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

Speaking of questions...

I have the M1 coming with the optical slot. If I use that space for the DVD/RW drive, then what would I potentially lose in terms of another item/component that could have been placed in that spot, if anything?

Tell me what DVD internal or external drive you purchased... here's an internal...a possibility? ( https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-Internal-SN-208FB-BEBE/dp/B00GXNPJI6?ie=UTF8&keywords=samsung slim dvd sata internal&linkCode=sl1&linkId=1c24ad74ae3b469ef46fda2bc5b97376&qid=1447448531&ref_=as_li_ss_tl&sr=8-1&tag=thtebusgu-20 )

OR... https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-UJ...A+Slim+Slot-Load+Internal+8X+DVDRW+SATA+Drive ?

If I change my mind and not use the slot, I could still go with an external DVD/RW, correct?

If you don't mount an optical drive to the front of the case, then you could mount a single 2.5 inch drive that is up to 15 mm in height (I think), or two 2.5 inch drives using the double-stacking brackets, so long as both drives are 7 mm (or less) in height.

The first optical drive you linked to has tray loading. Any optical drive you use must be a slot loader, like your second link and be 12.7 mm in height. I used a Panasonic UJ-265. Some people have complained that drive is too loud. Silverstone sells two optical drives that would work, the SOB02 (blu-ray writer) and the SOD02 (DVD writer). These drives come with the SATA to Slimline SATA cable you will need for these thin optical drives.

Finally, yes, you can always go with an external optical drive. Many have made that choice to simplify the build within the M1 and because they rarely use optical media.

Good luck!
 
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So I had to check for myself and I was able to get the PP08 to attach to the ATX bracket. It only goes on one way and it's a good thing it has at least twice as many threaded holes as you need because you're right not all of them line up with holes in the ATX bracket, but 4 (one in each corner) do. Photos to come.


Replying to my own post is a bit lame, but I promised some photos so here they are:

Background: I know this may not apply to many people, but I was inspired to post this based on a post from last year by Aibohphobia in which he mounted his Silverstone SX500-LG power supply at the front of the M1 using the M1's ATX bracket plus a custom made SFX-ATX adapter, of his own design. Unfortunately, not enough people were interested in purchasing one from him, but I think he did make the design (3D printer file?) available. Here's his customer bracket:

image.png


The following photos show two SFX adapters, the one that came with the SX500-LG (and the SX600-G) and a new one from Silverstone, the PP08.



In the first photo, the top half contains the SX500-LG adapter plate: unfinished steel, has 8 threaded holes (circled in RED) for attaching to the case, and 3 holes for attaching to an SFX power supply (circled in BLUE). In the bottom half of the photo is the PP08: glossy black painted finish, 7 threaded holes (circled in RED) for attaching to the case, and 6 holes (circled in BLUE) for attaching to an SFX power supply.

The second photo shows both SFX-ATX adapter plates attached to the M1's ATX Power Supply bracket. Due to ridges and raised edges both adapters must be attached to the underside of the ATX bracket. The top half photo shows all 3 of the SFX mounting holes are clear and available to use. The bottom half shows the PP08 in the orientation that displaces the power supply as much to the front as possible. One corner of the PP08 has only one threaded hole for attaching to the ATX bracket (or directly to a different case) and this dictates which 3 of the other 6 mounting holes can be used to attach it to the ATX bracket. As you can see only 4 of the 6 holes for attaching the SFX power supply are available. The two holes at the front of the case (circled in ORANGE) are partially blocked by the ATX bracket. If we want to use 3 holes in the same pattern as the SX500-LG adapter plate, one of the blocked holes will have to be cleared by filing a bit of the ATX bracket. The bracket is quite thin in this area, so this is not a desirable situation.

The third photo shows both adapters attached to the ATX bracket and mounted in the M1. The PP08 does not displace the SFX power supply as far forward as Aibohpphobia's custom designed adapter. As he stated in his post
My bracket doesn't push the PSU right up against the front, I left a few mm space for clearance.
The internal 2.5 inch drive mounting plate on the inside of the case may be removed if it is not needed to provide more room for the fan intake, if it's facing the front, or cable management if the fan is facing the rear.

Finally, if you really need more room for the bottom of your power supply mounted at the front of the M1 an expensive option (~ $60 US) is to replace your graphics card cooler with an Arctic Accelero Xtreme III (or IV). The Accelero heatsink is further away from the PCB than the standard GPU heatsinks and that will give a few more precious millimeters for the power supply connectors.


(credit: member icc0rz)
 
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The silverstone blu-ray writer is just a rebadged Panasonic UJ-265. At least mine was. It even said it was a UJ-265 in the manual. Panasonic no longer offers a UJ-265. It was discontinued. A few of us here have bought the Silverstone and had no issues with it.
 
Replying to my own post is a bit lame, but I promised some photos so here they are:


Finally, if you really need more room for the bottom of your power supply mounted at the front of the M1 an expensive option (~ $60 US) is to replace your graphics card cooler with an Arctic Accelero Xtreme III (or IV). The Accelero heatsink is further away from the PCB than the standard GPU heatsinks and that will give a few more precious millimeters for the power supply connectors.

Thanks a lot fr your answer.

I am really interested by the combo SFX-L plus Arctic accelero III.

But on this pic it seems like the card is a mini GTX no? that not a full lengh GTX?

SX700 LPT plus a GTX1080 should deliver a suer quiete system. But not sure it can be done with a full length GTX 1080
 
Where has gone the vadal switch? Waiting for a shorter one?
Which size (diameter) are you getting btw? Looks like the smaller with illuminating ring is 16mm, I would have prefered 12 or 14mm.
EDIT: find some 12mm on Ali, no black ones yet though
EDIT 2: 12mm black found! But with a red ring, still searching for a white ring led :rolleyes:

On another hand, is it me or do you guys also only see the top of the pictures in these imgur albums?


Was having issues with startup thought it was due to vandal switch, guy who did my gpu cable switched two cables around. Unfortunately there doesn't look like much room for this vandal and a radiator. Need to find a slim profile one if you find a black one please let me know
 
I can't seem to find one but let me know if I'm just blind and need to be a better google-er. The adapters that make your Power supply cable go down 90 deg. rather than sticking straight out the back of the case, where can you find those? I've seen a couple of builds with them...
 
If you don't mount an optical drive to the front of the case, then you could mount a single 2.5 inch drive that is up to 15 mm in height (I think), or two 2.5 inch drives using the double-stacking brackets, so long as both drives are 7 mm (or less) in height.

The first optical drive you linked to has tray loading. Any optical drive you use must be a slot loader, like your second link and be 12.7 in height. I used a Panasonic UJ-265. Some people have complained that drive is too loud. Silverstone sells two optical drives that would work, the SOB02 (blu-ray writer) and the SOD02 (DVD writer). These drives come with the SATA to Slimline SATA cable you will need for these thin optical drives.

Finally, yes, you can always go with an external optical drive. Many have made that choice to simplify the build within the M1 and because they rarely use optical media.

Good luck!

+1. I went with an external optical drive. I use it maybe 1-2 times a year tops. Lol.
 
If you don't mount an optical drive to the front of the case, then you could mount a single 2.5 inch drive that is up to 15 mm in height (I think), or two 2.5 inch drives using the double-stacking brackets, so long as both drives are 7 mm (or less) in height.

The first optical drive you linked to has tray loading. Any optical drive you use must be a slot loader, like your second link and be 12.7 in height. I used a Panasonic UJ-265. Some people have complained that drive is too loud. Silverstone sells two optical drives that would work, the SOB02 (blu-ray writer) and the SOD02 (DVD writer). These drives come with the SATA to Slimline SATA cable you will need for these thin optical drives.

Finally, yes, you can always go with an external optical drive. Many have made that choice to simplify the build within the M1 and because they rarely use optical media.

Good luck!

Thanks for detailed response.... need all the help I can get... The optical drive, an old-school security blanket for me, I guess...
 
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Thanks a lot fr your answer.

I am really interested by the combo SFX-L plus Arctic accelero III.

But on this pic it seems like the card is a mini GTX no? that not a full lengh GTX?

SX700 LPT plus a GTX1080 should deliver a suer quiete system. But not sure it can be done with a full length GTX 1080

Others have squeezed an SFX-L and a long graphics card into the M1. It's tight, especially iif the graphics card has a backplate. I'd probably take it off to gain a couple of millimeters.

The Acrtic Accelero Extreme will give more clearance at the end of the card, but that only matters if the PS connectors are over the heatsink fins and not the PCB. I was hoping the PP08 mounted to the ATX bracket would push the PS far enough to the front of the case, but I don't think it will. If only Aibohphobia's custom PS bracket were available! If the PS connectors are over the PCB the build will still be possible, but it will be tight. You have to decide if that is acceptable or not.
 
OK

I will go with the SF450 and a 1080 gtx customized with an arctic accelero III

CPU will be a 5820K
HD a samsung 950 pro, that I will change by a 960 pro as soon as it became available.
CPU cooler a Noctua C14 that i already have.
2 ML 120 corsair fan under the arctic
1 ML 140 fan on the Noctua C14.
now I just need to decide for the best motherboard working with the 5820K, and with a M.2 on the back plus compatible with DDR4 ram.
And finc the RAM (16Giga should be ok).

what do you think of this config?
 
Now that's a use case, explains a lot :) My case is the complete opposite: I'm closing my incognito-forced Chrome every hour or so, hardly utilizing the cores of my 5yo rig even while gaming. The only component I deem important to include is a SM951 NVMe 256G (M.2 2280), ruled out almost all available mITX boards. It was interesting to see that your ASRock would also work, although it wouldn't give me a benefit over my current choise (ASUS Z170i Pro Gaming). Except for the ECC option if I'd walk the Xeon path.

Thanks for the insights (y)

You're welcome, seems like for your needs saving $200 and going Z170 made sense. There are plenty of options for M.2 on the Z170 platform. That ASUS board is regarded by many as the best right now, save for the Impact, but the latter has no M.2. The only advantage you'd get with X99 vis-a-vis M.2 is that the M.2 PCIe lanes would connect directly to the CPU rather than go thru the chipset, so you'd be avoiding a potential bottleneck if you have a lot of I/O connected, but you'd really have to have a ton data-intensive stuff connected to notice a difference.

AIO over your motherboard as intake - extra fan in the other slot as intake - PSU as intake from the back of the case
I think this setup would be okay, and should keep the PSU quiet. It will depend on how much hot air the AIO is dumping into the case, and there is really only one way to find out for sure though :facepalm:

There is a lot of mixed information out there, but it sounded like the SF600 actually has a more aggresive fan profile set up on it than the SF450. There was also some mention of early samples being sent out with inaccurate fan profiles, but that may have been limited to review units that were sent out. In my case, the noise was directly linked to airflow and ambient temperatures. It would be nice if there was a way to determine what batch we had from Corsair, because I had my psu for around a week before reviews started popping up.

Thanks so much for your view on this. I will try both setups -- PSU rotated in and out and report back! There are several variables that will determine which setup will be optimal. I'll try the PSU facing in first as I want to maximize the utility of my side GentleTyphoon fan. As you say, if the adjacent AIO dumps a lot of heat into the case, that will negate the benefit of increased airflow.. Only one way to find out.....

I'm not sure if there's really all that much variation in Corsair PSUs' noise levels, I think people's setups are just different in terms of temperature, airflow, and orientation, which is what made the difference in your case. SF450 vs SF600 would be interesting to get conclusive data. I only got the SF600 b/c I thought it would be quieter...

Anyway, I just ordered the M1. It'll ship in 4 days. I must say, the $185 price tag is actually reasonable all things considered. The thing that pushes it into solidly expensive territory is the shipping -- $35-45, ouch. But well-worth it overall. I can't wait to get it.
 
OK

I will go with the SF450 and a 1080 gtx customized with an arctic accelero III

CPU will be a 5820K
HD a samsung 950 pro, that I will change by a 960 pro as soon as it became available.
CPU cooler a Noctua C14 that i already have.
2 ML 120 corsair fan under the arctic
1 ML 140 fan on the Noctua C14.
now I just need to decide for the best motherboard working with the 5820K, and with a M.2 on the back plus compatible with DDR4 ram.
And finc the RAM (16Giga should be ok).

what do you think of this config?

Well I hope you like Asrock because the only 2011-v3 mini-itx board is ASRock X99E‑ITX/ac. But the people who are using them say they are a high quality board. They do support M.2 and DDR4.

You also can't use the Noctua C14 with the Asrock, it uses a narrow socket 2011. Noctua makes this one. NH-U9DX i4
 
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Well I hope you like Asrock because the only 2011-v3 mini-itx board is ASRock X99E‑ITX/ac. But the people who are using them say they are a high quality board. They do support M.2 and DDR4.

You also can't use the Noctua C14 with the Asrock, it uses a narrow socket 2011. Noctua makes this one. NH-U9DX i4

Hum that what I was affraid of.
So may be if I go with à 6700K I will have as good performance and more choice regardons the Mother board.
A MB that accept à 6700K à Nocturne C14 M.2 ssd and DDR4.
 
Hum that what I was affraid of.
So may be if I go with à 6700K I will have as good performance and more choice regardons the Mother board.
A MB that accept à 6700K à Nocturne C14 M.2 ssd and DDR4.

You will have more choices for sure, the top boards seem to be the Asus Z170I Pro Gaming, Gigabyte Z170N G1 Gaming 5 and the Asrock Fatality Gaming Z170. These all support DDR4 and M.2. I am pretty sure the Noctua will work, but check with users in here who here who have one installed.
 
Thanks a lot, seems like the Asus Z170I Pro Gaming answer all my needs.
I am going to search exactly the RAM that perform the best with this MB.

Seems like I am close to decide on my exact configuration.
 
OK

I will go with the SF450 and a 1080 gtx customized with an arctic accelero III

CPU will be a 5820K
HD a samsung 950 pro, that I will change by a 960 pro as soon as it became available.
CPU cooler a Noctua C14 that i already have.
2 ML 120 corsair fan under the arctic
1 ML 140 fan on the Noctua C14.
now I just need to decide for the best motherboard working with the 5820K, and with a M.2 on the back plus compatible with DDR4 ram.
And finc the RAM (16Giga should be ok).

what do you think of this config?

450w may not be sufficient if you're using a 1080 and 5820k. Just with my 980 Ti and 6700k, on full load it ranges from 350-400w.
 
Well I hope you like Asrock because the only 2011-v3 mini-itx board is ASRock X99E‑ITX/ac. But the people who are using them say they are a high quality board. They do support M.2 and DDR4.

You also can't use the Noctua C14 with the Asrock, it uses a narrow socket 2011. Noctua makes this one. NH-U9DX i4

Hum that what I was affraid of.
So may be if I go with à 6700K I will have as good performance and more choice regardons the Mother board.
A MB that accept à 6700K à Nocturne C14 M.2 ssd and DDR4.

Yes u can use the c14 - you just need to ash for a narrow mount directly from noctua :)
 
450w may not be sufficient if you're using a 1080 and 5820k. Just with my 980 Ti and 6700k, on full load it ranges from 350-400w.

I will go with a 6700K and a 1080. the 1080 GTX is 170 W , the 980 TI 250. So full load should be less than 350.
the SF450 seems to be quieter than the SF600. That why I am choosing it. Plus I am not looking to OC.

Yes u can use the c14 - you just need to ash for a narrow mount directly from noctua :)

Thanks, I am going to ask it directly today. So that it come fast.

Any advice regarding a RAM that will fit with the Noctua C14 on the Asus Z170I Pro Gaming?
 
Thanks, I am going to ask it directly today. So that it come fast.

Hang on. The narrow mounting brackets are not needed for the NH-C14 heatsink on a Z170 motherboard (1150 socket). Jspr and I were referring to mounting it on the Asrock X99 motherboard which has a narrow 2011-3 socket.
 
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Ah ok thank you.
So I don t need anything spécial for the 6700k.
Perfect. ;)
Now if Samsung could release the ssd 960 pro...in all the case I will go with the 950 pro and change it with à 960 pro When available
 
I will go with a 6700K and a 1080. the 1080 GTX is 170 W , the 980 TI 250. So full load should be less than 350.
the SF450 seems to be quieter than the SF600. That why I am choosing it. Plus I am not looking to OC.



Thanks, I am going to ask it directly today. So that it come fast.

Any advice regarding a RAM that will fit with the Noctua C14 on the Asus Z170I Pro Gaming?

Sounds like you have it figured out. Just FYI, the fan on my SF600 rarely even has to run, even then, the Corsair H75 fan is louder than it.
 
I'm wondering, how many M1s have been shipped so far in total? Will mine (that I ordered 2 days ago) have a serial number, or is that something that was only done for version 1?
 
I received an email this a.m.

My M1 will ship between July 27th and August 3rd. I'll have a tracking number by August 5th.
 
Hi everyone,

As the next batch of cases are starting to ship I had a quick question on my planned build.

I'm using a 6700K with an ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 itx motherboard. Now I have a dilemma about my cooling options. From what I can gather here the NH-C14 is regarded as the best air cooler with some drawbacks (no side cage). However it's also a little difficult to find at the moment.

My current plan now is to use the U9S blowing right to left with an additional NF-A9 in the rear and a NF-F12 as side intake. But I have found a few builds using the Dark Rock TF cooler and can't help but wonder if that's the better option as it's the same style as the C14 but allows a cage and I figure the larger fans could provide better cooling with less sound (and taking air in directly from outside).

Does anyone know how the 2 options would compare for the m1?
 
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Thanks a lot, seems like the Asus Z170I Pro Gaming answer all my needs.
I am going to search exactly the RAM that perform the best with this MB.

Ari Altman at the 'TechBuyerGuru' site: (TBG Homepage | The Tech Buyer's Guru ) The guy is VERY helpful... Quote: "Broadwell-E processors seem to tolerate high-speed RAM better than Haswell-E. The very same RAM kit that could only run at DDR4-3200, 16-18-18-38 on the Core i7-5820K test system in the DDR4 article is now happily running at DDR4-3200, 16-16-16-36 on a Core i7-6900K. I still think DDR4-3200 is the limit for X99, but if you want to splurge, you can run a low-latency 3200MHz kit, which offers a slight benefit over DDR4-2666 C15 kits, for example."

I'm probably getting this RAM for my Asus Z170I Pro gaming and i7-6700k...
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz (PC4-25600) C16 Memory Kit - Black at Amazon.com
 
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Ari Altman at the 'TechBuyerGuru' site: (TBG Homepage | The Tech Buyer's Guru ) Guy is VERY helpful... Quote: "Broadwell-E processors seem to tolerate high-speed RAM better than Haswell-E. The very same RAM kit that could only run at DDR4-3200, 16-18-18-38 on the Core i7-5820K test system in the DDR4 article is now happily running at DDR4-3200, 16-16-16-36 on a Core i7-6900K. I still think DDR4-3200 is the limit for X99, but if you want to splurge, you can run a low-latency 3200MHz kit, which offers a slight benefit over DDR4-2666 C15 kits, for example."

I'm probably getting this RAM for my Asus Z170I Pro gaming and i7-6700k...
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz (PC4-25600) C16 Memory Kit - Black at Amazon.com

Thanks, but even after reading that I am not sure about what it means... RAM seems really confusing for me.

but if the Vengeance LPX 16GB fit under the Noctua C14 then I will just go with it.
 
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Thanks, but even after reading that I am not sure about what it means... RAM seems really confusing for me.
but if the Vengeance LPX 16GB fit under the Noctua C14 then I will just go with it.

Found this approximate quote at Noctua site, in a 'comments' section...FWIW...

"... LPX is low profile ram and Corsair says they're 31mm tall. The nh-d14 hangs over the ram and is designed with 44mm of clearance to the bottom of the heatsink fins. The front fan (over the ram) rides just a little lower, around 38-40mm if I remember correctly. If the fan is too low it can be moved up on the cooler a little but may make the cooler taller than 160mm. Just make sure your case supports the height of the cooler and you should be good to go using the LPX..."
 
Within @ 2 weeks or so I should have all the components I need for my Mini-ITX build.

I've never done a build in such tight quarters as the 'ncase M1'. It will be a challenge, but I can take my time as I have my current, below-listed rig to use.

I've searched the web looking for a step-by-step build log or You Tube vid on the assembly of a rig with my exact components, but have had no luck.
(M1 case, Asus Z170I Pro Gaming, i7-6700k, AIO CPU cooler*not sure which yet*, Corsair SF600 PSU, etc)

Hoping to find all this detailed out for me, as it's been a long time since I last did this... (April, 2011). I would categorize myself as an 'advanced borderline-almost-capable noob ' ......
 
Does anyone using a NH-U9S have a good dual fan profile they like to use. I have mine idling at 35c and would really rather have it at 30c considering there is no overclock. I imagine my gpu will take some load off of it and cool it down a bit, but still...
 
Ari Altman at the 'TechBuyerGuru' site: (TBG Homepage | The Tech Buyer's Guru ) The guy is VERY helpful... Quote: "Broadwell-E processors seem to tolerate high-speed RAM better than Haswell-E. The very same RAM kit that could only run at DDR4-3200, 16-18-18-38 on the Core i7-5820K test system in the DDR4 article is now happily running at DDR4-3200, 16-16-16-36 on a Core i7-6900K. I still think DDR4-3200 is the limit for X99, but if you want to splurge, you can run a low-latency 3200MHz kit, which offers a slight benefit over DDR4-2666 C15 kits, for example."

I'm probably getting this RAM for my Asus Z170I Pro gaming and i7-6700k...
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz (PC4-25600) C16 Memory Kit - Black at Amazon.com

Guys, is it really worth spending so much money on higher clocked RAM? This 16GB kit costs as much as my 32GB HyperX Fury 2400MHz. In all tests, it makes negligible difference. Heck, dual channel vs. quad channel makes negligible difference, let alone this. Even "slow" RAM is insanely fast and is never a bottleneck. I never understood people spending an extra $100+ for higher clocked RAM that makes essentially no real world difference in productivity applications or games, you'd struggle to find the one application where it makes a 2% difference or more. Seems like the worst bang for buck imaginable.
 
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Guys, is it really worth spending so much money on higher clocked RAM? This 16GB kit costs as much as my 32GB HyperX Fury 2400MHz. In all tests, it makes negligible difference. Heck, dual channel vs. quad channel makes negligible difference, let alone this. Even "slow" RAM is insanely fast and is never a bottleneck. I never understood people spending an extra $100+ for higher clocked RAM that makes essentially no real world difference in productivity applications or games, you'd struggle to find the one application where it makes a 2% difference or more. Seems like the worst bang for buck imaginable.

I went from an i5 4690k with 16GB 1600 MHz ram to i5 6600k 16GB 3000 MHz ram and I can't tell a difference at all. If it is faster than my old one it is very negligible.
 
Replying to my own post is a bit lame, but I promised some photos so here they are:

Background: I know this may not apply to many people, but I was inspired to post this based on a post from last year by Aibohphobia in which he mounted his Silverstone SX500-LG power supply at the front of the M1 using the M1's ATX bracket plus a custom made SFX-ATX adapter, of his own design. Unfortunately, not enough people were interested in purchasing one from him, but I think he did make the design (3D printer file?) available. Here's his customer bracket:

image.png


The following photos show two SFX adapters, the one that came with the SX500-LG (and the SX600-G) and a new one from Silverstone, the PP08.



In the first photo, the top half contains the SX500-LG adapter plate: unfinished steel, has 8 threaded holes (circled in RED) for attaching to the case, and 3 holes for attaching to an SFX power supply (circled in BLUE). In the bottom half of the photo is the PP08: glossy black painted finish, 7 threaded holes (circled in RED) for attaching to the case, and 6 holes (circled in BLUE) for attaching to an SFX power supply.

The second photo shows both SFX-ATX adapter plates attached to the M1's ATX Power Supply bracket. Due to ridges and raised edges both adapters must be attached to the underside of the ATX bracket. The top half photo shows all 3 of the SFX mounting holes are clear and available to use. The bottom half shows the PP08 in the orientation that displaces the power supply as much to the front as possible. One corner of the PP08 has only one threaded hole for attaching to the ATX bracket (or directly to a different case) and this dictates which 3 of the other 6 mounting holes can be used to attach it to the ATX bracket. As you can see only 4 of the 6 holes for attaching the SFX power supply are available. The two holes at the front of the case (circled in ORANGE) are partially blocked by the ATX bracket. If we want to use 3 holes in the same pattern as the SX500-LG adapter plate, one of the blocked holes will have to be cleared by filing a bit of the ATX bracket. The bracket is quite thin in this area, so this is not a desirable situation.

The third photo shows both adapters attached to the ATX bracket and mounted in the M1. The PP08 does not displace the SFX power supply as far forward as Aibohpphobia's custom designed adapter. As he stated in his post
The internal 2.5 inch drive mounting plate on the inside of the case may be removed if it is not needed to provide more room for the fan intake, if it's facing the front, or cable management if the fan is facing the rear.

Finally, if you really need more room for the bottom of your power supply mounted at the front of the M1 an expensive option (~ $60 US) is to replace your graphics card cooler with an Arctic Accelero Xtreme III (or IV). The Accelero heatsink is further away from the PCB than the standard GPU heatsinks and that will give a few more precious millimeters for the power supply connectors.


(credit: member icc0rz)

Thanks for your pictures. I have to check it again. I am pretty sure I saw no feasible way to match enough holes on the PP08 with the M1 ATX bracket.
 
I went from an i5 4690k with 16GB 1600 MHz ram to i5 6600k 16GB 3000 MHz ram and I can't tell a difference at all. If it is faster than my old one it is very negligible.

+1. I went from 16gb 3000mhz to 32gb 2400mhz and didn't notice a speed difference. Nice to have a little bit more headroom with the 32gb.
 
Guys, is it really worth spending so much money on higher clocked RAM? This 16GB kit costs as much as my 32GB HyperX Fury 2400MHz. In all tests, it makes negligible difference. Heck, dual channel vs. quad channel makes negligible difference, let alone this. Even "slow" RAM is insanely fast and is never a bottleneck. I never understood people spending an extra $100+ for higher clocked RAM that makes essentially no real world difference in productivity applications or games, you'd struggle to find the one application where it makes a 2% difference or more. Seems like the worst bang for buck imaginable.

Touche, my man...
 
Hi everyone,

As the next batch of cases are starting to ship I had a quick question on my planned build.

I'm using a 6700K with an ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 itx motherboard. Now I have a dilemma about my cooling options. From what I can gather here the NH-C14 is regarded as the best air cooler with some drawbacks (no side cage). However it's also a little difficult to find at the moment.

My current plan now is to use the U9S blowing right to left with an additional NF-A9 in the rear and a NF-F12 as side intake. But I have found a few builds using the Dark Rock TF cooler and can't help but wonder if that's the better option as it's the same style as the C14 but allows a cage and I figure the larger fans could provide better cooling with less sound (and taking air in directly from outside).

Does anyone know how the 2 options would compare for the m1?

I recommend going back and searching this thread for build that use the Dark Rock TF. I recall that due to its size it can interfere with the power supply or the graphics card, depending on where exactly the CPU socket is on the motherboard. I think there was an issue in one build with the RAM too. The NH-U9S is smaller and will definitely fit. Most who have used it have seemed happy with it. Overclocking may be limited, though.

Another option is the Scythe Kabuto II. It fits more easily than the Dark Rock TF, but is larger than the NH-U9S. Tough decision. If the Dark Rock TF fits your motherboard without bumping into anything else, it may cool the best. But what do you do if it doesn't? Good luck.
 
Within @ 2 weeks or so I should have all the components I need for my Mini-ITX build.

I've never done a build in such tight quarters as the 'ncase M1'. It will be a challenge, but I can take my time as I have my current, below-listed rig to use.

I've searched the web looking for a step-by-step build log or You Tube vid on the assembly of a rig with my exact components, but have had no luck.
(M1 case, Asus Z170I Pro Gaming, i7-6700k, AIO CPU cooler*not sure which yet*, Corsair SF600 PSU, etc)

Hoping to find all this detailed out for me, as it's been a long time since I last did this... (April, 2011). I would categorize myself as an 'advanced borderline-almost-capable noob ' ......

I ran across this guy who goes by "chocolatex" on the www.chiphell.com forums. He has two posts that are mostly in Chinese, but have a ton of photos. Enjoy!

November 2013: Full liquid cooling build

November 2014: Rebuild with full air cooling
 
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