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

Trying to figure out if should go with a reference 980 or the OCUK/BestBuy 970.

I would like to have a pretty quiet system and im worried the extra load of a 980 could make PSU (ST-SF45G) noisy?

On the other hand I might upgrade my monitor and go from 1920x1200 -> 2560x1440,
would that justify the extra cost for the 980 or will the 970 still do fine?

Perk of getting the 970 is that the money saved could be put into a SFX-L that hopefully runs a silent fan.
 
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Trying to figure out if should go with a reference 980 or the OCUK/BestBuy 970.

I would like to have a pretty quiet system and im worried the extra load of a 980 could make PSU (ST-SF45G) noisy?

On the other hand I might upgrade my monitor and go from 1920x1200 -> 2560x1440,
would that justify the extra cost for the 980 or will the 970 still do fine?

Perk of getting the 970 is that the money saved could be put into a SFX-L that hopefully runs a silent fan.

a gtx 970 won't be enough for 2560x1440 imho

it does an ok job but I would say 1 x gtx 970 is perfect for 1080p

if your going 1440p I would suggest atleast a gtx 980 even though its not much better than a 970 but for the price of £100 it might be worth it for every extra fps you'll need @ 1440p.. or you could just turn down a few settings.
 
The problem with going to a 980 is you're paying 40% or more for a bit over 10% more performance. That would be perfect for 1440p if it was an equivalent amount more expensive - but it's not.

970 does fine at 1440p. A 280x for that matter also does fine (without turning down settings). I have not played on intensive multi games (bf4 largest map) but in mordor, tomb raider and similar, the 280x was smooth. If I turned down to high then it would easily go to 60fps or close.

The 970 will not need to turn down settings in most games. When games push you down to medium settings, that's when a second 970 will take you back up.
 
The problem with going to a 980 is you're paying 40% or more for a bit over 10% more performance. That would be perfect for 1440p if it was an equivalent amount more expensive - but it's not.

970 does fine at 1440p. A 280x for that matter also does fine (without turning down settings). I have not played on intensive multi games (bf4 largest map) but in mordor, tomb raider and similar, the 280x was smooth. If I turned down to high then it would easily go to 60fps or close.

The 970 will not need to turn down settings in most games. When games push you down to medium settings, that's when a second 970 will take you back up.

that is the reason why I wanted to go titan z :p
 
Trying to figure out if should go with a reference 980 or the OCUK/BestBuy 970.

I'd say go with the 980 for the extra oomph. If you could go SLI ( larger case ) you might go with 970 but IMHO not for mITX. I got the 450W SFX with 4770k/980 ( both OC'd ALOT ) and the PSU is quite noisy. I am waiting for the 120mm SFX-(L)
 
I'd say go with the 980 for the extra oomph. If you could go SLI ( larger case ) you might go with 970 but IMHO not for mITX. I got the 450W SFX with 4770k/980 ( both OC'd ALOT ) and the PSU is quite noisy. I am waiting for the 120mm SFX-(L)

lol thats what you get with 450w .. id defo get 600w with your your setup

or go e3 1230 v2 or v3 with a 970 itx and 300w psu :D (this is what I wanted to do with my lian li tu100)
 
lol thats what you get with 450w .. id defo get 600w with your your setup

Exactly, 450w is enough to OC/Bench/Game, but not when it comes to the acoustics! Had it for quite some time, bought it before the 600w was released. Come on Silverstone, release the SFX-L already! :)
 
Thanks for the suggestions regarding my GPU selection.

In the end I decided to base the decision on my current needs, at the time I get a higher resolution screen there might be other GPU options out there so I went with the Manli 970.

Turns out Casekings total was EUR 37 less than OCUK thanks to lower shipping, VAT and currency conversion.
 
Anyone know how long preorders will be open for the M1 V3? I'm planning on placing my order asap, but my next free paycheck will be Dec. 10th.
 
Nope disabled all extensions and deleted cookie for site. Still no calculation for shipping. Calculate shipping button just does nothing.
 
Ok shipping calculator works if I just order the case but case plus 1 extra panel kit is not working. I prefer not to order two cases. Just one with extra panels of the other color.
 
Quick question about 980s, with reference style cards vs multi fan cards.
I know a reference card would be advisable, but I'm looking to get this on finance and I don't want to be paying for it over three years. The only places that offer 12/24 months only seem to stock none reference style cards, or don't seem to have any of the other components I'm after.

Rest of the specs will be a 4770K, NH-C14 and the 600w SFX PSU.

How bad will it be having the card dumping all it's heat in to the case?
 
I think it's highly recommended to go with a blower style card. You might get some thermal throttling or uncomfortably high temps without one.

Out of curiosity, if you're having to go with a loan for a 980, why not step down to a 970 instead? I thought it was something like 85-90% of the performance (almost equal if you O/C it) of the 980s, and you can probably score one for close to just 60% of the cost of a 980.
 
How bad will it be having the card dumping all it's heat in to the case?

My current case is the SilverStone Raven RVZ-01, and I get better temps/noise with aftermarket non-blower style coolers that dump the heat in the case. ( EVGA reference VS EVGA SC ACX 2.0 ).

CPU temps went up a few degrees though.
 
Ok, I pulled the trigger and preordered one of these things.

Few Questions:

Can anyone recommend a passive cooler for a LGA1155 Ivy Bridge i5-35XXK?

Also, any recommendations on a quiet SFX power supply? I wont be putting much more than a 270X in the thing. This is mostly a dota 2/Blizzard gaming box.
 
When you say "a passive cooler for an i5-3570K", do you mean a heatsink with a 120mm fan attached to the M1's fan bracket ? I wouldn't call that passive though, it's just an active cooler with the fan mounted differently. But that CPU won't work for long without active cooling, just a heatsink with no direct airflow will not work in this case. Basically any heatsink that has a top-mounted fan, find one that fits with your motherboard and the Ncase M1. Check the spreadsheet for builds regarding cooler and board compatibility and this subforum with the search function.

With the Silverstone SX600-G you can power any single-GPU graphics card with room to spare. But it isn't quiet when you have an extremely quiet environment and no audible fans. It has some issues when the fan is turning very slowly (low load) and when it tries to start the fan (very low loads). But it does get the job done.

The ST45SF-G is quiet only if you do the fan mod (replace it's fan with a Noiseblocker 80x15mm fan) but it can't just run everything you throw at it. I'm running it flawelessly with an i5-4670K and an R9 290X, but no overclocking on both components.
 
When you say "a passive cooler for an i5-3570K", do you mean a heatsink with a 120mm fan attached to the M1's fan bracket ? I wouldn't call that passive though, it's just an active cooler with the fan mounted differently.

Sorry, I meant this. It LOOKS like one of the side mounted fans sits over the CPU. So I thought I could just put a heatsink on the CPU and let that fan push the air.
 
Yeah you are correct, usually the fan on the fan bracket will line up well enough. But it all depends on the motherboard, look it up in the Google Doc and double-check in the different Ncase M1 build threads (use "ncase build" and search titles only).
 
It looks like all the accessories other than panel kits have disappeared from the Ncases website. Have these sold out? I was hoping to get one of the new PSU brackets..

My current case is the SilverStone Raven RVZ-01, and I get better temps/noise with aftermarket non-blower style coolers that dump the heat in the case. ( EVGA reference VS EVGA SC ACX 2.0 ).
The EVGA 'reference' is actually a rebadged 760 OEM blower, and wasn't all that great when it was stuck on the 760.
970s with actually decent blowers (980-variant NVTTMs) are becoming available. OCUK (UK), Caseking (Germany/EU) and Best Buy (US) all sell them. OCUK's (and Caseking's) supposedly use better spec inductors to reduce coil whine, but nobody has compared them to the 'generic' Best Buy variant to see if that's really the case.
 
For the V3 run... is there a possibility to order just the new bracket with the 2mm extra tolerance?
I'm happy with the V1 but after proof fitting a sfx-l psu I found with custom sleeved cables the pcb would rip open the sleeving and a backplate is obviously not fitting as it is now. It's tempting to order just another case but I have no use for another one. Probably a lot of people would be very happy, it's like retrofitting parts in older cars from later models :D
 
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The EVGA 'reference' is actually a rebadged 760 OEM blower, and wasn't all that great when it was stuck on the 760.

My observations are based solely on 980 series cards. Should have mentioned it more clearly. Are EVGA reference coolers inferior for 9XX cards aswell?
 
Trying to order right (black Ncase and extra Silver panels) but frozen at shipping calculator.

Ok shipping calculator works if I just order the case but case plus 1 extra panel kit is not working. I prefer not to order two cases. Just one with extra panels of the other color.

It should be fixed now for Panels.

The shipping calculator was not designed to handle different types of shipping while shipping from different countries (some M1 accessories are in the US, some in Taiwan, method of shipping and prices are also different) - it's not a small fix to do it the right way.

Another reason for the delay is due to Jury Duty, in a few days, will have the time to start fixing it.
 
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That's an original and valid excuse :D

I'd also like an SFX PSU bracket but since Silverstone's SFX-L PSU is going to take a while (WiSK says it's still not certified yet...) so I personally am not in a hurry for one.
 
I guess the bracket for SFX-L is needed for m-itx motherboards but not m-dtx (or whatever its called) since the video card sits one slot lower?

Btw, im finally getting a video card, should i uninstall the intel hd drivers first and disable the internal "gpu" in BIOS prior to installing the GTX970?
 
I've got 2 V1 cases. one with the ODD cutout and one without the ODD cutout.

My questions are:

Would I be able to order 2 new SFX-L brackets separately, assuming they would fit on my V1s

Would I also be able to order a no ODD cutout top panel by itself, however from what I can see it might not fit onto the V1.
 
I've got 2 V1 cases. one with the ODD cutout and one without the ODD cutout.

My questions are:

Would I be able to order 2 new SFX-L brackets separately, assuming they would fit on my V1s

Would I also be able to order a no ODD cutout top panel by itself, however from what I can see it might not fit onto the V1.

Pretty sure that everything for the v2 and v3 was designed to be backwards compatible with the v1.. other than the v2/v3 top panel only fitting with a v2/v3 front panel.
 
I guess the bracket for SFX-L is needed for m-itx motherboards but not m-dtx (or whatever its called) since the video card sits one slot lower?
Assuming the Mini-DTX board in question has the x16 slot moved down, you'll have 20mm of extra clearance between the PSU and GPU for the modular connectors. The V1/V2 bracket will still have the issue with the angled AC cable running into the flange, though.

Keep in mind, the revised V3 SFX bracket isn't guaranteed to make SFX-L work well - it's just the best I could do to help the situation. The section removed from the bracket flange will help with the AC cable, but the extra 2mm clearance isn't much and it will still be a pretty tight fit for the modular connectors.

I've got 2 V1 cases. one with the ODD cutout and one without the ODD cutout.

My questions are:

Would I be able to order 2 new SFX-L brackets separately, assuming they would fit on my V1s

Would I also be able to order a no ODD cutout top panel by itself, however from what I can see it might not fit onto the V1.
That stuff should all be orderable at some point. It requires some extra programming on the backend for the shipping rates, which is why it's not currently up. Like w360 said, our web programmer is busy with jury duty (great timing, that), so it'll have to wait until he's free.

I've made it a point to keep parts backward compatible, but the V2+ top panel is one item that's not entirely. It's a bit too wide to fit with the V1 front panel. Any other combination of panel/chassis revisions will work, though.
 
im about to be with no PSU, and i think im ordering the 600w. is that a dumb idea? are they really that bad / loud? im worried im going to regret this decision with the sfx-L hype train thats going on now.

I know it would void the warranty but i was also thinking about taking the shroud off the psu and having a good strong 120mm fan from the side blowing onto it for cooling. stupid idea?
 
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The 600W really isn't that bad in the grand scheme of things. It really depends on how loud your ambient environment is and how sensitive you are to the fan chatter/electrical noise.
 
As long as you take measures to prevent ANY contact with the internals of the PSU, a fan mod is an option. The internals of a PSU are highly dangerous though, and unless you are very confident in the safety of your modification, I would caution against it.

I have modified mine, but used a 92mm fan mounted to the outside, and although I see a Huge improvement, can see 120 being even quieter. The problem with the 120 is it overhangs the PSU, and size wise, your getting closer to ATX territory, which is cheaper and quieter. The benefit of SFX in this case is the ability to use the forward side HDD bay area for fans/hdds. If you use neither of these, and want absolute silence, then consider the ATX (with cable shortening), or a SFX with a mod for the fans.

Either way, you are looking at varying levels of DIY confidence depending on how clean your want your build to be.
 
As long as you take measures to prevent ANY contact with the internals of the PSU, a fan mod is an option. The internals of a PSU are highly dangerous though, and unless you are very confident in the safety of your modification, I would caution against it.

I have modified mine, but used a 92mm fan mounted to the outside, and although I see a Huge improvement, can see 120 being even quieter. The problem with the 120 is it overhangs the PSU, and size wise, your getting closer to ATX territory, which is cheaper and quieter. The benefit of SFX in this case is the ability to use the forward side HDD bay area for fans/hdds. If you use neither of these, and want absolute silence, then consider the ATX (with cable shortening), or a SFX with a mod for the fans.

Either way, you are looking at varying levels of DIY confidence depending on how clean your want your build to be.

Are you suggesting a 120mm fan on an SFX PSU? Also, where are you saying the 92mm and the 120mm would be getting power from?
 
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