My ever-changing main PC - Ncase M1

[Phuncz]

My first build into the Ncase M1 v1, coming from a temporary Coolermaster Elite 130:

Watercooling build using a Swiftech H220 and EKWB Full Cover block for R9 290X:

Results:

Upgraded the board to an Asus Maximus VII Impact and changing the radiator around:

After the waterblock on the GPU had a leak (along the seal), I choose to go back to aircooling:

After some solid advice from a forum member on another forum, I switched the GPU fans to exhaust along with adding an intake fan, I also installed a new SFX-L PSU :

And now I am in SFF Nirvana, with a quiet and cool high-end system !

Results:

These are three screenshots overlapped. Using Unigine Valley benchmark (like I did with watercooling) I tested with no V-Sync after about an hour, the middle one shows with V-Sync after 5 minutes and the right one shows about a minute of idling afterwards. Much more quiet in all those stages than the previous watercooling with no meaningful differences in temperature. Mind you I don't care if my CPU is 50° or 70°C, as long as it's not close to it's maximum allowed temperature, it performs the same and it will last much longer than I'll intend to be using it.

 

[jeshikat]

Welcome to the forum! Cool to see your build log all in one place.

I'll probably do something like your build for my final setup in Nova. I'm still not satisfied with the noise levels but there's still testing to do so I'm still using the X41 and unmodified PSU since it's easier to swap parts.

 

[Phuncz]

Yeah my pics on [H] are all over the place
Literally and figuratively, you'll see much difference in the way I took pictures then and now. I'm still not satisfied. Go Canon PowerShot G10 with 270EX flash ! I want to first master my lighting skills before I upgrade my camera.

I'm VERY happy with the current build, all the temperatures are well within range, the noise is low enough that it's not even annoying while gaming (for me) and my case is also cool to the touch except the uttermost bottom, where the GPU exhausts. I'm also happy the PSU stays cool, it used to become quite toasty but that was the 450W with the fan-mod which might have been inadequate. But it was too noisy (the annoying kind) with the stock fan.

But I never would have expected that it would work this efficiently. Deffinitely a good starting point in my next build !

 

[jeshikat]

Lighting makes all the difference, even just a few cheap softboxes like these and a roll of seamless paper taped to the wall and spread across a table can give really nice results.

 

[Phuncz]

I have a 70cm photo tent I used for some photos but with the lack of multiple lights, there is only so much a simple flash can do I guess. Maybe I should start looking into product photography courses because it does interest me enough still, after many years.

 

[Josh | NFC]

The G10 is an awesome camera--my first camera actually. Really with off-camera flash you can do anything with it. When I started I thought that hot-lights and photo-tents/posterboard was the way to go, but I found that bounce flash and a garage floor is way more effective. Just point the flash at the ceiling or wall and you get great light! Remember that your shutter speed effects your static light/exposure and aperture/ISO effects your dynamic light (flash). This way you can adjust your shot to overexpose light sources to get pure white backgrounds and soft white lighting on your PC:

It is really handy too because that way you don't have to edit the image...it is good to go right out of the camera...and all you need is a $40 flash and a white blanket (wrinkles and all!)

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

That's a cool photo

 

[Phuncz]

Remember that your shutter speed effects your static light/exposure and aperture/ISO effects your dynamic light (flash).

Mind blown ! I didn't know this
I always assumed exposure and aperture would have the same result when using the flash.

all you need is a $40 flash and a white blanket (wrinkles and all!)

I have a dinky Canon 270EX flash that proved it could be an improvement over the built-in flash. But I'm contemplating getting a nice Sony A6000 setup going, not sure on the lighting though.

 

[EdZ]

Mind blown ! I didn't know this
I always assumed exposure and aperture would have the same result when using the flash.

Same here, that's something I never even though of! Not a photographer, but this makes sense when you think about illumination over time. The shutter speed affects how long the shutter is open, which affects how much constant illumination falls on the sensor. But a flash is effectively an instantaneous pulse of light, so unless you have an incredibly fast shutter that can open and close within a few microseconds, then no matter what your shutter speed is the same amount of light from the flash will always get through to the sensor.

 

[Phuncz]

I guess that makes sense that a flash is not a binary on-off light source, even though it looks like that to the human eye.

 

[LooseNeutral]

Great Scott dem Air Koolers in dat 'lil bitty box! I've come to appreciate seeing good air rigs more of late. Especailly getting good temps in sff. Nice 'lil case & build you got there.

 

[Phuncz]

Thanks ! It even holds up nicely with higher ambient temps of 26-28°C lately, currently there's a heat wave in Belgium.
I'm having more trouble keeping myself cool !