Production RCC-MID2 | compact industrial style vertical case

[REVOCCASES]

@lasek // @Intrepid_Cosmonaut

the slim DP adapters arrived today. just waiting for the riser cables, then I can ship your cases.

also added a short assembly instruction to the first post:

Production - RCC-MID2 | compact industrial style vertical case

REVOCCASES RCC-MID2 | a minimalistic SciFi inspired vertical case Specs: Case Dimensions: (ca.) 390 x 180 x 140mm Material: powder coated aluminum Motherboard: mini-ITX Power Supply: SFX(-L) CPU Cooler: 120mm AIO, 53mm pump / CPU-block clearance Graphics Card: up to 3 slots / 60mm thick...

smallformfactor.net

 

[tinyitx]

one more thing... you might have noticed that there are no feet on the case.

That is because the case actually does not need any feet. I am planning to include just some thin felt material which you can stick under the case (DIY) to prevent scratching your desk.

If you prefer to stick some real feet on, there are enough choices on Amazon&Co. ...

As this case is designed to have no feet at all, how does the hot exhaust escape out of the card's IO end?
If a card exhausts no air out of its IO end (eg AMD's new 6800 series), then there is no issue. But, how about a card with (possibly half of) hot air exhausting out via the IO end?

 

[REVOCCASES]

As this case is designed to have no feet at all, how does the hot exhaust escape out of the card's IO end?
If a card exhausts no air out of its IO end (eg AMD's new 6800 series), then there is no issue. But, how about a card with (possibly half of) hot air exhausting out via the IO end?

It seems that these days most of the higher end cards (RTX2070 and upwards) would have the cooling fin orientation facing the sides of the case where I made the vent slots and not through the I/O shield. But even if you go for something like an RTX3080 FE it will be totally fine. Maybe you have seen the reddit post from one of my customers using an RTX3080 FE card in my BIG1? He said his GPU is running max 75C in the case and I think that's not so bad given the FE exhaust half of the hot air below the case where it's more or less trapped.

I agree that the MID2 and BIG1 are not working well with turbo blower cards which only exhaust through the I/O shield but anything else should work just fine.

 

[REVOCCASES]

going to do some beta testing tonight with Jedi: Fallen Order

 

[Elaman]

going to do some beta testing tonight with Jedi: Fallen Order

Ah yes, the hard work of the beta tester. But those games don't play themselves!

 

[REVOCCASES]

It's been a while since the last update. In the meantime I have beta-tested the MID2 myself for about 6 weeks now.

I have done a few test builds with different components and it seems all is working as it is supposed to be. Currently I am running a 4650G and RTX2080S in the MID2 as my main rig. Despite the pretty cheap ID-Cooling AIO I am using, temps are totally fine while gaming more recent AAA titles. CPU usually stays around 56C to 58C and GPU between 60C to 68C.

I also did a few minor changes and produced another small batch of 8 cases. I will put these on my shop shortly.

Here is what's new:

1) I made the slots on top for the AIO/FAN slightly longer.

2) Folding the previous riser cable was a pain, so I changed to another one which is longer and easier for me to pre-bend. Also I had to modify the GPU bracket because this riser does have another hole pattern.

3) I found another material for the "feet" which matches the color of the case a bit better.

On Discord I got a few questions concerning the case and I would like to share the answers here for everyone:

A) Is it possible to install a 2.5" SSD?
--> Although the case does not support to mount a 2.5" drive, there is enough space to put at least one more SSD inside. E.g. you can stick one besides the PSU using double sided adhesive tape.

B) Can you add front USB?
--> I wanted the case to look clean and minimalistic. If you do not want to waste your front USB header, there are pigtail cables available. I will probably add these to my shop as this is an useful accessory also for my other cases.

C) Can I use an Air Cooler instead of AIO? I am planning to use a longer graphics card.
--> The MID2 was designed to be used with an 120mm AIO but I have also tested it with a slim air cooler. Certainly nothing for enthusiasts but it will work OK if you go for some 65W CPU (e.g. R5 5600X) paired with an NOCTUA NH-L9 or ID Cooling IS30. Clearance between GPU backplate and an IS40 is only 12mm which is certainly not enough. But using an NH-L9 clearance is about 22mm which is sufficient IMO. According to my tests you can expect CPU temperatures around 75C (+/-5C) during gaming with this setup.

what you will gain is support for up to 340mm long graphics cards

and one more place to stick a 2.5" SSD

Last but not least I found some pretty interesting riser cable which is supposed to be PCIE 4.0 compatible and should fit fine in the MID2:

It's not cheap and I don't know how it actually performs with PCIE 4.0 but I guess I'll order one for testing.

 

[lasek]

Great news, especially the riser !

I have been using the case for 3 weeks now as my main rig, but I still need a 6800 or 6900 to complete and share the build.

 

[REVOCCASES]

Great news, especially the riser !

I have been using the case for 3 weeks now as my main rig, but I still need a 6800 or 6900 to complete and share the build.

I was just wondering, did the EK AIO block fit? Or are you using another one now?

Concerning the riser, I'll try to get one of those so we can test it. I read that Smart Access Memory also can give you a decent performance boost on PCIe 3.0 so maybe we can compare once you got a new GPU.

GPU - AMD SAM also improves performance with older hardware / using PCIe 3.0

Interesting community test (German) that shows how older hardware can also benefit from Smart Access Memory. Thought I might share it here: https://www.computerbase.de/2020-12/amd-smart-access-memory-test-radeon-rx-6800/

smallformfactor.net

 

[lasek]

The EK AIO 120 fits with no issue.

With a 5600x and I reach 70C gaming and 80C on CBR23, with a relaxed fan profile.
That is a bit high, probably I will redo the aio mounting when I receive the gpu.
Also I have a spare 120 slim fan to try - that would allow the sapphire nitro+ , but that will probably impact the temperatures too negatively.

 

[REVOCCASES]

The EK AIO 120 fits with no issue.

With a 5600x and I reach 70C gaming and 80C on CBR23, with a relaxed fan profile.
That is a bit high, probably I will redo the aio mounting when I receive the gpu.
Also I have a spare 120 slim fan to try - that would allow the sapphire nitro+ , but that will probably impact the temperatures too negatively.

Oooh, that sounds really a bit high. It won't throttle at 80C but still. My 4650G does never get over 70C, even under stress testing with "silent" fan profile in BIOS.

I heard the 5600X can run hotter compared to previous gen. Did you try to lower the PPT? Shouldn't have big impact on performance but perhaps you could get better thermals.

 

[lasek]

no, I like those extra Mhz from PBO/CO tweaking, and the CPU gets around 80W.

mouting may not be the best as there is no real indication on when to stop screwing on the EK block.

 

[REVOCCASES]

no, I like those extra Mhz from PBO/CO tweaking, and the CPU gets around 80W.

mouting may not be the best as there is no real indication on when to stop screwing on the EK block.

Mine is also running at around 80W during stress testing which should be totally fine for an 120mm AIO. But I would have expected better thermals from the EK compared to my ID-Cooling. Maybe it's really something with the mounting. Hope you'll figure it out.

Edit: seems many people having pretty high temps with Ryzen 5000. Maybe this will help:

Ryzen 7 5800x high temps

Hi all, I'm not sure but these temps seem a bit high to me and confusing with what appears to be different readings from the bios and windows Question 1. I have the ryzen 7 5800x and I see conflicting numbers from bios to windows, is this normal? BIOS idle - CPU = 50°c / CPU package = 61°c Window...

linustechtips.com

According to AMD, this is normal though and nothing to worry about:

AMD views Ryzen 5000 CPU temperatures up to 95C as ‘typical and by design’

Higher temps mean Zen 3 can boost higher and longer.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[lasek]

Today I found the motivation to reapply thermal paste, just to reach the same underwhelming results, 80C for 80W

When using PBO there seem to be some limit around 80C on the 5600x, from which frequencies do not boost higher. No idea how to circumvent it.

Also, I have done some testing with a 15mm fan on the AIO, this hinders my CBR23 score by 6% (as voltages/frequencies at 80C are lowered compared to the 25mm fan).

I will further investigate, my plan to use a 15mm & order the sapphire nitro + 6XXX is sadly on hold.

 

[REVOCCASES]

Today I found the motivation to reapply thermal paste, just to reach the same underwhelming results, 80C for 80W

When using PBO there seem to be some limit around 80C on the 5600x, from which frequencies do not boost higher. No idea how to circumvent it.

Also, I have done some testing with a 15mm fan on the AIO, this hinders my CBR23 score by 6% (as voltages/frequencies at 80C are lowered compared to the 25mm fan).

I will further investigate, my plan to use a 15mm & order the sapphire nitro + 6XXX is sadly on hold.

Which slim fan are you using? You probably need one with similar CFM like the thick one to get the same cooling performance.

Edit: seems 80C under stress is quite normal for the 5600X with an 120mm AIO. I would play around a bit with BIOS / Ryzen Master to find the best overall performance settings.

 

[lasek]

Noctua A12*15 , CFM is 10% below the 25mm Vardar, but the static pressure is 20% below.

I feel I'm missing something - I use my rig for gaming, the temps will be acceptable in any case though.

 

[REVOCCASES]

Noctua A12*15 , CFM is 10% below the 25mm Vardar, but the static pressure is 20% below.

I feel I'm missing something - I use my rig for gaming, the temps will be acceptable in any case though.

Yeah, for gaming you should be totally fine even with the A12*15 but interesting to see how hot the 5600X can get compared to my 4650G and previous 2600.

 

[lasek]

To be fair, the PBO is desactivated by default and temps are 10-20 C lower.

This processor is great, just need some getting to know each other with the PBO & RAM tuning.

 

[REVOCCASES]

To be fair, the PBO is desactivated by default and temps are 10-20 C lower.

This processor is great, just need some getting to know each other with the PBO & RAM tuning.

So this means at stock settings you are getting similar temps like me, right?

 

[lasek]

Don't remember default bench, but yes this is likely, and what other users of this CPU/AIO report.

 

[lasek]

Build is finally complete, as I managed to get a 6900xt.

Parts : Gigabyte B550i, 5600x, EK-120, 2x16gb G-Skill Trident Z 3200c14 @3600c15, Sapphire 6900XT reference, ssd Sabrent nvme pcie3 1TB, corsair SF750

About the case,
I like : aesthetics, good cooling from design & vents, surface finish
I do not like : not easy to build in (I had to disassemble a lot of times due to hardware failures so I got better at it), one thread to attach outer panel was done (fixed by using a larger screw)

An idea to check (mainly to help accessibility when building inside) : instead of a panel in U shape & a cover, 2 panels in L shape. Also a couple more attachements screws may increase rigigity.

Overall I love the case, it fits my needs as main rig. Over time I will see if it is easy to transport and and if the cover panel does not get flimsy.