Completed S401: Salvo Studios <8L mITX Steel Unibody Chassis w/ GPU & CPU fans in same direction

grsychckn

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Original poster
Salvo Studios
Oct 11, 2017
1,093
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Finally got a minute to put the basics in the case and get it setup. Nothing special, but it's ALIVE!

Next stop:
  • proper sleeved PSU cables and cable combs
  • a custom sleeved 20-pin front header cable
  • sleeving the power button cable wires
  • doing something with the C7 stock fan shroud (not sure if I'm gonna keep it or go with a different fan)
  • throwing a tiny RAID setup in there
  • zip-tying everything down neatly
  • experimenting with the colored panel spacers and getting them to glow, because the in-case RGB stuff is a bit over the top for me (so likely turning off the RGB ram, or at least making it not so in your face)
Man, this case is definitely a tank. Loving it so far.


Looks great! Make sure to post some pictures of it in the light after you finish your tidying up!
 
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ff4500

Minimal Tinkerer
New User
Feb 23, 2019
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Looks great! Make sure to post some pictures of it in the light after you finish your tidying up!

Absolutely. I was going to wait until I had all of my parts together and something worthwhile to show, but I was too excited this morning and ditched out of work for a few to finish putting it together. Figured that I'd go ahead and get the system setup and them go back and get nuts with it.
 

vanbeveren

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Mar 21, 2019
142
95
Just purchased today and excited to join the club!
Wish I'd known about the Salvo before!

I'm only coming from a Node 202, but I LOVE this build quality and more open airflow so I'm not fighting temps so much as I have done in the past with my many Node builds.
 

grsychckn

SFF Guru
Original poster
Salvo Studios
Oct 11, 2017
1,093
1,845
Just purchased today and excited to join the club!
Wish I'd known about the Salvo before!

I'm only coming from a Node 202, but I LOVE this build quality and more open airflow so I'm not fighting temps so much as I have done in the past with my many Node builds.

Welcome to the club! I'll have yours sent out tomorrow morning via UPS. You'll get the tracking number tonight. Be sure to ask questions regarding compatibility if you have any.
 
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vanbeveren

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Mar 21, 2019
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I do have one question - bought the 2.5 disk stack thing and thinking about putting a Zotac 1080ti mini in there next to it (vs SSD's mounted underneath and needing flat SATA connections, etc.

Anyone have any experience with these Zotac Mini models in here?
I'm a bit put off by them not even stopping the fans at idle and wondering if that's going to be a bad buy for this case with how open it is. (noise)
 
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grsychckn

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Original poster
Salvo Studios
Oct 11, 2017
1,093
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I do have one question - bought the 2.5 disk stack thing and thinking about putting a Zotac 1080ti mini in there next to it (vs SSD's mounted underneath and needing flat SATA connections, etc.

Anyone have any experience with these Zotac Mini models in here?
I'm a bit put off by them not even stopping the fans at idle and wondering if that's going to be a bad buy for this case with how open it is. (noise)

Unfortunately, I don't have experience with the Zotac 1080ti mini so I can't comment on the noise level. I would hope the RPMs of the fans are very low at idle - if so, I don't imagine they would be that noticeable. Maybe someone else here can provide feedback regarding that GPU.
 

grsychckn

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Original poster
Salvo Studios
Oct 11, 2017
1,093
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This review shows it's a little louder than the Vega 64 which I have. I will say that the Vega 64 is audible in a silent room while the PC is on, but it's still VERY quiet.
 
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vanbeveren

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Mar 21, 2019
142
95
This review shows it's a little louder than the Vega 64 which I have. I will say that the Vega 64 is audible in a silent room while the PC is on, but it's still VERY quiet.

Thx for that link.
hmm

Maybe I should be going with a normal card that can stop the fans when idle and worrying more about some Molex to SATA straight plug connections.

Do lots of people put their SSD's under the GPU?
Is that a recipe for disaster in terms of drive heat under the GPU like that?

Also, can one of them be a normal 2.5" HDD (I use it for backups only since it's cheaper for large size)
 

grsychckn

SFF Guru
Original poster
Salvo Studios
Oct 11, 2017
1,093
1,845
Thx for that link.
hmm

Maybe I should be going with a normal card that can stop the fans when idle and worrying more about some Molex to SATA straight plug connections.

Do lots of people put their SSD's under the GPU?
Is that a recipe for disaster in terms of drive heat under the GPU like that?

Also, can one of them be a normal 2.5" HDD (I use it for backups only since it's cheaper for large size)

I have two 1TB SanDisk Ultra drives underneath my Radeon VII and although I don't monitor the temps, I've never had a problem. There is clearance enough for a 15mm tall 2.5" disk underneath a standard 2-slot GPU inside the S401. The standard heights are 9.5mm, 12mm, and 15mm.
 
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annasoh323

Master of Cramming
Apr 4, 2018
424
314
Thx for that link.
hmm

Maybe I should be going with a normal card that can stop the fans when idle and worrying more about some Molex to SATA straight plug connections.

Do lots of people put their SSD's under the GPU?
Is that a recipe for disaster in terms of drive heat under the GPU like that?

Also, can one of them be a normal 2.5" HDD (I use it for backups only since it's cheaper for large size)
I've got the worst of both worlds with my blower 1080 (noisy and huge). I've looked at those eGPU 1080s and nearly pulled the trigger once or twice. It just seemed like too much of a side-grade to justify dropping $3-400 without a guarantee I could resell my blower 1080 with any sort of recovery of funds. I've come awfully close though since I was kindly also sent a set of the stackers. I figure if I ever upgrade, it'll be an mITX card and I'll finally put them to use.

I've not had any problems with drives behind the video card either. I have three: 1TB Evo, 2TB SSHD, and 1TB janky drive I scavenged from my laptop. The key thing is, like you kind of said, use flat SATA data and power cables. For me, I used a SATA power 1-to-2 splitter that terminates in flat connectors. I also scrounged around for flat data cables. I did some minor power calcs but I'm not too worried about power draw, especially with one of them being an SSD. No fires yet. The only fitment issue I had was that I stuck my laptop drive behind the PCIe extender. The laptop drive has some built-in vibration damping plastic or something which caused it to be a little fatter. I was too lazy to swap my drives around so there it stayed (plus, it was the ugliest so I buried it the farthest back). Neither of the others would have had any problems. Like I said, I'd like to use the stackers... one day. Maybe Navi or Ampere will have what I need (probably Ampere, unfortunately: G-Sync monitor and all).
 
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Sparkles

Trash Compacter
Jul 24, 2018
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Do lots of people put their SSD's under the GPU?
Is that a recipe for disaster in terms of drive heat under the GPU like that?

I can say for a couple of buddies of mine, have 0 issues running several SSDs behind their GPUs(1080 and 2080 respectively).

Any reason to buy a blower in that case?

I guess a benefit would be you only have 1 fan pulling in dust by the case being horizontal.
 
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vanbeveren

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Mar 21, 2019
142
95
What does everyone do for "feet" when horizontal?
I see some are included, but has anyone done something aftermarket or DIY of note?
 

annasoh323

Master of Cramming
Apr 4, 2018
424
314
What does everyone do for "feet" when horizontal?
I see some are included, but has anyone done something aftermarket or DIY of note?
Personally, I roll vertically. I can't really see any need for feet other than to keep the case from scratching whatever table or shelf you'll have it on since all the ventilation is all on one side. *I'm also not crafty enough to come up with something of my own. Maybe some thick magnetic strips that you can stick on the underside of the metal side panel? Or, maybe you could ask @grsychckn to cut you some acrylic strips to go around the edges that you could then fit some LEDs behind for some light show action. Maybe you could even go without a solid side panel and just use a version of the acrylic spacers as the sacrificial scratch parts. IMO, nothing you do here will impact performance of your machine unless you go vented side panel down (for dust reasons? but there are filters available and cut off airflow in that orientation).

Thinking about it more, I wonder if all fans exhaust would work best in a horizontal, vent up config i.e. fans blowing up and out. It'd require flipping CPU heatsink fan around and probably an open shroud video card with aftermarket fan kludged on and flipped out... Anyone tried yet?
 
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vanbeveren

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Mar 21, 2019
142
95
I wonder if all fans exhaust would work best in a horizontal, vent up config i.e. fans blowing up and out. It'd require flipping CPU heatsink fan around and probably an open shroud video card with aftermarket fan kludged on and flipped out... Anyone tried yet?

I have wondered that exact same thing..
This case seems made for that concept honestly.
 
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vanbeveren

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Mar 21, 2019
142
95
For people running this vertically with the feet installed…

What is the consensus on the preferred chamber to have on the top?

Should the GPU be on the top and that way the CPU isn’t getting any GPU heat plus the weight of the PSU is on the bottom?
 
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annasoh323

Master of Cramming
Apr 4, 2018
424
314
Four people running this vertically with the feet installed… What is the consensus on the preferred chamber to have on the top?

Should the GPU be on the top and that way the CPU isn’t getting any GPU heat plus the weight of the PSU is on the bottom?
I have the video card on the bottom with no stability issues. Mainly, it's for aesthetics - I haven't considered it from a functional point of view. Blower card, so heat gets sent out the back + I like having the 60mm fans by the CPU cooler exhaust up. Stability hasn't been an issue with the included feet. Might be something interesting to try someday; I'll let you know if I do.