Ncase M1 v6.1 build log (X570, 3950x, 2080Ti, semi-water cooled)

[MultiDoc]

This will be my second build in the Ncase M1 (current PC in my sig below), this time using the v6.1.

Spent a couple months gathering parts and reading extensively on similar builds and difficulties and problems that might arise and finally gathered all the parts for it. The most difficult was to source an Apogee Drive II. I decided early on to use this in the build with the possibility of adding a GPU block later for a complete water cooling. For the time being will leave the GPU on air though. Also will add an ODD when it arrives, already have the odd top panel.
Started the build slowly today and will take a couple of days I guess to complete.

Parts:

CPU: AMD 3950X
Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair VIII Impact
RAM: G.Skill Trident Z DC 3200MHz 2x32GB CL14
GPU: ASUS Strix 2080Ti OC
PSU: Corsair SF750
Nvme: Corsair MP600 2TB x 2
SSD: Samsung 860 EVO 4TB x 2
Fans: Noctua NF-A12x15 chromax x 2 (bottom case), Noctua NF-A9x14 HS-PWM chromax (rear exhaust)
ODD: UJ267

Watercooling parts:

Radiator: Alphacool ST30 v2
CPU lock+pump: Swiftech Apogee Drive II
Fittings: Alphacool TPV metal (straight + 90°, temp sensor fitting, ball valve, Coolance QD3 quick disconnects)
Tubing: Alphacool TPV
Fans: Noctua NF-F12 PWM chromax black x 2

Other:

J-Hack M2427 mod/cables
Fujipoly Extreme thermal pads (replaced all the stock pads on the motherboard)
Mini WiFi antenna x 2 (from Taoglas)
I/O rubber covers for unused ports
Black plugs for the Apogee PWM and Molex (my OCD...)
Molex to Sata power adaptor
Slim sata&power adapter for the ODD
180° adapters for the GPU‘s PCIe
Silverstone slim SATA data cables

Don’t have any pics yet, but probably will upload some tonight along with a progress update. So far I’ve installed the motherboard and psu only and will need to measure and check before I cut the tubing.

update pending.

 

[MultiDoc]

Quick update:

run into issues with the loop and the fittings, so I’m now waiting for some to arrive ?. Hoping to have it ready by end of the week.

 

[MultiDoc]

Another update:

RAM heat sink conflicts with the port of the Apogee. After some deliberation I took off the heat sink (half of it, the one towards the cpu) and cut out a piece of it in order to clear the Apogee port. Successful but not very beautiful, however it won’t be visible when installed.

the radiator’s outlets need to turn 90° towards the cpu block, it the 90° fittings don’t clear the fans, I’ll need some G1/4 extenders to raise them (they are on order and should be here soo ).

The radiator leaves just enough room for 2 stacked 2.5” SSD’s installed in the front inside, as well as a slim 92mm fan in the rear as exhaust (installed an NF-A12x15 chromax, the whole build is black on black it appears).

on the Apogee, due to the restricted total height with the radiator+25mm fans installed, the ports will need to be angled upwards 90° and again to the right 90°. Probably will use two 90° fittings together on each port. Will have to decide after I have everything in hand to try. The reasoning for this is to minimise low radius turns of the tubing.

Received a leak tester today and plan on testing the loop once finalised before filling it, hope it works.

I’ll be getting some custom cables from pslatecustoms if/when they open ordering again, in an attempt to declutter the build as much as possible.

P.S: pics to follow later

Edit: few preliminary pics

 

[MultiDoc]

While waiting still for fittings and some adapters to arrive, I installed the J-Hack M2427 adapter and routed the front I/O cables as well as most of the cables (SATA, GPU). Now I need to get me a SATA to Molex adapter so I can use one less cable from the PSU to power the Apogee as well as the ODD.


I hope it’s safe to use such an adapter ? Cause the Apogee has a molex connector for power and I have a spare sata connectors already plugged in the psu (2 x 2 sata total, 2 for the ssd’s, 1 for the ODD and the last one I hope to be able to convert it to molex for the pump)

P.S: despite being a tight fit with the 2080Ti, you can still use all of the front I/O ports if you route the cables properly.

 

[Ncasem1v6.1]

Hi @MultiDoc how's the temperature of strix?

 

[MultiDoc]

Hi @MultiDoc how's the temperature of strix?

As I said, it’s still “work in progress”. I’m still waiting for some bits due to arrive in the next few days, so haven’t even powered the system yet.

 

[Ncasem1v6.1]

As I said, it’s still “work in progress”. I’m still waiting for some bits due to arrive in the next few days, so haven’t even powered the system yet.

Are you able to install noctua fans under strix?

 

[MultiDoc]

Are you able to install noctua fans under strix?

yes, installed 2 x NF-A12x15 chromax under the GPU (intake) and an NF-A9x14 chromax at the rear of the case as exhaust. Also 2 x NF-F12x25 chromax fans on the radiator (pull).

 

[T4iga]

I cam across this thread trying to figure out compatibility of the x570 Impact with the NCase and I might have some usefult tips and thoughts for you as I have completed a very similar build.

R9 3900x
Asus X570 Strix
Trident Z 3600MHz 2x16GB CL16
EVGA Reference 2080 Ti
Corsair SF750

Cooling:
Apogee Drive II
2x HW Labs Black Ice Nemesis GTX 240
2x Noctua NF-A12x25
2x Noctua NF-A12x15
3x Koolance QDC combo
No Reservoir!

For me the Apogee barely fit. I did not use extender pieces on the but directly screwed in 90 degree fittings. Although the RAM flexing is uncomfortable it still fits my case. I will provide some pictures later.
Another issue is that the AM4 mounting is impacting my VRM cooler. It looks like the CPU contact looks.

You made the right choice going with slimmer tubing. Currntly I am running 16/10mm and while it is fine It is probably severy impacting airflow through the top of the case.

If you still want reasonable access to your systema dn easy exentability I can highly recommend quick disconnects. You will need to make sure that the connecting run for the side rad are long enough to take out the radiator without disconnecting otherwise it wouln't work.

If you end up watercooling your GPU I highly recommend getting a backplate that is comtible with your block (or reuse the stock one if possible). I assume that is a custom PCB so you might no be able to fit a waterblock at all. With the stock PCB the EK block I run only fits properly when I take the decorative element with the branding and 2080 Ti lettering of

I do love the J-Hack cables. Never heard of them before your build but the seem cool. With individually sleeved stock cables I still managed to fite everything pretty much without issue and training is also very much possible I still think you cable solution will be a lot easier and cleaner to handle.

The reason why I consider switching to the impact is that the chipset fan on the Strix is WAAAAAYY to loud. I'd like to run my system as quiet as possible but that results in very low airflow and high interior temps. The Chipset always runs about 30K above ambient at idle resulting in 63C and 3500-4000RPM on the fan- very annoying. I would love to know if the impact suffers from a similar issue, namely how much the delta between ambient and chipset it and what RPM the fan runs at and if it could be controlled.

I am also running a water temeprature sensor to control my fan speed. This reduces sporadic fan behaviour as the deciding factor for cooling is the water temperature. You will need to monitor for component temps when testing but the component will always have a stable delta from your water temperature governed by cooler and thermal interface material. In short loads my fans don't need to spin up but after longer loads the will keep spinning as long as liquid is still heated.

I did not use a reservoir (inside my build that is) because there wasn't enough space for it. I do howerver have an external reservoir I can put into the loop with quick disconnects. Filling and draining without it would be an absolute complete nightmare and I consider this a NECESSITY for anyone building without a permanent reservoir.

I would love some fotos from the front possibly without a GPU installed becasue I would like to know if the DTX form factor prevents running a 240mm bottom rad at the same time.

I am not sure if my choice of a second 30mm thick raditor for the bottom was the best as there is very very little space left between GPU block and rad for air to flow. Initially I wanted to go for an XSPC TX240 and try and fit thicker fans but I don't think it would have been much better. Going slim rad and slim fans would proabbly make for the best quite cooling which was my end goal.

I just want to get this post out and go to bed. I am very sorry it came out so unorganized.
Do you have any particular question? I asked you some and I hope I can help you a bit in exchange.

 

[MultiDoc]

I cam across this thread trying to figure out compatibility of the x570 Impact with the NCase and I might have some usefult tips and thoughts for you as I have completed a very similar build.

R9 3900x
Asus X570 Strix
Trident Z 3600MHz 2x16GB CL16
EVGA Reference 2080 Ti
Corsair SF750

Cooling:
Apogee Drive II
2x HW Labs Black Ice Nemesis GTX 240
2x Noctua NF-A12x25
2x Noctua NF-A12x15
3x Koolance QDC combo
No Reservoir!

For me the Apogee barely fit. I did not use extender pieces on the but directly screwed in 90 degree fittings. Although the RAM flexing is uncomfortable it still fits my case. I will provide some pictures later.
Another issue is that the AM4 mounting is impacting my VRM cooler. It looks like the CPU contact looks.

You made the right choice going with slimmer tubing. Currntly I am running 16/10mm and while it is fine It is probably severy impacting airflow through the top of the case.

If you still want reasonable access to your systema dn easy exentability I can highly recommend quick disconnects. You will need to make sure that the connecting run for the side rad are long enough to take out the radiator without disconnecting otherwise it wouln't work.

If you end up watercooling your GPU I highly recommend getting a backplate that is comtible with your block (or reuse the stock one if possible). I assume that is a custom PCB so you might no be able to fit a waterblock at all. With the stock PCB the EK block I run only fits properly when I take the decorative element with the branding and 2080 Ti lettering of

I do love the J-Hack cables. Never heard of them before your build but the seem cool. With individually sleeved stock cables I still managed to fite everything pretty much without issue and training is also very much possible I still think you cable solution will be a lot easier and cleaner to handle.

The reason why I consider switching to the impact is that the chipset fan on the Strix is WAAAAAYY to loud. I'd like to run my system as quiet as possible but that results in very low airflow and high interior temps. The Chipset always runs about 30K above ambient at idle resulting in 63C and 3500-4000RPM on the fan- very annoying. I would love to know if the impact suffers from a similar issue, namely how much the delta between ambient and chipset it and what RPM the fan runs at and if it could be controlled.

I am also running a water temeprature sensor to control my fan speed. This reduces sporadic fan behaviour as the deciding factor for cooling is the water temperature. You will need to monitor for component temps when testing but the component will always have a stable delta from your water temperature governed by cooler and thermal interface material. In short loads my fans don't need to spin up but after longer loads the will keep spinning as long as liquid is still heated.

I did not use a reservoir (inside my build that is) because there wasn't enough space for it. I do howerver have an external reservoir I can put into the loop with quick disconnects. Filling and draining without it would be an absolute complete nightmare and I consider this a NECESSITY for anyone building without a permanent reservoir.

I would love some fotos from the front possibly without a GPU installed becasue I would like to know if the DTX form factor prevents running a 240mm bottom rad at the same time.

I am not sure if my choice of a second 30mm thick raditor for the bottom was the best as there is very very little space left between GPU block and rad for air to flow. Initially I wanted to go for an XSPC TX240 and try and fit thicker fans but I don't think it would have been much better. Going slim rad and slim fans would proabbly make for the best quite cooling which was my end goal.

I just want to get this post out and go to bed. I am very sorry it came out so unorganized.
Do you have any particular question? I asked you some and I hope I can help you a bit in exchange.

thanks for your input ! I’m currently at work but will respond in detail later tonight.

A few observations:

No I don’t think you can have a bottom radiator with the strix GPU in place, unless it’s a slim radiator along with slim fans too.

I’ll post pics you requested later tonight.

Did I understand correct that you installed 90° fittings directly onto the body of the Apogee without using the ones it comes with ? Are the threads G1/4 ? Cause if that’s the case, then it would make my life far easier ! Please let me know and if possible post pics.

As I said I’ll post some more pics after work, would love to see your build’s pics too.

 

[MultiDoc]

Small update:

spent a few hours last night finalising and test fitting the loop etc. I think its ready now (after quite a few trials with different fittings etc).

Used Koolance QD3 quick disconnects instead of the Alphacool TPV quick disconnects for two reasons, firstly the Koolance ones are metal which I prefer, but most importantly in this instance, the TPV are longer in total length which prooved to be problematic (although they are slimmer in width).

I tried installing a G1/4 filter on the radiator side (I know it shouldn’t be needed, but wouldn’t hurt to have one), unfortunately it’s 1-1.5mm wider than the simple G1/4 extension and it was pressing against the 2nd SSD that I have installed on the inside of the front panel. Eventually I used 2 x 1cm g1/4 extensions on the bottom radiator port and 1 x 1cm g1/4 extension on the top along with a g1/4 inline temp sensor.
I also had to remove the 92mm fan grill from the rear exhaust fan since there simply wasn’t enough room to fit with the radiator in place.

The overall length of the tubing ended up ridiculously short, not sure if it will have any impact ?

The only tricky part is that when ill need for any reason to remove the side radiator panel, I’ll need to take care to disconnect the QD’s first. If I had used longer tube lengths to allow for removing the rad with the loop in place, it simply wouldn’t fit in the case without extreme radius turns of the tubing and also stress on the fittings etc.

A few pics:



Now tonight I’ll need to do a proper leak test (using the EK leak tester) and hopefully tomorrow go ahead with filling the loop.

P.S: for no obvious reason I had a peek under the Apogee’s heatsink to primarily check for any imperfections from the factory that might be worth removing before final installation. Well it was a good idea that I did, cause to my great surprise I found that the thermal pad used there, still had the blue film on it.... I removed it and since I was at it and had some spares, replaced it with some Fujipoly Extreme. I’m aware that the heatsink doesn’t really provide any meaningful cooling but still.

 

[T4iga]

No I don’t think you can have a bottom radiator with the strix GPU in place, unless it’s a slim radiator along with slim fans too.

No, I meant with a waterblock installed so the cooler would not be a concer. My concern is that the Impact vertically to large because ti is mini-DTX instead of mini-ITX and this might collide with my radiator.
Relevant pictures:

Did I understand correct that you installed 90° fittings directly onto the body of the Apogee without using the ones it comes with ? Are the threads G1/4 ? Cause if that’s the case, then it would make my life far easier ! Please let me know and if possible post pics.

I meant without the approximately 10mm extenders you installed. Quikc double take: Are you using a 1,5k RAM kit (according to LTT) or did you misstype and that is 'just' 2x16 instead of 2x32. The 32GB sticks are significantly taller and probably don't fit as described by me.

 

[T4iga]

P.S: for no obvious reason I had a peek under the Apogee’s heatsink to primarily check for any imperfections from the factory that might be worth removing before final installation. Well it was a good idea that I did, cause to my great surprise I found that the thermal pad used there, still had the blue film on it.... I removed it and since I was at it and had some spares, replaced it with some Fujipoly Extreme. I’m aware that the heatsink doesn’t really provide any meaningful cooling but still.

The cooler cools the pump, not the loop. I bought mine used and was pleased to find the idiot preowner ran it for years like you found it. Glad to hear they ship that pice of garbage from the factory like that .....

I'll add a few pictures of the insides of my loop to give you an idea how you can have long tubes. attached to your rad. It is by no means ideal but it kinda works ok which was good enough for me to start dailying it.

 

[MultiDoc]

No, I meant with a waterblock installed so the cooler would not be a concer. My concern is that the Impact vertically to large because ti is mini-DTX instead of mini-ITX and this might collide with my radiator.

I understand now, will try and take some pics about this for you tonight.

I meant without the approximately 10mm extenders you installed. Quikc double take: Are you using a 1,5k RAM kit (according to LTT) or did you misstype and that is 'just' 2x16 instead of 2x32. The 32GB sticks are significantly taller and probably don't fit as described by me.

No it’s not a mistake, I do indeed use 2 x 32 GB RAM, these sticks are “DC”: double capacity which indeed are quite a bit taller than usual and I am forced to use the extender on the port of the Apogee. I also had to modify the heatsink of the RAM (cut one piece out with the dremel) otherwise the pump port was pushing the RAM quite a bit (See pic below).

The cooler cools the pump, not the loop. I bought mine used and was pleased to find the idiot preowner ran it for years like you found it. Glad to hear they ship that pice of garbage from the factory like that .....

Weird... Swiftech is supposedly a company with good reputation, and when I found out mine like that, I thought it must be a very odd occurrence, a one off, but with yours included it’s the third one I’m reading about with the same issue (film still in place on the thermal pad), so I guess it was a systematic oversight on their side. Nothing major thankfully.

I'll add a few pictures of the insides of my loop to give you an idea how you can have long tubes. attached to your rad. It is by no means ideal but it kinda works ok which was good enough for me to start dailying it.

please do! I’d really like to see how I could get a bit more length into my lines.

I‘ll hopefully be doing a leak test later tonight. If all goes well I’ll be able to complete the build tomorrow, but I’ll wait for your pics just in case I can change the tube lines so I can install them differently so they are a bit longer to allow easier access.

thanks in advance.

 

[T4iga]

here are the promissed pictures
EDIT: Updated some image descriptions

No it’s not a mistake, I do indeed use 2 x 32 GB RAM, these sticks are “DC”: double capacity which indeed are quite a bit taller than usual and I am forced to use the extender on the port of the Apogee. I also had to modify the heatsink of the RAM (cut one piece out with the dremel) otherwise the pump port was pushing the RAM quite a bit (See pic below).

I guess you found the prettiest route then. You are starting of right as far as I can tell because your block is oriented correctly. Mine is oriented the wrong way which made filling a lot harder and bleeding and absolute pain in the butt.

To add to this: I have at one place where angled leak dropplets of fluid when putting them under more pressure but it isn't much of an issue since I have found the correct way to remove and install the rad (it is the bottom rad to GPU connection btw.)

I don't have the parts to verify but I can give you the loop order and parts I would try to go for if I was to do this again.
For example I ordered the wrong temperature sensor but I also had to completely scrap any plans of laying out the loop, because nothing fit as expected. For example: I completely undeerstimated how huge the quick disconnects are. The shortest run on can reasonably make with a QDC in line can be seen between the CPU block inlet (right side) and the bottom radiator. That you have to almost kink the tubes to unhinge still interlocked parts after opening the water thigh connection.

 

[MultiDoc]

Thanks for the pics and description. I don’t think that routing can work for me though, cause I only have the side radiator. And also I’ve dropped the idea of watercooling my GPU since no water block that I could find for the Strix 2080Ti is compatible with the Ncase.

Unfortunately family obligations meant I had no time to do the leak testing tonight, so that’s tomorrow’s plan. I’m also expecting the sata to molex adapter so I can power the pump with the existing cables and avoid having an extra cable plugged to the PSU just for the pump.
ODD is also on its way so I’m getting there slowly.

will update tomorrow.

P.S: I opened the EK leak tester and painted the gauge needle white (ffs who thought it’s a good idea to have a black needle against a black dial in the background ?) so it’s far easier to read and spot any movement.

 

[MultiDoc]

There are so many places in your assembly that you need to use 12x25 coolers (they have more pressure).

If you mean the fans, the ones on the radiator are indeed 25mm thick. The rear exhaust and the 2 bottom ones are slim since there simply isn’t enough room for thicker ones.

All of these quick couplings create great flow resistance.

Not sure if they do restrict the flow, and even if they do, the restriction would be negligible in this loop at least since the pump is far more than enough for a single 240 radiator to run efficiently.

Hoses could be replaced with 10 mm flexible pipes with fittings at low heights. Perhaps the pressure of this pump will be small.

I’m sorry but I didn’t really understand this, care to explain please ?

Radiators with memory could be completely removed

I guess you refer to the RAM heatsink, they can indeed be safely removed with no real adverse effect on the RAM itself. But since they fit with only slight modification I decided to keep them.


P.S: I leak tested the loop tonight with no issues and went ahead and filled the loop, bled it (pain in the a***) and installed everything. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll power up the system for the first time. Will update soon.

 

[T4iga]

I run my pupm at the lowest setting because I prefer almost silent over the small temp improvement. It runs just fine even with 3 QDCs, CPU and GPU block and 2 rads. The remaining flaw rate may be reduced but it is definitely good enough even for that I am running so you will be completely fine on just CPU.

How are your fans oriented? I haven't properly measured the difference but it is probably less than 3K from what I have glanced at. The main issue for me was getting flesh air into the chipsen cooler which prompted me to switch all fans to exhaus, instead of intake.

 

[MultiDoc]

Fans as they are currently are:

Radiator intake (pull)
Rear exhaust

Depending how chipset temps will be, I might consider installing a little Noctua somewhere to help with the flow there (I was also thinking on changing the stock motherboard fans with A4 Noctuas but I’m not good with modding so tiny cables).

I’ll be installing windows etc tonight and update.

 

[MultiDoc]

Final pics, still haven’t powered it up (wife works from home so I’m at the moment banned from the PC since she uses it for her work, maybe late tonight I can install windows, fingers crossed, and maybe finish the setup).


will update again with performance, temps etc as soon as I have them.