The Ncase M1 is a premium quality, small form factor PC case that was designed by a two-man team and manufactured by Lian Li. It had a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2013, and has since been gaining popularity in the SFF community with each of it's revisions. At just 12.6 liters in volume, it boasts unrivaled compatibility and can be considered by some as the most popular SFF case today.
Hardware compatibility:
Hardware compatibility:
- Motherboard - Mini-ITX only
- CPU Cooler - Up to 130mm in height or 240mm radiator (with removal of dual 3.5" HDD bracket)
- GPU - 317mm max length for single or dual-slot, and 279mm max length for triple-slot cards
- PSU - SFX, SFX-L, or ATX (with removal of dual 3.5" HDD bracket. In addition, radiator support is reduced to 120mm and GPU length to 195mm)
- Storage - 1 x slot on bottom tray and 2 x slots in removable bracket for 3.5" drives, and 3 x slots for 2.5" drives
The Ncase M1 has been available to the public for years now, and has been thoroughly tested in many different scenarios with various configurations. Based on what I have seen, there three things related to cooling that seem to be most effective in this case.
Number one: most people like to add 25mm or 15mm slim fans below the GPU to provide additional cooling. Depending on the fan setup for the rest of the case, this can either improve temps or decrease them (because of vortexing from improper airflow).
Number two: the Noctua U9S seems to be the best air cooler for this case, with many users buying an additional fan for better airflow and heat dissipation.
Number three: swapping out the stock heatsink on the GPU and replacing it with an Arctic Accelero III provides the most efficient cooling for the case, with thermals nearly matching a liquid cooling solution. The SFF community has found that this is most effective when the stock fans are taken off the Accelero III and two case fans are positioned below that exhaust air out of the case. In addition, the CPU cooler (Noctua U9S) should be intaking air from the back of the case.
Number one: most people like to add 25mm or 15mm slim fans below the GPU to provide additional cooling. Depending on the fan setup for the rest of the case, this can either improve temps or decrease them (because of vortexing from improper airflow).
Number two: the Noctua U9S seems to be the best air cooler for this case, with many users buying an additional fan for better airflow and heat dissipation.
Number three: swapping out the stock heatsink on the GPU and replacing it with an Arctic Accelero III provides the most efficient cooling for the case, with thermals nearly matching a liquid cooling solution. The SFF community has found that this is most effective when the stock fans are taken off the Accelero III and two case fans are positioned below that exhaust air out of the case. In addition, the CPU cooler (Noctua U9S) should be intaking air from the back of the case.
This concludes my brief overview of the Ncase M1. The case can be purchased from the SFFlab website, which also contains additional specs and other information:
https://www.sfflab.com/products/ncase_m1?variant=32790226825
https://www.sfflab.com/products/ncase_m1?variant=32790226825
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