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

n_ls said:
That is very similar to my build, except I went with the D9L. I agree with you that I don't think there is a significat difference.

Out of curiosity, why are you putting the m.2 under the heatsink and not on the back of the board? I know with other boards (See here) the heatsink actually trapped heat instead of dissipating it). I really should test my m.2 on the back and under the heatsink to see what resultst I get.

I think most people actually have all fans, including the rear NF-A9, acting as intake (at least that's how I have mine).
Click to expand...

I went with under the heatsink, since the Asus version is much more substantial than the MSI heatsink (and the bottom also connects to part of the heatsink as well). Plus, in the vertical orientation, the fan for the U9S is just above the heatsink, so it will give some flow there.

However, I've run into a problem. There isn't room for the fan on top of the heatsink. :eek: The end of the power cable extender gets in the way by just a hair and I can't get the fan in position. If the power connecter was mounted at the top of where it could fit, then it would work. I'm not sure how the people that have that same build actually got their fan in, unless their CPU socket is just a little bit lower. So, I'll either need to get a thin 92mm fan for the top, switch the vertical orientation of the heatsink (basically running it backwards, but then I lost the m.2 heatsink flow), or turn it to horizontal (which of course means more work).
 
TeutonJon78 said:
I went with under the heatsink, since the Asus version is much more substantial than the MSI heatsink (and the bottom also connects to part of the heatsink as well). Plus, in the vertical orientation, the fan for the U9S is just above the heatsink, so it will give some flow there.

However, I've run into a problem. There isn't room for the fan on top of the heatsink. :eek: The end of the power cable extender gets in the way by just a hair and I can't get the fan in position. If the power connecter was mounted at the top of where it could fit, then it would work. I'm not sure how the people that have that same build actually got their fan in, unless their CPU socket is just a little bit lower. So, I'll either need to get a thin 92mm fan for the top, switch the vertical orientation of the heatsink (basically running it backwards, but then I lost the m.2 heatsink flow), or turn it to horizontal (which of course means more work).
Click to expand...

If I'm not mistaken you are planning on having a 120mm intake fan on the right side of the side bracket. That should give you plenty of airflow to the motherboard and the M.2, you don't need hurricane force.
 
TeutonJon78 said:
I went with under the heatsink, since the Asus version is much more substantial than the MSI heatsink (and the bottom also connects to part of the heatsink as well). Plus, in the vertical orientation, the fan for the U9S is just above the heatsink, so it will give some flow there.

However, I've run into a problem. There isn't room for the fan on top of the heatsink. :eek: The end of the power cable extender gets in the way by just a hair and I can't get the fan in position. If the power connecter was mounted at the top of where it could fit, then it would work. I'm not sure how the people that have that same build actually got their fan in, unless their CPU socket is just a little bit lower. So, I'll either need to get a thin 92mm fan for the top, switch the vertical orientation of the heatsink (basically running it backwards, but then I lost the m.2 heatsink flow), or turn it to horizontal (which of course means more work).
Click to expand...

Have you tried moving the internal AC power cable from the middle position to the corner position by swapping it with the small engraved plate?
 
rfarmer said:
If I'm not mistaken you are planning on having a 120mm intake fan on the right side of the side bracket. That should give you plenty of airflow to the motherboard and the M.2, you don't need hurricane force.
Click to expand...
Yeah, actually a NH-F15, so 140mm+.

Qrash said:
Have you tried moving the internal AC power cable from the middle position to the corner position by swapping it with the small engraved plate?
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I didn't even know that was an option. I saw some middle of the case power cords, but I thought that was just a case variant. What I was thinking was that I needed a panel mount version of this cable, but I can't find one (and I don't really want to build my own power cable).

Edit: middle position didn't work, but it was close. And my power cable came in the corner position.

Edit: and just to add the knowledge base, the builds that I saw with the vertical orientation seemed to have the NH-U9B SE2 heatsink rather than the NH-U9S. The total size is the same between them with two fans, but the offset is different -- the U9B SE2 is centered over the socket while the U9S is offset. This puts the U9S up higher in the chassis and into the power cable area with a top 25 mm fan.
 
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TeutonJon78 said:
Edit: and just to add the knowledge base, the builds that I saw with the vertical orientation seemed to have the NH-U9B SE2 heatsink rather than the NH-U9S. The total size is the same between them with two fans, but the offset is different -- the U9B SE2 is centered over the socket while the U9S is offset. This puts the U9S up higher in the chassis and into the power cable area.
Click to expand...

Since you are going for a vertical air path, could you rotate the NH-U9S by 180 degrees so that the offset of the heatsink shifts it towards the graphics card instead?

This might place it too close to the card, in which case you may need to consider using the horizontal airflow orientation.
 
FYI: For 1070/80 EVGA Hybrid's, the radiator fan will blow at 100% RPM unless you disconnect it from the card and connect it to the motherboard. The video card can only dynamically control the fan on the shroud. I was able to use an extension to connect it to the "chassis" fan input on my motherboard. I then went into the Bios and set the fan to DC from PWM and was able to apply a fan curve.

Even with this I would still call the Hybrid loud in that it totally overpowers all other noise from my case. I am considering replacing the DC fan with a Noctua.
 
To add to what I previously said about the U9S and vertical orientation, I did find oneofsuits' build doing just that with the U9S (yes, I bookmarked all the similar builds on my readthrough). The difference is the internal power cable. Looking at all of the older builds, the power cable was a non-jacketed version. So right after the cable entered, you could bend it various ways to make it fit. On my new V5 case, the power cable has strain relief and such. So it's a better quality cable, but it sticks into the case more, and it doesn't have that immediate flexibility available.

I wonder if there is a way to just make that panel connector sort of like a coupler/passthrough, and then you could just install whatever power cable you can on the inside (for whichever bends you need). I found double right angle cables that would work, but not a single panel mount one. I could always just dangle the end out of the computer, but this is a fancy case. ;)

Qrash said:
Since you are going for a vertical air path, could you rotate the NH-U9S by 180 degrees so that the offset of the heatsink shifts it towards the graphics card instead?

This might place it too close to the card, in which case you may need to consider using the horizontal airflow orientation.
Click to expand...

I thought about doing the 180 rotation, and it would probably fit that way vertically. But then it's back to the problem of now it would overhang the m.2/PCH heatsink, which would trap air there more, and as you said, would be very close to the graphics card that will eventually be there (when decided on) and might choke off the flow. In the current orientation, it seems like there is about a 2" gap, which would allow for enough intake.

However, I partially assembled everything just to see what it would look like when done, and I stared at it for awhile. I'm concerned that the air flows would just end up with turbulence and air pockets as it is now. The A15 will pump air in, but it might stagnate at the front of the case. The A9 rear intake will blow a good portion of the air right into the heatsink fan, and the rest on to the heatsink. And since it's blowing into the case, it might keep the air flow stuck towards the front rather than out. All just speculation. I also wonder what happens to the flow if I did mount the A9x14 on top of the fan. It would have a faster fan behind it but through the heatsink -- would have create stagnant air? I was also wondering what would happen in the future if I added a blower card. The video card would output heat out the back, which would tend to rise, and then get sucked back in somewhat by the A9 just above it.

All in all, I think I'm just going to swap to the horizontal orientation which more people have tested and works well. I'll switch the rear A9 to exhaust then, and then there will be a clean air flow path from front to back. Heat can still rise and exit the case by convection then, even if not helped by fan directly. Other potential thoughts on the cooling -- if air flow is really an issue still, I could mount a 2nd fan on the U9S (A9 or A9x) and then leave the internal A9 as exhaust (which would put those fans VERY close and probably not good) or even get one for the outside of the case. Also, maybe (or not) the D9L would have been better since vertical U9S doesn't really work easily at full configuration.

And just with the "It's alive", the i7-7700k was sitting at 39-40 C in BIOS with the single A9 running at 800 RPM. So, not too bad for Kaby Lake (and about the same as the cores in my other desktop on E8400 at idle). The DDR4-3200 @ C14 loaded up fine as well in XMP.

Also a side note for the Z270i future owners out there -- latching the CPU in place can be trickier than it should be. I was having to use WAY too much force to get the lid down even though it wasn't really going down, which had me concerned about damage. In the end, the trick was pushing the little clips down under the single screw mount as I used the lever and it went down as it should. By default, it was trying to ride up too high and then not able to slide forward.

Off to do some isopropyl cleaning and remounting.

Edit: NH-U9S build round-up: probably missed some
  • iaTa (vertical 2 fan with older power cable and exhaust) (full build)
  • DersTheSwede (vertical 2 fan with old power cable bending around the edge and exhaust)
  • JLSD (vertical 1 fan and intake)
  • nebulight and full gallery (horizontal 1 fan and exhaust)
  • Twasjesto (horiztonal 2 fan)
  • Qrash (horizontal 2 fan and lot of other posts about fancy cables)
  • ReaperX22 (horizontal 2 fans plus exhaust down to 1 fan plus exhaust)
  • blindax (horizontal 1 fan plus exhaust)
mwayne5 (vertical) build with the NH-U9B SE2 showing power cable routing and lower offset

Essentially, I'll have the nebulight/ReaperX22 (final)/blindax setup. And almost exactly blindax's setup except for Asus MB instead and no dGPU yet.
 
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xcharlesy said:
Thanks brother, the curse of browsing this site on mobile is I can't read sigs. lol. I told my body I was done with the ncase, but I might be crawling back.

I am and have been a C14 user with the ncase. Now that I am using the Z270i I want to know if this Thermalright AXP-140 is a possibility. Here we are confronted again by the concern of the Z270i shield that covers the rear:

See this pic from earlier in the thread of the way the C14 makes contact with the shield:

IMG_086971_zpszdkltwkk.jpg


And then see here how the Thermalright AXP-140 goes over to the side (below). The space is obviously concerning, but would the AXP-140 mount in a different orientation yielding success? or would it bother the shield? What do you guys think?

eZWIaZ5l.jpg
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The AXP-140 is designed for mobos with the old-style CPU socket placement right next to the PCIe slot. See the Z77E-ITX for example. With the newer central socket placement the AXP-140 will most likely have significant overhang, meaning it will conflict with the case back/top or the PSU.
 
Has anyone pulled the trigger on a 1080Ti yet? I'm slowly accumulating all of my parts and am planning a full loop. I am willing to wait for non-reference design waterblocks to be released if necessary. Right now, my understanding is that the Titan XP block will work on the 1080Ti - should I just go ahead and get the Founders Edition and watercool it? Or wait for a Seahawk or Hydrocopper variant?
 
Perdition said:
Has anyone pulled the trigger on a 1080Ti yet? I'm slowly accumulating all of my parts and am planning a full loop. I am willing to wait for non-reference design waterblocks to be released if necessary. Right now, my understanding is that the Titan XP block will work on the 1080Ti - should I just go ahead and get the Founders Edition and watercool it? Or wait for a Seahawk or Hydrocopper variant?
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Personally I would go with the FE. If the 1080/1070 is anything to go by the Seahawk will be much too wide for the Ncase, not sure about the Hydrocopper. There is a good chance that any of the vendor cards will be too wide with a waterblock, most of the 1070/1080 are.

Edit: Just checked and the Hydrocopper 1080 is 5.06" which will fit. So I guess now you need to decide if you want to wait for the Hydrocopper or get a FE.
 
pslate said:
Wanted to share my NCASE with tempered glass window build:

Album: http://imgur.com/a/6WLJs

Reddit post:
Happy to answer questions!
Click to expand...

Nice build pslate, thanks for posting up the specifics of your build. I'm actually going for something really similar in terms of cable management. My cable orientation will be pretty much the same except for the PCI-E, which will be routed behind the back plate, as opposed to under the graphics card.

What do you think these cable legnths?
  • 150mm extension + 50mm shorty = 200mm 24pin
  • 350mm extension + 50mm shorty = 400mm CPU
  • 100/150mm extension + 50mm shorty = 150/200mm PCIe
Thanks!
 
Gutsman said:
Nice build pslate, thanks for posting up the specifics of your build. I'm actually going for something really similar in terms of cable management. My cable orientation will be pretty much the same except for the PCI-E, which will be routed behind the back plate, as opposed to under the graphics card.

What do you think these cable legnths?
  • 150mm extension + 50mm shorty = 200mm 24pin
  • 350mm extension + 50mm shorty = 400mm CPU
  • 100/150mm extension + 50mm shorty = 150/200mm PCIe
Thanks!
Click to expand...

Those lengths should probably be good if your 8 pin cpu connector is in the same place as mine! I have a good bit of extra length on my cables. I would measure with a string and tape measure first just to be sure though.


And wanted to update everyone. I overclocked my 7700k to 4.9GHz. Didn't think it would get that high with a glass side panel! I delidded the processor as well. It needs 1.29v for 4.9GHz (although CPU-Z reports a lower voltage, has anyone else noticed this with the Asus Z270i?). With those settings it hits 81 degrees under the x264 stress test. 77 degrees in Aida64. With XMP enabled, my Trident Z needs a bit more voltage to POST at 3200MHz. I upped the default voltage of 1.35v to 1.37v. With the extra stress on the memory controller, the cpu gets up to 85 degrees under stress tests.

I wanted that golden 5 GHz but my chip needs a lot more voltage to be stable. It failed at 1.33v and temps were already too high.
 
Just got putting together my 2nd NCase M1 build:

6700k
Asus z170I Pro Gaming
M.2 SSD (gonna' copy Windows over from a SATA SSD and see how it fairs; Definitely prefer fewer cables)
Gigabyte Xtreme Gaming GTX 1070
SF450 PSU

CPU Cooler: NH-C14s - Caveats: Must use 120mm fan in lower position, must use slim fan in upper position. Luckly, I already had both... However, I don't have any clips for the lower fan. The upper fan was a 140mm fan with 120mm mounting, so I attached that to the side panel.

I'll test out gaming in a bit.
With the panels off (wanted to make sure that nothing was borked before I went to the hassle) running Prime95 for about 5 minutes the CPU temperature peaked at 62 degrees, with the fan speed peaking at 400rpm. (using AI Suite 3 "Silent" preset)
Not much at all in terms of fan noise, but a lot of coil whine screeching.

Is a replacement PSU likely to be better?


Edit:
Checked my other M1/SF450 pc. Minimal to no coil whine there. I'll swap out the PSUs to see if that makes a difference and will return the new/whiny SF450 if it does.

Would you recommend the 600 over the 450 for quiet computing if I eventually upgrade to a GTX 1080? The Aorus supposedly runs cooler/quieter than the Xtreme and seems to essentially be the same size.
 
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Jiv_au said:
It does fit according to the following link of the very first post:


Of course, it'll be best to compare the dimensions of the 1080ti Sea hawk with the 1080 Sea hawk prior to purchase.
Click to expand...

The user I quoted is planning a full loop so I am assuming he was talking about the Seahawk EK which is 6.5" wide. The Seahawk X which has a hybrid cooler is only 4.37" and would fit.
 
Hi guys, I've been a long time lurker (close to 2 years of oggling the M1) and am finally ready to pull the trigger. I'll be porting over my 4770k, z97 ROG Impact, and GTX 970 build from a Silverstone Ml07b.

Unfortunately, the Silver with optical drive slot is out of stock. Does anyone know when the next production run is? The web store says every ~8 months, so I guess I'm asking when I should expect to see it in stock again?
 
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Neapolitan6th said:
Man they made it so ugly! Geez. I mean cool I guess, but when you're spending that kind of money on a watercooled PC do it right.
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Chapeau said:
Normally I hold my tongue. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all... But this. WOW.
There is almost nothing that I can agree with here...
I hope the guy who built it was happy I guess.
Click to expand...

Yeah I am glad it wasn't posted in here because I don't like to make negative comments on another users build. I saw this and I was like OMG that thing is so ugly.
 
Qrash said:
It should definitely fit. On the current Nvidia 1080 Ti product page (click on Specs and then View Full Specs) the dimensions are listed as 4.376 inches (111.15 mm) x 10.5 inches (266.7 mm) and the width is 2 slots (~ 41 mm).
Click to expand...


Tx ! - anyone was able to find the 1080ti evga ICX dimension? the rad seems very diff than the regular 1080

https://img.purch.com/o/aHR0cDovL21...vbS83L0gvNjU3MzQxL29yaWdpbmFsL0Jhbm5lci5qcGc=

hopefully a version with those 2 8pin connector will fit :)
 
pslate said:
Those lengths should probably be good if your 8 pin cpu connector is in the same place as mine! I have a good bit of extra length on my cables. I would measure with a string and tape measure first just to be sure though.


And wanted to update everyone. I overclocked my 7700k to 4.9GHz. Didn't think it would get that high with a glass side panel! I delidded the processor as well. It needs 1.29v for 4.9GHz (although CPU-Z reports a lower voltage, has anyone else noticed this with the Asus Z270i?). With those settings it hits 81 degrees under the x264 stress test. 77 degrees in Aida64. With XMP enabled, my Trident Z needs a bit more voltage to POST at 3200MHz. I upped the default voltage of 1.35v to 1.37v. With the extra stress on the memory controller, the cpu gets up to 85 degrees under stress tests.

I wanted that golden 5 GHz but my chip needs a lot more voltage to be stable. It failed at 1.33v and temps were already too high.
Click to expand...


Nice thanks for the feedback Pslate! I'm planning on delidding my 6700k once my kit arrives. I'll have to see what my temps are under load once I get it all set up - will let you know. Did you use a thermal paste like liquid pro/ultra when you delid your 7700k?
 
rfarmer said:
s-l1600.jpg


Found this on ebay. What a horrendous thing to do to a Ncase. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ncase-M1-v-...349016?hash=item3f75168218:g:FT4AAOSwWxNYoX3j
Click to expand...

Neapolitan6th said:
Man they made it so ugly! Geez. I mean cool I guess, but when you're spending that kind of money on a watercooled PC do it right.
Click to expand...

Chapeau said:
Normally I hold my tongue. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all... But this. WOW.
There is almost nothing that I can agree with here...
I hope the guy who built it was happy I guess.
Click to expand...

rfarmer said:
Yeah I am glad it wasn't posted in here because I don't like to make negative comments on another users build. I saw this and I was like OMG that thing is so ugly.
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hshot_rooke said:
Looks like the owner also drilled some giant holes on each side for greater airflow...
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Chimaera43 said:
Butchered the M1, sad. That dude should have gone with a much larger case.
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Haha, well it certainly seems like my build won't appeal to many either, I rather like an 'industrial aesthetic'. To be fair, my implementation is a heck of a lot neater: CNC-milled panels so that stuff lines up. I'm going for maximum radiator capacity, so it has an EK 240SE, an EK 240PE/XE (not decided yet) and a Predator 240. I'm just peeved that someone posted a triple-240 before me. And fear-not: I have a spare top panel should the build please me no more.

You know, Necere did anticipate this sort of design "...which would've been used in conjunction with a radiator box extension on top of the case." (https://arstechnica.com/civis/viewt...id=fd9fa08faa93d763064f607a8f806922#p32195479)

FYI, this is the other known top-mounted external NCase: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/244977-hecate-2-watercooled-ncase-m1-build/ though they've put rad, res and pump outside.
 
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Well certainly it will be interesting to see your build - and we can all appreciate when a loop has been carefully planned.
I've been thinking about how I could mod my case for a full fat top radiator so I can still have something to look at from the side.

The amount of modding to do that would change the M1 so thoroughly that only the outer shell and frame would remain - I'm sure many people would disagree with that too!
 
As the silver Version with ODD Slot is already sold-out in the actual production run... When will be the next possibility to order it? The FAQ says usually in around 8 months, so not before the end of the year?
 
galletabah said:
Accelero and rear fan is coming too, but while wait:
RqWetto.jpg

35MWBG3.jpg

qqFVSrp.jpg

02WEg8W.jpg

g3gkD0O.jpg

HWlq6Fd.jpg

Hope do you like it
Click to expand...

Nice build.

Wondering how well the 1070 would cool if you just removed the shroud and fans from the card and left the heatsink with the two case fans blowing on it. A poor man's Accelero if you will.
 
greygrid said:
Nice build.

Wondering how well the 1070 would cool if you just removed the shroud and fans from the card and left the heatsink with the two case fans blowing on it. A poor man's Accelero if you will.
Click to expand...
really bad, I try it yet xD
With the stock heatskins only, the temp increase 9°, with 81 max .
 
galletabah said:
Accelero and rear fan is coming too, but while wait:
RqWetto.jpg

35MWBG3.jpg

qqFVSrp.jpg

02WEg8W.jpg

g3gkD0O.jpg

HWlq6Fd.jpg

Hope do you like it
Click to expand...

Yep, we like it!

I like your judicious use of anchors to control the path of the cables. I also like how the cables all seems to be branching out from a common trunk. I didn't know about the Aquaero fan controller, so thanks for introducing it to me! Impressive!
 
ChrisX84 said:
As the silver Version with ODD Slot is already sold-out in the actual production run... When will be the next possibility to order it? The FAQ says usually in around 8 months, so not before the end of the year?
Click to expand...
The FAQ is a little out of date at this point. The next production run will probably be in April/May.
 
Has there been anything new to report as far as the sandblasted panels go? I might buy a second M1 but wanted to wait for the possible blasted panels.
 
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