remove a big amount of the ventilation in a already small case so it would affect temperatures anyways. For me a low level of noise is more important than a windowed sidepanel.
 
problem with this typenof gpu is that it vents the hot air from the side. the stock panel has no vents and ill be one of the people with the glass panel...migjt have to reconsider
 

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Does anyone have specific product recommendations for water cooling both a Titan X and 5930k In the Ncase. Im looking to go single rad for both unless someone knows the right products to fit dual 240mm Rads one for each component? I know im asking a lot but I just dont want to pull the trigger on parts only to get frustrated lol.

Honestly intrested in both single rad and dual rad setups. Because I will be buying the window panel for this and would like the ability to OC like mad if I need or go cool and quiet with a beautiful view. Im not really starved for performance anyway lol.
 
{NG}Fidel said:
Does anyone have specific product recommendations for water cooling both a Titan X and 5930k In the Ncase. Im looking to go single rad for both unless someone knows the right products to fit dual 240mm Rads one for each component? I know im asking a lot but I just dont want to pull the trigger on parts only to get frustrated lol.

Honestly intrested in both single rad and dual rad setups. Because I will be buying the window panel for this and would like the ability to OC like mad if I need or go cool and quiet with a beautiful view. Im not really starved for performance anyway lol.
Click to expand...

By far the most effective setup would be with a side radiator. Perhaps you might get even better performance with a radiator on the floor as well, but I doubt it's worth the effort. A well routed side radiator would probably be the best water cooling setup.

If you want to do a single radiator and the window, then get ready to be brutal with the case modding.

PJLctBa.jpg


L0hky's is probably the best example I've seen that would still have good cooling.

I'm quite happy with having a 240mm + 92mm radiator as well, especially now I have the fan curves set up. But I'll leave you to search up those posts for yourself.
 
Chapeau said:
By far the most effective setup would be with a side radiator. Perhaps you might get even better performance with a radiator on the floor as well, but I doubt it's worth the effort. A well routed side radiator would probably be the best water cooling setup.

If you want to do a single radiator and the window, then get ready to be brutal with the case modding.

View attachment 74491

L0hky's is probably the best example I've seen that would still have good cooling.

I'm quite happy with having a 240mm + 92mm radiator as well, especially now I have the fan curves set up. But I'll leave you to search up those posts for yourself.
Click to expand...
Yes I'm very torn. I want great cooling but I love love love the window. Thank you for the insight, curious what others have to say as well.
 
{NG}Fidel said:
Does anyone have specific product recommendations for water cooling both a Titan X and 5930k In the Ncase. Im looking to go single rad for both unless someone knows the right products to fit dual 240mm Rads one for each component? I know im asking a lot but I just dont want to pull the trigger on parts only to get frustrated lol.

Honestly intrested in both single rad and dual rad setups. Because I will be buying the window panel for this and would like the ability to OC like mad if I need or go cool and quiet with a beautiful view. Im not really starved for performance anyway lol.
Click to expand...

Chapeau is absolutely right with his assessment. Several of us modeled our bottom radiator builds to his build.

{NG}Fidel Those are some powerful components. To have OC, cool, and quiet, I recommend a side mounted 240 radiator, rear external reservoir, and perhaps a pump/cpu block combo unit. No side window though. Adding a second 240 bottom radiator will help a bit.

If you’re going for top radiator, you can probably use the recommended parts that most have used for bottom radiator. The example Chapeau shared required massive mods to shift the entire build down by at least 50mm to accommodate the top 240 radiator and 25mm thick fans. I think this will give you what you want.

If you want side window, but minimal mods, I recommend the Hardware Labs Black Ice Nemesis 240 slim for the bottom. A HWL 92 mm radiator for the rear. And massive cut out mod to the case floor. You can even get a nice 140mm reservoir and D5/DDC pump by the PSU. You will get a beautiful view, but with OC, your powerful components and motherboard will be warm, and fans will be loud to keep temps in check.

Good luck!
 
{NG}Fidel said:
Yes I'm very torn. I want great cooling but I love love love the window. Thank you for the insight, curious what others have to say as well.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with Nanook and Chapeau your best cooling will come from side mounted 240mm radiator. HWLabs GTS 240 is a very good choice, avoid the EK SE 240.

If you must have the window go with the bottom 240 and rear 92mm radiator. Like Nanook said cutting out the case bottom is a good idea for increased airflow to the radiator, you might also consider taller case feet. I would highly recommend a delid for your CPU.

Good luck.
 
rfarmer said:
Totally agree with Nanook and Chapeau your best cooling will come from side mounted 240mm radiator. HWLabs GTS 240 is a very good choice, avoid the EK SE 240.

If you must have the window go with the bottom 240 and rear 92mm radiator. Like Nanook said cutting out the case bottom is a good idea for increased airflow to the radiator, you might also consider taller case feet. I would highly recommend a delid for your CPU.

Good luck.
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I will definitely look into this. You guys have helped tremendously. I might end up buying a second ncase to perform the mods on so I can keep my V1 pristine.
If I go with the first suggestion from Nanook then I would want to get the X99 ITX/AC Mobo waterblock although thats been a PITA to even find.
 
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im going to try to make a plexi panel. just need some ideas to make stand offs so that theres a quarter inch gap to let airflow out whole being able to mount on the case. what is the rivet/ball head thats used to mount thats found on the panel
 
{NG}Fidel said:
I will definitely look into this. You guys have helped tremendously. I might end up buying a second ncase to perform the mods on so I can keep my V1 pristine.
If I go with the first suggestion from Nanook then I would want to get the X99 ITX/AC waterblock although thats been a PITA to even find.
Click to expand...

Are you in the US? Newegg has the Bitspower block.
 
Chapeau said:
By far the most effective setup would be with a side radiator. Perhaps you might get even better performance with a radiator on the floor as well, but I doubt it's worth the effort. A well routed side radiator would probably be the best water cooling setup.

If you want to do a single radiator and the window, then get ready to be brutal with the case modding.

View attachment 74491

L0hky's is probably the best example I've seen that would still have good cooling.

I'm quite happy with having a 240mm + 92mm radiator as well, especially now I have the fan curves set up. But I'll leave you to search up those posts for yourself.
Click to expand...
i want to do something similar to this but to have the acrylic panel on stand offs so its not fully flush onto the case to let in air flow. any ideas to achieve this?
 
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