You state that mDTX is supported. The only mDTX board I know of (and happen to have one of) is the ASUS Crosshair VIII Impact. So does this mean the C8I is supported, and is there proper clearance for the SO-DIMM.2 daughtercard?
And will the SPK option work with the C8I (and that damned tall daughtercard)?
I made a mistake! We talked about this a bit on Discord, since you reached out to me there. I thought the daugter card was 70mm, and it turns out the real number is 83mm, which means there isn't enough clearance in the case for the M.2 Daughtercard, and that spec got carried through the list when I copy/pasted it before doing updates. I'm going to de-list miniDTX support, as it's simply a non-option for the reasons above.
There's also no way the SPK would work with that daughter card
I would really be interested in this chassis, with the SPK option, for my 3900X / RDNA2 (any time now, AMD!) build. With the SPK it would be kinda like a smaller Mac Pro (just different)...!
The Mac Pro was one of the biggest inspirations for this design. All the reviews, and then seeing it in person and realizing just how quiet and *good* air-cooling can be, if you design a case around airflow + properly designed heatsinks, even under full load, those fans basically don't exceed 750rpm.
Since you are working with a particular heat sink manufacturer, maybe when the SPK is ready to ship, it might include four NF-A14x25 PWM chromax black fans with it...?!? ;^p
I cannot comment on that, except to say that I have heard the feedback, and appreciate it
Sorry if I missed any details in the thread; is the PCIe riser cable included? Might it be one of the newer models that is actually cables rather than ribbon? Will it be PCIe Gen4 x16 compatible? Thanks!
The case does come with a riser cable. Right now, we're using PCIE 3.0 cables, ribbon type, from ADT (very similar to the Riser that comes with the FormD T1, because it ensures the cable will not droop into the *very* close-by fans. ADT's 4.0 cables are not out yet, but will be offered as an upgrade option if they come out while the KS is ongoing. However, I don't have a timeline for that, but I do have CAD files, and they should be a drop-in / swap in upgrade.
As for the "wired" PCIE riser cables, I'm not a huge fan. They are being made to circumvent the 3M patent on twin axial cables, but separate wires make cable management harder, and while they may let a bit more air through, they also appear to be quite stiff, and noticeably heat up during use (are quite warm to the touch). So I'm a bit iffy on them... I'd rather go with a trusted Riser from ADT. When 4.0 risers hit the market, from ADT, M3, and others, we'll re-evaluate
Really neat and nice design.
Thank you, it means a lot
Why did you decide not to go with 25mm fans with average radiators? As you said in your studies "Radiators are only as effective as the amount of air you can push through them to pull heat from the coolant "; so much work was put with airflow in mind, does the standard 25 mm fan not offer much airflow improvement vs the slim version? My guess is the actually should offer tons of improvement but maybe you found something different.
This is an interesting question. So, basically there are two approaches to "slim" radiator designs -- high and low fin density. XSPC's TX240, for example, has a 22FPI fin density. This is quite "up there" in terms of a slim rad, so you want 25mm fans to push air through it. On the other hand fins the the Hardware Labs Nemesis GTS240 have a fin density of *only* 16fpi, but are considered "slim" radiators at 30mm, and designed to be either used with low RPM 25mm fans, or moderate rpm (~1300) slim (15mm) fans. The low fin density means it's still usable, even with a slimmer fan. Those are really the two types of radiators I was targeting when I considered the Winter One.
However, with the recent issues of XSPC TX240 availability being basically nonexistent, and the new rumors and leaks regarding the size of the RTX 3090, I'm seriously re-evaluating this. Currently, Winter One can accommodate 305mm GPUs. But if I need to bump that up to 310mm or 312mm to accommodate the 3090, there may be room to also add a
tiny bit of height in order to support 30mm radiators + 25mm fans.
I cannot promise this, but I will definitely *closely* look into this. I want Winter One to have 3090 support. If the 3090 runs at hot as it us rumored to run, then the airflow-optimized, cooling-focused Winter One will probably be the best suited SFF case for properly cooling this monster of a card.
All exhaust mode seems to be the optimal setup for radiators, I wonder if you could analyze results with dust filters on the ventilated side panels where the air is coming into the case and how this affects airflow? I imagine some people will like to add dust filters to avoid too much dust but is this something you would advice?
All exhaust is the best setup for dual-rad watercooling in this case.. Dust filters are always going to be flow-restrictive, unfortunately, but getting some good ones from
Demciflex custom sized for the side panel should do the trick if you want them
. I would install them on the inside of panel using the magnetic strips. You could stick them in place, and then the filter would snap in magnetically. The panels are aluminum, so they won't stick "normally".
For the top and bottom panels, you can actually clamp filters in between the fan plate and end plate (this Is supported) and that just requires any filter mesh cut to size. But I'm leaving the filtering up to individuals who want them.
Also, filters are NOT recommended for the SPK... passive cooling will get choked if you add to much flow restriction, as the natural convection has very low velocity, and the pressure gradient is based on the ∆ Density. It is very small and just doesn't have the pressure gradient to overcome filters (or even small holes).
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Also, here's a really good look at the benefits of a Frameless design -- So much room for activities ?. That lack of an internal frame maximizes the use of the inside volume, and gives you way more room to route tubing, add radiators, tall GPUs, and more. A quick cable management note: the PSU fan should face the camera, btw. You tuck the cables you're notusing *behind* the PSU, against the side panel, and you run those cables where they need to go.
