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

DfknG said:
Oh lord, my wallet is in trouble. I'll get the specs of that board re: length and if the EVGA X99 Micro fits and Dual GTX970's. My lord...
Click to expand...
Not to burst your bubble, but the vast majority of mATX boards won't fit. Of those that do, the 2nd and 3rd slots are PCIe x1. So you can pretty much forget about SLI.

The only realistic way to get SLI GPUs in the the M1 is with a dual GPU card, and there you may run into issues with heat and power. Here's a build with a watercooled GTX 690 for reference.
 
DfknG said:
Oh lord, my wallet is in trouble. I'll get the specs of that board re: length and if the EVGA X99 Micro fits and Dual GTX970's. My lord...
Click to expand...

Necere said:
Kind of a weird consideration, but I'd rather not have people pissed at me because they thought the case supported mATX but the board they tried didn't fit (because only some compact 3-slot mATX boards fit, and those only just).
Click to expand...
Well, you called it ! :D
 
Phuncz said:
Well, you called it ! :D
Click to expand...

Hehe, the dangers of not backtracking a few pages whenever jumping in to a discussion is all too apparent.

DfknG said:
Oh lord, my wallet is in trouble. I'll get the specs of that board re: length and if the EVGA X99 Micro fits and Dual GTX970's. My lord...
Click to expand...

On the other hand that would have gotten me pretty worked up too;)
 
In THEORY, a manufacturer could make an X99 FlexATX board and with watercooling you could get two GTX 980 GPU's in the Ncase if you can make them both single slot (cooler and bracket).
Plop a short 600W or larger ATX PSU in there and you're good to go. But you'd be limited to a single 240mm radiator for 2 GPU's + hotter CPU and only a few 2,5" 7.5mm SSD's in the front (plus an M.2 SSD ofcourse).

It would even be possible to use two long cards if the bottom slots are the PCIe x16 slots, like this:

viIKNOH.png

(obvious quick photo editing with no realistic application)

Now that would be a board I'd be interested in !
 
Phuncz said:
In THEORY, a manufacturer could make an X99 FlexATX board and with watercooling you could get two GTX 980 GPU's in the Ncase if you can make them both single slot (cooler and bracket).
Plop a short 600W or larger ATX PSU in there and you're good to go. But you'd be limited to a single 240mm radiator for 2 GPU's + hotter CPU and only a few 2,5" 7.5mm SSD's in the front (plus an M.2 SSD ofcourse).

It would even be possible to use two long cards if the bottom slots are the PCIe x16 slots, like this:

(obvious quick photo editing with no realistic application)

Now that would be a board I'd be interested in !
Click to expand...

That would be sexy. Though the potential market for that is almost non-existant, so it will proably never happen. Given the lack of avalable realestate the a mITX pcb, I don't think dual channel RAM is possible. I am sure a 240 rad would do for cooling, but overclocking would be out of the question. If the trend with more effective chips for each new generation continue, that wil quickly change though.
 
WiSK said:
I would personally get a proper 970 block when they come out. EK versions expected in a couple of weeks I believe. Watercool/Heatkiller already has a 970 block, not sure about others.
Click to expand...
Heatkiller blocks looks good (http://shop.watercool.de/HEATKILLER-GPU-X-GTX-970/en) but the PCB has to be the reference one.
I am going to email Gainward to know if the PCB of the Phantom is like the reference PCB, I will let you know.
 
Urelure said:
Though the potential market for that is almost non-existant, so it will proably never happen. Given the lack of avalable realestate the a mITX pcb, I don't think dual channel RAM is possible.
Click to expand...

+1

I'm having a hard time convincing Asus to even do a Rampage V Gene, which should be relatively straightforward, they just need to update the IV Gene to X99, so I don't think we'll see anything smaller than mATX for X99 anytime soon except for something from Shuttle.
 
Last edited:
With the slight change to the v3 panels, will they fit on a v2 chassis? I just got a v2 from the left over stock, it's still in it's shipping box unopened as a matter of fact. However, I'd be thrilled to get panels in the opposite color so that I could swap them out on a whim. I also got a top cover w/ the ODD slot but I'm still undecided if I want to use an ODD or not.
 
vpr said:
With the slight change to the v3 panels, will they fit on a v2 chassis? I just got a v2 from the left over stock, it's still in it's shipping box unopened as a matter of fact. However, I'd be thrilled to get panels in the opposite color so that I could swap them out on a whim. I also got a top cover w/ the ODD slot but I'm still undecided if I want to use an ODD or not.
Click to expand...

Yes they will

Edit: That alone was probably a bit unclear, but that post states the only incompatibility there is for now with the V1 front panel being slightly too narrow for the V2/V3 top panels.
 
Aibohphobia said:
IV Gene to X99
Click to expand...

What advantages do you see in the X99 platform over the Z97 implementation in the Maximus VII Impact?

I suppose the argument is for the potential of 8 cores and four sticks of high speed DDR4. Also, even with the 5820K you would have enough PCIe lanes to run 2 cards at x16. I just struggle to see the market for hardware like this (X99 in Flex-ATX)

Scaled down to a standard mini-ITX you would give up the second PCI-E port, and probably have to give up the extra two sticks of ram, so you're left with even fewer advantages to X99.
 
To clarify, I was agreeing with Urelure that anything smaller than standard mATX for X99 is very unlikely.
 
Question: how much space is there on the rear panel for a slim 92 mm exhaust fan when the CPU cooler is the Noctua NH-C14? I know a regular 25 mm thick fan does not fit. I put one on the outside, but it's ugly there. Thanks in advance for your assistance.
 
Qrash said:
Question: how much space is there on the rear panel for a slim 92 mm exhaust fan when the CPU cooler is the Noctua NH-C14? I know a regular 25 mm thick fan does not fit. I put one on the outside, but it's ugly there. Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Click to expand...
Not much. Maybe a 20mm thick fan would fit but that might be pushing it for the Asus Impact.

I think it also totally depends on your motherboard and it's socket/cpu placement.
 
Yes, I have the Asus Maximus VII Impact. I was thinking of the Noctua NF-A9x14 which is only 14 mm thick. Unfortunately this motherboard only has 1 PWM fan connector. The other 4-pin fan connectors do not operate in PWM mode (sucks!). Will a PWM fan operate on such a 4-pin connector? Will it work on a 3-pin fan connector (at maximum speed?)?
 
Qrash said:
Question: how much space is there on the rear panel for a slim 92 mm exhaust fan when the CPU cooler is the Noctua NH-C14? I know a regular 25 mm thick fan does not fit. I put one on the outside, but it's ugly there. Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Click to expand...

Qrash said:
Yes, I have the Asus Maximus VII Impact. I was thinking of the Noctua NF-A9x14 which is only 14 mm thick.
Click to expand...
See this build.
 
Hi,

just been on your website & noticed the ncase is available to purchase again

at first I thought v3 was available to pre-order, so you guys still making some v1 & v2?

or is it all you have left your selling off?

also if I was to purchase a V1 silver + optical does v2 or v3 have much advantages? also would it come with aluminium feet etc lol :D
 
Qrash said:
Yes, I have the Asus Maximus VII Impact. I was thinking of the Noctua NF-A9x14 which is only 14 mm thick. Unfortunately this motherboard only has 1 PWM fan connector. The other 4-pin fan connectors do not operate in PWM mode (sucks!). Will a PWM fan operate on such a 4-pin connector? Will it work on a 3-pin fan connector (at maximum speed?)?
Click to expand...

Use this if you have more than one PWM fan:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/new-akasa-flexa-fp3s-pwm-fan-splitter-cable-30cm.html

They have a version with five connectors as well.
 
asus11 said:
Hi,

just been on your website & noticed the ncase is available to purchase again

at first I thought v3 was available to pre-order, so you guys still making some v1 & v2?

or is it all you have left your selling off?

also if I was to purchase a V1 silver + optical does v2 or v3 have much advantages? also would it come with aluminium feet etc lol :D
Click to expand...
If V1/V2 cases show up for sale on the site, it's old inventory. V1 silver did come with silver feet, yes. All V2 and later cases come with black feet only. Changelog is here.

asus11 said:
Thanks!

which one fits properly the 35mm or 40mm? or what size was used on the original ncase?
Click to expand...
40mm.
 
Qrash said:
Question: how much space is there on the rear panel for a slim 92 mm exhaust fan when the CPU cooler is the Noctua NH-C14? I know a regular 25 mm thick fan does not fit. I put one on the outside, but it's ugly there. Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Click to expand...

I doubt that fan will have much, if any, effect on you temps. That cooler offers plenty of headroom, and the top panel provides excellent natural exhaust. I fear the only thing you will acheive is adding more noise to the system.

Clearance with a Asus Z97I-plus MB is 22mm by the way.
 
Necere said:
Not to burst your bubble, but the vast majority of mATX boards won't fit. Of those that do, the 2nd and 3rd slots are PCIe x1. So you can pretty much forget about SLI.

The only realistic way to get SLI GPUs in the the M1 is with a dual GPU card, and there you may run into issues with heat and power. Here's a build with a watercooled GTX 690 for reference.
Click to expand...

Your absolutely most likely right, and I would by no means think if it where to fit, it would just bolt in. But equipped with some cardboard templates, miracles can happen. Hell, I managed to watercool a SG33G5 with Q9550 and dual slot 750Ti FTW. Its unlikely, and maybe impossible, but worth exploring.
 
DfknG said:
Your absolutely most likely right, and I would by no means think if it where to fit, it would just bolt in. But equipped with some cardboard templates, miracles can happen. Hell, I managed to watercool a SG33G5 with Q9550 and dual slot 750Ti FTW. Its unlikely, and maybe impossible, but worth exploring.
Click to expand...
Well, let me put it to you this way: regular microATX motherboards are 244x244mm, right? The height of the M1 (sans feet) is exactly 240mm.
 
Necere said:
Well, let me put it to you this way: regular microATX motherboards are 244x244mm, right? The height of the M1 (sans feet) is exactly 240mm.
Click to expand...

You beat me to it. A standard microATX is physically too large to fit between the top and bottom frame on the NCase,

aFxU7Px.jpg


I won't rule out the possibility of SLI in that case, I've heard of the coin farmers using PCI-E splitters to shoe-horn additional GPUs into a build, but after holding this case in my hands I can't begin to imagine the headaches.

Best of luck to you DfknG
 
A couple more questions. I saw on the change log that the hdd will be able to be put in the front bottom slot on v3? Does that mean a 120mm fan can fit in the back slot on the bottom?

And if i have an h105 installed what are the possibilities of fitting some sort of fan on the back for exhaust? I just feel like with the gigabyte 970 dumping heat in the case and an h105 as intake, an exhaust fan would be helpful. Thoughts?
 
No Hands 55 said:
A couple more questions. I saw on the change log that the hdd will be able to be put in the front bottom slot on v3? Does that mean a 120mm fan can fit in the back slot on the bottom?
Click to expand...
No. You can't have a 120mm fan and 3.5" HDD on the bottom in either position, in fact. There just wasn't enough room for all the necessary mounting holes.

The options for bottom mounting are:

Code: 
   [ Front ] [ Rear  ]
1. [ 120mm ] [ 120mm ]
2. [ 120mm ] [ 2.5"  ]
3. [ 92mm  ] [ 3.5"  ]
4. [ 3.5"  ] [ -     ]


No Hands 55 said:
And if i have an h105 installed what are the possibilities of fitting some sort of fan on the back for exhaust? I just feel like with the gigabyte 970 dumping heat in the case and an h105 as intake, an exhaust fan would be helpful. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
With the tubing at the rear, as in this pic, there's basically no room inside the case for a rear fan. You can always attach one on the outside, of course.

If it were me, I'd try to get a blower card first. If I had to use a open cooler card, I think I'd want to have a fan on the bottom as an intake. I'd also consider a single 120mm AIO or air cooler on the CPU instead of a 240mm rad, just so I could use the rear exhaust.

TheBlueChanell said:
This might be old news, I didn't see anything when I looked. It appears Lian-Li seems to like not only producing the M1 but also appreciates it's design queues. :D

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. ;)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112432&cm_re=Lian_Li-_-11-112-432-_-Product
Click to expand...

Heisen said:
And see this one..

http://www.jonsbo.com/en/products_25_2.html

http://www.chiphell.com/article-11665-4.html

They really like the M1 :p
Click to expand...
Yeah, these lookalikes showed up almost a year ago. I'm not sure it's really doing those cases any favors; the Jonsbo in particular just copies the styling, without any of the reason behind the styling.
 
Necere said:
No. You can't have a 120mm fan and 3.5" HDD on the bottom in either position, in fact. There just wasn't enough room for all the necessary mounting holes.

The options for bottom mounting are:

Code: 
   [ Front ] [ Rear  ]
1. [ 120mm ] [ 120mm ]
2. [ 120mm ] [ 2.5"  ]
3. [ 92mm  ] [ 3.5"  ]
4. [ 3.5"  ] [ -     ]
Click to expand...

Well then I think i might have to find a way to attach it to the back of the psu with a bunch of 3m tape or something then lol. ssd are to much right now and 2.5s dont come in large enough capacity :/

Necere said:
With the tubing at the rear, as in this pic, there's basically no room inside the case for a rear fan. You can always attach one on the outside, of course.

If it were me, I'd try to get a blower card first. If I had to use a open cooler card, I think I'd want to have a fan on the bottom as an intake. I'd also consider a single 120mm AIO or air cooler on the CPU instead of a 240mm rad, just so I could use the rear exhaust.
Click to expand...

i would but i already have my gigabyte 970 and the h105. dumb nvidia not offering ref 970 :( I would like to ideally get two 120mm intake on the bottom, 1 rear exhaust (even if on the outside) and h105 as intake on the side. i feel like that would be the best airflow i could get. also going to try and squeeze a 3.5 drive and ssd in there. thanks for the info and very excited to grab the v3!

also, has anyone else seen/tried this? it looks amazing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dGL3XmX8ps
http://oliver.st/blog/ncase-m1/#comment-374
 
Last edited:
Is there a post somewhere in here that lists HSF's that are confirmed to fit/not fit similar to the one w/ video cards?

I'm considering an Asus Maximus VII Impact + MSI gtx970 build + 1 SSD (I have 2, but haven't touched the 2nd on in my current rig) + 1 or 2 3.5" HDDs... Working on a pcpartpicker over the next few days that'll I'll post to get feedback on regarding compatibility/suggestions for changes.

Right now I'm considering the Cryorig C1, but not sure if it's size would interfere w/ the daughter board on the mobo. Does anyone know?
 
vpr said:
Is there a post somewhere in here that lists HSF's that are confirmed to fit/not fit similar to the one w/ video cards?

I'm considering an Asus Maximus VII Impact + MSI gtx970 build + 1 SSD (I have 2, but haven't touched the 2nd on in my current rig) + 1 or 2 3.5" HDDs... Working on a pcpartpicker over the next few days that'll I'll post to get feedback on regarding compatibility/suggestions for changes.

Right now I'm considering the Cryorig C1, but not sure if it's size would interfere w/ the daughter board on the mobo. Does anyone know?
Click to expand...

You can try looking through the M1 spreadsheet (found on page #1 of this thread).

Instead of using a low-profile cooler, you might want to consider a taller heatsink that would sit past the VRM board. The Noctua C12, L12 and Scythe Kabuto 2 *might* fit okay (not 100% sure if they've been tested on the VII, but work fine on the older ASUS boards w/daughterboard), and all three should still allow use of 2x 3.5" drives in the side HDD rack (not 100% sure about the L12).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top