S4 MINI Classic (S4M-C)

[LodisKnight]

LodisKnight. How do you like the 100mm fan upgrade? Did you get the idea from this thread?
https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/noctua-nh-l9-easy-10-100mm-fan-upgrade.984/
I also mounted a 120mm fan directly over the Noctua but it requires VLP Ram and an adapter.
Also, I don't think it cools as well as the Kaze 100mm. I think that may be the sweet spot. Plus it looks amazing and you can do it with stock RAM.

I'm really digging the fan over the GPU!
How much space do you have between the back of the GPU and the Scythe 120mm?
*Do you think a 14-15mm fan would work there or does it need to be 12mm or less?

I'm loving the 100mm fan upgrade. I've never seen that link, but it's not the same fan. I REALLY wanted a PWM fan for the CPU cooler, otherwise the efficiency of the fan would be compromised. It came at a price, though. I had to purchase the entire Scythe Shuriken Heatsink JUST to get the fan. Three emails to Scythe fell on blind eyes, I guess. I couldn't go with the 120mm over the CPU because I am going to be using the RGB edition of the G.Skill Trident Z 4266 MHz RAM.

I went this route because I'm going for a black/red build unwaveringly. Want it to match my children's school colors. (see profile pic)

As far as whether or not a 14/15mm fan would work, I would say not in the way I implemented. The rubber feet I used bridge the entire gap so that the fan is perfectly flush with the top of the case. Without them, you would need to find a way to stabilize the "not-screwed-in" portion of the fan. Otherwise, unless the 14/15mm fan you put in it EXACTLY touches the GPU and top of the case equally. If it doesn't and you don't have some sort of noise-dampening solution for the space, there could be a rattle.

 

[Josh | NFC]

Just to weigh my thoughts in again on this...

You NEED an air gap for a fan to work effectively. So even though a 14mm or 15mm fan MIGHT fit with some builds, more space between both sides of the fan is better.

A fan needs to suck air in, and push it away.

 

[nfilipac]

So my mini came in today, and of course I'm hard at work building and sleeving for the better part of the day... then comes the part where I go to install the HDplex, and in the full system build vid you mention that you can remove the studs in the front panel to create room for the hdplex.

Now this may be a stupid question but doesn't removing the studs not really do anything since the bolts are still there and attached to the front panel? Are we just supposed to ignore the two boltss and finnagle a way to get the hdplex to stick? Again, apologies if this is a dumb question

EDIT: It was in fact a dumb question...lol figured out the studs are easy to take out i just wasn't trying hard enough... rip

 

[Stumbler]

I would sell my soul for a wrinkle red s4 mini

 

[Hackersremix]

Pearl white and candy apple red.

 

[mtl171]

Does anyone have any experience with either the Coolermaster Xtraflow 120 slim or the Prolimatech Ultra Sleek Vortex 120? Looking to replace my Rosewill fan (currently cooling my powerlimited GPU) as it sounds like its trying to take off above 40% fanspeed.

 

[|||]

FYI, Noctua's slim fan will be out in Q2, presumably called the NF-A12x15.

 

[Josh | NFC]

I would sell my soul for a wrinkle red s4 mini

I'm saving the best for last.

 

[Smallform Gaming]

I'm saving the best for last.

I hope so.

 

[|||]

I don't...what do you mean by "last," @Josh | NFC ??

 

[NotungX]

One in aluminum like the focusrite scarlett 18i8 would be amazing....

 

[michaelmitchell]

This is a very interesting cooling alternative for NH-L9i, especially for those running K cpus.

https://hardforum.com/threads/thermolab-cooltek-lp53-review.1923635/

 

[Josh | NFC]

This is a very interesting cooling alternative for NH-L9i, especially for those running K cpus.

https://hardforum.com/threads/thermolab-cooltek-lp53-review.1923635/

Great find, but I am going to go broke if I keep buying coolers. I just bought the ID cooling vapor chamber cooler and it was like 65 bucks. Ugh.

It looks like it's the exact same design as the Noctua, except the fins are soldered instead of interlocked so the air can escape the sides easier, which would be huge on some motherboards. So I would say that those results make sense.

 

[michaelmitchell]

Great find, but I am going to go broke if I keep buying coolers. I just bought the ID cooling vapor chamber cooler and it was like 65 bucks. Ugh.

It looks like it's the exact same design as the Noctua, except the fins are soldered instead of interlocked so the air can escape the sides easier, which would be huge on some motherboards. So I would say that those results make sense.

Not to mention it is one great big chunk of copper instead of aluminium which of course comes at a price... but for the enthusiast I think this will be the way to go from now on, I am going to give it a try in my pending Sentry build and if all goes well I will do the same in my S4 mini.

 

[Josh | NFC]

Not to mention it is one great big chunk of copper instead of aluminium which of course comes at a price... but for the enthusiast I think this will be the way to go from now on, I am going to give it a try in my pending Sentry build and if all goes well I will do the same in my S4 mini.

Yeah could you test it against the NH-L9i for us? I'll look at picking it up for my next build if a customer wants to pay double for it. The Noctua is nickel plated copper for the heatpipes and base, but the fins are aluminum (also plated). There are more fins on the Noctua though so I think it comes down to air being able to escape once again, which is the magic of the much lighter CNPS2x.

That being said the ID Cooling IS‑VC45 didn't do so hot and it has a low restriction design. Maybe I shouldn't guess anymore

 

[michaelmitchell]

Yeah could you test it against the NH-L9i for us? I'll look at picking it up for my next build if a customer wants to pay double for it. The Noctua is nickel plated copper for the heatpipes and base, but the fins are aluminum (also plated). There are more fins on the Noctua though so I think it comes down to air being able to escape once again, which is the magic of the much lighter CNPS2x.

That being said the ID Cooling IS‑VC45 didn't do so hot and it has a low restriction design. Maybe I shouldn't guess anymore

See the link I posted above, in that thread he benched it against the NH-L9i and it was significantly better in comparison.

 

[CubanLegend]

See the link I posted above, in that thread he benched it against the NH-L9i and it was significantly better in comparison.

I agree with @Josh | NFC though, it needs to be tested inside of a SFF case... this guy did his tests on an OPEN test bench... which is really not representative of the performance a buyer would get when dropping it into their SFF PC.

If someone can bench it inside a SFF case, and it beats the Noctua NH-l9i, then I'll definitely consider buying it and selling my Noctua.

 

[Chongker]

I agree with @Josh | NFC though, it needs to be tested inside of a SFF case... this guy did his tests on an OPEN test bench... which is really not representative of the performance a buyer would get when dropping it into their SFF PC.

If someone can bench it inside a SFF case, and it beats the Noctua NH-l9i, then I'll definitely consider buying it and selling my Noctua.

FYI, I don't have any benchmarks on hand to back my statements up, but I've some experience with the Thermolab LP53 cooler in my Streacom F1C Evo WS (modified with a 120mm hole in the top cover covered by a Demciflex filter), cooling a 65W cpu. In my experience, it outperformed my L9i by a pretty decent margin, but then again it is a significant amount taller (53mm vs 37mm for the Noctua).

I was happy enough with my experience to buy another for my S4, and my plan is hopefully to use the Thermolab without it's stock fan (28mm tall) with a Prolimatech Ultra Sleek Vortex 120mm fan (15mm) over the top of it in the case's fan mount. Failing that, I've also got a Scythe slim fan ready instead. Just waiting on my S4 now (on it's way to me!) to see if it all fits. It's agonising having pretty much all the parts available but not being able to build! I was wanting to wait for the Asus Z270i to become available before doing my build but I might fold and do a test build with parts from my old system first to test thermals and fit once the S4 gets here.



PS - @1461748123 and @mtl171 thanks for confirming fitment of the Zotac 1070 mini in the case! Makes me feel more assured in my purchase of one as well =)

 

[Kmpkt]

So 25mm tall heatsink then? With a 15mm should be dead on perfect at 40mm for the S4 Mini. Nice.

 

[Josh | NFC]

See the link I posted above, in that thread he benched it against the NH-L9i and it was significantly better in comparison.

I read it and it looks great! Just was hoping you could stick it in an S4 and compare. They might end up being pretty equal smushed in the PILLBOX and I was just curious about that.

People call me a Noctua fanboi, but I'm not sure that's fair. They just make stuff that is really good, is packaged really good, and the fit and finish is really good, and the thermalpaste is really good, and their fans are really good, and the price I thought was high until I started ordering all these Chinese and Korean heatsinks from all ends of the globe, but turns out it is really good too.

So no, far from being a fanboi.

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