Yeah I know... another watercooled NCASE M1.
Tl;dr - This whole thing is really just an exercise in keeping myself busy with everything that's going on. A busier me would've just used an NH-C14S and Arctic Acellero III like everyone else.
I've been bored at home and decided that it was time to yet again rebuild my PC in a new case. I've never been happy with certain aspects of my LZ7 XTD build but mostly I needed something to do. I wanted a case with improved CPU cooling options and 3 slot GPU support for future builds. I've never liked AIO's because of the pump noise but I decided I'd be willing to make that sacrifice. I considered the Sliger SM580 but the current delays were a little off putting and I wouldn't have the option for any significant air cooling in that case so I ultimately decided on the NCASE M1. I set out on eBay to acquire an older NCASE to save some cash but ended up purchasing a brand new V6.1 for a small premium because the V6 updates really appealed to me, especially after watching Optimum Tech's review.
For whatever reason my Ryzen 3600 runs hot and the temperature spikes annoy me, sometimes causing unreasonable fan speeds during normal activities like web browsing. I'm going to upgrade to a 4th gen Ryzen 7 CPU when the time comes so I decided to go ahead and address the CPU cooling now. The NH-C14S that I have on hand doesn't fit the NCASE because of the CPU socket location on my Aorus B450 I. I began going down the AIO path, specifically the NZXT Kraken X53 because of the 7th gen Asetek pump until I realized how bad my GPU temperatures are in this case. I can't keep my 2080 from throttling, fans or no fans, slim or not it doesn't matter. It runs hot at load and has a lot of turbulence with the fans at idle.
Now I have the same CPU cooling issues and newly introduced GPU cooling problems. The cheapest route would've been to buy a new motherboard, use the NH-C14S and buy an Arctic Accelero III for the GPU. But I think the Acellero seems a little crude and the RTX 2080 is an expensive card so I have some hesitations. The biggest factor though is probably this box of watercooling fittings and tubing in my closet that I've been wanting to use since went back to air cooling.
Watercooled NCASE's seem to have mediocre temperatures and noise levels but as long as my PC is quiet at idle I'm happy. Most importantly I want the new build to be relatively easy to service, all parts kept internal for when I travel and not too much of a pain to build in or upgrade. I would like to keep this case and cooling setup for some time. As much as I would like it to be, this wont be a IG worthy build but it'll be mine.
I picked up an EK-Quantum Kinetic FLT 120 DDC combo and TX240 radiator used for relatively cheap and started my loop there. On the way I have a 120mm radiator, waterblocks and a lot of quick disconnect fittings. The plan is mount the 120 rad and pump/res combo on the side bracket with quick disconnects and the 240mm radiator mounted under the GPU but if possible I'll mount the 240 rad on the side with the pump/res and 120mm radiator under the GPU. Obviously the latter introduces some problems with filling and bleeding the loop but I think I would have the best temperatures and heat dissipation this way.
The parts transplanted were:
Aorus B450 I
Ryzen 5 3600
Thermalright Silver Arrow 130
16GB 3200 MHz RAM
RTX 2080 EVGA XC Gaming
Corsair SF600 Platinum
Here's the current build with the EK-Quantum Kinetic FLT 120
Tl;dr - This whole thing is really just an exercise in keeping myself busy with everything that's going on. A busier me would've just used an NH-C14S and Arctic Acellero III like everyone else.
I've been bored at home and decided that it was time to yet again rebuild my PC in a new case. I've never been happy with certain aspects of my LZ7 XTD build but mostly I needed something to do. I wanted a case with improved CPU cooling options and 3 slot GPU support for future builds. I've never liked AIO's because of the pump noise but I decided I'd be willing to make that sacrifice. I considered the Sliger SM580 but the current delays were a little off putting and I wouldn't have the option for any significant air cooling in that case so I ultimately decided on the NCASE M1. I set out on eBay to acquire an older NCASE to save some cash but ended up purchasing a brand new V6.1 for a small premium because the V6 updates really appealed to me, especially after watching Optimum Tech's review.
For whatever reason my Ryzen 3600 runs hot and the temperature spikes annoy me, sometimes causing unreasonable fan speeds during normal activities like web browsing. I'm going to upgrade to a 4th gen Ryzen 7 CPU when the time comes so I decided to go ahead and address the CPU cooling now. The NH-C14S that I have on hand doesn't fit the NCASE because of the CPU socket location on my Aorus B450 I. I began going down the AIO path, specifically the NZXT Kraken X53 because of the 7th gen Asetek pump until I realized how bad my GPU temperatures are in this case. I can't keep my 2080 from throttling, fans or no fans, slim or not it doesn't matter. It runs hot at load and has a lot of turbulence with the fans at idle.
Now I have the same CPU cooling issues and newly introduced GPU cooling problems. The cheapest route would've been to buy a new motherboard, use the NH-C14S and buy an Arctic Accelero III for the GPU. But I think the Acellero seems a little crude and the RTX 2080 is an expensive card so I have some hesitations. The biggest factor though is probably this box of watercooling fittings and tubing in my closet that I've been wanting to use since went back to air cooling.
Watercooled NCASE's seem to have mediocre temperatures and noise levels but as long as my PC is quiet at idle I'm happy. Most importantly I want the new build to be relatively easy to service, all parts kept internal for when I travel and not too much of a pain to build in or upgrade. I would like to keep this case and cooling setup for some time. As much as I would like it to be, this wont be a IG worthy build but it'll be mine.
I picked up an EK-Quantum Kinetic FLT 120 DDC combo and TX240 radiator used for relatively cheap and started my loop there. On the way I have a 120mm radiator, waterblocks and a lot of quick disconnect fittings. The plan is mount the 120 rad and pump/res combo on the side bracket with quick disconnects and the 240mm radiator mounted under the GPU but if possible I'll mount the 240 rad on the side with the pump/res and 120mm radiator under the GPU. Obviously the latter introduces some problems with filling and bleeding the loop but I think I would have the best temperatures and heat dissipation this way.
The parts transplanted were:
Aorus B450 I
Ryzen 5 3600
Thermalright Silver Arrow 130
16GB 3200 MHz RAM
RTX 2080 EVGA XC Gaming
Corsair SF600 Platinum
Here's the current build with the EK-Quantum Kinetic FLT 120
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