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

Congratulations! It was only a question of time because the case is so well designed.
 
Congratulations! Seriously, you did something that big companies with money have failed to provide for the most part. They get close, but always seem to miss the mark.
 
Hey since all the black ice nemesis gts 240 seem to be sold out in the U.S (other than the x-flow which I'm not really sold on) I was wondering if the 280 version with the thinnest 120-140mm adapters that I can find fit? Has anyone else tried to do this? I've noticed the fan/radiator mount on the ncase cuts the edges ever so slightly off the fans is there a reason why?
 
:D:D:D:D:D:D

Just got a text from the wife.

"Post lady delivered some package from overseas, I think it is your computer parts"

Giddy like a school girl.

Please be patient with me guys as I ask for part recommendations and ideas on my build. I am probably going much lower power than most of you but the footprint is what I am after.

Only play blizzard games and dota.
 
V3 bracket arrived today (UK), I'm guessing they were shipped separately from other accessories?
 
Talon720 said:
Congratulations! Seriously, you did something that big companies with money have failed to provide for the most part. They get close, but always seem to miss the mark.
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Indeed. Style, simplicity and function go a long way, and it's proven remarkably hard for companies to craft such products. There's often something obvious missing.

But to be fair, once you work for a company, there are other variables coming into play. Cost savings, time pressure, etc. I guess they feel they need to sell large volumes to be profitable, and if the case is too expensive, it's a risk. I imagine designers often have to fight an uphill battle.

I would still like to see another premium small mini-itx case, with better ability for custom water cooling. Better functionality for attaching a 240mm radiator, pump and reservoar. A case where you can put in medium range components 100-200W, and still keep it silent without need for fans to run 2000 rpm.
 
Phuncz said:
Nice, well deserved !!
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rawrr said:
Nice job!
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icedlink said:
Awesome news
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Gandergray said:
Congratulations Necere!
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milkcow said:
and wahaha360!

The guy who started all the 'Aluminum SG05 evolution' madness. ;)
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Urelure said:
Congrats! What a great end to the year for you guys.
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WiSK said:
What an amazing journey! Well done both of you :)
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jojo69 said:
well deserved
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Juelz said:
Gratz, as a happy owner of a V2, I can definitely say well earned!
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P!X3l said:
Congratulations! It was only a question of time because the case is so well designed.
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Talon720 said:
Congratulations! Seriously, you did something that big companies with money have failed to provide for the most part. They get close, but always seem to miss the mark.
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BaK2BaK said:
Congrats N&W, you deserve it!
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Thanks all. Putting it in perspective, it is just the opinion of a couple of the guys over at PCPer, but it's still nice to be recognized.
 
Talon720 said:
Hey since all the black ice nemesis gts 240 seem to be sold out in the U.S (other than the x-flow which I'm not really sold on) I was wondering if the 280 version with the thinnest 120-140mm adapters that I can find fit? Has anyone else tried to do this? I've noticed the fan/radiator mount on the ncase cuts the edges ever so slightly off the fans is there a reason why?
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There's no chance a 280mm radiator will fit - they're simply too long for the case.

Not quite sure what you mean WRT to the fans being cut off... do you mean the two rounded square openings for the fans? Those are actually 105 x 105mm, so in actuality quite a bit less than the area of a fan. The reason for it is just due to needing to leave enough material for the bracket so it's strong enough not to bend easily.

Mackan said:
Indeed. Style, simplicity and function go a long way, and it's proven remarkably hard for companies to craft such products. There's often something obvious missing.

But to be fair, once you work for a company, there are other variables coming into play. Cost savings, time pressure, etc. I guess they feel they need to sell large volumes to be profitable, and if the case is too expensive, it's a risk. I imagine designers often have to fight an uphill battle.
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Very true. We're quite fortunate to be able to design what we want, without having to justify it to anyone. That said, anything we do still has to be good enough to justify the premium over other cases.

Mackan said:
I would still like to see another premium small mini-itx case, with better ability for custom water cooling. Better functionality for attaching a 240mm radiator, pump and reservoar. A case where you can put in medium range components 100-200W, and still keep it silent without need for fans to run 2000 rpm.
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Something like the Compact Splash? I get that there's a lot of people that would like a more show-worthy design - i.e., with a window and room for an internal res. That would entail a significant size increase, however. One of the main reasons the M1 is so space efficient is because it utilizes the area over the motherboard tray - something you can't do if you want a window. The M1 is about having a high performance and flexibility per volume ratio; showing off the internals is one of the sacrifices made to achieve that.
 
So I finally got home, and got to unpack this thing.

I'm impressed, really impressed.this is such a well made case. I also can't believe how tiny it is.I love it, can't wait till you I can build something
 
Ordered my V2 while I was deployed and didn't get to see it until two weeks ago. Coming from a Silverstone FT02, this case is ridiculously small. I giggled so much with supprise. I think I ended up showing it to everyone I saw that day. Honestly, the comparison pictures don't do it enough justice. Can't wait to fill it up, just waiting on new ram to show up.
 
I saw this Pico 500watts PSU over @ overclock.net. This looks very interesting, but i dont know the rating on this.

Link @ aliexpress.com

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XvMMvX said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...gclid=CJuQk7Dn-MICFcKPMgodEzQAGQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

Anyone use a NH-L9i?

Seems like a good compact option for a non over clocker?
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I have used this in a previous build; it's a good cooler but suffers for its price and its size. It works really well in vertically constrained cases (i.e. where you can only fit a cooler 40mm high). Since it's possible to fit a taller cooler in the M1, I would go for that instead.

Necere said:
Something like the Compact Splash? I get that there's a lot of people that would like a more show-worthy design - i.e., with a window and room for an internal res. That would entail a significant size increase, however. One of the main reasons the M1 is so space efficient is because it utilizes the area over the motherboard tray - something you can't do if you want a window. The M1 is about having a high performance and flexibility per volume ratio; showing off the internals is one of the sacrifices made to achieve that.
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I built a Hadron Air for the wifey and I can definitely see the appeal of a Hadron Hydro with a window, and a top-mounted 240mm radiator. But personally, I'd take space efficiency over a window and internal reservoir any day of the week. That's why her PC is under the desk and mine fits on top of it :D
 
Necere said:
Something like the Compact Splash? I get that there's a lot of people that would like a more show-worthy design - i.e., with a window and room for an internal res. That would entail a significant size increase, however. One of the main reasons the M1 is so space efficient is because it utilizes the area over the motherboard tray - something you can't do if you want a window. The M1 is about having a high performance and flexibility per volume ratio; showing off the internals is one of the sacrifices made to achieve that.
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No, the Splash isn't what I am looking for. Once I got inspired by this mockup:

https://grabcad.com/library/watercooled-mitx-pc

I was convinced I could build it like that with medium range components until i realised that his mockup didn't seem to be true scale. There is less space than originally thought in this case, so the case gets extremely crammed. Also don't want to run the fan at 2000 rpm.

For me, water cooling wouldn't be about showing off, but to have a natural design for it. I like horizontal placing of the motherboard in SG05, and its "windtunnel" effect. I can see several variants building upon that, that will likely never come from the established companies. Unfortunately, silent water cooling needs radiator space, and then the pump will make noise anyway. Undervolting it is almost always necessary, it seems.

I think new itx cases need to be at the front when it comes to using smaller PSU:s, maybe even pico PSU:s with custom cooling, or PCI-risers, etc. But luckily, that's exactly what happens here on hardforum. :)
 
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DontPeek said:
Looks pretty interesting although I wonder how "fanless" it really is,

"At max load, forced air ventilation is required. For fanless or improper ventilation operation de-rate the output of the 3.3V, 5V and 12V rails until PSU temperature fails below 65C."
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I agree. though if fabricating a bracket for it so that it sits parallell to the motherboard a fan on the side bracket would do a great job i think, if this is a solid product i think it has a lot of potential both practically, visually and in regard to noise reduction.
 
aznever said:
I saw this Pico 500watts PSU over @ overclock.net.
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What immediately comes to my mind is the external 12V brick; is there even a 500W in existence? I know Dell (or was it HP) have one rated at 330W, but as far as I recall it's both huge and expensive.

Pico psu's are always interesting, up until the brick problem enters the equation. :)
 
I wouldn't mind external power bricks at all if it meant a silent power supply and that much space savings inside the case. Just command strip the bricks to the bottom of your desk and you would never know they were there. Although it is really only an attractive option to me if it's fanless. If I have to have power bricks, and a fan cooled component in my case, then it kind of ends up being a lose-lose.
 
Mackan said:
No, the Splash isn't what I am looking for. Once I got inspired by this mockup:

https://grabcad.com/library/watercooled-mitx-pc

I was convinced I could build it like that with medium range components until i realised that his mockup didn't seem to be true scale. There is less space than originally thought in this case, so the case gets extremely crammed. Also don't want to run the fan at 2000 rpm.
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That case mockup looks almost identical to the SilverStone SG06. Problems I had with that case: Had to remove the HDD/slim-optical cage to use my H80i, and had to shave a good bit off of the front USB3.0 cables to fit it, too. Cable routing was a PITA. It was cramped, for sure, and a CoolerMaster Vortex Plus cooler barely fit under the PSU (mm to spare, with a noctua slim fan instead of the stock one). Cooling was pretty good with the H80i, though I wouldn't have done much overclocking in that case/config. Might not have been so bad with a pico PSU. Edit: Oh, and my HD7770 also just barely fit, pcb a bit bent, next to the H80i's bulky radiator. lol

Edit2: Ah, it's based off of the SG06, so no wonder. XD
 
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Just in case anyone is wondering - I have confirmed that the Cryorig C1 will not fit in the M1 V3 with an SFX power supply (hits the bracket). This is a big bummer as I was really looking forward to this cooler. I'll be ordering a Noctua NH-L9I for my 4790K (not overclocking) and upgrading it with whatever the best Noctua 92mm fan is right now which appears to be the NF-A9 PWM, correct? If not, could someone point me in the right direction? Looking for as much cooling capacity as possible with this little cooler.
 
StoicG19 said:
Just in case anyone is wondering - I have confirmed that the Cryorig C1 will not fit in the M1 V3 with an SFX power supply (hits the bracket). This is a big bummer as I was really looking forward to this cooler. I'll be ordering a Noctua NH-L9I for my 4790K (not overclocking) and upgrading it with whatever the best Noctua 92mm fan is right now which appears to be the NF-A9 PWM, correct? If not, could someone point me in the right direction? Looking for as much cooling capacity as possible with this little cooler.
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Are you sure?

There is someone with the M1 using the C1...

I was dead set on getting this cooler :(

Is this only an Issue with the V3?
 
With my V3 being shipped on the 5th Of Jan, I need to decide what PSU to order..

So far my components are..

Mobo: Asus Maximus VII Impact
CPU: 4790k
Memory: 8GB Kingston Hyper X Fury
GPU: EVGA GTX 980 ACX 2.0
SSD: Intel 730 240GB
Fans: Undecided
PSU: Undecided
CPU Cooler: Undecided

Being in Australia, I have access to either the Silverstone SX500-LG for $139 AUD, The Silverstone ST45SF-G SFX for $119 AUD Or the SilverStone SX600-G SFX for $175 AUD..

Which to choose >_>?
 
Interlopr said:
With my V3 being shipped on the 5th Of Jan, I need to decide what PSU to order..

So far my components are..

Mobo: Asus Maximus VII Impact
CPU: 4790k
Memory: 8GB Kingston Hyper X Fury
GPU: EVGA GTX 980 ACX 2.0
SSD: Intel 730 240GB
Fans: Undecided
PSU: Undecided
CPU Cooler: Undecided

Being in Australia, I have access to either the Silverstone SX500-LG for $139 AUD, The Silverstone ST45SF-G SFX for $119 AUD Or the SilverStone SX600-G SFX for $175 AUD..

Which to choose >_>?
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Maybe the SX600 but the rev1.1, if you go for the SX500 you will need cut off the connectors or but short connectors.
 
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