Log Watercooled Cube X1 in Dark Grey - RTX3080 | R5 3600 | 240mm LT Solo

[evd]

Cube X1 From TaoBao - (Kyle's Studio) - Shipped to Melbourne, AU by Super Buy

Cost:
$235 AUD + $80 AUD Shipping. This includes riser cable which was an extra cost.

Buying:
This was my first purchase using Super Buy. Really simple, You pick what you want - Paypal some cash over to them. The agent goes and buys it on your behalf (There was a small local shipping adjustment which I again PayPal'd over) - Once it arrives at the Superbuy Warehouse there was a few photos taken of the product. You then select your shipping method, PayPal the shipping over (Mine was estimated, it actually ended up being cheaper so they refunded the portion back to my Super Buy account) - Then once that is all done..My package arrived via AusPost 9 business days later..

30th April - Paid
6th May - Superbuy received
7th May - Paid for EMS Shipping
20th May - Delivered (China > Australia)

Quality:
Build is pretty solid. As usual with these Chinese cases there were some scratches/nicks but not much you can do about that using this buying process. Nothing major that I'm annoyed about.
Panels are thick - 3mm aluminium, anodized. Seems to scratch a little too easy but overall not bad.
Riser is 18.5cm long. Fits great over the spine, didn't have to push it through. Gives a bit more breathing room for the rear mounted SSD.
I've seen some previous builds where it came flat packed - I got mine fully assembled already. The button I specified was the metal/white LED one. It's a 16mm round momentary switch that you could switch out later for something else if you wanted - There's plenty online.
Feet are plastic.
Holes are cut pretty well.

Defects:
Small light scratches around the panels
Can see cutting marks on edge of top covers.
Slight colour variation between corners and face plates.

There seem to be a number of the same case but with different vent holes (hexagon vs round) and also bottom vents - I think there are some prototype builds out there but this one seems to be the current release at this stage.

Measurements:
31cm Deep
13.8cm Wide
24cm High
10 litres

GPU Max thickness: 54.5mm (~2.7slot)
GPU Max Length: 300mm
GPU Max Width: 136mm

Radiator support: 240mm with a max 30mm thickness.. Fan + Rad max thickness is 58mm.

Build: (Updated July 2021)
AMD R5 3600 - 4000mhz@1.175
Asus ROG Strix B450-I
G.Skill Trident Z Neo 2x16GB 3600c16
EVGA RTX 3080 XC3 Ultra - 1875mhz @ 856mw
Aquacomputer Quadro PWM Controller
Nuovolo Aquanaut Pump/Block combo w/ Alphacool DDC 310
2x Noctua NF-A12x25
Corsair SF750 Platinum w/ custom cabling
2TB 970 Evo Plus M2 SSD
1TB 970 Evo Plus M2 SSD
1TB 860 Evo Sata SSD (Removed from case)

Temperatures:
Heaven 4.0 + x264 stability running for two hours..
CPU: 72c avg
GPU: 56c avg

Misc:
DIY 3mm Acrylic sidepanels with cutout for GPU and PSU.
Some unboxing photos here
Running with a Noctua U9S prior to AIO photos and more here
Sleeved Cables photos
Clear panels build photos

Other Cube X1 or X1m (The aircooled version that is shorter) links/builds:
Reddit thread by Rockmaninoff's Build
Reddit thread by Sea_System with comparison to a steck
Reddid thread by shensmobile with build photos
Chiphell Silver Build 1
Chiphell Black Build
Build video on bilibili

 

[rfarmer]

Nice build, I like the U9S sticking out of the side. This reminds me of a Ghost with a large tophat but without the seem, look cleaner.

 

[tinyitx]

Be careful for having electrical parts so close to the carpet, where there is a high potential of static electricity (even though I see you have the PCIe riser cable bag separating the mobo from the carpet).

It is good that you write down your ordering experience as I understand it is relatively hard to source parts down under and especially from Taobao.?

 

[evd]

Thanks for the advice.

The temps in this case are pretty good atm, with just two 140mm exhausts up the top.

During gaming the GPU sits around 60-65c and depending on CPU use, 50-55c (RDR2 for example)

For Aida64 - I think max CPU temp was about 75c with the U9S sticking out the side on a single fan.

Have two A12x25's to stick on the AIO. I'm amazed at the airflow difference that these fans have vs the NF-F12s I have as well..much better.

Thing to note is that this is with the cover OFF on the PSU side.

Also, Have put together a simple plexi/acrylic window design in Fusion 360 and have sent it to a laser cutter here - This case comes with 4x M3 holes per side so screwing in a window is an option if you don't want to use the included aluminium panels.

Pretty basic design - I couldn't come up with an aesthetic looking slot/hole/vent design - So since I regularly clean/dust my machines out - I'm not too concerned and have just made them open cutouts.

Regarding CABLES.
Holy crap, they are super fiddly. I ended up buying a proper crimp tool, because the cheap ones just make life extra hard. And if I have 90+ crimps to make..
...Thinking I should've just bought the silver/transparent cables now....

 

[RousingRabbles]

Things are looking good, cool stuff! Following this build with interest, I ordered this case about the same time you did, but to the states and with cheaper shipping, so I'll be waiting a bit. And since I have the same GPU, it's doubly relevant to my interest.

If you don't mind, could you tell me how much clearance you have between the top of the GPU and either the top of the central spine, or the roof of the case? I know they say there's 55mm between the roof and the top of the spine, tight for a 30mm rad and 25mm fans, I'm just trying to find out how much clearance there is between that and our hilariously tall GPU. If not, no worries. Good luck with the build!

 

[evd]

Nice! It's a good case with decent build quality but as usual comes with the usual China minor nicks and minor scratches but meh..I'm pretty happy overwall.

So the GPU actually sits below the spine so that 55mm clearance stays true.. The EKWB DRGB AIO I'm waiting on (feels like forever) is only 27mm thick of the Rad so gives a tiny bit of breathing room.

 

[evd]

Until I get my AIO..This hotrod style Noctua will have to remain sticking out the side.

 

[RousingRabbles]

Yeah, I'm giddy with anticipation, though it'll be my first sff build and my first go at doing cables, which I'm sure I'm going to regret, though I see them being necessary in that case for sure!

Thanks for the picture! So it sits just below the plug, so there's probably between 10 and 15 mils between the card and the top of the spine, got it. And from the looks of things, that extra few mils the 27mm rad gives you are going to be helpful, everything's going to be tight!

Good luck!

 

[evd]

Thanks! Sounds exactly the same as my position.

With the cables..Make sure you get a GOOD crimper with a EDM die..that will save you a bunch of time..such a fiddly job without the right tools..I tried some cheap ones and it didnt work out and as a result i'm waiting a proper one.

We can't get the IWISS ones here but they do look pretty good.

 

[evd]

Some progress with some cabling. A bit messy..To be honest this case is a bit of a pain with sleeved cables..the positioning of the PSU next to the MB makes the curve a bit thick, compared to the Ghost and Dan which are much better placed.

 

[evd]

Still waiting on the AIO. Looks like I will be switching up now as I ended up ordering the Alphacool Eisbaer LT 240 - likely to get here before I get my EKWB one which I may or may not cancel..might be good to put them together and see how they compare.

Faster to order from Netherlands and get it to Australia than it is to order local haha..

looking forward to finally being able to close the damn case up properly and finish it all off.

 

[rfarmer]

Some progress with some cabling. A bit messy..To be honest this case is a bit of a pain with sleeved cables..the positioning of the PSU next to the MB makes the curve a bit thick, compared to the Ghost and Dan which are much better placed.

I have a set of pslate sleeved cables in my Ghost and while they look good if I had it to do over I would have gone with the unsleeved versions. The sleeved cables just take up too much room.

 

[evd]

I have a set of pslate sleeved cables in my Ghost and while they look good if I had it to do over I would have gone with the unsleeved versions. The sleeved cables just take up too much room.

Yeah they look good but arent the most practical.. How much did the Pslate ones set you back for a whole set?

I used to baulk at the cost..but now seeing how crazy the effort it is to make (I guess once you have the lengths set and all that its much much easier to reproduce) but yeah..

 

[rfarmer]

Yeah they look good but arent the most practical.. How much did the Pslate ones set you back for a whole set?

I used to baulk at the cost..but now seeing how crazy the effort it is to make (I guess once you have the lengths set and all that its much much easier to reproduce) but yeah..

I paid about $150 total but I got the dual SATA power cable and a molex cable in addition to the 24 pin, 6+2 PCi and 8 pin EPS.

 

[evd]

Cheers for that - Do you think it was worth it? For what I've spent to DIY I think it likely would be now haha.. That said, since I have all the materials now I might do a couple of sets for some friends.

 

[rfarmer]

Cheers for that - Do you think it was worth it? For what I've spent to DIY I think it likely would be now haha.. That said, since I have all the materials now I might do a couple of sets for some friends.

Oh yes it was worth it even if the cables are thicker than I like they were a million times easier to manage than stock cables, especially the 24 pin cable.

 

[evd]

Awaiting the UPS van to deliver my Alphacool LT240 by end of day today.. Hopefully that happens.

I also got my Fusion3d sidepanels cut by a local lasercutter into 3mm clear acrylic - Interesting process as its the first thing that I have designed in there and cool to see it come into a physical form. One thing I got wrong was the measurements for one side were a little off (Lucky it was too long) so I had to do some trimming but nothing huge - Have to triple check those measurements next time.

Either way - They came out alright, I didn't do any specific ventilation designs because I thought it'd just complicate things (plus I wasnt keen on how most vent designs look)

Can't test the PSU side until the cooler arrives but so far, my measurements don't seem too bad!

 

[evd]

Wow - So UPS pulled through, Amazing that I was able to get my cooler in 8 days. (My local order for the EKWB hasn't even arrived, and the company that brought them in isn't very communicative so I've told them to just cancel the order and refund me)

Looks like we are 95% done now. Will just need to wait for my ATX pins to come to finish off the short PSU to MB cable and then sorted.

 

[evd]

Heaven 4.0 + x264 stability running for two hours..
CPU: 72c avg
GPU: 56c avg

Stays pretty much silent gaming with a CPU temp around 50c..I have the radiator fan curve set to 100% at 75c so it rarely needs to get up there...

 

[kazuma86]

Wow - So UPS pulled through, Amazing that I was able to get my cooler in 8 days. (My local order for the EKWB hasn't even arrived, and the company that brought them in isn't very communicative so I've told them to just cancel the order and refund me)

Looks like we are 95% done now. Will just need to wait for my ATX pins to come to finish off the short PSU to MB cable and then sorted.

Can you share length and wide for GPU? I'm using 5700xt Strix and didnt fit well with Ghost S1