Concept Powerful, silent, compact build: Fractal Nano S

[draenor]

I want to build a high performance (computation and gaming wise), silent pc in an as small case as possible (with as few compromices on equipment as possible). Dust filter is preferred and overclocking is not wanted, as it's counter productive to a silent pc.

So far I've come up with this

* Fractal Nano S
* Core i7-8700
* Geforce GTX 1080 (founders edition)

Supported by

* Noctua DH-15 CPU cooler
* Noctua NF-A14 140mm case intake fan (x2)
* Noctua NF-15x25 120mm case exhaust fan
* Corsair SF450 power supply
* Corsair Vengeance LPX 2 x 16 GB
* Asus ROG Strix H370-I



1. Can I do better in this case?

I'm leaning towards a blower-style GPU to keep the case cooler (and thus more silent), but with a beefy CPU cooler I'm not so sure. Experiences?

2. Is there a case that could be a better fit?

I've glanced at ncase m1, core 500 and others but not sure they meet the requirements. Cases that require special components (extra-short GPU) are also less attractive.

 

[FredHamley]

I want to build a high performance (computation and gaming wise), silent pc in an as small case as possible (with as few compromices on equipment as possible). Dust filter is preferred and overclocking is not wanted, as it's counter productive to a silent pc.

So far I've come up with this

* Fractal Nano S
* Core i7-8700
* Geforce GTX 1080 (founders edition)

Supported by

* Noctua DH-15 CPU cooler
* Noctua NF-A14 140mm case intake fan (x2)
* Noctua NF-15x25 120mm case exhaust fan
* Corsair SF450 power supply
* Corsair Vengeance LPX 2 x 16 GB
* Asus ROG Strix H370-I



1. Can I do better in this case?

I'm leaning towards a blower-style GPU to keep the case cooler (and thus more silent), but with a beefy CPU cooler I'm not so sure. Experiences?

2. Is there a case that could be a better fit?

I've glanced at ncase m1, core 500 and others but not sure they meet the requirements. Cases that require special components (extra-short GPU) are also less attractive.

If you want as silent/cool as possible and as small as possible, look at the SKTC Q3. With this case you can fit the Raijintek Morpheus II GPU Cooler, along with a DH-15s in 17~L. You can only order them through Taobao/an agent, but they use the same OEM as Raijintek I believe.

Another option if you want to be as silent as possible is the NCase M1 - using the side mount for a 240mm radiator, and an Articool Accelero like many people do, unless you want it to be air cooled.

 

[draenor]

Not much material to find about the SKTC Q3 ..the NCase M1 though could probably be an option.

To start somewhere, I'm probably going to give the nano s a try. After a lot of research, I see two viable builds.

Any feedback welcome, on which would perform best (lower temperatures) and be more silent. I will use a non-windowed case so looks doesn't matter

 

[Thehack]

Not much material to find about the SKTC Q3 ..the NCase M1 though could probably be an option.

To start somewhere, I'm probably going to give the nano s a try. After a lot of research, I see two viable builds.

Any feedback welcome, on which would perform best (lower temperatures) and be more silent. I will use a non-windowed case so looks doesn't matter

If you use an AIO it should immediately exhaust. It is the primary advantage of an AIO. A large air cooler is equivalent to a 240 in terms of performance/noise.

Using a blower above a 1070 you start leaving performance on the table due to thermal throttle. You also end up with much more noise.

The answer is to run a large air cooler and open gpu cooler. You should also get a short atx or sfx psu.

Something like a scythe Kotetsu ii or Mugen 5 or Noctua U12s as the cooler.

 

[Smanci]

For CPU cooling I recommend a Grand Macho RT, PSU RM550x (2018 model), and GPU cooler must be replaced with an Accelero Twin Turbo or Xtreme.

Reasons: Macho RT cools slightly better but quieter and might be sufficient even for semi-passive operation - you can purchase the 140mm fan duct just for that use. RM550x has a bit more overhead but importantly it is probably the quietest PSU right now, SF450 might start making sounds if it gets any warm air. GPU cooler obviously makes the most noise so with an accelero you'll get no noise and like 20-30 degrees lower temperatures.

Core 500 actually has better thermal performance than Nano S but neither can fit an aftermarket GPU heatsink, which is kind of a requirement for silent build. Raijintek Styx would, and it's around 25L, too.

 

[draenor]

If you use an AIO it should immediately exhaust. It is the primary advantage of an AIO. A large air cooler is equivalent to a 240 in terms of performance/noise.

Interesting thought, could you elaborate a little more on that? I'm thinking it makes sense to feed cold air through the radiator to cool it. Mounting it as exhaust will feed it already warm air. What are you thoughts?

Using a blower above a 1070 you start leaving performance on the table due to thermal throttle. You also end up with much more noise.

The answer is to run a large air cooler and open gpu cooler. You should also get a short atx or sfx psu.

Short SFX PSU planned (Corsair SF 450)

This video though suggests blower card is more silent: However, I must fault him for not using an SFX PSU so hard to tell for sure. It seems likely though, that when using an aftermarket GPU cooler, that the CPU will run hotter and thus require more cooling. Hence, for this build, my hypothesis is that an AIO intake doing push/pull could be useful.

 

[draenor]

For CPU cooling I recommend a Grand Macho RT, PSU RM550x (2018 model), and GPU cooler must be replaced with an Accelero Twin Turbo or Xtreme.

The Grand Macho cooler seems awesome. I think an SFX psu could be beneficial to make as much room as possible for GPU fans?

EDIT: The Grand Macho cooler might not be such a great fit after all. Seems it might not be possible to fit the case exhaust fan:

https://linustechtips.com/main/topi...efine-nano-s/?do=findComment&comment=11786095

Core 500 actually has better thermal performance than Nano S but neither can fit an aftermarket GPU heatsink, which is kind of a requirement for silent build. Raijintek Styx would, and it's around 25L, too.

The Styx case looks really cool. I thought researched extensively but I must've missed that one.

 

[Thehack]

Interesting thought, could you elaborate a little more on that? I'm thinking it makes sense to feed cold air through the radiator to cool it. Mounting it as exhaust will feed it already warm air. What are you thoughts?



Short SFX PSU planned (Corsair SF 450)

This video though suggests blower card is more silent: However, I must fault him for not using an SFX PSU so hard to tell for sure. It seems likely though, that when using an aftermarket GPU cooler, that the CPU will run hotter and thus require more cooling. Hence, for this build, my hypothesis is that an AIO intake doing push/pull could be useful.

If you mount it as intake, you'll feed the GPU with warm air. I would get a 240 and mount on top.

That video has very questionable testing methodology. I also don't really trust Bitwit as a good tester in general. For the Define Nano S, if you use a 1070, the best set up would be the MSI GTX 1070 Gaming with its over sized 110mm fans, SFX PSU, and a large 160mm CPU cooler. That video goes against the collective experience of SFF builders.

1. The card is a FTW card, so the bios would likely be more generous with it's voltage settings.
2. You don't increase fan speed until it hits a certain temp. You tweak the temp target. If you increase the fan speed, you will give GPU Boost 3.0 more thermal headroom, so it'll keep pumping voltage/frequency until it reaches that amount.
3. The ATX PSU defnitely doesn't help.
4. There was no verifying benchmark. Just "boost speed."

The 1070 is kind of the sweet spot for a blower design. A more powerful card will start getting noisy real fast. See how NVidia ditched their blower design, despite being standard for all of the past gens, for axial cooler as indicator of performance/noise. It is useful for dumping heat outside the case, but once you get to GTX 1080 level, noise or temp performance becomes a huge issue, reducing the max boost speeds it can get and thus leaving performance on the table. It wouldn't be a big deal if the blower cards were cheaper, but nowadays NVidia charges more for their blower/reference designs.

If noise is absolutely benchmark for you, then of course use the biggest air cooler, a 2.5 slot or aftermark GPU cooler, a passive or SFX-L PSU.

 

[draenor]

If you mount it as intake, you'll feed the GPU with warm air. I would get a 240 and mount on top.

That video has very questionable testing methodology. I also don't really trust Bitwit as a good tester in general. For the Define Nano S, if you use a 1070, the best set up would be the MSI GTX 1070 Gaming with its over sized 110mm fans, SFX PSU, and a large 160mm CPU cooler. That video goes against the collective experience of SFF builders.

1. The card is a FTW card, so the bios would likely be more generous with it's voltage settings.
2. You don't increase fan speed until it hits a certain temp. You tweak the temp target. If you increase the fan speed, you will give GPU Boost 3.0 more thermal headroom, so it'll keep pumping voltage/frequency until it reaches that amount.
3. The ATX PSU defnitely doesn't help.
4. There was no verifying benchmark. Just "boost speed."

The 1070 is kind of the sweet spot for a blower design. A more powerful card will start getting noisy real fast. See how NVidia ditched their blower design, despite being standard for all of the past gens, for axial cooler as indicator of performance/noise. It is useful for dumping heat outside the case, but once you get to GTX 1080 level, noise or temp performance becomes a huge issue, reducing the max boost speeds it can get and thus leaving performance on the table. It wouldn't be a big deal if the blower cards were cheaper, but nowadays NVidia charges more for their blower/reference designs.

If noise is absolutely benchmark for you, then of course use the biggest air cooler, a 2.5 slot or aftermark GPU cooler, a passive or SFX-L PSU.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I agree, the testing methodology is questionable, at best. The way I see it with AIO in this case

• On the exhaust: The CPU will get warm air from the GPU
• On the intake (240mm): The GPU will get warm air from the CPU
• On the intake (120mm): The GPU will get warm air from the CPU, but at least one fan will push fresh air directly onto the GPU.

I also didn't know that about NVidia.. Putting the radior on the intake, with a non-reference card, will of course result in heat from both the GPU and the CPU to exhaust inside the case. With that in mind, AIR cooling seems a good choice, since it's closer in design to putting an AIO on the exhaust.

You've been a great help

 

[Smanci]

The Grand Macho cooler seems awesome. I think an SFX psu could be beneficial to make as much room as possible for GPU fans?

EDIT: The Grand Macho cooler might not be such a great fit after all. Seems it might not be possible to fit the case exhaust fan:

The cooler can be used in any orientation you like but the guys over there haven't read the manual yet! It's one of the very few high-end heatsinks that fit even if the socket was right next to the PCI-e slot, thanks to one side of the thing having zero extension beyond base plate. Whether you can fit the rear fan in that exact scenario and that cooler orientation depends on CPU socket placement. I cannot fit a Macho B with rear fan, either, unless I rotate it 180.

If you rotated the heatsink 180 degrees in your example, it'd fit without problems. The heatsink would then extend over the memory slots, closer to the front of the case and you could decide whether you want the heatsink fan pushing or pulling - oor maybe even 2 fans. Now, I'm not sure on the length of the fan duct, but it might even be possible to have dedicated ducted front intake fan for the cooler in that configuration.

 

[draenor]

The cooler can be used in any orientation you like but the guys over there haven't read the manual yet! It's one of the very few high-end heatsinks that fit even if the socket was right next to the PCI-e slot, thanks to one side of the thing having zero extension beyond base plate. Whether you can fit the rear fan in that exact scenario and that cooler orientation depends on CPU socket placement. I cannot fit a Macho B with rear fan, either, unless I rotate it 180.

If you rotated the heatsink 180 degrees in your example, it'd fit without problems. The heatsink would then extend over the memory slots, closer to the front of the case and you could decide whether you want the heatsink fan pushing or pulling - oor maybe even 2 fans. Now, I'm not sure on the length of the fan duct, but it might even be possible to have dedicated ducted front intake fan for the cooler in that configuration.

Interesting thought! The corsair vengeance LPX are 31mm in height so it seems it migth be possible to fit the cooler. Fitting the fan above the RAM though seens like it could be challenging.

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Thermalright/Le_Grand_Macho/4.html

 

[draenor]

Looking at the Mothebord specs

Assuming the CPU is positioned close to the center would mean its center to be positioned at 17cm/2 = 8.5cm from the edge. The Grand Macho is 9.8 cm from edge to its center. That would put the CPU fan 9,8-8,5 =1,3cm over the edge of the motherboard, thereby causing a theoretical fit of the fan. It would be really cool to test, but expensive if it fails to work. So now I'm mostly worried there isn't enough clearance for the RAM

 

[HZCH]

I know I'm arriving late to the party, but I would advise against Le Grand Macho RT... because I already have it. There's a selection of mITX boards which won't fit the LGM RT, unless the back of the case is protruding (sorry for my english... I mean, the "wall" where the exhaust fan should be is hanging further than the IO panel) - it happened to me when I tried to fit the LGM RT with my Asus Z97i-plus in a Jonsbo case.
Now, it might work in your Nano S, but you loose the ability to set an exhaust fan, and it's important : it can suck the GPU heat out of your case - something that's not possible in my own build. What happens now is the LGM RT is indeed silent (because it's one of the very best aircooler, better than almost every AiO)... before I hear it ramping up because it's soaked with my 1080ti heat - at least that's how I understand what is happening (there's no logical reasons for the LGM to rev up, as sometimes there's no more CPU charge on it, unless the heat generated by the GPU is still sent to the LGM).

Tl;dr: you might get better results with a NH-D15S, as it performs similarily, is almost silent, and you can mount a rear exhaust fan with enough space between it and the cpu cooler. Actually, that's what I'm planning with my current rig if I don't try to move it in a smaller case...

P.S.: the LGM is smartly thought, so AFAIK there's no issue with RAM height.