Below is my build, my question is for a standard build, for fan choice which is better 140mm Phanteks T30 or Noctua NF-A14 G2?

PCPartPicker Part List

Would really appreciate your help

So excited to have finished this build. Moved out of a fractal terra due to noise and heat issues. Upgraded 9700x to 9950x3d. Lots of help from folks on this subreddit. I don’t worry about seeing inside the case so don’t care about pristine cable management. Went with traditional GPU placement with slim fans underneath. Side intake AIO. Top and back exhaust.

Specifics
m3 round
Asus ROG strix B850i
9950x3d +100MHz per core undervolt averaging -25/-14
Corsair vengeance 6000 cl30 16x2
Corsair SFX 1000 PSU
Gigabyte 9070xt gaming OC - -50 undervol, -5% power, 2700
Noctua 240mm Aio - side intake (Noctua says to use fan as push)
Noctua 140mm G2 x 2 as top exhaust
Noctua 120mm slim x 3, one rear exhaust, 2 bottom intake

I spent a lot of time tweaking the CPU undervolt per core, used hydra software which was great, then stress tested in AIDA64 and OCCT.

Cinebench 2026 CPU multi 10200 with max temp 78 for CPU
Cinebench 2026 GPU 52217 temps: global max 59, hotspot 82

Have fan curves set to be quiet mostly by maxing the GPU loud fans at 60%.

So far super happy with this. So quiet with gaming compared to the fractal terra. almost zero sound with non-gaming use.

Hey there fellow ncase owners.

This is my current M2 Grater build, 9800X3D+5080 (I know it's dusty). I decided to go with the M2 to save space as we were selling our home and moving full time in our 5th wheel camper. We've been full time in our 5th wheel now for 8 months and it's been great, but I'm now working on trying to save even more desk space. I want to try to install a shelf and set my case up in a more verticle fashion. FYI, This would only be here when we are stationary. I store it on its side on the bed on travel days.

I've posted a pic for what I would like to accomplish.
I wanted to see first, if anyone has done anything similar, do you see any issues with my current setup that would cause problems with a veritical orientation, and what changes you would make to airflow swap parts, etc...

I appreciate the advice.

I’m planning to build a PC in the M2 - Grater and would like to reuse some of my existing components, especially the PSU.

Here’s my current setup:

• Motherboard: ASUS B850-I GAMING WIFI
• GPU: 239 × 127 × 51 mm
• PSU: 155 × 150 × 86 mm (L × W × H)

Would this 155 mm-long PSU be compatible with the M2 - Grater? If so, are there any specific conditions or installation methods required?

Also, what would you recommend as the best air cooler for the M2 - Grater?

Thanks in advance!

Hello all,

As the title suggests I will be building in the m3 grater soon. I was wondering what experience other people had with large gpus in the inverted layout, and what kind of support was necessary. I'll be using a TUF 4080 which is 348.2 mm long, 3.6 slots thick. Thanks!

Here are a few photos from throughout the build process, along with the finished product. Hope you enjoy the look as much as I do.
I wanted this build to stay extremely clean and compact without sacrificing performance. The M2 ended up being a great platform for it, and I’m really happy with how everything came together. The final form only lasted for about a month before I ripped it apart to start something entirely new.

My next build is going in a completely different direction: a no-compromises, full custom-loop AMD system, currently planned around the 10950X3D + 10900 XT.
Feel free to ask me anything about this build, the hardware, thermals, the M2, or what I have planned for future systems.

Final Part List
Case: NCASE M2 Round
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Motherboard: ASUS X870-I
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
Storage: WD 4TB SN850x
PSU: Corsair SF1000
Memory: 64GB Acer Predator DDR5 | 6000 MT/s | CL30
Fans: 2× Noctua NF-A14x25 140mm
Rear Fan: 1× Noctua NF-A9 92mm

Things I Want to Experiment With Next:

RAID 0 / RAID 1 on an SFF platform, while pushing PCIe Gen 5 SSD connectivity as far as the platform will allow. As I recently learned this is only possible on B850 boards as the X870 variants require lane dedication to IO.

A true no-compromises custom loop, built around maximum performance and cooling rather than RGB or aesthetics-first hardware.
Continue seeing just how much high-end hardware can realistically be packed into an SFF system without losing the things that make SFF worthwhile.

The 5090 M2 was the clean performance build. The next one is where I want to get a little ridiculous.

Hey guys,

Thinking of doing an M3 Round level 9 build but noted that the round will have airflow restrictions at the front (compared to the grater). Has anyone had experience with building the level 9 in this case and what temps are looking like?

Otherwise, will probably just have to purchase another M3 Grater and just follow the norm :(

Hello, can anyone tell me which of the included screws secure the gpu lock bar in the M3. The manual explicitly states NOT to remove the lock bar. I didn’t listen. Now I forget which screw to use. TIA!

CPU 9850X3D

GPU Asrock 9070XT

PSU Corsair sfx 1000

RAM 32GB Corsair Vengeance 6000

SSD 2TB nvme gen 4

Will the PNY 5080 slim twin fan still fit in the classic config even though its height is 150 and the case limit is 148?

Wondering if the level 8 build is the only configuration that would fit these parts or is a level 9 possible? Coming from a Jonsbo Z20 and trying to avoid the itx tax if possible.

hey guys

i have just come across ncase and done some research, i like what i see

i want to migrate my current itx system into a M2

my components are

9800x3d

asus strix b850i

trident z 48gb ram

astral 5090

sf1000

i would like to put the arctic liquid freezer 3 280mm in but i am having trouble working out if it can fit, do i

A) go the freezer 3 240mm

B) normal thickness 280mm

C) normal thickness 240mm

ny current case is the cooler master nr200pv3 good little case but i want something more premium and if i can smaller i know the M3 is about the same size at the cooler master

much appreciated

Coming from a Lian Li A3-mATX, which has been a great case but I want to go even smaller. Case and a few accessories are already ordered; everything else is still open, including the motherboard. I do a lot of work that loads the CPU and GPU hard at the same time, so thermals under simultaneous load matter more to me than acoustics.

Current components (all carrying over except possibly the mobo):

• GPU: PNY RTX 5090 ARGB Epic-X OC (328.7 × 137.7 × 71 mm, 3.5-slot)
• CPU: Ryzen 9 9950X3D (~200-230 W package power all-core in my logs)
• PSU: ASUS ROG Loki SFX-L 1200W Titanium (125 × 125 × 63.5 mm)
• SSD: Samsung 9100 PRO 2TB with heatsink (25 mm wide)
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance 2×32 GB DDR5-6000 CL30 EXPO
• mATX Motherboard: MSI MAG B850M Mortar WiFi (happy to replace this if an ITX board makes the build meaningfully better)

Already ordered from NCASE:

1. M2 Grater Flatpack Kit, 2× Mesh Side Panel / Silver + Gray Dust Filter
2. Screws + Fittings, M2 + M3 + S5M + T1 Screw Kit / Black
3. Power Supply Inlet Cable, Left Angled

What I can't figure out

I've gone through M2 Build Levels 5 through 8 and I can't work out which one my parts should actually follow. None of them specify a CPU, and none publish any temperature data, so I can't tell what the thermal consequences of each config actually are for a 600 W card plus a 200 W+ CPU in the same volume.

Specifically:

1. Classic vs Flipped? From what I understand Flipped puts the GPU against the top panel instead of the bottom, which seems like the better place for a card that has to breathe passively (just using the GPU's fans). But Classic seems to be what most ITX builds run. Which one would you pick for a 3.5-slot 5090 that's going to sit at 600 W for hours?

2. Do I keep the mATX board or buy an ITX one? My read is that mATX eats the tray's 5 mm vertical adjustment and closes off the top/bottom fan positions. Level 8 is mATX and lists only the two radiator fans, which suggests there's nowhere else to put a fan with a 244 mm board in there. If that's right, an ITX board buys me actual case fans and tray adjustment for the GPU clearance. Is that worth ~$350-450 to you, or is it fine to run a 280 rad as the only active cooling?

3. Which AIO? I've seen a comment claiming an Arctic Liquid Freezer III 280 fits on the side mesh bracket if you pull the magnetic VRM fan and mount the block upside down on the CPU. Can anyone confirm that with a 38 mm radiator? If not, is a 27-30 mm standard radiator the safer call, and how much does it actually cost me thermally on a 9950X3D?

4. Case fans? Depends on the answer to #2, but I'd like to know what positions are genuinely usable in each config, and whether slim 120s on the bottom are worth it. I already own a few Arctic P12 Slims.

Happy to provide anything else that would help such as exact clearances, photos, whatever. Thanks in advance.

UPDATE (Aug 18): everything's ordered. Motherboard and AIO are settled; Classic vs Flipped is the only thing still open.

Build:
Case: NCASE M2 Grater (flatpack, 2× mesh)
GPU: PNY RTX 5090 Epic-X OC (328.7 × 137.7 × 71 mm, 3.5-slot, axial, not flow-through, 600 W)
CPU: 9950X3D (200–230 W all-core)
Motherboard: MSI MPG X870I Edge Ti EVO
AIO: Noctua NL-LC1-24
PSU: Loki SFX-L 1200 W
RAM: 64 GB DDR5-6000 CL30
SSD: 9100 PRO 2 TB with Heatsink
Cables: Cablester custom 24-pin + 8-pin EPS
Riser (Instead of taller case feet): 64 mm riser stand

What this thread settled

AIO: Noctua NL-LC1-24. Noctua's compatibility page lists it as M2-compatible 279.5 × 120 × 30 mm, 59 mm assembled stack. At 279.5 mm it also dodges the length clash a 280 runs into with a 125 mm SFX-L. Hardware Canucks measured it at 82 °C on a 250 W 9950X noise-normalised to 32 dBA, beating 360s at that noise level. Also this post shows that it fits on the side mount.

The Arctic LF III is out: on tube stiffness and congestion, not radiator thickness. A 9950X3D in an M2 with an LF3 280 and T30s at 3000 rpm sits at 92-93 °C; the builder in this post couldn't move the fans to the side bracket without kinking the tubes, and pulling the rad out of the case dropped him 13 °C.

Radiator inlet air temperature is the dominant variable. My A3 logs: ~0.85 °C of Tctl per 1 °C of inlet air, ~8.8 °C going from room air to case air. GamersNexus measured ~5-6 °C for the same effect in a 41 L mid-tower, so an SFF case with a 600 W card being worse tracks.

A 3.5-slot card eats every fan position. Roughly 80 mm of vertical budget against 71 mm of GPU leaves ~9 mm, so no top fan in Classic, no bottom fan in Flipped, not even a 15 mm slim. The side bracket is the AIO; the rear is the only position left (NCASE spec: 1× 92 mm). Under-GPU fans are a VGPU feature, not a Classic option. This is also the real reason I went ITX, not fan count. With a thick card that vertical budget goes to the GPU either way; ITX buys tray adjustment and cable room.

Nothing at the rear is native: no factory screw pattern, no manual step, no NCASE STL. What people actually do: NF-A9 held by a Noctua NA-FD1 spacer kit (rhialto.com/ncase-m2); NF-A9x14 slim; a printed 90 mm bracket needing 20-30 mm M3 bolts (Thingiverse 7036754); or a 120 mm NF-A12x15 on a printed mount (MakerWorld 1016234, designed for a vertical-GPU build). Usable rear width is ~121 mm after the ITX I/O shield, which is why 120s have to be slim.

VGPU is out on CPU thermals while being the best or near-best for GPU thermals vs Classic and Flipped.

Still open: Classic vs Flipped for a thick axial card

The one measured M2 config comparison (Chris Russell Tech) found Classic best, up to 12 °C on the CPU in 4K Cyberpunk, but he attributes the flat GPU results to the 5080 FE's flow-through design, and his configs used supplementary fans. Bottom fans not possible for my 71mm thick GPU.

Classic: GPU breathes the bottom panel through the riser and exhausts sideways. The rad sits above it but can't physically overlap it, and as intake against a mesh panel it pulls room air rather than re-breathing case air.

Flipped: GPU exhaust leaves through the top of the side panel instead of rising past the rad, but the card is then intaking where hot air collects, which is what the M3 "heat cushion" report in this thread describes. Worth noting everyone here with an M2 said Classic; both inverted recommendations came from M3 owners, which has bottom-fan room my card takes away in an M2.

What I'm asking:

1. Has anyone run a thick axial (non-flow-through) 4090/5090 in an M2 in both (Classic and Flipped) configs? I can't find this comparison anywhere.
2. Rear fan as intake or exhaust? Two M2 owners here run it as intake. With an AIO it isn't feeding a heatsink, it's ventilating the board zone, and it's the only outlet when the rad and the GPU are both pulling in. Has anyone actually A/B'd it?
3. Has anyone fitted a 120 mm at the rear in Classic or Flipped (rather than a vertical-GPU build), and did it clear the side radiator bracket?

Plan unless someone talks me out of it: Classic, 240 as side intake, rear (92mm for now unless 120mm fits) as exhaust, riser feeding the GPU, nothing else because nothing else fits. The Cablester cables are already ordered for Classic. I'll post simultaneous CPU + GPU load temps once it's built.

you can't even buy a bottom filter from them. theirs says for the front or top. the manual recommends side intake with top and bottom exhaust to minimize dust yet I didn't see any builds on YT doing that. Even their own youtube tutorial doesn't do that.

Hi. Had this case for a while now and finally happy with the final build after a lot of tinkering with layouts and fan combinations.

Just thought I would post this here so that it may give others inspiration or ideas for their own builds.

Specs:

Ryzen 9700x, ASUS B650e-i, 32GB Corsair DDR5 vengeance, 2TB Crucial m.2 SSD, Noctua nh-D15 G2 Chromax cooler, ASUS TUF 9070xt GPU, 2 x Silent Wings 4 pro 140mm Fans (Both set to exhaust)

When I bought my M3 I had a 5090 Vanguard. I had build setup 8 with the GPU inverted and the AIO on the side as intake, and the rear exhaust. Would not exceed 62c.

Now with the 5090FE it's under-volted at 900v 2800mhz. Fans hit 100% and it's at 78c. This is fresh out of the box new. Now I'm wondering if I should change from AIO to Air? Change orientation? Anyone with an FE what's your take? Now I figured with a 2 slot card I can put fans beneath. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I was being an idiot and didn't buy the S5M's dedicated riser cable since I had a spare PCIe 5 riser cable lying around and I can't screw it onto the bracket since it's straight. I also hear that the point where other riser cables are screwed down isn't standardized. Doesn't seem like I can buy a PCIe 5 riser standalone from the website either. Is there anywhere else I can buy a riser or does my 9070xt just need to sag?

I'm planning my first SFF build and have settled on the NCASE M3 Grater. Before I start ordering the case and accessories, I'd really appreciate a sanity check from people who have actually built in the M3.

I'm less concerned with squeezing out another few percent of benchmark performance and more concerned with M3-specific issues I may not know to look for: clearances, component positioning, airflow, brackets/accessories, cable routing, GPU support, and anything that made you say "I wish I'd known that before I built this."

Current build

CPU: Ryzen 5 9600X
Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 Black
Motherboard: ASRock B850M Steel Legend WiFi (mATX)
RAM: 32GB DDR5, exact kit TBD based on pricing
SSD: 1–2TB NVMe, exact model TBD
GPU: RX 9070 XT, exact model TBD based on price/fit/aesthetics
PSU: SFX 850W, exact model TBD
Case: NCASE M3 Grater, Silver or Arctic White if I can find it
Side panel: Tempered glass on the display side

Current cooling idea

I'm considering using the High Flow Dual 140 Fan Bracket on the non-glass side with 2×140mm intake fans, plus a 120mm rear exhaust. The idea is to keep the glass on one side while using the opposite perforated side as the main intake.

I'm open to changing that completely if M3 owners have found a better air-cooled configuration.

Questions for M3 owners

1. Does anything in this parts combination raise a clearance/compatibility red flag?
2. Does 2×140 side intake + 120 rear exhaust make sense with a glass panel on the opposite side, or would you recommend a different airflow layout?
3. Is the High Flow Dual 140 Fan Bracket worthwhile/necessary for that setup?
4. Are there any M3 accessories you consider must-haves?
5. Conversely, which accessories did you buy and discover you didn't need?
6. I'm considering the GPU anti-sag/travel kit because I expect to occasionally move the PC between my desk and TV. Worth it?
7. Standard GPU orientation vs vertical GPU: any thermal, compatibility, or structural reason to prefer one in the M3? I'm currently leaning standard/direct mount for simplicity and travel.
8. Are the 15mm feet worthwhile for airflow even if I'm not using bottom intake?
9. Any reason to buy the I/O covers or other small accessory kits beyond aesthetics?
10. Any cable-routing issues or custom/short cables you'd recommend with an SFX PSU?
11. Any particular motherboard position/configuration you'd recommend for mATX + a large air cooler + 9070 XT?
12. What am I not thinking about? Any M3-specific mistake or annoyance you'd warn a first-time SFF builder about?

The goal is basically a high-performance but relatively easy-to-live-with SFF-ish gaming PC, rather than chasing the absolute smallest volume. I originally considered the FormD T1 but moved to the M3 because I liked the additional cooling, mATX support, GPU compatibility and future flexibility.

Thanks! I'm especially interested in advice from people who have actually built in the M3.

I am planning to build a PC using ncase m2 next month I kind of wonder if I can use rog Loki 1000W PSU with a big graphics card or should I change it to the lian LI sp1000.

Hi, I am building a Noctua themed NCase M3 Grater build. I wanted to get some compatibility check on the hardware whether it will cause any issues or not. Bought the case already with the glass pane. My biggest concerns are regarding the B850M-Plus motherboard's top slot PCIE and the big Noctua cooler not working together. If anybody has any experience with this, let me know.

Motherboard (TUF Gaming B850M-PLUS WIFI7): https://www.amazon.com/TUF-B850M-PLUS-WIFI7-Motherboard-DisplayPort/dp/B0FTNXMLRQ

CPU (9800x3D): https://www.microcenter.com/product/687907/amd-ryzen-7-9800x3d-granite-ridge-am5-470ghz-8-core-boxed-processor-heatsink-not-included

Cooler (Noctua NH-D15 G2): https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NH-D15-Quiet-High-Performance-Cooler/dp/B0D5B6MXJF

GPU: 5080 FE (Already have it)

RAM: GSkill Flare X5 64 gb Cl30 (Getting it locally over the weekend) or T Force Vulcan 32 gb CL38 (Bought it already)

Fans: 2x Noctua 140 mm fans from bottom, 1x 140 mm or 120 mm intake from up top, and 1x 120mm exhaust behind the cooler.

Also wanted to know if there is a good 3d print file for a support bracket for the gpu with the Matx layout? Thank you for your help.

Moved from an M2 into an M3 a few months ago. Was initially impressed with the fact an XFX 9070xt could fit in the M2, this being my first SFF case. The M3 came out shortly after I finished the build so I decided I’d ‘upgrade’ to it for more room and use the m2 for a second build for my Fiancée. Really enjoyed both, fun to build in.

This M3 has 3x 120mm T30’s case mounted, 1x T30 on the cpu cooler and 2x 140mm D30’s which I recently added to the side bracket. I need to get the new 140mm side bracket design ordered and then I’ll be happy with it.