Enclosure Battle of the Boutiques Part 2: A4-SFX | S1 | SM550 | SM560

3lfk1ng

King of Cable Management
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Huge thanks, once again, go to Sliger and SFFLab for providing the SM550, SM560, and A4-SFX used in this case battle. This was by far my largest and most ambitious undertaking and I am very thankful to the community for their continued support, and patience, throughout this review process.

Unlike Part 1, this review is going to focus on the experience and performance of several common configurations. While we don't have access to all the heatsinks, pump/block combos, or radiators, this review should help to provide you with a general understanding of each configuration's capabilities.

You can view the article here and you can find our completed Sliger SM550 build from part 1 here
 

rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
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Great write up. I got my SM550 this week to go with my Ghost S1, have to say I love the look of the 550. Ghost is very classic looking and the 550 has a more aggressive look, I got the white and I love the contrast with the black. I have a 3600x in mine and will be cooling it with the ID Cooing IS 60, hopefully it will be up to the task. So far the Wraith Spire is doing a decent job, idles at 28C and max gaming temps of 65C.
 
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Titeywitey

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May 24, 2019
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Everything I've read on intake vs exhaust in the Dan points to this:

using a 92mm AIO? set the case fan + aio fan to intake.
using an air cooler? set the cooler's fan to intake and the case fans to exhaust.

It's a tall ask, but are you able to confirm this by re-testing the Dan 645lt?

It's also very interesting that using the taller case feet had no effect at all on the max temps! I'm wondering if the height change would have an effect on intake vs exhaust as well?

In any event, thanks for the write up!
 

rcmp09

Case Bender
Sep 8, 2019
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I just completed my first SFF build in the SM550 with a 1080ti and 3900x. The CPU is currently cooled using the Noctua NH-L9a. Thermals aren't that great and this causes the fan noise to be quite high. After all the testing you did in the review, would you say that the Asetek 645LT 92mm AIO would be worth the upgrade over the Noctua NH-L9a for thermals/noise/longevity of my system?
 

Thehack

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Mar 6, 2016
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I just completed my first SFF build in the SM550 with a 1080ti and 3900x. The CPU is currently cooled using the Noctua NH-L9a. Thermals aren't that great and this causes the fan noise to be quite high. After all the testing you did in the review, would you say that the Asetek 645LT 92mm AIO would be worth the upgrade over the Noctua NH-L9a for thermals/noise/longevity of my system?

For a 12 core processor? Absolutely.
 

3lfk1ng

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Yes, outside of maybe building a custom loop, there exists no better option for supporting HEDT processors inside the case.
 
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EM98xXkillerXx

Caliper Novice
Jun 6, 2016
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Hi I was wondering if the asetek 645LC fits with a sfx-L psu with custom cables in the SM550? i don't particularly care if it's a tight fit, so long as it fits I'll take it ??
 

MarcParis

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Apr 1, 2016
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Hi I was wondering if the asetek 645LC fits with a sfx-L psu with custom cables in the SM550? i don't particularly care if it's a tight fit, so long as it fits I'll take it ??
To be honest I would say "Nice try but no way"..;)

@3lfk1ng I'm a bit confused with your benchmarks results, especially comparing mine in SM550 vs Cerberus-X (with Overclocked MSI GTX 1080ti Gaming X using 300w) :
https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/sliger-sm550-compact-quiet-gaming-htpc.11928/post-176498

For me, main important temperature is GPU one, and SM550 is delivering awesome result there.

I agree that CPU cooling (using Asetek 645LT), while gaming, should be deteriorated due to GPU hot exhaust air.

However, based on my experience Asetek 645LT is better cooler than NH-L9x65 by about 10°C (same cpu)

I guess conclusion Ryzen 9 3900X (like 9900K) absolutely needs tweaks to fit inside SFF..:D
 

Titeywitey

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May 24, 2019
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To be honest I would say "Nice try but no way"..;)

@3lfk1ng I'm a bit confused with your benchmarks results, especially comparing mine in SM550 vs Cerberus-X (with Overclocked MSI GTX 1080ti Gaming X using 300w) :
https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/sliger-sm550-compact-quiet-gaming-htpc.11928/post-176498

For me, main important temperature is GPU one, and SM550 is delivering awesome result there.

I agree that CPU cooling (using Asetek 645LT), while gaming, should be deteriorated due to GPU hot exhaust air.

However, based on my experience Asetek 645LT is better cooler than NH-L9x65 by about 10°C (same cpu)

I guess conclusion Ryzen 9 3900X (like 9900K) absolutely needs tweaks to fit inside SFF..:D
OP tested with the 645LT's fan on exhaust. This performs worse than intake and has been tested by others. So their results are definitely flawed.
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
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OP tested with the 645LT's fan on exhaust. This performs worse than intake and has been tested by others. So their results are definitely flawed.
Well fan on my asetek 645LT is also in exhaust mode as my main goal is to have best GPU temperature..;)
But anyway I don't understand such gaps in cpu temperature while gaming.