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

itschop said:
How are these case with dust?
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My case is black, and the dust lying on top becomes noticeable every couple weeks. Not really sure how much is falling inside though the top when it's powered down.. didn't seem like much, if anything, last time I looked. I have 2x 120mm filter on the bottom, 2x 120mm filters on the side rack, and 1 on the PSU.. haven't checked the PSU, but the side filters had extremely little dust on them after a few months.. the bottom ones were holding some dust, but no where near as bad as the pic someone posted a few days ago (which wasn't too bad either).

I think if I get off my ass and order the large top filter from Demci, my case should stay pretty clean inside (overkill of filtered intake fans creating positive pressure).
 
Phuncz said:
Floppy disks, Zalman... I feels like I just went back to 1994 :D
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It probably is 5-6 years old, so not that old. ;) It's still a high end case (5mm walls) but some of the features that modern cases have such as a hole in the motherboard tray are missing.
It would be a cool,project though.
 
I didn't mean that case specifically, but about 10-20 years ago, Zalman was one of the only brands innovating cooling and having good products with high quality, like Noctua is now without the pure focus on quality.
 
Got mine today, but no hardware for it yet. It's the same size as my speaker. This pleases me.
Last picture is a bit funny. The picture looks warped because of the size of the case.

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Special setup, you are also doing some DJ'ing there ? The TV seems odd in the corner with a speaker in front of it. Your monitor also seems slanted. Sorry, it's my OCD getting the better of me :)
 
Phuncz said:
Special setup, you are also doing some DJ'ing there ? The TV seems odd in the corner with a speaker in front of it. Your monitor also seems slanted. Sorry, it's my OCD getting the better of me :)
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Tv is there because I just moved my desk into that room and I don't know where to put the tv yet. Tv is part of an older setup that didn't really work out. It's a plasma so every lightsource makes it useless, makes it hard to figure out where to put it. I don't DJ, I just got the speakers because I wanted something compact (built in dac) that sounded nice. If I did produce music I think I would get yelled at for the Siberia headset :D
 
JamboAU said:
I
Thank you for sharing Rezot! I just saw your post it would have saved me a lot of time. Such a brilliant log! But I did learn something tonight - how to read instruction manuals for the first time. And thanks to everybody who put up with all my noobie questions and helped me get this far :)
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Hehe, no problem, you seem to have done a brilliant job anyway! I just wish i'd have saw your post sooner. Any excuse to open the thing up.

hshot_rooke said:
Rezot, nice build! How is the noise of your build at load? What CPU cooler are you using?
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Thanks :) It's a Noctua LH-N9i
Noise is absolutely fine, can't hear a thing with it sat under my desk. fans are pretty much silent at idle. As you can see, temps aren't great, but they're not horrible either tbh[for an air cooler].
And here they are under load.
I can crack the fans up to about 2000RPM and my GPU fan to about 2750 before it starts to make audible noise. (I do have IEM-noise-cancelling-earbuds in most of the time) but i'm talking about with them out.

If you check my post history, I'm pretty sure I linked an album of the build months back with a corsair H100i in as well, temps on that are much better(Idle CPU temp of about 32-33 degrees) however I felt like the case was a bit TOO cramped with that in, the cables get VERY bent/kinked, lots of pressure on holding the actual cooler to the motherboard as well.
 
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raymondo said:
Nice, thanks for the comparison pics. I moved from a PC-Q11, too, but was able to get everything (full ATX PSU) in as I happen to have a MSI GTX 760 ITX version (the short one). It comes in handy. Only letdown is that I had to cram in my second SSD behind the PSU as there was no other place to mount except for below the GPU which I didn't want to do due to airflow (main SSD is in ODD hold).
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What about mounting both SSDs on the front behind the front panel, that's what i did and just brought a external DVD drive if i find i never needed to use a DVD which I've used like 4 times in the past year :p .
 
OverRated said:
What about mounting both SSDs on the front behind the front panel, that's what i did and just brought a external DVD drive if i find i never needed to use a DVD which I've used like 4 times in the past year :p .
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I've got a full-sized ATX PSU, that won't fit I think. Nevertheless it works this way.
 
I'm looking into ordering an M1 but I can't for the life of me decide which motherboard to get: The Z97 Asus Impact or the Z97 Evga Stinger. I much prefer the looks and features, rather lack thereof, of the Stinger but I don't know if they finally got their BIOS business straightened out. The Impact is bascally a safe bet but I really hate its looks.
 
Does the M1S2V2 not come with silver feet? : (

Also, which fan setup is the best? Two on the bottom, two on the side? Which ones should function as intake and which ones should function as exhausts? I'll probably be using a reference cooler GTX 780 with a AIO cooler. Speaking of which, does the Corsair H105 fit if you only use either Push or Pull with a 25mm fan?
 
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Rezot said:
It's a Noctua LH-N9i

As you can see, temps aren't great, but they're not horrible either tbh[for an air cooler].
And here they are under load.
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How in the world are you possibly getting only a ~57C averaged temp on a 4770k under load, using only an N9 cooler? And not think that's fantastic?? :eek:

I take it those temps are moderate load under normal usage (or gaming), and not during stress testing? AIDA64 and Prime95's easier tests puts me close to 80C with the much larger C12 cooler on the same chip.
 
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alabrand1 said:
I'm looking into ordering an M1 but I can't for the life of me decide which motherboard to get: The Z97 Asus Impact or the Z97 Evga Stinger. I much prefer the looks and features, rather lack thereof, of the Stinger but I don't know if they finally got their BIOS business straightened out. The Impact is bascally a safe bet but I really hate its looks.
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Go with the impact when it is released. The stinger seems to have lots of random issues. I am personally going with the z97i-Plus.
 
Is anyone here using an air cooler and the hard drive bracket and having problems with temps? It seems like a lot of heat is coming off of my GTX 780 Ti and is creeping up on my Noctua C12P SE14 and my hard drives. Also, does anyone have a 3.5 hard drive under their gpu? If so, how are the temps of the drive?

Anyone have any suggestions for reducing the temps? Its also pretty freaking hot right now in Southern California and I feel like it could also be that.
 
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Got my case today, brushed aluminium. First case in South Africa, maybe? It's awesome! I've been running without a case so my card runs a little hotter, for obvious reasons.

I now have to explore cooling options. Anybody got an Asrock Z97E? The board layout seems pretty good so I can't imagine any obvious obstructions but it's pretty tight in there - Palit 770 is big.
 
Evangelion said:
Is anyone here using an air cooler and the hard drive bracket and having problems with temps? It seems like a lot of heat is coming off of my GTX 780 Ti and is creeping up on my Noctua C12P SE14 and my hard drives.

Anyone have any suggestions for reducing the temps? Its also pretty freaking hot right now in Southern California and I feel like it could also be that.
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Sell 780ti and buy 880 :D
 
irek83 said:
Sell 780ti and buy 880 :D
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Pshhh I wish! I'm really tempted on doing just that but I feel like waiting for big Maxwell! :p

Besides, money is a bit tight for me at the moment and that's why I'm thinking about just holding on to my 780 Ti.
 
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Evangelion said:
Is anyone here using an air cooler and the hard drive bracket and having problems with temps? It seems like a lot of heat is coming off of my GTX 780 Ti and is creeping up on my Noctua C12P SE14 and my hard drives. Also, does anyone have a 3.5 hard drive under their gpu? If so, how are the temps of the drive?

Anyone have any suggestions for reducing the temps? Its also pretty freaking hot right now in Southern California and I feel like it could also be that.
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The only possible way I could see that much heat coming from the gpu into the system is by using a open air one... which would of course be incredibly detrimental for the system. The case is tight you should think about switching to a blower style card.
 
I should have mentioned it in my original post, but I am using a 780 Ti with the stock cooler.

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Its not overclocked and it is using the blower fan. I posted this pictures a couple pages back and I thought I'd post it again so you guys can see the layout of my system.
 
AFD said:
They said they were going to, unless one more person asked about it - in which case, they would scrap those plans forever.. nice job :p

And no.. there aren't any M1 mATX plans that anyone knows of. I'd recommend following Aiboh's current concept, though. Probably the next closest thing..

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1816110
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haha thanks, I was hoping I didn't have to read through almost 13k posts to find the answer.
 
is there any other mITX motherboard with mSATA available? i have a ASRock Z87E-ITX, but it seems to be the causing a lot of headache for me, and the Z97 version doesn't have mSATA. i already have a mSATA SSD drive, and i don't want to go the M.2 route.
 
Evangelion said:
It looks really great. Good job on the build!
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OverRated said:
Nice build :) any reason you faced the PSU inwards instead of facing out?
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Cheers :)

I was advised this is the best way to face the fan for my setup, but I am new to this so all advice welcome... do I understand this right: the H60 is intake so the PSU sucks hot air out if the fan is inside? And GPU is blower/exhaust
 
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Honestly, after looking at the first pictures I much prefer the silver feat that came with my M1.
Glad that Lian-Li made that 'mistake' during the first run.
 
Hi there,

I recently ordered the ncase m1 v2 and payed via PayPal. After the payment process I was returned to the ncase website, but I missed a "order confirmation" information. It just was the regular website. I have already emailed to support@ncase, but didn't receive an answer, if my order is placed or not. Did someone of you experienced the same behaviour of the website?
 
any1 wanna buy my ncase v2 silver, let me know i still haven't open the box yet. i'm only selling because i don't have the money to build the system atm. only shipping to australia btw.
 
JamboAU said:
I was advised this is the best way to face the fan for my setup, but I am new to this so all advice welcome... do I understand this right: the H60 is intake so the PSU sucks hot air out if the fan is inside? And GPU is blower/exhaust
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If you are having trouble with stability, try flipping the PSU around first. Since you are using the 600W and it should be tested in hot-box environments (40-50°C ambient), it shouldn't be a problem for the 300-350W draw you have. Also keep an eye out on your HDD temps, they shouldn't exceed 50°C (45°C is a better comfort zone).

darxider said:
is there any other mITX motherboard with mSATA available? i have a ASRock Z87E-ITX, but it seems to be the causing a lot of headache for me, and the Z97 version doesn't have mSATA. i already have a mSATA SSD drive, and i don't want to go the M.2 route.
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They seem to have abandoned it when M.2 became an option with Z97. In my opinion M.2 is the better choice in the end, but I see the issue when you have an mSATA drive. If no board pops up with mSATA, this might be a "solution": http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186184
 
Phuncz said:
If you are having trouble with stability, try flipping the PSU around first. Since you are using the 600W and it should be tested in hot-box environments (40-50°C ambient), it shouldn't be a problem for the 300-350W draw you have. Also keep an eye out on your HDD temps, they shouldn't exceed 50°C (45°C is a better comfort zone).
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Will do, cheers. So I should leave it as is unless having trouble? Haven't had the chance to stress it yet
 
If you have the time and motivation to test it, I'd suggest testing it with running Heaven Benchmark for 30 minutes in both setups, leaving an hour of idling in between, to assert the temperatures. Note the max temperatures on the hard disks, CPU and motherboard chipset, also listen for the PSU's fan and if possible, use a thermometer above the PSU exhaust (not touching the grill prefereably) and see how that goes. Mind you that the component's temperatures are influenced a lot by the panels on the case being on or off it. Especially the top panel influences the PSU's temperature after a while because hot air seems to be restricted by the top panel. So measure with the panels on.

I would guess with your current setup, the PSU will be warmer, but your CPU and HDD's will be cooler. If you flip it around, with the PSU fan outward, I expect the CPU and HDD's to be warmer, but your PSU to be cooler. This is a guess though, I could be completely wrong if the airflow isn't how I think it is or I'm forgetting an important factor.
 
einmannbude said:
Hi there,

I recently ordered the ncase m1 v2 and payed via PayPal. After the payment process I was returned to the ncase website, but I missed a "order confirmation" information. It just was the regular website. I have already emailed to support@ncase, but didn't receive an answer, if my order is placed or not. Did someone of you experienced the same behaviour of the website?
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Checked your paypal for the transaction?
 
Phuncz said:
If you have the time and motivation to test it, I'd suggest testing it with running Heaven Benchmark for 30 minutes in both setups, leaving an hour of idling in between, to assert the temperatures. Note the max temperatures on the hard disks, CPU and motherboard chipset, also listen for the PSU's fan and if possible, use a thermometer above the PSU exhaust (not touching the grill prefereably) and see how that goes. Mind you that the component's temperatures are influenced a lot by the panels on the case being on or off it. Especially the top panel influences the PSU's temperature after a while because hot air seems to be restricted by the top panel. So measure with the panels on.

I would guess with your current setup, the PSU will be warmer, but your CPU and HDD's will be cooler. If you flip it around, with the PSU fan outward, I expect the CPU and HDD's to be warmer, but your PSU to be cooler. This is a guess though, I could be completely wrong if the airflow isn't how I think it is or I'm forgetting an important factor.
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Thanks for the tips mate, will give it a test run in the next few days when I finally get to install a few more things on there
 
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