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

Rorschach said:
And for fun this came out. The G20


http://www.asus.com/Microsite/rog/GR8_G20/

Looks very nice.

This number caught my eye.
It has 12.5 Liters.

:D

A testimony of how great the NCase is with its versatility and design at 12.6 L.
And this G20 has 2 external PSUs and it's the same number. Wow.
Necere we salute you.
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Heh... thank you. Though it's not exactly a fair comparison - the G20 is probably 20-30% larger than it needs to be on account of the edgy "gamer" styling. In a PC case, space efficiency tends to drop off when you stray from simple box designs. The wedge shape and that trench running around the middle, the use of plastic (which needs to be a lot thicker in general), and the centered optical drive are all aesthetic choices that sacrifice smaller size to achieve a certain look. Still, I'd think with the capability of designing a completely custom motherboard just for this system, they could've made it smaller or integrated the PSU.
 
Necere said:
I think it will fit, actually. Reference height is 111mm, and from pics of the Windforce 970, it's clear the PCB is no taller than reference, and the cooler extends only another couple millimeters. I think the 129mm height they list in the specs is actually measured from the bottom of the bracket, rather than the bottom of the PCB, which is a 15mm height difference. It still sucks that they sent you the wrong card, but at least you can use it.
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Well, it seems they had both product info, name and price all messed up (CDON). They are now selling 970 at 50€ or so lower price than what i paid for + my invoice really says Asus 980 - unlike the shipping notice. I doubt they are willing to sell me one (980) for the price i paid - but i suppose ill find out next week.

I just noticed that 970 windforce has the same width and height as gtx 770 - its just bit longer (970: L=312mm, W=129mm, H=43mm vs 770: L=292mm W=129mm H=43mm)

...has anyone confirmed they that they have been able to put GTX 770 in M1 and its both fit and not cooked itself? I couldnt find anything with quick search, but then again i probably dont know where to look for them.

/kids porridge time
 
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backfeed said:
Same category as the LRPC though, but the LRPC is a lot better than the G20 in every possible way.
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Necere said:
Heh... thank you. Though it's not exactly a fair comparison - the G20 is probably 20-30% larger than it needs to be on account of the edgy "gamer" styling.
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C'mon. The LRPC and M1 v3 both desperately need a big plastic shroud so they can look more like a Decepticon action figure..

eN7KbO9.jpg


:cool:
 
Necere said:
I think it will fit, actually. Reference height is 111mm, and from pics of the Windforce 970, it's clear the PCB is no taller than reference, and the cooler extends only another couple millimeters. I think the 129mm height they list in the specs is actually measured from the bottom of the bracket, rather than the bottom of the PCB, which is a 15mm height difference. It still sucks that they sent you the wrong card, but at least you can use it.
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Necere, considering we're talking about this card, and given that it appears to take up two slots, what's the distance from the inside bottom of the case to the top of the card? I'm wondering if the fans could be removed and replaced with 2 x 120mm fans on the case floor, plus shrouds if necessary.
 
UPDATE 2014-9-20: M1 V2 tracking info for Black NO ODD & Silver NO ODD updated on PayPal, shipped on Fri, Sep 19. M1 V2 Black and Silver scheduled to ship Mon Sep 22.

Also updated on the first thread.
 
*KLAXON KLAXON KLAXON*
wahaha360 said:
UPDATE 2014-9-20: M1 V2 tracking info for Black NO ODD & Silver NO ODD updated on PayPal, shipped on Fri, Sep 19. M1 V2 Black and Silver scheduled to ship Mon Sep 22.
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My USPS shipping number on PayPal has updated overnight for both of my cases (1 of each color, both no ODD). They're both close, although one is in my city and one is an hour away. Why they went to separate post offices I'm not sure. Regardless, looks like I'll have them tomorrow or Tuesday, although there's no estimated delivery date on the post office website yet. /me does the happy dance


Necere said:
Still, I'd think with the capability of designing a completely custom motherboard just for this system, they could've made it smaller or integrated the PSU.
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Speaking of which, has there been any movement forward on the mini DTX motherboard front? Any manufacturers willing to take a bite? I'd love to try to be crazy and SLI in my M1. Here's to dreaming of a Z97 board with 2 PCIe x16 slots. Or an LGA 2011 board with 4 DIMMs or SODIMMs in the extra space.
 
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UPDATE 2014-9-21: When we ship you item, PayPal automatically generates a shipping update email. However it is showing the address PayPal has on file. For those that requested a different shipping address, this is creating some confusion. Check your tracking number for the delivery location
 
Interesting. PayPal didn't send me any shipping update emails. I had to click through to the order number from my PayPal payment receipt email to grab the tracking. Also, how do you find the delivery location based on tracking number? I though USPS didn't disclose that information if all you had was the tracking number?
 
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I just got a email saying that my shipping label was canceled because it did not print and that it wont be sent using paypal shipping with USPS. Anyone else get this?
 
So I built most of my PC last week, and should be finishing it off later this week if my new GPU and SFX PSU arrives.

The only problem was that I couldn't figure out how to attach my HDD to the bracket, nor could I find how to attach my SSD behind the front panel.

Could somebody tell me how to do this so my build goes smoothly? I got kind of lost without a manual telling me what to do...:p
 
Kypore said:
I just got a email saying that my shipping label was canceled because it did not print and that it wont be sent using paypal shipping with USPS. Anyone else get this?
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I got the same mail for both of my orders. What is going on there?
 
i got this:
NCASE LLC has cancelled the shipping label for the reason below:
Label Did Not Print
Your package will no longer be shipped using PayPal Shipping with U.S. Postal Service.
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NCASE LLC has cancelled the shipping label for the reason below:

Label Did Not Print

Your package will no longer be shipped using PayPal Shipping with U.S. Postal Service.
Click to expand...

Add me to the list of getting this email from paypal
 
ellroy80 said:
Necere, considering we're talking about this card, and given that it appears to take up two slots, what's the distance from the inside bottom of the case to the top of the card? I'm wondering if the fans could be removed and replaced with 2 x 120mm fans on the case floor, plus shrouds if necessary.
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There's enough room to put fans on the bottom with a dual-slot card installed. So yes - if you remove the fans on a dual-slot card (making it less than two slots thick), fans will fit underneath with some room left over.

David164v8 said:
The only problem was that I couldn't figure out how to attach my HDD to the bracket, nor could I find how to attach my SSD behind the front panel.

Could somebody tell me how to do this so my build goes smoothly? I got kind of lost without a manual telling me what to do...:p
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There's a section in the FAQ on our site that describes the process:

How do I mount drives in the case?
There are two types of drive mounting:

  • For the rounded keyhole mounts (2.5" mounts, one bottom 3.5" mount), attach the rubber softmounts and screws to the drive first, then slide the drive into the keyholes.
  • For the spade-shaped keyhole mounts (on 3.5" HDD cage and one bottom 3.5" mount), insert the rubber softmount into the keyhole first, then screw the drive in.
Additionally there are small brackets included which allow 2.5" drives to be installed together in a stacked fashion.
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Regarding the emails you guys are getting from Paypal - I don't personally know why you're getting those, but I wouldn't worry about it. I've notified w360 of the situation, so hopefully he'll be along at some point to offer an explanation.
 
Necere said:
There's enough room to put fans on the bottom with a dual-slot card installed. So yes - if you remove the fans on a dual-slot card (making it less than two slots thick), fans will fit underneath with some room left over.
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Thanks Necere.
 
some people are saying the gtx 970 strix won't fit in the ncase cause it's too wide but it's 5.5 inches wide and the power pins are actually behind the 5.5 inches ,
but on the compatibility tab in ncases's website it says 5.5 inches for graphics card width. So what do you guys think??
18114804106l.JPG
 
This is just my own speculation about the Paypal email: [strike=]Paypal leaves a button on every order to print a shipping label, partly (I guess) as a reminder of which orders need shipping. But the label would print with the address you have on file with Paypal, and some of you updated your addresses when w360 sent out the confirmation emails. So he couldn't use the label from Paypal because they'd have the old/wrong address, and so instead "cancelled" the print label option to mark those orders as filled in Paypal (otherwise it thinks they haven't been filled and nags you about it).[/s] See w360's explanation below.

The bottom line is, don't worry about it; the no-ODD cases have been shipped out already, and the rest should be going out tomorrow.


iggybibi said:
some people are saying the gtx 970 strix won't fit in the ncase cause it's too wide but it's 5.5 inches wide and the power pins are actually behind the 5.5 inches ,
but on the compatibility tab in ncases's website it says 5.5 inches for graphics card width. So what do you guys think??
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I think... maybe. The PCB is still clearly taller, so it depends on whether the height of the power connector exceeds the heatpipe.
 
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Ready to ship tomorrow for Silver and Black, what a crazy day.

You guy like to take your time respondin to confirmation emails, but when it comes to the "PayPal Cancellation" email, you guys are sure fast to reach out...lol

I feel bad for my inbox.

Here is what happened

Myself and the help generated most of the remaining shipping labels yesterday, with the intention of printing them out this morning (Sunday). Then we had a printer problem, some of the labels didn't print in time within PayPal's 24 hour reprint period, we had to cancel labels and reprint.

The cancellation of the label automatically sends out emails, which caused some panic ;)

Rest assured, all resolved.
 
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Great to hear schedule is respected as I'm receiving all my parts next week. Perfect timing.

Asus Z97i-Plus, Intel 4790k, Samsung XP941 512Gb, Asus GTX 980, G.Skill 8Gb 2400Mhz, Silverstone SFX 600W and custom watercooling..

Cooling will be made of:
FrozenQ M1 reservoir
EK Supremacy waterblock
EK GTX 980 waterblock
XSPC Slim 240 radiator
2x Corsair SP120 fans
Laing DDC with XSPC top (hope it fits)

I'm looking forward!
 
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Oh em gee, mine are both out for delivery! Gratuitous photos of cases we've all already seen in countless photos coming soon. All my other parts get here today too. Might just have to leave work early...

For those wondering, my cases are no ODD so they were in the Friday shipping batch and I live a few hours away from the port of New Jersey, so they weren't coming far. Tracking listed them as 2 day shipping based on the distance.
 
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Now I'm all excited again!!

TuKo said:
Asus Z97i-Plus, Intel 4790k, Samsung XP941 512Gb, Asus GTX 980, G.Skill 8Gb 2400Mhz, Silverstone SFX 600W and custom watercooling.
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Damn, that XP941 would set me back more than a 980 if bought on amazon and shipped here (incl customs). 750$ is steep. Worth it? Or have you gotten a better deal somwhere else?
 
iggybibi said:
some people are saying the gtx 970 strix won't fit in the ncase cause it's too wide but it's 5.5 inches wide and the power pins are actually behind the 5.5 inches ,
but on the compatibility tab in ncases's website it says 5.5 inches for graphics card width. So what do you guys think??
Click to expand...
Necere said:
I think... maybe. The PCB is still clearly taller, so it depends on whether the height of the power connector exceeds the heatpipe.
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The Strix GTX 980 is only 5.27" tall, although it appears to have the same PCB dimensions as the Strix GTX 970. The cables that come with the SX600-G and the 500W SFX-L look to me like they should be flexible enough to make it fit.

9tfmOrI.jpg


Ncases.com says 4.7" at the power connection and while the Strix GTX 980 is 5.27" tall, the power connection is significantly recessed:

QzDZkMrl.jpg


This is tempting me a lot to go with aircooling with the Strix GTX 980 or 970 because it's mainly at idle that I care about noise levels and the semi-passive cooling should help with that. If a GTX 990 comes out, a watercooled i7-4790K + GTX 990 in the NCASE M1 could be freaking awesome though. :D
 
Bobalias_LeShay said:
Oh em gee, mine are both out for delivery! Gratuitous photos of cases we've all already seen in countless photos coming soon. All my other parts get here today too. Might just have to leave work early...

For those wondering, my cases are no ODD so they were in the Friday shipping batch and I live a few hours away from the port of New Jersey, so they weren't coming far. Tracking listed them as 2 day shipping based on the distance.
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Lucky! I also ordered no ODD. Mine says:

September 18, 2014
Pre-Shipment Info Sent to USPS
 
vero said:
This is tempting me a lot to go with aircooling with the Strix GTX 980 or 970 because it's mainly at idle that I care about noise levels and the semi-passive cooling should help with that. If a GTX 990 comes out, a watercooled i7-4790K + GTX 990 in the NCASE M1 could be freaking awesome though. :D
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Who's going to be adventurous and confirm if the Strix 980 or 970 will or will not fit? :p
 
vero said:
The Strix GTX 980 is only 5.27" tall, although it appears to have the same PCB dimensions as the Strix GTX 970. The cables that come with the SX600-G and the 500W SFX-L look to me like they should be flexible enough to make it fit.

9tfmOrI.jpg


Ncases.com says 4.7" at the power connection and while the Strix GTX 980 is 5.27" tall, the power connection is significantly recessed:

QzDZkMrl.jpg


This is tempting me a lot to go with aircooling with the Strix GTX 980 or 970 because it's mainly at idle that I care about noise levels and the semi-passive cooling should help with that. If a GTX 990 comes out, a watercooled i7-4790K + GTX 990 in the NCASE M1 could be freaking awesome though. :D
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Yes the power connector is recessed... compared to a "normal" super tall card. But its still probably 10mm taller than a normal card... so I doubt it would fit... and maybe its the heatpipe that interferes. Who knows... well, buy it so we all know :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

One for the team, come on :D:D:D
 
My cases arrived today along with my reference cooler EVGA GTX 980, build went quite smoothly, aside from what is possibly a defective 4790k. Idles at 50C+ and crashes (at 100C) when I try to load it up with Prime95 despite multiple stock cooler re-seats. We'll see when my NH-C14 gets here in a few days whether the stock cooler is just terrible or something is wrong with the chip/IHS. I don't think it's due to lack of airflow in the M1, because I pulled the panels off and pointed a box fan at it, but it didn't help the temps. I suspect I'll be doing an exchange for the processor this weekend at Microcenter, because no heatsink is that terrible. (And I *think* I'm not so incompetent as to be doing something stupidly wrong.)

On a better note, the 980 with a stock cooler maxes out around 80C at only 60% fan speed while running Furmark. Hello beautiful quiet and/or overclocking headroom. Just something to consider for those of you wondering whether the non-reference coolers are worth it. I'm excited to see what this baby can do once I get my CPU issues sorted.

The case is just so brilliantly well thought out, it's everything I hoped for, and even smaller than I expected. It's really begging for custom shortened PSU cables though. My SX600-G cables are all over the place due to length. That's a project for this weekend perhaps.
 
Bobalias_LeShay said:
..what is possibly a defective 4790k. Idles at 50C+ and crashes (at 100C) when I try to load it up with Prime95 despite multiple stock cooler re-seats. We'll see when my NH-C14 gets here in a few days whether the stock cooler is just terrible or something is wrong with the chip/IHS.
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Prime95 small-FFT on a 4790k with the stock HSF is a death wish. Even with larger coolers, Haswell does not like that (or FPU-only setting in AIDA64).

50C idle seems really high, but even with my C12, my idle is usually in the mid-30s. Just wondering, what RAM and XMP profile (if any) are you using? One of my profiles would consistently crash during stress-testing (instead of throttling at 100C).
 
Hi Guys

Here's my build, with the MSI GTX 970 GAMING 4G (269 x 141 x 35)


For now thermals looks ok, can maybe mount two 3,5 inch drives above CPU (2600k oc 4ghz)



In desktop the build is very quiet at idle, the MSI fans don't spin.
In gaming the PSU is the loudest component, seconded by CPU fan.



Heatpipe ~0-1mm from side panel when closed :D
 
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Bobalias_LeShay said:
My cases arrived today along with my reference cooler EVGA GTX 980, build went quite smoothly, aside from what is possibly a defective 4790k. Idles at 50C+ and crashes (at 100C) when I try to load it up with Prime95 despite multiple stock cooler re-seats.
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The stock cooler is barely enough to keep it in check for normal use. Running Prime95 is plain torture. You should see a lot better results with realistic testing and a good cooler.
 
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