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

Yeah. They're technically supposed to cost the same, but in reality the 2080 is about $150 more. It does outperform the 1080 Ti by 5-10% at 4K. Plus, it has the new features which could potentially be useful in the future. So if they cost the same or within $50 I'd definitely opt for the 2080. But right now it's a tough decision, especially considering you can get a used 1080 Ti for $500. If you have a 970 or better I'd skip this generation. Next year, with mature RT tech, 7nm, and competition from Intel and AMD, we can expect a bigger leap in performance at a better price.
 
Nanook said:
Yeah I saw. It’s a typical update, unlike Pascal’s massive leap forward.
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And for those of us in Australia, the RTX 2080 Ti offers an average of 31% performance improvement over the 1080 Ti (according to Hardware Unboxed) for a 100% price difference.... meh, this ray tracing stuff better be good and widely supported
 
Had to flip all the case fans... Switched to bottom intake, rear exhaust, top passive exhaust. 140mm CPUfan blows though C14S heatsink. Little bit warmer this way.

6700K CPU temps about 50-60 gaming, 70-78 stress
RTX 2080 GPU temps about 60-70 gaming, 74(?) cap stress
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Hey my fans finally came in and would like some advice on installing them.


my rig has the u9s, window, and no accelero mod on the gpu.


for the bottom 120s, is intake best?


for the two 92mm im not sure how install the back one, do i attach it to the cooler or to the case?

(suppose to be intaking one the front of the cooler and exhausting out the other side/out of the case but i need to double check i put the other fan on right)
 
so i didnt think through where these fan cables would go

where did everyone route them?


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also is the rear fan suppose to be on a spliter with the cpu fan? im not sure if having them at the same speed is a bad thing
 
Greeley said:
so i didnt think through where these fan cables would go

where did everyone route them?


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also is the rear fan suppose to be on a spliter with the cpu fan? im not sure if having them at the same speed is a bad thing
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rotate the fans so the cable are at the back and then tuck them along the edge maybe. re the exhaust fan, that will work but id want it to be independent if possible. you may need it to run faster for gpu heat exhaust when the cpu isn't working as hard. but that depends on how many headers you have.
 
pendragon1 said:
rotate the fans so the cable are at the back and then tuck them along the edge maybe. re the exhaust fan, that will work but id want it to be independent if possible. you may need it to run faster for gpu heat exhaust when the cpu isn't working as hard. but that depends on how many headers you have.
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CPU header, AIO header, and CHA header, thats it. i can try connecting to the AIO header.

will try the moving the 120s, main problem is the spliter, its not very long/pliable.

i saw some people put the Front panel cables through the outside might try that if my BR drive doesnt get in the way.
 
Greeley said:
CPU header, AIO header, and CHA header, thats it. i can try connecting to the AIO header.

will try the moving the 120s, main problem is the spliter, its not very long/pliable.

i saw some people put the Front panel cables through the outside might try that if my BR drive doesnt get in the way.
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the aio header should be usable, usually its just a higher amp rating.

try this:

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Greeley said:
CPU header, AIO header, and CHA header, thats it. i can try connecting to the AIO header.

will try the moving the 120s, main problem is the spliter, its not very long/pliable.

i saw some people put the Front panel cables through the outside might try that if my BR drive doesnt get in the way.
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What type of gpu are you using?
I’d also recommmend what pendragon1 suggested. :)
 
its a 1080 ti sc. i put the fan cables around the gpu and they barely reach the spliter, i'll tidy it up a cable tie

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Greeley said:
for the two 92mm im not sure how install the back one, do i attach it to the cooler or to the case?
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I would keep it like this, rear on the case and duct the rear to the heatskink... That's what I did so I'm sure that all hot air is going outside with no weird recirculation.

M1-HSduct-def.png


Tis is a 3D picture, if you can manage to cross your eyes until the 2 dots on the top overlap perfectly you'll see the depth in the picture. Once you get that it's magic. But one picture is enough to understand the duct part. No air can escape the exit of the heatsink.
 
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Greeley said:
so word is 1080ti > 2080 founders edition on price per preformance based on gamers nexus benchmarks
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Since the 2080 is about the same performance as a 1080Ti but more expensive and the 2080Ti is only about 30% faster than a 1080Ti but like $1200usd I think people are going to start snapping up existing 1080Ti and waiting for the 2100 series. So if you want a 1080Ti I'd say grab it now while its cheaper. I think the price is going to go up on those 1080Ti cards again. Just my own hunch anyway.
 
i am wait on a powerlink because my pcie cables are fitted to that, then i'll try to clean up the cables.

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i do not have the backplate yet, still havent heard back from the seller

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on my way out so havent tested anything yet. only problems i've found are the io cover wouldnt fit so it doesnt have one and the Powerlink sits kind of close to the glass


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irvinenomore said:
Also interested to see the results of this but would love to see some top down coolers, but know that's just not practical.

Most of the mega top down coolers have less than one inch to the side of the case which will cause re-circulation, noise and higher temps with the side window. I looked at the be quiet Shadow Rock TF 2 before realizing there was only 18mm clearance to the side panel, so I settled with the Shadow Rock LP to give the VRM some airflow as well as the Ryzen 2700(non-X). I've also thought about mounting the 92mm fan on the outside of the case to work as an intake or exhaust.

My case arrived last week but I haven't had much time to progress my build, here is as far as I have got:
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please share more info!! Thank you!
 
I been eyeing the M1 for a while but also have become somewhat of noise snob. I was wondering if anyone with the usual setups (bottom 120s, accelero or non-blower gpu, any common heatsink like u9s or c14s, 92mm on rear) could share temps for a 1080ti with low fan speeds. Ideally in the ballpark of 800 rpm for 92/120mm, and ~1300 rpm for gpu. I’ve found those speeds to be about my ideal upper limit. I’m using an MSI gaming X at 50% fan speed as my gpu reference—I’m guessing quality 120’s with accelero could ramp up near 1000rpm before exceeding that noise threshold?

I’m only worried about gaming loads. I have an 8700k at stock voltages so I think I would be fine with either noctua heatsink (and delid if necessary). If anyone has data like this handy or would be willing to tweak their fan curves before their next gaming session I’d be super appreciative. Even your current fan speeds/temps without tweaking would be a useful point of reference.
 
I have the M1 v2 and ordered the glass panel some months ago, planning to use it in the next build. Now that there exist ultra thin radiators with 20mm height and around 50mm clearance below a single slot GPU, I am wondering, which route to go. I want to water-cool the GPU. Water-cooled CPU is not a must. I want to add some RGB here and there. I wand to cut the bottom of the case for better air flow and want the fans on the radiator push air outside of the case. If I use the XSPC TX240 with 20mm thickness in the bottom, I see two options:

1)
15mm fans and Phanteks Halos on top of the bottom radiator. I know Noctuas fans perform well under tolerable noise.
Because the Noctua 15mm fan's blades are not meant to be used with radiators, the cooling might suffer.
I don't like the color scheme. Spray painting is not really an option.
Phanteks Halos don't look as good as native RGB fans.
A plus is the clearance between the fans and the GPU block.

2)
25mm RGB fans on top of the radiator. I like the look of the Enermax RGB fans.
Also not optimized for radiators, I think. But might have better cooling effect than 15mm case fans.
A minus is the 5mm clearance between fan and GPU block, which also does not allow much sight at the lights of the fans.

What do you think?

One more thing)
I already own a Phanteks top down CPU cooler, which can hold a 120mm fan. This cooler can only be mounted in one orientation on my ASUS Z270 mainboard. There is literally no clearance between RAM and the fan. It looks like stealing the show from the RGB Ram. I got Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro. Is there a CPU cooler capable of a 120mm fan, that puts the fan a bit away from the RAM? I also like the AMD round stock CPU cooler with RGB. But I am on Intel for now and not willing to change the platform.
 
Greeley said:
the page says the ultra has a thicker heatsink and taller fan hub, is the accelero replacing the heaksink as well? and if yes how does the accelero heatsink cool better?

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I have that Ultra card waiting for me at Microcenter, I haven’t picked it up because I wasn’t sure it would fit into the M1. I have two extra Noctua fans, I’ll see if I can go get the card and try it with the shroud off. I have a pair of high pressure Noctua PWM’s.

Can anyone confirm whether I should plug the Noctuas into the motherboard, or the video card?
 
Mannymal said:
Can anyone confirm whether I should plug the Noctuas into the motherboard, or the video card?
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Most GPU’s require an adapter to plug external fans into the PCB. Doing so lets you control the fans via Afterburner, etc. If you plug them into the motherboard, you can still control them, but most mobo bios/software won’t let you set a curve based on the GPU temp as it won’t have access to that sensor. You can still use a different program (like SpeedFan) to set a curve based on the GPU temp, which I something I do for my chassis fans.

edit: something like this, though you’d probably want a splitter so you can control both fans. I believe some ASUS cards actually have extra fan headers, and it’s possible EVGA added something similar for this generation https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005ZKZEQA
 
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QuantumBraced said:
Does anyone know if the Morpheus II + A12x15 fans performs better than the Accelero + A12x25 fans in the M1?
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You will not get the same performance (vs noise).. You can of cause just ramp the fans up and get the same cooling performance, but the noise will much worse.
 
QuantumBraced said:
Does anyone know if the Morpheus II + A12x15 fans performs better than the Accelero + A12x25 fans in the M1?
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I haven’t compared the two setups, but based on experience with the two fans, I believe the A12x25 will outperform the A12x15 in cooling and noise performance.
 
I ordered this new ultra thin TX240 radiator from XSPC. Thought it would be 20mm in height and wanted to add some regular thick fans on top - everything below a GPU water block. I thought, there would be just as much breathing room as with a (non ultra) thin radiator and thin fans. Unfortunately, the TX240 is 22mm in height. My dry fit with a Phanteks fan I had laying around, which is more like 28mm in height because of anti vibration rubber, leaves me exactly zero breathing room.
Now did I not want to use those Phanteks fans, but some RGB fans, but at the end, even if they were 25mm flush, which I doubt (ordered them, but don't have them yet), this would leave 3mm breathing room, which is not much.
My alternative is 15mm fans plus Phanteks Halos on top.
I am posting this as decision help - maybe some had or will have the same idea.

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Thanks, less is more sometimes. My goal was to have a simple setup, for easy maintenance and quick platform change if required.

I have now everything clean and fully hidden built into my external radiator setup (pump, reservoir, fan control, tempature sensors, power and so on). All with QDCs, power and USB connectors in seconds disassembled.

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This setup is almost complete inaudible, even my ambient temparture is over 35°C my water loop keeps 40°C under full load and fans spinning around 420 rpm, I personally would never go back to air cooling, even it's easier, cheaper and a of course much more transportable, but I don't need to move my PC setup quite often.
 
AG1M said:
Thanks, less is more sometimes. My goal was to have a simple setup, for easy maintenance and quick platform change if required.

I have now everything clean and fully hidden built into my external radiator setup (pump, reservoir, fan control, tempature sensors, power and so on). All with QDCs, power and USB connectors in seconds disassembled.

View attachment 109437 View attachment 109435 View attachment 109434 View attachment 109436

This setup is almost complete inaudible, even my ambient temparture is over 35°C my water loop keeps 40°C under full load and fans spinning around 420 rpm, I personally would never go back to air cooling, even it's easier, cheaper and a of course much more transportable, but I don't need to move my PC setup quite often.
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Very nice setup, my biggest complaint when I had my M1 watercooled was having to pull everything apart anytime I wanted to change components. With your setup that won't be a problem.
 
I couldn't help it and tried the XSPC TX240 radiator with regular fans. I chose the Enermax RGB fans for visual reasons. Looks awesome. Unfortunately doesn't keep the GPU cool. I installed them pushing air through the radiator outside the case at the bottom. I cut the bottom of the case to reduce restrictions and installed taller case feet. If I hold my hand beneath the case, I can't feel any airflow. I don't know yet, if this is because they only have millimeters of breathing room, or because the fins of the radiator are too dense, or both. Will investigate further, but I doubt that this setup will ever reach a level of cooling and noise I am comfortable with.

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einmannbude said:
I couldn't help it and tried the XSPC TX240 radiator with regular fans. I chose the Enermax RGB fans for visual reasons. Looks awesome. Unfortunately doesn't keep the GPU cool. I installed them pushing air through the radiator outside the case at the bottom. I cut the bottom of the case to reduce restrictions and installed taller case feet. If I hold my hand beneath the case, I can't feel any airflow. I don't know yet, if this is because they only have millimeters of breathing room, or because the fins of the radiator are too dense, or both. Will investigate further, but I doubt that this setup will ever reach a level of cooling and noise I am comfortable with.

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its because the fans have no room to suck air. try them under the rad pulling in.
 
Thanks for jumping in.
The windowed side panel has relatively large bezels. Moving the fans to the very bottom would mean they can't be seen from the outside, because the bezel of the side panel is as high as the fans. But I will try flipping the fans to pull in air from the bottom. Although the hot air will then be pushed directly on to the GPU block.
 
einmannbude said:
I couldn't help it and tried the XSPC TX240 radiator with regular fans. I chose the Enermax RGB fans for visual reasons. Looks awesome. Unfortunately doesn't keep the GPU cool. I installed them pushing air through the radiator outside the case at the bottom. I cut the bottom of the case to reduce restrictions and installed taller case feet. If I hold my hand beneath the case, I can't feel any airflow. I don't know yet, if this is because they only have millimeters of breathing room, or because the fins of the radiator are too dense, or both. Will investigate further, but I doubt that this setup will ever reach a level of cooling and noise I am comfortable with.

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qdc model please?
 
riktanius said:
Thanks! I have seen it in one place before and I was inspired by it and the Vertical GPU build I found here. Slow going, but it is coming along nicely!
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What fans will you use underneath the 280 mm radiator? Dual round 140 mm fans with 120 mm fans mounting holes just barely fit, though you may need to open up the bottom of the case to improve the air flow.
 
Qrash said:
What fans will you use underneath the 280 mm radiator? Dual round 140 mm fans with 120 mm fans mounting holes just barely fit, though you may need to open up the bottom of the case to improve the air flow.
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From the looks of things the bottom of the case is already completely cut out!
 
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