Back to this video 3-4 months after building on the case. Not the easiest build of my life but it certainly was easy to build in. Phenomenal thermals and acoustics after undervolting the gpu. Recommend the pcie 4.0 if you guys have the money
Awesome video. I've got an A4-H2O on the way tomorrow and have been watching a ton of videos to get a feel for the build experience. This is the first one that included cable management tips pre-motherboard install. Good stuff!
I recently moved to the A4-H2O from a NR200P myself , with pretty much the same components as yours. However originally I had purchased the EK-AIO Basic 240mm , but that didn't fit onto my Z690I ROG Strix ITX motherboard. I got a Asus ROG Strix LC II 240 instead and it does an awesome job of cooling the 12600K
Quick question: I want to keep 2 ssds instead of just 1 like in your case. I'm stacking them using some sort of bracket. You think there' enough clearance under the PSU for this?
Very helpful video to me and your video skills are great, I hope you keep on making vids in the future! I have all of my parts on the way for my dan a4 h2o build and I can't wait. Moving from a Corsair 5000D so the size difference will be huge.
Very good video, and I liked your NR200P Max video too. Technical content is spot on, and production quality is great too. I just subbed ;). I like that you included a list of gear used to create your video. It would be even better if you could include a more extensive list of tools used, such as audio recording equipment, lighting equipment, and what software you use for video editing etc. I'm sure a lot of people would be interested in that. Even simple things like your preferred set of screw drivers. Maybe I'm crazy but I'm interested in those kinds of details. It would also be nice to see some details on CPU and GPU thermals under load, so maybe another video dedicated to that?
Hey, great build! May i know what you use to clean the pump block and cpu surface before applying thermal paste? Do you use a cleaning alcohol of sorts, and if so what percentage?
Nice build that being said I really want to downsize from my massive but well cooled Torrent Nano to this or the NR200 but that being said hard to spend around $300-350 total for parts that do not increase my performance in any way. Already have a RM850X won't fit and my air cooler won't fit. That being said I really like this Lian Li Dan case.
Thanks! It's just a matter of preference really. I personally won't bother getting this if I didn't have ITX parts anyway. Sidenote: I like the Torrent Nano too. I've seen it in person and I would've went that route if I didn't have this addiction to sffpc's lol
Nice build. Why did you choose to upgrade though? From what research I’ve done the NR200 runs a lot cooler and is cheaper. Was it mainly for looks and smaller size? I love the look but I’m worried a 3080ti + 12700 might run too hot in this.
Thank you! Apart from the GPU, It’s not really an upgrade but a case swap :) I actually wanted the case because of the size but I do agree that in terms of thermals, the NR200P MAX gives a lot more headroom. What I have is actually just the 12600k + 3070ti. If I were to get the 12700/k and 3080 above, I would’ve needed to undervolt it in this case hence my choice of parts.
i would say, temps are pretty good in my A4H20 build, gpu is basicly on an open bench, 240 rad does draw in gpu air, but its has plenty of overhead to handle it
Great vid, looking forward to using it to help with my build. Wanted to ask a few questions… How hot does the SSD on the bottom get? Would you recommend custom cables? Are you still happy with the AIO?
Thank you! Really appreciate your feedback. When you say SSD, do you mean the M.2? I have custom cables right now in my build just to make things cleaner since I have additional 2.5”s; I wouldn’t go as far as buying them if you won’t be putting anything else at the bottom. For the AIO, since options are limited because of compatibility, I chose the one that’s confirmed to have okay fitment. So far so good on the temps.
@@Jelvin I meant the 2.5 yeah. I'll be adding 1 at the bottom myself... Did you get the SATA cable custom made too? Can you remember the lengths of the cables? With the 24 pin and the Corsair I've read between 240 - 300mm; the EPS 400 - 430mm and the GPU 110 - 180mm. I was just going to go between them all i.e 280mm // 415mm // 145mm as my cable guy needs exact lengths. But as you've got the same components, anything you could share would be great!
@@SG1SG00 The SATA cables that I got were generic thin cables from Silverstone. I can't find the link but ti should be on Amazon; it's the teal colored cable. I can share the lengths that I chose for my custom cables but it's not an exact fit as I prefer the cables to have some slack but that's purely personal preference. custom.cablemod.com/8d932a4ba5f9
This was incredibly helpful for my own build, best guide I've seen. How are the temps on your rear mounted m.2 NVMe drive? I have the 970 Evo Plus myself and it runs extremely warm sanwitched in the back there. I'm uncertain if you used a rear heatsink?
Thank you so much! Really appreciate it! For the M.2, I haven't done any benchmarking for the storage but I've seen the rear M.2 go up to around 55C on my PC. I think people have been experiencing this too based on what I see on the ROG forums.
Okay interesting, my rear m.2 is about the same at idle, 50-55*C. A short period of writing or downloading though brings it up quickly to +90*C. There really isn’t much room for airflow under the riser cable. Thanks for the reply!
@@Jelvin This is great to know, I'm glad it's only Gen 3.0 for the rear! Makes me feel a little better I'm not alone. Thank you so much for your insight.
@@oGoggles No worries! I think it's been a problem for a lot of people with this board. Some even opted to not include the front M.2 altogether and just use the slot at the back. I've been using the WD Blue (rear M.2) for downloading since Feb 2022 and so far it's still at 100% health based on CrystalDiskInfo. Hope this info help! Apologies again for the confusion 😅
The build was gorgeous, Jelvin! I was planning on building a similar a4-h20 with the same aio choice of you. From what I have found, for phanteks glacier one, Dan the designer suggests that the tube should be routed underneath the psu rather than the route you went with(over PSU). However after watching your video I was planning to route it over too because the result is just way more clean than the recommended route. Did you discover any difficulty when installing the AIO this way?
Hi Sharke! Thanks for the feedback. Really appreciate it. The reason why I routed it to the side is because I wanted to place SSD's at the bottom and experiment what I can do with the space (if there is any). That said, I'd probably route the tubes at the bottom if I'm not putting anything down there since it won't bend the tubes as much. There weren't any problems but it took some time to get the configuration right. Do check my reference in this album imgur.com/a/BevVE0E. So far, haven't found any problems after some months of use.
I am really digging this case to build on, especially the white one but a great fear also hindering me as the first SFF build. Would the temperature be better in this case compared to NZXT H510 flow?
Although I don’t have/own the H510 Flow, it’s assumed that temps will be a bit better since it has more room for parts to breathe and more airflow since you can add more fans. IMO, In general, sffpc’s especially sandwich style cases will suffer from high temps with higher end hardware since all of the stuff are placed so compactly. If you’re looking into an SFF build that’s pretty okay with temps, I’d go for the NR200/P cases.
Are those double-sided disks? People say that single-sided SSDs bend when mounted on that board because they don't have enough thickness to fill the spaces between the thermal pads
hello bro im planning to build an sfx with the same specs from your build but im thinking about putting 2 pcs. m..2 in the motherboard and adding 2 ssd is that possible?
If it’s the z690-i strix then you can add 2 m.2’s. For this case, you’ll need enough clearance at the bottom compartment to fit 2 SSD’s. I’ve tried it on mine and it fit since I have braided cables.
hey jelvin, i got a quick question. I am tranfering my drives from my current atx pc. I have 2 sata ssds, 2 nvmes, and one 3.5in hdd. My satas are 2tb each, nvmes are 500 and 1tb, and my 3.5in is 4tb. I wanna keep my 4tb, and i was wondering if there was enough clearance underneath the gpu, cause im running a rtx 2060 super. I might actually use the ssd brackets that u had reviewed in ur hacks video. But if there is enough height clearance, between the base of the case and the underside of the vertically mounted gpu, is it theoretically possible to both dual mount the ssds with the bracket, and friction hold the 3.5in? Cause i think if it is feasible, then the 3.5in can also double as a stabilizer/vertical gpu mount sag guard by adding more stability.
I don't think that the 3.5in HDD would fit unless you have a short card i.e. an ITX card. There wouldn't be any other clearance for an HDD apart from the compartment where the GPU is so I'm not sure if all of your components will fit. :( The HDD will be a bit to big for the components to friction fit at the front I believe so unless it's a smaller card, the best you can do is the have the HDD stand beside the GPU which I don't really advise.
@@Jelvin i have an rtx 2060 super founders edition, and by nvidia's trend in designs, the fe cards tend to much smaller than other redesign companies like asus, gigabyte, and msi(etc.) yeah i think this is just going to a big fight of finding the right set of space to slide in the hdd.
Hm, the NR200 doesn't look that much bigger than the H20 in your comparison. The taller feet of the NR200 make the biggest difference. Is that a false impression or would you agree that it the difference is not that big? thx
Maybe it’s because of the perspective and how I presented it. I’m also not sure how you benchmark the difference but comparing between the two SFF cases, I think there’s a significant difference but that’s just me.
Nice! Hoping your case swap will be smooth sailing:) It shouldn’t be a problem honestly; it’s just a matter of taking the power supply out of the shroud and removing the cables by cutting some zip ties holding it and you’re technically good to go. Me personally I kept the PSU on the MAX intact since it’s part of the product.
Can't really do a direct comparison since the PC's built already but the temps I got back then on the NR200P MAX are a bit better by 1 to 2C compared to the A4H2O.
so awesome build, i've build with same motherboard and this itx case but do you have problem overheating with using double nvme? if you have same problem, how do you solve this problem. thanks before, cheers.
yo, still using it? if this could use the T30 phanteks id be all over it. would it give a good result having the fans sucking in cool air from the outside to in, so they also then push air down as opposed to up and out (which would suck hot air up and over the radiator fins)
I don't have case temps for this configuration unfortunately but I did some quick tests with my current configuration ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-X7ISQC0Tf1I.html
Hello! It's a little bit tricky to bend the tube but if you're not using the bottom compartment, you can always route the tubes down there. This is how I did it: imgur.com/a/BevVE0E
So far my system's pretty quiet for my taste since the PC's a meter away from me. On my end, I only hear it when I'm really close to the PC. Thank you!
Not sure since there are no specs yet out from other manufacturers. I wouldn't even recommend putting a 40 series card in an SFF case (other than cases like in the NR200 line)
@@Jelvin i just read, Size wise they are a few mm smaller than a 3090 so any case that can fit a 3090 should work mostly for 4080 at least. Yes, i think the NR200p/Max is the best case for it.
@@powerhouse884 Got that. Haven’t read up on it so thanks for the info. I think the upcoming A3-mATX from Lian Li would be a great contender if that’s the case. More space for cooling is needed I reckon
I would be interested in the GPU and CPU temperatures, I had the Phanteks Shift XT, but unfortunately I had to send it back because my system just got too hot (5800X, 6900XT)
Quick answer: CPU: 68C Ave GPU: 62C Ave I have some notes here on my other video but the setup was with the Phanteks Glacier MP240 as the radiator but T30's for the fans.
No Dustfilters at all. Im sure u have fun disasambling everything to clean it from dust :D. For me an absolutely no go all these cases without dustfilters especially for the price.
This is the exact configuration that I am planning to build and was wondering about the temperatures. Can you share your results if you have done any tests? Thank you beforehand!
Sure thing! I haven't done any extensive tests but here are the rough numbers that I can share. The test was done in Furmark and R23 running in parallel for 1 hour. On load, the PC peaked with the numbers below. Everything is on stock except for the fan curves. I haven't OC'd the PC yet since I don't feel comfortable doing so. Idle - CPU - 35C - GPU - 35C On Load - CPU - 72C - GPU - 65C
@@lstommy Not sure; probably around 21C to 23C. Sorry can’t confirm it since I don’t have a thermometer in my room. EDIT: I actually bought a room thermometer lol. I’ll do another round of tests and post a follow up in the description.
@@Jelvin no need to invest in new tools off my 1 question bro. My temps are about 7-8 degrees higher than yours. But if your ambient is 21-23 then it's also 7-8 lower than my room anyway. So no anomaly there. Btw, I successfully built my PC and was able to stuff 2 2.5in SSDs in there (as discussed in my other comment). Thanks a million!
Sorry I didn't do a proper comparison since the parts are a little bit different but the temps are a bit hotter since I'm using slightly better parts .
Yes, buying x series mobo for 12600k is really dumb. You dont need top end board for midrange cpu, those are only for i7/i9 k models (non k variants are fine on b series boards). If you spend more money on mobo than cpu you dont really know what are you doing. Mobo is quite easy to overspend on and blow your budget. Its better to buy i7(non k) with b series board than i5 k with x board.
Unfortunately, I can't confirm it myself but theoretically you can fit 2 as long as it's the right orientation. Also, the case doesn't have dedicated HDD mounts so you have to hack the how it's gonna be screwed in place. But I honestly would just get a bigger case if I'm gonna put HDD's into the system so cable management and routing won't be a drag.
Hey man I know this is a bit late but how hard does the tolerance of the AIO tube kicking the side panel with the infinity mirror display?. I'm having real trouble doing it right with the exact AIO.
Hey man! For my build, only a bit. It needs a little working for the tubes to fit optimally. The side panel on my build bumps just a tiny bit but not hard to close. Here's how I did it: imgur.com/a/BevVE0E Hope this helps even a bit.
@@Jelvin is it due to how the tube being route?. Mine kicking the side panel so hard I can't even close it unless forcing it which even then, will kick it out anyway unless using the thumb screws again which I don't want to. Honestly I'm considering swapping for another AIO lol.
@@BronislawStark Having braided cables also help the tube to bend a bit easier but if you find that replacing the AIO works then that sounds like a good option.
NR200P of you want ease of assembly but A4H2O if you want a smaller case. Neither are budget builds in my opinion so I just recommend to get whatever is most accessible to you.
@@Jelvin Does the aio pump cover reduce noise as well? I have the same one but the side panel won’t fit on because the tubes can’t bend all the way down with the pump cover on.
I actually didn't notice any noticeable difference in noise with and without the cover. I still have mine on and I didn't mind the noise levels sitting around 2 feet away from the PC. What orientation did you place the pump block? I have mine to the left and it fit with a little bending; no problems closing the panel on my end whatsoever.
@@JackWutang hmm not really sure what’s happening on the tubes in your PC but I’m assuming that the slack/tube orientation is different. Sorry for not being much help on that part
Quick answer: CPU: 68C Ave GPU: 62C Ave I have some notes here on my other video but the setup was with the Phanteks Glacier MP240 as the radiator but T30's for the fans.
Temps from initial test The test was done in Furmark and R23 running in parallel for 1 hour. On load, the PC peaked with the numbers below. Everything is on stock except for the fan curves. I haven't OC'd the PC yet since I don't feel comfortable doing so yet. Idle - CPU - 35C - GPU - 35C On Load - CPU - 72C - GPU - 65C
Unfortunately I don’t have any concrete numbers but noise levels are the same with both cases but temps on the A4H2O are hotter. Can’t do a direct comparison too since I had a 3060 Ti on my NR200P Max while I have a 3070 Ti on the H2O.
@@moyzone4887 Gotcha. So in terms of long running temps, the H2O case runs hotter after 4 to 5 hours of Monster Hunter: Rise. I don't have the exact numbers for comparison unfortunately.
Awesome build! I have been trying so hard to find a reasonable 240mm cooler that will perform well AND fit the case AND the z690i strix. Just curious, has the 240mp AIO worked / performed well for you? Is it quiet enough with solid temps? (I noticed you upgraded the fans)
Working pretty good 8 months in! It was confirmed by people that T30's fit so I went ahead and placed it in as long as you don't screw in the inner screws.
