Log New Ncase M1 build, fans spin, but no signal, busted?

dche

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Sep 9, 2019
18
7
Hi all,

First time building a full PC. Ended in epic failure. When I turn on, the fans all spin, cpu cooler, gpu, case fans, psu fan, but no signal detected. Attached HDMI or display port cable to GPU, to motherboard and to different monitors. No luck.

Any thoughts on what could cause the problem? Is the whole system dead? Never booted or installed Windows. It's first couple times turning on and no signal at all, can't see or get into BIOS. I don't have a whole lot of cables for now, just power supply to motherboard, cpu fan, case fan, power button led to motherboard, and only M.2 SSD. Did not use CPU power connector, unsure have to or what it's for?

Trying to think where I went wrong. I did brush CPU pins on the socket incorrectly, not sure that damages it? It wasn't hard, just a light touch, not sure how sensitive those pins are. My graphics card also is not a good fit for the Ncase, it's small enough, but I had to push it to screw it to the case.

Specs:
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Gigabyte B550I AORUS
GTX 1660 Super
Corsair SF600
Intel 1TB M.2 NVME SSD
16 GB LPX Vengeance RAM

I'm wondering where I went wrong. Feeling pretty discouraged about the possibility that I wasted $1200 for a first time PC build. Any help appreciated, otherwise have to sell the parts after waiting weeks for them.
 
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Remy17

Chassis Packer
Jun 19, 2020
19
4
You said you did not use the CPU power connector, I am not sure what you mean but if it is the eight socket connector on the board then you need to plug that in for the cpu to get power. The fans are probably spinning because the main board is getting power from the 24 pin connector.
 

dche

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Sep 9, 2019
18
7
Ah darn yeah it was that 8 pin. New to this, thought that was optional or Intel only. Accessed BIOS and installed Windows.

One thing that came up was that the bottom case fans block the cables for front IO. Has anyone come up with a solution to this or is it an issue of one or the other, bottom case fans or front usb/headphone but not both? (i have 2 bottom 120X15 slim fans.
 
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Remy17

Chassis Packer
Jun 19, 2020
19
4
Glad you got everything working and did not have a major issue. You can take the front I/O off if you do not need the front ports. I could not put any fans in the bottom of my build because of the video card thickness, but not having the I/O cables in the way helps with space overall.
 

dche

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Sep 9, 2019
18
7
Ah I did figure out that removing the front IO shield (that cover) makes it easier to slip in. I looked for pictures of other builds.

I'm downloading a game on steam, it's the only application running and I'm getting a fan noise that sounds like it's under load and these measures.
I'm not at all familiar with all the numbers, what they mean, but does it seem to be running quite hot under a relatively light workload? The PC seemed fine at idle.


I'm not familiar with fan orientation, what push and pull is. To switch between push and pull, do you just flip the case fan? If the logo faces you is that exhausting and if no logo facing you, it's intaking? Is there an ideal fan configuration for NH-U9S?

Also my power button flickers orange time to time, is that a concern? the power button easily fell off as I was building the PC. Seems to flicker more when there's higher workload
 
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Thehack

Spatial Philosopher
Creator
Mar 6, 2016
2,800
3,650
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Ah I did figure out that removing the front IO shield (that cover) makes it easier to slip in. I looked for pictures of other builds.

I'm downloading a game on steam, it's the only application running and I'm getting a fan noise that sounds like it's under load and these measures.
I'm not at all familiar with all the numbers, what they mean, but does it seem to be running quite hot under a relatively light workload? The PC seemed fine at idle.


I'm not familiar with fan orientation, what push and pull is. To switch between push and pull, do you just flip the case fan? If the logo faces you is that exhausting and if no logo facing you, it's intaking? Is there an ideal fan configuration for NH-U9S?

Also my power button flickers orange time to time, is that a concern? the power button easily fell off as I was building the PC. Seems to flicker more when there's higher workload

Push = Air flows through fan into the restriction (heatsink)
Pull = Air flows through restriction (heatsink) into the fan

Intake = Air flows from outside the case into the case
Exhaust = Air flows from the case into the room

Most fans have two arrows, one of them shows rotation and the other shows the air flow direction.

LED, maybe you got it hooked it up to the disk activity LED instead.

Temp looks hot for the workload, maybe bad mounting pressure. Double check your manual and redo the CPU cooler install. You also need an intake fan for the CPU cooler. You can either run intake from the back, and exhaust on the side. Or the reverse, side intake and rear exhaust. Match your cooler air flow with how you set it up. Should like at ncase video by optimum tech.
 
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Remy17

Chassis Packer
Jun 19, 2020
19
4
I am still setting things up and have only run my system in bios but, the highest temp I got so far is in the 40 c range using a Noctua low profile air cooler. If you are using the stock cooler it might be an issue with the thermal paste if it was pre-applied. Also do you other fans besides the two on the bottom because most people use a 92mm on the back to pull air in and fans on the side to pull air out. As I said I cannot test the bottom fan set-up because of my card but, I wonder about how effective it is to have the gpu fans blowing down and two others fans blowing up right under it.
 

Thehack

Spatial Philosopher
Creator
Mar 6, 2016
2,800
3,650
J-hackcompany.com
I am still setting things up and have only run my system in bios but, the highest temp I got so far is in the 40 c range using a Noctua low profile air cooler. If you are using the stock cooler it might be an issue with the thermal paste if it was pre-applied. Also do you other fans besides the two on the bottom because most people use a 92mm on the back to pull air in and fans on the side to pull air out. As I said I cannot test the bottom fan set-up because of my card but, I wonder about how effective it is to have the gpu fans blowing down and two others fans blowing up right under it.

You wouldn't set fans to blow opposite directions. GPU fans blow "up" and you would also have the case fans blow "up."
 

Remy17

Chassis Packer
Jun 19, 2020
19
4
You wouldn't set fans to blow opposite directions. GPU fans blow "up" and you would also have the case fans blow "up."
Good to know, I never really looked at how the video card fans spin before when using a full tower.
 

dche

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Sep 9, 2019
18
7
I am still setting things up and have only run my system in bios but, the highest temp I got so far is in the 40 c range using a Noctua low profile air cooler. If you are using the stock cooler it might be an issue with the thermal paste if it was pre-applied. Also do you other fans besides the two on the bottom because most people use a 92mm on the back to pull air in and fans on the side to pull air out. As I said I cannot test the bottom fan set-up because of my card but, I wonder about how effective it is to have the gpu fans blowing down and two others fans blowing up right under it.

I do have 2 bottom fans and nothing on the side. I'm wondering if a 2nd fan on the CPU cooler, adding one exhaust fan from cpu cooler to rear of PC to the one intake fan from middle of case would improve thermals significantly. I'm not sure what the improvement would be of a 2nd fan on U9S, and if it's worth it.
 

Thehack

Spatial Philosopher
Creator
Mar 6, 2016
2,800
3,650
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I do have 2 bottom fans and nothing on the side. I'm wondering if a 2nd fan on the CPU cooler, adding one exhaust fan from cpu cooler to rear of PC to the one intake fan from middle of case would improve thermals significantly. I'm not sure what the improvement would be of a 2nd fan on U9S, and if it's worth it.

Second fan only has a small effect. More important to give it some intake.

But if you want the best solution, a shadow rock TF or Noctua C14S are better performing options, with some compatibility restrictions.

Top flow coolers performs better.
 

dche

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Sep 9, 2019
18
7
Thanks for the suggestions.

One issue I think I identified with Ncase M1 is the front panel not being flush with the other panels. I identified this when it came out of the box.



As one can see, the right side always pokes out a little no matter how much I put the front panel on. If I pop the bottom left corner out, I can make the top fit but not when front panel is fully in.

Has anyone else experienced this in Ncase M1's most recent batch or has this ever been reported by others? Has anyone found a solution or have suggestions? Not sure this is a common issue but kinda disappointed, given the amount of money spent on this case. There's also small black marks on the inside of the panels by the inserts but minor and not visible so doesn't bother me. Overall satisfied with the case though.Being nitpicky, the corner of front panel bothers me. Not the biggest loss in the world. Was kinda hoping for better quality for the money.
 
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