NCASE M1: a crowdfunded Mini-ITX case (updates in first post)

@ wahaha360:

Please, whatever shipping method you choose for the cases, make sure the shipping method is consistent for every order. This means using a single company worldwide shipper like DHL/UPS/FedEx etc, and not using EMS / Global Standard Mail, because EMS leaves the recipient at the mercy of their local postal service.

Maybe in the US USPS is fine, and that's probably where a large portion of the cases will ship to. I can only speak for my own national postal service (PostNL in The Netherlands) which is a true nightmare when it comes to recieving international shipments.

They can take over 1500% of the total time to deliver shipments in comparison to services like DHL/UPS. Then they have the nerve to charge additional fees upon delivery at the door for their customs clearance services (for which they can easily take 3 weeks; something DHL does within a few hours and charges no extra fees for). I have experienced being shipped 2 packages from the same US-located supplier, one using DHL and the other using Standard Global Mail, which means shipping is handled by USPS initially and then handed over to PostNL once in The Netherlands. The DHL package arrived 3 days after being shipped. The PostNL package took 50 days to arrive at my doorstep, at whcih point I had to pay the extra fee for their abysmal service. (This is not an isolated incident. The atrocious service concerning international shipment is a consistent occurance.)

I already said too much stuff about my personal shipping experience frustrations which doesn't really concern anyone in this topic. This should also not become a "share your bad experience with postal service companies" thread. It doesn't need to be. Thats why I think using a single international shipping company to ship out the cases would be the best choice. Single company shipping services at least adhere to the same standards internationally, so every recipient can count on the same service level.

The cost for shipping shouldn't be that far apart. I would even go as far as to pay an extra amount, just to avoid receiving my package through EMS.
 
If you use EMS, Parcelforce will handle the carriage in the UK. We will get customs charges for sure.
 
skeej said:
I have experienced being shipped 2 packages from the same US-located supplier, one using DHL and the other using Standard Global Mail, which means shipping is handled by USPS initially and then handed over to PostNL once in The Netherlands.

The cost for shipping shouldn't be that far apart. I would even go as far as to pay an extra amount, just to avoid receiving my package through EMS.
Click to expand...

Standard Global Mail =/= EMS though
 
skeej said:
Maybe in the US USPS is fine, and that's probably where a large portion of the cases will ship to. I can only speak for my own national postal service (PostNL in The Netherlands) which is a true nightmare when it comes to recieving international shipments.
...
I would even go as far as to pay an extra amount, just to avoid receiving my package through EMS.
Click to expand...

I'm Dutch too and I know how bad PostNL can be also from personal experience. But your example, it's not always true. Last January I've had a single tiny brass fitting sit at customs for 6 days despite the sender using overnight shipping with DHL from Hong Kong, and simultaneously a large package from PerformancePCs in Florida sent using USPS->PostNL around the same time that just came straight to my door with seemingly only 1 hour in customs according to the tracking data. What was the difference? PPCs mark the bill of shipping with the correct commodity code and list all the parts and value of each properly. While the sender from HK just put something vague on the description and no proper invoice. DHL price for taking 7 days to 'overnight' a small piece of brass was similar price as whole box of watercooling gear from PPCs. So it can go wrong also with the premium couriers and smoothly with the 'nightmare' national post.

Having said that, for the people who are nervous about the shipping, wahaha360 could offer premium shipping for some extra payment, as you suggest. It's up to him of course :)
 
wjcomment said:
For those in the U.S. who are looking for a Swiftech H220, NCIX began offering this product to U.S. customers again a few weeks ago. I live in California and bought one from their U.S. website in early September and I have received it. From their web description it appears that they may be transferring stock from their Canadian warehouse to their U.S. warehouse as needed. So anyway, they are presently available in the U.S. from NCIX.
Here is the link where I bought mine: http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=79583
Hopefully this will help some of you who are still looking for the H220.
Click to expand...

Great news. I'll be picking one up shortly. I'm just a tad worried about the reports of dying pumps
 
KeymaN said:
I m a sad panda now lol
Wish ASUS has the step up program like evga lol
Oh well lol
Click to expand...

Hey KeymaN, just wanted to let you know that you should hold on to your Asus GTX 670 Mini..

There was a review today on the new GTX 760 Mini, and your 670 is 3% more powerful, but significantly quieter.

:)
 
lemkeant said:
Great news. I'll be picking one up shortly. I'm just a tad worried about the reports of dying pumps
Click to expand...

Don't worry. If there is a problem, Swiftech have a great RMA procedure. I recently had a noise issue with a MCP35x and all I did was make a video of the pump with the noise on my camera, emailed it to Swiftech support and the CEO himself answered that day and he authorised my local reseller to send a replacement pump by return of post.
 
lemkeant said:
Great news. I'll be picking one up shortly. I'm just a tad worried about the reports of dying pumps
Click to expand...

I just ordered one yesterday and received a email that it was back ordered. I'm also a bit concerned about the pump but I've read that the Swiftech customer service will have no issues getting a replacement if you end up having issues. :)
 
AFD said:
but won't shipping from Taiwan possibly force US backers to have to deal with customs and/or import taxes, that we weren't originally planning to deal with??
Click to expand...

Nice.

milkcow said:
Import duty for aluminum computer cases:

Taiwan -> US for product values < 200USD (excluding shipping/insurance):
0% duty of product value
________

Taiwan -> EU
US -> EU
x% VAT (depends on country) of total value (i.e. product+shipping+insurance)
6% duty (of total product value only - if product value is >150€ = about 200USD)
________

So please wahaha360 declare the product value, shipping costs and insurance correctly, so that we in the EU don't have to pay 6% extra duty ;)

Shipping from Taiwan would save you the import duty from the US ;)
Click to expand...
 
wahaha360 said:
Nice.
Click to expand...

Just an honest question. Like I said before, I've never had anything shipped from outside the US ever, and have no idea what delays, taxes, or duty fees would apply, if any.

No offense intended. It just wasn't originally part of the equation when I ordered, since it was originally stated that orders would be shipping out from the US.


EDITED TO ADD: Please don't get me wrong, I'd definitely be happy to pay extra (whether it's duty fees or additional S&H) to get my M1 ASAP, just slightly worried about delays while Postmaster General rips apart the box looking for narcotics (or whatever in the hell it is they do =)
 
Last edited:
AFD said:
Hey KeymaN, just wanted to let you know that you should hold on to your Asus GTX 670 Mini..

There was a review today on the new GTX 760 Mini, and your 670 is 3% more powerful, but significantly quieter.

:)
Click to expand...

Hah! thanks for the update! now that really make my day! :D
 
KeymaN said:
Hah! thanks for the update! now that really make my day! :D
Click to expand...

Welcome! Now hopefully it fits :D

vortaku said:
i am thinking of a 670 mini, gonna wait till newegg sends me a coupon tho
Click to expand...

Good luck with that. Right now, they still have the Asus $30 rebate card (til 9/30), but they're also mandatory bundling in some stupid Batman game, which means you can't use ANY coupon code. I already tried with a $25 off $250 code (that's now expired).

If I can get the GTX 670 Mini for under $250, I might jump on that, instead of waiting for Maxwell. The new 760 Mini is supposed to retail for $260 to $270, but I'd much rather have the quieter, and slightly more powerful 670 if the price is right.
 
sry if this is a dumb question but i would rather feel silly now rather than spend 150 beans and feel really silly.
at the front instead of an optical disc drive, im looking at putting two 2.5" drives, one is an ssd, the other im hoping for a hd, [as in a laptop hd]. i know they are both 2.5" but to anyone who owns or knows, are they the exact same dimension. it should fit right?
sry i just dont want to blow 150 on something that doesnt fit.
 
Yep laptop HDs and SSDs have the same dimensions and mount threads. Only some high end HDs can be taller, e.g. 11mm instead of 7mm, but that shouldn't matter inside the M1.
 
gerry85 said:
sry if this is a dumb question but i would rather feel silly now rather than spend 150 beans and feel really silly.
at the front instead of an optical disc drive, im looking at putting two 2.5" drives, one is an ssd, the other im hoping for a hd, [as in a laptop hd]. i know they are both 2.5" but to anyone who owns or knows, are they the exact same dimension. it should fit right?
sry i just dont want to blow 150 on something that doesnt fit.
Click to expand...

I don't see a problem using both 2.5" SSD & HDD, as long as they're not the oversized 12mm thick ones. Think only 7mm or 9mm will fit (not sure which limitation was correct though - I'll go look).

Yup. 2.5" drive is limited to 7mm thick..

Necere said:
I moved the SSD mount to the center to make it possible to use the bracket to stack two drives (though limited to 7mm thick).
Click to expand...

The new 7mm WD Blue 1TB and WD Green 750GB should fit.
 
Dephcon said:
Don't forget the lovely new 1TB Red
Click to expand...
The WD Red 3,5" drives are just Green drives with different firmware and are mechanically identical. I'm suspecting the 2,5" ones are the same as the Blue drives. Don't be fooled these are better for anything except to be connected on RAID-controllers.
 
Has the order for the cases been placed with lian li yet? (sorry if this has been asked, but I only looked through the last couple pages :p)
 
WiSK said:
Only some high end HDs can be taller, e.g. 11mm instead of 7mm, but that shouldn't matter inside the M1.
Click to expand...

gerry85 said:
the model im looking at is 15mm...
model number is : WD20NPVX
its a 2.5" western digital 2tb drive.
would be great if it fits
Click to expand...

Didn't Necere state that any 2.5" drives located in the front, where the slot-load ODD would go, should be 7mm or under to fit??

I'd be very cautious using any 2.5" drive over 7mm in thickness in the front (inside or outside locations). Shouldn't matter if installed in the bottom location, though.
 
Phuncz said:
The WD Red 3,5" drives are just Green drives with different firmware and are mechanically identical. I'm suspecting the 2,5" ones are the same as the Blue drives. Don't be fooled these are better for anything except to be connected on RAID-controllers.
Click to expand...

The WD Reds also have a 3-year warranty, vs the Green & Blue 2-year warranty.

Only other major difference with the Reds is the head-parking & error recovery times. There's also some feature to reduce harmonic vibration due to multiple drives running or something of that sort.
 
Since I have an ASRock H77M-ITX board, I highly doubt my new Noctua NH-C14 will fit with a PCIe card... Do you guys think an extender will do the trick? :q
 
AFD said:
The WD Reds also have a 3-year warranty, vs the Green & Blue 2-year warranty.

Only other major difference with the Reds is the head-parking & error recovery times. There's also some feature to reduce harmonic vibration due to multiple drives running or something of that sort.
Click to expand...

This is exactly why they are better, and they're designed for 24/7 usage which is great for those of us that don't turn our desktops off.
 
AFD said:
Didn't Necere state that any 2.5" drives located in the front, where the slot-load ODD would go, should be 7mm or under to fit??

I'd be very cautious using any 2.5" drive over 7mm in thickness in the front (inside or outside locations). Shouldn't matter if installed in the bottom location, though.
Click to expand...

I think the "under 7mm" measurement is if you want to two drives in the dual-stacked SSD mount. A single 12mm 2.5" HDD should fit just fine inside the front case. I mean, a slimline ODD drive is already thicker than 12mm...
 
semyorka said:
I think the "under 7mm" measurement is if you want to two drives in the dual-stacked SSD mount. A single 12mm 2.5" HDD should fit just fine inside the front case. I mean, a slimline ODD drive is already thicker than 12mm...
Click to expand...

Think you're correct on that. I didn't realize that slim ODD were over 12mm, but it seems they're just under 13mm. Wonder if 15mm 2.5 HDD would still fit?
 
AFD said:
Think you're correct on that. I didn't realize that slim ODD were over 12mm, but it seems they're just under 13mm. Wonder if 15mm 2.5 HDD would still fit?
Click to expand...

Yeah, laptop ODDs are 12.7mm thick, if I recall correctly. Looking at the photos of dual 7mm SSDs within the front cover, it looks like a 15mm HDD would fit... barely.
 
Would anyone really want to run 15mm HDDs on their desktop? I don't suppose any of them are quiet.
 
vipz said:
Would anyone really want to run 15mm HDDs on their desktop? I don't suppose any of them are quiet.
Click to expand...

The one guy at the top of this page was considering it..

gerry85 said:
the model im looking at is 15mm...
model number is : WD20NPVX
its a 2.5" western digital 2tb drive.
would be great if it fits
Click to expand...

I'd just really hate to see people buying hardware that might not fit in the M1 (though I have a feeling that might happen quite often, unfortunately).
 
wjcomment said:
For those in the U.S. who are looking for a Swiftech H220, NCIX began offering this product to U.S. customers again a few weeks ago. I live in California and bought one from their U.S. website in early September and I have received it. From their web description it appears that they may be transferring stock from their Canadian warehouse to their U.S. warehouse as needed. So anyway, they are presently available in the U.S. from NCIX.
Here is the link where I bought mine: http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=79583
Hopefully this will help some of you who are still looking for the H220.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. I was hoping I'd be able to snag one off of ebay or something, before the M1 ships next year. But this is even better.

drklu said:
Interesting read, anyone else waiting to buy a gfx card?
Click to expand...

Hmmm interesting. I'm definitely waiting til Black Friday for deals. Here's hoping it gets a serious discount right off the bat.
 
Dephcon said:
This is exactly why they are better, and they're designed for 24/7 usage which is great for those of us that don't turn our desktops off.
Click to expand...
They aren't physically better, it's just different firmware and you pay for an extra year of warranty. If you want better performing drives, get an SSD or atleast a Black series.
 
drklu said:
Interesting read, anyone else waiting to buy a gfx card?
Click to expand...

Hmm. Still think Nvidia Maxwell / 800-series seems much more interesting, if it pans out as planned..

"Maxwell will offer unified virtual memory, giving CPUs access to the speedy memory built into GPUs, and vice versa"

"will offer whopping 14 - 16GFLOPS of double-precision performance per watt, a massive improvement over current-generation hardware"

"will integrate general-purpose Denver ARMv8-compatible cores in addition to graphics stream processors"

"the energy efficiency of Maxwell, it is going to crush Kepler"​

Don't know if we'll actually see all that, but I'm really thinking I should probably wait to find out :D

KeymaN said:
swear he is talking about me D:
Click to expand...

Lol, I'm sure you can make it fit. Wires and connectors might get jacked up and bent out of shape, but I have faith :p

Phuncz said:
If you want better performing drives, get an SSD or atleast a Black series.
Click to expand...

SSD definitely, but aren't the WD Blacks supposed to run hotter & louder than most conventional drives?

Red/Green/Blue would probably be more suitable for secondary storage in a case this small (OP was considering both 2.5" SSD & 2.5" HDD in the front).
 
I will probably just buy another SSD and call it a day ...
1x 120GB Samsung 840 (which I already own)
1x 500GB Samsung 840 EVO (which I hope drops in price a bit till jan.)
 
Dam this waiting game is killing me, I'm tempted to hold out for the 800 series but thats about 6 monrhs out I bet.
 
drklu said:
Dam this waiting game is killing me, I'm tempted to hold out for the 800 series but thats about 6 monrhs out I bet.
Click to expand...

Considering AMDs 9000series (aka R9-2xx) will mainly consist of relabeld products, except the top tier cards, which well probably be > 500-600 USD at launch, it might not be such a bad idea afterall.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top