Seeking SFF Advice

[saxovtsmike]

I´ve been into more or less compact cases before ITX was a thing. Had some LianLi V35x in various watercooled stages from S775 and 1366, Lianli A05, and a heavily Modded Bitfenix Prodigy when itx Mainboards became a consumer trend. All iterations suffered from different limitations and compromizes I did not like and so it came to a back and forward.
Back to a year ago i had a 250D, 6700k, 980ti ddc-Resx controlled with a Aquaero6 and external MoRa2. Big Radiators, lots of silence.
Got a Deal for a Msi Gaming x 1080ti so the ITX system had to go and i went back to Full size ATX with a define R6, where the GPU barly fits into because of its high pcb and a waterblock on top of it..
Well it´s the time of the year again, where i get bored of a perfect running system and the itx itch is back.

The last 2 weeks i searched my but off, just to conclude that my gpu won´t fit most cases. It would fit in an Orphion Evo, Tu150 maybe, sliger 580 possibly.
Just for measurements, the waterterminal reaches 65mm over the pcie bracket.

Actual GPu´s tend to go 2.5 to 3 slots when aircooled, so the Ncase M1 came into play, where I probably could even fit the Pump-res combo into, and 3 slots worth of gpu cooler, but the silence freak i am, I know that will be too loud for me and i will want to watercool that one too.

Is there Help for my desease, the search for a no compromize compact case which can take ANY gpu that´s thrown at it, regardles of 3 slots aircooled ot ultra high watercooled ?
1 Pcie bracket or a place to mod some bulkhead fittings to connect to my external radiator is sufficient. Internal DDC Pumpe + Res would be nice to have, but i´ve ideas to get around that propper. Willing to go SFX Psu, no actual need for Mass storage, could life without my local 2.5" Hdd, allready running system and games on 250gb/1tb M2 SSD´s ...
CPU is 8700k, so aircooling with a 55mm Heatsink is not on the list, therefore a waterblocks are avaliable

 

[ermac318]

Sliger SM580 and SV590 both fit your GPU. The SM580 has ports in the back for bulkhead fittings, too. The SV590 can take 160mm tall cards, and the SM580 can do 157mm tall if you use the pigtail power connector.

What waterblock do you have on your GPU?

 

[saxovtsmike]

What waterblock do you have on your GPU?

EKWB, as they are mostly the only ones who do blocks for non reference Cards, where i´d trust the brand. Normally I´d buy Watercool stuff, their quality is better, but they tend to make only blocks for reference cards.
So the sad truth will be Sliger only...
Can you rotate the usb Ports to the gpus side of the sm580 ?

 

[ermac318]

EKWB, as they are mostly the only ones who do blocks for non reference Cards, where i´d trust the brand. Normally I´d buy Watercool stuff, their quality is better, but they tend to make only blocks for reference cards.
So the sad truth will be Sliger only...
Can you rotate the usb Ports to the gpus side of the sm580 ?

Sliger cases are awesome so I don't see that as a bad thing ?

If you're using an EKWB Block, take a look at this 90 degree rotary terminal instead of the base one. It should make running a custom loop in a sandwich case easier if you're worried about thickness.

However, you shouldn't need to worry about getting a case that takes 3 slot cards because once you slap the waterblock on there, the actual PCIe bracket of those cards is 2 slots. So if you're watercooling your GPU, you just need a case that can handle the length of the card+waterblock and its height, but the width of the card should be negligible at that point. That means you can fit it in almost anything that takes a 2-Slot GPU and supports your desired watercooling setup.

In either the NCase M1, the SM570, or the SM580 you could set up a custom loop within the case itself, and then use a rear bulkhead and QDCs to attach to an external loop.

 

[saxovtsmike]

If you're using an EKWB Block, take a look at this 90 degree rotary terminal instead of the base one. It should make running a custom loop in a sandwich case easier if you're worried about thickness.

I stroll around the interwebs quite a lot concerning Watercooling items and watercooling builds. THAT was a first. Did´n know that EK does these. I Know of another Terminal that has the connections angeld which sadly is eol.
You are right about the pcie slots need for a WC application, but i promise to myself every time again that i will give the aircooler a try, just so not add another used gpu waterblock to the stack of unsellable stuff at home.

At the Ncase M1 the height of the GPU with a waterblock troubles me, on a sandwich style Case like the sliger sm´s the rotary angled EK fitting helps really when thickness of the gpu compartment is a problem.

Sliger as it is, is no problem, more the task of getting one in mainland Europe, but at least a danish website sells them, so there will be no additional hassle with taxes