(bought and installed) new Ncase owner, aircooling questions (sanity check)

[HZCH]

Hey all,

I've found a second-hand black Ncase M1 v3.0 (with the rear chopped to fit the verticla GPU bracket from MNPtech), and I'm pretty sure I'm winning the bid. The Ncase is theorically my dream case aside of an hypotheticall 3 slots PCI-e Sentry

MY main goal is to make a quiet rig, especially during idle or light load times.

I'd like to put the following rig in it :
Asus z97i motherboard
i7 4770 (I know it's a non-K, got it cheap)
16gb RAM
2 SSD (can get an M2 spare as the main drive)
Asus Strix GTX 1080ti OC

I want to :
1) remove the GPU shroud, so I can mount two bequiet Silentwing 3 or two Noctua NF-F12 fans as exhaust on the bottom of the case
2) buy a Noctua NH-U9S as a cpu cooler, and mount it as an intake from the rear of the case
3) buy the Corsair SF600 platinum

There's a deal on the PSU right now, so I can get it cheap.

Is there something I should look for ? Did I just screw up with my GPU and the version of the case ? Thank's for your help!

 

[rfarmer]

Can you still mount the GPU in the normal position after the modifications for the vertical GPU bracket? Otherwise it should work fine. The Strix will fit with the shroud on but only allow you to use 15mm fans, seems like you are aware of this. Take your time installing the Strix, I hear it can be a challenge to get it into the case.

 

[HZCH]

Can you still mount the GPU in the normal position after the modifications for the vertical GPU bracket? Otherwise it should work fine. The Strix will fit with the shroud on but only allow you to use 15mm fans, seems like you are aware of this. Take your time installing the Strix, I hear it can be a challenge to get it into the case.

As far as I know (and according to the pictures), the now-ex-owner has removed some fins out of the 92mm fan hole, which let him screw the MNPCtech bracket in the 92mm mount (and leave place for the cables). So the original PCIe slots are still here, untouched.
I'm aware of the shroud That's why I'm removing it, and want to screw 25mm fans instead. You're also right about the GPU being a challenge - it was a challenge to work in this HUGE Define Mini C and the 1080ti with the Morpheus on it... Hopefully my times with the Node 304 shall be useful when I'm actually ready to assemble my rig

 

[Revenant]

Double check if that 1080ti will fit. I don’t know off hand.

Video cards do better when air is blowing against them, more specifically the VRMs. But try both. There is some variance to individual setups.

U9S is very quiet. I suggest that you consider running a side intake over the PSU area rather than on the back of the case. You can use a larger, slower fan which reduces noise and vibration. Remember that one of the biggest challenges to aluminum cases is vibration.

I personally had very good results with the Cryorig C1. In stock form it’s not the best. However, I replaced the stock fan with a Noiseblocker 120x25, and added a second fan directly above it. It kept the VRMs very cool. My 6700k hit 4.6ghz prime AVX stable.

 

[HZCH]

Thanks for your help. The Strix fits without its shroud, but I really don't know how the hell people managed to put that GPU inside, especially because of the thickness of the front IO (At least in the v3 I own) (I know actually how people did it, but it seems a harrowing task).
And coming from a big case like the Define Mini C, I find the GPU cooling to be extremely difficult :
- the 2 BeQuiet SilentWings 3 120mm fans exhaust 84° air on my right hand
- they have to run at 1050 rpm to cope with the heat during stress tests (I've left the stock GPU settings). It's indeed quieter than the stock fans, but I was getting used to not hearing anything at all.
- I will try to plug the fans on the GPU external fan headers, but I'm pretty sure it won't work (yes, I know how to enable those headers and calibrate them, but the Strix fails to use them)
- now I'm trying to understand how the hell can I undervolt the GPU while forcing it NOT to boost like hell (I'm using Afterburner, I know almost nothing about OC, so undervolting a GPU that controls itself its own offset voltage to boost whatever MHz it wants drives me crazy)

I'm still having to check again if, at pure stock settings, the Strix can be handled by the fans in exhaust (through 3dmark stress test) ; I'm also looking for a slim fan adapter so the 120mm fans are directly driven by the GPU - let it be by Afterburner or that awful GPU teak from Asus.

 

[Maniac]

Have the same GPU and the external case fan headers work just fine. Tried using the original gpu fan headers with an adapter and spliter, that did not work.

 

[HZCH]

Have the same GPU and the external case fan headers work just fine. Tried using the original gpu fan headers with an adapter and spliter, that did not work.

Oh. Thanks for your imput. I really don't understand what is going on with the Strix fan headers - most rigs posters I've seen with similar mods said they had issues with the external fan headers, some had not, and you have the opposite issue.

Might take a shot again at plugin the fans in the external case fan header. Or try a different fan.

 

[Maniac]

Yeah there seems to be different versions or models of the 1080ti Strix cards, I've noticed that lately.
I for instance cannot attach the noctua fans all the way up against the grill, since it has metal pieces sticking out of it, would stop or damage the fans. While others with the same card have no issues with doing this, as their grill is more smooth and doesn't block the fans. Go figure...