Advice Advice on emulating this particular Sliger Cerbeus build?

[Haze]

My current PC is running into a slew of problems, most that I can probably attribute to the fact that I have to fly quite often, and whenever I'd take my PC with me as a checked bag, I run the very real risk of causing serious damage to my PC. Now, my PC is on its very last legs, and before I have to fly again, I wanted to try and build a small form factor desktop PC I can reasonably bring with me stuffed in a carry-on bag with padding, so I an personally assure that it's being taken care of when I travel.

In the end, I decided on the Sliger Cerberus case, which is the largest case that I can find that fits this criteria, and this user-submitted build is pretty close to what I had in mind.

Now the question is, how do I go about aproximately copying this build? I recognize the Cryorig H7 cooler, and the fact that it just barely fits the case which is perfect for me, but what sizes fans should I be using for the rest of the case? To possibly account for real estate, I think I might go for a Mini-DTX motherboard over a mATX, and I really quite like the ROG Crosshair VIII Impact too. Will that affect the build in any meaningful way? And what about the PSU? Is it really okay to mount it in front of where the air cooler draws air from? With a fan in that particular position, will there still be enough room to fit a 6900 XT?

If there's anything I should know, please, do let me know!

 

[rfarmer]

I'll page @MarcParis for this one, he is the expert on all things Cerberus.

 

[thelaughingman]

@Haze if you've decided to go with mDTX then I'd suggest the M1 instead - you can bring the M1 with you to the cabin and not risking any thing at all with checked luggage

 

[Haze]

I'll page @MarcParis for this one, he is the expert on all things Cerberus.

Thank you so much! I'll look forward to the reply.

@Haze if you've decided to go with mDTX then I'd suggest the M1 instead - you can bring the M1 with you to the cabin and not risking any thing at all with checked luggage

I've actually taken a look at the NCASE M1, but the fact that it's currently out of stock and that it's going to have to ship to where I currently am in North America with COVID delays going on makes me a bit wary of it. The Cerberus is quite a bit bigger than the M1, but unless I'm mistaken, It's still small enough to fit within a standard sized carry on luggage. For me, I'd ideally want a case as big as possible, while still being small enough to fit within a 22” x 14” x 9” suitcase.

 

[MarcParis]

My current PC is running into a slew of problems, most that I can probably attribute to the fact that I have to fly quite often, and whenever I'd take my PC with me as a checked bag, I run the very real risk of causing serious damage to my PC. Now, my PC is on its very last legs, and before I have to fly again, I wanted to try and build a small form factor desktop PC I can reasonably bring with me stuffed in a carry-on bag with padding, so I an personally assure that it's being taken care of when I travel.

In the end, I decided on the Sliger Cerberus case, which is the largest case that I can find that fits this criteria, and this user-submitted build is pretty close to what I had in mind.

Now the question is, how do I go about aproximately copying this build? I recognize the Cryorig H7 cooler, and the fact that it just barely fits the case which is perfect for me, but what sizes fans should I be using for the rest of the case? To possibly account for real estate, I think I might go for a Mini-DTX motherboard over a mATX, and I really quite like the ROG Crosshair VIII Impact too. Will that affect the build in any meaningful way? And what about the PSU? Is it really okay to mount it in front of where the air cooler draws air from? With a fan in that particular position, will there still be enough room to fit a 6900 XT?

If there's anything I should know, please, do let me know!

@rfarmer tada!! (thanks for summoning me)

As you travel a lot, first advice to avoid watercooling of any sort. (pity for my Rear intake 645LT solution..)

For cpu aircooling, C14S (intake, 2 fans) remains the king. Tower cpu cooler are really suited for Cerberus due to the lack of fresh air from front.
For bottom, 140mm fan are useless vs 120mm as they are used only to bring fresh air to GPU. You are able to reach open air bench GPU cooling inside Cerberus cases with dual bottom 120mm fans (intake).

Yes 6900XT will fit your Cerberus (especially without front fan)

Here is cooling solution I recommend for you :

• Noctua C14S with dual fans (intake by default, or exhaust if you want to maximize GPU cooling over CPU)
• Top bracket : Noctua NF A12x15 (exhaust)
• Rear : Noctua NF A09-PWM (optional)
• Side bracket : (One of the FAN of C14S)
• Bottom : 2x120 intake fan (NF A12x25 are great as they remains quiet, but expensive)
• Front : No fan

Check my signature, I've done a full build log since 2017 inside my Cerberus-X. I've tried a lot of different cooling solution.

 

[elvendawn]

Hi Haze, here is a few pictures of my Cerberus with the Crosshair VIII Impact. You should have no issues with your plans to fit this motherboard, and that video card. I agree with MarcParis that the C14S is the better option for cooling. If your goal is the black and red look, unfortunately the C14S does not have a Chromax version yet, but you can get Chromax fans for it (Noctua-NF-A14-PWM-chromax). I was also able to fit a slim 120mm fan in front of my video card even with the stock shroud, and the card I was using was the Gigabyte RTX 2080 White OC Gaming, which is overall longer than the 6900 XT.

 

[ignsvn]

Here's a different point of view for the CPU cooler: if you're not using a super hot CPU, I suggest to use a lighter or shorter CPU cooler. It'll reduce the stress/strain on the motherboard especially when you move.

Perhaps a Noctua NH-L9x65 or NH-L12.

 

[elvendawn]

Can always pack it with something, small towels, or cut up some foam blocks (like Yoga blocks, or R-board) that fit inbetween things to help brace everything during the traveling.

 

[Haze]

Thank you all so much for the speedy and helpful responses! I don't really have any experience building SFF PCs, and getting all this help was more than I could ever hoped for. Again, thank you!

@MarcParis , I was a bit wary of top-down air coolers from the kind of stuff I've heard of it before, but considering the the case itself, it does make much more sense. I think I'll follow your suggestion and go for a Noctua C14S instead.

@elvendawn , that's great to hear! I'm quite fond of that motherboard in particular, but to know that it fits the C14S is really nice. Does the cooler make contact or push at the M.2 expansion at all? Would you say that it's worth getting a mDTX mobo over a mATX for this case in particular?

@ignsvn , I plan on getting my hands on a 5900X or a 5950X, hopefully before scalpers buy them all out again. I hope that with a C14S, it'd give me enough cooling potential to at least keep temps reasonable during load.

 

[MarcParis]

Thank you all so much for the speedy and helpful responses! I don't really have any experience building SFF PCs, and getting all this help was more than I could ever hoped for. Again, thank you!

@MarcParis , I was a bit wary of top-down air coolers from the kind of stuff I've heard of it before, but considering the the case itself, it does make much more sense. I think I'll follow your suggestion and go for a Noctua C14S instead.

@elvendawn , that's great to hear! I'm quite fond of that motherboard in particular, but to know that it fits the C14S is really nice. Does the cooler make contact or push at the M.2 expansion at all? Would you say that it's worth getting a mDTX mobo over a mATX for this case in particular?

@ignsvn , I plan on getting my hands on a 5900X or a 5950X, hopefully before scalpers buy them all out again. I hope that with a C14S, it'd give me enough cooling potential to at least keep temps reasonable during load.

Np.
No major issues to cool 5900x/5950x with C14S. Most probably keep solution with dual fan as intake to get most of cpu potential. Hopefully future sterrox 140mm will be released by end of 2021. I’m not a big fan of 140mm fan as they tend to be noisier than 120mm.

 

[elvendawn]

@elvendawn , that's great to hear! I'm quite fond of that motherboard in particular, but to know that it fits the C14S is really nice. Does the cooler make contact or push at the M.2 expansion at all? Would you say that it's worth getting a mDTX mobo over a mATX for this case in particular?

It does make slight contact, but nothing that was worrying. The SODIMM Riser is pretty cool if like both your M.2's cooled and on the front side. You can still remove the SODIMM (for maintenance of M.2s etc) if needed when the C14S is installed, but you'll have to temporarily remove the GPU, not a big deal.

DTX vs mATX, it's honestly your preference as either will fit fine. I ended getting my hands on a I9-9900KS at the time and switched to an mATX z390 motherboard, and had no issues either way. Only other thing I would say is, as nice as the Crosshair VII Impact is, I'm not sure it's worth the extra price over a decent mATX, unless you want the option to go smaller in the future.

 

[MarcParis]

It does make slight contact, but nothing that was worrying. The SODIMM Riser is pretty cool if like both your M.2's cooled and on the front side. You can still remove the SODIMM (for maintenance of M.2s etc) if needed when the C14S is installed, but you'll have to temporarily remove the GPU, not a big deal.

DTX vs mATX, it's honestly your preference as either will fit fine. I ended getting my hands on a I9-9900KS at the time and switched to an mATX z390 motherboard, and had no issues either way. Only other thing I would say is, as nice as the Crosshair VII Impact is, I'm not sure it's worth the extra price over a decent mATX, unless you want the option to go smaller in the future.

Mini rtx mb is a bit overkill..
It’s a pity that there is no new « gene » micro atx motherboard.. my rampagge gene III is still working 11 years after...