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

rfarmer said:
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You mount the optical drive on the front of the bracket and the SSD on the back, they use different mounting points.
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... and you can use the stacking brackets to mount a hard drive and an SSD together on the inside of the front panel. Note that sometimes it can be difficult to attach the power and/or data cables to stacked 2.5-inch drives, but there are solutions to that.
 
Chapeau said:
Out of curiosity - Does the optical work with the front cover on?
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Qrash said:
... what about with the top panel on? That's a tray-load drive instead of a slot-load one.
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Yes but you need to put the top off to use it, eject the drive and pull it up to use it. A slight inconvenience but owning a bluray tray drive and not wanting to spend $70+ more :(
 
Qrash said:
... and you can use the stacking brackets to mount a hard drive and an SSD together on the inside of the front panel. Note that sometimes it can be difficult to attach the power and/or data cables to stacked 2.5-inch drives, but there are solutions to that.
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That is what I did Qrash, I have a 2TB Samsung Spinpoint 2.5" 9.5mm and an OCZ 960GB SSD 7mm on the stacking bracket. Combined with my M.2 that gives me 3TB in a very compact space.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...m_re=molex_to_sata-_-9SIA85V4BV3480-_-Product I am using one of those for SATA power connection, works much better than the Corsair ones and the sleeving matches my PSU cables.
 
;)
rfarmer said:
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That is what I did Qrash, I have a 2TB Samsung Spinpoint 2.5" 9.5mm and an OCZ 960GB SSD 7mm on the stacking bracket. Combined with my M.2 that gives me 3TB in a very compact space.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...m_re=molex_to_sata-_-9SIA85V4BV3480-_-Product I am using one of those for SATA power connection, works much better than the Corsair ones and the sleeving matches my PSU cables.
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Yep, that's the solution I was thinking of (but didn't search for ;) ).
 
What he doesn't mention is that they seem to be using more or less the same hardware between cases for the temperature/noise testing. The CPU cooler, for example, appears to be the Noctua L9i. That doesn't exactly make for a very fair comparison, since several of the cases can fit much larger coolers and would perform much better than those numbers indicate.
 
Sigh. I've had a V5 case sitting in a box for months, I've read the entire 600+ pages of this monster thread, I still can't build a system because mini-ITX AM4 motherboards don't exist.
 
tessier-ashpool said:
Sigh. I've had a V5 case sitting in a box for months, I've read the entire 600+ pages of this monster thread, I still can't build a system because mini-ITX AM4 motherboards don't exist.
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In exactly the same boat as you. I even have a brand new C14 ready with AM4 brackets ordered from Noctua. I'm not keen on that biostar board. Would need to have wifi at least. I'm justifying the wait because I believe the main manufacturers will probably release itx boards in the not too distant future by which time Vega cards too will probably be out.
 
JTIlla said:
In exactly the same boat as you. I even have a brand new C14 ready with AM4 brackets ordered from Noctua. I'm not keen on that biostar board. Would need to have wifi at least. I'm justifying the wait because I believe the main manufacturers will probably release itx boards in the not too distant future by which time Vega cards too will probably be out.
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Thanks for the optical/hdd info, guys

As for AM4 ITX, the Biostar is out depending on where you are, and there are rumors of an ASRock in June and a Gigabyte in July.

I'm waiting on the ASRock. :(
 
After much pain and work, I have finished my hardlined m1.

specs
asus rog viii motherboard
intel 6600k
PNY 1080
samsung 850 ssd (2 in raid)
thermaltake riiing rgb fans
silverstone 600w psu
alphacool nexxxus gpu waterblock
swiftech apogee drive cpu block/pump
swiftech qp 240mm radiator
MNpctech sli gpu support
MNpctech feet

I hardlined the whole thing, no softlines anywhere. The hardest part of the hardline setup was by far getting the cpu exit line, it had to wrap around and do nearly a full 360 from where it started.

I have water temp sensors, and a gpu block temp sensor keeping tabs on my temps. I never get over 55c on the gpu and 45 on the cpu. Pump runs at 1400rpm and the fans max out at 1400 rpm. so everything stays pretty quiet.

The gpu support was a bit of a pain, I tried to use the standard gpu support, but it was too thick and hit my fittings. So, I had to spring for the sli mount (2 in a pack) they are single slot sized and it fits like it was made for this case. You dont get bottom fans with the sli mount, but thats ok as I didnt see any change in temps when I had a pair of 120mm fans in there. It does cover up the empty space down there really nice.


https://mnpctech.com/ncase-m1-mods/

https://mnpctech.com/pc-computer-st...minum-black-silver-replacement-case-feet-set/


In the future I plan to put some colored dye in the loop and sleeve all of my cables.
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Anyone have a breakdown of thermals on CPU coolers for the NCase? I know everyone's ambient temps different but would like to know the hierarchy.
 
FISCHER said:
Anyone have a breakdown of thermals on CPU coolers for the NCase? I know everyone's ambient temps different but would like to know the hierarchy.
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Would have little to no value because so many configuration possibilities like same heatsink but one decided to orient vertically, another would have it horizontally, one would use one fan, another 2, then there is push and also pull, case fans and like you said room temps. All this for a single model, repeat for all models. :) Unless of course all data are known and noted.
 
I'm looking at case fans, and had some questions. Specifically for side-panel fans to be used with an air-cooler (either dual 120s or a single over the PSU), with an emphasis on silence:

Which 120mm Noctua is best?

Are there any 120s that are comparable/better than the Noctuas that don't look like ass?

Will a 140 fit next to a 120?

What about slim fans? Are they all appreciably noiser than the standard width?

How does PWM compressed to non-PWM, and should I be concerned about hardware/software support thereof?

Do all of the above also apply to fans below the GPU, or are there better ones in that role?
 
DarkForceRising said:
Will a 140 fit next to a 120?
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Yes, but the 140 mm fan must have a round frame with 120 mm fan mounting holes. The spacing will be tight between the two fans (a 120 mm and a 140 mm) so you will not be able to adjust their positions very much (if at all) on the side bracket. The openings on the side bracket are meant for 120 mm fans so part of a 140 mm fan will be covered.
 
Fractal Design is finally delivering their 240 AIO cooler on May 12th for $110
http://aphnetworks.com/reviews/fractal-design-celsius-s24

The Kabuto 2 cooler I am using seems fine, but the GPU temps on my setup are out of control. The GPU is by far the toughest component to cool in this case. I am torn between going full water or getting one of the EVGA or Corsair Hybrid GPUs. Vega might also offer an AIO version like the Fury X
 
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p3z I think I may pull trigger on EVGA 1080 Ti SC BE. Quick question on your temps. I just stalked your posts to find temp data. Just wondering. Do you always keep your case open? Did you keep data on temps without bottom fans + closed case? I checked your pics and the case was open.

Havent done much research, but so far I also read that EVGA doesnt void warranty when installing third party coolers. I might reuse my Arctic Accelero IV on it. I think if it was able to cool my 290X, it should be able to cool every other GPU that it could fit on :p
 
Qrash said:
Yes, but the 140 mm fan must have a round frame with 120 mm fan mounting holes. The spacing will be tight between the two fans (a 120 mm and a 140 mm) so you will not be able to adjust their positions very much (if at all) on the side bracket. The openings on the side bracket are meant for 120 mm fans so part of a 140 mm fan will be covered.
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What about harddrives and the 140mm?
 
Alright. Arctic Accelero III installed on a Founders Edition GTX 1070.
Temperatures and fan speeds right where I want them.
Near silent at idle, and the fans barely spin up at all when playing a game like Hawken, with GPU temps in the 50s.
Even something demanding like Forza Horizon 3 has the fans still quite low and GPU temps peaked at 72.

Some coil whine was noted, but it isn't too bad (certainly not like the screechy Xtreme Gaming)

Though I think that a non-founders (which has the fan stop feature) but still has a reference PCB would be ideal.
I ended up putting the fans on a motherboard fan header, since the fans ran at a constant speed using the 4-pin header on the card.

Not a huge deal, but I'd be a bit more comfortable if fan speed were directly tied to the GPU's temperature instead of CPU temperature.
That being said, temps are pretty good.


After trying a MSI Seahawk, EVGA Superclocked, and Gigabyte Xtreme Gaming (stock and shroud removed /w fans at the bottom), a reference PCB with the Arctic Accelero III is by *far* the best in terms of noise.
 
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FISCHER said:
What about harddrives and the 140mm?
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My M1 has a 120 mm fan on the rear half of the side bracket and a 140 mm fan on the front half. There is still room on the inside of the front panel for one 2.5-inch drive that is up to 9.5 mm thick. There are a few millimeters of room left, but not enough for two 7mm thick drives (stacked together) or a 15 mm thick drive (like some high capacity hard drives).
 
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gsilver said:
Alright. Arctic Accelero III installed on a Founders Edition GPU.
Temperatures and fan speeds right where I want them.
Near silent at idle, and the fans barely spin up at all when playing a game like Hawken, with GPU temps in the 50s.
Even something demanding like Forza Horizon 3 has the fans still quite low and GPU temps peaked at 72.

Though I think that a non-founders (which has the fan stop feature) but still has a reference PCB would be ideal.
I ended up putting the fans on a motherboard fan header, since the fans ran at a constant speed using the 4-pin header on the card.

Not a huge deal, but I'd be a bit more comfortable if fan speed were directly tied to the GPU's temperature instead of CPU temperature.
That being said, temps are pretty good.


After trying a MSI Seahawk, EVGA Superclocked, and Gigabyte Xtreme Gaming (stock and shroud removed /w fans at the bottom), a reference PCB with the Arctic Accelero III is by *far* the best in terms of noise.
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Glad to read about your success. I believe (from reading other posts here) that SpeedFan can control the fans using the GPU temperature. I don't know how to use SpeedFan myself, but I know there are YouTube instructional videos.
 
Oh, and another reason why I'd recommend something besides a Founders Edition (though still look for a reference PCB to ensure compatibilty with the Accelero)
The backplate was a royal pain.
It needs to be removed to get the stock HSF off, and then I had to check a couple of different hardware stores to find nuts that fit the screws so that I could get it back into place.
Something that has the HSF and backplate separated would be much easier.
And also: A couple of the heatsinks from the Accelero block the backplate screws (and the power connector limited how far I could tighten one) but it seems sturdy enough with missing those two not having nuts holding them in place.
Alternatively, I could have fastened them down before putting the heatsinks on, but it was late when I started and the hardware stores were closed :pigeon:
 
gsilver said:
Alright. Arctic Accelero III installed on a Founders Edition GTX 1070.

After trying a MSI Seahawk, EVGA Superclocked, and Gigabyte Xtreme Gaming (stock and shroud removed /w fans at the bottom), a reference PCB with the Arctic Accelero III is by *far* the best in terms of noise.
Click to expand...

I had my eyes on the MSI/Corsair Seahawk or EVGA Hybrid for a while, and I am surprised that the Arctic Accelero beat these CLC setups. I might reconsider if you had better results with the Accelero.

I currently have a G1 Gaming GTX970 which is a triple fan open cooler similar to the Accelero, and it can get pretty hot and noisy when gaming. What does your M1 setup look like?
 
ejohnson said:
After much pain and work, I have finished my hardlined m1.

specs
asus rog viii motherboard
intel 6600k
PNY 1080
samsung 850 ssd (2 in raid)
thermaltake riiing rgb fans
silverstone 600w psu
alphacool nexxxus gpu waterblock
swiftech apogee drive cpu block/pump
swiftech qp 240mm radiator
MNpctech sli gpu support
MNpctech feet

I hardlined the whole thing, no softlines anywhere. The hardest part of the hardline setup was by far getting the cpu exit line, it had to wrap around and do nearly a full 360 from where it started.

I have water temp sensors, and a gpu block temp sensor keeping tabs on my temps. I never get over 55c on the gpu and 45 on the cpu. Pump runs at 1400rpm and the fans max out at 1400 rpm. so everything stays pretty quiet.

The gpu support was a bit of a pain, I tried to use the standard gpu support, but it was too thick and hit my fittings. So, I had to spring for the sli mount (2 in a pack) they are single slot sized and it fits like it was made for this case. You dont get bottom fans with the sli mount, but thats ok as I didnt see any change in temps when I had a pair of 120mm fans in there. It does cover up the empty space down there really nice.
Click to expand...

Great build! Did you tried a 10-12mm thick 120mm fan at bottom, a little bit more airflow is never bad. I have similar setup and components (alphacool GPU block, 240mm radiator at side etc.), but I get GPU < 42°C and CPU < 55°C intresseting why your GPU is hotter than your CPU, normally the GPU should be lower temps at this kind of setup.
 
gsilver said:
Alright. Arctic Accelero III installed on a Founders Edition GTX 1070.
Temperatures and fan speeds right where I want them.
Near silent at idle, and the fans barely spin up at all when playing a game like Hawken, with GPU temps in the 50s.
Even something demanding like Forza Horizon 3 has the fans still quite low and GPU temps peaked at 72.

Some coil whine was noted, but it isn't too bad (certainly not like the screechy Xtreme Gaming)

Though I think that a non-founders (which has the fan stop feature) but still has a reference PCB would be ideal.
I ended up putting the fans on a motherboard fan header, since the fans ran at a constant speed using the 4-pin header on the card.

Not a huge deal, but I'd be a bit more comfortable if fan speed were directly tied to the GPU's temperature instead of CPU temperature.
That being said, temps are pretty good.


After trying a MSI Seahawk, EVGA Superclocked, and Gigabyte Xtreme Gaming (stock and shroud removed /w fans at the bottom), a reference PCB with the Arctic Accelero III is by *far* the best in terms of noise.
Click to expand...

I'm so glad to hear this because my Arctic Accelero III just arrived in the mail yesterday. I started water cooling a couple years ago, when my cheap MSI blower wasn't keeping the GPU from throttling. Water cooling keeps the temps down, but I had a leak that killed my mobo last year, and the thought of buying a new waterblock every time I want to upgrade my GPU has driven me back to air cooling....well that, and without water, I won't be too scared to take it on the plane with me anymore;)
 
Telemaq said:
I currently have a G1 Gaming GTX970 which is a triple fan open cooler similar to the Accelero, and it can get pretty hot and noisy when gaming. What does your M1 setup look like?
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I'm terrible at cable routing and don't have a current picture, but it's basically:
Rear exhaust: Noctua 92mm
Side intake: 2x Prolimatech Ultra Sleek Vortex 120mm Fan
CPU cooler: Noctua C14s
CPU fan:Noctua NF-F12 (Note: I still need to figure out how to properly mount this to the C14s. It's loose and causing vibration noise when it spins up; After tracking down some (not included) clips, I found that they didn't quite latch right so they didn't help)
GPU Heatsink: Arctic Accelero Extreme III
GPU fans: 2x Be Quiet Silent Wings III (exhaust)

Probably the biggest thing that makes a difference compared to the Gigabyte Xtreme Gaming (another 3-slot cooler) using 120mm fans is that with the Accelero, there isn't a gap (or at least, it's a very small one) between the heatsink and the fans.


So, I still need to figure out something with the CPU fan, but it's 90% to where I want it.
If only I could find a C14...


Edit:
*Actually*
What *do* you guys with C14 heatsinks do for the lower fan?
Wouldn't it have the same mounting issues?
 
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Hi,

Has anyone tried using the EVGA CLC 120 in an NCASE? It's the only Gen 5 Asetek pump that's 120mm and a normal thickness of rad. As gen 5 pumps are actually quiet, this could be the solution to double AIO without the nouse problems.
 
Hello everyone,

This is my first post on [H] but I've been lurking for a while.

I've seen somewhere that ASUS strix gtx 970 and 980 don't fit without modifications. Does anybody know if 960 fits? Love this case even though I haven't received it yet:)

Thanks!
 
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