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

Congrats on all the hard work guys. Must be good to see how fast the campaign is progressing in under 24hr.
 
I went for Black, but it was a very very hard decision. It cost me 200 spots though. Ha! People are flocking to this campaign. 600 orders will be filled by the end of next week I bet.

Congrats guys and I cannot wait for my case!
 
How do you see what number you are?

Probably just counting the number of orders on the time line. I guess I'm #2 but I thought the serials were going to be randomized anyway. Supporting the team and getting it made is what matters to me, the serial number is arbitrary. ;)
 
I thought the serials were going to be randomized anyway. Supporting the team and getting it made is what matters to me, the serial number is arbitrary. ;)

That's a noble sentiment, but I still hope that my quick order will be reflected with a low number :)
 
Didn't get an email either.

Also don't you think a link on the first post to the Actual page where you can buy one is needed? If you use the link supplied you are taken to the prototype page where there is no mention the campaign is live. Only by hitting the updates link was I able to find it. Could just be me, but maybe needs to be easier to find.


It's against forum rules :(

not saying you're wrong, but i've seen a kickstarter link posted on "front page news" section that was from someone in this forum. so either they don't police it, or they play favorites to others. here is an example of one www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1771940
 
They're not really playing favourites, it's up to Kyle and site staff what news to post on the main Hardocp page. Each news post from the main site gets a corresponding comments thread on the forum, so it's not a free for all and nobody is able to self promote on their own threads.
 
I ordered a black one immediately once I saw the campaign was live. :)

Yeah this is a good point, would you guess the cpu and mobo would be the same block or are we talking just the mother board? They say it's a "full cover" block so that sound's like it cover's everything. Does that include ram as well? If so I think this would be a good solution though I do feel your concerns with dropping more heat to an already stressed cooling system. My plan was to get the highest quality rad/fans to push the single rad to the highest efficiency possible.

I'm not sure, but I think a full-cover motherboard block excludes the CPU and RAM. The Impact might not get a full-cover block as it is yet to be announced: "The type of water cooling solution (Full Board, Mosfet) to be available for each board will be announced via EK Website and EK social media websites."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you added an extra 20mm below the third expansion slot, wouldn't you have enough room for a slim 240 rad (30mm) plus fan (25mm) to fit below a watercooled graphics card?

Are you suggesting the case should be modified a few hours after the production campaign went live ?

I think it's a great idea for a potential future version. It would increase cooling capacity and allow for lower fan speeds. With a powerful enough SFX PSU, serious overclocking would be possible and the lines between mini-ITX and larger form factors would be blurred even further.
 
It hurts so fckn much to be from eu, seems like this case is gonna cost me about 300e :eek::mad:

Are you sure? Most EU countries have 2.5% import duty and 19-21% sales tax. So total price including shipping and duty should be under 230 euros.
 
There are some 30 odd people that have not chosen a pledge on the campaign. What is going to happen with them? That really is going to need to be worked out.
 
Are you suggesting the case should be modified a few hours after the production campaign went live ?

Nope. The case is awesome as it is, but for me there are a couple changes I would make and I'm trying to verify clearances/dimensions. If it were steel and just a little taller inside, I'd buy in before it went on sale. :D


I think it's a great idea for a potential future version. It would increase cooling capacity and allow for lower fan speeds. With a powerful enough SFX PSU, serious overclocking would be possible and the lines between mini-ITX and larger form factors would be blurred even further.

Actually, think fully modular ATX PSU, slim 240 rad at bottom, slim 120 rad up top, single 92mm fan exhaust, watercooled CPU and GPU. ATX power supply for fanless or effectively-fanless models. 360x120x30 rad space to cool a CPU and a GPU. Exhaust to pull out the air the top rad brings in (can't do much about the air from the bottom rad). Use an external reservoir like shown in the concept pics for easy filling/draining. Put an SSD in the long-GPU-cutout just below the slim ODD. All at the cost of one more liter internally (13.6L vs 12.6L).

I'll take one in steel, please. :D
 
There are some 30 odd people that have not chosen a pledge on the campaign. What is going to happen with them? That really is going to need to be worked out.

Yeah, I think the problem was that the $1 pledge was default, so people just typed in 205/245 dollars and clicked 'continue' or 'contribute' or whatever the button says.
 
Actually, think fully modular ATX PSU, slim 240 rad at bottom, *snip*

To have a fully modular ATX PSU you have to add space to the top and shift the board downward or the PSU up. If you just add the space to the bottom you have room for your rad and fans but the PSU to card distance remains the same. You have to add it to the top AND bottom for a modular ATX and room for a rad.

So now you are looking at 14.7L vs 12.6L or a 2.1L increase assuming 40mm added overall. (20mm top to allow for 160mm ATX psu w/ modular connectors + 20mm bottom for rad and fans)
 
Man only $8k away from funding. Necere & Wahaha... you guys killed it, congrats!

yep, gonna meet the goal in 24 hours for sure. this case is AWESOME and i'm sad i have no use for one. :/ i cant wait to see all the builds once these start shipping.
 
So we're just including LL's standard plastic-frame filters that bolt to the fan.

Good, since these are the ones I was going to buy.

Three questions before I order:

Will there be 3 dual 2.5" adapters included in the case for those that plan on having 6 ssds in total?

Will there be the option for a no cut-out top panel?(wahaha360, you were pushing for this.)

And most importantly, right now I'm in Portugal but I may be (hopefully) living in the UK when you finally ship. Will I be able to contact you guys then and have the case shipped there instead of here? both are european countries and if anything shipping to the UK would be cheaper that to Portugal.
 
To have a fully modular ATX PSU you have to add space to the top and shift the board downward or the PSU up. If you just add the space to the bottom you have room for your rad and fans but the PSU to card distance remains the same. You have to add it to the top AND bottom for a modular ATX and room for a rad.

So now you are looking at 14.7L vs 12.6L or a 2.1L increase assuming 40mm added overall. (20mm top to allow for 160mm ATX psu w/ modular connectors + 20mm bottom for rad and fans)


Based on this picture, it looks like you'd be fine so long as you bias all of your plugs to one side of the PSU. It will depend on how much room there is port-side of the graphics card between it and the case wall and how much clearance there is between the case ceiling and the graphics card.

On Seasonic units, the 24pin location would force the fan to face the interior of the case, but temps are rarely ever a problem with them so this is a nonissue. On an X-650, there is about 67-68mm from the logo side of the PSU to the edge of the 1st SATA port, which is the most clearance you'd need to not have plugs intruding on GPU space. It looks like the same (+ or - a mm) for the SS-860 and SS-660 PSU's that I also have on hand. As long as there is 68mm between the port-side case wall and the edge of the GPU PCB, you can fit a modular Seasonic PSU just fine.

And... I typed all of this because I was assuming the Corsair PSU shown was 150mm and did not read the max PSU depth of 140mm limit. Damn...


Alright, starting over. Add +10mm to the internal case height, above and below the motherboard (total +20mm). This gives enough room for a modular Seasonic PSU if there is about 68mm between the edge of the graphics card and the case wall. Total case width is 160mm, of which 111mm is taken up by the PCB. This leaves only 49mm of space of the 68 needed. Adding the 19mm needed would make it too fat and exceed the 14.6L max I was hoping for. :(

A slim rad + fan would be 55mm. 3 expansion slots is about 56mm total. This pic shows a lot of overlap between a bottom fan and the third expansion slot, so we can assume all but 5mm will overlap. Call that 61mm from the top of the graphics card PCB to the case floor. A 30mm rad + 25mm fan would take up 55mm of that, leaving only 6mm for the card and water block. Add the +10mm that I mentioned earlier and you have 16mm to fit a card and block. My Heatkiller blocks are 11mm thick, so call it 12mm when installed. This leaves a 4mm gap between the fan and the GPU water block. Not ideal, but doable. Since the +10mm to height above the GPU is useless since case width won't accomodate modular PSU's, you can apply that to the bottom for a 14mm gap between the fans and GPU block, which is much better and still keeps you pretty small at 13.6L internally.


tl;dr - Adding 15 to 20mm to the case height below the expansion slots keeps you at or less than 1L extra but gives definitive room for a 240 radiator and 25mm thick fans. Case width makes it basically impossible to fit a modular ATX PSU, making it useless to add to case height above the motherboard. If my experience with a 2600k at 4.7 to 5.0 GHz and SLI 680s is any indication, it would be very hard for a single card and CPU to max Silverstone's modular gold SFX PSU. Even dual GPU cards should be fine with a 4770k, though you'll lose most of your OC headroom for GPU and/or CPU.
 
Last edited:
Oh my... This thing selling fast! Barely managed to get into 300.
Hope this will make some industry execs to scratch theirs heads.

BTW delivery schedule is totally in line with my June expectations: :)
...I would say that should everything go normal M1 boxes will start arriving by Christmas the earliest. More likely 1Q2014...
 
lol, 10 more sold just while I was reading up this thread from last night

soon to be a collectors item
 
I'm still trying to resist also getting a silver one. I have so many expensive cases I don't use. PS4 and Xbox One on preorder and I'm getting laid off in a month :eek:

edit: I ordered the silver one too. No more thinking about it for me. I'm free from my obsessions now :p

#43 black #271 silver - I think anyways.
 
Last edited:
this case is AWESOME and i'm sad i have no use for one. :/

I don't have a massive use for it atm, either. Bought one though, have an idea or two for future systems that I might use it for. I figured that there might be only one production run, so gotta get in while there's a chance!
 
I'm still trying to resist also getting a silver one. I have so many expensive cases I don't use. PS4 and Xbox One on preorder and I'm getting laid off in a month :eek:

edit: I ordered the silver one too. No more thinking about it for me. I'm free from my obsessions now :p

#43 black #271 silver - I think anyways.

Feeling the same way. I want two, but forcing myself to stick with one for now. Went for silver on comments Necere made. This will be a fun build.

And congrats to Necere and Wahaha360 on another well hit project milestone. Amazing job. You guys are making it happen.
 
So for $205 I can buy this case?

After January will they make more for mass shipping or is it just this limited time only then they are done?

Are they doing revisions anymore in the future to improve the design or is this it?

Thanks
 
Last edited:
So for $205 I can buy this case?

After January will they make more for mass shipping or is it just this limited time only then they are done?

Are they doing revisions anymore in the future to improve the design or is this it?

Thanks

Q: Will the M1 be available to buy some other way than through participating in the production campaign?

A: We have no plans at this time to make the M1 available beyond the crowdfunding campaign.
 
Great job guy's, I slept on the decision but decided even if I didn't wan't it there will be high demand for it after the campaign. So, I pulled the trigger on the black anodized. Again, great job Necere/Wahaha !!
 
Following this tread from the beginning.

I currently have a SG05 - so i don't have the real need for Ncase M1.

Either way; from the initial drawings i feel motivated with Necere and Wahaha360 dedication.

Waiting for my Ncase - Jan.14!!!
 
Remember some have forgotten to select the perk, and some of them purchased more than one in the same contribution.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top