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

[mukul.k]

If you plan on doing another run, I would definitely be in for 2 cerberus cases!

 

[Phuncz]

The general production hasn't started yet, so you can certainly be able to acquire them:

We are in the process of getting a small run made for a business customer and have leftover units. All those units are currently spoken for but there's a waiting list in case any of the orders backs out at the last minute.

At this point it's a bit silly to request being added to the list because there's so many people on it already though.

General production is waiting on a shipment of the internal power cords for connecting a front-mounted SFX/SFX-L PSU to the rear of the case. It didn't make it onto a boat before Chinese New Year though so they won't even leave China for another few weeks, then it has to transit the Pacific.

So we're a few months away at least for general production.

 

[MarcParis]

So finally after all my reviews/polls and headaches, here is my benchmark setup (serves as reference) I'm planning to put inside my "precious" KI Cerberus-X :

• MB : Asrock Z270 Extreme 4
• CPU : Core intel core i7 7700K (OC till 5GHz if possible)
• RAM : Corsair Vengeance 2x8Go 3200Mhz RED (already owned)
  
• STORAGE : Samsung 950 pro 512Go (already owned)
  
• GPU : SLI Evga GTX 1070 SC
• SLI HD Bridge : Default asrock or more stylish one later..
• PSU : Corsair SF600
• CPU COOLER : Noctua NH-C14S + (1 or 2) Noctua NF-A14 PPC PWM 2000 + white chromax corner
• THERMAL PASTE : Grizzly Kryonaut
  
• FRONT COOLING : 1xNoctua NF-A14 PPC PWM 2000 + white chromax corner
• BOTTOM COOLING : 2xNoctua NF-A14 PPC PWM 2000 + white chromax corner
• Total budget : around 1600€ VAT incl.
• Color Theme : Black & white + red touch (reminds me Nano²..)
• Gaming Target :
  • with SLI compliant game : 4K@60Hz with max settings
  • with no SLI : 1440p@60Hz with max settings
• Secondary target : GPU coil whine won't be tolerated..

This setup will be my base, and it could be updated with AM4 cpu, Vega GPU or GTX 2070 GPU.

What do you think about this setup?

 

[VegetableStu]

Can the NH-C14S keep up with that overclock? o_o

 

[jeshikat]

I don't see why not, it handles my 140W TDP 5930K perfectly fine with the fan RPM set really low.

 

[MarcParis]

After I've a second setup based on a more powerful cpu (6850K) and using only 1 GPU :

• MB : Asrock X99 Taichi

• CPU : Core intel core i7 6850K (40 pcie to enable 2x m.2 pcie 4x, better OC vs 6800K, OC till 4,4-4,5GHz if possible)

• RAM : Corsair Vengeance 2x8Go 3200Mhz RED (already owned) in dual channel

• STORAGE : Samsung 950 pro 512Go (already owned)

• GPU : Gigabyte AORUS GeForce GTX 1080 xtreme edition 8G (700€ gpu like vega 10 or GTX 1080ti)

• SLI HD Bridge : not needed

• PSU : Corsair SF600

• CPU COOLER : Noctua NH-C14S + (1 or 2) Noctua NF-A14 PPC PWM 2000 + white chromax corner

• THERMAL PASTE : Grizzly Kryonaut

• FRONT COOLING : 1xNoctua NF-A14 PPC PWM 2000 + white chromax corner

• BOTTOM COOLING : 2xNoctua NF-A14 PPC PWM 2000 + white chromax corner

• Total budget : around 1700€ VAT incl.

• Color Theme : Black & white + red touch (reminds me Nano²..)

• Gaming Target : 4K@60Hz with potential tweaks on settings

• Secondary target : GPU coil whine won't be tolerated..

My issue with this setup is CPU usage. Apart gaming, I noticed that many applications are not using more than 4 cores.

As I'm planning to play mainly 4K, cpu is completely fine for gaming, even if core i7 7700K could be better @5Ghz.

At last AM4 SR7 could come to either as a true contender or reduce price of this X99 setup..

 

[MarcParis]

Can the NH-C14S keep up with that overclock? o_o

O yes, cooling performance of NH-C14S is within same range as nh-D15...no big issue then.. And in Cerberus-X, as fan will be just below vented side panel, it will bring fresh air directly in case. It will cool both cpu and cpu area.

 

[LocoMoto]

You should try using the C14 as both intake and exhaust and come back with the results once you have it all put together @MarcParis would love to see the difference there

 

[VegetableStu]

I don't see why not, it handles my 140W TDP 5930K perfectly fine with the fan RPM set really low.

O yes, cooling performance of NH-C14S is within same range as nh-D15...

Oh nuts, I got to look into overclocking when the time comes O_O

 

[MarcParis]

You should try using the C14 as both intake and exhaust and come back with the results once you have it all put together @MarcParis would love to see the difference there

For sure i will try both orientation...but don't forget i'm planning to wait am4 at minimum for cpu platform, and vega for final gpu choice..
Here is forecast :

• End of february/early March : reception of cerberus-x, trial with spare parts (non functional z87 board, msi gtx 1070 gaming x)
• March : choice of cpu platform after am4 release. I'll pair cpu platform with my current gtx 1070 gaming x as alternative...if it fits of course.. if gpu does not fit...well i'll wait for final choice of gpu to buy everything..
• May-june : final choice of gpu after vega 10 release

It's a long term setup build..

 

[LocoMoto]

For sure i will try both orientation...but don't forget i'm planning to wait am4 at minimum for cpu platform, and vega for final gpu choice..
Here is forecast :

• End of february/early March : reception of cerberus-x, trial with spare parts (non functional z87 board, msi gtx 1070 gaming x)
• March : choice of cpu platform after am4 release. I'll pair cpu platform with my current gtx 1070 gaming x as alternative...if it fits of course.. if gpu does not fit...well i'll wait for final choice of gpu to buy everything..
• May-june : final choice of gpu after vega 10 release

It's a long term setup build..

No worries, I'm also waiting on Vega and Ryzen, seeing as I've waited almost two years for ceberus... A few months won't be a problem

 

[MarcParis]

Excellence often requires patience...and Cerberus is excellence..

 

[MarcParis]

In my forecast, if vega is released like gtx 1080, its avaibility will be only correct by july...in that case i'll wait for x299 platform. On this platform kabylake 4 cores, without igpu, tdp of 112w is really intrigent.

So on maximum i'll wait for next august/september at very maximum

 

[Kwirek]

You're just taunting people now right?
"My plan is to sit on this coveted case for 6 months".


I assume you will have an intermediate system installed?

 

[MarcParis]

Could be quicker than expected due to amd marketing labeling new ryzen cpu like my below radeoon x1800 xt...

Could be R7 1800x....depends on price..

 

[Kwirek]

Spoiler

Its funny you should post this now, because I've just finished up writing an article this evening about this very subject! Article is [URL='http://www.lazer3d.com/2017/02/05/fan-performance-testing-part-1/']HERE[/url].

My investigations tie up pretty close with what your theories and conclusions.

Here is some of the data from the experiments, this first chart shows Wind Speed (km/h) of a few different fan sizes plotted at different distances from a flat surface on the intake side:

This chart shows the fan efficiency in percentage terms at a given distance from a flat surface:

I wonder if putting the Cerberus on a pedistal will be a good idea considering the above data?
It will be interesting to see what the follow-up testing regarding fan-grills will produce.

 

[K888D]

I wonder if putting the Cerberus on a pedistal will be a good idea considering the above data?
It will be interesting to see what the follow-up testing regarding fan-grills will produce.

All cases have to get air into them through some kind of vent, quite often close to a flat surface, yet they do provide some cooling in these setups, so some air is getting through, it's just difficult to measure how much.

The wind meter I used is only capturing a proportion of the fans output as its only sat in a small part of the fans air stream. Also something else to bear in mind is that just because the wind meter I used is reporting zero airflow doesnt neccesarily mean the fan isn't actually producing any air, it's just an amount below what the wind speed meter is able to detect (it cannot detect less than 1.4km/h).

 

[MarcParis]

So finally after all my reviews/polls and headaches, here is my benchmark setup (serves as reference) I'm planning to put inside my "precious" KI Cerberus-X :

• MB : Asrock Z270 Extreme 4
• CPU : Core intel core i7 7700K (OC till 5GHz if possible)
• RAM : Corsair Vengeance 2x8Go 3200Mhz RED (already owned)
  
• STORAGE : Samsung 950 pro 512Go (already owned)
  
• GPU : SLI Evga GTX 1070 SC
• SLI HD Bridge : Default asrock or more stylish one later..
• PSU : Corsair SF600
• CPU COOLER : Noctua NH-C14S + (1 or 2) Noctua NF-A14 PPC PWM 2000 + white chromax corner
• THERMAL PASTE : Grizzly Kryonaut
  
• FRONT COOLING : 1xNoctua NF-A14 PPC PWM 2000 + white chromax corner
• BOTTOM COOLING : 2xNoctua NF-A14 PPC PWM 2000 + white chromax corner
• Total budget : around 1600€ VAT incl.
• Color Theme : Black & white + red touch (reminds me Nano²..)
• Gaming Target :
  • with SLI compliant game : 4K@60Hz with max settings
  • with no SLI : 1440p@60Hz with max settings
• Secondary target : GPU coil whine won't be tolerated..

This setup will be my base, and it could be updated with AM4 cpu, Vega GPU or GTX 2070 GPU.

What do you think about this setup?

Based on main scenario on cerberus-X, I'm more and more in mood to get rid of Kabylake due to its pretty bad thermal compound on IHS. It's even worse than Skylake. That means delid Kabylake is almost mandatory to OC properlly.

Even for SLI, X99+6850K or AM4 seems to come back as my first choice. X99+6850K is offering a sweet sli with full pcie 3 16x bandwidth...that is clearly future proof when pci-e 4 will arrive. (pci-e3 16x will match performance of pci-e 4 8x)

I'm still pretty impressed by sli of gtx 1070 results compared to CF...even I'm supporting more AMD gpu generally...clearly it will be though choice at the end..

 

[jeshikat]

I wonder if putting the Cerberus on a pedistal will be a good idea considering the above data?
It will be interesting to see what the follow-up testing regarding fan-grills will produce.

Bottom fans aren't completely useless on the M1 and Cerberus has taller feet. So there's probably some benefit to be had but it's not necessary.

 

[Phuncz]

If the bottom fans on the Ncase M1 were useless, my Radeon R9 290X would have liquified by now.
I'd say they are pretty much doing their job. For scenarios where blockage is an issue, using pressure-optimized fans is a good bet to improve airflow.