Black copper NCase M1

[BaK]

Hi SFF freaks!

I will post some pics of my NCase M1 build which I started a couple of years ago.
I made my MiniCube in the meanwhile, but that was still a long journey!
Especially finding the right pieces for my first custom loop was a hard task. The choice is sort of limited here in Switzerland, furthermore if you want to keep the price down, which is not easy in general with watercooling stuff.
And of course, fitting everything in this great ITX case was a challenge in itself, but this is where the fun is!

Well, the build is finally up and running. Still have some thing to tune up, but at least everything turned out well, which I wasn't sure of before filling the loop and pushing the power switch, so I can now present it to you!

Here are the components:
i7 6700K + Heatkiller IV copper block
Asrock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac
2x 16GB G.Skill Aegis DDR4-2400
Gainward GTX970 Phantom
Siverstone ST450F-G + Noiseblocker BlackSilentPRO PC-P 80mm x 15mm
KingFast mSATA 500GB + M.2 adapter
PNY SSD 480GB
2x 12mm Anti-vandal switch
MCubed FanAmp
Alphacool mini water tank res
Watercool WCP D5 pump + Barrow mod kit + Bitspower pump top
Watercool Heatkiller IV PRO Pure Copper + backplate
Watercool HEATKILLER GPU-X3 GTX 970 Pure Copper + backplate
Magicool G2 Slim Radiator 16 FPI - 240mm + 4x Phobya NB-eLoop 1800rpm 120mm
Magicool G2 Slim Radiator 16 FPI - 120mm + 1x CoolerMaster XtraFlo slim 120mm
Phobya temperature sensor
Barrow adapter fittings
Boom compression fittings
Tygon R6012 Norprene tubing 12,7-9,6mm (3/8"-1/2")
NCASE M1 v.2

As a start, the mobo, from red to black:
Before

After plasti dip and paint

With the RAM sticks

Check the modified heatsink next to the CPU 8pin port

 

[cmyk78]

That black looks nice on the Fatal1ty, can't wait for the rest of the build.

 

[devinkato]

looks nice, just wanted to call out that the plastidip (especially) and paint are going to act as insulators and prevent the heatsinks from doing their job. If you're really committed to the color scheme, getting them reanodized black would be the right way to do it.

 

[jeshikat]

Oh nice, we don't see very many M1 builds around here for some reason. I agree with @devinkato, painting the heatsink does reduce it's thermal transfer capacity.

Though this won't really matter for the chipset, it's a lower power part so whether the heatsink is painted or not won't make a difference.

 

[Ceros_X]

How did you paint those memory slots?

 

[stree]

matte black should be fine, just avoid gloss finish because that will hold the heat.

 

[BaK]

Yeah I know plasti dip is supposed to reduce the heatsinks cooling capacity, but I am not too worried with the power to deal with as mentionned by Aibohphobia. Plus there will be a 120mm fan less than 2cm away blowing on them.

How did you paint those memory slots?

Sort of ghetto mod, didn't want to protect all the board to use a can spray so I just took a permanent marker. As it was shiny I keep it as a primer and made a second matt layer with a deco painter pencil.

In case this not obvious on my pics, I removed a part of the upper lips on the heatsink next to the CPU 8pin port. A fitting is going there!

 

[BaK]

The GPU block

 

[NRG]

The GPU block

 

[BaK]

The 240mm slim rad with push/pull setup

Cables of the fans have also been ghetto black colored with the 2 pencils layers.
Make as if you don't see the tiny spot of green PCB

Thanx to the push/pull, I will try to achieve good cooling with low fans speed to keep them quiet. I know this is subject to discussion whether or not push/pull is the way to go, some say more fans can only add noise. I will make some tests!

Due to space restriction and also to keep a tidy cables management, cables have been put flat into heatshrink tubings, wasn't easy to have them stayed next to each other in the right order, fingers got burnt in the process!

Homemade fans hub on the right

It has been covered with (plunged into) liquid tape to avoid any shorts

 

[NRG]

From watercooling experience, I vaguely remember push-pull on slim rads having next to no benefit? Not saying it's a bad idea, but from the research I did at the time, I don't think it actually makes a difference.

 

[BaK]

From watercooling experience, I vaguely remember push-pull on slim rads having next to no benefit? Not saying it's a bad idea, but from the research I did at the time, I don't think it actually makes a difference.

Yep, I just want to experience push/pull by myself and see what I can get. Will let you know!
Not saying I hate to leave free space in a PC case!

 

[NRG]

Yep, I just want to experience push/pull by myself and see what I can get. Will let you know!
Not saying I hate to leave free space in a PC case!

I'd love to see the numbers for comparisons sake

 

[BaK]

In addition to the 240mm rad, another one of 120mm is taking place under the GPU.

Sandwiched between this rad and the GPU comes a slim (pull) fan.

Dunno if this will help the cooling a lot, as I want to keep the slim 120 fan silent...
At least it won't hurt the delta T and maybe the GPU will benefit of the air blowing on it.

This will also expand the quantity of water in the loop, do you guys think it is helpful?

 

[MarcParis]

Nice build, but I worried about maintenance...

 

[BaK]

Merci mec!
I agree about maintenance, but well that's often the case with sff.
I admit though my habit to stuff my cases to the max doesn't help on easy accessibility if something needs to be fixed.

 

[BaK]

I've made some custom pieces for the M1, a new front bracket for a power switch without other ports, another for a reset switch at the back and a little L piece to help supporting the weight of the rad-push/pull unit

Painted, vandal switch with added resistance installed

New 12mm power switch + white power LED On the M1

Reset switch + HDD LED on the back

 

[Phuncz]

Wow that's really well done !

 

[Josh | NFC]

Wicked...

 

[BaK]

Thanx guys, glad you like it!

Okay, enough of teasing, let's see the whole rig!

Early stage

Mini res and CPU block

Top view

To improve the mini res and not have inlet and outlet opposite to each other, which is not ideal to remove bubbles, I turned it upside down.
Inlet is now on the right and outlet on the bottom.
Of course this will make the filling more tricky, but not impossible!

A shot from the other side of the case

Under the CPU backplate is an mSATA disk connected into the M.2 port via an adapter.
Unfortunately this combo is not recognized in the UEFI BIOS. Will have to find another option, still hesitating between cheaper SATA M.2 or NVME M.2.