Prototype The world most flexible SFF case? LOUQE Ghost S1

compmix

Chassis Packer
Nov 2, 2017
13
17
First, I agree with what you're saying about Louqe sticking to their guns. It's great to listen to community feedback, but it also instills confidence in consumers if you have a vision for your product that you're seeking to execute. Everyone who is making comments about increasing the width hasn't participated in the discussions here that explain why it's not worth it.

Here is an Imgur album with captions that explains the issue. Basically, because of one of the motherboard heatsinks near the IO, I can only orient the cooler east-west and not north-south. If the heatsinks run towards the PCIe slot, they stick out too far and obstruct it. If I run them the opposite direction, the poke past the edge of the motherboard. This might actually be OK in some cases, but for the SG13 there is not enough room and it would be impossible to put the cover on the case. The RAM clearance appears to be the 43 mm as stated by Louqe in their test.

I have an Asus H270-I and the NH-L12. I noticed the same problem, but I was able to fit the GPU anyway.
 

Brandonandon

Chassis Packer
Sep 17, 2017
13
18
I have an Asus H270-I and the NH-L12. I noticed the same problem, but I was able to fit the GPU anyway.

How were you able to fit the GPU? You fit it even with the heatpipes running towards the PCIe slot? I admit that I haven't actually attempted to mount it, I have only been test fitting it. But it sure seems like it wouldn't work. Does it not make contact?
 

compmix

Chassis Packer
Nov 2, 2017
13
17
How were you able to fit the GPU? You fit it even with the heatpipes running towards the PCIe slot? I admit that I haven't actually attempted to mount it, I have only been test fitting it. But it sure seems like it wouldn't work. Does it not make contact?

Yes, the heatpipes tips do make contact with the GPU, but since it has a backplate, I'm not really concerned. You could put some plastic if you have a bare PCB as a temp fix.
 
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itzfx

Chassis Packer
Nov 13, 2017
18
22
Tried watching the rebroadcast of the live stream, but the quality made it difficult. Any chance you can make more (short) youtube videos with better quality? Showing the different variants in color, mounting areas of hardware, etc.

Looking forward to future streams/content really excited about this project, and how modular it is. Playing with the cad file and designing add-ons will be fun!
 

Legion

Airflow Optimizer
Nov 22, 2017
357
386
First, I agree with what you're saying about Louqe sticking to their guns. It's great to listen to community feedback, but it also instills confidence in consumers if you have a vision for your product that you're seeking to execute. Everyone who is making comments about increasing the width hasn't participated in the discussions here that explain why it's not worth it.

Here is an Imgur album with captions that explains the issue. Basically, because of one of the motherboard heatsinks near the IO, I can only orient the cooler east-west and not north-south. If the heatsinks run towards the PCIe slot, they stick out too far and obstruct it. If I run them the opposite direction, the poke past the edge of the motherboard. This might actually be OK in some cases, but for the SG13 there is not enough room and it would be impossible to put the cover on the case. The RAM clearance appears to be the 43 mm as stated by Louqe in their test.

That's a frustrating issue with the Z370-i (and the Z270-i), the rear vrm sink is so high you do run into topdown cooler issues with larger topdown coolers, such as the NH-L12.

If you feel you would like another orientation, a solution here is to remove the rear vrm sink and replace it with Enzotech MOS-C1 vrm sinks, which would in all honesty cool them better anyway.
https://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835708011

The X370-i and B350-i AM4 boards also have these tall vrm sinks at the rear, it's likely they will also have the same issues.

The Louque team will be testing AM4 kit soon, you'll know as soon as they do.
 
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oreg

Chassis Packer
Nov 27, 2017
13
19
First, I agree with what you're saying about Louqe sticking to their guns. It's great to listen to community feedback, but it also instills confidence in consumers if you have a vision for your product that you're seeking to execute. Everyone who is making comments about increasing the width hasn't participated in the discussions here that explain why it's not worth it.

Here is an Imgur album with captions that explains the issue. Basically, because of one of the motherboard heatsinks near the IO, I can only orient the cooler east-west and not north-south. If the heatsinks run towards the PCIe slot, they stick out too far and obstruct it. If I run them the opposite direction, the poke past the edge of the motherboard. This might actually be OK in some cases, but for the SG13 there is not enough room and it would be impossible to put the cover on the case. The RAM clearance appears to be the 43 mm as stated by Louqe in their test.

Just my thoughts as I looked at the pictures. In the first option as shown in the imgur album, how much room is there between the pci-e slot and the heatpipes? You don't have to insert the full card into the motherboard, only the riser which bends away, right? And to the other option: the motherboard is needed to be installed upside down, so it would rather be the bottom needing more clearance than the top.
 

Legion

Airflow Optimizer
Nov 22, 2017
357
386
Just my thoughts as I looked at the pictures. In the first option as shown in the imgur album, how much room is there between the pci-e slot and the heatpipes? You don't have to insert the full card into the motherboard, only the riser which bends away, right? And to the other option: the motherboard is needed to be installed upside down, so it would rather be the bottom needing more clearance than the top.

Using the NH-L12 in the Ghost S1 with a riser is not an issue, it works perfectly.
Brandon is describing his use of it now as an early purchase and test building with no Ghost S1, no riser, on a motherboard with a particularly high vrm sink, that is well known to have top down cooler orientation issues.

It's confusing people here and making them think there are issues with it in the Ghost S1.
Yes, it's limited to 1 orientation but that has absolutely no effect on cooling as opposed to rotating it 90° and having the fin array in a vertical position.
Rotating the NH-L12 will have no measurable effect on temps other than margin of error.

TLDR: The NH-L12 works perfectly in the Ghost S1 ;)
 
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elliot_alderson

Chassis Packer
Nov 30, 2017
17
8
Using the NH-L12 in the Ghost S1 with a riser is not an issue, it works perfectly.
Brandon is describing his use of it now as an early purchase and test building with no Ghost S1, no riser, on a motherboard with a particularly high vrm sink, that is well known to have top down cooler orientation issues.

It's confusing people here and making them think there are issues with it in the Ghost S1.
Yes, it's limited to 1 orientation but that has absolutely no effect on cooling as opposed to rotating it 90° and having the fin array vertical.
Rotating the NH-L12 will have no measurable effect on temps other than margin of error.

TLDR: The NH-L12 works perfectly in the Ghost S1 ;)

Just to clarify, will the ASUS Z370-I motherboard work with the Noctua NH-L12 cooler in the Ghost S1? Or does the orientation required clash with the heat sinks on the motherboard?

Edit: Found this pic in the imgur album:

Guessing that is without any heatsinks removed from the motherboard?
 

SeeFiFo

Average Stuffer
May 14, 2017
70
83
Why nobody talks about the Big shuriken 2?

It is a fantastic cooler, even with stock fan. Im using It on raven rvz02 and i get good temps

It is. But it does have a downside - it doesn't support socket AM4 and probably never will.

In all fairness, the NH-L12 (old non-S) doesn't support AM4 out of the box either, but Noctua provides a free separate AM4 mounting kit.
 

Brandonandon

Chassis Packer
Sep 17, 2017
13
18
Using the NH-L12 in the Ghost S1 with a riser is not an issue, it works perfectly.
Brandon is describing his use of it now as an early purchase and test building with no Ghost S1, no riser, on a motherboard with a particularly high vrm sink, that is well known to have top down cooler orientation issues.

It's confusing people here and making them think there are issues with it in the Ghost S1.
Yes, it's limited to 1 orientation but that has absolutely no effect on cooling as opposed to rotating it 90° and having the fin array in a vertical position.
Rotating the NH-L12 will have no measurable effect on temps other than margin of error.

TLDR: The NH-L12 works perfectly in the Ghost S1 ;)

Thanks for clearing this up. I stated this originally in my first post but I now emphasized it by adding edits to both posts. It will work perfectly fine with the Ghost S1 with all original VRM heatsinks intact!
 
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elliot_alderson

Chassis Packer
Nov 30, 2017
17
8
Yes it will work, and no you do not have to remove any vrm heatsinks for it fit.

Thanks for the clarification.

So, is the Noctua NH-L12 a clear winner?
Curious about the BeQuiet Shadowrock LP and Big Shuriken 2 Rev. B with 15mm Noctua fan.
I'm looking at an (adaptive) overclocked 8700K, mainly for gaming for an hour or two at a time. Ambient temps here are up to 40deg Celsius in summer, around 15-20deg in winter.
Most of the time it will just be programming and web browsing, so trying to avoid going the AIO route due to pump noise at idle.
Considering the Fractal Celcius S24 if there is no capable air cooler..
 

DookMyugen

Case Bender
May 16, 2017
2
0
Sorry, I'm not sure if someone has already asked this. Will it be possible to use 2 Large top hats, 1 at the top and 1 at the bottom? I'm planning to use a 240mm rad on top, 120mm rad and a 3.5 hdd at the bottom...
 

Legion

Airflow Optimizer
Nov 22, 2017
357
386
Thanks for the clarification.

So, is the Noctua NH-L12 a clear winner?
Curious about the BeQuiet Shadowrock LP and Big Shuriken 2 Rev. B with 15mm Noctua fan.
I'm looking at an (adaptive) overclocked 8700K, mainly for gaming for an hour or two at a time. Ambient temps here are up to 40deg Celsius in summer, around 15-20deg in winter.
Most of the time it will just be programming and web browsing, so trying to avoid going the AIO route due to pump noise at idle.
Considering the Fractal Celcius S24 if there is no capable air cooler..

There has already testing been done with a few air coolers, look back on the thread and you'll find it.
The 8700k runs hot and I wouldn't go any further than setting the turbo to an all core 4.7ghz with the NH-L12, hard to say really without knowing what programs you run and what loads they place on the CPU. For gaming this should be fine.
With Coffee lake 6 cores the temps go nuts when you run anything with AVX instructions, this is when you want to run an -2, -3 AVX offset if you use software that runs AVX instructions.
You'd probably have a little more headroom with an 8600k if you don't need the hyperthreads.

If you are looking for a 5ghz+ overclock with an 8700k it's going to have to be an AIO, or custom water using it in the Ghost S1.

If productivity was my main use for this, with gaming as a secondary concern. I'd more than likely be looking at Zen+ for the timeframe that the case will be delivered in.
With the 65w replacement for the Ryzen 7 1700, you'd take away all the hassle of cooling it and you could just choose the quietest cooling solution available.

More information on their latest testing will be available soon. (see end of post for link to already completed cpu air cooler tests)


Sorry, I'm not sure if someone has already asked this. Will it be possible to use 2 Large top hats, 1 at the top and 1 at the bottom? I'm planning to use a 240mm rad on top, 120mm rad and a 3.5 hdd at the bottom...

Yes, absolutely.


Big Shuriken 2 Rev. B with 15mm Noctua fan would be as good as NH-L12S, if not a bit better.

The big downside to this cooler is it will not work in AM4, Sycthe will not make or release a mounting kit to support it.
This cooler was also designed in the DDR3 era and has a Ram height limit of 39mm which you need to pay attention to when you buy DDR4. That takes Gskill Ripjaws V straight off the table at 41mm high, this particular ram has the most potential for overclockers on Coffee Lake, Cas17 4133+ is easily achievable with it's Samsung B-die IC's which all the kits are guaranteed (currently) to have at 3600+ kit rated speeds.
Other than that I agree, the Shuriken 2 Rev B with a NF-A12x15 is a potent combination.
I just think the NH-L12 has a bit more thermal capacity for Coffee lake, I guess we'll see if the Louqe team actually test with Coffee Lake rather than the i7 7700k.
While they are thermally similar, Coffee lake can really heat up with no delid in place and all of these HTPC coolers were never designed for such use.


Here is a link to the CPU Cooler tests that have already been done! (I have requested PaChalski adds this link onto his opening post)
http://louqe.com/img/img/ext/ext/GhostCPUheatSinkTest.pdf
 
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theGryphon

Airflow Optimizer
Jun 15, 2015
299
237
The big downside to this cooler is it will not work in AM4, Sycthe will not make or release a mounting kit to support it.
This cooler was also designed in the DDR3 era and has a Ram height limit of 39mm which you need to pay attention to when you buy DDR4. That takes Gskill Ripjaws V straight off the table at 41mm high, this particular ram has the most potential for overclockers on Coffee Lake, Cas17 4133+ is easily achievable with it's Samsung B-die IC's which all the kits are guaranteed (currently) to have at 3600+ kit rated speeds.
Other than that I agree, the Shuriken 2 Rev B with a NF-A12x15 is a potent combination.
I just think the NH-L12 has a bit more thermal capacity for Coffee lake, I guess we'll see if the Louqe team actually test with Coffee Lake rather than the i7 7700k.
While they are thermally similar, Coffee lake can really heat up with no delid in place and all of these HTPC coolers were never designed for such use.


Here is a link to the CPU Cooler tests that have already been done! (I have requested PaChalski adds this link onto his opening post)
http://louqe.com/img/heatsinktest.pdf


Yes, lack of AM4 compatibility is a shame for Big Shuriken 2 Rev B.

And yes, with the heatpipes vertical to DIMM slots, max RAM height is 39mm. However, with the heatpipes parallel to DIMM slots, max RAM height is 42mm.

One advantage of BS2RevB vs NH-L12 in Ghost is having the fan on top of the cooler. NH-L12 will do some hot air circulation failing to take advantage of the side vents in full, while BS2RevB will not. That alone should put the BS2RevB on top...

But at the end of the day, Scythe should really update this cooler with AM4 support and beefier fin stack by even adding 4-5mm to height.


EDITED with NH-L12 name correction...
 
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92MPAU

Cable Smoosher
Dec 12, 2017
12
15
I'm very surprised that some of the heatsinks in the test received the comments that they did.

In particular, the ShadowRock LP displayed the best CPU temperature results with the lowest peak fan power (so theoretically there should be even more cooling potential), but it was one of the lower-ranked coolers in the test. By no means is it in the league of the NH-L12, but the Big Shuriken was "efficient and quiet, barely audible" compared to the SRLP which had objectively better cooling performance but was "noisy". Is 2.2dB a considerable difference in practice?

The SRLP was one of the coolers on my radar due to cost, availability, etc. but the comments from the test go against the reviews I've read which have been generally positive.

I could be mistaken in the data I'm focussing on, but please feel free to discuss/correct me.
 

DaNiElUsSh

Minimal Tinkerer
New User
Nov 20, 2017
3
3
Ripjaws V work with big shuriken 2 without issues. It would be fantastic to see the difference between stock fan and the noctua NF-A12x15.
 

PaChalski

Airflow Optimizer
Original poster
LOUQE
Mar 15, 2017
376
801
Tried watching the rebroadcast of the live stream, but the quality made it difficult. Any chance you can make more (short) youtube videos with better quality? Showing the different variants in color, mounting areas of hardware, etc.

Looking forward to future streams/content really excited about this project, and how modular it is. Playing with the cad file and designing add-ons will be fun!

We are planing a new stream together with an e-sport production company (ESEN studio) to do it properly this time!
 
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