SENTRY: Console-sized gaming PC case project

I don't believe that GALAX card is out yet, should expect it in the next month or so.

I was thinking about AMD and it occurred to me that they are not doing a paper launch with Zen like they did with the GPU lineup last summer. Probably because it failed miserably with nV able to launch basically there entire lineup in a couple months. I'm think they'll definitely come out swinging with plenty of stock, going for a nice jab in the market to get as many Zen CPUs out as they can before intel changes strategy.

Idk, apologies for my tangent.
 
hcts said:
This might have been asked before, but I could not find an answer to it: would an Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 Mini ITX OC 8G Link (dimensions 169 mm x 131 mm) fit with an special low profile 8-pin extension cable?
I know the graphics card spreadsheet says it won´t, but does that one take into account an low profile 8-pin connector?
Click to expand...
just a friendly reminder since youre new here, theres a search function at the top of the page.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hcts
like this
The price is steep, but it's how it works with such small productions, we can't do anything about currently. Please compare our price with for example Dan A4-SFX or Ncase M1 pricing.

There's a lot of additional costs involved into such project apart from the metal parts themselves, like accessories, manual, packaging and various taxes fees on waste generated by your company.

If you're a big company making same chassis with different bezel in hundreds of thousands of units a year then you've got great deal for the same packaging and all the accessories because you're a big client for the subcontractors.

Finally if you think you can make something LIKE our case cheaper as DIY project that will be cheaper than Sentry, then make sure to show it off here on the forums. Tinkers with limited budgets will appreciate that and people will have proper comparison on what they get with our price tag to what they can do on their own.
 
Toepunch said:
Looks great but holy crap the price. DIY it instead or buy something a little bigger.
Click to expand...

...That's what indie cases like this cost though, dude.

Consider that this is pretty much the creme de la creme of SFF cases. Could you buy something larger for cheaper? Yes, but it'll break easily, won't transport as well, and won't have nearly as appealing a design. Could you build something like this yourself out of acrylic? ...Maybe. If you were very good. And even then it wouldn't be as polished, wouldn't be as strong, and would look far worse.

I personally at least feel like you're getting the full value for your money with this case. Yes it's expensive, but it's pretty much the best SFF option out there (At least tied with the M1, and they serve different desires), it'll last you forever, and it's sexy. Personally I'd buy this case again in a heartbeat.
 
darksable said:
...That's what indie cases like this cost though, dude.

Consider that this is pretty much the creme de la creme of SFF cases. Could you buy something larger for cheaper? Yes, but it'll break easily, won't transport as well, and won't have nearly as appealing a design. Could you build something like this yourself out of acrylic? ...Maybe. If you were very good. And even then it wouldn't be as polished, wouldn't be as strong, and would look far worse.

I personally at least feel like you're getting the full value for your money with this case. Yes it's expensive, but it's pretty much the best SFF option out there (At least tied with the M1, and they serve different desires), it'll last you forever, and it's sexy. Personally I'd buy this case again in a heartbeat.
Click to expand...

Recently had the displeasure of building a system in a Node 202. Only a "little bigger", but it feels gigantic! It's design was poorly thought out. After disassembling it twice I'd say it has little life left before the plastic begins to break. Did I mention it's HUGE?! It was also not an enjoyable build due to unnecessary complexity.

So, I cannot agree more that Sentry is clearly high quality, unique, and better than anything else available. Anyone who complains about the price is blind to what quality looks like.
 
Not to disagree but when looking out of context it's funny how we claim the Node 202 is huge. Haha.
 
Some of the backers and people that mailed us asked about the 3.5" compatibility with no GPU installed.

I've checked this when the first person asked but I wanted also let you know status on that.

1) 3.5" hard drives are still supported by quad 2.5" drive bracket like this:
uLVrJNb.jpg

2) 3.5" hard drive mount was removed from the GPU compartment because:
- additional mounting points were breaking the looks of the inlet.
- with support for mobility the 3.5" hard drives are something we should not recommend. The are heavy and may not have shock handling like the 2.5" hard drives have.

3) It is still possible to mount two 3.5" hard drives ATTACHED WITH ONLY TWO M3.5 PC SCREWS with drives slightly angled:
ym4ksUx.jpg


As you can see, you can still fit TWO 3.5" HDDs with up to 6 2.5" drives if you have another set of brackets. Note the fact that we're providing only one set by default, if you want more sets for NAS config we can give you the DXF blueprint for laser cutting.

k0DvHNw.jpg


Cables looks still quite manageable in such config. Without GPU you can also use the riser gap as some kind of an anchor for them.

XkJx2Lz.jpg


Bottom of the case. Note the fact that there are only two M3.5 PC screws holding the bottom 3.5" HDD and they are not aligned perfectly making the drives angled slightly. Also note the fact that there are 3 sets of 2.5" mounts here - they are those a bit smaller holes in the vent.

4) WE DO NOT SUPPORT THIS CONFIGURATION FOR MOBILITY! USE ONLY WITH STATIONARY BUILDS!.
 
Morzy said:
Not to disagree but when looking out of context it's funny how we claim the Node 202 is huge. Haha.
Click to expand...

I've always built sff pc's. I've never even owned a mATX board. Only itx. Never saw the point. I don't need any more expansion than a single pcie for gpu. Itx boards have WiFi built in most of the time too, whereas mATX usually requires a 1x expansion card. Node 202 was the largest pc I ever built. My other pc's have been in smaller Lian Li cases that I've modified. Previously a Lian Li PC-q12b. Which at 6.6l, is smaller than sentry. However, I could only use very specific limiting graphics cards. I got tired of being so limited and I've been waiting for a few years for something like Sentry or Dan A4, Sentry definitely wins in my opinion, as it can actually lay down horizontal and is more portable.

Currently my main pc is on a homemade open air test bench type of setup. The base is made of 12x10x0.375 inch ABS plastic with 40mm motherboard standoffs mounted to that. Everything else is mounted to the ABS base creatively with various brackets. It occupies less space than most supposedly "sff" cases. Sentry though will definitely be this pc's final home. I can't imagine a smaller case using standard hardware.
 
Last edited:
Ej24 said:
I've always built sff pc's. I've never even owned a mATX board. Only itx. Never saw the point. I don't need any more expansion than a single pcie for gpu. Itx boards have WiFi built in most of the time too, whereas mATX usually requires a 1x expansion card. Node 202 was the largest pc I ever built. My other pc's have been in smaller Lian Li cases that I've modified. Previously a Lian Li PC-q12b. Which at 6.6l, is smaller than sentry. However, I could only use very specific limiting graphics cards. I got tired of being so limited and I've been waiting for a few years for something like Sentry or Dan A4, Sentry definitely wins in my opinion, as it can actually lay down horizontal and is more portable.

Currently my main pc is on a homemade open air test bench type of setup. The base is made of 12x10x0.375 inch ABS plastic with 40mm motherboard standoffs mounted to that. Everything else is mounted to the ABS base creatively with various brackets. It occupies less space than most supposedly "sff" cases. Sentry though will definitely be this pc's final home. I can't imagine a smaller case using standard hardware.
Click to expand...
Ahh, I see. Very specific context/perspective you have there. Hmm, open air does seem like the best way for cooling and dust management. I watched a video last summer showing a open air build. Personally, though, I like contained systems.
 
SaperPL said:
Yeah, this was asked before - I've specifically checked that card out because I wanted to buy it, but it looks like its ~2mm too wide to fit inside. Note the fact that Gigabyte went overboard even more here than with 970 already having the problem of fitting the PEG connector. This card has the PEG located in the same place but the rest of the card is wider.
Click to expand...

Ok. Sorry for missing it. Found it now :/ Do I understand i correctly that we have a total of 145 mm available for the GPU + PEG connector?
What is the total height available inside the GPU chamber > how much space is available between the video card and the sidepanel?

Rysen said:
There is the new GALAX GTX 1070 OC Mini which is a 1070 mini series that fits the case and allows rooms for extra storage in the GPU bracket.
Click to expand...

Ok. Thanks for the heads up. My goal is to find a card that is as short as possible so that I might be able to fit an AIO.
 
A recent article on Arstechnica.com has people posting system pictures in the comments over whose is smallest. So I figured it'd be a good place to plug a recommendation for Sentry. Maybe we can get the campaign over 1000% funded! Hopefully Saper and Zombi don't mind a little extra advertising.
 
Rysen said:
I strongly recommend an external hard drive. There are plenty of linux versions that can run off a USB 3.0 port with an external HDD. That's your cheapest, best bet. Given than HDD's are so slow if you get a good USB 3.0 and a good case then it you should be set and ready to go with some nice extra storage. Buying the external cover with the cable can cost you as little as 12$ (if you already own the HDD) If you don't own the HDD you can simply get a portable 2TB HDD for like 80$.

I personally have to carry very large project files from the office to home all the time so I got a cheap 2TB SSD on a 20$ case and it runs at amazing speeds (All for about 500$). Solved all my storage space needs.
Click to expand...
If I get a external drive, which I eventually plan to for data security, it will not be for linux. I don't know how many distro's can run off USB but I want to try many different distro's, not what is limited to USB. Nor would I want a drive hanging around on my desk.
 
Morzy said:
If I get a external drive, which I eventually plan to for data security, it will not be for linux. I don't know how many distro's can run off USB but I want to try many different distro's, not what is limited to USB. Nor would I want a drive hanging around on my desk.
Click to expand...
That's fine, its up to you, but I'm sure all distros can run off USB.
 
Nobounji said:
What's the maximum thickness for the 2.5 inch drive above the motherboard
Click to expand...
There's around 10.5mm of space there, but in general treat this as 9.5mm drives because this is the most common thickness of the drive. If you want to install thicker drives then that in GPU bay with short, itx sized card.
 
Ej24 said:
A recent article on Arstechnica.com has people posting system pictures in the comments over whose is smallest. So I figured it'd be a good place to plug a recommendation for Sentry. Maybe we can get the campaign over 1000% funded! Hopefully Saper and Zombi don't mind a little extra advertising.
Click to expand...

By my count, 151 cases are left from the initial batch so I can only imagine a little push would do good to sell all of them :)
 
SaperPL said:
There's around 10.5mm of space there, but in general treat this as 9.5mm drives because this is the most common thickness of the drive. If you want to install thicker drives then that in GPU bay with short, itx sized card.
Click to expand...
What about installing a small slim fan there?

:D
 
Slim fan over the motherboard? But why?

You may be able to fit some 70mm fans that are 10mm thick, bigger fans will be too thick.
 
chx said:
By my count, 151 cases are left from the initial batch so I can only imagine a little push would do good to sell all of them :)
Click to expand...
Are you referring to the extra Black's people want that is (implied) to spill over into the first batch of 400?
 
Morzy said:
Are you referring to the extra Black's people want that is (implied) to spill over into the first batch of 400?
Click to expand...

I simply added up all cases claimed and it came to 849 (although right now I count 842, odd). That's all. So yes, if noone buys any more single whites or any of the double packages then 151 more spillover can occur.
 
chx said:
I simply added up all cases claimed and it came to 849 (although right now I count 842, odd). That's all. So yes, if noone buys any more single whites or any of the double packages then 151 more spillover can occur.
Click to expand...
Ahh, I see.. Yeah, yeah, I should have noticed that. All of those are first batch and I imagine the painiting process happens when you know how much black/white you need.

Coooooooooooooooool.
 
Like one of the posters a few pages above, I intend to put a GTX 1080 and a Core i7 7700K in the sentry, to run some GPU based processes for a few days on end (and game on the other days), so I have been researching coolers and graphics cards a lot. As this is a fresh account, I can't post links, so apologies for that.

I saw the ZOTAC 1070 Mini mentioned as not working in the spreadsheet (though there is not details about why), but ZOTAC also released a 1080 Mini that is already available for sale. I was wondering if unlike the 1070 mini it might fit? The search function is not very helpful given the keywords. Depending on the dimensions it might become possible to mount hard drive between the GPU and the front of the case if only one side of the HDD is screwed to the case. Otherwise I'll try to get a blower card to preserve flexibility in positioning the sentry.

I have researched quite a few forums about coolers that might fit both the sentry and the CPU that I am interested in (91W TDP) and so far my results are as follow:

Nope :
Noctua NH9i - says to be careful above 65 W TDP
Scythe Kozuti - says ok up to 65 W, only max RPM to cool 95 W
Raijintek Zellos - can't find a TDP on the producer website.

Meh:
Xigmatech Janus LD1266 with only 1 80mm fan is rated to dissipate up to 95W

OK:
Cryorig C5 up to 100W TDP, 47mm height (barely fits?)
Thermolabs ITX30 - says up to 100W TDP with height of 30mm with the fan.
Thermolabs LP53 - says up to 100W TDP but height is 53mm so needs a different fan.

Phantecs PH-TC90LS - says up to 130 W (on third party websites)
IDCooling IS-VC45 says supports up to 130W TDP - quotes height of 45mm, but not clear if that includes the fan.

Is there anything in the 91+W range that I missed? I am currently leaning towards the Phantecs or IDCooling depending on price and availability.

Anyone has experience with running or procuring the elusive Asrock Fatal1ty Z270 itx board in europe? it's the last missing piece from my build.
 
The debate about waiting for AMD Ryzen is interesting, but so far no mini itx motherboards have been announced, and they are unlikely to offer thunderbolt as expansion. The unannounced 1080 Ti could also be interesting, but is likely to be more expensive than the 1080, and very much likely hotter. So I figure why wait if you're only going to save a few $ while you could have a nice build in a shoebox ready to get in a sentry when it gets there? I agree that if you're not in a rush, it always makes sense to wait for the next revision (Ryzen , 1080Ti, Vega ...).
 
Specifications
  • GPU
    GeForce® GTX 1080
  • CUDA cores
    2560
  • Video Memory
    8GB GDDR5X
  • Memory Bus
    256-bit
  • Engine Clock
    Base: 1620 MHz
    Boost:1759 MHz
  • Memory Clock
    10 GHz
  • PCI Express
    3.0
  • Display Outputs
    3 x DisplayPort 1.4
    HDMI 2.0b
    DL-DVI
  • HDCP Support
    Yes
  • Multi Display Capability
    Quad Display
  • Recommended Power Supply
    500W
  • Power Consumption
    180W
  • Power Input
    8-pin PCI-E
  • DirectX
    12 API feature level 12_1
  • OpenGL
    4.5
  • Cooling
    Dual Fan
  • Slot Size
    Dual Slot
  • SLI
    Yes, SLI HB Bridge Supported
  • Supported OS
    Windows 10 / 8 / 7
  • Card Length
    211mm x 125mm
  • Accessories
    Dual 6-pin to 8-pin PCIe adapter
    Driver Disk
    User Manual
https://www.zotac.com/us/product/graphics_card/zotac-geforce-gtx-1080-mini#spec

Based on these specifications and the 112mm + 18mm(possible oversized area) listed on Sentry's Indiegogo page, this GTX 1080 will indeed fit. Congratulations. XD

With this 1080 I expect GALAX can make that 1070 smaller than 200

edit: Unfortunately 211mm is 11mm too long to fit the extra 2.5" space next to the GPU's, though.
edit2: I actually can't follow your OP.. o_o was your intent to fit 2.5 drives with the 1080?

As for that mobo.. From what little I understand, it releases on the 27th.. I want it myself. It's fucking perfect.
 
Last edited:
nico_h said:
Like one of the posters a few pages above, I intend to put a GTX 1080 and a Core i7 7700K in the sentry, to run some GPU based processes for a few days on end (and game on the other days), so I have been researching coolers and graphics cards a lot. As this is a fresh account, I can't post links, so apologies for that.

I saw the ZOTAC 1070 Mini mentioned as not working in the spreadsheet (though there is not details about why), but ZOTAC also released a 1080 Mini that is already available for sale. I was wondering if unlike the 1070 mini it might fit? The search function is not very helpful given the keywords. Depending on the dimensions it might become possible to mount hard drive between the GPU and the front of the case if only one side of the HDD is screwed to the case. Otherwise I'll try to get a blower card to preserve flexibility in positioning the sentry.

I have researched quite a few forums about coolers that might fit both the sentry and the CPU that I am interested in (91W TDP) and so far my results are as follow:

Nope :
Noctua NH9i - says to be careful above 65 W TDP
Scythe Kozuti - says ok up to 65 W, only max RPM to cool 95 W
Raijintek Zellos - can't find a TDP on the producer website.

Meh:
Xigmatech Janus LD1266 with only 1 80mm fan is rated to dissipate up to 95W

OK:
Cryorig C5 up to 100W TDP, 47mm height (barely fits?)
Thermolabs ITX30 - says up to 100W TDP with height of 30mm with the fan.
Thermolabs LP53 - says up to 100W TDP but height is 53mm so needs a different fan.

Phantecs PH-TC90LS - says up to 130 W (on third party websites)
IDCooling IS-VC45 says supports up to 130W TDP - quotes height of 45mm, but not clear if that includes the fan.

Is there anything in the 91+W range that I missed? I am currently leaning towards the Phantecs or IDCooling depending on price and availability.

Anyone has experience with running or procuring the elusive Asrock Fatal1ty Z270 itx board in europe? it's the last missing piece from my build.
Click to expand...
You mean like me. I can't wait for someone to test the Thermolabs LP53 (with custom fan). I have a good feeling it will end up being the best.

Morzy said:
Specifications
  • GPU
    GeForce® GTX 1080
  • CUDA cores
    2560
  • Video Memory
    8GB GDDR5X
  • Memory Bus
    256-bit
  • Engine Clock
    Base: 1620 MHz
    Boost:1759 MHz
  • Memory Clock
    10 GHz
  • PCI Express
    3.0
  • Display Outputs
    3 x DisplayPort 1.4
    HDMI 2.0b
    DL-DVI
  • HDCP Support
    Yes
  • Multi Display Capability
    Quad Display
  • Recommended Power Supply
    500W
  • Power Consumption
    180W
  • Power Input
    8-pin PCI-E
  • DirectX
    12 API feature level 12_1
  • OpenGL
    4.5
  • Cooling
    Dual Fan
  • Slot Size
    Dual Slot
  • SLI
    Yes, SLI HB Bridge Supported
  • Supported OS
    Windows 10 / 8 / 7
  • Card Length
    211mm x 125mm
  • Accessories
    Dual 6-pin to 8-pin PCIe adapter
    Driver Disk
    User Manual
https://www.zotac.com/us/product/graphics_card/zotac-geforce-gtx-1080-mini#spec

Based on these specifications and the 112mm + 18mm(possible oversized area) listed on Sentry's Indiegogo page, this GTX 1080 will indeed fit. Congratulations. XD

With this 1080 I expect GALAX can make that 1070 smaller than 200

edit: Unfortunately 211mm is 11mm too long to fit the extra 2.5" space next to the GPU's, though.
edit2: I actually can't follow your OP.. o_o was your intent to fit 2.5 drives with the 1080?

As for that mobo.. From what little I understand, it releases on the 27th.. I want it myself. It's fucking perfect.
Click to expand...

I feel like that motherboard is going to be 200+. I think is a bit overprice for what its specs plus most people say ASRock motherboard support is shitty. The MSI carbon pro graming started at 179$ and now its about to hit 200$ in every major retailer. I was actually thinking that I might go cheap on the motherboard and get the Gigabyte GA-Z270N-WIFI Mini ITX. I am also planning on fitting a blower founder edition card into my sentry build. Mostly because all other blower style models that I have read about for the 1080 seem to give higher temperatures than the founder edition.
 
Last edited:
Rysen said:
You mean like me. I can't wait for someone to test the Thermolabs LP53 (with custom fan). I have a good feeling it will end up being the best.



I feel like that motherboard is going to be 200+. I think is a bit overprice for what its specs plus most people say ASRock motherboard support is shitty. The MSI carbon pro graming started at 179$ and now its about to hit 200$ in every major retailer. I was actually thinking that I might go cheap on the motherboard and get the Gigabyte GA-Z270N-WIFI Mini ITX. I am also planning on fitting a blower founder edition card into my sentry build. Mostly because all other blower style models that I have read about for the 1080 seem to give higher temperatures than the founder edition.
Click to expand...

I read on a review that ASRock don't typically overprice their stuff when it's in season or some shit. .. I'm not even going to overclock, I just want that thunderbolt 3 interface that for some dumb reason a lot of other companies do not seem serious about implementing into their motherboards.

Blower style coolers seem to be very much limited by the cooling limit blowers have. I would be very weary with a 1080 blower. Personally I am getting a 1060 blower by EVGA which should have or will release very soon.

Lol.. XD. I have no idea why, but ASRock didn't put thunderbolt 3 on their ATX Fatal1ty counterpart, and that's going for $169.99 so I can't see them jacking the price up over 200 just for thunderbolt.. but time will tell. But why didn't they include it on the ATX versions, poor ATX users.


As for their support.. I hope you're wrong. But then again I hear ASUS support is complete crap but that doesn't seem to stop people.
 
Morzy said:
I read on a review that ASRock don't typically overprice their stuff when it's in season or some shit. .. I'm not even going to overclock, I just want that thunderbolt 3 interface that for some dumb reason a lot of other companies do not seem serious about implementing into their motherboards.

Blower style coolers seem to be very much limited by the cooling limit blowers have. I would be very weary with a 1080 blower. Personally I am getting a 1060 blower by EVGA which should have or will release very soon.

Lol.. XD. I have no idea why, but ASRock didn't put thunderbolt 3 on their ATX Fatal1ty counterpart, and that's going for $169.99 so I can't see them jacking the price up over 200 just for thunderbolt.. but time will tell. But why didn't they include it on the ATX versions, poor ATX users.


As for their support.. I hope you're wrong. But then again I hear ASUS support is complete crap but that doesn't seem to stop people.
Click to expand...
Well if you get a bad one you can always return it, that's why it doesn't stop people from buying them. It's just a pain, specially if your motherboard is defective and you don't notice right away. About the blower people with other small cases like the DAN case and the RVZ02 suggest blower over open air cards so I am going by their test results. Mostly because they argue that the card is cool enough and your other parts in the case are at lower risk of damage.
 
Morzy said:
I read on a review that ASRock don't typically overprice their stuff when it's in season or some shit. .. I'm not even going to overclock, I just want that thunderbolt 3 interface that for some dumb reason a lot of other companies do not seem serious about implementing into their motherboards.

Blower style coolers seem to be very much limited by the cooling limit blowers have. I would be very weary with a 1080 blower. Personally I am getting a 1060 blower by EVGA which should have or will release very soon.

Lol.. XD. I have no idea why, but ASRock didn't put thunderbolt 3 on their ATX Fatal1ty counterpart, and that's going for $169.99 so I can't see them jacking the price up over 200 just for thunderbolt.. but time will tell. But why didn't they include it on the ATX versions, poor ATX users.


As for their support.. I hope you're wrong. But then again I hear ASUS support is complete crap but that doesn't seem to stop people.
Click to expand...
GTX 1080 Founders Edition owner here. I can attest that the fe blower is really quite good. It is guaranteed to fit and unless you OC it at 115% power target 24/7 with 35C ambient temps I don't see how it will overheat. Mine will routinely hold a boost of 2ghz and not go over 75C. At that clockrate you're pushing around 10Tflops single precision. Double precision and half precision are absolutely atrocious on the consumer GTX GeForce cards these days. If you need gpu compute I think maxwell and Kepler titans are still the best as Nvidia didn't gimp their double and half precision.

Maybe I got one of the best 1080's in the litter but I'm really quite impressed with it and the reference blower.
 
Last edited:
nico_h said:
Like one of the posters a few pages above, I intend to put a GTX 1080 and a Core i7 7700K in the sentry, to run some GPU based processes for a few days on end (and game on the other days), so I have been researching coolers and graphics cards a lot. As this is a fresh account, I can't post links, so apologies for that.

I saw the ZOTAC 1070 Mini mentioned as not working in the spreadsheet (though there is not details about why), but ZOTAC also released a 1080 Mini that is already available for sale. I was wondering if unlike the 1070 mini it might fit? The search function is not very helpful given the keywords. Depending on the dimensions it might become possible to mount hard drive between the GPU and the front of the case if only one side of the HDD is screwed to the case. Otherwise I'll try to get a blower card to preserve flexibility in positioning the sentry.

I have researched quite a few forums about coolers that might fit both the sentry and the CPU that I am interested in (91W TDP) and so far my results are as follow:

Nope :
Noctua NH9i - says to be careful above 65 W TDP
Scythe Kozuti - says ok up to 65 W, only max RPM to cool 95 W
Raijintek Zellos - can't find a TDP on the producer website.

Meh:
Xigmatech Janus LD1266 with only 1 80mm fan is rated to dissipate up to 95W

OK:
Cryorig C5 up to 100W TDP, 47mm height (barely fits?)
Thermolabs ITX30 - says up to 100W TDP with height of 30mm with the fan.
Thermolabs LP53 - says up to 100W TDP but height is 53mm so needs a different fan.

Phantecs PH-TC90LS - says up to 130 W (on third party websites)
IDCooling IS-VC45 says supports up to 130W TDP - quotes height of 45mm, but not clear if that includes the fan.

Is there anything in the 91+W range that I missed? I am currently leaning towards the Phantecs or IDCooling depending on price and availability.

Anyone has experience with running or procuring the elusive Asrock Fatal1ty Z270 itx board in europe? it's the last missing piece from my build.
Click to expand...

So far cryorig c7 and noctua Nh-l9i are the best coolers known to be compatible with sentry. I'll be receiving a Thermolab itx30 and lp53 in probably 2 weeks and I'll test both thoroughly and report back.

But from experience with an i7-4790K (88W) at stock, I can tell you the noctua Nh-l9i will struggle at times. During synthetics it will hit 90-95C but won't throttle or shutdown. During most gaming it stays around 70-75C, occasionally peaking at 80C.

I'm hoping the Thermolab LP53 with a noctua 92mm x 14mm fan will be the best option. LP53 weighs around 400g while the noctua nh-l9i is 345g. So it's got a bit more metal for cooling capacity and its solid copper. Also the fins on the LP53 are 5mm taller so it should have more surface area to cool things down.

I'll test the Thermolab itx30 too, but honestly it will probably get put on an i3 or pentium based pc. They claim 100w tdp but I really doubt it.

The ID cooling vc45 is a joke. It underperformed the nh-l9i in most reviews. Supposedly vapor chambers don't stretch their legs until really high temp differentials and thus the don't idle as low and still get up to 75C but supposedly don't go any higher either. But with such mixed results I'd stay away from this one.

Seeing as sentry wont arrive for a 2-3 months I say just wait.
 
Ej24 said:
I can tell you the noctua Nh-l9i will struggle at times. During synthetics it will hit 90-95C but won't throttle or shutdown. During most gaming it stays around 70-75C, occasionally peaking at 80C.
Click to expand...
Which way did you have the fan blowing (towards the motherboard or away?)
 
FISCHER said:
Which way did you have the fan blowing (towards the motherboard or away?)
Click to expand...

Always have it pointed down through the heatsink towards the motherboard. PC fans are excellent at making and maintaining positive pressure on the exit side of the fan. However they are terrible at creating negative pressure on the intake side of the fan. This is mostly due to the nature of air being a gas but also PC fans are just optimized to make positive pressure. In other words, never try to pull air through a heatsink, always push it through.

Edit: unless the heatsink ships from the manufacturer in a pull configuration, in which case they've probably tested it to work like that. Basically always position the fan as intended by the manufacturer.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: RosaJ
like this
FISCHER said:
Hey SaperPL, did you guys ever test a thermal divider separating the air from the CPU and GPU?
Click to expand...

I have tested multiple ways of limiting heat spreading to cover and other areas before Zombi figured out how to shield the cover with current inlet(the one creating small pocket with air above GPU).

I've used cardboard pieces covered in thermal isolation adhesive tape to test it out, and from what I've seen through various tests, I don't think it would really matter.

Motherboard area has direct access to fresh air and it only depends on CPU and it's cooler whether they will use it properly while also inducing airflow over the motherboard. I don't think there was any noticeable difference between gaming stress tests and rendering on processor for the CPU temps.

We left the holes in the central wall because those may let you manage the cable routing easier.

Note the fact that while putting a wall might protect the motherboard area from getting hot air directly from open-air cooled gpu exhaust, at the same time it means this hot air will be then recycled by the card, while with holes open some of that air can escape through the holes above the motherboard.

We're talking here about the horizontal obviously. With vertical position there were little to none problems with thermals to solve.

We've tested this on our ~150W GPUs and current configuration was optimal for us, but with cards taking more power effects may vary.
 
So, I have a question for you guys who are considering i7-7700k's, which will hopefully at least get some thoughts rolling:

Why?

What benefit do you get from the 91w K sku that you're lacking from the 65w locked sku?

You're not going to be overclocking, given the coolers available today, so is the 300-800 MHz you gain really worth it in trade for the extra heat, noise, and trouble you'll get?
 
Morzy said:
[...]Blower style coolers seem to be very much limited by the cooling limit blowers have. I would be very weary with a 1080 blower. Personally I am getting a 1060 blower by EVGA which should have or will release very soon.

Lol.. XD. I have no idea why, but ASRock didn't put thunderbolt 3 on their ATX Fatal1ty counterpart, and that's going for $169.99 so I can't see them jacking the price up over 200 just for thunderbolt.. but time will tell. But why didn't they include it on the ATX versions, poor ATX users.


As for their support.. I hope you're wrong. But then again I hear ASUS support is complete crap but that doesn't seem to stop people.
Click to expand...

It depends entirely on the design of the blower cooler. For example, the founders' edition gtx 1070 struggles with heat, even under ideal conditions. The founders' edition gtx 1080, which has the same cooler as the 250w tdp Titan XP, runs cool and quiet.


Bear something in mind: ATX motherboards are more expensive than micro-ATX boards because they require more material to make. Mini-ITX motherboards are significantly more expensive than either, because it's a niche market and it requiresrequires more engineering to make.

Mini-ITX will always come at a premium; the cases cost more, the motherboards cost more, SFX power supplies cost more... It's just the name of the game. $200 has become the new starting price for a premium mini-itx board that has the features of a good quality $140 ATX board.


As for support... Most companies kind of suck. I'd rather purchase something that's built well and is known for having good quality control, so I have the smallest chance of having to deal with an RMA. That being said, I do like AsRock and personally stay far away from Gigabyte; they're the worst of both worlds.
 
darksable said:
So, I have a question for you guys who are considering i7-7700k's, which will hopefully at least get some thoughts rolling:

Why?

What benefit do you get from the 91w K sku that you're lacking from the 65w locked sku?

You're not going to be overclocking, given the coolers available today, so is the 300-800 MHz you gain really worth it in trade for the extra heat, noise, and trouble you'll get?
Click to expand...

I think we should wait and see what will AMD roll out - if they make something like 45~65W quad core with SMT and that is supposed to be unlocked like all the other units then why bother with expensive 7700K ?
There's also second thing here to note: they are kind of "proud" about their X300 chipset so there may be some interesting cooling solutions coming from AMD since they probably want to have proper support for 95W 8 core units on X300 boards as well.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: RosaJ
like this
darksable said:
So, I have a question for you guys who are considering i7-7700k's, which will hopefully at least get some thoughts rolling:

Why?

What benefit do you get from the 91w K sku that you're lacking from the 65w locked sku?

You're not going to be overclocking, given the coolers available today, so is the 300-800 MHz you gain really worth it in trade for the extra heat, noise, and trouble you'll get?
Click to expand...

Well I'm perfectly happy with the healthy thermal headroom my 95W i7-2600 is provided on the R15. Kidding, just felt like saying that. Though in all seriousness I think the benefit is just. People who need a higher clocked CPUs will take it over a locked one, period. I believe you are correct in saying that a locked sku is good enough for most (for now). Coolers are no where near the same when I first purchased my 2600, now 6 years ago. More heat pipes, vapor chambers, water cooling getting cheaper and even getting smaller like the Corsair H5, the list I'm sure goes on with things I'm not aware of atm. Folks may not want to overclock now, but might later and having that K sku will allow them to without having to replace the CPU. It's 20-40$ more for the ability to in the future. CPU coolers keep getting cooler as time goes on, ha pun intended, and extending the life of a CPU with overclocking is awesome. I wish I could, now I must wait for Zen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top