SENTRY: Console-sized gaming PC case project

Got a reply from Gigabyte after some days wait. It's what was rumored, but at least I know for sure now. No word on price, but I'm sure it will be the same, or less, than ASRock's

Screen Shot 2017-06-24 at 7.03.19 AM.png
 
As I wait for my case to come in I've been thinking about the airflow of the case. I'm going to be keeping mine in a vertical position, so my idea is to intake from the top and bottom and to exhaust from the sides. A few questions to people who already have the case:
  • Has anyone tried flipping the fan on the Corsair SF600 so that it's exhausting out the side and not blowing hot air into the case?
  • Has anyone tried attaching Noctua NF-A4x10 to the bottom or top of the case? I know Linus Tech Tips said the grid didn't line up, but wasn't sure it they changed this or will I have to 3D Print an adapter.
  • Has anyone thought about 3D printing an air funnel for the Noctua NH-L9i to force the air to exhaust out of the case?
  • How isolated is the motherboard area from the GPU area? Has anyone tried completely sealing off the two areas so heat from one area doesn't effect the other?
  • Has anyone bought the DEMCiflex dust filters yet? How are they? I have two cats so I feel like I need them with the amount of hair and dust. If I can do everything above I would like to only have filters for the top and bottom.
Thanks in advance to anyone who responds!

As an extra here is my current plan for the build in my Sentry:
  • AMD Ryzen 7 1700X
  • Noctua NH-L9i with AM4 Adapter
  • ASRock X370 Gaming-ITX/AC
  • G.Skill Flare X Series 16GB DDR4-3200
  • Samsung 850 EVO 500GB (M.2) - For OS and apps.
  • Samsung 850 EVO 1TB (SATA) - For games.
  • EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC2
  • Corsair SF600 SFX Power Supply
 
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As I wait for my case to come in I've been thinking about the airflow of the case. I'm going to be keeping mine in a vertical position, so my idea is to intake from the top and bottom and to exhaust from the sides. A few questions to people who already have the case:
  • Has anyone tried flipping the fan on the Corsair SF600 so that it's exhausting out the side and not blowing hot air into the case?
  • Has anyone tried attaching Noctua NF-A4x10 to the bottom or top of the case? I know Linus Tech Tips said the grid didn't line up, but wasn't sure it they changed this or will I have to 3D Print an adapter.
  • Has anyone thought about 3D printing an air funnel for the Noctua NH-L9i to force the air to exhaust out of the case?
  • How isolated is the motherboard area from the GPU area? Has anyone tried completely sealing off the two areas so heat from one area doesn't effect the other?
  • Has anyone bought the DEMCiflex dust filters yet? How are they? I have two cats so I feel like I need them with the amount of hair and dust. If I can do everything above I would like to only have filters for the top and bottom.
Thanks in advance to anyone who responds!

As an extra here is my current plan for the build in my Sentry:
  • AMD Ryzen 7 1700X
  • Noctua NH-L9i with AM4 Adapter
  • ASRock X370 Gaming-ITX/AC
  • G.Skill Flare X Series 16GB DDR4-3200
  • Samsung 850 EVO 500GB (M.2) - For OS and apps.
  • Samsung 850 EVO 1TB (SATA) - For games.
  • EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC2
  • Corsair SF600 SFX Power Supply

Ok, let's see what I can answer:

1) People have tried replacing the fan on the SF600, but not just flipping it. The reason for that is because nobody yet has had hot air exhausting from the CPU cooler. The PSU fan is right up against the side panel, so if the CPU cooler is intake, then the PSU fan is drawing in cool air no matter which way it blows.

2) I don't believe they have, but you could probably do it as long as you're okay with not having all 4 corners attached. Only problem is that it would be kinda noisy...

3) There have been funnels designed to ensure cool air as intake, but nothing with it as output. The only thing is that I would be somewhat concerned about motherboard temps; if the CPU cooler is output, there's less airflow along the motherboard.

4) The filters seem to be pretty standard. They do a semi-decent job filtering the air, but come at the cost of airflow. One thing that I'll say from experience: don't underestimate the effect of dust falling into the case from above when the fans are off. It's a thing.
 
Ok, let's see what I can answer:

1) People have tried replacing the fan on the SF600, but not just flipping it. The reason for that is because nobody yet has had hot air exhausting from the CPU cooler. The PSU fan is right up against the side panel, so if the CPU cooler is intake, then the PSU fan is drawing in cool air no matter which way it blows.

2) I don't believe they have, but you could probably do it as long as you're okay with not having all 4 corners attached. Only problem is that it would be kinda noisy...

3) There have been funnels designed to ensure cool air as intake, but nothing with it as output. The only thing is that I would be somewhat concerned about motherboard temps; if the CPU cooler is output, there's less airflow along the motherboard.

4) The filters seem to be pretty standard. They do a semi-decent job filtering the air, but come at the cost of airflow. One thing that I'll say from experience: don't underestimate the effect of dust falling into the case from above when the fans are off. It's a thing.

So the reason I'm thinking of exhaust with the CPU Cooler is because if you intake with the CPU Cooler the hot air then hits the ram and VRM on the motherboard. (Due to the AM4 Bracket you can only arrange the fins of the heatsink towards these things.) If I can stick two of those Noctua 40mm fans on the bottom of the case then I can pull in cool air up into the case to cool components on the motherboard, and PSU. I would probably want to create some kind of adapter to attach the 40mm fans as only having two sides attach would not only bother me, but would probably be quite noisy like you said. I'm curious how much airflow is cut from the filters as right now my Corsair 380T is fully meshed and I don't really have airflow issues. (Granted I have a 140mm fan in the front.)

Edit: Also I'm not set in stone with any of this. I haven't bought anything except for the NH-L9i as it's in my current system. I'm here to get other people's opinions on my idea/strategy with this case.
 
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So the reason I'm thinking of exhaust with the CPU Cooler is because if you intake with the CPU Cooler the hot air then hits the ram and VRM on the motherboard. (Due to the AM4 Bracket you can only arrange the fins of the heatsink towards these things.) If I can stick two of those Noctua 40mm fans on the bottom of the case then I can pull in cool air up into the case to cool components on the motherboard, and PSU. I would probably want to create some kind of adapter to attach the 40mm fans as only having two sides attach would not only bother me, but would probably be quite noisy like you said. I'm curious how much airflow is cut from the filters as right now my Corsair 380T is fully meshed and I don't really have airflow issues. (Granted I have a 140mm fan in the front.)

Edit: Also I'm not set in stone with any of this. I haven't bought anything except for the NH-L9i as it's in my current system. I'm here to get other people's opinions on my idea/strategy with this case.
that's how its supposed to work. that "hot" air it still cool enough to help cool the vrm and ram. those components need air flow.
wanna test your filter flow? run a full system stress test with and then without the filters. feel the difference and look at temps go down.
 
  • Has anyone tried attaching Noctua NF-A4x10 to the bottom or top of the case? I know Linus Tech Tips said the grid didn't line up, but wasn't sure it they changed this or will I have to 3D Print an adapter
Gtx 1080 FE. I7-4790K. Thermolab LP53 cooler with noctua nf-9x14 fan. The 40mm fans are noctua nf-a4x10 flx. Dead silent. At full speed they have a noticeable hum but even that is tolerable. However I run them at a much lower speed.
Ej24 added some 40mm fans and was happy. I'll be following suit when I upgrade to AM4.
 
that's how its supposed to work. that "hot" air it still cool enough to help cool the vrm and ram. those components need air flow.
wanna test your filter flow? run a full system stress test with and then without the filters. feel the difference and look at temps go down.

Out of curiosity I ran some tests on my current system:
  • Corsair 380T (140mm intake in the front, and 120mm exhaust in the back)
  • Intel Core i7 4790k
  • Noctua NH-L9i
  • Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Reference
Unfortunately there is no way for me to just remove the air filters on the 380T, but I have to remove the entire sides. So this isn't necessarily 1:1 comparison to what I would expect from the Sentry. I ran both Aida64 and Furmark at the same time for 5 mins and 2-3 mins between each test. I also ran each test twice and got the average between them:
  • All sides on
    • Motherboard: 52°C
    • CPU: 86°C
    • CPU Core #1: 87°C
    • CPU Core #2: 86°C
    • CPU Core #3: 83°C
    • CPU Core #4: 82°C
    • GPU: 80°C
  • Front side off
    • Motherboard: 47°C
    • CPU: 83°C
    • CPU Core #1: 82°C
    • CPU Core #2: 82°C
    • CPU Core #3: 80°C
    • CPU Core #4: 78°C
    • GPU: 79°C
  • Front & left side off
    • Motherboard: 46°C
    • CPU: 81°C
    • CPU Core #1: 81°C
    • CPU Core #2: 82°C
    • CPU Core #3: 78°C
    • CPU Core #4: 77°C
    • GPU: 79°C
  • Front & right side off
    • Motherboard: 45°C
    • CPU: 81°C
    • CPU Core #1: 81°C
    • CPU Core #2: 82°C
    • CPU Core #3: 78°C
    • CPU Core #4: 77°C
    • GPU: 79°C
  • All side off
    • Motherboard: 45°C
    • CPU: 82°C
    • CPU Core #1: 81°C
    • CPU Core #2: 82°C
    • CPU Core #3: 80°C
    • CPU Core #4: 77°C
    • GPU: 80°C
 
sides off doesn't represent what youll actually get because air will just go everywhere instead of over the components that need it. doesn't the front just pop off like this:

upload_2017-6-24_13-29-50.png
 
If you're still on Master Boot Record (MBR) you will be limited to four Primary Partitions. Change one into an Extended Partition and you can make as many Logical Partitions as you want or just migrate to GUID Partition Table (GPT). GPT will allow 128 partitions and is usualy the better option unless your dealing with legacy hardware and Windows.
Ah.. Oh well.. I really don't feel like installing arch again... <.< Thanks for the tip, though! I may try this in the future.
 
sides off doesn't represent what youll actually get because air will just go everywhere instead of over the components that need it. doesn't the front just pop off like this:

View attachment 28606

Even with just the front off the temps are pretty close to the sides off. I don't think it's an accurate representation of what I'll get with air filters with the sentry. With the Corsair I'm removing all resistant by removing the wire mesh and air filter, whereas the sentry would still have the metal case and much smaller holes for air to flow in from. I guess I'll just have to test it when I get my sentry it's not like the filters are too expensive. (In comparison to all the other parts.)
 
As I wait for my case to come in I've been thinking about the airflow of the case. I'm going to be keeping mine in a vertical position, so my idea is to intake from the top and bottom and to exhaust from the sides. A few questions to people who already have the case:
  • Has anyone tried flipping the fan on the Corsair SF600 so that it's exhausting out the side and not blowing hot air into the case?
  • Has anyone tried attaching Noctua NF-A4x10 to the bottom or top of the case? I know Linus Tech Tips said the grid didn't line up, but wasn't sure it they changed this or will I have to 3D Print an adapter.
  • Has anyone thought about 3D printing an air funnel for the Noctua NH-L9i to force the air to exhaust out of the case?
  • How isolated is the motherboard area from the GPU area? Has anyone tried completely sealing off the two areas so heat from one area doesn't effect the other?
  • Has anyone bought the DEMCiflex dust filters yet? How are they? I have two cats so I feel like I need them with the amount of hair and dust. If I can do everything above I would like to only have filters for the top and bottom.
Thanks in advance to anyone who responds!

As an extra here is my current plan for the build in my Sentry:
  • AMD Ryzen 7 1700X
  • Noctua NH-L9i with AM4 Adapter
  • ASRock X370 Gaming-ITX/AC
  • G.Skill Flare X Series 16GB DDR4-3200
  • Samsung 850 EVO 500GB (M.2) - For OS and apps.
  • Samsung 850 EVO 1TB (SATA) - For games.
  • EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC2
  • Corsair SF600 SFX Power Supply

The psu doesn't vent into the case. It blows out the side.

There's not much room to put a 40mm fan on the top or bottom once you have all the components in the case. I added them to the sides (in the horizontal position).

I don't have a 3d printer but I do use adhesive rubber weatherstripping to create a seal between the noctua nf-9x14 cpu fan and the case. It only draws in cool air and creates positive pressure to force hot air out.

As for dust filters I got magnetic Silverstone dust filters for everything. 120 over the cpu with weatherstripping to seal it to the fan. 120mm for the gpu (founders edition) with a weatherstripping seal between the gpu and filter. And a 140mm for the psu. For the psu I cut the filter material out of its magnetic frame and stretched it over the psu and taped it down because there's no room for the filter frame between the psu and case lid.

I'll get around to taking some proper photos soon.
 
Ej24 added some 40mm fans and was happy. I'll be following suit when I upgrade to AM4.
I'm still tinkering with closing off different amounts of vent holes on top and bottom to create the proper pressure balance. I had too many closed off for a while and noticed my 40mm fans were starved, creating local negative pressure on the gpu side, effectively drawing cpu exhaust to the gpu side and actually making the gpu hotter. I'm still optimizing it a bit. I'm mostly happy now. I'm sure I'll get it just how I like it by the time I'm ready to upgrade the whole system haha.
 
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I'm still tinkering with closing off different amounts of vent holes on top and bottom to create the proper pressure balance. I had too many closed off for a while and noticed my 40mm fans were starved, creating local negative pressure on the gpu side, effectively drawing cpu exhaust to the gpu side and actually making the gpu hotter. I'm still optimizing it a bit. I'm mostly happy now. I'm sure I'll get it just how I like it by the time I'm ready to upgrade the whole system haha.
When you DO get it just how you like it, be sure to share! I haven't gotten my Sentry yet (but my order is locked!) but when I do I also plan on putting some 40mm fans in it. Very curious to see what the best set up will be
.,
 
When you DO get it just how you like it, be sure to share! I haven't gotten my Sentry yet (but my order is locked!) but when I do I also plan on putting some 40mm fans in it. Very curious to see what the best set up will be
.,

Just wondering which order number do you have? Thank you )
 
My order is still not locked so if anybody is looking to arrange a deal to pick up a Sentry make sure to PM before it does!
 
On May 27th I got the email from the Zaber team informing that my white Sentry was shipped on April 28 along with the tracking number from the Polish post office. I haven't received any additional information regarding my shipment since then. Am I still within the expected timeframe of my Sentry arriving or is there a problem?
 
On May 27th I got the email from the Zaber team informing that my white Sentry was shipped on April 28 along with the tracking number from the Polish post office. I haven't received any additional information regarding my shipment since then. Am I still within the expected timeframe of my Sentry arriving or is there a problem?

Overseas packages take 5 - 7 weeks, there's nothing to worry about. Tracking will be updated when the your package is unloaded from the ship in your country in your local post tracking.
 
  • Has anyone thought about 3D printing an air funnel for the Noctua NH-L9i to force the air to exhaust out of the case?

I think more than tunneling hot air out, its more important to pull fresh cold air into the case. A guy on reddit created ducting for his 1070 in his Node 202 and said it dropped temps from 61°C to 50°C. Image gallery.
bqv8plz.jpg
 
I think more than tunneling hot air out, its more important to pull fresh cold air into the case. A guy on reddit created ducting for his 1070 in his Node 202 and said it dropped temps from 61°C to 50°C. Image gallery.
bqv8plz.jpg

That is awesome! That is exactly what I was thinking. So it seems like pulling in air is probably the best thing I can do and let the holes on the case work as exhaust. These tunnels though would assure that hot air won't be recirculated causing heating issues. I don't have a 3D printer nor have I ever designed anything for 3D printing, but that has never stopped me before. (I just designed a PCB last week for the first time and I'm getting it printed.) I'm seriously looking forward to getting my case in to see what I can do with it.
 
rw0dlckqs1kapvjhjv21.png

Sentry manufacturing process - weekly update



Another "packaging week". We know these updates are becoming boring (assembled, packaged, sent, assembled, packaged, sent...), but many people are still waiting for their cases, so... let's begin :)



- Next transport of Sentry units (white ones) is packaged and is waiting for filing customs papers. Those cases will be shipped this week.



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emhmdfrz7nibxafvbggm.jpg


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- Packages for backers living outside EU are/were mostly sent by the sea. It means the waiting time for their delivery is usually several weeks. If your package is transported in that way, after 4 weeks from shipment the tracking information on our courier's website can disappear. This is normal, so please don't be scared and just press 2nd "Search button", which will show up after clicking the 1st one.

- We also received another transport of black Sentry bodies, so immediately we're starting assembling process of units for 5th shipment (5 out of 7).



yvyctk7kmczehj0ygz7l.jpg



- As usual we ask you for sending us photos of your builds made inside your Sentry cases. Just like in previous updates, in every 2nd week we will be inserting some of them at the end of the update. For us it is a great fun to watch your ideas and see if your are happy with what you received. For other backers this is a way to show Sentry's possibilities and talk about issues you had while cramping your hardware in such small case.
 
Another "packaging week". We know these updates are becoming boring (assembled, packaged, sent, assembled, packaged, sent...)
I'm pretty happy that you do an update every week even if it's nothing special. Too many crowdfunding campaigns won't update for weeks/months because they don't have anything 'exciting' to share, which leaves backers feeling out of the loop. I'd prefer an update each week letting everyone know that everything is on track, instead of radio silence until something goes wrong. Also, seeing those stacks of cases never gets old. Keep up the good work!
 
I think more than tunneling hot air out, its more important to pull fresh cold air into the case. A guy on reddit created ducting for his 1070 in his Node 202 and said it dropped temps from 61°C to 50°C. Image gallery.
bqv8plz.jpg

This. Is. Incredible.

Now I need a 3d printer.

Granted my weatherstripping works well for my gpu (and it's cheap!), but this just looks amazing.
 
On May 27th I got the email from the Zaber team informing that my white Sentry was shipped on April 28 along with the tracking number from the Polish post office. I haven't received any additional information regarding my shipment since then. Am I still within the expected timeframe of my Sentry arriving or is there a problem?

My first batch, first shipment (black) Sentry still has not arrived, and there has been no change to tracking since May 10th. I'm getting concerned/annoyed. We were told 4 weeks, then when that didn't work out, they said it could be as many as 6, which we've just passed. Now 5-7 is the new normal? I won't be able to receive packages at my listed address for much longer. I couldn't have imagined I would need to wait for two months after shipment to get the order.
 
I still like the idea of replacing an SFX-L PSU fan with a high flow model and ducting the PSU exhaust across the CPU heatsink. I bet you could get a similar temp drop on the CPU that way. Modern PSUs are so efficient it just seems wasteful having a 120mm fan mount on a 50w heat load - I'd rather have that flow across my CPU. Now I just need to find someone with a 3D printer before my case arrives...
 
My first batch, first shipment (black) Sentry still has not arrived, and there has been no change to tracking since May 10th. I'm getting concerned/annoyed. We were told 4 weeks, then when that didn't work out, they said it could be as many as 6, which we've just passed. Now 5-7 is the new normal? I won't be able to receive packages at my listed address for much longer. I couldn't have imagined I would need to wait for two months after shipment to get the order.

I'm right there with you. I checked the front office of my apartment complex every day for the past 2 weeks. Going to do the same this week. Hopefully it comes by this weekend so I can start buying parts and put it all together during the weekend.
 
My first batch, first shipment (black) Sentry still has not arrived, and there has been no change to tracking since May 10th. I'm getting concerned/annoyed. We were told 4 weeks, then when that didn't work out, they said it could be as many as 6, which we've just passed. Now 5-7 is the new normal? I won't be able to receive packages at my listed address for much longer. I couldn't have imagined I would need to wait for two months after shipment to get the order.

The shipment to the US should take 4-6 weeks. As we were informed, 90% of packages usually were delivered within this period. After we will send the packages there are 3 fields which can cause additional delay: Polish customs services, weather and your customs services. You can also add to this group Post office workers, who sometimes don't update the tracking information as fast as they should. This is why to be on the safe side we sometimes wrote 5-7 weeks, because this is a first time we are sending something in that way and for us this is also a new situation. We talked about this before. Why your package wasn't delivered yet? We don't really know. If your package was stopped by Polish customs services for additional check, it can be delayed. If the ship got into bad weather or was stopped for some reason in the harbour, your package can be delayed. If your customs services stopped your package to check it or to charge additional tax, your package can be delayed. If USPS worker won't update tracking information for your package, you will think it is still on the ship while you could go to the Post office and pick it up before courier will take it. etc.etc. After the packages are being taken by our transport company we do not have a real influence how fast and in which way they will be transported (in this field it works in the same way for almost all transport companies). We did our best to make everything as fast as possible on our side, but when it comes to the couriers side, you will find why your package was 4-6 times cheaper than with 10-days transport company.

Please let us know when you will receive your package, because we are also courious the real date of delivery (as i wrote, it looks like Post office workers aren't updating tracking information as fast as they should).
 
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Ok so I am trying to make a decision before I impulse buy. I can't decide intel or AMD. I am either going 7700non k or 1600 non x. I can't make my mind up though. Through research it seems like a 1080ti/1600 is almost neck and neck with 1080/7700. I know there is a little bit of difference. But I am looking for pretty much only gaming. With that said the intel is a little cheaper due to the 1080ti premium. But the z270 chipset has no more future to it. This will be it. And the 1080 will Bernice for a while longer but the 1080ti will outlast it. My figures show only about a $200 difference between the 2. Am4 is supposed to last and support future cpus and the 1080ti should last significantly longer than the 1080. We all know thermals are an issue and that adds to the factor too. I guess I'm asking for input. And yes I have not seen vega and what it has to offer but from what info has been rumored it's probably going to run hot. Not sure if it will run hotter than a 1080ti. Please no fanboy intel or amd. Just looking for straight up logical input here.
 
Ok so I am trying to make a decision before I impulse buy. I can't decide intel or AMD. I am either going 7700non k or 1600 non x. I can't make my mind up though. Through research it seems like a 1080ti/1600 is almost neck and neck with 1080/7700. I know there is a little bit of difference. But I am looking for pretty much only gaming. With that said the intel is a little cheaper due to the 1080ti premium. But the z270 chipset has no more future to it. This will be it. And the 1080 will Bernice for a while longer but the 1080ti will outlast it. My figures show only about a $200 difference between the 2. Am4 is supposed to last and support future cpus and the 1080ti should last significantly longer than the 1080. We all know thermals are an issue and that adds to the factor too. I guess I'm asking for input. And yes I have not seen vega and what it has to offer but from what info has been rumored it's probably going to run hot. Not sure if it will run hotter than a 1080ti. Please no fanboy intel or amd. Just looking for straight up logical input here.

It looks like if you're looking into future proofing your system as close as possible ryzen/1080ti is the way to go imho.
 
It looks like if you're looking into future proofing your system as close as possible ryzen/1080ti is the way to go imho.


That's what I have been leaning towards. I just don't want to regret it. I have asked a couple of times on this thread for some thermal benchmarks on 1080ti but nobody has really responded. I think it's possible with evga. Vertical position with the CPU compartment closed off somehow so the air doesn't cycle down. Maybe a couple 40m fans at the top of the case. I have brainstormed about this case for a year. I have had ideas of slipping fans in here and there and fabricating the case a little here and there for airflow. The deepcool mf120 open fans looked like a good idea to have on the outside of the case pushing extra air in.
 
Ok so I am trying to make a decision before I impulse buy. I can't decide intel or AMD. I am either going 7700non k or 1600 non x. I can't make my mind up though. Through research it seems like a 1080ti/1600 is almost neck and neck with 1080/7700. I know there is a little bit of difference. But I am looking for pretty much only gaming. With that said the intel is a little cheaper due to the 1080ti premium. But the z270 chipset has no more future to it. This will be it. And the 1080 will Bernice for a while longer but the 1080ti will outlast it. My figures show only about a $200 difference between the 2. Am4 is supposed to last and support future cpus and the 1080ti should last significantly longer than the 1080. We all know thermals are an issue and that adds to the factor too. I guess I'm asking for input. And yes I have not seen vega and what it has to offer but from what info has been rumored it's probably going to run hot. Not sure if it will run hotter than a 1080ti. Please no fanboy intel or amd. Just looking for straight up logical input here.
I think for just gaming you would have a better experience with a thermal throttled gtx 1080ti than a 1080...
(EDIT: If you want the most power and no especially cool or qiet PC of course!)
The CPU won't make a noticeable difference at that point IMO.
 
That's what I have been leaning towards. I just don't want to regret it. I have asked a couple of times on this thread for some thermal benchmarks on 1080ti but nobody has really responded. I think it's possible with evga. Vertical position with the CPU compartment closed off somehow so the air doesn't cycle down. Maybe a couple 40m fans at the top of the case. I have brainstormed about this case for a year. I have had ideas of slipping fans in here and there and fabricating the case a little here and there for airflow. The deepcool mf120 open fans looked like a good idea to have on the outside of the case pushing extra air in.

1080 and 1080ti are both beasts. It will be a while before either is obsolete. I'd suggest a founders edition Ti if you chose that gpu so it exhausts the hot air out. Even a high end open air cooler model will probably heat saturate itself trapped in its own exhaust. If you go with a 1080 you could probably get either style cooler as it has a much lower tdp. People seem to have decent temps with or without blower style for 1070 and 1080.

I tried closing of the two compartments but it's not very easy. With psu cables and the pcie riser snaking around its difficult to properly seal it. If you or anyone else comes up with a way to seal them off, that leads to tangible benefits, let us know.

As for fans on the outside, you could try but the vent hole spacing really won't allow for much more airflow. You're better off using something like a duct to connect you cpu and gpu fans to the case itself. That will create positive internal pressure to force hot air out. With such a small volume case you don't need case fans to blow air around a large empty cavern like an ATX case, you just need to get your cpu and gpu fans to meet the case vents. Think of it more like a laptop cooling system where the fan directly draws in cool outside air and then immediately forces it out a heatsink.

If you want to go overboard like myself and a few others, you can tinker with 40mm fans. I found they fit well on the gpu side, especially because that side is a separate piece, but 40mm fans are much more difficult on the cpu side because that side is integrated with the lid/top of the case. Further complicating things is the fact the motherboard comes within a few mm of the side of the case so there will likely be capacitors, ram socket, 24 pin or other things in the way of a 40x10mm fan. I was only able to fit one 40mm fan on the cpu side, but four 40mm fans on the gpu side.
 
If you want to go EVGA, I believe the 1080ti ICX SC2 will fit in the sentry. At least if you want a non-blower. I would still double check the specs and watch video reviews.
 
I have a 3D printer. Has anyone made printable files for sentry? I'm not super great at modeling, but would look into printing a few parts for shrouds and things if it helps. I'm curious if making a funnel for a FE card would help temps and also act as a support for the card when transporting the case.
 
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