First mod (and SFF Build) with Noctua GPU Shroud and fans

JGP

Efficiency Noob
Original poster
Jan 24, 2020
7
27
Im new.



Built many PCs before but never a SFF. Didn't see the appeal until now. I have done the big box builds with RGBs - everyone was doing it - so I wanted to. Whenever I would sit at my desk they would literally blind me and distract me from what I was doing so I had to turn them off. Not saying RGB is bad or big boxes were bad...they just werent for me and I didnt know it. It was a good friend of mine and member here (seven7thirty30) that got me interested in SFF. Long story short - I decided to build my SFF in the Sentry 2.0 from Dr. Zaber. Love everything about it. Would love to try out the Ghost S1 some day - but for now Im very happy. Im learning as I go - just dont know a lot yet like you fine people. Like..how I should have bought a blower style card instead of the open air style GTX 1070 mini that I have. It works - so Im happy. I decided to change out the thermal pads and TIM on the PCB - and while I was doing that I wanted to know how to change the fans out as well. I did some research and it looks like most people were using zip ties to hold down 2 Noctua fans onto the heatsink? As appealing as that was I wasnt feeling it. Looks like I had to come up with another plan to get these fans on there. So I asked seven7thirty30 and he said very strong double sided tape/pad. Took that advice and went that route. So I started descontructing -

This was the before.



Time to sand, prime and paint.





I dont have a pic of it - and this isnt a DIY instructional course - but i put the 3M VHB sticky pads center on the fan place holders and placed the fans there.



Hey they spin.



Time to solder the wires from both fans together so I can hook up the mini 4 pin to the PCB. I spliced the fan wires together and then cut the mini 4 pin wires so they would match. Getting the length right was tricky but it all worked out. I used a woven tube that came with the noctua fans and some shrink wrap to make the wires look pretty. Cant see a lot of it but - you get the idea - looks clean.










So everything works. Temps are ok - not super great. Reaching 80 degrees and thats even with an undervolt - but hey Im happy. I didnt do this because I like Noctua colors - i just wanted the fans to match the shroud. Fans are usually set to auto and hover around 1500 rpms...but if Im playing something that requires more air - they max out at 2200 rpms.

Funny thing is...you cant even see the video card lol - oh well whatever. Had fun doing it. Hope you all enjoyed.



Well you can kinda see it in there.
 

Plaklijm

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jun 18, 2019
164
87
Nice! I’m happy for all the folks that were waiting for Chromax editions of everything but I’ve come to see Noctua’s signature colors as a symbol of rarity and quality.
I actually love the colour combination believe it or not. When someone sees some generic black fans, they dont know youre rocking some noctua's, but with the original colourway its just that everybody knows you are packing the best fans in the industry. And it is also smart marketing. Those are the only fans with this combination of colour so everybody knows instant that they are noctuas. But still happy they came out with somne black ones for peeps who want to build a more colour coordinated build. But i will be staying with the brown ones for sure
 
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JGP

Efficiency Noob
Original poster
Jan 24, 2020
7
27
So the cream color is off a little. When i put my mod next to a noctua fan...the noctua fan has a pinkish, almost salmon color shade to it. Couldnt replicate that. Its close enough for me..especially since you cant even see it in my build. Ivory Silk Satin is the name of the cream color.

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pacflame

Cable Smoosher
Apr 27, 2020
11
3
Man, I love the Noctua colors. It looks super professional, and once I first saw it, I actually thought it was a real product. Keep up the good work.
 
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