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

Well I've got my system up and running, but the guts aren't pretty enough to show off. A couple of things to note:

1. Replaced the Swiftech H220 with a Noctua NH-L12
1.1 Stock NH-L12 won't fit on the ASRock Z77E-ITX I had to bend the heat pipes away from the PCI-e/GPU.
2. The system is loud as hell, especially compared to my previous silence optimized Fractal Design Define Mini build.
2.1 I suspect it's the temperamental 80mm fan in the Silverstone ST45SF-G.
3. I haven't mounted my media/mass storage HDD because of the inflexibility of the stock PSU cables
3.1 Going to replace them with custom cables.

Otherwise, it's working.
 
USPS tracking is what I used. The iPost tracking still says the same thing it always did - Despatch No. 0025 Office of destination FOREIGNCENTER JERSEYU.S.A.

Crap :( Mine's on Despatch #26 to New Jersey (left TW on Nov 7). Anyone know if that means it's on an entirely different boat, or just a different container??

@ Diverge and/or anyone with Despatch #25: what date is your "dispatch from originating country" at iPost?
 
Well I've got my system up and running, but the guts aren't pretty enough to show off. A couple of things to note:

1. Replaced the Swiftech H220 with a Noctua NH-L12
1.1 Stock NH-L12 won't fit on the ASRock Z77E-ITX I had to bend the heat pipes away from the PCI-e/GPU.
2. The system is loud as hell, especially compared to my previous silence optimized Fractal Design Define Mini build.
2.1 I suspect it's the temperamental 80mm fan in the Silverstone ST45SF-G.
3. I haven't mounted my media/mass storage HDD because of the inflexibility of the stock PSU cables
3.1 Going to replace them with custom cables.

Otherwise, it's working.


You can get the H220 to fit on the Z77E-ITX if you use real low profile ram, and file the corner of the motherboard VRM heatsink (pop it off first, so you don't get metal filings in your motherboard). I just did it today and posted some pics in the picture thread if you're interested.
 
Crap :( Mine's on Despatch #26 to New Jersey (left TW on Nov 7). Anyone know if that means it's on an entirely different boat, or just a different container??

@ Diverge and/or anyone with Despatch #25: what date is your "dispatch from originating country" at iPost?

6PsbQxE.png


Looks like they actually update it that it was delivered.
 
Crap :( Mine's on Despatch #26 to New Jersey (left TW on Nov 7). Anyone know if that means it's on an entirely different boat, or just a different container??

@ Diverge and/or anyone with Despatch #25: what date is your "dispatch from originating country" at iPost?

I have Despatch #26 too =(

This wait is killing me!
 
#26 here as well. Hopefully it means that boat #26 is just a day behind #25 so us west coast people can receiver our cases next week.
 
#26 myself as well, though my dispatch date reads November 7, so I would think maybe a week before they begin moving out maybe? (Started a week later, Arrives a week later)
 
Still waiting for my glidestream fans. Non PWM. Shall see how well it works first I guess. Might work well enough as voltage controlled..
 
Just got home and checked both the iPOST and USPS and they both have the same info from day one. Nothing new. Still in Taiwan. Dispatch #26. If the ship did come in today I suppose it will take time (days) to unload, go through customs, if necessary, and get picked up by USPS.
 
Crap :( Mine's on Despatch #26 to New Jersey (left TW on Nov 7). Anyone know if that means it's on an entirely different boat, or just a different container??

@ Diverge and/or anyone with Despatch #25: what date is your "dispatch from originating country" at iPost?

For those of us that don't live next door to the port and are on the Nov 7 schedule, it is really starting to look like we are beyond Dec 25th. It may all depend on the USPS delivery speed. With 13 days left, counting 4 days of weekends, here is how I see it unfortunately: 7 days behind + 7 days land travel not counting weekends. Sure hope I am wrong. Not much room for optimistic calculations though. If they are coming priority mail, and are working overtime for the holidays, then maybe there is still a chance? If not that will make the whole ordeal two months of waiting just for the shipment. Anyone got a more optimistic estimate that works? Maybe 3 day land?

Sure would like to know ETA of Nov 7th ship and expected land travel times...

EDIT: USPS Tracking says these packages are Priority Mail International Parcels. USPS says Priority Mail takes between 1 and 3 days for the US with most being in the 2 day time period and includes Saturday delivery. Maybe?
 
Last edited:
Got some photos of my cables uploaded. Im really happy with the way it turned out, really neatly packed away. Cables are the stock set that come with the silverstone ST45SF-G.


Pre arranged and tied together. The EPS connector I have since re-arranged as this was an earlier setup for my U9B cooler. Now I am on the C14, its a straight cable.

Importantly, its the multiple cable ties on the large 24 pin connector, keeping the cables tight and folded over neatly. This significantly reduced the cable height on the mobo, and kept the cables within the dimensions of the PSU and off the GPU.


Cables are neat and tidy here, Really happy with how it went for a set of stock non-optimised cables. Couldn't have done it if it wasn't for the short cable set. And probably as good as a set of custom cables, especially if individually sleeved.. Well... I certainly wouldn't bother with custom cables given how these turned out.






Management of the SSD and HDD power and SATA cables. The drives are flipped so that the Power connectors do not get stuck on each other. The power and data cables are no thicker than the two drives, so it minimally impinges on GPU space.


Case with GPU intake fans replaced. Note the excellent pre-bent GPU, YAY!

Note the black cables running into the GPU heatsink. Thats the thermocouple from my fan speed controller. The controller is the blue and white thing on the bottom next to the fans, with adjustable start temperature and fan speed gradient. The yellow/beige connector sitting within the second PCI slot is the PWM and RPM wires from the GPU. With this I have tapped out the PWM signal, so I have the option to connect my PWM fans though that.
 
Last edited:
I have Despatch #26 too =( This wait is killing me!

#26 as well. I have almost all of my parts sitting in my closet waiting to be assembled. Hnngh

#26 here as well. Hopefully it means that boat #26 is just a day behind #25 so us west coast people can receiver our cases next week.

#26 myself as well, though my dispatch date reads November 7, so I would think maybe a week before they begin moving out maybe? (Started a week later, Arrives a week later)

Nothing new. Still in Taiwan. Dispatch #26.

Yup, at least another week to go (plus ground time) for us, unless.. Despatch #26 is faster..

jML1onR.jpg


( my M1 shopping is about done, so instead, I wasted time 'chopping a BF4 expansion pack for the M1.. even recreated the M1 logo in vector. Lol, so sad :D )​
 
You can get the H220 to fit on the Z77E-ITX if you use real low profile ram, and file the corner of the motherboard VRM heatsink (pop it off first, so you don't get metal filings in your motherboard). I just did it today and posted some pics in the picture thread if you're interested.

I still have my H220 sitting in its box doing nothing. I might do that for a summer project, but I'll wait for the RAM prices to go down. It's nearly up 100% since I last bought some in May this year. I thought my G.Skill Ares were low profile, but not low enough in the end.
 
Last edited:
I was under the understanding that we were all waiting for the cases to be available in the US before we can confirm the design for the filters?
 
4AjU9Xv.jpg

(image by Bit-Tech.net)

So an R9-290X with full cover block will fit, considering the height of the waterflow connectors and the PCIe connectors. I'm probably going to try this.
 
Can anyone confirm the number of screws they got for soft-mounting the SSDs? Five is an odd number, considering they're used four at a time. I'm wondering if it was a mistake, or if everyone's getting that many.
 
Yup, at least another week to go (plus ground time) for us, unless.. Despatch #26 is faster..

jML1onR.jpg


( my M1 shopping is about done, so instead, I wasted time 'chopping a BF4 expansion pack for the M1.. even recreated the M1 logo in vector. Lol, so sad :D )​

Well, originally I was, as many, told End of January for delivery. If it gets here in December, even if its after Xmas, I'm okay with it since that is still a month earlier than expected. I'm in no hurry per se but more concerned USPS did get it in their hands or not safely from the boat. I just don't want my cases to get into the wrong hands. :D
 
gVTSkGk.png


It would be handy if I actually knew what all the screws are for...
Going to try to figure out the fan filters now.

EDIT: crap, can't mount fan filters without the fans. So where are those Demciflex filters ? :D
 
Last edited:
Finally have my build of M1 done, got it running last sunday. I changed the PSU fan, but it is still the making the most noise in my case... :( Some pictures of my build, sorry for bad quality, I don't have any good camera:
http://imgur.com/grny4OJ
I used that Swiftech microres at the back, with a extra hole at the top. Would have bought that FrozenQ, but I already bought this just before. It fits there okay, so I'm happy with that. Also changed that PSU fan grill to that.

http://imgur.com/lC5nX13
So, I'm using Alphacool NexXxoS XT45 as a rad, and as it wasn't thick enough I had to use 7mm shrouds for the fans that I could get my tubing routed between the rad and the NCase fan bracket. Also had to split one fan header from my Impact because one header was broken and could get my fan spinning. (Those white headers... :mad: )

https://imgur.com/907G3i4
There's Swiftech MCP35X pump in the front, had to leave USB ports from the front away... Would have left those audio connectors, but my gpu has those power connectors stacked like that, so the pump didn't fit there... And those filters are those "first design" ones from Demciflex, I'm happy with them.
 
Last edited:
It would be handy if I actually knew what all the screws are for...
Going to try to figure out the fan filters now.
I should probably do a better version of this for people, but in the meantime:

ZOBwjwo.png


Also I think you may be mistaken about using three of the 6-32 pan head screws for your SSDs; it should be the smaller M3 pan heads for that (which would make sense since there are five included and you have two in your picture).

I think the HDD cage uses 4x M3.5 screws, or something like that, as well. Not actually sure if they're in your image (in with the M4s?) or not, though.

Yeah, fan filters need to be used with the M4 screws and fans. Kind of a problem if you want to use them alone or with a 92mm fan on the bottom, I admit. Turns out I did ask for M4 nuts to be included in one of our emails; it either wasn't understood or overlooked.
 
Finally have my build of M1 done, got it running last sunday. I changed the PSU fan, but it is still the making the most noise in my case... :( Some pictures of my build, sorry for bad quality, I don't have any good camera:
http://imgur.com/grny4OJ
I used that Swiftech microres at the back, with a extra hole at the top. Would have bought that FrozenQ, but I already bought this just before. It fits there okay, so I'm happy with that. Also changed that PSU fan grill to that.

http://imgur.com/lC5nX13
So, I'm using Alphacool NexXxoS XT45 as a rad, and as it wasn't thick enough I had to use 7mm shrouds for the fans that I could get my tubing routed between the rad and the NCase fan bracket. Also had to split one fan header from my Impact because one header was broken and could get my fan spinning. (Those white headers... :mad: )

http://imgur.com/grny4OJ,lC5nX13,907G3i4#2
There's Swiftech MCP35X pump in the front, had to leave USB ports from the front away... Would have left those audio connectors, but my gpu has those power connectors stacked like that, so the pump didn't fit there... And those filters are those "first design" ones from Demciflex, I'm happy with them.
Nice, first build I've seen with the pump on the bottom and an external res. And a medium-thickness rad, even. Looks like you managed everything pretty well. Too bad you had to give up the USB ports. I think it would be possible to keep them using a different pump top (with both ports on the side instead of the one on top of the MCP35X).

Are you using the Demciflex filters just on the side, or did you get one for the bottom rear fan as well?

Btw, you can link to smaller versions of images on imgur by appending 's', 'm', or 'l' (for small, medium, or large, respectively; though "large" isn't actually that large) to the filename (before the extension), like so: http://i.imgur.com/grny4OJl.jpg
 
Nice, first build I've seen with the pump on the bottom and an external res. And a medium-thickness rad, even. Looks like you managed everything pretty well. Too bad you had to give up the USB ports. I think it would be possible to keep them using a different pump top (with both ports on the side instead of the one on top of the MCP35X).

Are you using the Demciflex filters just on the side, or did you get one for the bottom rear fan as well?

Btw, you can link to smaller versions of images on imgur by appending 's', 'm', or 'l' (for small, medium, or large, respectively; though "large" isn't actually that large) to the filename (before the extension), like so: http://i.imgur.com/grny4OJl.jpg

With my measurements I couldn't find any top that would have fitted under the gpu, I think they add too much height for the pump. So I went for that and routed that tubing above the gpu. I have that same design Demciflex filter at the bottom too. (And one spare in the desk drawer :) )

And thanks for the image info. :D
 
I think I may just tell Demciflex to put up the original filter design. Honestly, the alternatives I came up with aren't much better, while being a lot more complex which might lead to problems with application and structural integrity. The originals also have the advantage of being able to use one per 120mm fan location, so you can choose to leave a spot open for whatever reason. And I know you guys are probably tired of waiting :p
 
I think I may just tell Demciflex to put up the original filter design. Honestly, the alternatives I came up with aren't much better, while being a lot more complex which might lead to problems with application and structural integrity. The originals also have the advantage of being able to use one per 120mm fan location, so you can choose to leave a spot open for whatever reason. And I know you guys are probably tired of waiting :p

So will the original 120mm Demci filters fit on the bottom and on the PSU intake also, or are you still working on something different for those locations??
 
So will the original 120mm Demci filters fit on the bottom and on the PSU intake also, or are you still working on something different for those locations??

It would probably be easier to just have the filters made for the holes in the side panels rather than individual components in the case. Sames goes for the bottom. Just my opinion though.
 
So will the original 120mm Demci filters fit on the bottom and on the PSU intake also, or are you still working on something different for those locations??
They do work on the bottom. There are lots of mounting holes, so it's not a perfect, but at worst the little magnetic strips would need a bit of trimming.

I have a different design for the PSU that's intended to attach directly to the ST45SF over the 80mm fan intake (both -G and regular).

It would probably be easier to just have the filters made for the holes in the side panels rather than individual components in the case. Sames goes for the bottom. Just my opinion though.
Well, having the adhesive magnetic strips going over the perforations is not a great idea IMO, since they'll pick up dust. And there's not space to have the filters clear the vents completely.
 
I should probably do a better version of this for people, but in the meantime:

http://i.imgur.com/ZOBwjwo.png

Also I think you may be mistaken about using three of the 6-32 pan head screws for your SSDs; it should be the smaller M3 pan heads for that (which would make sense since there are five included and you have two in your picture).

I think the HDD cage uses 4x M3.5 screws, or something like that, as well. Not actually sure if they're in your image (in with the M4s?) or not, though.

Yeah, fan filters need to be used with the M4 screws and fans. Kind of a problem if you want to use them alone or with a 92mm fan on the bottom, I admit. Turns out I did ask for M4 nuts to be included in one of our emails; it either wasn't understood or overlooked.
Thanks for the info !

You are right, it is indeed the M3 pan heads I used for the SSD.
The HDD cage screws are still attached to the cage, like it is shipped.

I think I may just tell Demciflex to put up the original filter design. Honestly, the alternatives I came up with aren't much better, while being a lot more complex which might lead to problems with application and structural integrity. The originals also have the advantage of being able to use one per 120mm fan location, so you can choose to leave a spot open for whatever reason. And I know you guys are probably tired of waiting :p
Superb, I'll probably be getting my R9 290X watercooled and clean it out completely while I'm at it. I can't wait for easily removeable fan filters !
 
Little late bro, ebay or FS/FT section.

i know! i hadnt ever heard of it until today haha. there isnt one ANYWHERE! someday ill get it. i have deep pockets.

ill help fund another production run! haha. i just cant find another case like it. even remotely
 
Last edited:
Back
Top