My SKTC Q2 ITX Case Modding & Hardware Build Project

Darren_uk · 16 Mar 2020 at 15:59

My SKTC Q2 ITX Case Modding & Hardware Build

The History
I purchased the original Raijintek Metis on release in 2014 & the Metis Plus for £44.99 on release in 2016, its one of the best ITX cases to accommodate Large
tower coolers up to 160mm & still being so small size of only:190 x 254 x 277 mm (W x H x D)
so lightweight made mostly of aluminum, But airflow was a real concern so I Modded the top panel with 120mm fan mounts & other mods for the case,
Last year Raijintek released the "METIS EVO ITX CUBE Case"
But was Dual-chamber & can only fit up to 135mm CPU cooler, The width is on the large size & the Price over £100,
A year or so ago, "SKT Case" made very similar cases to the Metis & STYX & other bigger cases
Called SKTC Model Q1 & Q2, Q3, Q5 only available from CHINA,
Q1 is the same size as the Raijintek Metis/Plus ITX & can come with double 120mm fan mounts on top panel & with an Acrylic or
Glass full side window or just plain aluminum side panel Also can come with the new 2.5" SSD mount on the left side of the motherboard tray that looks cool,
This feature is also turning up on the new stock of the Raijintek Metis Plus.
Model Q2 ITX is the same as Q1 on features, but the size is a little bit bigger Being 193 x 285 x 300mm (W x H x D)
As now made room for longer graphics cards of 280mm+ to be mounted,
on top of that, a 3rd PCI-E bracket for thicker GPUs are now supported & can accommodate some Odd longer 19.5x24CM motherboards like the DX
Oh The "3.5" Drive tray" at top of the case is now gone

The Now

18/02/2020, I placed an order for the SKTC Q2 White double top with tempered glass window,
But a message saying only Blue & Silver Without side window are available,
So I went with silver double 120mm top with Aluminum side panel & Arrived on my doorstep on
10/03/2020

, Since this case already got 2 x 120mm fan mounts on top panel,
I only need to mod :

(1) Mod a Side window

(2) Better case feet (Ones that on the case are plastic with a thin layer of black rubber felt)

(3) Some artwork

(4) Alternative Build with AMD Wraith Prism Cooler

(5) Taking out & replacing the internal power Cable

The Hardware for this Build
SKTC Q2 Mini ITX Case Double top Silver £53 From eBay or Ebuy7 website Around
£30 for fast Air Shipping from china/Customs & courier from the UK to deliver
Powercolor AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT Red Dragon
Gigabyte Aorus B450 I AORUS PRO WIFI
Corsair SF750w 80 Plus Platinum SFX PSU
Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4 3200 MHz C16
Samsung 850 EVO 2.5" SSD 500GB (Superseded with 860 EVO)
Seagate Expansion Special Edition 4TB External 2.5 "Portable
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Processor (8C/16T, 36MB Cache
Arctic Freezer 34 Esports – CPU Cooler White/Grey
upHere 4-PIN PWM 120mm RGB Fan 3 PACK (T4CF4-3 Rainbow LED)
Speclux Magnetic Rainbow Computer Case Lighting, Addressable PC Digital LED Strip
StarTech.com 12in Latching Round SATA Cable

The Modding Tools used
Cordless compact Drill 18V
Pointer
Drill bits size: 1.5, 3, 4mm
Model craft plastic Cutter Scriber
Masking Tape
Metal ruler & Tape measure
Hifi Lab Aluminium Feet solid 33x22 Alu Audio Feet 4x
3mm Perspex Clear Acrylic Plastic Sheet (420mm x 297mm / A3)

Darren_uk · 16 Mar 2020 at 19:07

Mod better case feet
Taken the small plastic stock feet off, Made the feet Holes larger to M4 Size Threads to support new case feet, Drill bit size 4mm was used

Hifi Lab Aluminium Feet solid 33x22 Alu Audio Feet 4x

Darren_uk · 17 Mar 2020 at 12:00

Mod: Clear full Acrylic side window (3mm Perspex Clear Acrylic Plastic Sheet (420mm x 297mm / A3)

Cutting the Acrylic sheet to Size

Drilling the Holes

Darren_uk · 17 Mar 2020 at 13:38

The hardware build in the case

Powercolor 5700 XT Red dragon 240mm long

Finished Build

x 2 120mm Uphere fans as intake & 1 for the rear exhaust
PSU fan 0db tell 360w load then spins silent, 5700XT 0db tell 60c , GPU desktop idle temp 39c & CPU 45c due to PBO , Chipset 43c, VRMs 45c, one silent build

Darren_uk · 20 Mar 2020 at 13:41

Finished Modding, Before & After.

clifbel · 29 Mar 2020 at 00:14

This is a really cool build! Love the image you've put on the front of the case and the feet look really premium!

I've always got a soft spot for an air cooler and to do an ITX build with one all the better! On top of that you've kept it silent too. I'm really impressed with it! Sweet dude!

Darren_uk · 1 Apr 2020 at 17:46

@clifbel Thank you, yes great in case/CPU/GPU temps also, Playing Doom eternal CPU temps in the 60s underload

Arctic Freezer 34 Is one of the most silent coolers & great for cooling.
The new ARCTIC LIQUID FREEZER II line Also great

clifbel · 1 Apr 2020 at 17:55

What's the thing you've put on your front panel? Looks really cool.

Those temps are very good! You must be pleased with that.

I actually just finished watching a 120mm CPU Cooler shoot out and the Arctic Freezer 34 got an incredible value for money shoutout so it's one I'll be considering. The Liquid Freezer does look good but I think I'm going to stick with air cooling, I think the mini fan on the CPU mount looks a bit funny to me and I'm not too sure about small fan reliability and noise I suppose it won't adversely affect cooling too much anyway, I thought it's meant to help with cooling VRMs or something?

Darren_uk · 1 Apr 2020 at 19:53

The artwork is printed off by an Inkjet Printer
Using special
A4 Vinyl Self Adhesive Sticker Paper Clear/Matt/Glossy Photo
I used an Epson XP-750 printer

One of the best budget Coolers Freezer 34
This may be the one you watched, its the one that made my mind up on getting it

Ya, the Liquid Freezer 2, that little fan on the block meant to help cool the VRMs, but don't really do anything & could disable the fan

mushtafa · 2 May 2020 at 18:24

Awesome little build. I like the case a lot - and that front panel art looks brilliant

Darren_uk · 11 May 2020 at 10:59

@mushtafa Thank you

Anybody has any questions feel free to post.

Deanodirector · 27 May 2020 at 19:02

Have one arriving tomorrow. I paid £80 which now feels too much after seeing your post.

Is there enough input airflow for the cpu and the psu? Looks like just a few holes between them..

Darren_uk · 27 May 2020 at 21:05

Deanodirector said:
Have one arriving tomorrow. I paid £80 which now feels too much after seeing your post.

Is there enough input airflow for the cpu and the psu? Looks like just a few holes between them..

(1) Air Flow is Just Fine, 2 X 120mm intake on top & one 120mm exhaust rear,
Temps in the 60s under gaming load with a Ryzen 3700x & Arctic cooling Freezer Esports,
a Mini ITX Graphics card is even better, running a 5700XT & being longer stops more air from reaching the bottom but cools the GPU.

£80 Is the going price, around £53 for the case, £30 for fast air shipping/with Customs price & paperwork & also courier to deliver the case when it reaches the UK.
So you paid around what I paid

Deanodirector · 28 May 2020 at 12:21

is a small PSU a must for this case? I know it takes ATX size but limits gpu size

McPhee · 28 May 2020 at 13:53

Real shame Raijintek dumped this design for the Evo cube. They were one revision away from it being great, as the Q2 shows.

But I guess it makes little sense to revise a ~£50 ITX case when the demand in the market seems to be for £100-£250 premium cases.

Deanodirector · 28 May 2020 at 17:03

it has arrived!

My first thought are: what a strange little beast! Looks sturdy and i like the finish but the gpu holes aren't centred, which bothers me.
The top usb ports looks like a generic female connector crimped to a board, which means i can upgrade them later if future usb standards use the same shape

Have you ever tried 3d printing a plastic turbulence-reducing grid for the side holes?

Darren_uk · 28 May 2020 at 17:33

Deanodirector said:
is a small PSU a must for this case? I know it takes ATX size but limits gpu size

Hello
A Small SFX or SFX-L PSU From Corsair or Silverstone Helps in Space for Airflow & hiding the cables behind the Back & great for long GPUs that go over the PSU space
Silverstone have SST-PP05-E short cable set for there PSUs that help, I went with corsair this time for the 7 years warranty & plat rated.

Darren_uk · 28 May 2020 at 17:38

Yep I had Same with Rear GPU Bracket Holes, I used one of the other screws in the end
Never touched 3D Printing.

Darren_uk · 28 May 2020 at 17:44

Agree McPhee, shame Raijintek dumped this design.

Darren_uk · 28 May 2020 at 18:07

congrats @Deanodirector, Who delivered it, I had royal mail parcel force.