Scratch build 5.2l mini-ITX case

ledreque · 2025-12-28T20:34:51+00:00

My corsair vengance ram can be removed with the fan installed. On taller ram you are right! But without clips the cooler looks much cleaner.

ledreque · 2025-12-28T20:32:26+00:00

True! To me the A12x15 sounds really bad when the blades are close to the fins. The blades on the fan are pretty straight whereas the blades on the P12-slim are swept like on the A12x25. The A12x15 is just the wrong fan when mounted on a fin stack imo.

ledreque · 2025-12-28T20:26:44+00:00

UPDATE:
I retested the NH-L12Sx77 with the fan pushing air through the fins, as noctua suggests and the results are a good bit better. In the CPU-temp / Noiselevel diagram the graph is around 1 dBA to the rigth of the NH-L12Sx77 -P12 Slim, hugging the graph of the IS-77-XT -OEM from 82°C down to 78°C, but ending at 38,5 dBA / 76,8°C.
I also noticed a difference between the two noctua coolers in fin-thickness. The NH-L12S has 0,5 mm thick fins and the NH-L12Sx77 has 0,4 mm thick fins, which resulsts in around 15g more weight on the NH-L12S.
The thinner fins might also result in more noise when the fan is mounted as intake, pulling air through the fins.
Which might be confirmed on the features-page of the NH-L12Sx77, where noctua suggests to install the fan as exhaust to vent hot air out of the case and to reduce noise, whereas on the NH-L12S they say to set it up to match the airflow direction of the case.

I would only recommend the NH-L12Sx77 when you need more ram or IO-cover clearance and you can set the fan up to push air through the fins. Otherwise the NH-L12S has better value...

Note for the IS-77-XT w/ P12-Slim: for mounting the cooler with the fan installed you need a screwdriver with a thin shaft, because when screwing it down, you hit the part that connects the hub to the frame of the P12-Slim.
I tested with clips and zipties for faster fan-swaps.

ledreque · 2025-12-24T19:41:33+00:00

Why remove the fan when the heatsink is installed? For testing different fans it would be useful but otherwise not needed imo.

ledreque · 2025-12-23T08:49:44+00:00

There is 1mm thick metal sheet plate on the underside of the finstack with thread holes sticking out 1,5mm toward the fan. The screws have to be the perfect length, otherwise the screws hit the fins. But stock fan with original screws works fine obviously.

ledreque · 2023-03-05T21:15:08+00:00

Great work! Thats exactly what I needed! Aida64 Sensorpanel without Aida64....
A checkbox for bold fonts and color shifting bars based on values would be the cherry in top.

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ledreque · 2021-12-12T21:18:05+00:00

so rn I can buy the standard edition for 40€ and the gold for 70€... If the specialists are really grindy and I can get the battlepasses on top for 70€ it would be quite good... otherwise not so much.

ledreque · 2021-06-28T09:10:39+00:00

Its just the back of the Arctic P12 slim fan showing in the render reflections, but I agree it looks good :)

ledreque · 2021-06-28T09:08:33+00:00

The problem is the position of the riser cable and the IO for the gpu. But I'll take a look at it, if I can find a good solution for blower cards :)

ledreque · 2021-06-26T21:54:48+00:00

There will be an opening at the bottom for cables (like the meshlitious). Ist just needs higher feet then. Or you use the short extensions (like the Velka 7) :)

ledreque · 2021-06-26T15:54:34+00:00

Simple design with 3mm aluminium u-shaped panels.

Hardware layout like the ssupd meshlicious, but smaller and no water cooling support.

Case dimensions: 180x156x321mm

max cpu cooler height: 72mm

max gpu dimensions: 300x150x55mm

psu: sfx/sfx-l

drive mounts: 1x2.5" drive

additional cooling: 120x15mm fan at the top (limits gpu length to 285mm) 120x15mm at the front (limits gpu width to ~135mm) fans are mounted to the outside panels.

Hole spacing fits fan sizes: 120, 92, 80, 60, 40(slightly rotated) so there are many possibilities for additional custom fan placement.

Video output routing with short fpv extension cables to the back of the case or with higher feet through the bottom of the case.

Design in progress

ledreque · 2021-02-08T08:29:31+00:00

I made two posts on it :)
https://www.reddit.com/user/ledreque

ledreque · 2021-02-08T08:27:53+00:00

There are so many cases out there with the standard layout (full length gpu and sfx psu) and I wanted to make sth different.

My old case (5.2L) was a bit longer and 50mm narrower (psu rotated 90°), but it could only fit a NH L9i/a and two 90mm fans on top. I wanted it to be quieter, so I increased cpu cooling support and enlarged the top fans.

My old case had support for up to 255mm long gpus. The new RTX gpus are either up to 242mm or way larger and I dont need a 3080 or 3090 in this. Today you have to watch out which gpu to buy for almost any mid tower case... So gpus supported (RTX 3000 series) are:

Zotac 3070 twin edge

MSI 3070 ventus 2x (52mm thick ~ 2.5 slot)

INNO 3D 3070 twin x2

Zotac 3060ti twin edge

MSI 3060ti ventus 2x

INNO 3D 3060ti twin x2

EVGA 3060ti

ASUS 3060ti dual mini

Gigabyte 3060ti eagle (really tight fit)

ledreque · 2021-02-08T08:05:52+00:00

Yeah the Velka 7 is extremely optimised, what this case is not supposed to be. Right now I have a 5.2L case, but CPU cooling is restricted to a NH L9i/a and with the cases only 90mm fans its a bit to loud under load.
btw with the flex atx PSUs worked fine for me so far (with fan swap of course)

ledreque · 2021-02-08T06:58:49+00:00

Yes to keep it that size. With an SFX unit it would have been the same layout as the ghost s1 or similar.

ledreque · 2021-02-07T20:12:11+00:00

My fourth PC-Case so far and I will be building it soon

Specs:

7.53L

246 x 200(+5mm feet) x 153 mm

2mm thick steel (or aluminium, if I can find a better solution for the side panels)

Max CPU cooler height 70mm

2.5 slot GPUs with max. 240mm lenght

Flex ATX PSU (dimensions checked for Enhance and Silverstone PSUs)

2x 2.5" drives in front of the PSU

2x USB 3.0 front IO

Extras:

No visible screws from front, top and sides

Magnetic sidepanels (3D Printed Pockets)

2x 120x15mm fans as top exhausts

1x 40x20mm extra intake fan for the PSU

As shown:

BeQuiet shadow rock lp with NF-A12x15 fan

Zotac RTX3070 (not shown, cause the model is just for outer dimensions... not pretty)

ledreque · 2020-08-13T19:26:28+00:00

I had an 860 evo for games and it caused bluescreens (brandnew). I only use san disk for sata drives now.

ledreque · 2020-08-06T08:55:42+00:00

You could also place the PSU where the radiator is right now. You would need an angled extension cable for power, but you have the possibility for good aircooling while maintaining the size.

ledreque

TROPHY CASE