Production Nouvolo Steck - SFF 8.7-11.2L ITX PC Case, supports liquid cooling
- Thread starter macbosco
- Start date
The Black Ridge seems to perform a little worse than the L12S in the benchmarks I've seen, but they're pretty similar overall. I'd also through in the Scythe Big Shuriken as a quality option. I've got a BS2 on my 7700 and its been running great.
Thanks @Allhopeforhumanity i'll managed to find someone that stocks the L12S locally so think i'm going to go for that... will decide for sure once i get the case here. I got my RoyalMail shipping details today by text so i can stalk it now 
My 1.1 just showed up in the mail. Man, I thought the packaging was great last time, but this time it's really top notch.
Initial extremely cursory impressions: The finish appears to be a bit more uniform, although you can still see the rivet marks on the front panel. Love the multitude of screw points on the spine for SSD mounting. Happy to have native 120 and 92mm fan support under the PSU, although the bottom plate is still pretty restrictive airflow wise by the looks of it. Now comes with multiple sets of M3 magnetic strips, but I haven't had any troubles with my 1.0 strips for a year now; and I'm planning on replacing with some 1/16th NdFeB magnets anyway. Once I get some new components I'll do a proper review and fitment comparison.
I ordered a Big Shuriken 3, an SFX750 and some A12x15's for starters and am thinking of doing a Zen2 build, but haven't decided which direction I want to go with it just yet.
Allhope's first world conundrum: Replace my current HTPC/Couch gaming setup with its 7700 and 1050ti in the steck 1.0, build a small workstation to replace my 3790k/GTX590 physic sim box, or downsize my primary 4790k/1080ti ATX gaming rig. I guess I'll ponder it more during my flights this weekend for work.
Edit: Anyone fit a 5700tx pulse in theirs? Specs say its 46.5mm thick, which is 1.5mm over the official specs. Currently pondering the pulse or the red dragon (though I haven't seen any results of the XT for that model).
Initial extremely cursory impressions: The finish appears to be a bit more uniform, although you can still see the rivet marks on the front panel. Love the multitude of screw points on the spine for SSD mounting. Happy to have native 120 and 92mm fan support under the PSU, although the bottom plate is still pretty restrictive airflow wise by the looks of it. Now comes with multiple sets of M3 magnetic strips, but I haven't had any troubles with my 1.0 strips for a year now; and I'm planning on replacing with some 1/16th NdFeB magnets anyway. Once I get some new components I'll do a proper review and fitment comparison.
I ordered a Big Shuriken 3, an SFX750 and some A12x15's for starters and am thinking of doing a Zen2 build, but haven't decided which direction I want to go with it just yet.
Allhope's first world conundrum: Replace my current HTPC/Couch gaming setup with its 7700 and 1050ti in the steck 1.0, build a small workstation to replace my 3790k/GTX590 physic sim box, or downsize my primary 4790k/1080ti ATX gaming rig. I guess I'll ponder it more during my flights this weekend for work.
Edit: Anyone fit a 5700tx pulse in theirs? Specs say its 46.5mm thick, which is 1.5mm over the official specs. Currently pondering the pulse or the red dragon (though I haven't seen any results of the XT for that model).
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Amazing that it arrives so fast. We should commend the shipping agent for doing a good job .
Yeah, you definitely chose well, they did a great job and the packaging was in immaculate condition. I'm used to boxes ariving looking like they've been through several rounds of combat, so this was a nice surprise.
My BS3 doesn't arrive until later this week, but from the reviews I've seen the L12S is a little quieter with a slight reduction in performance and worse RAM clearance. Some X570 itx owners have had clearance issues with the bulky chipset/IO-shield enclosures on the BS3 though, so make sure that you'll be okay there first. I'm planning to do the screw-mod on my BS3 and replace the Kaze fan with an A12-15 from Noctua but will make a qualitative comparison of the two for noise once I decide on what CPU/mobo to get.
Packaging is great just wish the panels showed the same level of detail. Every where the case was stamped shows through to the outside. If this was sub $100 case that would be fine but at $200 just not worth it. I will have to bondo and paint the whole case unless I want to live with dents and octagon shapes on the front panel and top hat. Going to try and get ahold of them to fix but if this is normal the case is certainly not worth the price tag
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That was one of my biggest critiques on the community tester unit I got back in November, and I just got a v1.1 also today, and it is still quite pronounced. Idk how Nouvolo can remedy the situation, but it's quite unfortunate. The packaging it very good quality and I love this case regardless, but it's a shame the hex shapes are so pronounced.
Will have pics when I have more time.
What is the spec for the side panel thumbscrews? I'm Looking for an stand off to make the pannel stick off a little.
We will try to improve it in future versions, which will require a re-design of the whole structure and the assembly mechanism. We have made inspection when they came out from production and pass tolerance if they are not noticeable from 1-2 feet away. Panels with standoffs on the other side will always have a very slight mark, as with all other products.
Wonderful!
Also I got a reply from /u/danto18 on Reddit for those 3d printed feet I had posted about!
Did anyone by chance download these? I forgot to save them and now the file isn't there anymore. I have messaged him, but he has not responded yet(he has been off of Reddit since is my guess, he has had no activity for 22days)
My case came in yesterday. I was the guy posting about GPU dimensions to fit drives. just wanted to say thanks for the advice on getting HDD's in there and post my results.
I got just the base model (no stacks) and I ended up using double-sided tape to fit three 2.5" drives into the case and getting a larger GPU. 1 drive under the front panel. 1 drive under the PSU and 1 drive directly opposite that one next to the GPU (I also managed to get a 120mm fan under the PSU there). I wound up with a card that clocks in around 230 mm and a 2.5" HDD (or more if you stack them with a bracket, just not the official one) fits pretty much perfectly. It's probably something that could be fixed or adjusted in a 2.0 version of the case or with a 3d printed alternative, but figured it might be helpful for anyone else looking.
Other notes on the case:
The magnets aren't great. The adhesive failed on both sides of the case before the end of my first day and scratched one of my panels. Before that, the magnets slid around and made it kinda difficult to keep things flush with the front and top panels. I'm waiting on some rare earth magnets to fix my current issues. I kinda wish the side panels had stronger screw-in corner magnets so you could optionally secure the panels with screws for a more secure fit, but that might affect the aesthetic and CPU cooler clearance so idk. I might CNC a custom side panel at some point for myself that I can screw in for travel purposes, but it'll depend on the adhesive rare earth magnets I have coming in.
Otherwise, I love it. I kinda wish the top panel was also magnetically attached too. I'm going to try to put corner magnets on the top panel to stick to the tops of the magnetic plates in the case, but the lack of secureness on the top makes it hard to move. The documentation on the site could also be a bit more clear, but it's ultimately fine.
I got just the base model (no stacks) and I ended up using double-sided tape to fit three 2.5" drives into the case and getting a larger GPU. 1 drive under the front panel. 1 drive under the PSU and 1 drive directly opposite that one next to the GPU (I also managed to get a 120mm fan under the PSU there). I wound up with a card that clocks in around 230 mm and a 2.5" HDD (or more if you stack them with a bracket, just not the official one) fits pretty much perfectly. It's probably something that could be fixed or adjusted in a 2.0 version of the case or with a 3d printed alternative, but figured it might be helpful for anyone else looking.
Other notes on the case:
The magnets aren't great. The adhesive failed on both sides of the case before the end of my first day and scratched one of my panels. Before that, the magnets slid around and made it kinda difficult to keep things flush with the front and top panels. I'm waiting on some rare earth magnets to fix my current issues. I kinda wish the side panels had stronger screw-in corner magnets so you could optionally secure the panels with screws for a more secure fit, but that might affect the aesthetic and CPU cooler clearance so idk. I might CNC a custom side panel at some point for myself that I can screw in for travel purposes, but it'll depend on the adhesive rare earth magnets I have coming in.
Otherwise, I love it. I kinda wish the top panel was also magnetically attached too. I'm going to try to put corner magnets on the top panel to stick to the tops of the magnetic plates in the case, but the lack of secureness on the top makes it hard to move. The documentation on the site could also be a bit more clear, but it's ultimately fine.
About the magnets, I've had mine since May and they never failed. Basically I sticked them and left the panels under 10 or so kilograms of books so they could lay flat for 5 or 6 hours. Never failed, they don't budge even a mm.
Same here, it also helps if you have some alcohol wipes or isopropyl alcohol around to clean any organics (grease, finger prints, etc) off the panels before adhering them. Mine 1.0 panels haven't budged in a year.
The final parts for my 1.1 build just arrived yesterday, so I should have some pics and a build log/review up soonish.
