Log SMALLEST ATX CASE : SFFTime N-ATX v2 (Complete build log)

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Original poster
Apr 1, 2016
3,663
2,770
Haha the cat is awesome :) Nice serial number BTW ;)
Very first N-ATX v2 sold if I remember well ?..:)

I must admit that I already built several setups inside my N-ATX :
  • AM4 : Asus Crosshair VI Hero + AMD R7 5800X
  • 1700 : Asus Prime Z690 D4 + Intel Core i5 12600K
  • AM5 : Miniforums BD790i + AMD R9 7945HX
With different combo of PSU & GPU (GTX 1080 ti , RTX 3090 FE & RTX 4080 FE).

Even in terms of disassembly I must rework 2 times some tape that was interfering with back fan.. Of course I had to disconnect I had to remove only 1 side panel, without removing both panels & stand. Fast & easy maintenance.

At last, cooling performance is, indeed, the best of my cases, even beating my Cerberus-X (except CPU obviously)...:)
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Original poster
Apr 1, 2016
3,663
2,770
After one week of additional testings, I can confirm that N-ATX is a better case than FormD T1 in terms of cooling, noise & maintenance...even for the BD790i a miniITX motherboard..:D
As a summary :
  • Peak CPU temperature is around 8-10°C less. Easy to catch, in FormD T1, R9 7945HX was exceeding 90°C-96°C in peak (red highlight in HWInfo 64). While in N-ATX we are reaching around 88°C peak
  • GPU temperature is even easier to catch as my setup has to start GPU exhaust fan when it is reaching 50°C...well in N-ATX, fan was not spinning...I was forced to decrease starting temperature to 45°C (as already stated, N-ATX simply the best case I've ever tested in terms of GPU thermals. Cerberus-X is not far behind, but required more fans and airflow analysis)
Overall BD790i is working significantly better in the N-ATX compared to previous cases tested (Sliger S620 - but badly optimised, SM550 or FormD T1).

Only N-ATX v2 downside is CPU cooler height limitation with mini ITX motherboard : approx 60mm due to power cable extension

Question is : why bother with MiniITX motherboards inside N-ATX whereas we can use ATX motherboards instead ?
 
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