Well-Built Mini-ITX Case: Cooler Master NCORE 100 MAX Review & Benchmarks
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Date: 2024-01-19
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Comments and reviews: 20
Bluelagoonstudios
I see these pop up more and more, a year ago I build also one with an old i7 4790 iGPU and a nVidea Quadro T1000 GPU for my bedroom, just to surf on the net and watch BR movies on my LED TV. The ease to build these systems is remarking. But the new ones are even more remarkable, and a lot of use Aluminum panels, beautiful. Btw, I'm wondering nVidea keeps making GPUs with that rotten 12V "high power" connector, from the moment I saw these and the power draw, I knew this was fodder for disaster, being busy with automotive cars on 13,5VDC with currents from 20 up to 300Amps. If these connectors were made of bakelite or ceramic, then you would have much fewer problems.
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I see these pop up more and more, a year ago I build also one with an old i7 4790 iGPU and a nVidea Quadro T1000 GPU for my bedroom, just to surf on the net and watch BR movies on my LED TV. The ease to build these systems is remarking. But the new ones are even more remarkable, and a lot of use Aluminum panels, beautiful. Btw, I'm wondering nVidea keeps making GPUs with that rotten 12V "high power" connector, from the moment I saw these and the power draw, I knew this was fodder for disaster, being busy with automotive cars on 13,5VDC with currents from 20 up to 300Amps. If these connectors were made of bakelite or ceramic, then you would have much fewer problems.
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vensroofcat6415
400$ is too much. Tiny rad, mediocre PSU my guess. Not a platinum, right Should be less than 300$.
In general due to flow through and huge GPUs lately sandwich kind of died for me. You don't save anything with otherwise limited ITX anymore and the airflow gets f. up significantly.
My current mATX is 19 liters (after playing around with ITX for a while). So what's the difference
The only good thing about ITX is CPU air cooler getting much closer to rear panel compared to ATX/mATX. With some skill you can avoid redundant fan there.
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400$ is too much. Tiny rad, mediocre PSU my guess. Not a platinum, right Should be less than 300$.
In general due to flow through and huge GPUs lately sandwich kind of died for me. You don't save anything with otherwise limited ITX anymore and the airflow gets f. up significantly.
My current mATX is 19 liters (after playing around with ITX for a while). So what's the difference
The only good thing about ITX is CPU air cooler getting much closer to rear panel compared to ATX/mATX. With some skill you can avoid redundant fan there.
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shawnduffy279
Was wondering ...
Since the PSU is modular, could you not order a custom 12v cable for a GPU the isn't a 90 degree variant Because to me, while completely agreeing with GN's observations 100%, it looks like CM intended these to fit "taller" GPUs where the connection is higher up towards the cutout for routing that cable.
The 4070 is "shorter" therefore making that 90 push against the case as GN pointed out. A vertical connection would circumvent that issue.
maybe after CM sees this review, they will offer such a connection
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Was wondering ...
Since the PSU is modular, could you not order a custom 12v cable for a GPU the isn't a 90 degree variant Because to me, while completely agreeing with GN's observations 100%, it looks like CM intended these to fit "taller" GPUs where the connection is higher up towards the cutout for routing that cable.
The 4070 is "shorter" therefore making that 90 push against the case as GN pointed out. A vertical connection would circumvent that issue.
maybe after CM sees this review, they will offer such a connection
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notmatt5864
I am a huge itx fan and this case looks really nice. However, being an its fan, I already have 3 different power supplies, and 4 different aio's. I would not spend almost $400 on a case where 2/3 of it major components will not be used.
As a word of caution, I have dealt with cooler master's customer service after an aio died and it took almost 7 weeks to get a replacement. It required constant follow up to get them to do anything.
For those reasons I will pass.
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I am a huge itx fan and this case looks really nice. However, being an its fan, I already have 3 different power supplies, and 4 different aio's. I would not spend almost $400 on a case where 2/3 of it major components will not be used.
As a word of caution, I have dealt with cooler master's customer service after an aio died and it took almost 7 weeks to get a replacement. It required constant follow up to get them to do anything.
For those reasons I will pass.
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vlycop7404
The issue is that i no-longer trust cooler-master due to the many small production run product they put out without any long term support ...
I have at least 3 product, including my SK650 failed during warranty, i couldn't ask for any replacement because they had already killed it and i could only get a refund...
I'm not building a computer around a part that may failed and for which i may never get another one.
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The issue is that i no-longer trust cooler-master due to the many small production run product they put out without any long term support ...
I have at least 3 product, including my SK650 failed during warranty, i couldn't ask for any replacement because they had already killed it and i could only get a refund...
I'm not building a computer around a part that may failed and for which i may never get another one.
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Mewdraco
What I really want from the ITX market is for them to keep doing revisions and updates to successful releases; the Hyte Revolt 3 is great but it didnt exactly account for new bigger gpus with wonky extra appendages.
The way CM is doing this with the optional extra space is a good way of approaching the problem so props for that
Excited to see more itx reviews btw
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What I really want from the ITX market is for them to keep doing revisions and updates to successful releases; the Hyte Revolt 3 is great but it didnt exactly account for new bigger gpus with wonky extra appendages.
The way CM is doing this with the optional extra space is a good way of approaching the problem so props for that
Excited to see more itx reviews btw
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gamersnexus
Man, awesome to see Cooler Master doing new things. I've yet to be persuaded to change from the N200 (especially after only paying $20 for it) because it's still essentially a perfect case for my use, but this one is interesting! Curious if CM has solved the noise/coil whine in their power supplies. I tried 2 of theirs and returned both because of it.
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Man, awesome to see Cooler Master doing new things. I've yet to be persuaded to change from the N200 (especially after only paying $20 for it) because it's still essentially a perfect case for my use, but this one is interesting! Curious if CM has solved the noise/coil whine in their power supplies. I tried 2 of theirs and returned both because of it.
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rossfisher323
I managed to buy one before it officially released as Newegg was just chucking them early, lmao. I was able to fit in a Corsair SFXL 1000W and a LARGE 4090. My fans were garbage, however, and squealed at higher RPMs. Noctua and Phanteks fixed that. It looks nice on my desk! The cooler is just about perfect for a 7800X3D, I wouldn't go higher
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I managed to buy one before it officially released as Newegg was just chucking them early, lmao. I was able to fit in a Corsair SFXL 1000W and a LARGE 4090. My fans were garbage, however, and squealed at higher RPMs. Noctua and Phanteks fixed that. It looks nice on my desk! The cooler is just about perfect for a 7800X3D, I wouldn't go higher
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Witcherworks
Hey I was able to get a used NZXT H1 with the power supply and cooler stole uhhh removed. The newest Pcie cable included and it’s still by far the best looking case. I’m using a wraith prism cooler and Asus Tuf 3070 and modified the case with 2 Rgb 140 mm fans. For the space nobody has topped this design so don’t be to hard on them
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Hey I was able to get a used NZXT H1 with the power supply and cooler stole uhhh removed. The newest Pcie cable included and it’s still by far the best looking case. I’m using a wraith prism cooler and Asus Tuf 3070 and modified the case with 2 Rgb 140 mm fans. For the space nobody has topped this design so don’t be to hard on them
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MeatNinja
Dope I'm glad more companies are working on tall/small footprint cases. I do still prefer my Corsair 2000D over this for being able to fit a 360 aio, not needing a riser and having more accessible io. But the 2000D has its own shortcomings. It's a great thing that we're getting more options :]
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Dope I'm glad more companies are working on tall/small footprint cases. I do still prefer my Corsair 2000D over this for being able to fit a 360 aio, not needing a riser and having more accessible io. But the 2000D has its own shortcomings. It's a great thing that we're getting more options :]
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Poctyk
I am so interested in different mini-ITX cases, especially without glass, considering that right now I may have just pack everything and move, multiple times. They are so cool
However, there is no way I would be able to fit everything in one, lol
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I am so interested in different mini-ITX cases, especially without glass, considering that right now I may have just pack everything and move, multiple times. They are so cool
However, there is no way I would be able to fit everything in one, lol
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angepano8591
This is good to see Cooler Master improving their quality and providing an interesting case. Are cases just getting better Are they learning and innovating seems like it. Price on this is high but at least its a really cool case.
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This is good to see Cooler Master improving their quality and providing an interesting case. Are cases just getting better Are they learning and innovating seems like it. Price on this is high but at least its a really cool case.
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anonymoususer7985
CM get a brownie points for putting a fan right above the exhaust of the psu; the benefit of having a fan above the psu’s exhaust is understated - they lose the point for then dumping the psu heat straight into the aio
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CM get a brownie points for putting a fan right above the exhaust of the psu; the benefit of having a fan above the psu’s exhaust is understated - they lose the point for then dumping the psu heat straight into the aio
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MxMoondoggie
Never cared much for this trend of making cases smaller and smaller lol. This hipster teeny tiny case nonsense is getting silly. Let's keep making cases smaller and hotter, how it looks is the only thing that matters right
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Never cared much for this trend of making cases smaller and smaller lol. This hipster teeny tiny case nonsense is getting silly. Let's keep making cases smaller and hotter, how it looks is the only thing that matters right
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karroq
Cases with this orientation always make me hesitant because of things I've heard off and on about certain GPUs with heat pipes not performing correctly with the card upright like that. Not sure if that's a thing or not, though.
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Cases with this orientation always make me hesitant because of things I've heard off and on about certain GPUs with heat pipes not performing correctly with the card upright like that. Not sure if that's a thing or not, though.
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lurr1740
Thanks for all you do guys. I’ve been planning out a build in a fractal ridge, but really liking the look of this. Also be nice to have the psu / cooler already good to go for my first ITX build, I do have shaky hands
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Thanks for all you do guys. I’ve been planning out a build in a fractal ridge, but really liking the look of this. Also be nice to have the psu / cooler already good to go for my first ITX build, I do have shaky hands
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thevoid6756
You mentioned previously that the perosity and design of the case panels does not just affect airflow, but also the acoustics. I would love to see a comparison of different brands' panels in your fancy new chamber.
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You mentioned previously that the perosity and design of the case panels does not just affect airflow, but also the acoustics. I would love to see a comparison of different brands' panels in your fancy new chamber.
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pankothompson5903
I like how adjustable many of them are becoming. would be cool if a flat pack model had notches and lines along the rails etc. making it easy to cut it down to whatever size you wanted with a hacksaw.
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I like how adjustable many of them are becoming. would be cool if a flat pack model had notches and lines along the rails etc. making it easy to cut it down to whatever size you wanted with a hacksaw.
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chadmckean9026
one thing that has burned me in the past is the psu warranty when paired with a case only being 1 year as the product is marketed as a "case" not a "psu" so it gets the standard "case" warranty
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one thing that has burned me in the past is the psu warranty when paired with a case only being 1 year as the product is marketed as a "case" not a "psu" so it gets the standard "case" warranty
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EXOWill
This case is pretty well thought out. The GPU seems to be mounted in a very secure way, except for the kink in the power cable. I personally won't be buying any video card with the 16 pin power cable.
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This case is pretty well thought out. The GPU seems to be mounted in a very secure way, except for the kink in the power cable. I personally won't be buying any video card with the 16 pin power cable.
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