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

rauldelga said:
However the GPU idles at around 65C constantly. Under load it hovers in the low 80C.
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The GTX 980 dynamically adjusts its clock speed to keep the temperature at ~83C, so there's nothing abnormal there.

If you want fans on the bottom (e.g. for dust control), go with pressure-optimized fans.
 
Many of you have really nice builds. Let me share my build with you guys! I call this "Too poor for a PSU"

e6SGD4z.jpg


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Specs:
GPU: 980ti Reference
HDD: Toshiba 1tb that has been rattling for 3 years
SSD: crucial m4 128gb
MEMORY: gskills ripjaw 4gbx2
MOBO: ASRock Z68M-ITX
CPU: Intel Core i5 3470
PSU: M12ii 520w


Alittle story about why I did this. I wanted this case ever since I saw hardwarecanucks do a video on it. When I saw it, it was still on sale but i decided that is was too expensive. fast forward 1month later it was out of stock. So when the recent pre orders came up i bought it in a heartbeat. However Im did not think it though as I didnt have enough money to buy new part to transfer my old rig into this case so i decided to cheap out for now and just get a new motherboard(the z68) and force fit everything into this case. I still have a 500gb HDD but it's impossible to fit in with all the thich wiring from the ATX psu.
 
You might be able to trade your PSU with someone, or else sell it and buy one that'd work for you. Check the FS/T forum. ;)
 
Hey, you got a working system on a shoestring; you are on your way... the PSU is the only thing holding it back on the appearance side of things. :)
 
antbikerjl said:
Anyone know how do you properly test a SX600 without it having a standby switch to turn it on/off? Would the standard black/green wire paperclip method work for this PSU? I built my Ncase M1 and the motherboard would not boot. I have an ASUS Impact VII motherboard and when trying to power on, only the 'Power' button on the motherboard would light up and the motherboard's IO panel's reset button lights up too. No peripherals would start or anything.

I tried hooking up a PSU tester to the 24pin connector and got nothing (hence the question of how to properly test this PSU since it gave no readings but yet some basic lights and etc were lit on the mobo). Want to verify if it is a bad power supply or bad mobo
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I have the same PSU and I was unable to "jump" it with a paper clip. It would basically just "hummm" real quick like the night vision goggles from CS 1.6 and then do nothing, no fans or anything. This is only with the motherboard cable connected and the power cable. I don't know if I was doing it wrong or not but the PSU turned out to work fine after I got everything connected.

When I first started my build I had the same problem where the mobo lights would turn on but the power button did nothing. Turns out I was powering the CPU through the PCI cable, big no no. I know it sounds silly but make sure you are powering the CPU through the correct jack because even though the connectors are keyed, I still managed to fit it in the wrong place. The blue thing is for the GPU, black is for the CPU. Hopefully your issue is that simple.

Necere said:
The GTX 980 dynamically adjusts its clock speed to keep the temperature at ~83C, so there's nothing abnormal there.

If you want fans on the bottom (e.g. for dust control), go with pressure-optimized fans.
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Thank you for your advice. I figured that 83C is acceptable. Kind of sucks when they feature a "no rpm" settings for temps below 60C when you constantly idle at 65C lol. Ironically the solution to that is to add more fans amiright?! Going to purchase more industrial Noctuas!
 
Has anyone been able to fit a Asus STRIX 980 Ti in the NCASE M1?

I've been told mixed things, some say it won't fit, others say you can remove the plastic panel pin bracket and it'll fit?

Also what 980 Ti cards are recommended for this case? I've heard people recommend the reference card and the EVGA Hybrid but are there any custom PCB models that'll fit in the NCASE M1?
 
synthecypher said:
Has anyone been able to fit a Asus STRIX 980 Ti in the NCASE M1?

I've been told mixed things, some say it won't fit, others say you can remove the plastic panel pin bracket and it'll fit?

Also what 980 Ti cards are recommended for this case? I've heard people recommend the reference card and the EVGA Hybrid but are there any custom PCB models that'll fit in the NCASE M1?
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If you care about temperatures inside your case then the reference cooler is recommended due to its blower. I own a GTX980ti SC ACX2.0+ and I may be wrong but it is on the smaller side of the 980ti's and fit just fine. I can imagine that with the wide PCB cards you'll struggle trying to connect the PCI power cables but I can't give a solid answer.

The temperatures are 83C during benchmarks but my idle is 65C. Keep in mind that I have an h100i with 2 x 120mm fans. In short, the GPU cycles the hot air because I have no fans on the bottom of my case. I know its not the answer you are looking for but hey, more food for you.
 
synthecypher said:
Isn't that assuming that the space underneath will be utilised by a HDD or a fan?
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No, that has nothing to do with it. You're probably misunderstanding the dimensions: traditionally, "height" refers to the distance from the top of the PCI card's PCB to the face of the motherboard. Picture an older style of desktop case where the PCI cards are vertically oriented. These days of course most cases have the motherboard oriented vertically, so calling it "width" would be more accurate. Nevertheless, height is the traditional term, and unfortunately due to this you're bound to confuse some number of people, regardless of which one you go with. edit: ninja-edited :p Well, I'll leave the explanation here.

synthecypher said:
Where is that spec?
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Under "dimensions."

Also, the maximum height is actually listed in inches on our site, not mm. But the dimensions on ASUS's site are in both inches and cm, so it's still easy to compare them.
 
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Edit: I was wrong, this is why I prefer IRC

In which case what are the best 980 Ti cards suited to this case other than the EVGA Hybrid (as it's sold out everywhere at the moment)?

Most people seem to recommend the reference card with the blower cooler design.

Is it OK to have a card with an open cooler design or will it heat the case up to much? (even with a fan underneath it to assist with venting the hot air under the case?)
 
krbuck said:
I think this is right. I just finished my build using a C14 and put in a 25mm thick NF-F12 Noctua fan in the lower part of the cooler. The nice thing is that the clips that hold the provided 140mm fans work for the 120mm fans.

Here are my pics.
E17kxZ8l.jpg

G5rx2F2l.jpg
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I know this is random but i'm not liking the noise level of my h100i. Does anyone know if the Noctua NH C14 would fit with high profile RAM (Trident X)? I know the third fan pulling wont fit.
 
rauldelga said:
Does anyone know if the Noctua NH C14 would fit with high profile RAM (Trident X)? I know the third fan pulling wont fit.
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That RAM is 54mm tall according to G.SKILL's site. The NH-C14 provides 65mm of clearance without the bottom fan. So I'm going to say it should be fine.
 
Necere said:
That RAM is 54mm tall according to G.SKILL's site. The NH-C14 provides 65mm of clearance without the bottom fan. So I'm going to say it should be fine.
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Well that was easy. I do apologize for not checking that myself. Lesson learned. Many Thanks!
 
Necere said:
No, I'm going by the published specs of the card, which put the height at 152mm. The M1 only supports cards up to 140mm tall.
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That's what I meant. Cut/hack/etc the case to make it happen. I never said it would be clean. But if it's not humanly possible because of other reasons, sorry in advance. :)
 
Since people keep asking about these cards, I'm going to give a definitive rundown based on what people have reported and/or the manufacturer's specs.


M1 GPU height (AKA width) restriction: 5.5" (140mm)


GTX 980 STRIX: DOES NOT FIT
Listed height: 5.3" (134.4mm), but see below
The listed height does not include the heatpipe, which will extend outside of the case and prevent the side panel from closing. Nothing short of removing the heatpipe/replacing the cooler will allow it to fit.


GTX 970 STRIX: DOES NOT FIT (but can be modded to fit)
Listed height: 5.5" (140mm)
Technically within the height limit, but the card has an unusual tall PCB that extends out to the corners. It's the backmost corner of the PCB that presents a problem in the M1, and requires either modding the case or the card to fit.


GTX 980 Ti STRIX: DOES NOT FIT
Listed height: 6" (152mm)
Simply too tall, and will extend outside of the case.
 
synthecypher said:
What about the Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 980 Ti?

(...)

I'm guessing not.
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Actually it should fit fine. The PCB is reference height (111mm) going by the pics, so the PCIe power connectors aren't a problem, and the overall height is within the limit. If you look through the gallery, there's a couple of builds with Windforce cards as well.
 
synthecypher said:
I'm pretty sure the G1 has wider heatsinks, but you're saying it uses a reference PCB?

G1 GAMING


WINDFORCE 3X GAMING
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Going by this pic, yes, the PCB appears to be reference height. Note I'm not saying it's a reference PCB - only that it's the same height as a reference PCB (which is what matters as far as fitment is concerned).

The PCB can actually be taller than reference and still fit, the important thing is where the PCIe power connectors are, because they need about 20mm total for the connectors and room for the wires to bend. The M1 has about 29mm from the edge of a reference-height PCB (111mm) to the side panel, which gives us the 140mm overall height limit. The 29mm clearance means that the PCIe power connectors can be a little further out and still fit, as is the case with the short "ITX" ASUS cards, which have a PCB that measures 122mm tall.
 
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Necere said:
Going by this pic, yes, the PCB appears to be reference height. Note I'm not saying it's a reference PCB - only that it's the same height as a reference PCB (which is what matters as far as fitment is concerned).

The PCB can actually be taller than reference and still fit, the important thing is where the PCIe power connectors are, because they need about 20mm total for the connectors and room for the wires to bend. The M1 has about 29mm from the edge of a reference-height PCB (111mm) to the side panel, which gives us the 140mm overall height limit. The 29mm clearance means that the PCIe power connectors can be a little further out and still fit, as is the case with the short "ITX" ASUS cards, which have a PCB that measures 122mm tall.
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Thanks I did a couple mock-ups in my case with a reference card and a stick of cardboard with a length of 135mm. I'm thinking it'll fit is there anywhere they list the dimensions of the PCBs?
 
synthecypher said:
I'm thinking it'll fit is there anywhere they list the dimensions of the PCBs?
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Not that I'm aware of. It's fairly easy to eyeball it though, once you know what to look for. Basically, a reference height PCB will be only a little past the end of the PCI bracket (about 5mm or 1/4"), and the bottom of the SLI goldfingers will line up with the top of the bracket. See for example two of the cards we've been talking about:



(Click to enlarge)

These are approximately at the same scale, and it's obvious how much taller the STRIX card is. Also note that even though PCIe power connectors are recessed on the STRIX card, they're still higher than on the Gigabyte.
 
I'm really not a fan of the enormous PCB trend with GPU's recently.

Asus is the greatest offender, imo.

I understand more PCB = more components can fit = potentially better OC, but that think is MASSIVE.
 
Today I received my V4 accessories but I didn't receive the "M1 V4 Plastic Clips". I received the initial shipping update for it but it wasn't there on last weeks shipping "miscommunication" update.
 
Thanks Necere my order is sent and I'll get it on the weekend.

I should update with a build log and pictures.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£256.90 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C12P SE14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£46.79 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII IMPACT Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£154.54 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£81.19 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£130.79 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card (£569.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: Silverstone 600W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply (£102.72 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Red 52.2 CFM 120mm Fan (£8.54 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Red 52.2 CFM 120mm Fan (£8.54 @ Scan.co.uk)
Monitor: Dell P2715Q 60Hz 27.0" Monitor (£457.52 @ Scan.co.uk)
Other: NCASE M1 Version 4 (£172.08)
Total: £1989.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-07 07:57 BST+0100
 
Hanakuso said:
Today I received my V4 accessories but I didn't receive the "M1 V4 Plastic Clips". I received the initial shipping update for it but it wasn't there on last weeks shipping "miscommunication" update.
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Yeah, I noticed the same thing, but I haven't received my accessories yet to confirm. I'm guessing my clips won't be there either.
 
In the past, W360 has been shipping the clips and small accessories from the US, separately from the cases themselves which ship direct from Taiwan.
 
Didn't get my clips either. I guess they will come later, as a 3 gram shipment or something. :p
 
rauldelga said:
Well that was easy. I do apologize for not checking that myself. Lesson learned. Many Thanks!
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Like previously stated, the tridentX fits fine with the C14. It's also pretty easy to pop off the top of the cooling fin if you wish to attach another fan to the bottom of the cpu cooler. ddr3 doesn't really need that much cooling anyway.
 
I am going to get accelero xtreme iv (because in Finland I cannot get xtreme iii anywhere) for my gtx 980 and then have fans at bottom of the case cooling it/exhausting out of the case.

Does xtreme iv come with ram/mosftet heatsinks or do I need to buy them seperately and if I do would these be good for the job?
http://www.aquatuning.us/air-coolin...uminium-heatsinks-15x15mm-black-10-pcs?c=6633


And do I need insulation tape or extra mounting hardware to mount the cooler and seperate small heatsinks for mosfets or am I going to be fine without?
 
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Topsu said:
I am going to get accelero xtreme iv (because in Finland I cannot get xtreme iii anywhere) for my gtx 980 and then have fans at bottom of the case cooling it/exhausting out of the case.
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Another option that was tried many, many posts ago is the Alpenfohn Peter 2. I purchased one from the UK and plan to mount it on my 970 this weekend (wife permitting). It comes with a large number of small heatsinks for the VRM and memory chips. Like you, I will have two 120 mm fans on the bottom set to exhaust the air out of the case. I will have the fans powered and controlled by the 970's fan controller.

I found the post by Curiositie. He includes a large photo of the Alpenfohn Peter 2 attached to his 750ti in the post. Oops, looks like I might have missed the part about there only being room for slim 20 mm fans. Darn. Oh well, it might help those who want to use an ATX powersupply, as Necere noted a few posts later. Now I need to find some thin 20 mm fans.
 
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I am at a loss right now and cannot track down my problem.

I have a 4790k @ 4.4 GHz with 1.20 voltage and while during Prime95 I am hitting 75-85 (sometimes spiking 90C) Celsius with a Corsair h100i (doing push with 2 Noctua F12). I do not see a single kink in the tubing and I have reseated the CPU block atleast 3 times. I am also idling around 35-38 degrees Celsius (fans are only working at around 800 RPM).

Is this normal?

What temps are people hitting on their H100i's? I just cannot figure out what is going on... What are people getting with a large heatsink setup instead? I may get rid of the h100i and move towards a CPU heatsink instead...
 
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