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

What is considered to be the best CPU cooling setup for the NCase that isn't water cooling? NH-C14 with two fans on the side panel or something else?
 
What is considered to be the best CPU cooling setup for the NCase that isn't water cooling? NH-C14 with two fans on the side panel or something else?

For air, NH-C14 with fans in push/pull IMO
 
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Necere : with the Kabuto II end-of-life and the new Kabuto III soon available, might it be a good fit ? It seems to be a few mm larger and a few mm offset but 2 mm reduced height, so I would expect it to fit. Since it's one of the better choices when using an ATX PSU or the HDD bracket, it seems an interesting new option.

Kabuto II
Kabuto2_Dimensions_1204x563.jpg


Kabuto III
Kabuto_3_dimensions.jpg
 
Do you think that will be enough? I'd rather go that route than to drill holes into the case.


Yes I'm sure that will keep the Pump in place. When the tubes and fittings will be attached, it will be even more stable, since I use hard tubes. But the cable ties itself will hold this for a lifetime.

Btw sorry if my english isn't correct. I'm from switzerland...
 
Yes I'm sure that will keep the Pump in place. When the tubes and fittings will be attached, it will be even more stable, since I use hard tubes. But the cable ties itself will hold this for a lifetime.

Btw sorry if my english isn't correct. I'm from switzerland...

Any chance of a photo of the mounting points and cable ties? Quite interested in how you pulled it off!
 
I got my M1 built today! I really love it so far, but I'm concerned I may have some temp issues. Stress tests push both my CPU and GPU up to 80C (CPU around 70C during the GPU stress test) and during normal gaming I'm seeing low 60s for CPU and mid 70s for GPU. That seems high right?

I've mentioned my build previously but as a refresher I've got a 3770k paired with an NH-C14. The C14 has an F12 on the bottom and it's P14 on top as well as an additional F12 on the side panel. All are exhausing out of the case. My GPU is a EVGA 980TI ACX 2.0

I'm not really sure what I can do to improve temps. Add fans under the GPU? Change the fans to intake? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
 
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Well I took the plunge and decided on an Asus 1080 FE for this case. Since the price of an open air cooler and a few fans is higher than the FE for me I just decided to go with the blower. I will post temps and everything once I get it up and running!
 
Of course my friend, with pleasure.

Thanks a bunch, the ziptie through the PSU bracket is rather brilliant, but the one on the sata cable I feel less sure of. That said I definitely see why you feel confident, the hard tube support will help as well. Would love to know how you get on once you fill it up with water as it will weigh quite a bit more! It'd be nice to know if it worked out as it would save drilling holes in the case.
 
Here is my feedback about my build which containing good and bad . You can skip and check all my pictures Imgur

I did built the case after purchasing all this parts :

i5 6600k
EVGA Z170 Stinger
Corsair SF600
Corsair Dominator Platinum 2x8 3000 hz
Msi GTX 970 4 GB Gaming
Corsair H105 ( installed Noctua Industrial 120mn PWM 3000 RPM fans )
Samsung Evo 850 250GB
Noctua Industrial 120mn PWM 3000 RPM fans

1.)

The built went ok till I reach the Corsair H105 installation after I swapped the stock fans for the Noctua one everything turned to be more higher than it was before
Pic 1 :
Pic 2 :

After Installation I find myself in a situation when everything was so tight I was not even sure the water gonna circulate properly like that .

Installed radiator which was tide :
Bending pipes 1:
Bending pipes 2:

UPDATE : My water cooler pump died after 8 days so Im taking it back tomorrow . Im nut sure this is because of the tight pipes or not but at least good to note

2.)
After I installed the video card which is a MSI GTX 970 4GB Gaming edition I was scared that the heat pipe gonna touch the side panel and YES IT DOES (but can fit )
Picture 1:
Picture 2 :

Im not sure its good or bad but I have OC-ed my GPU and when its under full load the side panel is warm as well ( maybe I win for myself additional cooling surface ) I hope its not gonna cause a shortage or something ( Im not an expert)

3.)
Z170 Stinger I/O Shield issue ( where Im still wondering how EVGA designers could mess up this much ) .... The I/O shield touching the back of the GPU so I had to bend it to make sure they do not collide .

Picture ( after the bending ):

4.)
NOCTUA NF-F12 IPPC 3000 PWN fan test that fitting under the GPU or not ( It does but 1-2 mm clearance)
Picture 1 :
Picture 2 :

NOTE : I DO NOT recommend this Fan for any NCASE m1 user it`s way way to loud If you still wanna buy buy the 2000RPM one ( I spent 70 $ for the fans + 14$ for the white anti vibration modding )
* And NO I can not use the low noise Adapter with Industrial fans




I hope I helped for some of you before you purchase or If you have got already questions because you was not sure it`s gonna fit or not now you know :)


Have a great day all


OC info CPU : 4.6 on Adaptive + 100 offset
GPU : 1506 Mhz

I have got a few issues with Blue screen but slowly I sorted out my voltage issues .
 

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Thanks a bunch, the ziptie through the PSU bracket is rather brilliant, but the one on the sata cable I feel less sure of. That said I definitely see why you feel confident, the hard tube support will help as well. Would love to know how you get on once you fill it up with water as it will weigh quite a bit more! It'd be nice to know if it worked out as it would save drilling holes in the case.

I understand your doubts about the ziptie
on the sata cable. But trust me, I just placed it there because its really stiff. On the following picture you can see that the res/pump is cought in the case. It gets pressed at the psu and there is doublesided tape between. So I don't worry about it. It feels pretty solid.

When the hard tubes and fitting arrive, I'll give you updates here.
 

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Meanwhile I replaced the Corsair H105 with a H100i v2 It was 1 hour and many many try finally it was fitting ... (pain in the ass to manage the cable bending)
 
H100i v2 is a PITA in larger cases too. Mine sits in a relatively roomy 400C, and the tubing is stiff enough it pushes noticeably against the window; I had to repeatedly flex the tubing to finally get it manageable. The EVGA Hybrid in my M1, on the other hand, flexes quite nicely. Wish Corsair/Asetek would remedy this.
 
Sorry if asked/answered. I know the EVGA FTW cards traditionally haven't fit, but looking at the 1080 FTW's specs, EVGA specifies the following measurements:
  • Height: 5.064in - 128.631mm
  • Length: 10.5in - 266.7mm
This seems pretty "small" for a bigger PCB (980 Ti Classified was nearly 6" x 11"). Looking at the height, it seems like it might just barely fit (once installed, anyway), based on this diagram...

Or is the installation itself the show stopper here?
 
Mike... I've been gaming since @ 1993... This Acer 27" IPS 'XB271HU' is the BEST gaming monitor out there right now/fast and incredible picture sharpness and quality... (2560x1440 at 165hz refresh/G-Sync, running Battlefield 4 on Ultra settings)... My K/D ratio in BF4 has improved by @ 25-30% > WORD...and with the rig below in my 'sig'. And no, I don't work for Acer, nor am I being paid for my comments.
Thanks for your insight on the Acer, currently i'm gaming on a Asus PA279Q which is a great 1440p monitor, only missing g-sync. I'm considering to keep this monitor for a while till new 4k's with high refresh rates comes out. I was hoping that during Computex new stunning monitors would have been revealed which unfortunately wasn't the case. Will keep you posted.
 
Sorry if asked/answered. I know the EVGA FTW cards traditionally haven't fit, but looking at the 1080 FTW's specs, EVGA specifies the following measurements:
  • Height: 5.064in - 128.631mm
  • Length: 10.5in - 266.7mm
This seems pretty "small" for a bigger PCB (980 Ti Classified was nearly 6" x 11"). Looking at the height, it seems like it might just barely fit (once installed, anyway), based on this diagram...

Or is the installation itself the show stopper here?

I think it fits based on my GTX 970 which is 269x141x35mm but the heat pipe is not even counted in this number and that`s touching the side panel exactly . So I think it fits
tHfGfje
 
Sorry if asked/answered. I know the EVGA FTW cards traditionally haven't fit, but looking at the 1080 FTW's specs, EVGA specifies the following measurements:
  • Height: 5.064in - 128.631mm
  • Length: 10.5in - 266.7mm
This seems pretty "small" for a bigger PCB (980 Ti Classified was nearly 6" x 11"). Looking at the height, it seems like it might just barely fit (once installed, anyway), based on this diagram...

Or is the installation itself the show stopper here?
It might be difficult to install, but the real show stopper is the PCIe power connectors. They need at least 15-20mm, and on this card they aren't recessed, leaving only about 11mm. That's barely more than the connectors themselves (leaving no room for the cables). EVGA's PCIe connector relocater doodad might help with that, if it's compatible with this card.
 
Guys,

After reading thousands of messages and seeing another hundreds of pics, I came up with a build to use for coding and gaming. Also, I'd like it to run macOS very soon, so most of parts are complying to tonymacx86 guides. Please, let me know what you think:

Mobo: Gygabyte GA-170N Gaming 5
CPU: Core i7 6700K
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9S + Noctua NF-A9 fan
GPU: GTX 1080 FE
SSD M.2: Samsung 950 Pro 512
RAM: Ballistix Sport LT 2x16GB
PSU: Silverstone SFX 600-G
Rear fan: Noctua NF-9
Side fan: Noctua NF-S12A
Bottom fans: Vardar EK-WB
 
Guys,

After reading thousands of messages and seeing another hundreds of pics, I came up with a build to use for coding and gaming. Also, I'd like it to run macOS very soon, so most of parts are complying to tonymacx86 guides. Please, let me know what you think:

Mobo: Gygabyte GA-170N Gaming 5
CPU: Core i7 6700K
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9S + Noctua NF-A9 fan
GPU: GTX 1080 FE
SSD M.2: Samsung 950 Pro 512
RAM: Ballistix Sport LT 2x16GB
PSU: Silverstone SFX 600-G
Rear fan: Noctua NF-9
Side fan: Noctua NF-S12A
Bottom fans: Vardar EK-WB

I don`t know why people love that Noctua U9S cooler over the NH-C14S ..... NH-C14S just destroying that
 
Guys,

After reading thousands of messages and seeing another hundreds of pics, I came up with a build to use for coding and gaming. Also, I'd like it to run macOS very soon, so most of parts are complying to tonymacx86 guides. Please, let me know what you think:

Mobo: Gygabyte GA-170N Gaming 5
CPU: Core i7 6700K
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9S + Noctua NF-A9 fan
GPU: GTX 1080 FE
SSD M.2: Samsung 950 Pro 512
RAM: Ballistix Sport LT 2x16GB
PSU: Silverstone SFX 600-G
Rear fan: Noctua NF-9
Side fan: Noctua NF-S12A
Bottom fans: Vardar EK-WB

Any special reason you are choosing to go with 2200RPM fans on the bottom? Most of the flow they will provide will be blocked by your GPU.

I personally went with some NF-A15 PWM mainly because they are quite and still provide a little airflow. Curious, does anyone else use high RPM fans in the bottom on air only builds?
 
Any special reason you are choosing to go with 2200RPM fans on the bottom? Most of the flow they will provide will be blocked by your GPU.

I personally went with some NF-A15 PWM mainly because they are quite and still provide a little airflow. Curious, does anyone else use high RPM fans in the bottom on air only builds?
I used some 3000 rpm noctua industrials on the bottom. To be honest it wasn't worth wasting the space because it only lowered gpu temps by 2-3 degrees and did nothing for the rest of the temps.
 
Any special reason you are choosing to go with 2200RPM fans on the bottom? Most of the flow they will provide will be blocked by your GPU.

I personally went with some NF-A15 PWM mainly because they are quite and still provide a little airflow. Curious, does anyone else use high RPM fans in the bottom on air only builds?

You used this with a blower type GPU? Only one or two? How much it lowers the temperature?
 
I was tinkering in my M1 last night installing an SF600, and tried to see if I could remove the front panel cable from the front I/O panel. I figured out pretty quickly that what looks like a white connector isn't intended to be removed. Now that I've got everything back together, instead of a blue light on my M1 power button, I see an intermittently flashing red light. I'm guessing this is HDD activity, but since there is no more blue light I wonder if I may have damaged the connection. If that is the case, is it possible to buy a replacement front I/O panel? I don't see it on the website.

edit - It was the motherboard connection that came loose. The front I/O panel is fine.
 
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It might be difficult to install, but the real show stopper is the PCIe power connectors. They need at least 15-20mm, and on this card they aren't recessed, leaving only about 11mm. That's barely more than the connectors themselves (leaving no room for the cables). EVGA's PCIe connector relocater doodad might help with that, if it's compatible with this card.
Ah, right. I wasn't even thinking of the power connectors... shoot.
 
That looks good! Do you have a link with some analysis for this build? You need to use low profile RAM with these?

I think if you use bottom 120mm fan you have to use low profile but if you not than you can use full size . If it`s me I would try to buy new NH-C14 you still can buy with full warranty few places . and there you can use double fan ! But worst case you go with C14S thats good as well .
 

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Guys,

After reading thousands of messages and seeing another hundreds of pics, I came up with a build to use for coding and gaming. Also, I'd like it to run macOS very soon, so most of parts are complying to tonymacx86 guides. Please, let me know what you think:

Mobo: Gygabyte GA-170N Gaming 5
CPU: Core i7 6700K
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9S + Noctua NF-A9 fan
GPU: GTX 1080 FE
SSD M.2: Samsung 950 Pro 512
RAM: Ballistix Sport LT 2x16GB
PSU: Silverstone SFX 600-G
Rear fan: Noctua NF-9
Side fan: Noctua NF-S12A
Bottom fans: Vardar EK-WB

Regarding macOS (the operating system formerly known as Mac OS X), there may be two issues…

I do not know if nVidia has released new web drivers that include the Pascal chips yet…

I keep reading conflicting reports regarding NVMe SSDs being used as a boot drive at this time…

But hopefully these few issues will be worked out soon…!

Hackintosh Power…!!! ;^p
 
the operating system formerly known as Mac OS X

Sorry for being the smartass, but this always bothered me. In the past it was not known as "Mac OS X". They called their operating system just "OS X". Most of the people saying and writing it wrong made them change the name, besides that it fits better in their newer OS naming convention.
 
Sorry for being the smartass, but this always bothered me. In the past it was not known as "Mac OS X". They called their operating system just "OS X". Most of the people saying and writing it wrong made them change the name, besides that it fits better in their newer OS naming convention.

Actually, it has always been called Mac OS…

With the first Macintosh computers, we had Mac OS System x.x.x - this ran from System 1.x.x thru System 7.x.x - with 'System' 8.x.x the 'System' was dropped, leaving just Mac OS 8.x.x & Mac OS 9.x.x

When Steve Jobs came back to Apple along with the purchase of his NeXT computer company & its operating system, we saw the transition to Mac OS X 10.x.x

Virtually EVERYONE called this OS X, but it has been stated many times that the 'X' was not to be pronounced as the letter 'X', but as the Roman numeral, meaning the original OS X was actually Mac OS X (TEN) 10.x.x

Around 2012, Apple dropped the 'Mac' and went with just OS X (and the version numbers of course, 10.x.x)

Now we are seeing a sort of full circle with the return to Mac OS, but in a format that matches the other three operating systems; so, macOS

macOS - iOS - tvOS - watchOS

Look at virtually any non-modified boot screen from the 'Classic' Mac OS days thru the Mac OS X days until 2012, you will see Mac OS (System x.x.x) / Mac OS X right under that 'Happy Mac' two-faced icon…

I actually started out using the Apple ][ series of computers in elementary school (forget floppy discs for Old School cred, we were using cassette tapes…!), and I have been looking at the Mac OS boot screens since the original Macintosh in the mid 1980s…
 
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Virtually EVERYONE called this OS X
The people I have to do with have always been saying "Mac OS". Literally no one I know ever said "OS X" and not even "OS ten". Funny how experiences can differ.

Around 2012, Apple dropped the 'Mac' and went with just OS X
I read the Wikipedia article and have to apologize, because that's true. Then I thought about how I could think that since the version 10 the OS was called OS X and then I realized, that my first Mac was the MacBook Air 2011, which came with Lion, which was already advertised just as "OS X Lion". And I remember Steve Jobs saying at the 2007 iPhone introduction "iPhone runs OS ten". That might have lead to the assumption, OS X has always been OS X and not Mac OS X. Sorry.
 
The people I have to do with have always been saying "Mac OS". Literally no one I know ever said "OS X" and not even "OS ten". Funny how experiences can differ.


I read the Wikipedia article and have to apologize, because that's true. Then I thought about how I could think that since the version 10 the OS was called OS X and then I realized, that my first Mac was the MacBook Air 2011, which came with Lion, which was already advertised just as "OS X Lion". And I remember Steve Jobs saying at the 2007 iPhone introduction "iPhone runs OS ten". That might have lead to the assumption, OS X has always been OS X and not Mac OS X. Sorry.

No worries…!

When I was working for a small Mac consulting group in the late 90s & early 2ks; it was System x.x.x for Classic Mac & OS X for the Unix-based operating system… We would refer to the individual OS X releases by their given animal names…

Steve Jobs always insisted it was Mac OS X, with the X being the Roman numeral '10' not the letter 'X', therefore pronounced Mac OS Ten; which means one should say Mac OS Ten 10.x.x

I found this incredibly stupid…

I just hope, with the dropping of the 'X' from the OS 'title', we can get past the actual 10.x.x numbering scheme…

macOS 10.137.2 - ??? - add another 'dot' revision level in there, eventually our OS version number could look like an IP address…!

Please, give us macOS 11.x.x sometime…!
 
I think I found the perfect GTX 1080 for our case. The Gigabyte G1 Gaming. it's not super tall, and it only uses 1 8pin connector. It should fit our case just fine.

 
Actually, it has always been called Mac OS…

With the first Macintosh computers, we had Mac OS System x.x.x - this ran from System 1.x.x thru System 7.x.x - with 'System' 8.x.x the 'System' was dropped, leaving just Mac OS 8.x.x & Mac OS 9.x.x

When Steve Jobs came back to Apple along with the purchase of his NeXT computer company & its operating system, we saw the transition to Mac OS X 10.x.x

Virtually EVERYONE called this OS X, but it has been stated many times that the 'X' was not to be pronounced as the letter 'X', but as the Roman numeral, meaning the original OS X was actually Mac OS X (TEN) 10.x.x

Around 2012, Apple dropped the 'Mac' and went with just OS X (and the version numbers of course, 10.x.x)

Now we are seeing a sort of full circle with the return to Mac OS, but in a format that matches the other three operating systems; so, macOS

macOS - iOS - tvOS - watchOS

Look at virtually any non-modified boot screen from the 'Classic' Mac OS days thru the Mac OS X days until 2012, you will see Mac OS (System x.x.x) / Mac OS X right under that 'Happy Mac' two-faced icon…

I actually started out using the Apple ][ series of computers in elementary school (forget floppy discs for Old School cred, we were using cassette tapes…!), and I have been looking at the Mac OS boot screens since the original Macintosh in the mid 1980s…

Wow another Mac head, here I thought I was the only one. My mother worked for a news paper company as a graphic designer so we always had Mac's around the house. I think the earliest one we owned was the original Mac (with the whopping 128k RAM). After that her job provided her the latest machines as they came out. I recall taking her Mac portable to school once thinking I was just "so cool". . . god I feel old.
 
Wow another Mac head, here I thought I was the only one. My mother worked for a news paper company as a graphic designer so we always had Mac's around the house. I think the earliest one we owned was the original Mac (with the whopping 128k RAM). After that her job provided her the latest machines as they came out. I recall taking her Mac portable to school once thinking I was just "so cool". . . god I feel old.

Lol…

Yeah, I have used Windows since 2.0 (what a dog), Apples since before there were Macs, a few years with Irix on Silicon Graphics workstations & servers (and people say Macs are expensive), the odd dabbling with asst. Linux distros, and a semester playing with punch cards (yes, punch cards) on a Burroughs mainframe…

Out of them all, I will take the Mac operating system (Mac OS, Mac OS X, OS X, macOS, whatever…) over any others; the ONLY reason I use Windows at this point is when I am at work, where it is all Windows 7 machines, but all of that is just a vessel for the Citrix apps…

For gaming, I can play WoW on my Mac (soon to be Hackintosh) and most anything else is available on the various consoles… But then I would be compelled to go with a Playstation over a Xbox; because, Microsoft… ;^p
 
Hello guys, maybe I missed the post but can somebody confirm that the EVGA FTW Edition fits into the case?
 
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