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

squatt3r said:
what is the best AM4 air cooler that would fit inside an Ncase?
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Depends on the motherboard. All of the Asrock, 300 and 400 series and the Biostar X470 are compatible with the Dark Rock TF. If you are using the Asus one of the Noctua 92mm tower coolers is probably the best.
 
On the topic of Noctua fan colors...

Or, you know, don't have windows in your cases and stuff it out of the way so you have more desk space. One of the great things about the M1 (aside from great looks) is how much flexibility you have on placement. Mine currently sits behind a monitor, completely invisible.
 
Yeah but those looks are too good to hide.

You wouldn't put Brad Pitt or Scarlet Johansson in creature effect make up would you?
 
ranix said:
yes but they are no performing in the same way as the brown own.

the black industrial one make more noise as they provide more pressure.
the grey one are a "cheaper for less quality " version of the brown one.

so if you want the silent Noctua version, you still have to go for the brown. at least that what I understood.
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Yeah. They could use all the same components, but a separate color means a separate production run. You can do a smaller run, but that costs more per unit. You can do a larger run, but then you have more than double the fans, almost double the cost, and the same demand, and the other color may eat into the sales of the original. Or you can use cheaper or more expensive parts to either justify a smaller run or a separate product line with different product requirements as far as noise, power, and appearance.
 
Almost done with this. I tried making cables myself but gave up so I ordered some from cablemod. I ordered some thin 2x6 inch pieces of black aluminum to mount on the side of the psu and next to the CPU fan, basically creating a small wall to hide cables. Not elegant at the moment. I need to do some adjusting with it but I like the idea so far. Looks really good either way since the only cables you can see are the premium 8 and 6 pin PCIE cables with aluminum combs. The only thing I need now is a 140mm fan grill so that way I can mount the thin usb 3.0 header connector. It still rubs against the fan.

I prefer when she's wearing silver but I have her black outfit in case she needs to change.

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Shottie said:
Almost done with this. I tried making cables myself but gave up so I ordered some from cablemod. I ordered some thin 2x6 inch pieces of black aluminum to mount on the side of the psu and next to the CPU fan, basically creating a small wall to hide cables. Not elegant at the moment. I need to do some adjusting with it but I like the idea so far. Looks really good either way since the only cables you can see are the premium 8 and 6 pin PCIE cables with aluminum combs. The only thing I need now is a 140mm fan grill so that way I can mount the thin usb 3.0 header connector. It still rubs against the fan.

I prefer when she's wearing silver but I have her black outfit in case she needs to change.

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There's a lot to like in your build!

  • X299 with direct CPU die cooling!
  • the black plates do a great job of tidying up the appearance of the power supply area
  • using the M1 case badge on your set of keys
  • the SLI cap with the EVGA branding
  • the subtle colours of the components and fans
  • the 25 mm thick rear fan behind the NF-C14S (I can only fit a slim fan behind the original NF-C14 on my motherboard.)
Really great build!
 
Can you share more info about what you used to hide the psu?
Very nice build.
C14s plus accelero 3 looks flawless
 
Shottie said:
Almost done with this. I tried making cables myself but gave up so I ordered some from cablemod. I ordered some thin 2x6 inch pieces of black aluminum to mount on the side of the psu and next to the CPU fan, basically creating a small wall to hide cables. Not elegant at the moment. I need to do some adjusting with it but I like the idea so far. Looks really good either way since the only cables you can see are the premium 8 and 6 pin PCIE cables with aluminum combs. The only thing I need now is a 140mm fan grill so that way I can mount the thin usb 3.0 header connector. It still rubs against the fan.

I prefer when she's wearing silver but I have her black outfit in case she needs to change.

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Great looking build and a great idea for a keychain, never thought of that.
 
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Just pulled the trigger on 2x8gb kit of Predator RGB ram.

their 2933 speed isnt supported by my mobo, but it hasnt a 2nd profile that is (2666) and seem to be easy to OC to 3200

just waiting on that PSU now
 
Small build update, changed a Noctua NF-S12A (~ 530 rpm fixed) to cool RAM, because high RAM OC with watercooled fanless Ncase M1 won't work so well. I also moved the external radiator 3m away from my desk, I fixed the fans also to 530 rpm.

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8600k @ 5 Ghz All Core / 4.7 Ghz Cache
GTX 1070 @ 2100 Mhz / 4500 Mhz
G.Skill DDR4-3200 CL14 @ 4133 CL17

Water temp maximum 6 K delta-T to ambient temp, plenty of room for future hardware upgrades.
 
Mannymal said:
I thought the NH-C14S didn't correctly fit on this case?
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You have to use the ATX PSU bracket with a SFX to ATX adapter in order to move the PSU to the very front of the case, otherwise the 140mm fan won't fit.
 
ranix said:
Can you share more info about what you used to hide the psu?
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Sure. They're just two small pieces of aluminum I got off ebay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/183063072023

Using 3M tape I was able to mount one of the aluminum pieces to the side of the PSU. It covers everything perfectly.

rfarmer said:
You have to use the ATX PSU bracket with a SFX to ATX adapter in order to move the PSU to the very front of the case, otherwise the 140mm fan won't fit.
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Or lots of 3M tape =P
 
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So today I switched my mildly overclocked 8086K on Asus z370i from a Noctua U9S to a Cryorig C1 to see if I could lower temps. Boy did it ever...

My previous cooling setup was a 980TI stock blower exhaust for the GPU. I had the U9S with a 92mm Noctua fan, and 92mm Noctua fan exhaust. The bottom of the case had 2 120mm Noiseblocker fans.

The new setup has the same 980TI GPU, and one Noiseblocker 120mm on the C1, sand one Noiseblocker above it as an intake.

Depending on the load, I dropped 7 to 10C. The GPU fan runs a little higher, but the system really needed the side intake.

Noise profile has improved, except under heavy GPU load.

I’m actually wondering if NCASE can offer a high airflow left side panel with perforations running all the way down.
 
many of us here have 2 x 120mm fans at the bottom blowing onto the video card. I have read that it would be better to remove the stock shroud and fans from the video card, in my cases a EVGA 1080 ti SC2. the problem I am having is finding a guide on how to do this as most guides show how to remove the entire heat sink off and not just the shroud. Has anyone found any guides for such a task or have experience removing just the shroud on my particular card?

I did make some what of an attempt. I found screws on the side that loosens part of the shroud, but there is one screw uniquely located underneath the shroud that I am having trouble getting to. Any advice would be appreciated.

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xfan10 said:
many of us here have 2 x 120mm fans at the bottom blowing onto the video card. I have read that it would be better to remove the stock shroud and fans from the video card, in my cases a EVGA 1080 ti SC2. the problem I am having is finding a guide on how to do this as most guides show how to remove the entire heat sink off and not just the shroud. Has anyone found any guides for such a task or have experience removing just the shroud on my particular card?

I did make some what of an attempt. I found screws on the side that loosens part of the shroud, but there is one screw uniquely located underneath the shroud that I am having trouble getting to. Any advice would be appreciated.

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looks like you need to take the entire thing off to get to the screws on the underside of it.

those will be a bitch!
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xfan10 said:
many of us here have 2 x 120mm fans at the bottom blowing onto the video card. I have read that it would be better to remove the stock shroud and fans from the video card, in my cases a EVGA 1080 ti SC2. the problem I am having is finding a guide on how to do this as most guides show how to remove the entire heat sink off and not just the shroud. Has anyone found any guides for such a task or have experience removing just the shroud on my particular card?

I did make some what of an attempt. I found screws on the side that loosens part of the shroud, but there is one screw uniquely located underneath the shroud that I am having trouble getting to. Any advice would be appreciated.

View attachment 87736
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Often removing the shroud involves first taking off the entire heatsink (by removing the screws from the back and then disconnecting the fan or carefully flipping the shroud+sink unit over), but of course it differs from one card to another.
 
pendragon1 said:
looks like you need to take the entire thing off to get to the screw on the underside of it.

those will be a bitch!
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hmm, im not sure if that one in the back is part of mounting the shroud to the heat sink as I dont see it attached to a clip on the heat sink. it might be just part of the shroud itself? I would like to remove this one screw to see how far it gets me. I think I need like really extremely short on the L portion T6 allen wrench. any suggestions?
 
xfan10 said:
hmm, im not sure if that one in the back is part of mounting the shroud to the heat sink as I dont see it attached to a clip on the heat sink. it might be just part of the shroud itself? I would like to remove this one screw to see how far it gets me. I think I need like really extremely short on the L portion T6 allen wrench. any suggestions?
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It's almost definitely a small (#1 or #0) philips screw. No reason to use a special screw when you almost have to remove the heatsink to get at it. Edit: otoh, those are really grainy photos (on my screen at least), and I may not be seeing what you see.
 
Nobu said:
It's almost definitely a small (#1 or #0) philips screw. No reason to use a special screw when you almost have to remove the heatsink to get at it.
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you're saying a #1 or #0 Philips driver will work on a T-6 Torx screw?
 
xfan10 said:
many of us here have 2 x 120mm fans at the bottom blowing onto the video card. I have read that it would be better to remove the stock shroud and fans from the video card, in my cases a EVGA 1080 ti SC2. the problem I am having is finding a guide on how to do this as most guides show how to remove the entire heat sink off and not just the shroud. Has anyone found any guides for such a task or have experience removing just the shroud on my particular card?

I did make some what of an attempt. I found screws on the side that loosens part of the shroud, but there is one screw uniquely located underneath the shroud that I am having trouble getting to. Any advice would be appreciated.

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I was thinking about getting that card, whats wrong with it?

Maybe a ref card with the accelero would be better then (prob cheaper too)
 
xfan10 said:
many of us here have 2 x 120mm fans at the bottom blowing onto the video card. I have read that it would be better to remove the stock shroud and fans from the video card, in my cases a EVGA 1080 ti SC2. the problem I am having is finding a guide on how to do this as most guides show how to remove the entire heat sink off and not just the shroud. Has anyone found any guides for such a task or have experience removing just the shroud on my particular card?

I did make some what of an attempt. I found screws on the side that loosens part of the shroud, but there is one screw uniquely located underneath the shroud that I am having trouble getting to. Any advice would be appreciated.

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Do not do this!

I did it with my 1080ti SC black. I completely removed the shroud and stock fans and had two noctua nff12s as intake. Temps went into the 90s. I also tried exhaust with the same result. I couldn't even get under 85c at max fan rpm which was stupid loud.

Trust me. It is not worth your time. You're better off getting an accellero.
 
Shottie said:
Do not do this!

I did it with my 1080ti SC black. I completely removed the shroud and stock fans and had two noctua nff12s as intake. Temps went into the 90s. I also tried exhaust with the same result. I couldn't even get under 85c at max fan rpm which was stupid loud.

Trust me. It is not worth your time. You're better off getting an accellero.
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I agree, those have too little pressure for this card. You're going to need something like the iPPC-2000 or ML120 Pro. You will also need some sort of duct/shroud to ensure that the pressure reaches the heatsink. I don't see any reason to do this unless you have a bigger cooler, like an Accellero.
 
icc0rz said:
I agree, those have too little pressure for this card. You're going to need something like the iPPC-2000 or ML120 Pro. You will also need some sort of duct/shroud to ensure that the pressure reaches the heatsink. I don't see any reason to do this unless you have a bigger cooler, like an Accellero.
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The ippc 2000 were the fans used in my test and they aren't sufficient even at full load. I doubt ml120s would do any better. Just not worth doing imo.
 
Shottie said:
The ippc 2000 were the fans used in my test and they aren't sufficient even at full load. I doubt ml120s would do any better. Just not worth doing imo.
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Air is going to follow the path of least resistance, if the fans are not mounted directly to the heatsink the air is going to flow around more than through.
 
So everybody with an air card has had temp problems and moved to the accelero?


Evga just restocked and was going to order the 1080ti sc2.

Does the accelero have passive cooling under light load? (old pc gpu fans wouldnt start till 60c)
 
Greeley said:
So everybody with an air card has had temp problems and moved to the accelero?


Evga just restocked and was going to order the 1080ti sc2.

Does the accelero have passive cooling under light load? (old pc gpu fans wouldnt start till 60c)
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I wouldn't say "temp problems" as much as I would say that there are better options. With aib coolers the heat is dumped into the case and it will heat up the CPU too. I've seen up to 10c increases on the CPU temp while the GPU will stay around 65c. Not bad, but the better solution is to exhaust the gpu heat out immediately so the CPU doesn't get hit by it. I think that's why most people go with the accellero and u9s. Intake air from the back, push through the u9s and everything gets sucked out the bottom. It's a really efficient way to handle the heat. But it also will make your hand super toasty if your case is anywhere near your mouse.

So, if you got the SC2, you would easily be able to keep it cool with stock fan settings and two intake fans on the bottom. Your CPU temps will increase, though.
 
My goal is a silent build with acceptable temps.

Have the u9s currently (not installed), but i can switch it if theres something that plays better with a air cooled gpu.

I cnt attempt the accelero if needed just not too good with those mods (had a pain just adding a waterblock to my last build)
 
U9S is generally considered one of the top options for cooling with an exhausted accellero. I tried it and it worked well even with an oc'd 10 core. C14s is better by about 7c, but tbh isn't worth the hassle of completely moving everything around in the case.

The accellero wasn't that hard to install. It's roughly the same as a waterblock. The only pain is the individual heatsinks on the memory and power delivery. I literally found it easier to hack apart my cold plate than install those suckers lol.
 
It was just thermal pads, and i never got my loop running (horrible experience haha)
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Sold it and got a 1080 instead while the 980tis were still worth something.


The accelero looks a bit more complicated, mostly worried i screw up and then cant get a rma.

Are people using the reference cards for the accelero mod or you using aftermarket cards (my 980ti was a pain to take a part, so many screws)


Edit: amazon now has a listing page for the platinum corsair psus, looks like pre-orders.
 
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The accellero would need you to physically glue on small heatsinks exactly where the water block was requiring thermal pads (it comes with thermal glue). You can use reference cards or aib. Doesn't matter. The accellero gets physically attached to the actual GPU chip and nowhere else, so as long as the accellero cold plate makes contact with the GPU chip you will be fine.
 
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So glue those things on the front and back? Think i'd prefer the tape somebody mentioned

You guys removed the fans/plastic that were on top of the heatsink? And what do the case fans attach with?


Would not having a backplate be okay since the exhaust fans will be holding it?
 
Greeley said:
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So glue those things on the front and back? Think i'd prefer the tape somebody mentioned

You guys removed the fans/plastic that were on top of the heatsink? And what do the case fans attach with?


Would not having a backplate be okay since the exhaust fans will be holding it?
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You would need to attach the heat sinks where they are in that image with the thermal glue provided. You also have to put down some thermal tape before you do it, otherwise you risk shorting out certain parts due to metal on metal.

I removed all the plastic and the fans. All you need is the accellero heat sink. You can attach two 120mm fans to the bottom of the case and use a Y splitter to plug them into a motherboard fan header, or use the gelid gpu 4 pin plus a splitter to attach the fans directly to the GPU and control the RPM from there.

If you use the stock accellero setup, you cannot have a backplate attached. You can float it if you want, but from what I understand you won't be able to screw it down since it screws directly into the cold plate which you have to remove if you use the individual sinks. That is the standard method of assembly.



Here is what I did to completely negate having to use individual sinks. I took apart my 1080ti SC until I just had the cold plate. Take a picture of the thermal pad placement so you know where they go. I took some cutters and literally cut off the parts circled below. They are four screw holes for the stock backplate.

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Then I filed it down until there are no parts of those screw holes sticking out. You will also need to trim one of the vertical sinks. You can snip it with pliers. It is marked with a red "x"

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You want a nice square. Cutting those and filing them will allow this part:

Accelero_Xtreme_III_T02.png

to fit into this part:

evga-icx-cooler-3.png

After you file it, clean the cold plate completely to remove the metal shards and then reinstall the thermal pads. Fun fact, you do not have to install the pads that go on the underside of the cold plate. You will only need the pads that go between the cold plate and the PCB (And the pads on the back of the backplate but those are unrelated)

----------Back Plate----------
--------Thermal Pads--------
---------------PCB--------------
--------Thermal Pads--------
----------Cold Plate-----------

Using this method, you are able to retain the stock backplate and EVGA cold plate. For me this was literally easier than gluing all those stupid little fugly heat sinks.

Last thing to note, you do not need the silver X plate that Arctic provides. You just need to gently tighten down each long screw until you have good contact. You can easily tell when you have over tightened as the PCB will bend. I recommend turning each screw one full rotation then move on to the next. You want total even pressure across the die since the X plate isn't there to spread it out. Be careful and do not over tighten.
 
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no real difference between a blower and founders edition right?

looking at one of those(Pny blower, zotac blower, 1080ti founders) or the armor oc for the accelero.
 
Greeley said:
no real difference between a blower and founders edition right?

looking at one of those(Pny blower, zotac blower, 1080ti founders) or the armor oc for the accelero.
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PNY usually uses the reference PCB on their blower models. I don't know about the Zotac. MSI and Asus also make blower models and they are usually priced lower than their models with custom coolers and PCBs so I suspect that most blower cards use a reference PCB.

The MSI Armor has a custom PCB. It's almost exactly the same as their more expensive Gaming X model's according to the review by Gamers Nexus. I've read that the power components on the card are very good, but the Armor's low review scores are due to its poor cooler. This has made it a favorite for liquid cooling. This might mean it would be a good choice for an Accelero Xtreme too.
 
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