Chimera Industries Cerberus: The 18L, mATX, USA-made enclosure

[NuclearLemons]

That means water cooling is your hobby...

Hobby or not, I have a lot more room to figure things out in a Cerberus!

any idea if I can fit the barrow pump block behind the rear-mounted psu? worst case, I use the dodgy bottom mount until it arrives in a month and I can make a diy 92mm

 

[MarcParis]

Hobby or not, I have a lot more room to figure things out in a Cerberus!

any idea if I can fit the barrow pump block behind the rear-mounted psu? worst case, I use the dodgy bottom mount until it arrives in a month and I can make a diy 92mm

Well you can go for barrow combo (FBLTPRK-04/LTPRK-04) : cpu waterblock, reservoir & pump, especially on Intel Socket...it should be a great start for custom loop, in any case, better than external Reservoir/Pump combo.

https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005001267116814.html

 

[NuclearLemons]

Well you can go for barrow combo (FBLTPRK-04/LTPRK-04) : cpu waterblock, reservoir & pump, especially on Intel Socket...it should be a great start for custom loop, in any case, better than external Reservoir/Pump combo.

https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005001267116814.html

I certainly think its the right way to go, just want to make sure it can sit behind a rear-mounted sfx psu.

 

[MarcParis]

I certainly think its the right way to go, just want to make sure it can sit behind a rear-mounted sfx psu.

I guess not...

 

[NuclearLemons]

I guess not...

Actually, I think it can.

According to the review, the barrow and LP fittings is 72mm tall,

with an SFX rear plate, we have 75mm of clearance.

 

[MarcParis]

Actually, I think it can.

According to the review, the barrow and LP fittings is 72mm tall,

with an SFX rear plate, we have 75mm of clearance.

I forgot LP fittings. I did the study in 2017 with my Apogee drive II and it was not compatible with rear sfx psu location...worth the try...

 

[Tyki]

Excited for the updates to come out! mATX is really starting to look like an ideal form factor for best of both worlds, and hopefully X670 boards don't disappoint like X570 boards did.

 

[rfarmer]

Little surprise showed up on reddit.

 

[MarcParis]

Little surprise showed up on reddit.

X400 will be a direct buy from my side...3 slots GPU 328mm long, 131mm width (no riser!)...that's what I need for Ampere..
X410 dimensions are wrong... 131mm width is impossible Not sure D15 is the best CPU cooler for Cerberus Mini/NCase layout.

 

[isabirov]

Cannot wait to see X410
@KSliger , is there any way to mount 280 on bottom and 140 on front? Will be there an option to mount SFX PSU on the back above the MB or just internal placement?

 

[MarcParis]

For me it could have been X400 but my original aim was to replace my SM550 with it...but it's too large (as width is corrected to 151mm).

Now my only option is to replace my sweet & beloved cerberus-X, after almost 4 years in service by, most probably X410...not really sure about it.

 

[MarcParis]

Well, well, RTX Ampere (and upcoming RDNA2 Big Navi) GPU are considerably impacting SFF world with their high power consumption, heat generation & card size.
(something already started with Turing vs Pascal)

Positive point from it was to made up my mind related to my 2 main setups.

Cerberus-X :

• Once again, Cerberus-X is proving its versability and future proof concept
• This setup will be focused on my personal gaming (4K 60, ultra details, some competitive), family storage & office

SM 550 :

• Love its compactness and 2.5 (2.6 with mod) Slots GPU and IS-60 compatibility
• Perfectly suits TV setup, low noise emission even on 4K gaming load (don't need to use G-Sync on my LG CX)

First decisions from RTX 3080 release & my personal experience :

• Motherboard, RAM and CPU (& cpu coolers) setups will remain unchanged. Even R7 1700X is perfectly fitted for 4K gaming with RTX 3080
  
  • Cerberus-X:
    • CPU : AMD R7 3800X OC 4.3Ghz
    • MB : Asus X370 Crosshair VI Hero
    • RAM : 2x8Go G-Skill Flare-X, 3800 MTS (Samsung B-dies)
    • CPU COOLER : Noctua C14S with Noctua NF A12x25 (Top, Intake), NF A14 (bottom intake)
  • SM 550:
    • CPU : AMD R7 1700X OC 3.7Ghz
    • MB : Asus B450-I Strix
    • RAM : 2x8Go Corsair Vengeance LPX, 3200MTS (Samsung B-dies)
    • CPU COOLER : ID-Cooling IS-60 with Noctua NF A12x15 (Top, Intake) with flat head screws M3x20
• PCIe Gen 4 on GPU or NVME Storage is not currently useable or used at all. It's only a nice function on paper nowadays
• HDR gaming (tested on LG CX) content is not so convincing versus standard. Let's say, HDR is not changing at all gaming experience
• High refresh rate is clearly not what I'm looking for. As early adopter of 144hz (back to 2013), I simply didn't find any interest in it. Basically I'm the total antagonist of "so called" competitive gamers playing at ultra low details at maximum refresh rate...
• I noticed some gains using NVME SSD (SX8200 Pro), especially true while quick saving/loading in RPG
• RTX 3080 (and upcoming enthousiast) GPU will be more and more power hungry...even 600W PSU (SF600) will start suffering (check comment on below video. Youtuber Dave Lee is experiencing hard reboot with SF600 Gold edition on Aida 64 psu test)
  

Thus, as a global conclusion, here is my current plan for my setup :

• Cerberus-X :
  • GPU : currently GTX 1070, moving to Nvidia 3080 or AMD 6900K?? Wait for release of both (Christmas). Not yet decided if GPU needs to be compatible with SM550 (size)
  • PSU : currently modded SF600. Will switch it by SX800 LTI
  • m.2 SSDs:
    • Samsung 950 Pro 512Go (boot disk)
    • AData SX8200 Pro 2To (Gaming)
    • Samsung 860 EVO 2To (Storage and video rendering)
    • Currently none. Will move Crucial MX500 1To (Storage duplication) from SM550
• SM550 :
  • GPU : currently GTX 1080ti. Will stay like that for a while
  • PSU : currently SX800 LTI. Will be replaced by modded SF600
  • SSDs:
    • Samsung 840 Pro 240Go (boot disk, Sata)
    • Currently Crucial MX500 1To. Will be replaced by another AData SX8200 Pro 2To (Gaming)

I will let you informed how things will happen..

 

[NuclearLemons]

My Cerberus arrived today, excellent packaging with solid documentation. Besides a few assembly cock-ups on my end the overall process was pretty easy.

that 8700k is OC’ed to 4.8 and the temps haven’t gone above 75 yet.

still rocking the Vega 56 mini until I can snatch a 3080

Pics compared to sentry

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[Arie]

Confirming the barrow block+pump+res combo fits in a Cerberus with rear-mounted SFX using the low profile fittings.

 

[MarcParis]

Confirming the barrow block+pump+res combo fits in a Cerberus with rear-mounted SFX using the low profile fittings.

Watercooling seems so easy with this barrow pump, reservoir & cpu block combo...
Really nice!

What about temperatures? They should quite good..

 

[NuclearLemons]

Confirming the barrow block+pump+res combo fits in a Cerberus with rear-mounted SFX using the low profile fittings.

out of curiosity, since you went with an itx board, could you have instead gone for a larger 280mm radiator on the bottom?

 

[Arie]

Watercooling seems so easy with this barrow pump, reservoir & cpu block combo...
Really nice!

What about temperatures? They should quite good..

The Barrow combo is a wonderful compact unit, and it fits (but only just) in the Cerberus with rear SFX plate. Still way better than a separate CPU block and a pump/res combo IMO.
For temps, the GPU was loving the 240+140mm radiator (compared to the 140mm AIO it was on before). Because of the large GPU die, it's only 5-8 degrees above liquid temp. The 10900k was less happy, because it runs at +40C over liquid temp. Previously I used a 240mm AIO just for the CPU, but now it was sharing temp with the GPU. So I've upgraded to dual 240mm radiators now. I'll post some pics later.

out of curiosity, since you went with an itx board, could you have instead gone for a larger 280mm radiator on the bottom?

Yeah that would have been an option. but I think the 280 is a bit of a squeeze in the Cerberus. I also really prefer the Noctua A12x25 above any other fan, so I went with a 240mm radiator.
I've also just upgraded the 140mm rad to a 240mm radiator, that wouldn't have fit with a 280mm.

 

[Arie]

Pictures of dual 240 radiator installed.

Exactly 0mm of wasted space at the bottom

 

[NuclearLemons]

Pictures of dual 240 radiator installed.



Exactly 0mm of wasted space at the bottom

You my friend need a a J-HACK m2426.
you might have to wire a longer 24 pin however.

 

[Arie]

You my friend need a a J-HACK m2426.
you might have to wire a longer 24 pin however.

That's a cool little gadget, but I just pop on the side panel and try to forget the horrors on the other side.