Chimera Cerberus Build (sandwich layout, dual 280+240 custom loop)

Peetey02

Efficiency Noob
Original poster
Mar 8, 2020
5
9
Hi all, I've been active on r/SFFPC before but just joined this forum.

This build was once in an Ncase M1v2 with a Kraken X52 and reference GPU cooler. My goal was to move into a better ventilated and quieter case. The MachOne was the initial candidate but that has yet to come about so I turned to the Cerberus because it was the smallest footprint I believed could fit the rads for this build. Had the SM570/580 been released then I might have went with them instead.



Parts List:
  • ROG Strix Z390-i
  • i9 9900k @5.1 Ghz
  • 2080 Ti FE
  • Samsung 970 Pro 512gb
  • Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 32gb
  • Corsair SF600
Custoom Loop Parts:
  • EK-Momentum Strix Z390-i monoblock
  • EK-Vector 2080ti Nickel Plexi + backplate
  • EK SPC-60 pwm pump
  • EK-CoolStream CE 280
  • EK-CoolStream SE 240
  • Custom Resorvoir
  • Noctua NF-A12x25 x2
  • Noctua Chromax NF-A14x25 x2
This build was made possible thanks to a custom L-shaped distro/res in the front and a vertical GPU back plate made by a friend of mine who is good with acrylics.



The completed build is quite dense so here's the best photo I could take of the L-shaped distro in the front. It was made to clear the pump and front mounted PSU and allow easier draining/filliing of the loop. The PSU was mounted using the original bracket but screwed into the front. Thanks Chimera for this infinity vent design!



The motherboard had to be mounted lower to clear the top rad. I used a piece of black acrylic and cut an opening in the case to allow rear M.2 access.



I choose the sandwich layout over the original because it allowed me to fit a thicker bottom radiator. EKWB's laser engraving on their GPU blocks rub out super easily (you can see the bottom 2080 cut off in the first picture). I swapped blocks 3 times before giving up. I just had it re-engraved as the RTX 3080 Ti.



I also like how my bottom intake isn't blowing warm air right at the GPU and starving my top exhaust. The airflow path here is pretty much straight up. I forgot about the PSU extension so one had to be hacked into the back plate halfway through the build.



It's very tricky to get the right angle to show off the monoblock. This is probably my only gripe with this build. A back-to-back layout case would be great here.



CPU is OC'd to all-core 5.1ghz with Auto OC. GPU is OC'd to +123 Power Target and 2115Mhz with Afterburner.
CPU Idles at around 31C and GPU at 26C in 22C ambient. Both below 45C during gaming (R6S, Control, Forza). Cinebench pushes CPU temps to about 67-71C



Overall, I'm very happy with this setup for 1440p 144hz gaming and 4k60 gamestream to my couch. The noise level is silent except for some turbulence at the top grill. I might move to the Dice Cases Flow once that arrives but for now I don't think theres any other way for me to fit this much cooling into this size. Thanks for reading ?
 

Peetey02

Efficiency Noob
Original poster
Mar 8, 2020
5
9
Incredible work! How long would you say it took you to complete all of those mods to the case?

Thanks! It took about two weeks incl. planning because while the cutting was easy I went through 2 iterations of the back plate and had to wait for the custom res to arrive.
 

TareXmd

Case Bender
New User
Jan 28, 2021
2
0
This is an incredible build, and exactly what I had in mind. It's quite sad that the motherboard cut out forces buyers away from a sandwich dual rad design, which is exactly what I am planning on doing. I have two questions:

1) Can the front panel be cutout and have a distro plate placed there?




2) Who do I contact to have this custom acrylic rear panel for my Cerebrus?

Thanks!
 

Peetey02

Efficiency Noob
Original poster
Mar 8, 2020
5
9
This is an incredible build, and exactly what I had in mind. It's quite sad that the motherboard cut out forces buyers away from a sandwich dual rad design, which is exactly what I am planning on doing. I have two questions:

1) Can the front panel be cutout and have a distro plate placed there?




2) Who do I contact to have this custom acrylic rear panel for my Cerebrus?

Thanks!
Thanks! A lot of measuring was done during the planning of this build. To answer your questions:

1. The entire space behind the front panel is empty so you could fit a distro thats larger than what I have in there. The front of the case (not the front panel) has lots of holes for mounting things so I didn’t see the need to cut out stuff except a small square to fit my pump.

2. My acrylic rear panel was made by a local shop. I can send you the measurements for mine which you can adjust as you see fit. Keep in mind though that this requres you to cut out the orginal rear panel entirely.

Hope that helps 🙂
 

TareXmd

Case Bender
New User
Jan 28, 2021
2
0
Thanks! A lot of measuring was done during the planning of this build. To answer your questions:

1. The entire space behind the front panel is empty so you could fit a distro thats larger than what I have in there. The front of the case (not the front panel) has lots of holes for mounting things so I didn’t see the need to cut out stuff except a small square to fit my pump.

2. My acrylic rear panel was made by a local shop. I can send you the measurements for mine which you can adjust as you see fit. Keep in mind though that this requres you to cut out the orginal rear panel entirely.

Hope that helps 🙂
Thank you! Can you send me your measurements here or at tarek.elghazaly.md@gmail.com?

The reason to cut out the front to show the distro plate would be purely cosmetic. I was going to add a transparent screen to it, and have the distro plate be the background of this transparent screen :)