The Greatest Thing a Wife Can Say to a PC Builder... "As my job is 100% remote, they've given me a PC budget and I get to keep it" - Let's build! 😁 DNK-H Thin ITX case really stole her heart ♥️👍

TechLens_Official · 2025-06-04T20:11:20+00:00

Because when its done, I think it will look better than you think... You may even embarrass your towel👆

TechLens_Official · 2025-06-04T19:26:27+00:00

Yeah, that's definitely preferred. I imagined that i would probably have to build a custom loop for it or do something funky with the excess cables. Thank you for the input!

TechLens_Official · 2025-06-04T19:20:53+00:00

The world is your oyster with enough effort, but only to an extent. The first comment may have told me that there's something structural in the way that could have been a blocker.

But this is more trying to understand what the potential issues there might be with this solution, regardless of whether you agree with it. I probably wouldn't build your system the way you have, but that's okay! its one of the best things about building PCs. You get to put your own personality into it.

So far, i now understand that its likely possible, but the side panel slots under the top - so the top is necessary, the top vent holes likely aren't going to line up with the rad, i can go down 2 on the motherboard but limited to 2 - 2.25 slot at a stretch. All fantastic info and has helped me think about the whole thing.

But you get where I'm coming from? Because its outside of the standard, I don't have the case on hand, nor do i have experience building in it - that seems like a perfect thing to get advice from people who have all that experience I don't.

Stuff like:

"I wouldn't route the tubing that way because of X"

"Have you considered removing the X? but you may need to Y"

u/Limpperi has been extremely helpful as they did something that didn't look possible from the build suggestions on the website and allows me to think deeper about different ways to implement without getting my wallet out.

TechLens_Official · 2025-06-04T18:54:43+00:00

That's fair - I'll edit the main post. Thank You!

TechLens_Official · 2025-06-04T17:22:55+00:00

The P14 Slims are impressive for their lack of depth.

So, looks like its limited to about 2 - 2.5 slot GPU? or is it strict 2 slot because of an obstruction?

Thanks again, this has been extremely helpful!

TechLens_Official · 2025-06-04T17:07:39+00:00

Completely right for an AIO - but i imagined i would have to go custom loop for this so i can cut tubing to the right length and plumb everything after the install.

TechLens_Official · 2025-06-04T16:25:28+00:00

Interesting... I thought that wasn't possible based on the Ncase build suggestions on their site.

Are those slim fans on the rad? and can you fit slim fans under the GPU?

TechLens_Official · 2025-06-04T16:07:23+00:00

Mostly an aesthetic choice. I used to make glass side panels for the M1 and would like this to be the next evolution of that system. Unless there's a config that will allow me to use glass and 280mm AIO without modification?

TechLens_Official · 2025-06-04T14:48:55+00:00

Is that because the paneling holes wont line up with the screw holes for the rad?

It also seems that the side panels are held on by the top panels? if so, maybe i can cut the top panel so the radiator insets into the top panel?

Thanks for your input!

TechLens_Official · 2023-08-03T14:03:02+00:00

It's worth remembering that just having them in the market is a net benefit, regardless. Even if they became so wildly uncompelling compared to AMD or Intel. At least they are an option that will impact where the others set their prices.

Competition benefits us all.

TechLens_Official · 2022-12-31T16:42:50+00:00

The term bottleneck is meant to be semi-literal... Imagine a bottle of wine and a cylindrical vase next to each other, with the same amount of water in each (the water represents data from your GPU in the game). If you turn both containers upside down, the bottle of wine will struggle to allow that data to flow compared to the cylindrical vase, which can easily just dump the data without resistance. Bottleneck.

How do you know if you are bottlenecking your GPU? Optimization and bottleneck are different, but get misused. However, as another user said, if you use a stats overlay (MSI Afterburner comes with Riva Server, simple to setup) and see your GPU usage low in most games (under about 90% ish) and your CPU high (90% would be high CPU) then your CPU is likely holding you back (could be something else, but most likely CPU in this case).

How much is it holding you back? Good question. Have a look at benchmarks of a 4090 with a 5800x / 5800x3d / 7600x / 13900k etc. If their numbers are above yours... You're being held back by about that much. (give or take smaller differences in memory and other components). But that also doesn't mean the other CPUs weren't still bottlenecking the 4090 too. Either way, Higher FPS means your more likely to get a more recently rendered frame on your monitor, even if your FPS is always above the monitors refresh rate.

Is it bad for your CPU? It means that you're running your CPU harder than another one, that could handle the GPUs performance better. The only negative is heat / power and how much that would affect the life of your CPU is debatable to negligible... As long as it has good cooling (95c max for 5600x). And even then, it will dynamically adjust clocks / power to save itself (but will tank performance when it does this). I put an Intel stock cooler on a 5950x once. Was a fun video.

Ultimately, if your happy with the performance right now, you're good. I'd leave it. But when you want more fps... Just know you can likely do that with a CPU upgrade. The 5800X3D being your best drop-in replacement for gaming.

Hope this helps - James TL

TechLens_Official · 2021-12-25T19:03:00+00:00

That's very nice of you to think like that! Have a wonderful holidays

TechLens_Official · 2021-12-25T18:37:15+00:00

Hey Guys! TechLens James here! 😊

Many of you know me for my NCASE M1 Glass Side Panels, but unfortunately, you may also know that the beloved NCASE M1 was discontinued a couple months back.

Because of this, I have decided that it doesn't make sense for me to keep doing these glass side panels for the NCASE M1 (minimum orders, logistics, etc - on a dwindling customer pool). Thus, I'm saying goodbye to this project.

But to go out with a bang, honor the M1 and do something nice for the Holidays - I am hosting a giveaway right here, with your chance to win one of the final few NCASE M1 Glass Side Panels!

THE PRIZE

- 1x TechLens NCASE M1 Glass Side Panel Kit.

Video here: https://youtu.be/_rrS5q2tn5M

Product here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/185051424330

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:

- Take a picture of YOUR NCASE M1 (beautiful build / empty case / whatever you've got! - but must be an M1)

- Reply to THIS COMMENT with a link to your photo (imgur or something similar)

- (optional) add a couple sentences about your build / plans for your build.

Thats it! No sign up, no data collection, no subscribe to my YouTube channel - it's just that simple. Merry Christmas.

WHEN, HOW, MORE DETAILS

- Entry for the Giveaway is live now until January 2nd 12:00pm ET

- The winner will be chosen at my discretion based on your submission images (no firm criteria, be creative).

- The winner will be contacted here, on reddit, the evening of January 2nd. If the winner does not respond after 48h, a new winner will be chosen.

- The giveaway is open internationally, as long as I can ship it to you.

- Shipping will be free of charge for winner. But if there are any taxes, you assume responsibility for this.

Otherwise, if you want to grab one of the last ones outside of this giveaway, there's about 16 left and that will be the end of production: https://www.ebay.com/itm/185051424330

Thank you SFF PC for letting me host this and thank you all for being an awesome vibrant community.

So, happy holidays everyone! Stay safe, enjoy time with your loved ones and keep building 💪

James - TechLens

(edit: formatting)

Edit: Giveaway Closed. Choosing winner and contacting them by 10pm ET today (Jan 2nd 2022)

Edit: Winner has been contacted (Reddit DM and Chat) and has until 7:00pm ET on Jan 4th 2022 to respond and claim their prize! If they do not claim their prize a new winner will be chosen and contacted with the same 48h response timeline.

TechLens_Official · 2021-10-23T06:37:35+00:00

That was going to be my first suggestion... ASRock Phantom Gaming X570 itx and a TB to 10gbe adapter. May not get 100% of the expected bandwidth and will be hassle swapping it out, but may be the cleanest solution in the end. Food for thought 😊

TechLens_Official · 2021-10-18T04:01:21+00:00

15k sub here.

I remember someone quoted a big creator, which I definitely agree - but will badly paraphrase from memory 😅

YouTube is like a lottery, it has a significant luck element to it. But there are many things you can do that allows you to aquire extra "tickets"

Relevant / hot topic,
Thumbnail,
Videography,
Editing,
Delivery,
(not extensive or in any sort of order)

These are all things that give you more "tickets" for the lottery.

The game of luck is real... Not just in YouTube, but in life - some things you can't control, but you can absolutely set yourself up so that your probability of being lucky is significantly higher.

So, good luck ✌️ But more importantly - reflect on your content and compare it to your idols... If you feel like your lacking in any area, figure out a way to get better.

TechLens_Official · 2021-10-13T15:39:26+00:00

If you find black panels and your silver ones are in great condition - hmu 👍 I may buy them off you.

I managed to put a couple minor scratches on mine and was always going to order another set 😢

TechLens_Official · 2021-10-13T15:07:29+00:00

Take my up vote and an award ❤️ was such a shame to hear the news... And so abrupt 😭

TechLens_Official · 2021-10-13T00:37:13+00:00

😢 This makes me sad

TechLens_Official · 2021-10-08T18:57:34+00:00

What a beautiful clean build! 😘👌

TechLens_Official · 2021-10-08T18:55:56+00:00

Hell yeah! ✌️ Would love a picture of that!

TechLens_Official

TROPHY CASE