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

PlayfulPhoenix said:
I would disagree. I thought that his points, in balance, were fair to make. Though yes, it seemed a bit weird that he didn't express the origins and size of NCASE a bit more clearly. To wit:

  • "'first try'? its a v3 and is pretty proven." - sure, but it's still the original case and design. Revisions are small improvements, not substantial design changes. The M1 is the first case made by NCASE.
  • "horrid lack of effort in cable management and then says its bad." - bearing in mind that most cases have a lot of space for cables, or let you run cables behind the motherboard tray, it's a perfectly reasonable complaint that a "nest" of cabling is all but inevitable in the M1. Even if it's unavoidable, it's still a pain point, and deserves recognition (especially for those uninitiated in SFF building, which would constitute a majority of his audience).
  • "does not even mention the build quality once." - he does emphasize the excellent design and very good looks, so this isn't totally abandoned.
  • "doesnt understand the price is high cause of lianli, MOQ, and high quality materials." - a very nice expensive thing is still an expensive thing. The vast, vast majority of system builders are spending perhaps half as much on a case that is several times as large.

No review is perfect, but his take, given his position and point of view, was reasonable to me. He had seven minutes to touch on the most important bits to most people, rather than all the bits for all people, and he was mostly successful at that.
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understandable. i guess i felt he was reviewing this like it was being compared the h440 or the 800d or something. especially with corsair and other cases like that where he always mentions the nice construction, brushed aluminum etc or he how he usually mentions nice aluminum construction. Just felt like he really really rushed it just to have it reviewed. i guess i wanted him to review it from the position of someone who would want this and then how others might view it. it just seems very one sided
 
No Hands 55 said:
understandable. i guess i felt he was reviewing this like it was being compared the h440 or the 800d or something. especially with corsair and other cases like that where he always mentions the nice construction, brushed aluminum etc or he how he usually mentions nice aluminum construction. Just felt like he really really rushed it just to have it reviewed. i guess i wanted him to review it from the position of someone who would want this and then how others might view it. it just seems very one sided
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Exactly what I took from the review. I think it was probably one of the poorest reviews by Linus not because he didnt praise the case but because it wasnt consistent with his other reviews of other cases and missed lots of things that should have been definitely mentioned.
 
Hey guys - how long in your experience does it take for the case to ship? And do you get an email after it's shipped? I ordered one 5 days ago and the only email I've received so far is the automated receipt, so now I'm getting a bit worried.
 
dzz said:
Hey guys - how long in your experience does it take for the case to ship? And do you get an email after it's shipped? I ordered one 5 days ago and the only email I've received so far is the automated receipt, so now I'm getting a bit worried.
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They get shipped out in batches afaik.They have sold a lot of cases to a lot of people so don't worry about not getting it. (I ordered mine in november and it didnt get here til last month)
 
LOL I just got my replacement panel kit today since I got shipped the wrong color, and the new panel kit is still the same wrong color!

I ordered a Black V3 and got a silver, and just got another silver panel kit today. Whoever is shipping these cases and panel kits out is doing it wrong haha almost seems like a joke.
 
I feel sorry for Necere and waha360. Shipping everything directly from Taiwan to the recipients seemed like a good idea, but it seems to have been messed up too often. Hang in there guys, we know it's not your fault!
 
Urelure said:
M1 V3 Review by Linus ...if anyone is interested:)
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No manual = casual filter :p Just kidding... kind of. Though if that's the worst complaint about it (aside from the price), I'd say we're doing pretty well. Particularly considering the case design itself and all the presentation (product copy, renders, etc.) is all just me - without any engineering or design training, I might add.

I did think the review was a little short and shallow, but that's okay - SPCR and Pcper have gone much more in depth in their reviews. It gets people interested, and they can go elsewhere for detailed stuff.

vpr said:
While it was a decent review (Linus's) I hope one was sent over to HardwareCanucks whose case reviews I tend to favor these days. Plus they always get some sweet b-roll footage!
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We did send one over, as a matter of fact.

dzz said:
Hey guys - how long in your experience does it take for the case to ship? And do you get an email after it's shipped? I ordered one 5 days ago and the only email I've received so far is the automated receipt, so now I'm getting a bit worried.
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Anagog said:
They get shipped out in batches afaik.They have sold a lot of cases to a lot of people so don't worry about not getting it. (I ordered mine in november and it didnt get here til last month)
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It's the Chinese New Year right now, so everyone's on break over there. The next shipment should go out at the end of the month or early next.

NA STI said:
LOL I just got my replacement panel kit today since I got shipped the wrong color, and the new panel kit is still the same wrong color!

I ordered a Black V3 and got a silver, and just got another silver panel kit today. Whoever is shipping these cases and panel kits out is doing it wrong haha almost seems like a joke.
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Did you not get an email earlier about this? W360 checked the shipment of replacements and discovered that quite a few of them were wrong, and he sent out advance notice to those affected. You may want to email him if he's not aware of your situation.

He touched on it here. From my understanding, the Chinese New Year is when they do a lot of firing/hiring, and it was the proverbial disgruntled postal employee at Taiwan Post - probably due to be let go - that messed up these shipments. Obviously, we're just as frustrated about it as you are, and not at all happy with the situation. Ideally, we would hire someone to manage inventory, but we're not doing the kind of volume to make that a possibility.

Qrash said:
I feel sorry for Necere and waha360. Shipping everything directly from Taiwan to the recipients seemed like a good idea, but it seems to have been messed up too often. Hang in there guys, we know it's not your fault!
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Thank you, we appreciate the understanding.
 
Congrats on getting the M1 to be reviewed by these guys! I hope it leads to a lot more recognition of your product.
 
Mine arrived today, didn't look too good, it's had a decent smack on it's journey:

30cxbad.jpg


2dcihdh.jpg


2ry4kt2.jpg


Thankfully the packing did it's job and all is well, not a blemish.
 
I just got all the parts to start building my in my V3, but it seems that the SX500-LG is too large to accommodate my reference 970. This doesn't make much sense as I've seen others who have been able to do this without issue.
 
Siklr said:
I just got all the parts to start building my in my V3, but it seems that the SX500-LG is too large to accommodate my reference 970. This doesn't make much sense as I've seen others who have been able to do this without issue.
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not exactly "without issue"... regardless of what you do it's a really tight fit. you need to bend the psu wires as much as you can before attempting to install the gpu
 
I tried pulling the wires taut and away from the GPU, but it seems like it's not going to work. Are there any recommendations for bending them? Does it basically need to look like a 90 degree bend?
 
Siklr said:
I tried pulling the wires taut and away from the GPU, but it seems like it's not going to work. Are there any recommendations for bending them? Does it basically need to look like a 90 degree bend?
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Are you sure it has a V3 bracket? It looks like my V3 may have come with a V2...
 
Not sure. I'd assume so? Here's a picture.

http://i.imgur.com/4Mr40xi.jpg

EDIT: After reading the comments Necere made, it looks like it's the right bracket. Maybe I'm being too timid about the bending of the cables.
 
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Aibohphobia said:
That's a v3. You can tell because it has a cutout in the flange for the power cord.
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I noticed that in the previous discussion. I'm going to try and bend the wires more in hopes that it may help. If not, no biggie. I'll just use a regular SFX PSU. It's only slightly baffling why I can't seem to force it.
 
Wasn't there a run of leftover V2's after the V2 sold out and before the V3 started selling ?

It may explain the V2 bracket, unless the plaque on the back clearly says V3.
 
Hi folks. I bought an M1 case one week ago (with the two week shipping option). I'm a big fan of this case, and respect all the work that's gone into it's design. I'm looking forward to using it.

So, sorry if this question has been asked a million times, but: It's been a week, and besides the initial recipt email from NCase, I haven't received any information. NCase's site lists the average time to ship at 1-3 days.

I respect that NCase is mainly two guys, and I'm not complaining about the wait. I just want to make sure there's not some well issue out there that I should know about- some reason that things wouldn't be going smoothly for a recent order.

Cheers!
-Orion
 
orionburcham said:
Hi folks. I bought an M1 case one week ago (with the two week shipping option). I'm a big fan of this case, and respect all the work that's gone into it's design. I'm looking forward to using it.

So, sorry if this question has been asked a million times, but: It's been a week, and besides the initial recipt email from NCase, I haven't received any information. NCase's site lists the average time to ship at 1-3 days.

I respect that NCase is mainly two guys, and I'm not complaining about the wait. I just want to make sure there's not some well issue out there that I should know about- some reason that things wouldn't be going smoothly for a recent order.

Cheers!
-Orion
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Necere answered that a few post ago
Necere said:
It's the Chinese New Year right now, so everyone's on break over there. The next shipment should go out at the end of the month or early next.
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Having lived in mainland China for 4 years [2006-2010] where I met my wife, I can confirm that big cities turn into ghost towns (figuratively speaking when compared to how they normally are) during the Chinese New Year.
 
Ordered my silver ncase m1v3 at 22-Jan-2015 and received it at 17-Feb-2015 (taiwan airmail)
It was right color and perfect condition, no damage during transportation.
Thanks ncase for this great product! Its a beauty! I am a very happy customer ;)

My location is Finland.
 
Siklr said:
Not sure. I'd assume so? Here's a picture.

http://i.imgur.com/4Mr40xi.jpg

EDIT: After reading the comments Necere made, it looks like it's the right bracket. Maybe I'm being too timid about the bending of the cables.
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make sure only the 24 pin cable is bent from the front. the rest (8pin, sata, molex) need to be bent the other way

also try rotating the motherboard clockwise as much as you can. remove all 3 screws except the top right one near the ram, loosen the last screw slightly, press the mobo into the rear panel, screw on the bottom left screw while applying pressure. this should give you an additional 1mm to work with
 
Finally got the SX500-LG so I could test my bracket:

Huge (3600x2700)

It fits but not quite enough to keep the cables from pressing down on the card slightly.


NPB7Wfhl.jpg


Luckily there's enough clearance with the SSD mounting plate removed from the frame for the PSU to move forward ~7mm. Which will let the cables clear with room to spare.

So if you haven't already, please add your vote if you're interested in this bracket:

Custom M1 SFX-L bracket interest poll

Once I get some quotes I'll start figuring out what the minimum order quantity will be.
 
Gnrl Kitty said:
Which of these pump tops for a DDC pump do you guys think would be better?
http://www.aquatuning.us/water-cool...r-ddc-cover-for-laing-and-swiftech-pumps-g1/4
http://www.aquatuning.us/water-cool...312/laing-ddc-top-silver-nickel-edition-brass
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Generally Aquacomputer is a higher end manufacturer while the Phobya / Alphacool / Aquatuning conglomerate focuses on budget products. However, in the case of a pump top, it's not a complex part, probably there is little difference in build quality nor performance.

Edit: and the price difference is because the AC top is made from delrin, while the Phobya one is nickel plated brass.
 
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Not an uber build as I don't have the disposable income to throw at it, I've just migrated over my current system. Will probably upgrade over the coming 12 months but TBH this still does most of what I need.

The bits waiting to go in bit of a black and white theme going on:

jaxuyw.jpg


99% buttoned up and done:

wl3uxy.jpg


2lsin2s.jpg


23v0uop.jpg


MSI Z77IA-E53
2500k @ 4.5ghz
Cryorig C1 with Thermalright TY-147 (amazing fan BTW)
Team Group 1600mhz RAM 8GB
Samsung 840 Evo 250GB
Palit Kalm X 750ti
Corsair CS550M (80+ gold, silent, can't praise it any higher, never heard it)
2x Corsair SP120 as case fans

Cable management wasn't too bad, but then I don't have any PCIe power to run so just a single modular SATA power.
 
thats such a beautiful gfx heatsink. Perfect in so many ways for a silent cool running system, especially in the context of this case.
 
Thanks, I've been impressed with how much performance it has for such an entry level card, I'm not a 100fps+ first person shooter guy, but it does pretty well at most things at 1920x1200, with high settings 40-60+fps is no sweat for it so long as you keep the AA low or off.

Plus with the measly 60w PCIe power draw it hardly ever gets above 55c and that's even with a massive overclock. I only bought it as a stop gap but it's opened my eyes as to what is possible if you aren't someone into ultra performance.

And more importantly it's silent :)
 
I forgot about having to clear the rubber grommets on the front mounted 2.5" drives so the most I can move the PSU up is 3.5mm. That'll be just enough to clear the GPU though.

Also, Urelure, I've decided against slots for the PSU mounting screws. The AC inlet socket is almost touching one of the mounting tab so I need to make it a bit thinner so that would make the metal around a slot too thin.

I'm about done redesigning the bracket so I'll start sending emails out for quotes Monday.
 
Gnrl Kitty said:
Which of these pump tops for a DDC pump do you guys think would be better?
http://www.aquatuning.us/water-cool...r-ddc-cover-for-laing-and-swiftech-pumps-g1/4
http://www.aquatuning.us/water-cool...312/laing-ddc-top-silver-nickel-edition-brass
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One thing to keep in mind is if you're planning to use a long GPU (w/full cover block), the pump+top will need to fit under it, and I believe only the Aquacover is short enough for that. If you're using a reference 970 w/short PCB or the like, either should be fine.

Telecaster said:
Not an uber build as I don't have the disposable income to throw at it, I've just migrated over my current system. Will probably upgrade over the coming 12 months but TBH this still does most of what I need.

The bits waiting to go in bit of a black and white theme going on:

jaxuyw.jpg


99% buttoned up and done:

wl3uxy.jpg


2lsin2s.jpg


23v0uop.jpg


MSI Z77IA-E53
2500k @ 4.5ghz
Cryorig C1 with Thermalright TY-147 (amazing fan BTW)
Team Group 1600mhz RAM 8GB
Samsung 840 Evo 250GB
Palit Kalm X 750ti
Corsair CS550M (80+ gold, silent, can't praise it any higher, never heard it)
2x Corsair SP120 as case fans

Cable management wasn't too bad, but then I don't have any PCIe power to run so just a single modular SATA power.
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Great build. I like a well executed, more modest build just as much as the high end builds, which this is a prime example of.
 
Necere said:
One thing to keep in mind is if you're planning to use a long GPU (w/full cover block), the pump+top will need to fit under it, and I believe only the Aquacover is short enough for that. If you're using a reference 970 w/short PCB or the like, either should be fine.
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I'm using a 980 with EK water block. So I'll absolutely have to use the Aquacomputer block, and it will absolutely fit?
 
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Does anyone have any tips on cooling a msata on the back of the motherboard? Mines running a bit hot
 
sashi said:
Does anyone have any tips on cooling a msata on the back of the motherboard? Mines running a bit hot
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How much space there is between ssd and ncase side panel?
Could you put thermal pad between side panel and ssd, so side panel would act as heatsink?
 
tomih said:
How much space there is between ssd and ncase side panel?
Could you put thermal pad between side panel and ssd, so side panel would act as heatsink?
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Hmm that could work but that would be a thick thermal pad needed
 
sashi said:
Hmm that could work but that would be a thick thermal pad needed
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Does it align with the holes in the side panel? If so a thermal pad would compromise the passive air flow the msata drive is getting, for the sake of using that entire panel as a passive heatsink.

How hot is it getting? Is there something on the other side of the motherboard PCB that is contributing to heat in that localized area?
 
ghostwich said:
Does it align with the holes in the side panel? If so a thermal pad would compromise the passive air flow the msata drive is getting, for the sake of using that entire panel as a passive heatsink.

How hot is it getting? Is there something on the other side of the motherboard PCB that is contributing to heat in that localized area?
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Right on the other side of the motherboard is the CPU.. close to it anyways, probably the VRMs and mosfets

The msata does align with the holes so that would mean I would need a good sized thermal pad then
 
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