Seeking Advice re Ncase M1 Watercooling 'Hat Mod'

[rarskies]

Hey all,

First of all, big thanks to this forum, long time lurker, first time poster here. I'm forever impressed by the engenuity, creativity and generosity of some people on the forums here! I've learnt a lot which helped me with my first couple of SFF builds as well as my first SFF soft tubing build last year!

TLDR: for concept

Current Setup: NCaseM1 v5 w/ Noctua U9S + 2 Noctua A12x25s Under De-shrouded Phoenix GTX 1080. This works very well, but in the pursuit of a slightly quieter and prettier build I want to try my hand at hard-line acrylic build with a couple of case mods. I have previously done a SFF soft tubing build but never touched PETG or Acrylic.

While it is possible to power my hardware (9700k & GTX 1080) with one 240mm radiator, I would prefer to have slightly more thermal headroom so I can overclock and run the fans slower for noise reduction. Alternatively, I have seen Ncase builds that include two 240mm radiators with one on the side bracket but IMO these are a bit tight and look ugly/hard to maintain. I have also seen ingenious builds on the net which use a large top-hat solution, but my fear is that in my build it will look a bit un-balanced if there’s only a hat on top. My solution is to add two timber ‘hats’ (30 or 40mm) in lengths which add ~3 or 4L to the build respectively – which brings the total volume to 17.5L for the 40mm hats. By putting two noctua fans on the underside of the case, it allows more clearance between the bottom rad and GPU which might help with some of the choking that bottom rad builds experience.

Proposed Hardware:

• HWLabs GTS240 rad + 2 x Noctua A12x25s (owned)
• XSPC TX240 rad 2 x Noctua A12x15s
• EK-XRES REVO 100 D5 with EK mounting brackets (owned)
• 9700k (owned) + Bykski CPU block
• MSI Mech OC 5700XT (owned) + Bykski GPU block (owned)
• 32GB Trident Z Ram
• Bykski Flow Indicator (owned)
• EK Ball Valve + 4 way splitter on rotary (owned) as drain port
• Various Barrow and Bykski fittings
• 8 x Bykski Acrylic tubing 500mm for when I stuff up the bends.
• EK clear coolant
• Little bit of RGB which I may turn off/leave on white/blue
• Custom short un-sleeved cables from DreamBigRay

Proposed Mods:

• 2 x Hats for the top and bottom of build – made of timber (I have laminated bamboo on hand but might buy some solid timber)
• Tempered Glass Side Panel, as per Optimum Tech’s mod (but with more of the build showing)
• Small metal brackets for the top fan/rad setup as well as for attaching the EK res mounting brackets to the front of case without drilling.
• **with 30mm hats** - Lower the mobo 20mm (one PCI slot) - involves dremeling back panel so that IO can fit into space of first PCI slot as well as installing 4 new Mobo stand offs. Lower the PSU bracket 25mm, involves drilling 3-4 hole in the frame. I'd also need to swap the rad positions, which alters the proposed hard-line runs marginally.

Main Questions:

1. Is it too ambitious to attempt my first hard-lined build in Acrylic? I have heard it has higher clarity than PETG and while harder to work with, looks better when finished.
2. Are any of these bends impossible or too difficult to do? I have purchased a Barrow bending kit (https://www.performance-pcs.com/wat...-14mm-hard-tube-cut-bend-tool-kit-yrt-14.html), along with this, a heat gun, a fine hack saw and some sand paper I should be set right?
3. I was leaning toward the ’40mm Hat mod’ as it doesn’t require me to drill/dremel the case at all. The ‘30mm hat mod’ requires me to move the Mobo down one PCI slot (~20mm) and cut a small hole for the Mobo IO, as well as drill 3 or 4 holes so I can lower the PSU bracket 25mm. This means it might be hard to re-sell/ use the Ncase in another build. Take a look at the last two pictures and tell me whether you think the 30mm mod looks significantly better and whether it would be worth it.
4. Is 8 x 500mm enough acrylic tubing to allow for stuff ups for first time hard tube user?
5. PETG or Acrylic?
6. Any other questions or suggestions?

 

[rarskies]

Link for 3Dwarehouse incase anyone is interested! (Most of my parts were just copied in from other hardworking people's models - links in description)

3D Warehouse

3D Warehouse is a website of searchable, pre-made 3D models that works seamlessly with SketchUp.

3dwarehouse.sketchup.com

 

[Little_Kitty]

Rotating the CPU waterblock 180 degrees would make the tube routing much simpler.
Routing the 2x 8 pin connectors for the GPU is going to be tricky with the tube routing shown. They take up more space than you might think and the 45 degree connectors there will do their best to be right in your way.
Why did you choose to mount the lower fans outside the case rather than slim ones between the radiator and the GPU waterblock? There looks to be space... although I guess if you use a ROG Impact MB that might not be right?

 

[rarskies]

Rotating the CPU waterblock 180 degrees would make the tube routing much simpler.
Routing the 2x 8 pin connectors for the GPU is going to be tricky with the tube routing shown. They take up more space than you might think and the 45 degree connectors there will do their best to be right in your way.
Why did you choose to mount the lower fans outside the case rather than slim ones between the radiator and the GPU waterblock? There looks to be space... although I guess if you use a ROG Impact MB that might not be right?

Thanks for the reply! I have taken your advice onboard and agree that rotating CPU block 180 would make some of the tube routing (and bending) much easier.

I’m hoping I’ll be able to thread my unsleeved cables under the horizontal tube, if not I can always thread to the right near the front of the case.

I could mount some slim fans there but I want to have one of my radiators to feel the quiet power of a pair of noctua a12x25. I also hope the increased gap between GPU and rad will promote good airflow!

 

[Little_Kitty]

I could mount some slim fans there but I want to have one of my radiators to feel the quiet power of a pair of noctua a12x25. I also hope the increased gap between GPU and rad will promote good airflow!

I know exactly what you mean there! I have a couple myself and I'd be sure to include them in any future build. The 'least effort' usage I can see would be taller feet and mounting them underneath, using the space below the graphics card for a decent thickness radiator. Adding the lower skirt is essentially a take on this which is likely to look nicer.

If you are running unsleeved cables they'll be noticeably slimmer and easier to route.

As far as the top hat goes, I can't help but feel that the existing side rad position is a really nice one and there's a decent amount of space inside the case in the area which could be used so long as you can find the right pump / reservoir combo.

 

[rarskies]

I know exactly what you mean there! I have a couple myself and I'd be sure to include them in any future build. The 'least effort' usage I can see would be taller feet and mounting them underneath, using the space below the graphics card for a decent thickness radiator. Adding the lower skirt is essentially a take on this which is likely to look nicer.

If you are running unsleeved cables they'll be noticeably slimmer and easier to route.

As far as the top hat goes, I can't help but feel that the existing side rad position is a really nice one and there's a decent amount of space inside the case in the area which could be used so long as you can find the right pump / reservoir combo.

Thanks for another insightful reply, I'm also beginning to think to top hat might be more trouble than it's worth and detract from the minimalist, low profile of the case. Additionally in working out how to attach the wooden top hat to case (not too difficult - either magnets, screws, replica push-pins or velcro hooks) I realise it might be difficult to reuse the supplied bracket effectively without hacking it up.

Looking at your side bracket rad it does indeed seem like there's a lot of room but it would mean not using my already purchased EK D5 100 REVO pump and reservoir combo...which is fine but I do love the silence of the D5 and not throwing even more money at case aesthetics. Have you used the eisbaer solo pump with 2 rads, a cpu block & GPU block? Has it got enough grunt to get through all of that...seen heaps of builds on the net that use just one 240mm rad so it probably would be enough.

Also considering implementing my hat and feet mod to a less beautiful case - https://www.aliexpress.com/i/4000267241548.html
seems like a good candidate that I wouldn't be too scared of modding with a few power tools.

Last option for the Ncase M1 I'm tossing up now is running the bottom rad with 25mm beneath with skirt. I would also run some quick disconnects to the hose openings on the Ncase rear with the option of running a 280mm radiator I have spare under the desk. clunky but there's already cables running behind the desk, what's a few 16mm soft tubes.

 

[Little_Kitty]

A 240 at the bottom, a 120 on the side and your pump/res combo at the front would suffice for the type of CPU/GPU combos you're likely to run (barring overclocked Intel HEDT / Xeon). The LT pump could run two rads, but you'd want gently bending tubes and as few 90 degree bends as possible, the D5 is roughly an order of magnitude more flow and the reservoir will give the system more capacity, so transient thermals will be much better. The challenge with the D5 is simply the dimensions of the unit when fitting into small cases.