Louqe Ghost S1 cooling blunder

[dizmo]

So after looking at many, many ITX cases, I think the one that will be my next build is the Louqe Ghost S1.

It's a very adaptable case, which is great, but I'd like to keep it as small as possible.

I have very little experience with fans, placement, etc. So I'm hoping to pick the minds of the ones in the know

The case will be on a desk, and will likely have a blower style card, though not guaranteed as it looks like a non blower card would still get lots of airflow.

 

Quick case breakdown:

Super small at 140mm wide, 188mm tall, 322mm long. It has swappable top hats, which can increase your customization options. The case is all made of aluminium.

Top Hats

Small - 16mm - slim fans, SSDs

Medium - 26mm - fans, SSDs

Large - 57mm - AIOs, 3.5" drives, etc

 

 

Website: http://www.louqe.com/

 

The build:

• GTX 1080/Ti
  I'll likely go with the 1080, as I'll only be running a 1440p monitor (for now)
• Intel i5 8400/8600k/8700
  8400 - Doesn't get quite as high as the others, but it's within a few frames of the 8700
  8600k - Best performance, but also highest heat. This is the CPU I'd like to use
  8700 - Threw this in there as an option, but honestly I don't think the gains are worth it over the 8400
• Supporting hardware

Cooling:

• Scythe Big Shuriken 2
  I was looking at thermals of another case I was pretty set on, the Firewolfy MI6, and it was a few degrees cooler than the Noctua offering, so I assume it'll be just as cool in this set up.
• Celsius S24/Kraken X52
  These are the two water coolers that are recommended for the case.

 

Option 1

57mm top hat, on top with a 240mm AIO.

This would obviously be the best for cooling, however it'd also be the most expensive, and also increase the size of the case the most.

 

Option 2

Big Shuriken 2, and a small top hat located on the bottom of the case, pushing air out the top via 2 120mm fans.

This is the one I'd want to use the most, but I don't know how feasible it is. Obviously temps would be higher, but I wonder how high.

 

Option 3

Big Shuriken 2, small top hat on the top, small top hat on the bottom, 4 120mm fans.

 

Option 4

Big Shuriken 2, medium top hat on top, 2 larger 120mm fans.

 

Option 5

Your suggestion.

 

I know the easiest solution is to just get a bigger case...but...I'd rather have something tiny. I've had lots of bigger cases and it's time for a change.

What do you guys think? Can I get away with option 2 or 3?

[TrigrH]

One think ill say about the Celsius AIOs, they have the most durable hose connection to the block, every single AIO i've seen leak before has leaked out the side where the hoses come out of the block. The hoses are quite thick though so its going to be a tight fit.

[dizmo]

3 minutes ago, TrigrH said:

One think ill say about the Celsius AIOs, they have the most durable hose connection to the block, every single AIO i've seen leak before has leaked out the side where the hoses come out of the block. The hoses are quite thick though so its going to be a tight fit.

Ah that's good to know. It's actually one of the recommended coolers, so it's been tested and fits. It was selected because of its flexible tubing.

[AlwaysFSX]

What does the rest of the case look like for cooling? I would probably use as many fan spots as I could for intake and just blast it with volumes of air.

[TrigrH]

Just now, dizmo said:

Ah that's good to know. It's actually one of the recommended coolers, so it's been tested and fits. It was selected because of its flexible tubing.

Its flexible but not for the first 2cm at either end, its quite stiff.

[dizmo]

4 minutes ago, AlwaysFSX said:

What does the rest of the case look like for cooling? I would probably use as many fan spots as I could for intake and just blast it with volumes of air.

I think there's a fan mounting point on the bottom of the case, and that's it. Pretty bare.

[Bananasplit_00]

I'd go for the bottom fans and the air cooler, the S24 is however not bad but it might be a bit clunky to install and increases the total volume quite a lot 

[AlwaysFSX]

40 minutes ago, dizmo said:

I think there's a fan mounting point on the bottom of the case, and that's it. Pretty bare.

Yeah I'm watching Jay's video on the case and I can see how there's not much to it. I would imagine two really good static pressure fans should be able to take care of the cooling for the case? We've already seen SFF computers work well enough with one or two SP fans.

[dizmo]

5 minutes ago, AlwaysFSX said:

Yeah I'm watching Jay's video on the case and I can see how there's not much to it. I would imagine two really good static pressure fans should be able to take care of the cooling for the case? We've already seen SFF computers work well enough with one or two SP fans.

Haha yeah. Were those cases using an overclocked CPU though? With a smaller air cooler?

7 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

I'd go for the bottom fans and the air cooler, the S24 is however not bad but it might be a bit clunky to install and increases the total volume quite a lot 

Yeah, the AIO definitely isn't my first choice...but do you think that set up could handle the 8600k with an overclock?

Almost tempted to delid.

[Bananasplit_00]

Just now, dizmo said:

Haha yeah. Were those cases using an overclocked CPU though? With a smaller air cooler?

Yeah, the AIO definitely isn't my first choice...but do you think that set up could handle the 8600k with an overclock?

Almost tempted to delid.

You probably can, it's a pretty beefy cooler tbh. I wouldn't expect amazing results if you get a voltage hungry chip though but if you get a good chip you can probably overclock no problem 

[TrigrH]

3 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Haha yeah. Were those cases using an overclocked CPU though? With a smaller air cooler?

Yeah, the AIO definitely isn't my first choice...but do you think that set up could handle the 8600k with an overclock?

Almost tempted to delid.

its SFF, id delid either way, you actually get results unless you do it like linus does lmao.

[dizmo]

5 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

You probably can, it's a pretty beefy cooler tbh. I wouldn't expect amazing results if you get a voltage hungry chip though but if you get a good chip you can probably overclock no problem 

Hmm very true. Now I just have to decide if that's worth the added cost The 8400 might be all I really need, and I think I could get away without an additional case fan at all.

3 minutes ago, TrigrH said:

its SFF, id delid either way, you actually get results unless you do it like linus does lmao.

True. They do guarantee it  too, which is nice. I'd probably get them to bin it as well just so I don't have to do any tinkering on my own when it comes to setting up the OC

[AlwaysFSX]

12 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Haha yeah. Were those cases using an overclocked CPU though? With a smaller air cooler?

I'm sure there have been a few OC'd builds with an i5 or i7 that ran a SFF cooler. It's not going to be clocked very high or run very cool but I would never have expected it to.

[Bananasplit_00]

22 minutes ago, AlwaysFSX said:

I'm sure there have been a few OC'd builds with an i5 or i7 that ran a SFF cooler. It's not going to be clocked very high or run very cool but I would never have expected it to.

I could OC my I5 4690K if the Toaster had any airflow, that has C7 lol