NCASE has recently announced that their crowdfunded mini-ITX case – the NCASE M1, has opened for preorders for a second production run. The NCASE M1 is one of the smallest mini-ITX cases, just 12.6 liters in volume, and is capable of supporting high-end graphics card up to 12.5-inch long and water cooling solution with 240mm radiators. Check out the rest of its features, specifications, price and availability below.
NCASE M1 Mini-ITX Case Features
The NCASE M1 is an all-aluminum chassis with a simple yet elegant design. It’s primarily designed for a mini-ITX motherboard form-factor and supports a dual slot graphics card up to 12.5-inch long. Despite the small footprint, the M1 is able to accommodate 120mm- and 140mm-fan top-down coolers of up to 130mm in height. Thanks to the innovative dual side 120mm fan bracket, a single 120mm or 240mm all-in-one water cooling radiator can also be mounted internally.
You can also install custom water cooling or an all-in-one closed loop water cooling solution, using a slim 240mm radiator. Water cooling kits like the CM Glacer 240L or Swiftech H220 and the likes are supported.
The NCASE M1 also supports a slim type optical drive on the front top portion, while the front panel ports are located at the front bottom area. Front panel includes a power button, two USB 3.0 ports, a headphone and a microphone jack.
NCASE M1 Mini-ITX Case Specifications
Dimensions: 240mm x 160mm x 328mm, 12.6L (250mm x 160mm x 338mm overall)
Motherboard support: Mini-ITX, Mini-DTX
Liquid cooling support: Single 120mm or 240mm slim radiator
Power Supply: SFX, ATX (limited)
Drives:
- 3 x 3.5″ Mounts:
- 1 on case floor
- 2 in removable side bracket (cannot be used with dual radiator)
- 3 x 2.5″ Mounts:
- 1 inside chassis front
- 1 behind front panel (in place of optical drive)
- 1 on case bottom (in place of 3.5″ drive)
- Included double-stacking bracket allows 2 x 2.5″ drives on one mount (depending on drive thickness)
Disc Drive: Slim slot-load optical drive bay
Fans:
- 4 120mm fan mounts
- 2 on side bracket
- 2 on case bottom (in place of 3.5″ drive)
- 1 x 80/92mm fan mount (bottom)
- 1 x 80/92mm fan mount (rear)
Front ports: 2 x USB 3.0, HD Audio
Power button: Red/blue power/drive activity LED
Material: 1.5mm aluminum construction, anodized brushed exterior, painted interior
NCASE M1 Mini-ITX Case Compatibility
CPU Cooler
- Top-down coolers are recommended.
- Height restriction: 130mm
- Cooler cannot extend past the top of the board by more than 10mm. For many larger coolers, this limits motherboard choice to those with centrally-located sockets.
- Large coolers that extend past the front of the board will prevent the 3.5″ HDD cage from being used.
Watercooling
- Sealed liquid coolers or integrated pump/block and radiator/res recommended.
- Single 120mm or 240mm radiators only.
- Thinner radiators only (under 40mm).
- Fans in push/pull are not recommended due to space constraints.
Graphics Card
- Rear exhaust cards recommended.
- Max length: 12.5″ (slots 1 & 2), 11″ (slot 3)
- Max width:
- For cards up to 12.5″ or cards in the third slot: 4.4″
- For cards up to 11.5″ in the first or second slot: 5.5″ (4.7″ at the PCIe power connectors)
Power supply
- SFX PSU support is standard
- ATX PSU support is possible using the included bracket with the following limitations:
- -Cannot be used with the dual 3.5″ HDD cage or 240mm radiator mounted to the side bracket (120mm radiator is still possible over the motherboard area)
- -Cannot be used with long GPUs (over 195mm), with the exception of 140mm or shorter non-modular PSUs (not recommended due to cable length)
- -The AC inlet orientation on some ATX power supplies (e.g. Seasonic) may prevent the angle plug from fitting, please check carefully.
Price and Availability
The company is currently accepting pre-orders for the NCASE M1. Preorders are open until June 22, 2014 only. So if ever you are interested in getting one, head over to ncases.com and place your order, before you run out of time. The M1 is priced at $185 USD, excluding shipping and import fees.
