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

[Nouvolo]

... Steck makes perfect sense now in its current pricing as a mid-range offer, providing a more premium experience than the budget cases while being a more logical choice than the high-end premiums where you can use the money saved to upgrade your parts that matter. It has found its niche with virtually no competitiors, to lose it would be a shame.

Thanks for your in depth review and your positive feedback.

Yea, I have spent some thoughts in positioning Steck in terms of price and its value proposition. As said all along I felt the SFF prices are too high for many, including myself. I just consider what would be the sweet spot to market to a typical enthusiast like myself ?. All I can reveal at the moment is demand is immense right now especially in recent weeks. Will try to maintain this kind of price level going forward, maybe even for other models.

Shipping costs is an issue. All I can say/share with the creators/community is that special attention is needed design and development process, specifically to tackle the issue with shipping (costs). This is quite a big chunk of the overall costs, and shipping "air" (empty case) is wasteful. Even Steck can improve on this.

Something for creators to consider :
Ship empty case (pre-built) => FedEx wins, creator loses, user loses

 

[Mistercloudz]

With glass side panels and a top mounted radiator, the bottom is going to be your only air ingress point. So in that case, you are going to want to go with an intake on the bottom. Are you planning on only cooling the CPU with the custom loop, or GPU too?

If the GPU is going to be air cooled (separate from your loop), I'd suggest using a vented panel on the GPU side, as it will run awfully toasty with only 1 intake on the bottom to feed it cool air.

Both 2700x and zotac rtx 2060 amp (mini). And might replace 2700x with 3700x for that 65w Tdp. Less heat and better cooling. And I do plan on over clocking gpu but let Precision boost do it's thing with 2700x/3700x. Unless I see better results with 4.2ghz all cores.

And I will see how it turns out putting parts together. If I have room for a 3rd noctua slim fan at the bottom for either intake or exhaust , then I will do that. Hopefully this 180mm res/pump from bykski doesn't get too tall. I will fit this next to gpu since it's short length.

 

[Missingchoco]

Thanks for your in depth review and your positive feedback.

Yea, I have spent some thoughts in positioning Steck in terms of price and its value proposition. As said all along I felt the SFF prices are too high for many, including myself. I just consider what would be the sweet spot to market to a typical enthusiast like myself ?. All I can reveal at the moment is demand is immense right now especially in recent weeks. Will try to maintain this kind of price level going forward, maybe even for other models.

Shipping costs is an issue. All I can say/share with the creators/community is that special attention is needed design and development process, specifically to tackle the issue with shipping (costs). This is quite a big chunk of the overall costs, and shipping "air" (empty case) is wasteful. Even Steck can improve on this.

Something for creators to consider :
Ship empty case (pre-built) => FedEx wins, creator loses, user loses

It was actually 2x longer but I was rambling too much so I cut it down. ? Glad to hear you're getting high demand, clearly Steck is appealing to many people.

I totally get the shipping cost issue. I'm surprised you've managed to keep it so low. I was actually trying to get one of the more well known cases before but their shipping to me was $60 USD/ $86 AUD...which is the kind of money I pay to get furniture delivered, not a tiny little box. Being in HK helps I guess?

 

[Nouvolo]

Thanks u/markker2992 for the reddit post. Really appreciate it, it really helps with getting the message out:

 

[Nouvolo]

Think I have achieved something with Steck in that many users are first time owning a SFF. Those who have been following this thread and development probably knows that's one of my main goal, trying to make SFF mainstream. We seem to be plugging away in the right direction ?

 

[VeeTeeF]

Question to anyone who might know. I was thinking about picking up a used MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X for cheap. The height is listed at 140mm which is the max GPU height listed for the case. Also the 6-pin/8-pin power connectors are on the top side of the card at the very end. Does anyone have this card or one with the same cooler or width?

 

[Allhopeforhumanity]

Question to anyone who might know. I was thinking about picking up a used MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X for cheap. The height is listed at 140mm which is the max GPU height listed for the case. Also the 6-pin/8-pin power connectors are on the top side of the card at the very end. Does anyone have this card or one with the same cooler or width?

I have a 980ti gaming X with the same height that I could pull from another rig and test for you by this weekend.

 

[VeeTeeF]

I have a 980ti gaming X with the same height that I could pull from another rig and test for you by this weekend.

That sounds perfect, thanks! It seems like it'll fit based on build pics I've seen of the case, although I might need 90° pci-e connectors so the cables don't interfere with AIO fans on the top panel. I'll probably pickup the card anyway since it's only $250. At worst I can sell it or stick it in my work machine.

 

[Allhopeforhumanity]

That sounds perfect, thanks! It seems like it'll fit based on build pics I've seen of the case, although I might need 90° pci-e connectors so the cables don't interfere with AIO fans on the top panel. I'll probably pickup the card anyway since it's only $250. At worst I can sell it or stick it in my work machine.

Yeah, that's a pretty good deal worth jumping on.

 

[Engr62]

Question to anyone who might know. I was thinking about picking up a used MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X for cheap. The height is listed at 140mm which is the max GPU height listed for the case. Also the 6-pin/8-pin power connectors are on the top side of the card at the very end. Does anyone have this card or one with the same cooler or width?

When I had my Nouvolo Steck, I tried to use my MSI GTX 1070 Gaming X in the base unit with no luck--I had to use the top hat to get room for the PCIe cables. You can get low-profile extensions for your PCIe cables that may allow you to install the Gaming X without the top hat.

 

[VeeTeeF]

When I had my Nouvolo Steck, I tried to use my MSI GTX 1070 Gaming X in the base unit with no luck--I had to use the top hat to get room for the PCIe cables. You can get low-profile extensions for your PCIe cables that may allow you to install the Gaming X without the top hat.

I'll probably go with low profile/right angle extensions then. I don't mind the added cost since I'm getting the card for a solid price. Or I can stop buying stuff and just stick with my 1070 ti mini?.

 

[madmax]

Hi! I'm thinking about realizing a custom loop in the Steck case with two stacks. As I would like two use the glass side panels, I plan to go for a chimney effect with all four fans blowing up. While planning I figured two things important to know for such a build:

1. How much clearence do you have for 90° angled fittings on the graphics card cooler with the glass panels installed? Most fittings have an installed height of about 30mm.
2. The ventilation of the bottom panel (the one with the feet mounted on) looks pretty poor. This is critical, as for the described chimney effect all air would have to be sucked in here. Is it possible to omit the bottom panel and use the mounting frame of the lower stack unit as bottom instead? If not, maybe with minor customization?

Unfortunately, I never received an answer to my questions. Maybe you, @Nouvolo, could answer me at least my first question? How much clearance is there for fittings on the gpu with glass side panel installed? Thank you in advance!

 

[Dark3ndSoulz]

@Nouvolo posting here so I can get some visibility. I've been trying to get in contact with you guys by email and sent a PM. I ordered my Nouvolo Steck on May 18th and I have still not gotten any updates on my order. All i've gotten is a tracking number and all it says is shipping label has been created. Could really get some help and find out what's going on. I'm from New York and this is before the whole notification about low stock issues in the LA warehouse. Sorry i'm not trying to be a dick, but i've been waiting a really long time and was hoping to get an answer about my order.

 

[Nouvolo]

@Nouvolo posting here so I can get some visibility. I've been trying to get in contact with you guys by email and sent a PM. I ordered my Nouvolo Steck on May 18th and I have still not gotten any updates on my order. All i've gotten is a tracking number and all it says is shipping label has been created. Could really get some help and find out what's going on. I'm from New York and this is before the whole notification about low stock issues in the LA warehouse. Sorry i'm not trying to be a dick, but i've been waiting a really long time and was hoping to get an answer about my order.

Replied your email just now, please check. And just got your email yesterday...

 

[Nouvolo]

Unfortunately, I never received an answer to my questions. Maybe you, @Nouvolo, could answer me at least my first question? How much clearance is there for fittings on the gpu with glass side panel installed? Thank you in advance!

• GFX card side (with or without glass panels), we recommend double slot card (~45mm). Count it as bonus for any extra you manage squeeze in. ?
• Bottom panel is critical to the overall structural strength of the case. We don't have issues with ventilation due to the bottom panel from users so far. You can also do your own mod to the bottom panel if you see fit.

 

[Pathogen451]

I was originally just going to try and swap it with a smaller card but before i spend money I'd like to try it but the last thing I want to be doing is build my PC and then realise it doesn't fit but I may try it at some point.

Looks like I'm in the same position, did you ever get around to testing the fit of your Vega with the Steck?

 

[madmax]

• GFX card side (with or without glass panels), we recommend double slot card (~45mm). Count it as bonus for any extra you manage squeeze in. ?
• Bottom panel is critical to the overall structural strength of the case. We don't have issues with ventilation due to the bottom panel from users so far. You can also do your own mod to the bottom panel if you see fit.

Thank you for your answer! Well, I judged the breathability of the bottom panel from photos, so maybe I'm wrong, but considering the high amount of blocked surface, I'm very sure it's not enough to cool highend hardware properly if used as only air intake of the case. For a second revision I'd definitely like to see a more open bottom panel. And the vent holes on the top reaching further to the edges. Airflow really is crucial in SFF cases and there can't be enough openings.

About the fittings, 45mm sure ain't much, I see you'd have to get creative here... but it shouldn't be impossible, as it has been done before in the Ghost S1. The Nouvolo offers the advantage that you could place the glass panel on spacers to get more room.

 

[dave99]

I would agree about the airflow holes, they need to be a little bigger and more of them on the sides, and substantially larger on the bottom if that is possible without ruining the structure.

 

[Nouvolo]

About the fittings, 45mm sure ain't much, I see you'd have to get creative here... but it shouldn't be impossible, as it has been done before in the Ghost S1.

I think single slot is about 20mm , and double is about 40mm
I don't think any sandwich style sff case (in production) support more than double slot?

 

[Longbow072]

I've fit the non-Ti version of this card (same size) in my Steck easily.

Got it, I'm trying to decide if its worth upgrading my Titan X Pascal for a 2080 or 2080 Ti cost wise. A 1080 Ti doesn't seem like enough of a bump for me to scrounge up a used example. Waiting to see what prices do now that AMD is nudging their way in to various price brackets.