Production The First - Monsterlabo High Performance SFF case & Fanless CPU / GPU

yeahe - ML

Cable-Tie Ninja
Original poster
Monster Labo
Dec 19, 2017
230
203
Update

We made photo shooting of the production version. See link here



https://www.monsterlabo.com/paint-shop-batch-12/




Configuration and compatibility has been updated. A lot of new graphic cards added !!!

https://www.monsterlabo.com/compatibility/
 
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joejoyful

What's an ITX?
Mar 11, 2019
1
0
Thanks for the "First"!

After one day of assembling and testing i want to give a short feedback.

System specs:
CPU Intel 8350K (delidded)
Mainboard MSI Z390I
Grafikcard Zotac 1060GTX with GDDR5X (which is only on 1000Mhz, I hope they are cooler)
32GB Gskill Aegis
PSU Silverstone NJ450-SXL
Samsung M2 Drives

My goal was:
- a noiseless working PC!
- good single core performance
- a low voltage profile for 24/7 use and low power consumption
- a high performance profile i.e. rendering/gaming
- at least not highend stuff (lower budget)

Temperature results (normal room temp, maybe 22C):
Right now I tested with the Noctua fan with automatic range between 200-1000rpm

Low voltage profile: 3,5GHz/0.92vcore/1.1vdram/1060GTX at 50% (MSI Afterburner)
Consumption overall: idle ~50W/~30C, full cpuload ~120W/~45C, gaming ~170W/~45C/GPU ~45C

High performance: 4,5GHz/1.2vcore/1.35vdram/1060GTX 100%
Consumption overall: idle ~65W/~35C, full cpuload ~200W/~60C, gaming ~300W/~45C/GPU ~55C

I noticed that the power converters of the Grafikcard get really hot.
Maybe i try to transfer some heat in the chassis with a copper sheet or so.

Assembly experience:
Puh, this was hard. I needed several approaches.
One time some screws were too sluggish. One time the Gpu holder at the wrong side.
At least a thin cable went under the CPU cooler.
I really recommend to preassemble everything before the final fix (make screws smooth working).
With the fan build there is barely space for cables and no chance to reach a connector afterwards.
(I forgot the top USB cable but anyway it's connector probably wouldn't fit between heatpipes and board)
Personally I had preferred a clear defined mounting position for the boards.
With this "hanging concept" there is so much scope (or no scope) bending and force acting on the parts.

Of course there are several points which makes the case still a bit "prototypish"
but at the end everything worked and I'm happy with it.
So thanks a lot for all the effort and invest. I hope your company will grow and give you some benefit and of course new ideas for the no-noise enthusiasts :-)

Jo

edit:
- added some pictures
- the VRM's have a cooler now (just one for NVMe), fixed with a sticky thermal pad and some connection to the gpu-block with thicker pads
- the m2 ssd on the back has a connection with the chassis, it now has 40C instead of 80C on load which just gives me a better feeling :)

I'm really confident now with the cooling performance!







 
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yeahe - ML

Cable-Tie Ninja
Original poster
Monster Labo
Dec 19, 2017
230
203
@joejoyful

Thanks for your feedback. Performances are really nice with your build. Don't hesitate to send us some pictures of the assembly.
We are working on a way to show all our builds as some of our customers.

We are working also on a checklist to be sure that no cables or so are missed.
Don't worry, we did the mistake many times ... as for the USB3.0 connectors. See my last video how to fit it here.

For the VRM of the GPU we are working on some taped heatsink for those who are not able to mount the big heatsink we are manufacturing.
This will also fit on the memories or motherboard VRM if needed.

Please don't hesitate to come back to us about what are the things we need to improve. This is really helpful.
Please send us pictures by mail if possible.

Thanks again,
 

yeahe - ML

Cable-Tie Ninja
Original poster
Monster Labo
Dec 19, 2017
230
203
Update:

I will shoot in live some video dedicated to the assembly and also the performance.
Please don't hesitate to ask if you want us to try/test something.
So what's planned:

- Intel 9900K + Riser + Cooling bending + 2070 blower
- AMD fixture + Riser + Cooling bending + 2070 blower
- 2060 performance test
- 2080 performance test
- 2080ti performance test
- Vega 64 performance test

Also we start to send PC to media for reviews. First in English :), soon in French.



Have a good day,
 

ckychris

Chassis Packer
Oct 20, 2018
19
9
@SombreSire
Thanks for the link !
at 14'42"
So why has he removed the orange plate !!??? Whyyyyyy ? ;)

I think I know why. It was the power supply. It's either it was mounted 'upside down' so the socket is blocked by GPU or they simply forgot to put it in. All after aligning Motherboard and GPU, paste and everything.

They did what I did, get the plate out instead of installing GPU and Motherboard again.
 

Nord1ing

Average Stuffer
Dec 5, 2018
82
38
Hello,
So, I (almost) finished my first build of "The First".
With Ryzen 1600X and GTX1080 powered by the Corsair SF450.

What was remarkable:
  • Only the first assembly in this case was difficult, when I reassembled (to replace some cables and a video card) everything was simple :)
  • The Riser cable is an excellent addition, I see no reason why it should not be used (microscopic load). Thanks to the riser cable, you can replace the graphics card with another one without disconnecting the motherboard.
  • Communication with monsterlabo is perfect
What is important:
  • Check cable lengths! :) At least, the Corsair SF450 had a too short 24-pin ATX power cable, so I absolutely needed either a longer cable or an extension cable (I found this solution much easier because disconnecting the 24-pin connector from the power supply did not is an easy task, as the connection is very tight).
  • Screw it well, this is especially true for AM4, I screwed up bad AM4 bracket (less than a millimeter), and the effect was terrible, the processor was throttled under a heavy load due to poor contact between the heatsink and the side of the processor.
  • The best position for the back panel is when all the holes are closer to the middle of the case, and not to the side, so they do not block the USB2.0 ports.
Under heavy load in the fully passive mode, my Ryzen 1600x has risen to 72C (and the throttle limit for the 1st generation Ryzen is 75C. The good news: 140 mm at the minimum speed (380-400 rpm, 25%) is enough for CPU cooling under Prime95 up to 63C. or CPU up to 42C (51max) and GPU 53C under fire attack, test for extreme loads. The processor almost constantly increased up to 4GHz.
And the fact that the fan at that speed is not audible in an open case from 50 centimeters.

I am currently waiting for some additional cables (DisplayPort and USB3.0) to complete the assembly).
And I expect to put a 200-millimeter fan with dust filters on it at the bottom of the case (literally, put the case on top of the fan).
Sf450 with my build is surprisingly quiet, even with a stress test on a 3d Mark fire strike extreme stress test, the power supply remains in passive mode!

What is not so good?
  • The first assembly is difficult, especially because of the extra stress, when you need to bend the heat pipes slightly. Maybe you need to bend by default for an installation with riser cable?
  • The HDMI extension cable is mediocre, at least for me. I cannot activate the refresh rate of 75 Hz using it on the fullHD display. I think the cable does not comply with HDMI 1. 4 specifications.
  • The CPU back-plate for the motherboard will be a good addition.
In conclusion, I am very happy with the case :) I can run some cpu-heavy calculation at night with zero audible noise :)
P.S.: I will make some better photos later.






 
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yeahe - ML

Cable-Tie Ninja
Original poster
Monster Labo
Dec 19, 2017
230
203
I think I know why. It was the power supply. It's either it was mounted 'upside down' so the socket is blocked by GPU or they simply forgot to put it in. All after aligning Motherboard and GPU, paste and everything.

They did what I did, get the plate out instead of installing GPU and Motherboard again.
We definitely need to build a checklist with PSU first !
 

yeahe - ML

Cable-Tie Ninja
Original poster
Monster Labo
Dec 19, 2017
230
203
@Nord1ing
Thanks again for your feedback. Let me give you my feedback.

  • The first assembly is difficult, especially because of the extra stress, when you need to bend the heat pipes slightly. Maybe you need to bend by default for an installation with riser cable?
--> Definitely, it's not easy. I hope that the last video and the next one will help. But this will remains difficult.
We are building a new website in which it will be easier to add information.
+1 for bending the heatpipe. Elisa suggested to do that, I said that our customer will do it nicely. Maybe I'm wrong ;)
As we are asking for the GPU we can do this job for people that will need to mount the Riser.
  • The HDMI extension cable is mediocre, at least for me. I cannot activate the refresh rate of 75 Hz using it on the fullHD display. I think the cable does not comply with HDMI 1. 4 specifications.
Ok good to know. I will ask the supplier and check.
Thanks for this feedback. Also we are receiving a new batch this week.

EDIT: I just received the feedback from suppliers and cables that come are certified 1.4. I will test it
  • The CPU back-plate for the motherboard will be a good addition.
It's maybe difficult for us to add a plate at the back. I think we will be out of the skin or we have to change how we assemble the CPU.
If you have any ideas please share.

In conclusion, I am very happy with the case :) I can run some cpu-heavy calculation at night with zero audible noise :)
P.S.: I will make some better photos later.

Thanks for the comments and the pictures.
 
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Nord1ing

Average Stuffer
Dec 5, 2018
82
38
Thermal performance with 25% 140mm fan under 3dmark firestrike extreme:
upd: opened case
 
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yeahe - ML

Cable-Tie Ninja
Original poster
Monster Labo
Dec 19, 2017
230
203
@Nord1ing ok good to know !

I hope we will soon be ready to share builds on our website. This will be really useful to share experiences & performances.
Some PCs has left the lab. todays :)
For others we are still waiting the cables (we received the USB) for begining of next week.
We will be soon "in stock" :) :) :)