Cougar QBX + NH-C14S Build + Dremel gore

[hoon]

Upgrading my 8 year old hardware to 4 year old hardware and moving it all into a Mini-ITX case.
Also had a goal of fitting an NH-C14S in there.

Size comparison for CPU cooler:

The cooler interfered with the PSU mounting bracket. Had a choice of dremeling the case or the cooler. Case would probably have been the better move but did not feel like removing the mobo and PSU to prevent metal dust. Decided to chop up the cooler instead. As you can see, the Dremel got away from me a couple times:

The cooler with a 25mm width fan is too tall for the case. Some pictures of the cooler with various 25mm thick fans showing the protrusion.

With GPU installed:

Decided to go with a pair of 120mm x 15mm slim fans in a push-pull configuration for the CPU cooler:

All done and cables tucked away as best as possible:

 

[pironiero]

Nice build man, but you really should've bought QBX kaze cus its not that much more expensive but its better optimised for air and watercooling

 

[tinyitx]

Upgrading my 8 year old hardware to 4 year old hardware and moving it all into a Mini-ITX case.
Also had a goal of fitting an NH-C14S in there

Good build!

A couple questions:-
a. Instead of two 15mm fans as push-pull, how about a single 25mm fan installed under the fins?
b. It looks like a Gigabyte 1080 to me. What temp do you get for both the GPU and CPU? I am particularly curious as both the GPU and C14S exhaust inside the case, extraction of hot air is crucial to avoid recirculation. I see both rear and top fans are exhausting. I wonder the thermals of this setup.

 

[hoon]

Nice build man, but you really should've bought QBX kaze cus its not that much more expensive but its better optimised for air and watercooling

Yea, I dig the Kaze but I actually prefer the look of the standard QBX The Kaze is a sweet case though.

 

[hoon]

Good build!

A couple questions:-
a. Instead of two 15mm fans as push-pull, how about a single 25mm fan installed under the fins?
b. It looks like a Gigabyte 1080 to me. What temp do you get for both the GPU and CPU? I am particularly curious as both the GPU and C14S exhaust inside the case, extraction of hot air is crucial to avoid recirculation. I see both rear and top fans are exhausting. I wonder the thermals of this setup.

Hey thanks.

a.) 25mm fan at the bottom would not fit because of RAM height. I could have removed the heatsink but I was ok with just removing the modular fins. For G.Skill Trident X DDR3, the red part in this picture is removable. Once I removed that piece, it fit under the heatsink with a 15mm fan.

b.) Gaming, the CPU got to 71C and the GPU was about the same - 72C. The CPU gets direct outside air and the case has vent openings at the bottom for the GPU. I had considered making the rear 92mm case fan an intake so it would blow right onto the heat pipes but I settled on exhausting the two 120x15mm's air coming down onto the motherboard.

 

[gabesgates]

If you close your case with a 25mm thick fan on the C14S, would your side panel bulge or not close properly?

I have been planning a similar setup as well. I found a build fitting a C14S with 25mm thick fan and this fitting a Cryorig H7 in Cougar QBX without the side bracket, I was going to get one for myself until I read your post. Thank you!

 

[Hustler One]

Can we just orienting the NH-C14S the opposite way and see if it still interfere with PSU bracket?

 

[robmara1]

You are my hero! Thank you!