Node202: Wraith Spire w/ 120mm fan mod

Kid.Lazer · April 18, 2022

Hey all. I'm far from a modder, but I do like to do some tinkering with my cases every now and again. I also know the Node 202 has been beaten to death with mods, but I wanted to share my story. Small form factor cases always intrigue me. They suck to work in/on, but they are so rewarding to complete and not have a giant cube full of air space.

I stuffed my original build with a Ryzen 2600 and Vega 56 reference card. It has since been upgraded to a Ryzen 5600 and reference RX5700. I originally used the stock Wraith Stealth cooler, which was adequate, but kinda hot and very loud under load with the fan being right at the edge of the case. I used a wicked fan curve that would basically keep the fan inaudible unless it was absolutely necessary, which then also resulted in higher temps. In the end though, I could still run Prime95 without exceeding 90c. My first mod including adding some 1/4" foam to the top of the fan shroud to force it to only pull fresh air, instead of recirculating. This made a huge improvement to thermals, but it was still loud under load.

The other issue with the Wraith Stealth is its lack of thermal mass. The temps would spike immediately. For a few years now, I've toyed with the idea of putting a Wraith spire (already had one lying around from another build) in the case, but such jobs always require removal of the dust filters and AMD shroud, or buying slim 80mm fans which have terrible performance. This is where my journey really took root. I decided I was going to make 3 things happen:

- Install a wraith spire
- Keep the stock filters intact
- Use a 120mm fan

To make as much room for fans and adapters as possible, I decided to shorten the wraith spire. The top of the copper chamber is set down in the aluminum heatsink by almost 4mm, so I ground that baby down until they were flush. The next step was deciding how to adapt a 120mm fan. I really wanted a normal 25mm fan, but I simply wasn't able to remove enough material, so a slim would have to do. I originally installed an Arctic P12 Slim PWM, but it has weird harmonics that causes vibrations at certain RPMS, so I have a Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM Black on the way.

I decided to adapt the fan with a flat plate rather than a proper funnel-style mount. The performance would be worse this way, but with height being a concern, I couldn't risk raising the fan any higher than absolutely necessary. I originally designed the adapter to be centered over the heatsink, but 1) I didn't think it would clear the VRM/IO and 2) the case intake hole is offset toward the RAM/GPU. In the end, I made this offset bracket out of .090" aluminum. Funnily enough, I used Arctic's drawings to layout the holes, and I had to remake it after I realized their drawing is wrong. The 120mm paper shows a hole spacing of 108mm, but standard spacing is actually 105.

Due to needing to access both the screws to mount the heatsink and then the screws to mount the plate, I had to make the fan detachable. To make it easier to work on, I used #8-32 rivet nuts so I wouldn't have to fiddle with holding nuts and most certainly dropping them into the case to be lost forever and/or cause a short. The RAM clearance on the rivet nuts was incredibly tight, but it just cleared. I ended up bending the adapter up a bit so the nuts wouldn't be making constant pressure on the RAM. I probably could have saved myself that headache by not trimming the heatsink as far, but oh well.

I then gave a spritz of semi-gloss black to make it blend in, then put it all together. I used Noctua NT-H1 paste, making sure to use plenty in Gamer's Nexus-style. I again used some 1/4" foam to seal the fan perimeter to the case shell, thus preventing any internal air circulation.

Using a very light fan curve, the fan only ramps to 75% which is still very quiet and maxes out at 68c in Prime95 on stock non-PBO settings (Idle is 38c). I'm actually thinking of enabling PBO now as I have tons more thermal headroom than I had before. But I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Kid.Lazer · April 18, 2022

Pictures!

Spoiler

Spire extra height

Spire Sanded down

Errant drawings!

First bad attempt (centered)

2nd try (offset)

Test fit

Rivet nuts

Paint!

Completed unit (bottom)

Completed unit (top)

RAM clearance

Installed

Foam Seal

Fasauceome · April 18, 2022

Has this had a notable improvement to VRM temps and power delivery?

machin3gir1 · April 18, 2022

Brilliant idea to save a buck and look awesome too. +1 rep

Kid.Lazer · April 19, 2022

3 hours ago, Fasauceome said:

Has this had a notable improvement to VRM temps and power delivery?

Being it was only a 65 watt CPU and running stock, I never really cared to check it before. So I'd be happy to give some "now" temps, but I don't have anything to compare it to, unfortunately. That said, I'm sure it has to make a huge difference. Even at low fan speeds, the amount of air it's pushing out the top of the case is impressive. (I have the case stood up on end, fyi)

Edit: My mobo sensors aren't labeled, but temp #5 (which according to searches should be VRMs) is only 54c max.

Kid.Lazer · May 3, 2022

Update: Finally replaced the Arctic P12 Slim with a Noctua NF-A12x15 Black. Exactly the same thermals, but now it doesn't have any weird harmonics as it ramps up and down with load.