Project H1

[Mark011]

Hi guys!

I've been modding pc since 2013 but took a break and just recently started again. NZXT sent me an H1 case to mod. The idea of the project is to make a custom front panel with ventilation holes by the gpu to replace the tempered glass.

You can find a rough design here, the lines on the right are the ventilation holes. It should improve the ventilation a lot.

Spoiler: Front panel rough design

The build is sponsored by NZXT, AMD, Patriot and TeamGroup for now, but more companies might join , in bold the sponsored hardware

Hardware list

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
MB: ASUS STRIX X570-I GAMING
GPU: ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 2070 SUPER ADVANCED 8GB
SSD: PATRIOT VPN100 2TB + TEAMGROUP MP34 1TB
HDD: WD BLUE 2.5 1TB
RAM: PATRIOT VIPER STEEL DDR4 3200 MHz 32 GB
CASE: NZXT H1

Will follow up with updates soon, I've ordered what I needed to start modding but the coronavirus situation is slowing down the shipments a bit.

Here's few pictures of the H1 compared to the H200i, this thing is small!











Stay tuned!

 

[Mark011]

Mannnnn I love that case.. I'm so tempted to downsize my build from Micro ATX to ITX

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread

I've switched to ITX since 2015, never looked back, had a Phanteks Evolv ITX, then NZTX H200i now NZXT H1

Watching this thread...

On a side note. If for whatever reason after to promo struff is done and dusted and you’ve finished with the case, I’ll happily purchase it from you

ahaha you haven't even seen the final product

If i was going to build a new pc thats the case i want next, but in white. The psu is a rebadged seasonic so it should be good. Im glad you got it next to the h200i as i was also looking at that one aswell.

Yes, I'll probably paint it white, NZXT only had black available to ship to the UK. It's exactly half the H200i, and just about 4 cm taller

 

[Mark011]

What gpu you going for as i read the psu is 650w and i would be worried about putting a high end gpu in there like 2080s or ti. I know it says 650w is recommeneded with the nvidia cards but i always thought you would need extra juice hence my overkill superflower platinum 1200w. i would want a 750w to go with a 2080s system, whats your opinion on a 650w psu in what i would describe as a gamer case.

The story about needing an overkilled psu it's a myth. A system with a 3700X and a 2080Ti probably wouldn't go over 450w if both cpu and gpu are used 100% (which is not a realistic situation), you can definitely put a 2080ti here.

I haven't planned which gpu to use yet.

 

[Mark011]

Started with some painting today, I separated the back panel from the frame before painting it in white. The two are attached together with industrial tape, I used Isopropanol to rub the surface and inserted a knife in between.
The main colours of the building will be black and white, but I want to add accent of another colour which I haven't decided yet, suggestions?









At the moment I have decided to leave the original panel at the back, until I find a viable solution to design a 3D panel that can host 1 or 2 fans (if anyone wants to help in that feel free!). The same tape is used for the front panel, so it will be easy to replace with a custom made one with more airflow.

If you use a hot card like an RX 5700 XT the case will get very hot, as the glass pushes back the air inside the case, hopefully with the custom panel and the airflow holes, this situation should be better.

I designed the panel (it's a 2D design) and sent the DXF file for laser cutting, it should be delivered sometime next week.

Stay tuned!

 

[Mark011]

Before you mate the frame and grill back, should see if you can get a demciflex filter to sandwich in the middle or fine metal mesh for better airflow and good filtration

I'm not planning to use any dust filters, want to maximise the airflow as much as I can, already removed the two on the sides too

 

[Mark011]

Happy monday! Let's start the week with some hardware pics

TEAMGROUP / T-FORCE sent me 16gb of ram and a 1TB NVMe SSD for this build.

The ram kit is: T-FORCE DARK Zα DDR4 GAMING MEMORY (FOR AMD) 3600Mhz 16GB - https://www.teamgroupinc.com/en/product/dark-z-alpha-ddr4

I really like the design of the heatsink and especially that they come in black, I think it's a neutral colour that can fit any build. The kit is 43mm tall, it can't be classified as low profile, however it fits perfectly in the H1 (which supports RAM height up to 44mm).
The kit is AMD Ryzen compatible and optimised out of the box.







Performance wise the kit is fast, the XMP profile will set the ram at 3600 MHz CL 18-22-22-42 automatically.





I did a few test to see the difference between 3200 MHz vs 3600 MHz. I used 3D Mark Time Spy V1 benchmark. I used a kit of Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 3200 MHz CL16 to compare the T-Force ones, and as CPU a Ryzen 5 2600 at 4.1 GHz.

3200 MHz: Total score 8168 - CPU score 6166 - FPS 20.72

3600 MHz: Total score 8211 - CPU score 6480 - FPS 21.77

As Ryzen scales better with higher clock ram, the cpu score is higher using the 3600 MHz with a gain of 1 FPS. The difference is not huge, but if you are looking to get as many FPS out of your build as you can, then you should definitely go for a 3600 mhz kit like the T-Force one. This kit is also available in 4000 MHz and 3200 MHz.

The ssd is: TeamGroup MP34 M.2 PCIe SSD 1TB - https://www.teamgroupinc.com/en/product/mp34

It's a NVMe 1.3 drive, very fast! It comes with 5 years of warranty, the size is a standard 2280. The SSD is also available in 512GB and 256GB, however the speeds might be different than the one I tested.





TeamGroup states that this SSD should reach speeds of READ 3000 and WRITE 2600, however my tests shows that it can even go beyond that!



Using CrystalDiskMark benchmark, my sample reached READ 3431 and WRITE 3000 on an ASUS ROG STRIX B450-I, making it one of the fastest PCIe 3 NVMe ssd I ever tested.

 

[Mark011]

Another little update

painted the main frame white too









I used some foam tape to re-attach the back panel, but it didn't work well, since the gpu gets very hot, i think the tape doesn't stay in place when it gets too warm and the glue starts to melt, so will find another solution. However I ordered some dowel pins, i'm planning to use them as spacer for the back panel to create a space of 16mm for slim fans and at the same time improve the airflow leaving more space for the air to come out



I also received the laser cut front panel, however my original design didn't work, so I'm sending a new file, this is the new sketch



Unfortunately all the deliveries are late, I don't think I will be able to make any major progress for the next 10 days.

 

[Mark011]

Back with another hardware upgrade, Patriot also sent SSD and RAM for this project, more specifically they sent:

SSD: PATRIOT VPN100 2TB
RAM: PATRIOT VIPER STEEL DDR4 3200 MHz 32 GB

The rig will have 2 NVMe drives for a total of 3TB and also a 1TB normal 2.5HDD for storage (lots of space!)

Some hardware porn pictures now

PATRIOT VPN100 2TB







This SSD will be used for windows and games installation. It's very fast, just slightly slower than the TeamGroup one, although this one is 2TB vs 1TB of the TeamGroup. Also i cloned my previous C drive on this (which was 500gb) and it doesn't allow me to extend the partition to full 2TB, so I now have 2 partitions 1 of 500gb and 1 of 1.5ish tb. I will do a clean installation of windows as soon as the CPU arrives and that should solve the issue.



PATRIOT VIPER STEEL DDR4 3200 MHz 32 GB







I can choose which ram to use for this build, a 3600 Mhz 16g GB kit or a 3200 MHz 32 GB kit, what are your thoughts?



As for now I have the 32gb kit installed and working with it, playing RE3 Remake the RAM usage goes all the way up to 11GB.



This also shows the ram clearance



Any ram taller than this kit would not fit, I tried the Corsair RGB Pro and they definitely don't fit.

 

[Mark011]

last week I received the acrylics panels, I will paint them this week.









Today I also received the CPU from AMD, was stuck at the customs for over a week.

 

[Mark011]

Quick update.

This week been painting stuff, and also working on the rear panel, I think the best aesthetic option will be using the original panel, so I create spacers for it, and also fillers (which have been painted and now drying). In the picture I used an Akasa slim profile 15mm fan, will probably replace it with 2 noctuas.






Still some painting to do, but also wanted to give you a sneak peek of the front panel



I painted the back in black, and used some vinyl to mask and create a pattern of lines, the front will be painted white, and once the vinyl will be removed the lines will stay black.

Stay tuned!

 

[Mark011]

Another updated, here's the finished rear panel.











I've ordered 2 Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM chromax.black.swap to place as exhaust fans. I'm very satisfied with the result, it looks very nice in my opinion. More pics to follow.

 

[Mark011]

The rear panel is now completed, I have also replaced the NZXT fan with a NOCTUA, the case has a total of 3 fan now

















It looks very good, i think it would be possible to add a slim 240 radiator at the back, but it would need to expand that for at least 35mm more, which probably would look too bulky.

 

[Mark011]

Hello! I completed the front panel too, here's some pics:





I will post few more pics of how I made it in the next coming days.

 

[Mark011]

I’m pretty sure asking about how to get sponsored in a sponsored thread is against the rules

 

[Mark011]

This is an awesome mod. Did you do any before and after temp tests? Would be interested to know how much it improves

Thanks! I'm planning to, have been super busy with work lately.

 

[Mark011]

Are you able to replace the tempered glass as it's not really see through is it?

Yes, I successfully done it if you see the pics above, the glass is attached with industrial tape, you need something sharp to slide through the aluminium frame and the glass and you can separate them. The tempered glass has some see-through effect, but it's smoked/not-clear. I honestly like the look of the glass, but functionally it just kills the temperatures

 

[Mark011]

Can it be replaced with a clearer tempered glass? And are temps a concern for heavy gaming and overclocking of which I won't be doing.

It can be replaced with anything you want, is a flat front panel. There is not much to show to be honest, so I wouldn't use a clear tempered glass. Overclock in ITX is not ideal, especially for the GPU, you should undervolt instead.

That's fantastic really is, very impressive

Thank you!

Looks great which Mobo did you go for?

Thank you, I used an Asus Strix B450-I, but it might get an updated to a X570 soon, before the final pictures

 

[Mark011]

Are you using headphone brackets for Xbox controllers?

controller wall mount stand

 

[Mark011]

Looking very good indeed, would i be possible to go into a bit more depth on how you made the rear exhaust mount / brackets ?

Thanks

Thanks, you have to separate the 2 panels at the back, you have a frame and a perforated panel, they are attached together with industrial tape. You can use a very fine and sharp knife to slide between the two and get rid of the tape (there are pics of it in the previous pages). Once that is done, I created a 15mm spacer/frame with acrylic that I used to reattach back the panels using VHB tape, This gave me 15mm space to install 2 slim profile fans, you can use the same concept and add even more space, for normal fans you'd need at least 25mm.

 

[Mark011]

Hey, nice work!

This has inspired me to do some modding of my own but don't have the case yet. Although, I'm expecting it this weekend.

Any chance you could send the dimensions of the detached glass panel and detached back panel (without mounting frame) so I could start designing some stuff in cad?

Hoping to get them 3d printed before the case comes! Cheers

Hi sorry i missed this! dimension of the front panel: 370x170mm (glass), the rear panel has the same dimension but has a cut at the bottom for the cables to pass through, I don't have precise dimension for that