Just finished the built today,
Specs:
3700x @4.3 GHz 1.25v
Colorful GTX 1070 oc 150 Mhz
ASUS Strix B450I
Trident Z 16GB*2 @ 3200 Mhz
1TB 970 EVO Plus + 1TB MX500 + 2TB Seagate Firecuda SSHD
Alphacool Eisbaer 240 LT with 2*Noctua A12x25
Rear Exhaust Noctua A92x15
Bottom Intake with stock fans from LT 240
Silica Gel Custom Cables (super flexible and soft, highly recommend it)
SF600 Platinum SFX PSU
The build is for my girlfriend as a video editing rig, that's why it uses a powerful CPU with multicores and a relatively weak GPU. Memory was not overclocked but only with XMP on. Stress testing the CPU and GPU gives a very satisfying result. After 1 hr of testing, CPU stabilizes at 78 C and GPU at 83 C. There is indeed a lot more room for overclocking, yet for video editing, stability is more than anything, so I did not go too far.
Reviews:
Before moving on, I need to say: NCASE M1 is the best SFF case that I have ever used. It allows for so many potentials in such a tiny volume and gets rid of so many problems with other SFF cases. I feel 15 L is a good balance between performance, aesthetics, compatibility, cooling, and portability.
I waited for the M1 v6 for over two months. Before its arrival, I was using a self-cut cardboard box as a temporary solution. Thermal-wise, it actually performed a lot better than the NCASE due to its great size and better ventilation. 71 C for CPU and 79 C for GPU.
Now after the change, I am still very satisfied. The quality of v6 is a lot better than the v5, though still some sharp edges and not-perfect bending of the aluminum. I really hope the NCASE can come with a manual. The v6 changed its design under the front panel, making the mounting of 2.5'' drive a confusing process, which led me to redo a lot of the work over and over again. The front panel cables also interfered a lot with the bottom fans. Though with some squeezing and pulling, the work can be done. I really hope that the thick and bulky cables for the front panel connections can be improved in the v7, it is simply an annoying thing to encounter.
There are also too many screws required. Though they really improve the structural stability of the components, I do feel there can be less used. I hope the v7 can also address this.
Price:
Since a lot of the components, like the custom cables, the motherboard, the remote power switch, and AIO, were bought in China, in addition to the refurbished GPU, the total price of this build is significantly lowered. Overall, the build costs about $1580, including tax, and some parts left over, like cables, cable ties, drive mounts are reusable for my own personal build next month (I designed and 3D printed a case similar but improved to Ghost S1), it also reduces the cost for my next build significantly. My own build is using a 3700x and an RTX 2070 Super, also considering using Alphacool Eisbear 240 LT AIO.
AIO Choice:
The LT240 is by far the best AIO I have ever used. Its pure copper water route makes the cooling a lot more effective and efficient. In China, the price for this AIO (brand new, and not some trashy copy) is about $70 including tax, and it performs way better than NZXT x52, or Corsair H100/100i/150/...... The tubes are a little bit too long, and the quick fittings are very annoying when trying to fit into a small case. Yet, it yields a much better cooling and very low noise. I tweaked the fan curve to run at 20% below 70 C, and increase to 100% after 85 C. Thermal Compound I used is Thermalright TFX, a very good thermal compound, much better than MX4. It performs similarly to Thermal Grizzly's best one. I have not been able to hit 85 C for both GPU and CPU. VRM does run a little bit hotter than what I wish for, so I attached some aluminum fins to these VRMs with Thermalright TFX thermal compound. I would recommend using Shin-Etsu 7921 (slightly better than MX4, super cheap - about $10 for a huge bottle, reasonable longevity) if you are on a budget and is in anywhere other than North America and Europe (I haven't found 7921 in stock in these two regions). In Europe and North America, I would say MX4 is a good choice, since it is much cheaper in these regions than others. Thermalright TF8/TFX is also a good choice if you can find a similar price to MX4. Thermal performance-wise, MX4≈7921<TF8<TFX≈Thermal Grizzly<<liquid metal.
Specs:
3700x @4.3 GHz 1.25v
Colorful GTX 1070 oc 150 Mhz
ASUS Strix B450I
Trident Z 16GB*2 @ 3200 Mhz
1TB 970 EVO Plus + 1TB MX500 + 2TB Seagate Firecuda SSHD
Alphacool Eisbaer 240 LT with 2*Noctua A12x25
Rear Exhaust Noctua A92x15
Bottom Intake with stock fans from LT 240
Silica Gel Custom Cables (super flexible and soft, highly recommend it)
SF600 Platinum SFX PSU
The build is for my girlfriend as a video editing rig, that's why it uses a powerful CPU with multicores and a relatively weak GPU. Memory was not overclocked but only with XMP on. Stress testing the CPU and GPU gives a very satisfying result. After 1 hr of testing, CPU stabilizes at 78 C and GPU at 83 C. There is indeed a lot more room for overclocking, yet for video editing, stability is more than anything, so I did not go too far.
Reviews:
Before moving on, I need to say: NCASE M1 is the best SFF case that I have ever used. It allows for so many potentials in such a tiny volume and gets rid of so many problems with other SFF cases. I feel 15 L is a good balance between performance, aesthetics, compatibility, cooling, and portability.
I waited for the M1 v6 for over two months. Before its arrival, I was using a self-cut cardboard box as a temporary solution. Thermal-wise, it actually performed a lot better than the NCASE due to its great size and better ventilation. 71 C for CPU and 79 C for GPU.
Now after the change, I am still very satisfied. The quality of v6 is a lot better than the v5, though still some sharp edges and not-perfect bending of the aluminum. I really hope the NCASE can come with a manual. The v6 changed its design under the front panel, making the mounting of 2.5'' drive a confusing process, which led me to redo a lot of the work over and over again. The front panel cables also interfered a lot with the bottom fans. Though with some squeezing and pulling, the work can be done. I really hope that the thick and bulky cables for the front panel connections can be improved in the v7, it is simply an annoying thing to encounter.
There are also too many screws required. Though they really improve the structural stability of the components, I do feel there can be less used. I hope the v7 can also address this.
Price:
Since a lot of the components, like the custom cables, the motherboard, the remote power switch, and AIO, were bought in China, in addition to the refurbished GPU, the total price of this build is significantly lowered. Overall, the build costs about $1580, including tax, and some parts left over, like cables, cable ties, drive mounts are reusable for my own personal build next month (I designed and 3D printed a case similar but improved to Ghost S1), it also reduces the cost for my next build significantly. My own build is using a 3700x and an RTX 2070 Super, also considering using Alphacool Eisbear 240 LT AIO.
AIO Choice:
The LT240 is by far the best AIO I have ever used. Its pure copper water route makes the cooling a lot more effective and efficient. In China, the price for this AIO (brand new, and not some trashy copy) is about $70 including tax, and it performs way better than NZXT x52, or Corsair H100/100i/150/...... The tubes are a little bit too long, and the quick fittings are very annoying when trying to fit into a small case. Yet, it yields a much better cooling and very low noise. I tweaked the fan curve to run at 20% below 70 C, and increase to 100% after 85 C. Thermal Compound I used is Thermalright TFX, a very good thermal compound, much better than MX4. It performs similarly to Thermal Grizzly's best one. I have not been able to hit 85 C for both GPU and CPU. VRM does run a little bit hotter than what I wish for, so I attached some aluminum fins to these VRMs with Thermalright TFX thermal compound. I would recommend using Shin-Etsu 7921 (slightly better than MX4, super cheap - about $10 for a huge bottle, reasonable longevity) if you are on a budget and is in anywhere other than North America and Europe (I haven't found 7921 in stock in these two regions). In Europe and North America, I would say MX4 is a good choice, since it is much cheaper in these regions than others. Thermalright TF8/TFX is also a good choice if you can find a similar price to MX4. Thermal performance-wise, MX4≈7921<TF8<TFX≈Thermal Grizzly<<liquid metal.
