NCASE M1 version changelog and suggestions thread

I would love the ODD in front & a SFX in back of the case... They have 600 watt SFXs & why the 3rd xpantion slot mITXs have a place for 1 card, I know about 3 slot wide GPUs, but they are not comon right? Plus the PSU in back would be better heat wise right?
 
edward78 said:
I would love the ODD in front & a SFX in back of the case
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The ODD is in the front (slot load from the top).

Moving the PSU to the back would require an increase to the dimensions of the case. One of the main design features on the nCase to reduce the overall size of the case was moving the PSU to the front.

Also, realistically, the days of triple slot GPU's are probably gone, but you never know. However, tthere are "slim" mATX motherboards that will fit into the nCase (not as wide as standard mATX), and these motherboards have 3 expansion slots. Additionally, you could also split the single PCIe slot on an itx board to allow for two expansion cards to be installed. There is a whole thread on it called PCIE Bifurcation.
 
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incredadamible said:
The ODD is in the front (slot load from the top).

Moving the PSU to the back would require an increase to the dimensions of the case. One of the main design features on the nCase to reduce the overall size of the case was moving the PSU to the front.

Also, realistically, the days of triple slot GPU's are probably gone, but you never know. However, tthere are "slim" mATX motherboards that will fit into the nCase (not as wide as standard mATX), and these motherboards have 3 expansion slots. Additionally, you could also split the single PCIe slot on an itx board to allow for two expansion cards to be installed. There is a whole thread on it called PCIE Bifurcation.
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I meant front front, not front top... Are you sure moving the PSU to the back would increase dems.? The Element Q has a SFX, it looks small, so a SFX would do it, I woulf think...
 
edward78 said:
I meant front front, not front top... Are you sure moving the PSU to the back would increase dems.? The Element Q has a SFX, it looks small, so a SFX would do it, I woulf think...
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Where would you put it? The mobo has to be in the back for the IO, so the PSU would have to be in front of it somehow, which makes tower fans incompatible. What you seem to be asking for is a completely different case.
 
Hi,

I am looking to buy 2 readying for Kaby Lake / Cannonlake, but wanting to know the following...

  1. Don't want to order the Version 5 and couple of months later once the cases arrived, Version 6 is announced. Is there any speculation of about the next version?
  2. Order now and find out there's a cyber Monday discount 3 weeks later.
  3. Are there other shipping to USA cheaper than what's calculated on the website?
Thanks for listening.

Steve
 
Simply_Inspired said:
Hi,

I am looking to buy 2 readying for Kaby Lake / Cannonlake, but wanting to know the following...

  1. Don't want to order the Version 5 and couple of months later once the cases arrived, Version 6 is announced. Is there any speculation of about the next version?
  2. Order now and find out there's a cyber Monday discount 3 weeks later.
  3. Are there other shipping to USA cheaper than what's calculated on the website?
Thanks for listening.

Steve
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1. V5 is likely the last revision of the M1.
2. We don't do sales.
3. No.
 
This batch of M1 comes with a free Right Angle Power Cord (it's new).

It should be better quality and more reliable than the old ones.

dgV0T9Mm.jpg
 
I have been working on getting Apple MacBook like sandblasted finish for a long time, now I can finally show some results.

I'm pretty happy and relived that all those months of working with a new mfg finally moved things forward.

On the left is the MacBook Air trackpad in silver, the right is our custom black sandblast finish (still work in progress).



 
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Wow.... that's a huge improvement in terms of uniformity from the brushed finish.

How will the blasted finish affect the front panel where it is bent to form the corner? I guess that if it's too fine, then the bend will be even more obvious.
 
I have 2 ideas

first, the power cable I think should have a on off switch inline with it that mounts to the back of the case. I like the idea of having a phisical button to cut power to the case.

Second, this might be a harder one to do, but make a pedestal!
I see so many cases where they put dual 240mm radiators in, but it leaves no space for hdds, fan controlers, or anything else.
Having a pedestal designed to take dual 240mm radiators (one on each side) and a 120mm intake fan, would be great. It could use quick disconnects for easy removal. You could also just use it for hdds/ssds or anything really.

If you made the back plate modular, you could offer different versions of each.
One with a gpu backplate, one thats just a fan, a blank one.
I think it should come with a built in fan controller (dials on the back) that supports 6 fans from a single molex from the psu.

I know the pedestal kinda kills the idea of such a small case, but with quick disconnects, you could make it like a "docking station" unplug your m1 from the dock, connect the 2 quick disconnects together inside the m1 case, then you can travel and game with just the single 240mm radiator inside the case. Then when you get home, you plug in the dock and unlease the full cooling power of 2 more 240mm radiators, or four 3.5 inch hdds, or if your motherboard supports it, SLI.

To get some of these features, I would think you might need to redesign the bottom of the m1 to allow users to plug in things from the psu or motherboard.
If you had a single plate that supports 2 molex, a gpu 8 pin, 4 sata, and maybe a fan cable, then the user just plugs their things into that plate, then that plate sits ontop of the pedestal with matching ports that just slide in making it a pick up and go type plug. The water cooling lines might be a bit harder, but if you had quick disconnects mounted, you would just have to unclip them, and loop them.


Anyways, thats the end of my ranting idea.... If you guys dont make one, I may just order another m1 and built my own.
 
Brandito said:
Turns out the ones sold separately on the NCASE site are still the older style with heat shrink.
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We are expecting to receive the new Right Angle Power Cord next year.

However, we are still in the test phase for this new power cord. To that end, we are actively monitoring feedback/problems about this new power cord. We will not offer it as a *paid item until we are sure it's good.
 
wahaha360 said:
We are expecting to receive the new Right Angle Power Cord next year.

However, we are still in the test phase for this new power cord. To that end, we are actively monitoring feedback/problems about this new power cord. We will not offer it as a *paid item until we are sure it's good.
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That's pretty reasonable.

I'd be willing to test one.
 
USB C on the front panel? USB 3.1?

Also when will the new sandblasted panels be ready?

Glass window version?
 
rexharring said:
USB C on the front panel? USB 3.1?
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Lian Li (the NCASE OEM) has demonstrated a new front panel that adds the USB 3.1 Type C port. You can see it about midway down this page: https://smallformfactor.net/news/usb-3-1-motherboard-connector-revealed

It's the same as their old one, it just adds another cable for the 3.1 motherboard connector. If Necere designed an updated front panel for the next version of the M1, I would love to be able to order a replacement front panel separately for the V5 unit that I already own. Otherwise I'll probably cobble together something that can be added to the back of the case and use a male to female extension cable.
 
rexharring said:
USB C on the front panel? USB 3.1?
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Maybe in the future, but probably not soon. There's only a single mini-ITX board with a type-C header announced so far (the Strix), so at least in the near term would only be useful to a small number of people buying that board. We also have to decide which port(s) to drop, since there's no space left on the front I/O for an additional type-C port.

rexharring said:
Also when will the new sandblasted panels be ready?
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We're only doing a batch of ten panels for evaluation purposes for now. Depending how they turn out, we may offer them as a panel kits on the website. The sandblasting isn't done in house at Lian Li though, so doing them requires extra logistics and cost. At this time we don't have plans to offer them with the M1 in place of the standard brushed panels.

rexharring said:
Glass window version?
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My answer to the window question has been, and continues to be, no. The case isn't designed for a window, and incorporating one breaks a lot of the functionality (plus there's no way to attach a glass window as is).
 
If I had to drop a front port on the M1 right now it'd be one of the 3.5mm jacks. Have the other become TRRS.
 
vipz said:
If I had to drop a front port on the M1 right now it'd be one of the 3.5mm jacks. Have the other become TRRS.
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Yeah, we'd probably drop at least one of the audio jacks. Not sure about TRRS though - it might be too big for you
 
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wahaha360 said:
We are expecting to receive the new Right Angle Power Cord next year.

However, we are still in the test phase for this new power cord. To that end, we are actively monitoring feedback/problems about this new power cord. We will not offer it as a *paid item until we are sure it's good.
Click to expand...

I LOVE the new power cord and thank-you for it. It's the only way my top would close.
 
I imagine many people have already made these suggestions, but I would like to lose the third pcie slot and have a flush front panel for people who aren't going to put an ssd or optical drive there.

A more radical change would be to have an optional front panel that had some perforation or ventilation above and below and then add a fan mount on the inside of the case, ideally 120mm. This would be really cool, could add a lot of airflow for the GPU.
 
danger said:
I imagine many people have already made these suggestions, but I would like to lose the third pcie slot
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The M1 is a Mini-DTX case as well as Mini-ITX. It would lose some compatibility with the Mini-DTX form factor if the 3rd slot was removed.
 
w00d said:
The M1 is a Mini-DTX case as well as Mini-ITX. It would lose some compatibility with the Mini-DTX form factor if the 3rd slot was removed.
Click to expand...

you could also lose the ability to comfortably fit fans down there, limiting cooling options.
 
you could always add your own 3.1c port or window or half the things you guys are asking for that only a couple people want. it called modding...
 
As I just ran into that problem... The bottom needs 2 additional mounting holes for 8TB+ 3,5" HDDs.
They need to be in line with the two 2,5" holes at the pci-bracket-side... Though they might collide with the fan holes.

Gonna need to drill new holes now, as I can secure them currently with only 2 screws... Thought and planned this build for months now, only to fail at the HDD >=[
 
I would like to see some other options for mounts ssds..

The way mine is set up, I cant use either front ssd mount (dvd drive, and radiator blocking) So I have my ssds mounted in the bottom... but I want to put some fans down there.

Can we get the rear mounted ssd holder? Something that connects to the 80mm screw holes (so our res tanks still fit)
 
danger said:
I imagine many people have already made these suggestions, but I would like to lose the third pcie slot and have a flush front panel for people who aren't going to put an ssd or optical drive there.
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I actually explained the reasoning behind the space for the third slot just yesterday. There's far more to it than just another slot (which itself goes unused for the majority of people).

danger said:
A more radical change would be to have an optional front panel that had some perforation or ventilation above and below and then add a fan mount on the inside of the case, ideally 120mm. This would be really cool, could add a lot of airflow for the GPU.
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The PSU is in the way of a front-mounted fan. The case would need to be lengthened at a minimum, but even then the PSU would still be block a third to half the fan's airflow.

DaTraS said:
As I just ran into that problem... The bottom needs 2 additional mounting holes for 8TB+ 3,5" HDDs.
They need to be in line with the two 2,5" holes at the pci-bracket-side... Though they might collide with the fan holes.

Gonna need to drill new holes now, as I can secure them currently with only 2 screws... Thought and planned this build for months now, only to fail at the HDD >=[
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I suppose I should apologize for that. There are three possible sets of screw holes shown in the 3.5" HDD specification on the bottom of the drive, but back when I designed the case I surveyed a bunch of drives, and all the ones I found only used four of the six. As it is, I could add holes for the third set, but they'd be right between the feet and the case, so they couldn't be used with the rubber grommets and would need to be countersunk (which adds another screw type to the included kit).

ejohnson said:
I would like to see some other options for mounts ssds..

The way mine is set up, I cant use either front ssd mount (dvd drive, and radiator blocking) So I have my ssds mounted in the bottom... but I want to put some fans down there.

Can we get the rear mounted ssd holder? Something that connects to the 80mm screw holes (so our res tanks still fit)
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Can you not turn your radiator around? The radiator mount is centered, so there's the same amount of space at the back as at the front for 2.5 drives. I'm not very inclined to include yet another bracket for an edge usage scenario, when there are already three different mounting locations in the case.
 
Necere, yes I can move the radiator over, but I already hardlined it :(

I thought putting the SSD in the basement would be OK, but I want the fans now.
 
ejohnson said:
Necere, yes I can move the radiator over, but I already hardlined it :(

I thought putting the SSD in the basement would be OK, but I want the fans now.
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I see. Well, you can still get one fan on the bottom. You could also try mounting the drive to the back using double-sided tape.
 
Necere said:
I see. Well, you can still get one fan on the bottom. You could also try mounting the drive to the back using double-sided tape.
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Yeah, thinking that double sided tape is my best bet. Though I want to add a third SSD to the stack first.
 
M1 black sandblasted panels from the factory (lighting is crap), but will take more pictures after we receive them.

 
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Wishlist
Custom window side panel that you could sell separately for v5- acrylic would be just fine?
In v6 usb c in front IO
 
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Additional venting on side panels - just extend the perforations down to match the current offset from the top/side of the panel edge.
- would also be nice if the perforations on all panels were smaller so they had a finer aesthetic quality. Hoping that additional vented area would offset poorer airflow here.
 
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