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

[grsychckn]

Winner of the S401 contest is @Rjk1617 . I had an invalid e-mail address on the first choice so I picked again and Ryan won. I've already contacted him and will be working on getting it shipped out to him this week. Thanks to everyone for participating!

 

[oblivioncth]

Big Shuriken 2 rev B

On the site for the S401 it lists the cooler clearance as about 52mm, though the supposed total height for the Big Shuriken 2 is 58mm. Is the site metric overly safe? Did you need to do anything to get the cooler to fit.

I know OC is pretty much out the window but I'd like to run with a 3800X or 9900K and am trying to do the best I can in regards to the color as I'm seeing some people mention that the Noctua NH-9i that I was initially looking at (seems like the NH-9a is slightly better if I do go Ryzen) struggles to even cool the 3700.

If a cooler closer to 60mm does truly fit then that opens up some more options.

 

[Poblopuablo]

On the site for the S401 it lists the cooler clearance as about 52mm, though the supposed total height for the Big Shuriken 2 is 58mm. Is the site metric overly safe? Did you need to do anything to get the cooler to fit.

I know OC is pretty much out the window but I'd like to run with a 3800X or 9900K and am trying to do the best I can in regards to the color as I'm seeing some people mention that the Noctua NH-9i that I was initially looking at (seems like the NH-9a is slightly better if I do go Ryzen) struggles to even cool the 3700.

If a cooler closer to 60mm does truly fit then that opens up some more options.

Unfortunately it's pretty strict. 53mm is pretty on point. If you get an acrylic spacer you can get about ~4mm more of clearence, but not 58mm more like 55mm pretty safely.

So that would be a id-cooling is-60.

edited: wrong numbers.

 

[oblivioncth]

Unfortunately it's pretty strict. 53mm is pretty on point. If you get an acrylic spacer you can get about ~4mm more of clearence, but not 58mm more like 55mm pretty safely.

So that would be a id-cooling is-60.

edited: wrong numbers.

I'm just confused on how he fit a Shuriken in then... did he use 2 spacers!? Lol.

I did forget about them. Using one would certainly help. Thanks.

Do you have one? What cooler did you go with.

EDIT:

Actually, if you look at the pictures in the post I quoted the fan for the cooler seems to fit just under the lip of the side pannel which means it clears without the spacers. Modifications must have been made.

Though, thanks for the reccomendation The IS-60 looks pretty solid compared to the Noctua NH-L9i/a and CF-7, which look great for their size class but are nearly half the height.

 

[oblivioncth]

Is this the m.2 and is it mounted on the rear of the board? If so, I believe that certain m.2 heatsinks will fit with clearance between it and the steel panel. It might even benefit from applying the heat transfer tape to both sides of the heatsink so it can transfer into the side panel. I'll see if I can get a picture or at least link to a heatsink I believe works with the S401.

Tried searching through the thread but its huge and a pain on mobile. Did you ever find anything? I will need a rear mounted M2 drive and this sounds like a good idea, but all I can find is super slim tape that wouldn't reach the rear lid.

 

[grsychckn]

Tried searching through the thread but its huge and a pain on mobile. Did you ever find anything? I will need a rear mounted M2 drive and this sounds like a good idea, but all I can find is super slim tape that wouldn't reach the rear lid.

I found some really thick thermal tape (~4mm) that when I doubled it down it made contact with the solid panel but wasn't really good at transferring the heat. I then bought one of the cheap Amazon m.2 heatsinks and my toshiba NVMe drive stays in the mid 50s (which is decent). Maybe it would be better to apply an additional layer of thermal adhesive between the heatsink and the solid panel to increase thermal conductivity, but I cannot try this as my side panels are acrylic on my S401 (I have no more steel panels left).

 

[oblivioncth]

I found some really thick thermal tape (~4mm) that when I doubled it down it made contact with the solid panel but wasn't really good at transferring the heat. I then bought one of the cheap Amazon m.2 heatsinks and my toshiba NVMe drive stays in the mid 50s (which is decent). Maybe it would be better to apply an additional layer of thermal adhesive between the heatsink and the solid panel to increase thermal conductivity, but I cannot try this as my side panels are acrylic on my S401 (I have no more steel panels left).

Wait a minute, I'm actually dumb.
You just made me realize I also had acrylic panels made ... well I'm glad to hear even a small heatsink did help. Since Ill have the spacers now that I just ordered from you because of the cooler situation I should also have more options with heatsinks for the rear NVMe drive.

Loosely related question: have you done any testing with the small case fans as intake vs exhaust and noticed if one seemed to be significantly better than the other? Definitely want to shave as many degrees off the interior as possible for the 2 NVMes I need to run.

 

[vanbeveren]

Anyone have any suggestions on a mesh/filter mod for vents on the S401?

 

[Poblopuablo]

I took some plastic mesh from eBay and some magenets. I can provide links later.

 

[vanbeveren]

I took some plastic mesh from eBay and some magenets. I can provide links later.

Ahh - yes - that’s right!

If you do have those links still, that’d be awesome, thank you.

 

[Poblopuablo]

Ahh - yes - that’s right!

If you do have those links still, that’d be awesome, thank you.

Magnets

And

Mesh
They also have black I believe

 

[vanbeveren]

Magnets

And

Mesh
They also have black I believe

Thank you!

 

[Poblopuablo]

Thank you!

No problem! Any thin magenta would work I just used adhesive ones so that they would stick to the plastic mesh.

 

[mariovic20]

Update: I'm feeling in a VERY generous mood. The S401 is now on sale for $130 + shipping (through December 31st). I'm crafting my newsletter now with the announcement.

Please tell me how i can purchase the salvo s400 or s401....PLEASE!

 

[dethnode]

Yes, I have checked the website and they are out of stock, can you tell me when or how I can purchase one as well.

 

[Poblopuablo]

@dethnode @mariovic20

S401 is discontinued, the s402 is in the prototype stage, slightly larger but it supports 3 slot gpu's next prototype is due in March.

New thread for the s402 is here: https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/salvo-studios-s402-9l-steel-console-style-case.10939/

 

[grsychckn]

Sorry everyone - I wasn't notified of your messages. @Poblopuablo is correct, the S401 has been discontinued and the S402 is a few months away right now. I've been too busy with work lately to post a lot of updates and for that I apologize, but I'm hoping I'll get a chance soon to take off a few hours to get the newsletter finished and get some more testing completed for the heatsinks.

 

[mcs437]

Hey @grsychckn (or anyone else) - I've got an S401 and am looking at the current batch of Nvidia 3080s - I know the S401 is 2 slot but any idea if an EVGA XC3 (2.2 slot) will fit? Card thickness is 45.1mm with backplate or 40.9mm without...

Other dimensions are: Length 285.37mm / Height 111.15 mm.

Thanks!

 

[vanbeveren]

Hey @grsychckn (or anyone else) - I've got an S401 and am looking at the current batch of Nvidia 3080s - I know the S401 is 2 slot but any idea if an EVGA XC3 (2.2 slot) will fit? Card thickness is 45.1mm with backplate or 40.9mm without...

Other dimensions are: Length 285.37mm / Height 111.15 mm.

Thanks!

That's probably too much.

I have talked with @grsychckn about this issue in PM before and the 40mm is conservative and something like 42mm will usually fit (bit might require some massaging)....above 42mm I think is too much probably though.

 

[grsychckn]

Hey @grsychckn (or anyone else) - I've got an S401 and am looking at the current batch of Nvidia 3080s - I know the S401 is 2 slot but any idea if an EVGA XC3 (2.2 slot) will fit? Card thickness is 45.1mm with backplate or 40.9mm without...

Other dimensions are: Length 285.37mm / Height 111.15 mm.

Thanks!

Interesting, I wasn't notified of your message @mcs437 but @vanbeveren is correct: around 42mm is the limit of the stock S401. However, there are still a few options available if you need just a few extra millimeters. First, the PCIe riser PCB mounts can be opened up to provide a little wiggle vertically. Next, I can still make the S401 panel spacers but these would most likely not provide the clearance near the rear IO that it seems you need with the XC3. If neither of these options sound good, send me an e-mail. I might be able to further help you but wouldn't want to throw out the solution on this thread.