Production Nouvolo Steck - SFF 8.7-11.2L ITX PC Case, supports liquid cooling

[ron095]

Hey guys, I understand the excitement. But I want you guys to take your time!!! Enjoy the process and don't rush through the whole experience. If it will take a few weeks, it's fine!!!

Really appreciate that you said that! I received mine but I still need to get a few parts, so I'll probably post my build in a few weeks. Also the shipping was pretty amazing, thanks for that!

But as a quick warning: I'm a novice when it comes to pc building and not super knowledgeable about specifics, so it's gonna be a budget student build review from me

 

[Engr62]

Would one of those 90-degree or 180-degree adapter help?

Thanks for the suggestion @tinyitx. Those may work, but I can't find a dimension for just how much these will stick out from the connector on the GPU. Since I need both an 8-pin and a 6-pin connector for the MSI GPU, it's going to run me about $30 shipped. I may just go with the top hat to keep from spending so much. If anyone knows of anyplace that has these for $10 shipped or less per cable, I'd be interested.

 

[dumplinknet]

Full Album of installation with more to come.

Size for SFF (9/10)
The Nouvolo Steck comes in at a very ideal size for a sandwich design with the mobo and gpu back to back. It definitely frees up a lot of desk space.

Aesthetics (9/10)
Design wise, it looks sleek and simple. Screws are hidden- except for the back gpu and cover. I am a fan of the professional/ minimalism look which does not call for the typical gamer attention. No hard edges/curves or techy lines or cut-outs. No RGB here except for the back of the Z370i mobo (which I will disable soon)

Ease of installation (9/10)
I must say, installation was a breeze (coming from the Skyreach 4 Mini) and I love how it felt (oddly phrased) modular while building in. If I'm 10 steps into building the case and forgot something back at step 2, I can easily access step 2 without having to disassemble the entire chassis.

Price (say for USD 190 full bundle, USD160 base unit only + shipping, for full retail price) (8/10)
I have no issue if I had to pay $190 for the full bundle including the top large expansion. It definitely feels like a $190 case. There's actual heft to the metal pieces giving it a sense of high quality. Comparing it to the competition, you do get more flexibility which is well worth the consideration.

Finishing (paintwork, metal work etc) (7/10)
Since this is strictly a beta case and not the final production unit, I do have to say that there were a few nicks in the paint job such as the ventilation holes. The paint aesthetic is more of a wrinkled paint when you're up close. It's not a smooth finish and is a bit of a fingerprint magnet.
Tolerance would need to be much improved. I hate seeing gaps when panels do not meet each other.
And since this was just a review unit in standard packaging, the metal side panels had a slight bow to them during transit. I tried to bend it back using slight pressure but only made it worse.

Flexibility (10/10)
I love the top expansion. In my build, it currently houses a 120mm Noctua fan over the PSU and a modified 140mm noctua fan over the motherboard. It's venting a lot of air to cool that i7-8700K.
The Steck also comes with a few brackets to house any sata drives you may have. My build currently have only m.2 drives.

Compatibility (for your hardware) (10/10)
GPU: Coming from the Skyreach 4 Mini, I have the mini version of a 1080TI by Zotac. It is a taller card and it fits without issue with the top panel. It is a shorter card and thus, I have a lot of dead space on the GPU side which would be occupied by a longer card.
CPU: The de-lidded i7-8700K is being cooled by an LP-53/92mm A9x14 fan from Noctua (2500RPM) I do plan to move up to a 240mm AIO. Recommendations, anyone?
PSU: The SF600 sits incredibly hair close to the motherboard. So make sure to plug the power button cable in before you tighten up the PSU.

Thermals (passive / liquid)
WIth the glass side panels ON, I stressed tested the CPU with Prime 95 (26.6) and maxed out at 71C. It idles at 34C.
I have not stressed tested the GPU yet. These values would obviously be lower if it were to be the vented side panels.

Modification
- I can already see myself laser-cutting a few custom side panels out of acrylic just to add a touch of personalization to this case. And since it's held by magnets, this would be the easiest thing to modify.
- The bottom feet are not my cup of tea. And I'm mainly put-off by how it's aligned with the body of the case. It's weird and my OCD is kicking in really hard. I'm planning to remove them and use small, discrete rubber feet.

A few other words:
- The PSU has a small space behind it which I used to easily hide all my stock corsair cables. Like my cable management? No need to get custom cables. Also, I can actually fit a 120mmx25mm Noctua fan under the PSU without any issue.
- The magnet strip system is very convenient for a case that isn't meant to be lugged around town or travel. And they are decently strong! No more screws, pins, tabs, etc. Just plain, easy magnets. I enjoy hearing the satisfying click to the panels when the magnets meet! AH yessss!
- The side panel for my gpu site pretty close to the GPU and creates loud turbulence noise. It's a night and day difference in volume with the side panel on and off.


Edit
Specs:
Intel i7-8700K delidded via silicon lottery
Asus ROG Z370i motherboard
Corsair vengeance LPX 32GB RAM 3000MHZ
Zotac GTX 1080TI mini
Thermaltek LP53 copper heatsink with Noctua 92mm A9x14 fan (2500rpm)
Corsair SF600 PSU and stock cables
Samsung 950 Pro NVME 512GB
Noctua 120mm NF-F12 PWM black chromax fan (exhaust)
Noctua 140mm NF-A15 PWM from a Noctua D15 (exhaust)

 

[Longbow072]

Any ideas of a Enermax LiqFusion 240 AIO would fit? Was also considering the same Coolermaster pictured in the creator's build.

Yes, I'm one of those RGB people, but I prefer to set it on a soft wave pattern on a single or set of colors, not Unicorn Farts and Fairy Jizz nonsense.

 

[Poblopuablo]

Full Album of installation with more to come.

Size for SFF (9/10)
The Nouvolo Steck comes in at a very ideal size for a sandwich design with the mobo and gpu back to back. It definitely frees up a lot of desk space.

Aesthetics (9/10)
Design wise, it looks sleek and simple. Screws are hidden- except for the back gpu and cover. I am a fan of the professional/ minimalism look which does not call for the typical gamer attention. No hard edges/curves or techy lines or cut-outs. No RGB here except for the back of the Z370i mobo (which I will disable soon)

Ease of installation (9/10)
I must say, installation was a breeze (coming from the Skyreach 4 Mini) and I love how it felt (oddly phrased) modular while building in. If I'm 10 steps into building the case and forgot something back at step 2, I can easily access step 2 without having to disassemble the entire chassis.

Price (say for USD 190 full bundle, USD160 base unit only + shipping, for full retail price) (8/10)
I have no issue if I had to pay $190 for the full bundle including the top large expansion. It definitely feels like a $190 case. There's actual heft to the metal pieces giving it a sense of high quality. Comparing it to the competition, you do get more flexibility which is well worth the consideration.

Finishing (paintwork, metal work etc) (7/10)
Since this is strictly a beta case and not the final production unit, I do have to say that there were a few nicks in the paint job such as the ventilation holes. The paint aesthetic is more of a wrinkled paint when you're up close. It's not a smooth finish and is a bit of a fingerprint magnet.
Tolerance would need to be much improved. I hate seeing gaps when panels do not meet each other.
And since this was just a review unit in standard packaging, the metal side panels had a slight bow to them during transit. I tried to bend it back using slight pressure but only made it worse.

Flexibility (10/10)
I love the top expansion. In my build, it currently houses a 120mm Noctua fan over the PSU and a modified 140mm noctua fan over the motherboard. It's venting a lot of air to cool that i7-8700K.
The Steck also comes with a few brackets to house any sata drives you may have. My build currently have only m.2 drives.

Compatibility (for your hardware) (10/10)
GPU: Coming from the Skyreach 4 Mini, I have the mini version of a 1080TI by Zotac. It is a taller card and it fits without issue with the top panel. It is a shorter card and thus, I have a lot of dead space on the GPU side which would be occupied by a longer card.
CPU: The de-lidded i7-8700K is being cooled by an LP-53/92mm A9x14 fan from Noctua (2500RPM) I do plan to move up to a 240mm AIO. Recommendations, anyone?
PSU: The SF600 sits incredibly hair close to the motherboard. So make sure to plug the power button cable in before you tighten up the PSU.

Thermals (passive / liquid)
WIth the glass side panels ON, I stressed tested the CPU with Prime 95 (26.6) and maxed out at 71C. It idles at 34C.
I have not stressed tested the GPU yet. These values would obviously be lower if it were to be the vented side panels.

Modification
- I can already see myself laser-cutting a few custom side panels out of acrylic just to add a touch of personalization to this case. And since it's held by magnets, this would be the easiest thing to modify.
- The bottom feet are not my cup of tea. And I'm mainly put-off by how it's aligned with the body of the case. It's weird and my OCD is kicking in really hard. I'm planning to remove them and use small, discrete rubber feet.

A few other words:
- The PSU has a small space behind it which I used to easily hide all my stock corsair cables. Like my cable management? No need to get custom cables. Also, I can actually fit a 120mmx25mm Noctua fan under the PSU without any issue.
- The magnet strip system is very convenient for a case that isn't meant to be lugged around town or travel. And they are decently strong! No more screws, pins, tabs, etc. Just plain, easy magnets. I enjoy hearing the satisfying click to the panels when the magnets meet! AH yessss!
- The side panel for my gpu site pretty close to the GPU and creates loud turbulence noise. It's a night and day difference in volume with the side panel on and off.

Nice review, please post specs

 

[dumplinknet]

Nice review, please post specs

OMG totally forgot that part. Editing it now.

 

[macbosco]

Any ideas of a Enermax LiqFusion 240 AIO would fit? Was also considering the same Coolermaster pictured in the creator's build.

Yes, I'm one of those RGB people, but I prefer to set it on a soft wave pattern on a single or set of colors, not Unicorn Farts and Fairy Jizz nonsense.

Check out the new Corsair addressable Rgb cooler. It's got some pretty rave reviews. I use Coolermaster mainly coz of the price. But whatever you choose, make sure the tube joints at the CPU is adjustable.

 

[chyll2]

Will you be releasing the smaller stack? I am interested on getting one that houses standard 120mm fans.

 

[Longbow072]

Enermax's fits that last bill, but it has a strange pump up 3/4's the way up the line... so *shrug* its an odd duck. I just like the visual indication of the water actually flowing.

So, new plan, looks like I will be going back to work for a bit. I'm going to order a new Mobo, air cooler, and new PSU (since I want some more power for OC on both GPU and CPU when I get the AIO fired up). This way I can do Air cooling and keep it shippable, do a review of the air cooling aspect, then swap to an AIO when I get home for good and give a liquid comparison.

 

[macbosco]

Enermax's fits that last bill, but it has a strange pump up 3/4's the way up the line... so *shrug* its an odd duck. I just like the visual indication of the water actually flowing.

From their website the pump is about 51mm, it should fit fine. Noctua L12S is 70mm and that fits.

 

[Longbow072]

Got it

I'm half tempted to bid my time and wait for black friday and try to snag a z370 asus MB and an 8700k.

 

[macbosco]

Will you be releasing the smaller stack? I am interested on getting one that houses standard 120mm fans.

I have a plan to add 25mm height I.e. taller, straight to the main base unit for another version, for some who are not into liquid cooling. What do you guys think?

 

[chyll2]

I have a plan to add 25mm height I.e. taller, straight to the main base unit for another version, for some who are not into liquid cooling. What do you guys think?

I am thinking (not proven), one can aircool and still use the glass panel provided that there is bottom to top airflow. So I am thinking of getting two.

I think it i will also benefit those who use AIO at the top, while it will make the case a bigger, the desk space it consume remain the same.

 

[tinyitx]

Thanks for the suggestion @tinyitx. Those may work, but I can't find a dimension for just how much these will stick out from the connector on the GPU. Since I need both an 8-pin and a 6-pin connector for the MSI GPU, it's going to run me about $30 shipped. I may just go with the top hat to keep from spending so much. If anyone knows of anyplace that has these for $10 shipped or less per cable, I'd be interested.

For 180-degree adapter (both 6 and 8 pin):
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...1fcKI&id=566325218864&ns=1&abbucket=15#detail
A lot of pics to show how it works. One pic shows both an 8 and 6 working together. One pic shows how tall it sticks out.

US $1 roughly equals 7 RMBs. So, one of these costs about 4 US dollars.
I do not know about the shipping cost and I do not know if you will order directly from Taobao or through an agent.

For 90-degree:
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a21wu.10013406.0.0.57c687aa36BnVf&id=557789895928

 

[Chinaman]

I have a plan to add 25mm height I.e. taller, straight to the main base unit for another version, for some who are not into liquid cooling. What do you guys think?

I think it would be a great idea having a smaller top hat. I would install it at the bottom then I can put two fans at the bottom to push fresh into the case.

 

[Longbow072]

Id love to see what two fans on two smaller top hats stacked top and bottom would have. The low profile air coolers seem to suffer a lot when it comes to pushing the air away, this way the L12S would actually kinda sorta work like the full size tower air coolers, were it would have the air pushed and pulled away.

In fact, thinking about it, Id bet it would be a worthwhile experiment to see if top or bottom (push or pull) is more optimal. Somehow I think the top pull would be the most optimal, with both being the best.

 

[fabio]

IT IS ARRIVED (In the box until this night)

Now, I miss only the GPU and I can start the build log!

 

[fabio]

I have a plan to add 25mm height I.e. taller, straight to the main base unit for another version, for some who are not into liquid cooling. What do you guys think?

I think that, if you can, you could add 15mm under the MB to fit a fan (for help the airflow and the VRM temp) or one more SSD drive will be great!

I don't know it will help to have also a 120mm fan at the top above the motherboard, but if you really want, I suggest 15/16mm for the slim fan, they are perfect for these tiny case!

You can always reduce a bit the feet height and use the space saved for the fan as I suggested above.

In general, I prefer to have clip on the side panel (i have a Cerberus X and a Dan Case), and top/bottom screwed part (In this case if the magnet are good maybe the clip for the side are not necessary, but I really suggest to have the top screwed as well)

These are my initial thoughts, but when I will open the box and mount the Steck, I could help more and maybe change my mind!

Thanks a lot @macbosco for this opportunity!

 

[fabio]

OOOPS, THE GPU is arrived!

 

[fabio]

Let's start my AMD BUILD! (The last one was an Athlon FX-55 with an Asus A8N-SLI )