CCD MI-6: Performance in a 6.7L MIcrotower

[Frazhna]

Looks like you were lucky. I ordered a set of custom cables from AliExpress on November 14th. A month and a half later, still no cables.

Does your order’s tracking info also say shipment cancelled?

I tried to contact the seller to find out what is going on, but there has been no response. I’m afraid I’m going to have to go through the refund process.

 

[Engr62]

Does your order’s tracking info also say shipment cancelled?

I tried to contact the seller to find out what is going on, but there has been no response. I’m afraid I’m going to have to go through the refund process.

It has a tracking number, but it says "tracking information is temporarily unavailable" since the get go. Looks like my first experience with Aliexpress will be my last.

 

[Frazhna]

It has a tracking number, but it says "tracking information is temporarily unavailable" since the get go. Looks like my first experience with Aliexpress will be my last.

I just finished opening a dispute on my order. It doesn’t have an option to refund the shipping cost.

I’m not going to waste money on Aliexpress again either.

 

[EnzoFX]

I'd like to recommend ensourced.net. Had some done there and I don't think they could have turned out better. Will have more done there as the builds rolls out. It was cheaper there as well than any other custom place I was able to find. I think it was like $60 for mine. Sure it's significantly more still than those aliexpress ones, but they look significantly better as well.

 

[rfarmer]

Card is probably 2mm too long to fit properly but by pushing the front of the frame over I was able to install it, think I am the first to have RTX in my MI-6.

 

[Frazhna]

View attachment 132960

Card is probably 2mm too long to fit properly but by pushing the front of the frame over I was able to install it, think I am the first to have RTX in my MI-6.

Are you trying to reclaim your performance per liter title?

 

[rfarmer]

Are you trying to reclaim your performance per liter title?

I wish, this would help but there are a couple builds on there I would need a lot more than a 2070. It is a performance boost though, I went from 15246 to 18340 in Firestrike and 5985 to 8052 in Timespy.

 

[EnzoFX]

I myself am looking for an MSI aero itx card, 1070? Don't think there are TI's. Case will be here soon!

 

[Firewolfy]

It's happening. 20 cases shipped today......



I'll be shipping every few days, and should have everyone's out within a week.

 

[Frazhna]

I love it! Video card isn’t thermally throttling anymore, like it did in my old case. At Idle, I can’t hear a thing over the ambient sounds of my apartment, and the Noctua 92x14 is the most audible at load (I don’t hear it because it only ramps up when I’m playing games)
Too bad I didn’t get those custom cables.
It was pretty hard to smash those stif stock cables in there.

 

[EnzoFX]

I can't decide between the nh-l12 or the nh-l9a-am4.

I'd probably go with a 65w cpu, but I'm thinking pure aesthetics Haha. Always been a proponent of fitting the biggest cooler and fan possible, however this tiny thing is almost pushing me to go a different route. As if to showcase more detail. Maybe more potential mods. Had a great experience with the nh-l9i.

Oh man this builds gonna take me a while.

 

[Firewolfy]

View attachment 134368 View attachment 134369 I love it! Video card isn’t thermally throttling anymore, like it did in my old case. At Idle, I can’t hear a thing over the ambient sounds of my apartment, and the Noctua 92x14 is the most audible at load (I don’t hear it because it only ramps up when I’m playing games)
Too bad I didn’t get those custom cables.
It was pretty hard to smash those stif stock cables in there.

Great job! Glad to see all 3 drive spots being used, but that does mean a lot of sata cables.
I put some of my excess cabling over on top of the psu, on the gpu side. You might try that.

 

[Frazhna]

Great job! Glad to see all 3 drive spots being used, but that does mean a lot of sata cables.
I put some of my excess cabling over on top of the psu, on the gpu side. You might try that.

I was thinking that there is a lot of unused space on the GPU side, but by that time, I already had a sata cable going under instead of over. My biggest difficulty was the sata power cables that came with my power supply. The connectors are just too fat to fit the drives that are right next to eachother, So I ended up using the molex power cable and molex to sata adapters because they were so much more thin. I might give this a re-work some time soon. I keep thinking that I want to try sticking a 4th drive in there next to the one on the bottom. If I do it, I will probably have to be stuck in there with double sided tape.

also, apologies for the terrible photos, I'm not very good with cameras

edit: I updated my signature line to reflect my new hardware

 

[rfarmer]

I was thinking that there is a lot of unused space on the GPU side, but by that time, I already had a sata cable going under instead of over. My biggest difficulty was the sata power cables that came with my power supply. The connectors are just too fat to fit the drives that are right next to eachother, So I ended up using the molex power cable and molex to sata adapters because they were so much more thin. I might give this a re-work some time soon. I keep thinking that I want to try sticking a 4th drive in there next to the one on the bottom. If I do it, I will probably have to be stuck in there with double sided tape.

also, apologies for the terrible photos, I'm not very good with cameras

edit: I updated my signature line to reflect my new hardware

I see you went with the white Prolimatech fan on your SBS2, looks good.

 

[Frazhna]

I see you went with the white Prolimatech fan on your SBS2, looks good.

The white version seems to be hard to come by. It even cost a few dollars more than the black, but I liked the look and I was planning on matching it with white PSU cables (until the AliExpress order fell through). Thanks for the recommendation on that fan, it’s so quiet I never hear it.

I just finished a 3 hour video game session and my graphics card never thermally throttled and my overclocked CPU was just fine too. This setup is working great!

 

[rfarmer]

The white version seems to be hard to come by. It even cost a few dollars more than the black, but I liked the look and I was planning on matching it with white PSU cables (until the AliExpress order fell through). Thanks for the recommendation on that fan, it’s so quiet I never hear it.

I just finished a 3 hour video game session and my graphics card never thermally throttled and my overclocked CPU was just fine too. This setup is working great!

I never even saw the white when I was shopping for them, looks good. I feel bad about recommending AliExpress now, other than slow shipping I didn't have any problems with either of my orders. Too bad they weren't able to deliver, makes the build so much easier. Glad to hear your GPU is performing well.

 

[rfarmer]

Gigabyte RTX 2070 now up for sale on Newegg.

 

[GermanDrifter97]

View attachment 132960

Card is probably 2mm too long to fit properly but by pushing the front of the frame over I was able to install it, think I am the first to have RTX in my MI-6.

This looks so tight! Nice fit. Guess that spices things up a bit in the PPL thread

I ordered some custom PSU-cables which arrived yesterday. Already built them in and took some fotos, gonna post a little update ASAP.

 

[GermanDrifter97]

So I want to post a little update on my MI-6 build.

Next to HDD space and a more decent CPU-cooler, I wanted to upgrade the PSU cables for 1) a better visual look of the system (if it is opened, you don't see anything with the side panel on lol) and 2) better air circulation. The old silverstone cables that came with my SX800-LTI were way too long and clumsy, and as I'm far from an expert in cable management, the case looked very cramped with cables.

I looked at different options for custom sleeved PSU-cables, but they were either too expensive (over 120€ on cablemod) or the shortest option for cables was still to long.

In the end, I found someone who takes orders for custom cables here in Germany, and he kindly helped me in finding the right length and other things so the cables would fit perfectly into the case.

And I think the results can speak for themselves:


The mainboard compartment


The GPU cable


The custom SATA-power cable

In the last pic you can see what a tight fit the 24-Pin Mainboard cable is, as it has to be bent in a S-curve. Actually, I wanted to mount a third harddrive with the HDD-mounting-bracket next to the PSU, so I hope that won't be a problem.
Also, the custom SATA-cable is a bit too short between the two connectors at the top. I had to remove the lower screw of the second HDD, so it is slightly angled to fit into the power connector. Not 100% perfect, but as close as it gets.

If I had to order custom cables for the MI-6 again, I honestly would think twice about sleeving them. Sure, it looks way better than "naked" cables, but as there is no window-option for the MI-6, and as the sleeved cables are way harder to bent than normal ones, it might be enough just to order them in custom lengths without the sleeving.

 

[rfarmer]

So I want to post a little update on my MI-6 build.

Next to HDD space and a more decent CPU-cooler, I wanted to upgrade the PSU cables for 1) a better visual look of the system (if it is opened, you don't see anything with the side panel on lol) and 2) better air circulation. The old silverstone cables that came with my SX800-LTI were way too long and clumsy, and as I'm far from an expert in cable management, the case looked very cramped with cables.

I looked at different options for custom sleeved PSU-cables, but they were either too expensive (over 120€ on cablemod) or the shortest option for cables was still to long.

In the end, I found someone who takes orders for custom cables here in Germany, and he kindly helped me in finding the right length and other things so the cables would fit perfectly into the case.

And I think the results can speak for themselves:

View attachment 134751
The mainboard compartment

View attachment 134750
The GPU cable

View attachment 134752
The custom SATA-power cable

In the last pic you can see what a tight fit the 24-Pin Mainboard cable is, as it has to be bent in a S-curve. Actually, I wanted to mount a third harddrive with the HDD-mounting-bracket next to the PSU, so I hope that won't be a problem.
Also, the custom SATA-cable is a bit too short between the two connectors at the top. I had to remove the lower screw of the second HDD, so it is slightly angled to fit into the power connector. Not 100% perfect, but as close as it gets.

If I had to order custom cables for the MI-6 again, I honestly would think twice about sleeving them. Sure, it looks way better than "naked" cables, but as there is no window-option for the MI-6, and as the sleeved cables are way harder to bent than normal ones, it might be enough just to order them in custom lengths without the sleeving.

Cables look great, what lengths did you go with. It's too bad that double SATA power connector is a bit too close together, that looks great.

 

[GermanDrifter97]

Cables look great, what lengths did you go with.

The 24-Pin Connector is 200mm
The 4+4 Pin EPS Connector is 250mm
The 8-Pin PCIe is 300mm
And the SATA is PSU -- 100mm --> SATA -- 150mm --> SATA -- 3mm --> Sata

It's too bad that double SATA power connector is a bit too close together, that looks great.

I was very surprised when I asked him this. First, I wanted to go with a 50mm cable between them so that I could put a little loop between the two HDDs. I asked him what the minimum distance between the two connectors is so he can still work properly, and he just said "as close as the two connectors can get to each other". So I measured the exact distance between the two drives, and from my calculations the cable length should be 3mm at that point. I guess he made them a bit too short, bit it still works very well.

 

[EnzoFX]

For some reason I thought the am4 stock cooler didn't fit. Hmm, still may go with the noctua but glad to see it does!

 

[GermanDrifter97]

For some reason I thought the am4 stock cooler didn't fit. Hmm, still may go with the noctua but glad to see it does!

It does, but I had to remove the upper plastic shroud around the fan (the one with the AMD Logo in it). The big advantage of doing so is that the LED-ring now iluminates the whole motherboard-side of the case, giving it a nice RGB shine.

 

[Firewolfy]

Batch Update--
Shipping Started Jan 7.
As of Jan 14, 29 cases have shipped, 19 to go. All should be out by Jan 17, unfortunately ti's a few days later than planned.
Tracking info emailed automatically.

-Fire

 

[Firewolfy]

Batch update--

Looks like finishing and shipping the last 19 cases will take a few more days. Got feedback from my fab shop that they need a few more days to remake some chassis'.

I found a problem last week with the bends on some chassis', and they have been re-making them from scratch. They targeted getting them to me by the start of this week, but the date has slipped. They are busy with higher-volume work, and my small batch has to wait sometimes.

I will update as I find out more.

 

[Firewolfy]

Batch done.
Got the rest of the case parts Friday, and then assembled over the weekend and shipped this morning! Everyone should at least have a tracking number before the end of today.

Went smoother than the first batch last year, so that was great!

On to the lofts, and maybe I need a 2060 (!)

-Fire

 

[rfarmer]

Batch done.
Got the rest of the case parts Friday, and then assembled over the weekend and shipped this morning! Everyone should at least have a tracking number before the end of today.

Went smoother than the first batch last year, so that was great!

On to the lofts, and maybe I need a 2060 (!)

-Fire

No you need a 2070.

 

[Firewolfy]

Well,
Somehow email alerts didn't happen for over 50% of the shipments. The USPS shipping website has been having problems, so maybe that was one of them. I sent out tracking numbers to everyone who is still waiting for delivery. Sorry about that guys, really stinks to wait and be in the dark.

Fred

 

[Frazhna]

One of my biggest concerns before I got this case was CPU cooling. I was afraid that I would have to lose my overclock, but after using it for the past few weeks, I’m pleased to report that I can keep my overclock. The scythe big shuriken II has been keeping my i7 4770K (overclocked to 4.5GHz) in the sub-60° range while gaming.
I also made a recent change to the fan curve of the case fan so that I can’t hear it anymore and the temps are still great. Last night after playing games for a couple hours, my gpu was averaging 74° and CPU was averaging 57°!
I was super excited about these temps, then I remembere that my apartment has been pretty chilly lately because of the weather. Even with the colder apartment though, I think it is much better off than my old case. Once my apartment heats up again, I’ll have to check on my temps again. (My stupid radiator heated apartment complex doesn’t let me control the heat, so I’m cold, but my computer is happy.)

 

[rfarmer]

One of my biggest concerns before I got this case was CPU cooling. I was afraid that I would have to lose my overclock, but after using it for the past few weeks, I’m pleased to report that I can keep my overclock. The scythe big shuriken II has been keeping my i7 4770K (overclocked to 4.5GHz) in the sub-60° range while gaming.
I also made a recent change to the fan curve of the case fan so that I can’t hear it anymore and the temps are still great. Last night after playing games for a couple hours, my gpu was averaging 74° and CPU was averaging 57°!
I was super excited about these temps, then I remembere that my apartment has been pretty chilly lately because of the weather. Even with the colder apartment though, I think it is much better off than my old case. Once my apartment heats up again, I’ll have to check on my temps again. (My stupid radiator heated apartment complex doesn’t let me control the heat, so I’m cold, but my computer is happy.)

Good to hear, glad the BS2 is working out well for you. I was really worried about cooling my 8700k, even delidded with the BS2, but it works really well.

 

[GermanDrifter97]

Good to hear, glad the BS2 is working out well for you. I was really worried about cooling my 8700k, even delidded with the BS2, but it works really well.

What temps do you get rfarmer? I am still looking for a good alternative to my Wraith spire, it can get a bit loud, and the 92mm fan is just too small to keep other mainboard components cool.

 

[Engr62]

What temps do you get rfarmer? I am still looking for a good alternative to my Wraith spire, it can get a bit loud, and the 92mm fan is just too small to keep other mainboard components cool.

The Big Shuriken 2 Rev. B cooler doesn't have AM4 support.

 

[GermanDrifter97]

The Big Shuriken 2 Rev. B cooler doesn't have AM4 support.

Well, not from factory:
https://imgur.com/gallery/v0ud4

 

[rfarmer]

What temps do you get rfarmer? I am still looking for a good alternative to my Wraith spire, it can get a bit loud, and the 92mm fan is just too small to keep other mainboard components cool.

Decided to retest last night since I hadn't run any stress tests for almost a year. Prime 95 Small FFT s, 4.30 GHz at 1.15v and ambient about 22C. Highest single core was 69C. So even after 1 year the BS2 is still doing a really good job cooling my 8700k.

 

[Frazhna]

Got my 4th drive in my MI-6!

I screwed some drive spacer brackets on over the drive cage and was able to attach another drive in the lower spot.

 

[Firewolfy]

Got my 4th drive in my MI-6!
View attachment 143569
I screwed some drive spacer brackets on over the drive cage and was able to attach another drive in the lower spot.
View attachment 143570
View attachment 143568

Nice!

 

[rfarmer]

Anyone looking for a MI-6 check out my sale thread over on SFF.

 

[Firewolfy]

Preparing for another production run of the MI-6 second edition case!
Should be a 50pc batch. I updated the first page with info and link to ordering

--Fire

 

[leifeinar]

Been looking at several MI-6 builds, and it reealy can do with onboard storage only. no sata cables. no 2,5" drives, would be alot cleaner. need mobo's with 2 or more ports

- Can it do a 9 cm bottom fan normal size, not slim?
- Custom cables? is it necessary? anyone has measures of optimal cable lengths?

 

[GermanDrifter97]

- Can it do a 9 cm bottom fan normal size, not slim?

The fan height depends on the PSU you use. In my case (pun not intended), I can only fit a fan not thicker than 20mm between the bottom of the case and the lowest power-cable that comes out of my PSU (Silverstone SX800-LTI).
Also, keep in mind that you can only use 90/92mm fans when you have a SFX PSU. For SFX-L PSUs, two 60mm fans could fit side by side, or two 40mm fans that can be screwed with one screw each into the fan holes of the case.

- Custom cables? is it necessary? anyone has measures of optimal cable lengths?

There are some posts in this thread about custom cable length. rfarmer mentioned his cable length in #1117, and I myself ordered custom cables too, length mentioned in #1341. I think it is necessary if you have way too long cables that could worsen your airflow, cooling performance, ability to easily work on your hardware inside your case, or even looks of the build. Especially the SATA-Power-Cables might have to be shorter, since the drives aren't that far away from the PSU as in any other case. But if you, as you mentioned, want to go for an onboard-storage-only-build, you won't have that problem.

In the end it all comes to personal preference. If you don't have a problem with the additional unused cable-length, and if your temps are within acceptable limits, there is no need to get custom cables.