SENTRY: Console-sized gaming PC case project

How long is shipping to the UK likely to take and when will the final shipment be in transit? Thanks.
 
How long is shipping to the UK likely to take and when will the final shipment be in transit? Thanks.

Shipping inside EU usually takes less than 7 working days. We are currently in the process of sending, and it takes some time. Most of the packages were already sent, but some are still waiting, so please be patient. We want to finish before the weekend, so we hope that everyone will receive their tracking numbers before Saturday.
 
#617 reporting in.
20 days of transit to Brazil, then another 35 at the customs... :rolleyes:
It arrived in perfect conditions, GJ guys.
Oh, and as a fellow mechanical engineer, it is refreshing to finally buy a computer case made with sensible screws.
 
#617 reporting in.
20 days of transit to Brazil, then another 35 at the customs... :rolleyes:
It arrived in perfect conditions, GJ guys.
Oh, and as a fellow mechanical engineer, it is refreshing to finally buy a computer case made with sensible screws.
The hex screws are much nicer than the common philips head.
I think many of us here have experienced the nightmare of extracting a stripped philips head at some point.
 
I received mine and is a delight to build into. Coming from a Node 202, the space is really well thought out for this case. Airflow is much more efficient than the Node 202.

I suprisingly got better thermals with my LP53 + Noctua Fan combo for my 4770K (75C at prime95 / ~70C during heavy gaming). I used to get 80-90 on my Node 202.

Same thing goes for my R9 390x, i was hitting ~92 on my Node 202, and hovering 85 on heavy gaming on the sentry.

I ordered the cooljag in advance in-case the LP53 did not suffice, but did not fit with the height of my RAM. I guess, it will be reserved for my DAN case v2.

Debating on getting filters and degrade the cooling performance that I'm enjoying right now.
 
After almost 3 months, it finally arrived! :confused: I'm glad but will definitely think twice before buying anything sea shipped in the future.
The outer box was poked through, but the inner box is perfectly fine. Very nice packaging!
View attachment 35119
OMG I spent 2 hrs + to build it. Violence was certainly involved since the stock corsair psu cables are so damn tough!

And I had to give up on the front usb. The ssd is totally in the way. I don't need them anyway;)
View attachment 35120

I've never imagined I'd ever need those fancy custom cables. But now it seems I have to get some.
Even the tough steel panels are slightly warped by those stupid cables.

There's some small tolerance issues there. My IO shield does nor line up to the motherboard perfectly. Again, fixed with violence. :p
But I think overall the case is very nice. Sleek and tiny. (y) Have to do further test on thermals with the vega:rage:64 in it.

I stuffed the excess cable lenght at the back of the PSU and under the HDDs.
 
I received the cooler today. Waiting for the fan and tim. I can confirm that CoolJag Falcon fits. Can't wait to test it. Hopefully by next Monday I will bet testing it.
 
Nope, it won't fit. As far as I remember, total max height for the ram sticks when you take out the HDD support bracket is ~51 mm. We've ben asked specifically about those sticks few times in the campaign comments.
Ok I stick to my GSkill.. Just remove the red trim and boom.. All silver and black.. Lol..

Next step is..
20170915_102024.jpg

Sleeving one by one, inch by inch
 
I received mine and is a delight to build into. Coming from a Node 202, the space is really well thought out for this case. Airflow is much more efficient than the Node 202.

I suprisingly got better thermals with my LP53 + Noctua Fan combo for my 4770K (75C at prime95 / ~70C during heavy gaming). I used to get 80-90 on my Node 202.

Same thing goes for my R9 390x, i was hitting ~92 on my Node 202, and hovering 85 on heavy gaming on the sentry.

I ordered the cooljag in advance in-case the LP53 did not suffice, but did not fit with the height of my RAM. I guess, it will be reserved for my DAN case v2.

Debating on getting filters and degrade the cooling performance that I'm enjoying right now.

LP53 is a great choice. It works well in Sentry with my 4790k. After helping a friend build his first pc in a Node 202, I agree it is way more difficult and not a nice experience compared to Sentry. If you're thinking of fan filters, the Silverstone 120mm and 140mm magnetic filters fit perfectly inside sentry. I use them on both cpu and gpu side.
 
LP53 is a great choice. It works well in Sentry with my 4790k. After helping a friend build his first pc in a Node 202, I agree it is way more difficult and not a nice experience compared to Sentry. If you're thinking of fan filters, the Silverstone 120mm and 140mm magnetic filters fit perfectly inside sentry. I use them on both cpu and gpu side.

You read my mind. I have already ordered a pair of 120mm magnetic filters from silverstone.

Hopefully this will help minimize the dust build-up, less tinkering on the case.
 
I received mine and is a delight to build into. Coming from a Node 202, the space is really well thought out for this case. Airflow is much more efficient than the Node 202.

I suprisingly got better thermals with my LP53 + Noctua Fan combo for my 4770K (75C at prime95 / ~70C during heavy gaming). I used to get 80-90 on my Node 202.

Same thing goes for my R9 390x, i was hitting ~92 on my Node 202, and hovering 85 on heavy gaming on the sentry.

I ordered the cooljag in advance in-case the LP53 did not suffice, but did not fit with the height of my RAM. I guess, it will be reserved for my DAN case v2.

Debating on getting filters and degrade the cooling performance that I'm enjoying right now.

May I ask if you are using it in a horizontal or vertical position and what position did you have the node 202 in? I'm interested because I'm also going from a node 202 to the sentry, though the hardware I'm using is very different.
 
May I ask if you are using it in a horizontal or vertical position and what position did you have the node 202 in? I'm interested because I'm also going from a node 202 to the sentry, though the hardware I'm using is very different.

I have in vertical position.
 
Quick question everyone and pardon my ignorance, 2nd time building. If I want to fit a larger HDD, say 3TB or 4 TB of 15mm thickness and not 9.5 mm(max that fits in the mounts), should I get a blower style card instead of open air style and fit the larger HDD underneath the blower style card? Won't the heat compromise the HDD overtime or it will be fine because it's a blower style and it's bringing air in and blowing it the opposite way? Thanks in advance!
 
Quick question everyone and pardon my ignorance, 2nd time building. If I want to fit a larger HDD, say 3TB or 4 TB of 15mm thickness and not 9.5 mm(max that fits in the mounts), should I get a blower style card instead of open air style and fit the larger HDD underneath the blower style card? Won't the heat compromise the HDD overtime or it will be fine because it's a blower style and it's bringing air in and blowing it the opposite way? Thanks in advance!

15 mm drive won't fit under the blower, you'd have to get a short card.

As for the drive temps when near the blower, we actually observed lower temps there in comparison to main rail, few degrees lower. The blower is sucking air next to the drive thus moving the air and cooling the drive itself. That may differ from card to card though - we've tested this on GTX970.
 
15 mm drive won't fit under the blower, you'd have to get a short card.

As for the drive temps when near the blower, we actually observed lower temps there in comparison to main rail, few degrees lower. The blower is sucking air next to the drive thus moving the air and cooling the drive itself. That may differ from card to card though - we've tested this on GTX970.

Thanks for the info! Are there any shorter GTX 1070 that you recommend? I know there is a list provided but I don't know that much about cards.. Thanks for your help!
 
Nvm found one compatible, will go with GTX 1070 AERO ITX 8G OC!
This is my list if anyone has any suggestions.. thanks!

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/onepieceownz/saved/2BtgLk
I think the noctua cooler is intel compatible only? Notice the "L9i". There is an AMD compatible one L9a.
You can't put a 3.5" harddisk in the sentry. Make sure you picked the right one.
And the 700W psu is seriously overkill. Even a 450W will be adequate. If you insist on the 700W one, it's SFX-L so building and cable managing will be even harder.
 
I think the noctua cooler is intel compatible only? Notice the "L9i". There is an AMD compatible one L9a.
You can't put a 3.5" harddisk in the sentry. Make sure you picked the right one.
And the 700W psu is seriously overkill. Even a 450W will be adequate. If you insist on the 700W one, it's SFX-L so building and cable managing will be even harder.

onepieceownz
L9i is compatible with the adapter kit noctua will send you for free. But yeah, l9a is compatible right out of the box.

Definitely no 3.5in drive if you plan on having a gpu at all. As far as I know the only way to use a 3.5in drive is if you go full NAS and omit the gpu totally. You can get 2TB 2.5in hybrid SSHD nowadays and I think maybe even 2.5TB is available in 9mm now. So big 3.5in drives are kind of pointless.

Also not sure if that 1070 fits. It's short in overall length but probably too tall to fit in sentry. Check MSI's website for proper dimensions and refer to the official Sentry website for compatibility. You might be better off using a normal size 1070 (unless you already own this itx version).

Also yeah don't get an sfx-l psu. They're so damn big. 4884 is right, a 450w would be totally sufficient. Max load with a 65W ryzen 1700 and a gtx 1070 is just over 200w. Maybe another 30w for drives, motherboard stuff, cpu fan. You won't even hit 260w total draw. The corsair sfx psu's are some of the best available, even compared to full size atx psu's. They're rated for gold but often achieve platinum level of stability, and efficiency. Get the 600w corsair sf-600 if you want a beast that's overkill and appropriately sized. Cable management will be soo much easier. Also if you get an sfx-l you can't use the top mounted 2.5in drive mount so keep that in mind too. I strongly suggest a sfx psu over sfx-l.

Overall though it'll be a beast of a system, that's for sure.
 
onepieceownz
L9i is compatible with the adapter kit noctua will send you for free. But yeah, l9a is compatible right out of the box.

Definitely no 3.5in drive if you plan on having a gpu at all. As far as I know the only way to use a 3.5in drive is if you go full NAS and omit the gpu totally. You can get 2TB 2.5in hybrid SSHD nowadays and I think maybe even 2.5TB is available in 9mm now. So big 3.5in drives are kind of pointless.

Also not sure if that 1070 fits. It's short in overall length but probably too tall to fit in sentry. Check MSI's website for proper dimensions and refer to the official Sentry website for compatibility. You might be better off using a normal size 1070 (unless you already own this itx version).

Also yeah don't get an sfx-l psu. They're so damn big. 4884 is right, a 450w would be totally sufficient. Max load with a 65W ryzen 1700 and a gtx 1070 is just over 200w. Maybe another 30w for drives, motherboard stuff, cpu fan. You won't even hit 260w total draw. The corsair sfx psu's are some of the best available, even compared to full size atx psu's. They're rated for gold but often achieve platinum level of stability, and efficiency. Get the 600w corsair sf-600 if you want a beast that's overkill and appropriately sized. Cable management will be soo much easier. Also if you get an sfx-l you can't use the top mounted 2.5in drive mount so keep that in mind too. I strongly suggest a sfx psu over sfx-l.

Overall though it'll be a beast of a system, that's for sure.
I definitely second the Corsair SF600 for the overkill route. After having it since launch, it only spins up during benches and is dead silent during my daily PUBG rounds.

I also second the l9a for direct compatibility, you can check out TekEverything YouTube channel on his video with it on Ryzen.

Link to vid:
 
Hey guys,
Thank you for all your replies you are amazing and really helpful! I decided to go with the Hitachi travelstar 1 TB for now and then will get a bigger drive when money falls out of the sky XD.
I changed my noctua l9i to l9a thanks for that info.
Ej24 I checked the compatibility list and this aero Msi card is compatible. I could get a larger card but I'd prefer the extra space for a future upgrade with a much bigger HDD. I also changed to sfx 450w corsair, thanks for the tip.

Here is my final list:
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/onepieceownz/saved/2BtgLk
Thanks everyone for all your help really appreciate it!
PS: for some reason pcpartpicker says my noctua isn't compatible with my board and Ryzen.. Strange
 
Hey guys,
Thank you for all your replies you are amazing and really helpful! I decided to go with the Hitachi travelstar 1 TB for now and then will get a bigger drive when money falls out of the sky XD.
I changed my noctua l9i to l9a thanks for that info.
Ej24 I checked the compatibility list and this aero Msi card is compatible. I could get a larger card but I'd prefer the extra space for a future upgrade with a much bigger HDD. I also changed to sfx 450w corsair, thanks for the tip.

Here is my final list:
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/onepieceownz/saved/2BtgLk
Thanks everyone for all your help really appreciate it!
PS: for some reason pcpartpicker says my noctua isn't compatible with my board and Ryzen.. Strange

You still need to get the AM4 mounting bracket for the I9a, probably why it is listed as not compatible.
 
Nvm found one compatible, will go with GTX 1070 AERO ITX 8G OC!

Whether this card fits depends on from where did they measure the 144 mm of height - and that's just for whether the card itself will fit. Note the fact that it's PEG connector isn't recessed much so you'll have just few mm to squeeze in the PEG plug that's like 12 mm long with cables you need to bend somewhere.

How did you figure out it's supposed to be compatible btw?

This is my list if anyone has any suggestions.. thanks!

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/onepieceownz/saved/2BtgLk

With 1TB Hitachi/HGST 2.5" drive you don't need a short card - it can be mounted in one of the slots in the middle of the case as well as underneath of the blower since it's 9.5 mmm thick.

Make sure if precisely those ram sticks you are going to buy are on the QVL list of the board. It's important for Ryzen if you want XMP running properly.
 
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Whether this card fits depends on from where did they measure the 144 mm of height - and that's just for whether the card itself will fit. Note the fact that it's PEG connector isn't recessed much so you'll have just few mm to squeeze in the PEG plug that's like 12 mm long with cables you need to bend somewhere.

How did you figure out it's supposed to be compatible btw?



With 1TB Hitachi/HGST 2.5" drive you don't need a short card - it can be mounted in one of the slots in the middle of the case as well as underneath of the blower since it's 9.5 mmm thick.

Make sure if precisely those ram sticks you are going to buy are on the QVL list of the board. It's important for Ryzen if you want XMP running properly.
Thanks for your reply!
I figured out it's compatible because it's in your list of cards ☺️ so are you saying that it's going to be challenging but still possible to have this video card?

And yes I'm aware this Hitachi HDD can be mounted in one of the slots but I want the short card to leave that space open to fit a thicker HDD of 3 or 4 TB later down the road.
 
I figured out it's compatible because it's in your list of cards ☺️

No, it's not. MSI GTX 1070 AERO OC and MSI GTX 1070 AERO ITX OC are two different models:

https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/GeForce-GTX-1070-AERO-8G-OC.html

https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/GeForce-GTX-1070-AERO-ITX-8G-OC.html

The one in our list is obviously the standard length blower card. The ITX model was released long after the list was compiled.

The problem is that MSI, Gigabyte and Zotac went up with card height while making "Mini" and "ITX" models short to fit the VRM's and cooling for 1070 and 1080.
 
No, it's not. MSI GTX 1070 AERO OC and MSI GTX 1070 AERO ITX OC are two different models:

https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/GeForce-GTX-1070-AERO-8G-OC.html

https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/GeForce-GTX-1070-AERO-ITX-8G-OC.html

The one in our list is obviously the standard length blower card. The ITX model was released long after the list was compiled.

The problem is that MSI, Gigabyte and Zotac went up with card height while making "Mini" and "ITX" models short to fit the VRM's and cooling for 1070 and 1080.
Ohhh ic my mistake and thank you for clarifying! So the one I have is not in your list but it's still compatible?
And thanks for the heads up regarding the ram. I checked my board QVL and changed to a ram that is compatible with XMP :)
 
No, it's not. The PEG plug requires ~18 mm of space to fit freely the plug itself is 11~12 mm and remaining 6~7 mm is to bend those cables coming out of the plug.

GPU.png


That MSI card is supposed to be 144 mm tall, so assuming this is measured from the beginning of the PCI bracket, there's 1 mm of space left for the card, so it will physically fit, BUT:

https://preview.************/dgOSbQ/20170424_122803.jpg

The PEG power connector is only slightly recessed so it means IF the PCB reaches max height of the card, you'll have ~3 mm left where you should have 18 mmm. We don't have the card physically to measure it, but from all photos it looks like the PCB may be only slightly recessed against the maximum height made by the cooler plastic shroud.

I know this can be confusing, but we can't do anything about the fact that the manufacturers don't keep any standard in measuring their GPU's. That's why there's the image above to figure out whether the card will fit or not.

XFX cards are the perfect example of how an oversized GPU should recess the PEG connector:

580_GTS_1024_06.jpg


They've taken those ~2 cm into account and increased the height of the card while retaining original position of the PEG connector. Note that it doesn't mean every XFX card will fit though, check the dimensions of the card first.
 
Ohhh ic my mistake and thank you for clarifying! So the one I have is not in your list but it's still compatible?
And thanks for the heads up regarding the ram. I checked my board QVL and changed to a ram that is compatible with XMP :)
No I don't think the card will fit.
I'm using a 112mm tall standard size card. And you see the power cables are already in tight fit against the top of the case.
IMG_20170916_183109640.jpg
The msi card has extra ~20mm in height, which will probably makes it impossible to plug in the cables.

If you choose a standard height card you can already have 4 drives in your case. (one m2, two 2.5" at the mounting bracket and one under the card)
Are you sure that is still not enough?
There is a single slot GTX1070 from galax, GALAX GeForce® GTX 1070 KATANA. Maybe you can put more 2.5" under the card.
I do not recommend it though. Putting more drives in the sentry means more sata cables and power cables. It's not easy to route these cables!
 
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In my indiegogo page I got
The campaigner has marked your order as "Fulfilled", which means they've shipped your perk.

But I didn't get any tracking number yet.
(Selected Perk: Long Run: SENTRY Black , Order ID: 1300)
 
In my indiegogo page I got


But I didn't get any tracking number yet.
(Selected Perk: Long Run: SENTRY Black , Order ID: 1300)

We've sent the last shipment this week. Don't worry, we'll be sending tracking info for overseas shipments soon.
 
I tried the cool jag falcon on my sentry with a 1080ti and a 7700k at stock. I still need to do more test but for now I can say that after running multiple AAA games at ultra there was no thermal throttling. I ran a quick benchmark on the cpu and it didn't throttle. This is great but unfortunately I must also say that temperatures were high even on idle.
 
I tried the cool jag falcon on my sentry with a 1080ti and a 7700k at stock. I still need to do more test but for now I can say that after running multiple AAA games at ultra there was no thermal throttling. I ran a quick benchmark on the cpu and it didn't throttle. This is great but unfortunately I must also say that temperatures were high even on idle.
Great !, does your 7700K delidded ? which CPU fan,, Noctua 120mm ? Vertical or Horizontal Sentry? and can you post some photos please :)
 
Great !, does your 7700K delidded ? which CPU fan,, Noctua 120mm ? Vertical or Horizontal Sentry? and can you post some photos please :)
My 7700k is NOT delided. The case is vertical. The fan is Noctua 92mm. A 120mm will not fit due to ram clearance but I strongly believe that if properly place a 100mm slim fan will fit like thermalright 100m fan. I will probably buy that fan if i can find it cheap. It can fit up to 18mm in fan thickness. A 20mm thick fan almost fit but it was too tight. Also i have gskill aegis 32gb 24000 RAM which around 30mm tall i think only corsair lpx memory matches that height. No taller memory sticks will fit. I can confirm that when the fan is using low rpm temperature are high but for some reason when rpm increases to around 1200-1500 it becomes very efficient and temperature at high loads become very stable. It is also surprising quite it seems like the heatsink and the case cover somehow cancel the noise to the point that i can't tell the difference between the fan at 800 rpm or 1500rpm. Even while sitting with the case right next to my head. The whole build is exactly the same as what I was running on my 20 liter case which had a radiator liquid cooler and the Sentry
is way more silent. However again I must warn you temperatures were very high at idle and at load they were between 75 to 84 peaking once for a short time at 86. However no thermal throttling whatsoever. I ran multiple VR games on ultra super-sampled x2 and they all ran at a solid 90fps. I ran forza in ultra on a 4k tv and it ran at 60fps. The fan went up to and became stable at around 1900rpm. At that point you could hear but still i could hear the 1080ti more as it was louder.

Edit: It thermal throttle when running prime95 In place large ffts.
 
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Order number 1231, just received my tracking number. Can't wait :)

Thanks everyone involved, you guys made something awesome. Now only if I could find an AM4 board in Brazil..
 
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Sentry manufacturing process - weekly update


7th and the last transport sent. It wasn't easy but we finally made it. Everyone should already received their tracking numbers from our shipping company, and for packages for non-european countries we sent additional email (just in case).


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We just finished sending main transports to our backers, but it doesn't mean this is end of our work. Many people are still waiting for their cases from previous shipments, so we have to keep tracking those packages to check if everything ended well. What is more, some packages were damaged during the transport and some never reached their destination. We are still helping to solve such problems and we hope in few weeks everyone will get their Sentry.

This is almost the end of this campaign. We know that many of you still have a lot of questions about our next moves, so there will be one more weekly update (next weekend) in which we will try to give you some answers.
 
Is there a link to buy this cooler? The cooljag falcon
I got it from Amazon but remember you have to modify it and buy a fan for it. And temperatures are not necessarily better than other coolers. I mean looking at my own temperatures they are not worst that some of the stuff I saw with the lp53 but they are also not much better and idle temperatures are very high like for me they are around 50 but I still have to remount everything again because I have some weird spikes that go up to 70 on idle. I have not yet figured out what those are but I just Wanted to let you know. It might just be the thermal paste or fan position. I have notice that changing the position of the fan makes a big difference.
 
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