Some ITX WC questions.

Tephnos · 30 Aug 2016 at 01:08

Hello,

Ditched my 5820k build a few months ago as I just really wasn't taking advantage of its power and I had a bunch of unfortunate issues with the x99 platform that turned me off of it. I always meant to change over to Z170 and Skylake instead; that being said, Brexit happened and so I put my plans on hold with the inevitable jump up in price in everything.

That being said, there is only so long I can survive on a G3258 M-ITX build. I love the form factor however, and want to make that my Skylake build too. I was looking at some nice ITX cases and saw the NCASE M-1 - looks perfect. Of course, using a standard GPU with that means I'm likely going to have to go for a custom loop if I want decent temperatures and silence.

Don't need a super fancy setup or anything, but to start with, the NCASE only supports a single 240mm rad. Is this enough, or am I likely to be disappointed running both a single GPU and the CPU under one loop? Should I just switch to a Define Nano S instead? (Failing all that, I'll just cool the CPU and stick with a Silverstone Sugo SG13 instead).

What do you think guys. Opinions? First foray into watercooling so I am pretty ignorant.

abui1806 · 30 Aug 2016 at 08:42

I used to watercool and M-ATX setup including i7 6700K + R9 Nano with a single 240mm EK Coolstream PE. The temp was pretty good, 45-50 for GPU, 55-60 for CPU after a few hours of Battlefield 4. The CPU was left at stock but the GPU was overclocked to 1025Mhz with maximum power constraint. Granted that the case was Parvum Systems S2.0 so I had a bit more room for airflow compared to M-1 but I didn't use any case fan only 2 GTs configed as pull for the rad.

The Nano has TDP of 175W, GTX 1070 is 150W and 1080 is 180W so I think a single 240mm will be enough to cool those but not much of headroom for heavy overclock.

Sorry to hear that you have problems with X99 platform. I absolutely love it. In fact I am going to build an ITX system with X99 platform, of course watercooled!

pastymuncher · 30 Aug 2016 at 09:35

I would want a 360mm rad for a cpu and gpu. We usually recommend 120mm per component plus a extra 120mm for headroom.

Tephnos · 30 Aug 2016 at 16:35

I could go for the Define Nano S which would support two rads which should fit the bill pastymuncher talked about, but then the case is substantially bigger. With the advances in technology I wanted the smallest possible, but top end rig possible. These days I really abhor big cases, and loved building my low powered spare ITX rig. As for the GPU, my current one is a 980Ti.

Seems it may be easier just to go with the tiny Sugo SG13 case and only cool the CPU (GPU is isolated so temperatures will never pose a problem there, just only on the NCASE M1 where it points down instead of off to the side like in the SG13).

Bit disappointing really, even if it saves a ton of money in the long run.

wywywywy · 31 Aug 2016 at 15:11

You CAN have another 240mm on the bottom of the Ncase M1, with slim fans. It's tight and requires a bit of thinking ahead, but it's doable.

https://hardforum.com/threads/build-log-nctekm1-ncase-m1-dual-radiator-watercooling.1850045/

Also in my SG13, I have two AIOs one for the CPU one for the GPU. So it's certainly possible if you want it bad enough... (and don't mind the hassle.)

Tephnos · 31 Aug 2016 at 16:18

That's fair enough, although the slim fans would probably negate the noise benefits of WC, I imagine...

Any build pictures of your setup? I'm interested.

wywywywy · 31 Aug 2016 at 16:29

Because you'll then have two 240mm rads, I think you can keep the slim fans at a very low RPM (500-800rpm) and still be enough to cool all those things. So yes noise wise I'd bet the two rads setup is much better than a single rad setup.

I do have some (crappy phone quality) pics. Bear in mind my setup is probably not what you're after though...

https://imgur.com/a/eyRag

It's push-pull with 2 rads, in a SG13.

Tephnos · 31 Aug 2016 at 16:43

That's all pretty crammed tight in there!

And yeah, I thought about that. The guy in the thread didn't seem too pleased with his temperatures on the CPU, but that was in stress testing I guess.

I'd probably have a better idea of what to do if this wasn't my first foray into WC.

wywywywy · 31 Aug 2016 at 16:52

I mean if you are using soft tubing, you can always go for a single rad first, and if it isn't adequate, then add another later without too much hassle.

Anyway I've got other interesting case options for you to consider that are a little bit more compatible with water cooling.

Lian Li PC-O5S - 26.4L
Lian Li PC-Q36WA - 25.5L
ThermalTake Core G3 - 23.6L
Jonsbo UMX3 - 24.6L
Fractal Nano S - 26.8L
Fractal Node 304 - 19.6L
In Win 901 - 24.2L
Parvum X2.0 - 19.4L
Parvum Veer1.0 - 29.3L
Sharkoon QB One - 14.9L
Corsair 250D - 28.2L

But as you can see none of them is perfect.

What you REALLY want I think is this - https://smallformfactor.net/forum/t...cerberus-the-18l-matx-usa-made-enclosure.454/ but unfortunately it's not production ready yet.

wywywywy · 31 Aug 2016 at 16:57

Actually I might as well attach the full table from my own search for a small water cooling case.

Code:

		w	h	d	v	gfx
lianli	q08	227	272	345	21.3	300 
lianli	q10	207	277	335	19.2	270
lianli	o5s	384	465	148	26.4	300
lianli	q36wa	246	324	320	25.5	300
lianli	v351	279	262	373	27.3	285
thermal	v1	260	276	316	22.7	260
thermal	g3	140	454	371	23.6	310
silvers	sg13	222	181	285	11.5	266
silvers	sg09	220	295	354	23.0	337
coolerm	110	260	208	280	15.1	210
coolerm	120	240	207	401	19.9	343
coolerm	130	240	207	398	19.8	343
xigmate	Nebula	260	305	260	20.6	230
ncase	M1	160	240	328	12.6	317
kimera	cerberu	170	303	354	18.2	329
dancase	A4	112	200	317	7.1	295
cougar	QBX	178	291	384	19.9	350
jonsbo	C2	200	262	224	11.7	220
jonsbo	W1	242	356	362	31.2	320
jonsbo	UMX1	160	345	300	16.6	270
jonsbo	UMX3	188	365	358	24.6	320
fracta	nano s	203	330	400	26.8	315
fracta	nod304	250	210	374	19.6	310
evga	hadron	169	305	308	15.9	267
phantek	enthoo	230	375	395	34.0	330
inwin	901	173	350	400	24.2	300
parvum	x2.0	250	250	310	19.4	290
parvum	veer1.0	267	307	357	29.3	335
sharkoo	qb one	225	180	368	14.9	315
corsair	250d	290	277	351	28.2	290

Code:

Chinese
		w	h	d	v	gfx	yuan
Primo	P115EA	165	280	345	15.9	305	500	http://www.i-primo.com/index.php?c=product&id=20
Sunmilo	BG3	148	345	330	16.8	280	1000	https://world.taobao.com/item/44855147094.htm
Sunmilo	Mini	170	235	320	12.8	280	875	https://world.taobao.com/item/521467194936.htm
Sunmilo	MG	205	370	350	26.5	300	1080	https://world.taobao.com/item/523048388272.htm
Sunmilo	LilZha	160	235	220	8.3	200	800	https://world.taobao.com/item/536287953570.htm
Sunmilo	T01	195	312	350	21.3	335	900	https://world.taobao.com/item/526928893516.htm
BreezeA	CUBE6	210	208	204	8.9	200	380	https://world.taobao.com/item/520004932784.htm
BreezeA	BZ06	257	180	246	11.4	220	268	https://world.taobao.com/item/40496327851.htm
Twinkleaf 70cut	68	330	265	5.9	245	325	https://world.taobao.com/item/523845809710.htm

Tephnos · 31 Aug 2016 at 19:15

Huh, that Cerberus case does look fairly interesting, although M-ATX makes the case a bit larger in some places.

Going to have to have a good look through this list, seems like you got them all. And yes, I was going to just use soft clear tubing, none of this fancy stuff. Too much effort for a first time into WC. Something I can just rip out without any hassle or hours draining to change something.

wywywywy · 31 Aug 2016 at 19:53

At 18 litres, it's smaller than most ITX cases on the list, and with very good water cooling support