Case Study: Air Cooling Inside an NCASE M1

[MeltedCactus]

Hey mate,

I've installed everything, went off without a hitch... Well my M2 drive disappeared for a while there, was a bit worried, but it's working again now. Phew!

Thanks for the tips, I think it's done now and I will hopefully not have to open it again.


Have yet to run a game or a benchmark yet, but I've already switched the GPU to power saving mode.

I'm not very savvy with these AMD tools Wattman and Ryzen Master... But from what I can see my idle temperatures are apparently;

CPU - Fluctuates between 30-40C
GPU - 27C

I'm just playing PUBG with Ultra settings and AA and the temps are;

CPU - not sure why but it says it's still 40C...somehow i don't believe that.
GPU - 73C

To be honest I don't find this GPU to be that loud...

Those are great temps! That's a sweet little build and honestly I'm a little jealous of your Ryzen CPU! I'm glad to hear your GPU isn't too loud. Also, for a blower stle those are great temps. With my non-blower style card I hover around 67-69C playing PUBG. Do you happen to do any streaming of PUBG? I'm totally hooked on that game at the moment.

 

[Kalski]

Hey!
Was wondering, if anyone could test out the differences between having the cpu fans both clipped to the cpu cooler, and one in back as exhaust, without the 120mm intake fan? I'm planning to have a 1080 strix and a sidepanel window mod, so there is no option for a fan there.
Thanks!

 

[ak3nji]

For anyone interested, this is what i have achieved with my N1 and the Vega 56 in regards to overclocking/undervolting, not adding much more in regards to temperature, but more power to my GPU.

 

[tamm]

How were you able to run all of the fans? Could you let us know what fan splitters you used?

 

[tinyitx]

MeltedCactus, good post and thread.

I understand your preference of air over water. However, in the camp of air coolers, would you mind sharing how you came to decide on using a little tower (NH-U9S) rather than using a downblowing type air cooler, in the M1 ?

 

[MeltedCactus]

MeltedCactus, good post and thread.

I understand your preference of air over water. However, in the camp of air coolers, would you mind sharing how you came to decide on using a little tower (NH-U9S) rather than using a downblowing type air cooler, in the M1 ?

Hi tinyitx,

Unfortunately, there was no masterful research or study done be myself when it came to deciding on which style CPU cooler to go with in my build. I saw a lot of NCASE builds on PCPartPicker using the tower style coolers. Most builds I saw were using tower coolers from either Cryorig or Noctua so that's what I decided to go with.

I did have some logical thoughts regarding my choice before seeing other build examples online which I'll share below, but I'm not sure it would have a large affect on temps.

My idea behind going with the tower style cooler is that I can "direct" the air flow better this way. With a down-blowing style CPU cooler I felt I would just be dispersing the hot air all over the case in a non-efficient way. Coupled with the fact my GPU is a non-blower style card I felt like I was already dumping an excessive amount of hot air in the case.

In conclusion, for me the tower style allows for a nice front to rear push/pull setup and with the M1's larger rear vent pattern (compared to its other side and top panels) I felt this was the most efficient way to get hot air out of the case. I also believe the tower cooler in this situation helps move the hot air rising from the GPU out the rear as well, where a down-blowing CPU cooler might just move it around the case.

I hope this helps.

PS - If you go with a down-blowing style cooler I'd love to read about your results.

Thanks,

Cactus

 

[tinyitx]

Cactus, my logic is actually exactly the same as yours. Even though I do not have a M1 sitting in front of me, but from the numerous pics that I have seen, I also conclude that a tower style cooler should give better chassis air flow management than a down-blowing type could.

The one thing that 'bothers' me is, in the official product webpage, the M1 is shown with a down-blowing cooler (looks like a Thermalright AXP-100H or 200 Muscle) in the demo setup. So, I wonder if the designer of the case knows something that I might have missed. Afterall, I suppose he must have done extensive thermal testing with his case. But, on the other hand, using a down-blowing cooler in the demo pic might just be for aesthetic purpose. I must agree that a Thermalright AXP-200 looks more 'substantial' sitting in an M1 than a little tower cooler does.

 

[wdh1000]

Based on what I've seen the Noctua NH-C14 was the "horizontal" cooler of choice but the replacement NH-C14S does not have adequate clearance. The other horizontal coolers are sub-optimal due to installation challenges. That leaves the Noctua NH-U9S or NH-D9L as the best Noctua solution for the M1.

 

[Kenosis]

I just bought my rig for ncase m1 v5 and im wondering what will be the best cpu cooling and fan for this build.
Cpu: i7 8700k
Gpu: gigabyte geforce 1080 windforce
Ram: hyper x 2400 8gb
Ssd: 950 m.2 500gb
Psu:sf600
Mobo: asus z370 i strix

For Good temp.
For gaming and rendering.

Hoping for active replies thanks.

 

[rfarmer]

I just bought my rig for ncase m1 v5 and im wondering what will be the best cpu cooling and fan for this build.
Cpu: i7 8700k
Gpu: gigabyte geforce 1080 windforce
Ram: hyper x 2400 8gb
Ssd: 950 m.2 500gb
Psu:sf600
Mobo: asus z370 i strix

For Good temp.
For gaming and rendering.

Hoping for active replies thanks.

If you are delidding the 8700k you could go for one of Noctua's 92mm tower coolers, either the NH-D9L or NH-U9S. If non delidded your best bet is probably a 240mm AIO. Look for one with the shortest most flexible tubing and swivel barbs on the block.

If you want to stay with air cooling the Noctua NH-C14 is probably the best air cooler that will fit in a Ncase, if you can find one. The NH-C14S will work with some modification. You can't use 25mm fans on the bracket, but you can use 15mm. In order to use the lower 140mm fan on the Noctua you have to move the PSU to the front of the case. Get a SFX to ATX adapter bracket and attach it to the ATX mounting bracket for the Ncase.

 

[MultiDoc]

+1 to what @rfarmer suggested.

If I may also suggest that you get at least 16GB RAM, 8 is just too little.

 

[Kenosis]

Tha

If you are delidding the 8700k you could go for one of Noctua's 92mm tower coolers, either the NH-D9L or NH-U9S. If non delidded your best bet is probably a 240mm AIO. Look for one with the shortest most flexible tubing and swivel barbs on the block.

If you want to stay with air cooling the Noctua NH-C14 is probably the best air cooler that will fit in a Ncase, if you can find one. The NH-C14S will work with some modification. You can't use 25mm fans on the bracket, but you can use 15mm. In order to use the lower 140mm fan on the Noctua you have to move the PSU to the front of the case. Get a SFX to ATX adapter bracket and attach it to the ATX mounting bracket for the Ncase.

Thanks for the reply sir. Very well appreciated.
Btw noctua product are the hardest cooling to find here. (Guess ill go online shopping)
But im hoping to get AIO cooling but what would its possible temp . While gaming and rendering.
Also in air cooling. What is the range of temp i can get. Ill go for the coolest though.
Im new to this community and i dont have experience that much.

Hoping for replies thanks .

 

[MultiDoc]

In my build (see sig for specs) I use the NH-D9L with 3 92mm redux fans. And after configuring custom fan profile with the Asus Fan Expert the system is silent at normal use/work and in stressing/benching/heavy gaming temps max out at ~70C (~75C in benching) while still remaining very pleasantly quiet.

 

[Kenosis]

In my build (see sig for specs) I use the NH-D9L with 3 92mm redux fans. And after configuring custom fan profile with the Asus Fan Expert the system is silent at normal use/work and in stressing/benching/heavy gaming temps max out at ~70C (~75C in benching) while still remaining very pleasantly quiet.

Thank for feedback
Does ncase cant be more cooler? Like 60c?
Im planning to copy your fan cause 70c is a promising temp.
Btw ia your weather cold? Cause i think room temp might affect too.
Lastly
Do you have pics for all the guidelines for ncase m1 . Cause i dont have idea where to put sa sfx to atx bracket. And what would it look inside.thanks you again mate.

 

[MultiDoc]

Ambient temps are relatively stable at 20-22C, idle/working/general browsing etc (non gaming) temps are for the CPU 38C up to 50C and GPU sits at 31-32C at idle.
Heavy gaming are max of 70C for CPU and 78C for GPU, benching/stressing is 75-86C for CPU (but these are scenarios never met in real world workloads) and 75C for the GPU.
Both CPU and GPU are 24/7 overclocked: CPU @ 4.8Ghz for all cores and GPU is +70Mhz on the core and +300Mhz on the memory.

More about the build with pics here.

 

[rfarmer]

Thank for feedback
Does ncase cant be more cooler? Like 60c?
Im planning to copy your fan cause 70c is a promising temp.
Btw ia your weather cold? Cause i think room temp might affect too.
Lastly
Do you have pics for all the guidelines for ncase m1 . Cause i dont have idea where to put sa sfx to atx bracket. And what would it look inside.thanks you again mate.

Check out the pictures in this link, the user installed the NH-C14S with his power supply relocated.

60C is possible but you absolutely have to delid a 8700k in order to do it.

 

[tinyitx]

I wish the above setup (NH-C14S + non reference GTX 1060) would include some tests of real world gaming or some benchmarks like Heaven. I would really like to see how the exhaust from a non blower GPU affects the CPU temp when the CPU is a downblowing type.

 

[Revenant]

NewSo today I switched my mildly overclocked 8086K on Asus z370i from a Noctua U9S to a Cryorig C1 to see if I could lower temps. Boy did it ever...

My previous cooling setup was a 980TI stock blower exhaust for the GPU. I had the U9S with a 92mm Noctua fan, and 92mm Noctua fan exhaust. The bottom of the case had 2 120mm Noiseblocker fans.

The new setup has the same 980TI GPU, and one Noiseblocker 120mm on the C1, sand one Noiseblocker above it as an intake.

Depending on the load, I dropped 7 to 10C. The GPU fan runs a little higher, but the system really needed the side intake.

Noise profile has improved, except under heavy GPU load.

I’m actually wondering if NCASE can offer a high airflow left side panel with perforations running all the way down.

 

[MarcParis]

NewSo today I switched my mildly overclocked 8086K on Asus z370i from a Noctua U9S to a Cryorig C1 to see if I could lower temps. Boy did it ever...

My previous cooling setup was a 980TI stock blower exhaust for the GPU. I had the U9S with a 92mm Noctua fan, and 92mm Noctua fan exhaust. The bottom of the case had 2 120mm Noiseblocker fans.

The new setup has the same 980TI GPU, and one Noiseblocker 120mm on the C1, sand one Noiseblocker above it as an intake.

Depending on the load, I dropped 7 to 10C. The GPU fan runs a little higher, but the system really needed the side intake.

Noise profile has improved, except under heavy GPU load.

I’m actually wondering if NCASE can offer a high airflow left side panel with perforations running all the way down.

Yes i experienced similar gains between Noctua U9S and C14S.
My advice is to put fan on C1 as exhaust : it will increase slightly cpu temperature but lower all others components (especially GPU) temperatures.

 

[Revenant]

Ok.... C1 still can't handle it. NZXT Kracken X52 on it's way.