Completed Lone Industries L5 - 4.6L Mini ITX

honkytonk

Efficiency Noob
Jul 21, 2020
6
1
Thank you! I'm thrilled to have the L5 included in that list of cases, and happy you like it. :)

Your cooling setup should work well. I'm running my front case fans and CPU fan as intake.
Thanks mate, I will leave it negative then. Now I am just looking for a fan to put under my gpu heatsink.

Does anybody have a clue what fan i could fit under my 2 slot gpu? I am looking for the quietest fan. Maybe the cooler master one, I think that is 80x80x10?
 

Lone

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Here's a photo of the G-Unique Arch Daemon DC-ATX from my July batch. This batch I opted for a modular SATA connector right on the PCB.

 
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jhautz

Caliper Novice
Jan 30, 2018
26
28
In case it's of interest, a customer from France suggested changing the thermal paste on your GTX 1650. He said normally there's no warranty sticker on the screws, so you can can take off the heatsink without voiding the warranty. Anyway, just a thought.

Excellent note! I have not taken the card apart, but with what you just showed me I will probably do that this weekend! Certainly can't hurt anything.

Good lookin out!
FYI, the new top/left covers have the GPU vent extended a little to match up with the CPU vent. Blemished covers are available on the website.



Just a quick update on the increased venting and the GPU repasting.

I replaced the side panel with the larger vent version and it did help the GPU temps by a few degrees. Not massive, but certainly a worthwhile update. I saw a drop of 2-3 degrees on the GPU. I really appreciate you making this revision. A definite improvement.

As for the GPU repaste you pointed me to. I pulled the heatsink and cooler off the card and put on some new high quality paste and actually saw the temps get worse by 10+ degrees. I had to do some investigation, but what I essentially concluded was that the cooler is poorly designed and does not put enough pressure on the GPU die so the thermal transfer is poor. I ended up adding some 1mm thick plastic washers under the 4 screws that hold the heatsink onto the GPU board effectively increasing the amount of tension on the springs around the screws and that seems to be the solve on this card.
  • Stock GPU power, clock and fan settings. No card mods and factory thermal paste. Card ran around 85 degrees and the clock speeds dropped down to around 1500mhz. Box calls for 1620mhz boost speeds.

  • Replacing the thermal paste with Arctic MX-4 and keeping all settings stock. RAISED the temps and lowered the clock speed.. Temps jumped well into the mid 90's and gpu clock speeds dropped to only 1200mhz. Bad, Bad, Bad.

  • Keeping everything the same except adding 1mm thick plastic washers under the 4 heatsink mounting screws fixed it all. Temps are down to around 70C. And clock speeds sit right at or a little over the boost speeds listed on the box for basically as long as I want to run it at full blast on furmark.

Appreciate the help in sorting this all out. Still loving this little case and even more now with the increased GPU venting.

As a side note, I did play with taking the fans and shroud off of the card and using larger 80mm fans under the bare heatsink to see if that would help even more, but in general it was within only a degree or 2 and was actually louder because the fans were so close to the case vent holes it created turbulence and a lot of fan noise. Once I got the GPU cooler mounting issue sorted out the stock fans and shroud work just fine and the sound is very reasonable.

Thanks again and keep up the good work!
 
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robbee

King of Cable Management
n3rdware
Bronze Supporter
Sep 24, 2016
855
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Here's a photo of the G-Unique Arch Daemon DC-ATX from my July batch. This batch I opted for a modular connector right on the PCB for the SATA cable.

Nice, is this meant to be used with the Mini-box 192W AC-DC?
 

honkytonk

Efficiency Noob
Jul 21, 2020
6
1
As a side note, I did play with taking the fans and shroud off of the card and using larger 80mm fans under the bare heatsink to see if that would help even more, but in general it was within only a degree or 2 and was actually louder because the fans were so close to the case vent holes it created turbulence and a lot of fan noise. Once I got the GPU cooler mounting issue sorted out the stock fans and shroud work just fine and the sound is very reasonable.

Hi thanks for letting us know about your experience with the 80mm fan. I was thinking of doing that. But if its louder, I won't take the plundge. What are your thoughts on 2 small noctua 40mm fans fixed to the heatsink with some cableties? They should be quieter and push more air than the stock fans on the gigabyte.

I am actually tempted to try it out on my card (Asus gtx 1650). But its roughly 30€ on top of an already somewhat overpriced 1650 LP.
 

Lone

King of Cable Management
Original poster
Lone Industries
Feb 25, 2015
731
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loneindustries.com
Just a quick update on the increased venting and the GPU repasting.

I replaced the side panel with the larger vent version and it did help the GPU temps by a few degrees. Not massive, but certainly a worthwhile update. I saw a drop of 2-3 degrees on the GPU. I really appreciate you making this revision. A definite improvement.

As for the GPU repaste you pointed me to. I pulled the heatsink and cooler off the card and put on some new high quality paste and actually saw the temps get worse by 10+ degrees. I had to do some investigation, but what I essentially concluded was that the cooler is poorly designed and does not put enough pressure on the GPU die so the thermal transfer is poor. I ended up adding some 1mm thick plastic washers under the 4 screws that hold the heatsink onto the GPU board effectively increasing the amount of tension on the springs around the screws and that seems to be the solve on this card.
  • Stock GPU power, clock and fan settings. No card mods and factory thermal paste. Card ran around 85 degrees and the clock speeds dropped down to around 1500mhz. Box calls for 1620mhz boost speeds.

  • Replacing the thermal paste with Arctic MX-4 and keeping all settings stock. RAISED the temps and lowered the clock speed.. Temps jumped well into the mid 90's and gpu clock speeds dropped to only 1200mhz. Bad, Bad, Bad.

  • Keeping everything the same except adding 1mm thick plastic washers under the 4 heatsink mounting screws fixed it all. Temps are down to around 70C. And clock speeds sit right at or a little over the boost speeds listed on the box for basically as long as I want to run it at full blast on furmark.

Appreciate the help in sorting this all out. Still loving this little case and even more now with the increased GPU venting.

As a side note, I did play with taking the fans and shroud off of the card and using larger 80mm fans under the bare heatsink to see if that would help even more, but in general it was within only a degree or 2 and was actually louder because the fans were so close to the case vent holes it created turbulence and a lot of fan noise. Once I got the GPU cooler mounting issue sorted out the stock fans and shroud work just fine and the sound is very reasonable.

Thanks again and keep up the good work!

Excellent update, thank you! Those are some great results with the 1mm spacers, and not something most people would think of trying.

Nice, is this meant to be used with the Mini-box 192W AC-DC?

Yes, the 4pin Power DIN pinout is compatible with the Adapter Technology ATS200T-P120 192W AC adapter that mini-box.com sells, as well as most AC adapters with a 4pin DIN connector. The EDAC 150W is also a good option I've used. The main exception is Meanwell, who uses a different pinout. The power input wiring has a quick disconnect, so it can be swapped.
 
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Lone

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Hi thanks for letting us know about your experience with the 80mm fan. I was thinking of doing that. But if its louder, I won't take the plundge. What are your thoughts on 2 small noctua 40mm fans fixed to the heatsink with some cableties? They should be quieter and push more air than the stock fans on the gigabyte.

I am actually tempted to try it out on my card (Asus gtx 1650). But its roughly 30€ on top of an already somewhat overpriced 1650 LP.

I tried this also, and I wasn't super impressed either. An 80mm fan is much larger than the GPU heatsink. Noctua 40x10mm would be interesting to try. I've posted it before, but I've also made my own "low noise adapters" for the GPU fans. Combined with a front 80mm case fan, and lower fan speeds you might be okay. I haven't tested this in the L5 though, and don't have easy access to a GPU with fans at the moment.
 

Lone

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G-unique sent me these photos of a HP fanless internal PSU he's modified for external use. I could see mounting this under or behind a desk.

Dimensions: 150 x 75 x 25 mm
12V, 200W, 14awg 1.5m cable - $55 USD
12V, 300W, 14awg 1.2m cable - $75 USD
4pin Power DIN

For comparison:

EDAC 12V 150W: 171 x 71 x 40mm - $55 USD
Adapter Tech 12V 192W: 183.2 x 81 x 42.3 mm - $65 USD


 
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GVictoria

Minimal Tinkerer
New User
Jan 18, 2020
3
3
So I just ordered a Lone L5 with G-unique , I'm planning a music workstation build, so a R9 3900x 32GB ram 4TB nvme and a Radeon Pro WX 3200 lol, it can do multiple 4k (more than I need) and it's 1 slot, no external power, so what I'm getting on about is I've got multiple ideas on how to power it, right now, I'm on option 1.

Side note, Also I'm going with the asrock x570 with thunderbolt 3, and a Id cooling IS 60 with a 25mm Noctua fan, but you might be saying, that won't fit, there are too many wonky vrm and chipset heatsinks, and you would normally be right, but some few choice purchases of alphacool copper heatsinks for VRMs and a new chip's heatsink with Noctua 40*10 fan upgrade, should fit and Arctic Silver thermal Adhesive to hold it all together,so just to show, not afraid of modding the heck out of it lol

1. A 330w Dell block and waiting on a Pico box X300, so gonna find a way to put that in there, planning on right beside the GPU, hence why I went with 1 slot.
So I've got a few backup options / ideas to power it if that fails too.

2. 300 w 12 v power supply for LED lights with the included G-unique atx

3. This is the full send option, it's a military style 32 pin circular bayonet connector lol, would just have to check with the manufacturer that it can handle the Amperage, they're rated for between 7.5-13 amps, but that's at 600v so as long as it's not 600v, I should be fine, but like I said, will have to check with the manufacturers to confirm my theory, and with this option, I'll just Wire up a full ATX (probably A SFF one or flex) power supply in a box with a cable hanging out of it and just be done with power limitations lol
 
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Lone

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Hey Lone:
Did you sell out of the blemished case tops?

No, just deactivated them online as shipping is expensive for what it is. If you want one just send me a message, and I'll quote out the shipping.

So I just ordered a Lone L5 with G-unique , I'm planning a music workstation build, so a R9 3900x 32GB ram 4TB nvme and a Radeon Pro WX 3200 lol, it can do multiple 4k (more than I need) and it's 1 slot, no external power, so what I'm getting on about is I've got multiple ideas on how to power it, right now, I'm on option 1.

Side note, Also I'm going with the asrock x570 with thunderbolt 3, and a Id cooling IS 60 with a 25mm Noctua fan, but you might be saying, that won't fit, there are too many wonky vrm and chipset heatsinks, and you would normally be right, but some few choice purchases of alphacool copper heatsinks for VRMs and a new chip's heatsink with Noctua 40*10 fan upgrade, should fit and Arctic Silver thermal Adhesive to hold it all together,so just to show, not afraid of modding the heck out of it lol

1. A 330w Dell block and waiting on a Pico box X300, so gonna find a way to put that in there, planning on right beside the GPU, hence why I went with 1 slot.
So I've got a few backup options / ideas to power it if that fails too.

2. 300 w 12 v power supply for LED lights with the included G-unique atx

3. This is the full send option, it's a military style 32 pin circular bayonet connector lol, would just have to check with the manufacturer that it can handle the Amperage, they're rated for between 7.5-13 amps, but that's at 600v so as long as it's not 600v, I should be fine, but like I said, will have to check with the manufacturers to confirm my theory, and with this option, I'll just Wire up a full ATX (probably A SFF one or flex) power supply in a box with a cable hanging out of it and just be done with power limitations lol

Thanks for posting. We look forward to seeing your build! Did you consider the G-Unique/HP 300W AC-DC I posted about above? If you have an ATX power supply handy, it wouldn't hurt to first measure your actual power consumption and then go from there.
 

GVictoria

Minimal Tinkerer
New User
Jan 18, 2020
3
3
yeah, I'll order that power supply today too then lol, but I was leaning towards the "LED" power supply because I could source it here in the states/ Canada VS China like I had to do for the Pico box, and I had ordered the Pico box x300 a day or 2 before you posted the new power supply.., sigh lol
 

GVictoria

Minimal Tinkerer
New User
Jan 18, 2020
3
3
And new Hp 300 w G-unique power supply ordered, will keep everybody up to date on everything
And with the full G-unique power "solution " might be able to use a 4TB 2.5 in sad instead of a $850 4TB nvme and save some money lol
(Work in the wind farm industry, so portability is a must, and tired of noisy laptop fans )
 
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honkytonk

Efficiency Noob
Jul 21, 2020
6
1
I tried this also, and I wasn't super impressed either. An 80mm fan is much larger than the GPU heatsink. Noctua 40x10mm would be interesting to try. I've posted it before, but I've also made my own "low noise adapters" for the GPU fans. Combined with a front 80mm case fan, and lower fan speeds you might be okay. I haven't tested this in the L5 though, and don't have easy access to a GPU with fans at the moment.

Hi Lone, just wanted to get back to you. I got an amazon warehouse deal for 3 40mm Noctuas. Got around to trying them out today. But sadly its not the best. It didnt really quiet down my system. I might make a more sophisticated fan shroud and try out some different fan curves. Right now I can't say its worth the 30 bucks. The asus card is already pretty quiet with a custom fan curve.

I will finish up my cable managment and try a little more scientific approach to the 40mm fan testing. AAAnnd then I will get around to snapping a pic of the build and post it here :)
 

Bear

Minimal Tinkerer
New User
Aug 3, 2020
3
1
Hi Lone, just wanted to get back to you. I got an amazon warehouse deal for 3 40mm Noctuas. Got around to trying them out today. But sadly its not the best. It didnt really quiet down my system. I might make a more sophisticated fan shroud and try out some different fan curves. Right now I can't say its worth the 30 bucks. The asus card is already pretty quiet with a custom fan curve.

I will finish up my cable managment and try a little more scientific approach to the 40mm fan testing. AAAnnd then I will get around to snapping a pic of the build and post it here :)

My experience with GPU fans has been similarly dismal.

At some point I'll get around to a longer post, but for those contemplating 40mm or 80mm fans, I've tested a few combinations now and have a few notes which I hope you find helpful.

Note: these are pointedly not scientific tests. They are just rough ideas of what you can expect, from someone who seems to have less and less time to enjoy this niche hobby.

With an Asus GTX 1650 LP (undervolted to 0.850v @ 1700mhz), and a Noctua NF-A8 intake fan on the chassis fixed at 1000rpm. All load tests in Unigine Valley. In order of preference:

2x Cooler Master 80mm x 15mm (R4-SPS-20AK-GP)

  • Voltage control only, minimum RPM around 500
  • A low clicking sound becomes audible around 25% voltage or 650rpm. It's the least irritating noise of the bunch but it definitely isn't the whooshing of distant sea spray that you come to expect from Noctua fans
  • You definitely want these in intake configuration. Setting these to exhaust significantly reduces turbulence but provides no meaningful temperature advantage and leaves you with a hot spot on the desk below the case.
  • At max RPM, the high airflow drops the GPU load temperature significantly to 65c, but that makes these fans by far the loudest in the case
  • My next step will be to set up a fan curve that caps the RPM at a level low enough to maintain ~75c load temperature
2x SilenX 80mm x 15mm (IXP-52-11)
  • Voltage control only, minimum RPM around 480
  • A clicking sound like a baby cicada, growing louder with RPM. Bearable once there's some noise in the room
  • As above, these work better in intake configuration. In exhaust they perform worse than the stock fans
  • Performance is pretty dang good considering these fans are the slowest here (max 1600rpm). Load temperatures hold steady at 73c, and apart from the buzzing sound the fans produce a low hum that is meaningfully quieter than the stock fans
2x GDSTime 80mm x 15mm
  • Voltage control only, minimum RPM around 670
  • An irritating clicking sound is present at all RPMs, growing louder as RPM increases
  • At over 50% the noise is unbearable, even if the airflow and performance is otherwise good
  • Not recommended.
3x Noctua A4x10 PWM
  • PWM control is nice
  • But that's all. What use is PWM if these fans so rapidly reach their noisy upper ranges anyway? Temperatures grow so wildly out of control (in both intake and exhaust) that these cannot really be considered effective. Once you add the buffeting noises that are produced against the heatsink at higher RPMs, you get more noise and worse temperatures than the stock fans
  • Not recommended.
Preliminary Conclusions

These options are all deficient in one way or another. If I can tame the Cooler Master fans I'll use them -- otherwise the stock fan and shroud seem to present the best compromise between noise and temperature control.

Clearly, once Noctua announce their 80mm slim fan I can revisit this whole question again. The A4x10 clearly has its use cases, but the rest would be more useful as baubles on your Christmas trees.
 
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honkytonk

Efficiency Noob
Jul 21, 2020
6
1
My experience with GPU fans has been similarly dismal.

At some point I'll get around to a longer post, but for those contemplating 40mm or 80mm fans, I've tested a few combinations now and have a few notes which I hope you find helpful.

Note: these are pointedly not scientific tests. They are just rough ideas of what you can expect, from someone who seems to have less and less time to enjoy this niche hobby.

With an Asus GTX 1650 LP (undervolted to 0.850v @ 1700mhz), and a Noctua NF-A8 intake fan on the chassis fixed at 1000rpm. All load tests in Unigine Valley. In order of preference:

Hi,
Perfect thank you for the comprehensive review - be it scientific or not. With your comment on "whooshing of distant sea spray" that one comes to expect from noctuas I knew you were providing solid info here hehe.
Anyhow have you been able to get the slim 80x80x15 Noiseblocker PC-P BlacksilentPro? I might just buy those and fill up this list with my info. But the Amazon reviews suggest the fans are quite loud and nothing like the name promises lol.
I had to return the 40mm noctuas, since the performance just wasn't there. And I am of your opinion concerning the noise. Past the 3500rpm mark those little fans become easily the loudest part of my system.

But I have a somewhat different airflow setup than yours. Maybe you can share your experience which worked better for you if you tried both. ATM I have two noctua NF-R8 pwm in the front setup as exhaust, then i have an Noctua NH-L12s with a 92 slim Noctua fan setup as intake and lastly the Asus Gtx 1650 LP in its stock fan config acts as an intake. So 2 exhaust in the front and cpu and gpu fans as intake.
In smaller cases negative pressure always worked better for me concerning not only temps but also noise.
My case is laying on its side though. So the GPU vent is not blocked at all.
Also undervolted the GPU heavily to around 800mv at 1815mhz and a 350mhz offset on memory. Maybe you can get some more out of your card. The fan profile is setup to stay below the 50% mark at 80°C in MSI Afterburner.
 

honkytonk

Efficiency Noob
Jul 21, 2020
6
1
These options are all deficient in one way or another. If I can tame the Cooler Master fans I'll use them -- otherwise the stock fan and shroud seem to present the best compromise between noise and temperature control.

BTW I am not affiliated with the makers, but there is an awesome little program I have been using for ages and I am wondering why I don't see it mentioned more often. It's called Argus Monitor and it has at least in my opinion the best fan control functions out there with a nice UI. You can use the trial for free; i think even indefinetly but maybe they did change that over the years. You should be able to manage the cooler masters with that pretty nice. I find fan stop did not support all motherboards I have been using.
Anyhow I setup my front exhaust fans to change there speed to the max temp of either cpu or gpu accordingly and the three 40mm noctuas I setup to just change their speed depending on the temp of the GPU core.

And I am really tempted to try out the Noiseblockers. Let me know what you think about those.
 

smitty2k1

King of Cable Management
Dec 3, 2016
967
492
I have the Noiseblockers and the Cookermaster 80x15 fans. I've mentioned it a few times but I find the Coolermaster fans perform better.

That said, the Noise blockers are slightly thinner, measuring closer to 15mm while the cooler masters measured closer to 16mm.

Also, the noise blockers are PWM fans, which means you may be able to control them directly off the fan header on the GPU if you get the right adapter. I've got one for the Asus 1650 but haven't tried it yet.

Final note, the nosie blockers have solid corners instead of cut out corners so it makes it a little more tricky and less compatible for mounting rubber dampers.