Discussion Acat X2 Info

Keleche

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Feb 9, 2021
27
10
I ordered an Acat X2 via SuperBuy and would love to get other owners or soon to be owners here to discuss the case.

I paid $205 for the case then SuperBuy asked for $5 more to cover shipping. They took some nice inspection photos and everything looks good as far as I can tell. The photo showed that the US/EU power plug was included and everything looks the same compared to other photos I've seen online from people.

The part that surprised me was the expensive shipping though! I ended up going with EMS for $142 which was then reduced down to $132 a few days later after the refund. I presume I could have saved maybe $50 or more by going directly through TaoBao but who knows. My total for the case and shipping is now $342 which is pretty dang pricey. I'm hoping it'll at least have the same thermals as my Ncase M1, but I'm hoping it'll be a hair better even since you can throw in top slim fans.
 
  • Like
Reactions: iatacs19 and evadne

tinyitx

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 25, 2018
2,279
2,338
I am neither an owner or a soon-to-be owner. I am a high-probability future owner.
As such, I hope you do not mind my being here to discuss about this case.

BTW, the top can take ''2x12025 or 2x14015''. Two 12025 fans are quite powerful to provide lots of air movement. The diagrams show 2x12025. Two 12025 top fans and the two rear 8025 fans (vs single 9025 of M1) should make this case much more ventilated.
 

Keleche

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Feb 9, 2021
27
10
I am neither an owner or a soon-to-be owner. I am a high-probability future owner.
As such, I hope you do not mind my being here to discuss about this case.

BTW, the top can take ''2x12025 or 2x14015''. Two 12025 fans are quite powerful to provide lots of air movement. The diagrams show 2x12025. Two 12025 top fans and the two rear 8025 fans (vs single 9025 of M1) should make this case much more ventilated.
Hey of course I don't mind! Thanks for stopping by haha.

I was curious about that actually. So you can indeed put two 25mm thick fans up top but they have to be 120mm, not 140mm. I feel like two 120x25 would be better than two 140x15s what do you think?

I currently have a 90x25 Noctua fan in my M1 and was thinking of throwing in two Arctic F8's (there are so many versions of these I don't know which I'd choose) to have two 80x25 fans in the Acat X2. Then if you can indeed have 25mm thick fans up top, I'll probably throw two Arctic P12s on the bottom and two on the top. Finally, I'll have one on the side bracket opposite my tower cooler connected to a 3d printed duct which will exhaust air out of my 3070FE. So all in all that'd be 7 case fans.
 

dc443

Average Stuffer
Jun 4, 2020
64
17
I'm also interested in this case as well. It seems to be the most compact possible mATX case that supports 280mm AIO, a very unique setup. I was going to wait to do a Zen3 TR build but I caved yesterday and picked up a 5950X. Even with the 5950X an argument could well be made for micro ATX. It's just interesting that <15L is possible like this.
 

Keleche

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Feb 9, 2021
27
10
I'm also interested in this case as well. It seems to be the most compact possible mATX case that supports 280mm AIO, a very unique setup. I was going to wait to do a Zen3 TR build but I caved yesterday and picked up a 5950X. Even with the 5950X an argument could well be made for micro ATX. It's just interesting that <15L is possible like this.
It's a truly beautiful case and it outperforms the Ncase M1 in my benchmarks. I just found I prefer the looks of the Ncase. I can still answer questions about it though!

Moderator break: As per the forum rules, selling and/or linking to sell threads on other platforms is forbidden outside if the BST sub-forum.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Larry223

Trash Compacter
Jan 16, 2021
47
6
Which top/bottom hats did you get?
I actually wanna build a pc with this case too, I was thinking of doin a custom loop in white with a l or m tophat and a s bottom hat and 2x280mm rads 5950x+3090. Any suggestions?
 

Keleche

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Feb 9, 2021
27
10
Which top/bottom hats did you get?
I actually wanna build a pc with this case too, I was thinking of doin a custom loop in white with a l or m tophat and a s bottom hat and 2x280mm rads 5950x+3090. Any suggestions?
I didn't get any tophats and was able to mount 25mm thick fans on the bottom and top. To do that on the top you have to lower the PSU bracket down to the lowest position. This doesn't restrict the GPU length or anything so it's a win-win. Here are some photos comparing the Acat X2 to the NR200 and Ncase M1:

Acat X2 compared to NR200 and Ncase M1 - Imgur
 

Larry223

Trash Compacter
Jan 16, 2021
47
6
I didn't get any tophats and was able to mount 25mm thick fans on the bottom and top. To do that on the top you have to lower the PSU bracket down to the lowest position. This doesn't restrict the GPU length or anything so it's a win-win. Here are some photos comparing the Acat X2 to the NR200 and Ncase M1:

Acat X2 compared to NR200 and Ncase M1 - Imgur
Sor I got the names wrong, so if I don’t use a top hat,will I be able to use a slim rad with 25mm fans at the top? Also, can I do the same thing on the bottom with a 1slot water block gpu?
 

Keleche

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Feb 9, 2021
27
10
Sor I got the names wrong, so if I don’t use a top hat,will I be able to use a slim rad with 25mm fans at the top? Also, can I do the same thing on the bottom with a 1slot water block gpu?
There is barely room for the 25mm fans themselves at the top. I'm not sure if there is a radiator out there that can fit in a 25mm space.

There is room for a radiator on the bottom and on the side so you could have both I suppose. It'd be more or less the same as Optimum Tech's Ncase builds with water cooling I suppose.
 

Larry223

Trash Compacter
Jan 16, 2021
47
6
There is barely room for the 25mm fans themselves at the top. I'm not sure if there is a radiator out there that can fit in a 25mm space.

There is room for a radiator on the bottom and on the side so you could have both I suppose. It'd be more or less the same as Optimum Tech's Ncase builds with water cooling I suppose.
Oh ok tks. Also, is there a cable management compartment behind the mobo tray? R there 2.5 drive slots?
 

Keleche

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Feb 9, 2021
27
10
Oh ok tks. Also, is there a cable management compartment behind the mobo tray? R there 2.5 drive slots?
I wouldn't call it a compartment, but there is definitely room for cables behind the mobo just like the Ncase M1 and NR200. I routed my CPU cable behind the motherboard so it's completely hidden and pops out in the top corner.

You can mount two 3.5in. or three 2.5in drives if I recall.
 

Larry223

Trash Compacter
Jan 16, 2021
47
6
I wouldn't call it a compartment, but there is definitely room for cables behind the mobo just like the Ncase M1 and NR200. I routed my CPU cable behind the motherboard so it's completely hidden and pops out in the top corner. You can mount two 3.5in. or three 2.5in drives if I recall.
ok tks
 
  • Like
Reactions: Keleche

evadne

Trash Compacter
Jan 15, 2020
46
50
Mine has shipped domestically (within China) this weekend, roughly 2 weeks after order. It is now en route to UK.

Regarding the design of this case, there is only one annoying issue which is that due to the construction of the case, any radiator wider than 140mm can not fit properly in the top (with top hat) or the bottom (with or without top hat). The Ghost S1 top hats screw into the unit vertically so available width is not impacted. As far as I can see, X2 modules are screwed into the main unit by secondary plates that run vertically.

A second issue is that by design, the side mounted radiator is to be slid into the unit vertically, but this makes maintenance very annoying if you had a top hat.
 
  • Like
Reactions: thelaughingman

shouldiwaketofind

What's an ITX?
New User
Apr 21, 2021
1
0
Inspection photos from Superbuy @
Mine has shipped domestically (within China) this weekend, roughly 2 weeks after order. It is now en route to UK.

Regarding the design of this case, there is only one annoying issue which is that due to the construction of the case, any radiator wider than 140mm can not fit properly in the top (with top hat) or the bottom (with or without top hat). The Ghost S1 top hats screw into the unit vertically so available width is not impacted. As far as I can see, X2 modules are screwed into the main unit by secondary plates that run vertically.

A second issue is that by design, the side mounted radiator is to be slid into the unit vertically, but this makes maintenance very annoying if you had a top hat.
Did they include a power cable for UK plugs?
 

evadne

Trash Compacter
Jan 15, 2020
46
50
Delivery arrived and complaint sent to Superbuy on the same day… I do not know how this happened. Maybe something was bent during shipping? If you are buying via them, make sure to request detailed photos in these problem areas.

 

evadne

Trash Compacter
Jan 15, 2020
46
50
Also… FYI…
  • There is 12mm from the top of the motherboard standoffs to the inside of the side panel, so essentially there is 12mm from the backside of the motherboard into which you can fit M.2 SSDs with heatsinks
  • Internal motherboard tray is 4mm thick
 

dc443

Average Stuffer
Jun 4, 2020
64
17
Damn @evadne sorry to see you had some issues. I still love this case, but I ended up going with a Iqunix ZX-1 for my 5950X build. So far the use of the riser has not been an issue for me (Uplink riser was not cheap though, but at least it's working properly) and I am happy with the 10.7L size of the case. Am currently struggling with some ECC memory issues, none of my ECC posts in the Strix X570-I board I got. I made another post about it. Aside from this one issue, it's a complete dream come true.

Wow it's been nearly 3 months since I got my 5950X, and since then we've got confirmation that Zen 3 Threadripper is coming in August. I was under the impression that this Acat X2 can support microATX but now that I look I see the 4th PCIe slot is cut off. Not sure what's going on there... I have to concede that microATX threadripper doesn't seem likely at all. Probably better to just throw 5 more liters at it with a Cerberus X and get all the slots...
 
  • Like
Reactions: evadne

evadne

Trash Compacter
Jan 15, 2020
46
50
Damn @evadne sorry to see you had some issues.
Seller has agreed to replace all problematic parts so I guess that’s the silver lining!

I managed to almost complete the build but the design is kind of in the way with my goal of building a custom loop with 3x 280mm radiators. Top & Bottom Hats were needed and it is tricky to re-fit side panels during assembly.

I was under the impression that this Acat X2 can support microATX
This probably requires the mATX add-on which adds some height to the system.
 
  • Like
Reactions: thelaughingman