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

oblivioncth

Efficiency Noob
Mar 30, 2019
5
1
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

King of Cable Management
Jan 14, 2018
816
465
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.
 
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oblivioncth

Efficiency Noob
Mar 30, 2019
5
1
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.
 
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oblivioncth

Efficiency Noob
Mar 30, 2019
5
1
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

SFF Guru
Original poster
Salvo Studios
Oct 11, 2017
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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

Efficiency Noob
Mar 30, 2019
5
1
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 XD... 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.
 

grsychckn

SFF Guru
Original poster
Salvo Studios
Oct 11, 2017
1,093
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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.
 
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mcs437

Chassis Packer
Nov 21, 2018
13
10
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!
 
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vanbeveren

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Mar 21, 2019
142
95
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.
 
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grsychckn

SFF Guru
Original poster
Salvo Studios
Oct 11, 2017
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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.