So - just to recap - we've got a 140mm Cryorig cooled octo-core Ryzen, a GTX1050Ti, 3 SSDs (1 NVMe M.2 + 2 2.5 SATAs), 16GB RAM crammed into 5.7L of space. Oh.. AND it's overclocked WITH noiseblocker fans on fresh air duty. Nice.
I've gotta ask... looking at your photos... for that Cryorig and the dual-slot GPU... How did you know that they would fit? Those tolerances are sooo close. Did you just eye-ball the measurements and go for it? If so, gutsy move. Anyways, amazing stuff here and bravo.
Thank you for acknowledging that!
That is why I called this case a gem. It's accommodating hardware that belies its size, and it does an excellent job in terms of temps and noise. Yes, it's only the two 80x25 NB fans that brings in cool air and even ramped up to 2000RPMs at the highest of CPU loads (IBT AVX), it's not "loud". At idle the rig is "quiet", albeit it's a subjective definition. Under heavy 3D gaming or similar combined CPU+GPU load (like 3DMark), all 80mm fans ramp up to only ~1600RPM, while keeping the CPU temps below 70C and GPU under 80C.
Currently, that intake is on the bottom, and exhaust is on the top (GPU side), which is by far the best orientation for temps and noise (the thinner 15mm fans make a whiny noise when the blades are close to the case, and the bottom to top airflow is naturally better for temps).
About component selection, to be honest, Cryorig C1 was not the first cooler I tried. I first purchased a used Raijintek Pallas locally for very cheap, but given that it's even larger, it did not fit in the pictured orientation so I had to install it with the heatpipes extending towards the case front. This made installing the 2.5" drives a nightmare, plus the heatsink (being lower profile than the C1) was touching the RAM sticks (I even had to bend the heatsink so it sat at a slight angle), plus this all meant I had no access to the RAM sticks or cabling. So, I made some measurements. Note, three dimensions were critical: 1) the height of the heatsink in comparison to the height of the IO bracket, 2) the length of the heatsink+fan in comparison to the depth of the IO bracket indentation, and 3) the combined height of the fan+finstack in comparison to the clearance between the IO bracket and case lip. At the end, quiet miraculously, it was a perfect match, so much so that in each of the three dimensions the cooler fit with literally zero clearance (once you include the vibration dampening inserts for the fan). As if I had the case+cooler combo custom made, lol.
Here is the Pallas fitted as described:
When I was buying the case, I was also quiet sure the Cryorig C1 would not fit, funnily, so I was scratching my head about the CPU cooler, and was thinking about the Pallas or modding the Scythe Big Shuriken 2 RevB for AM4, or modding (bending) the NH-L2s (which doesn't fit by 4mm due to RAM stick height). I'm still curious about NH-L2S but I doubt it can beat the C1 here in temps. Also C1 fits so hilariously well, and looks so good, I really wanna keep it.
The only problem C1 caused was killing the spot I had planned for the PSU plug, so I had to devise the solution I did, and again, it was done on spot and it's possible I would have an awful result like having to have the PSU cable dangling out the case, etc. Thankfully, it all worked out.
The GPU was easier. I could find good photos of the MSI card, and of some rigs that did the similar mod (Aibohphobia's Jolokia mainly), and of the case. So with some good use of GIMP, I was quiet sure it would fit and I purchased the card before I had received the case. The DVI connector thing (with respect to the IO bracket) though was a real Hail Mary situation: I was totally not sure it would fit, heck I wasn't even thinking about that case screw that comes so close too. If it didn't fit, I was thinking, I would do some modding, but quiet miraculously again, it wasn't necessary.
