SENTRY: Console-sized gaming PC case project

For those that have been using their sentry this past month or so, what are your thoughts?
darksable said:
It might help the temperature of the CPU be cooler, but why would it help the gpu be cooler when the issue is that it's recirculating its own exhaust?
Click to expand...

Because if they're sealed, it may benefit more with the 40mm fans. As I recall someone tried this but in doing so they affected the cpu compartment by pulling the hot air to the gpu and you can assume the reverse would happen. I would like to try this myself when I get my Sentry.
 
i know temps are decent (borderline scary) on the 1080 ti FE but has anyone tried replacing its thermal compound with the liquid metal to see if it would improve temps some more?
 
defrow said:
i know temps are decent (borderline scary) on the 1080 ti FE but has anyone tried replacing its thermal compound with the liquid metal to see if it would improve temps some more?
Click to expand...

My 1080Ti FE temps are fine. Sits at 84C and just adjusts the boost clock. Mine hovers around 1700mhz boost.

I'm not sure if repasting will give any noticeable benefits... But now I'm curious.
 
once again, 80~84 degrees are target temps, what matters are clocks. The card will throttle down the clocks if it heats up more than that and will boost up if its colder than that (unless it has hit a power level).

1080TI reference boost clock is 1582 MHz (probably safely lowered due to silicon lottery etc), so I'm curious under what loads are you getting those 1700 MHz
 
defrow said:
i know temps are decent (borderline scary) on the 1080 ti FE but has anyone tried replacing its thermal compound with the liquid metal to see if it would improve temps some more?
Click to expand...

Yeah I saw a guy in YouTube try it. It made about 2-4C difference iirc. The problem is simply the tdp of that gpu is so high it saturates the heatsink completely. It's maxed out already even with stock thermal paste.
 
CombustibleFox said:
My first shipment white Sentry arrived today in United States - Colorado! Unit number 30 and I can't wait to build in it.
USPS never updated the tracking so I was surprised to find it at my doorstep.
Click to expand...
I though they would at least require a signature before they can drop it off. I wouldn't trust my packages sitting outside my door without me knowing.
 
ZombiPL said:
In Europe backers are getting tracking numbers from courier companies to their email addresses. For packages which were/are/will be sent outside Europe you should also receive this number from transport company but in this situation we are additionally sending another message from our sentry mailbox just to be sure that you received it.
Click to expand...

Hello, may I ask ETA for my order: ID: 1209, Long Run: SENTRY Black ?
 
Morzy said:
For those that have been using their sentry this past month or so, what are your thoughts?


Because if they're sealed, it may benefit more with the 40mm fans. As I recall someone tried this but in doing so they affected the cpu compartment by pulling the hot air to the gpu and you can assume the reverse would happen. I would like to try this myself when I get my Sentry.
Click to expand...

Gotcha, missed that you were both sealing AND adding 40mm fans.

Personally, I'd just go for a FE cooler and not worry about adding a bunch of extra noise to my computer to use a cooler that doesn't work as well for my case and only ekes out a few hundred more MHz anyways.
 
forScience said:
I though they would at least require a signature before they can drop it off. I wouldn't trust my packages sitting outside my door without me knowing.
Click to expand...
Unless the shipper pays extra to require a signature, whether or not they leave the package is solely at the driver's discretion. If they don't feel it'd be safe to leave it, they won't.

EDIT:
For USPS, FedEx, and UPS, you can create an account on their website and if you verify your identity/address, you can choose to automatically receive notifications regarding any upcoming deliveries to that address. Sometimes they'll let you provide specific instructions for an undelivered package (additional fees may apply).
 
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SaperPL said:
once again, 80~84 degrees are target temps, what matters are clocks. The card will throttle down the clocks if it heats up more than that and will boost up if its colder than that (unless it has hit a power level).

1080TI reference boost clock is 1582 MHz (probably safely lowered due to silicon lottery etc), so I'm curious under what loads are you getting those 1700 MHz
Click to expand...

mining or even gaming. It will clock higher than 1582MHz due to GPU boost 3.0. Keep in mind this was in an open air case with no fans. I will update temps/clocks with new sentry build (Just received the case today!)


UPDATE: the boost clock in sentry isn't nearly as good. It's usually around 1500MHz-1600MHz, but closer to ~1525MHz.
Still, it's better performance to get a blower/FE 1080Ti than an open air 1080. If you ramp up the fan to like 80% the boost sticks at 1823MHz for me (loud AF though).
 
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We made it w00t! The sentry is finally here and looking interesting I must say. Shipping box was in good condition, no broken parts. Friend of mine has yet to pick up his half (the other sentry case). Enjoy the photos of my build. Thanks again Dr. Zaber team, this case is amazing and you all were outstanding!!!

Specs -- maximum gaming performance crammed into the smallest possible case. w00t.
CPU: i7 7700k delided w/ thermal grizzly conductonaut
Cooler: Thermolab Cooltek LP53 w/ Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM (120mm slim fan held down with twist ties)
Paste: thermal grizzly kryonaut
Mobo: Asus z170i Pro Gaming - got it for $100 open box at microcenter, otherwise would have went z270
RAM: G.skill value 16GB (2x8GB) 2400mhz CL15
SSD: 1TB samsung 850 evo m.2 form factor
GPU: evga gtx 1080ti founders edition
PSU corsair sf600


1box.jpg

2case.jpg

3mix.jpg

4mix.jpg

Which combo do you guys like better??

5mixchoice.jpg


6mixchoice.jpg


7innards.jpg


8innards.jpg

9battlestation.jpg
 
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Steve0Kinev0 said:
We made it w00t! The sentry is finally here and looking interesting I must say. Shipping box was in good condition, no broken parts. Friend of mine has yet to pick up his half. Enjoy the photos of my build. Thanks again Dr. Zaber team, this case is amazing and you all were outstanding!!!

Specs -- maximum gaming performance crammed into the smallest possible case. w00t.
CPU: i7 7700k delided w/ thermal grizzly conductonaut
Cooler: Thermolab Cooltek LP53 w/ Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM (120mm slim fan held down with twist ties)
Paste: thermal grizzly kryonaut
Mobo: Asus z170i Pro Gaming - got it for $100 open box at microcenter, otherwise would have went z270
RAM: G.skill value 16GB (2x8GB) 2400mhz CL15
SSD: 1TB samsung 850 evo m.2 form factor
GPU: evga gtx 1080ti founders edition
PSU corsair sf600


View attachment 31213

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Which combo do you guys like better??

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Click to expand...

Oh the heresy! :D

Did you really order two cases just to do that?
 
If someone could give me some much needed tech support and have a look at my MemTest86 report, I've been having numerous stuttering issues and DPC latency problems detected using latencymon as well I think something may be wrong with my ram or bios settings. I'm using a biostar x370gtn, tech report is included in MEGA link. (currenty using node 202 until I get my sentry if it matters at all)

https://mega.nz/#!qQYERbpZ!QAEdLgu-amclE172-StdKsEOwPB-CL0Om6-u06RaxUk
 
Steve0Kinev0 said:
We made it w00t! The sentry is finally here and looking interesting I must say. Shipping box was in good condition, no broken parts. Friend of mine has yet to pick up his half (the other sentry case). Enjoy the photos of my build. Thanks again Dr. Zaber team, this case is amazing and you all were outstanding!!!

Specs -- maximum gaming performance crammed into the smallest possible case. w00t.
CPU: i7 7700k delided w/ thermal grizzly conductonaut
Cooler: Thermolab Cooltek LP53 w/ Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM (120mm slim fan held down with twist ties)
Paste: thermal grizzly kryonaut
Mobo: Asus z170i Pro Gaming - got it for $100 open box at microcenter, otherwise would have went z270
RAM: G.skill value 16GB (2x8GB) 2400mhz CL15
SSD: 1TB samsung 850 evo m.2 form factor
GPU: evga gtx 1080ti founders edition
PSU corsair sf600


View attachment 31213

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Which combo do you guys like better??

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Click to expand...
Temps with this compo fan+cooler?
 
Steve0Kinev0 said:
UPDATE: the boost clock in sentry isn't nearly as good. It's usually around 1500MHz-1600MHz, but closer to ~1525MHz.
Still, it's better performance to get a blower/FE 1080Ti than an open air 1080. If you ramp up the fan to like 80% the boost sticks at 1823MHz for me (loud AF though).
Click to expand...
Try flipping one of the fans, so it'll blow out hot air out of the case
 
My Sentry is on the way. I'm considering buying the CoolJag Falcon II and modding it with noctua fan. Anybody else has consider this?
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
On another one I don't think it was that bad that my sentry won't be here for another 2months especially that coffee lake is coming out now in august gives us more choices and hopefully when next gpus launch maybe 1080ti price cut
 
galletabah said:
Temps with this compo fan+cooler?
Click to expand...

See attached screenshot during Crysis 3 "Welcome to the Jungle" grass level stress for ~8 minutes.

I'm curious by what St1X said... I'm going to try to reverse the CPU fan to use as exhaust, and test again... Right now it's sucking fresh air in from the outside and blowing it down onto the CPU cooler.

crysisBurnTestCut.png
 
Steve0Kinev0 said:
See attached screenshot during Crysis 3 "Welcome to the Jungle" grass level stress for ~8 minutes.

I'm curious by what St1X said... I'm going to try to reverse the CPU fan to use as exhaust, and test again... Right now it's sucking fresh air in from the outside and blowing it down onto the CPU cooler.

View attachment 31268
Click to expand...

I can almost guarantee that won't work. Coolers like the lp53, nhl9i, even the Intel stock cooler definitely work bettwith air flowing down over them. These aren't like tower coolers where you can switch the air flow direction.

I think the main issue may be the size of the cpu fan. Iirc fans move the most air, or at least make the most pressure, near the tips of the fan blades. With the 120 mm fan most of the air pressure is going around the LP53, not through the fin stack. If you have a NF-a9x14 around I'd recommend trying that. It's still wider than the fins of the cooler, but much less so. Your cpu is delidded right? You should be getting way better temps. My 4790k never gets that warm during gaming.
 
Got my case - unit #4 :) Anyone here lower than that?

I'll have a full writeup later but because I'm feeling whimsical here's what a 980ti KPE looks like in Sentry XD

XvzTPg5.jpg


DOKWZrZ.jpg
 
Ej24 said:
I can almost guarantee that won't work. Coolers like the lp53, nhl9i, even the Intel stock cooler definitely work bettwith air flowing down over them. These aren't like tower coolers where you can switch the air flow direction.

I think the main issue may be the size of the cpu fan. Iirc fans move the most air, or at least make the most pressure, near the tips of the fan blades. With the 120 mm fan most of the air pressure is going around the LP53, not through the fin stack. If you have a NF-a9x14 around I'd recommend trying that. It's still wider than the fins of the cooler, but much less so. Your cpu is delidded right? You should be getting way better temps. My 4790k never gets that warm during gaming.
Click to expand...

Correct, the 7700k is delided. However, this gaming test was during the Crysis 3 grass level torture test, this stresses the CPU a lot. Gaming in something like Overwatch or Doom holds the CPU temps at around 65-70C.

The 120mm fan is actually off center where the bottom of the fan meets up with the bottom of the fin-stack of the LP-53. Also! I do have an NF-A9x14. I will try that but it has significantly lower static pressure and airflow than the 120mm. Do you think something like a paper/plastic fan shroud would help temps eventhough the fan is quite close to the side of the case already?
 
Soooo... I decided to get myself a PNY 1080Ti FE. And I don't regret it at all. This card is amazing!

Obviously, temps are pretty high. I added a 40mm fan to pull hot air out near the gpu i/o. Lowered my average temperatures by ~5°C. I read that someone else added 40mm fans to the gpu compartment. I'd love to know if there's a better place for it to work more efficient.


Additionally I'll add a HWmonitor screenshot. I'm really confused because the max. GPU clock seems to be really high...

After nearly 2 hrs of Ghost Recon Wildlands and Playerunknowns Battleground @4k, things looked like this:
 

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SniperCzar said:
Got my case - unit #4 :) Anyone here lower than that?
Click to expand...

Prototype 1 - revision 1.0, Duh! :D

SniperCzar said:
I'll have a full writeup later but because I'm feeling whimsical here's what a 980ti KPE looks like in Sentry XD
Click to expand...

Nice image showing why we do NOT recommend those oversized monster cards. I hope you have a different card/planning to get something fitting inside.
 
SaperPL said:
Prototype 1 - revision 1.0, Duh! :D



Nice image showing why we do NOT recommend those oversized monster cards. I hope you have a different card/planning to get something fitting inside.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that particular card decided to kill itself for the 4th time so it was not in my rig. Happened to be around so I thought I'd illustrate your point :) Pretty soon it will be going back to RMA... again.

I have a 670 in the case now, going to buy a midrange card whenever the mining craze stops and the prices come back down. I may be crazy but even I'm not insane enough to mod the case frame/solder GPU power leads to fit that monster anytime soon. Though there's enough free space between motherboard and card, PSU and outer wall that a particularly crazy case modder might be able to make it work ;)
 
Steve0Kinev0 said:
Correct, the 7700k is delided. However, this gaming test was during the Crysis 3 grass level torture test, this stresses the CPU a lot. Gaming in something like Overwatch or Doom holds the CPU temps at around 65-70C.

The 120mm fan is actually off center where the bottom of the fan meets up with the bottom of the fin-stack of the LP-53. Also! I do have an NF-A9x14. I will try that but it has significantly lower static pressure and airflow than the 120mm. Do you think something like a paper/plastic fan shroud would help temps eventhough the fan is quite close to the side of the case already?
Click to expand...

I used adhesive backed foam rubber weatherstripping between my fans and the case. I'll add pictures shortly to illustrate. Also Sentry being steel allows the use of magnetic fan filters. I highly recommend them. I have them in every possible intake.
 
Alright, gigantic post coming up...


I used adhesive backed foam rubber weatherstripping between my fans and the case. Additionally I taped black cardboard paper over the remaining vents on the cpu side. This gives the cpu exhaust no option but to go out the side of the case. Some may travel over to the GPU side but its negligible because my GPU is also sealed to the side of the case so it cant suck in cpu exhaust.
cd7JOtB.jpg




Because my CPU isn't directly beneath the vent I have to offset the weather stripping arrangement a bit to ensure the cpu fan had access to the entire width of the vent. The green below outlines where the weatherstipping on the case lid aligns. You can see the extra piece I added on the SSD side of the fan to get the entire width of the vent sealed to the fan.It took quite a few tries to get the placement on the case lid correct. You don't want the seal to rest on the face of the fan or fan frame. It may keep the fan from spinning or it will just make a ton of noise. You want it to rest just along the perimeter of the fan as I have highlighted in green.
1G7GfZz.jpg



The weatherstripping more or less follows the perimeter of the 120mm fan filter. It's probably not visible in this photo but the cpu fan filter has caught a bunch of dust! It shouldn't be too hard to remove. But in ther interest of not having to redo the weatherstripping I'll probably just vacuum it from the outside. You can also see my abhorred mess of tape holding the paper in place. I just used electrical tape because I had it around. It does NOT stick very well to the powder coat finish. It works well enough for now. Nobody can see the inside anyway :rolleyes:
SGf4fmU.jpg



Next I added a 140mm fan filter to the PSU. There's so little clearance between the psu and case that I couldn't just magnetically adhere the filter to the case lid again. I used a razor to cut the filter material from the magnet. Then I poked holes in it and screwed the PSU fan screws through it. Then to tidy it up I used electrical tape around the edges to prevent fraying. You can see it's already caught some dust. As for cleaning it I'll probably just take a vacuum to it as needed.
z3Cyt7k.jpg




I've always used some sort of shroud or seal around my cpu intake to connect it directly with the outside air. It seems silly not to. Imagine the analogy of your car's engine bay if the exhaust emptied right there at the engine. With the exhaust and intake all in the same place it wouldn't be a good situation. There's a radiator fan on the front but it probably won't make a big difference.

This is pretty much how most large volume air cooled PC cases work. The intake and exhaust for the CPU are all in the same place with another fan across the case pointing at it in the hope it provides enough fresh air. Air is not a fluid, it doesn't have a defined volume or even a very constrained shape. It doesn't move like a laser across your case, but rather it diffuses almost instantly. That's why shrouds/seals on the intake make such a difference. It gives the CPU access to only fresh air. There's zero chance of recirculation.

One day if/when 3D printing is a bit cheaper I may start printing proper shrouds. But for now, rubber seals and cardboard paper works pretty well, and its damn cheap.
Another example of an intake shroud on my router/caching server. The blue is the intake areas. Every vent is covered in foam air filters.
XZ3Y2LW.jpg

NkJxo6B.jpg


I highly recommend adding some sort of seal or shroud to your Sentry, and any PC for that matter. Many OEM computers Have used a fan shroud for a while. Here's an ancient, generic Dell Optiplex . Below you can see it has a basic CPU fan shroud.

UlXBHDb.jpg


Below is a newer dell where you can see an exhaust shroud. It looks like the moved the cpu fan much closer to the side of the case. The plastic shield sits at a level between the cpu fan but above the fin stack creating an exhaust duct between it and the motherboard. Thus, the exhaust is less likely to recirculate. I've tried making such an exhaust shroud in the past but it's much harder than an intake shroud. Plus an intake shroud creates a lot of positive pressure forcing the exhaust out of the case.

fQPeAHF.jpg


tl;dr
For better temps, seal your cpu fan and gpu fan to the case.
 
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Yeah I actually work at a computer repair shop and we've got about 40 extra side panels give or take. Some of them do have these plastic shrouds attached to the inside of the panel and these are generic tower cases. I've also come across a few small computers like that Dell. I'll try to take some pictures on Monday.

It does look like a good idea, well dome.
 
Ej24 said:
Alright, gigantic post coming up...


I used adhesive backed foam rubber weatherstripping between my fans and the case. Additionally I taped black cardboard paper over the remaining vents on the cpu side. This gives the cpu exhaust no option but to go out the side of the case. Some may travel over to the GPU side but its negligible because my GPU is also sealed to the side of the case so it cant suck in cpu exhaust.
cd7JOtB.jpg




Because my CPU isn't directly beneath the vent I have to offset the weather stripping arrangement a bit to ensure the cpu fan had access to the entire width of the vent. The green below outlines where the weatherstipping on the case lid aligns. You can see the extra piece I added on the SSD side of the fan to get the entire width of the vent sealed to the fan.It took quite a few tries to get the placement on the case lid correct. You don't want the seal to rest on the face of the fan or fan frame. It may keep the fan from spinning or it will just make a ton of noise. You want it to rest just along the perimeter of the fan as I have highlighted in green.
1G7GfZz.jpg



The weatherstripping more or less follows the perimeter of the 120mm fan filter. It's probably not visible in this photo but the cpu fan filter has caught a bunch of dust! It shouldn't be too hard to remove. But in ther interest of not having to redo the weatherstripping I'll probably just vacuum it from the outside. You can also see my abhorred mess of tape holding the paper in place. I just used electrical tape because I had it around. It does NOT stick very well to the powder coat finish. It works well enough for now. Nobody can see the inside anyway :rolleyes:
SGf4fmU.jpg



Next I added a 140mm fan filter to the PSU. There's so little clearance between the psu and case that I couldn't just magnetically adhere the filter to the case lid again. I used a razor to cut the filter material from the magnet. Then I poked holes in it and screwed the PSU fan screws through it. Then to tidy it up I used electrical tape around the edges to prevent fraying. You can see it's already caught some dust. As for cleaning it I'll probably just take a vacuum to it as needed.
z3Cyt7k.jpg




I've always used some sort of shroud or seal around my cpu intake to connect it directly with the outside air. It seems silly not to. Imagine the analogy of your car's engine bay if the exhaust emptied right there at the engine. With the exhaust and intake all in the same place it wouldn't be a good situation. There's a radiator fan on the front but it probably won't make a big difference.

This is pretty much how most large volume air cooled PC cases work. The intake and exhaust for the CPU are all in the same place with another fan across the case pointing at it in the hope it provides enough fresh air. Air is not a fluid, it doesn't have a defined volume or even a very constrained shape. It doesn't move like a laser across your case, but rather it diffuses almost instantly. That's why shrouds/seals on the intake make such a difference. It gives the CPU access to only fresh air. There's zero chance of recirculation.

One day if/when 3D printing is a bit cheaper I may start printing proper shrouds. But for now, rubber seals and cardboard paper works pretty well, and its damn cheap.
Another example of an intake shroud on my router/caching server. The blue is the intake areas. Every vent is covered in foam air filters.
XZ3Y2LW.jpg

NkJxo6B.jpg


I highly recommend adding some sort of seal or shroud to your Sentry, and any PC for that matter. Many OEM computers Have used a fan shroud for a while. Here's an ancient, generic Dell Optiplex . Below you can see it has a basic CPU fan shroud.

UlXBHDb.jpg


Below is a newer dell where you can see an exhaust shroud. It looks like the moved the cpu fan much closer to the side of the case. The plastic shield sits at a level between the cpu fan but above the fin stack creating an exhaust duct between it and the motherboard. Thus, the exhaust is less likely to recirculate. I've tried making such an exhaust shroud in the past but it's much harder than an intake shroud. Plus an intake shroud creates a lot of positive pressure forcing the exhaust out of the case.

fQPeAHF.jpg


tl;dr
For better temps, seal your cpu fan and gpu fan to the case.
Click to expand...

Excellent job on this, how are temps looking post-sealing?
 
defrow said:
Excellent job on this, how are temps looking post-sealing?
Click to expand...

Honestly I don't remember what they were before, it was probably a month or two ago. I sealed it up almost immediately when I built my system in Sentry. But generally you can get 5C to maybe 10C better for both cpu and gpu. But more than just lowering temps it creates positive pressure, forcing exhaust out as well as helping keep dust out.

It is possible to go overboard with sealing up the fans and case vents. I'm still tinkering with a Lian Li pc-q01 case to find what works best. Too much positive pressure leads to really noisy fans that don't actually move much air because you reach their static pressure limit.
 
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Got mine last Thursday. (2nd batch of Sentry's, 1st batch of white Sentry's. Sentry #88, Order #422.) I have all my parts in it, however I'm still waiting on CableMod PSU cables and my Noctua AM4 bracket. I will create a write up and have some pictures once I get everything in. I'm also waiting on the RGB button and my custom PCB to come in.

Packaging: http://imgur.com/a/k8tsh
PC Part Picker: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/StevenMattera/saved/H8PMpg

Specs:
AMD - Ryzen 1700 3.0GHz
Noctua - NH-L9i
ASRock - Fatal1ty Gaming x370 Gaming-ITX/ac
G.Skill - Flare X Series 16-GB running at DDR4-3200
Western Digital - Blue 1TB M.2
Samsung - 850 EVO 500GB (Mounted in front of the GPU)
Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 980 Reference Cooler (The idea is to upgrade this to a ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Turbo and give this to my wife and SLI her GTX 980.)
Corsair - SF 600W
 
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