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Questions about the M8 before I order it

post #1 of 24
Thread Starter 
So, I decided to make a thread with my questions regarding the M8 so I don't have to use up Case Labs time when I could just get them answered by owners. If anyone could help me with some of these questions that would be awesome so that I can decide all the accessories I want so I can order my M8. Oh and bear with me as I am new to building. This will be my first self built comp.

Before I get to the questions I will explain in a little detail what I want to put in it and what I want to do. I'm building this computer to run at game at 60+ FPS in Nvidia 3D Vision Surround. I'm making a sandy bridge build with either 2 GTX 590s OR 3 GTX 580s (haven't decided). I would like to make 2 separate loops. One for just the i7 2600k and the other loop for the cards. I want to be able to OC the i7 to at least 5 Ghz. I'm not doing anything too crazy or out of the ordinary besides Tri/quad SLI (if you would even call that out of the ordinary. Just a PSU, Mobo, CPU, GPUs, Optical Drive, 1 SSD, RAM, etc. Just the regular stuff. On to some questions.

How does a flex-bay mount differ from a standard?

What is a motherboard backplate?

I would like to get the tall top cover and mount 1 or possibly 2 radiators onto it. Does the Tall Top Cover come with Rad mounts? What size for the M8? How do they mount? If I wanted to put a fan on each side of a rad for push/pull would that interfere with mounting the rad?

I want to get all ventilated panels. Do they come with fan mounts where it is ventilated or side rad mounts or are those also sold separately?

Does the M8 come standard with any rad mounts? Location?

Lastly, are there any upgrades/accessories that you would recommend I get? I guess, just pretend I'm looking to buy the M8 stock with no upgrades. If you were doing what I am what would you get?

I know it's a lot to ask, but I want to make sure to make this case perfect for my build since it's a pretty expensive case and getting the upgrades with it get a discount so I don't want to find out I want/need something later.

Thanks so much to Case Labs and all the Case Labs Case owners here at OCN!!

Caysey
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post #2 of 24


Those are motherboard backplates.

Standard HD mounts fit on the PSU side, in a horizontal mounting

Flex bay fit on the MB side in a vertical mounting.

I think that's the big key difference both hold the same amount of drives.

http://www.overclock.net/case-labs/1...cessories.html

I'm not sure what all parts you'd need for your wishes but alot of the info is in there.
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post #3 of 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1947 View Post
So, I decided to make a thread with my questions regarding the M8 so I don't have to use up Case Labs time when I could just get them answered by owners. If anyone could help me with some of these questions that would be awesome so that I can decide all the accessories I want so I can order my M8. Oh and bear with me as I am new to building. This will be my first self built comp.

Before I get to the questions I will explain in a little detail what I want to put in it and what I want to do. I'm building this computer to run at game at 60+ FPS in Nvidia 3D Vision Surround. I'm making a sandy bridge build with either 2 GTX 590s OR 3 GTX 580s (haven't decided). I would like to make 2 separate loops. One for just the i7 2600k and the other loop for the cards. I want to be able to OC the i7 to at least 5 Ghz. I'm not doing anything too crazy or out of the ordinary besides Tri/quad SLI (if you would even call that out of the ordinary. Just a PSU, Mobo, CPU, GPUs, Optical Drive, 1 SSD, RAM, etc. Just the regular stuff. On to some questions.

How does a flex-bay mount differ from a standard?
Standard what? Standard 5 1/4" bay? The flex bays I believe are essentially groups of 3x 5 1/4" bays, and you can configure them as hard drive holders, fan holders, blanked out, radiator holders etc.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1947 View Post
What is a motherboard backplate?
Not sure, do you mean the backplate for the cpu cooler?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1947 View Post
I would like to get the tall top cover and mount 1 or possibly 2 radiators onto it. Does the Tall Top Cover come with Rad mounts? What size for the M8? How do they mount? If I wanted to put a fan on each side of a rad for push/pull would that interfere with mounting the rad?
I don't think the tall top cover has enough room for a radiator inside it, I think it just enables you to mount your fans up there. I could be wrong. Either way the radiator would mount to the case not the cover.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1947 View Post
I want to get all ventilated panels. Do they come with fan mounts where it is ventilated or side rad mounts or are those also sold separately?
I believe the side rad mounts are accessories that cost extra. No idea about fan mounts on the side panels.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1947 View Post
Does the M8 come standard with any rad mounts? Location?
Top and bottom are standard, flex bay and side mount are accessories

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1947 View Post
Lastly, are there any upgrades/accessories that you would recommend I get? I guess, just pretend I'm looking to buy the M8 stock with no upgrades. If you were doing what I am what would you get?

I know it's a lot to ask, but I want to make sure to make this case perfect for my build since it's a pretty expensive case and getting the upgrades with it get a discount so I don't want to find out I want/need something later.

Thanks so much to Case Labs and all the Case Labs Case owners here at OCN!!

Caysey
Nope I think for your build honestly the M8 works well. Personally though I would do a single loop and mount 2 360's at the bottom. I would also choose tri (3gb) 580's over 590's. I have 2 360's and it's handling my setup pretty easily which produces more heat than yours will.
     
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post #4 of 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1947 View Post
So, I decided to make a thread with my questions regarding the M8 so I don't have to use up Case Labs time when I could just get them answered by owners. If anyone could help me with some of these questions that would be awesome so that I can decide all the accessories I want so I can order my M8. Oh and bear with me as I am new to building. This will be my first self built comp.

Before I get to the questions I will explain in a little detail what I want to put in it and what I want to do. I'm building this computer to run at game at 60+ FPS in Nvidia 3D Vision Surround. I'm making a sandy bridge build with either 2 GTX 590s OR 3 GTX 580s (haven't decided). I would like to make 2 separate loops. One for just the i7 2600k and the other loop for the cards. I want to be able to OC the i7 to at least 5 Ghz. I'm not doing anything too crazy or out of the ordinary besides Tri/quad SLI (if you would even call that out of the ordinary. Just a PSU, Mobo, CPU, GPUs, Optical Drive, 1 SSD, RAM, etc. Just the regular stuff. On to some questions.

How does a flex-bay mount differ from a standard?
Spilltray covered that. The rack that holds the drives is the same regardless of mount, it is just a different mount depending on which side of the case you want your drives.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1947 View Post
What is a motherboard backplate?
Spilltray also covered that perfectly.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1947 View Post
I would like to get the tall top cover and mount 1 or possibly 2 radiators onto it. Does the Tall Top Cover come with Rad mounts? What size for the M8? How do they mount? If I wanted to put a fan on each side of a rad for push/pull would that interfere with mounting the rad?
The M8 has all rad mount areas setup for 360mm rads including the available brackets for the PSU side.

The extended top cover allows you to put a thin rad and either 25mm/38mm thick push or pull fans on top of the case, or 25mm fans and shrouds with the rad under the case top right abouve the MB (how mine are setup in my build log), or you may be able to fit 38mm fans with a 25mm shroud with the rad underneath the case top.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1947 View Post
I want to get all ventilated panels. Do they come with fan mounts where it is ventilated or side rad mounts or are those also sold separately?
They are sold separately and mainly for the PSU side where you can mount one along the side (due the the PSU kinda being in the way if you mount it using the area(s) made for PSUs.) There are also available mounts if you wanted to mount your rads vertically along the flex bays or front of the PSU side.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1947 View Post
Does the M8 come standard with any rad mounts? Location?
The top has 2, one for either side of the case. They are full cutouts with mounting areas. The bottom has spacing for 2. They are cut outs for fans but have the traditional 15mm fan spacing.

Many of us owners have build logs that I suggest you check out to see just what would work for you. Most any small issue or weird thing noted have been taken care of in the current gen cases and you shouldn't run into spots you have to mod to make anything fit or work.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1947 View Post
Lastly, are there any upgrades/accessories that you would recommend I get? I guess, just pretend I'm looking to buy the M8 stock with no upgrades. If you were doing what I am what would you get?
Depending on how long your PSU is, I would order a PSU bracket to help protect the screw mounts in your PSU from tearing out (based on leverage due to heavy PSUs.) Also get a SSD mount for your SSD. I have one and it is very nice, otherwise you will have to mod a spot somewhere for it or have it laying in the case. The mount fits into the HD rack and takes up a spot. It fits 2 SSDs or 2.5inch HDDs. There are then 3 spots left for regular sizes HDs. If you have more HDs than that, then also get another HD rack for whatever side you want them on.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1947 View Post
I know it's a lot to ask, but I want to make sure to make this case perfect for my build since it's a pretty expensive case and getting the upgrades with it get a discount so I don't want to find out I want/need something later.

Thanks so much to Case Labs and all the Case Labs Case owners here at OCN!!

Caysey
It's no problem, that's what we're here for.

--Rome
Edited by Forsaken_id - 7/4/11 at 12:20am
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post #5 of 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1947 View Post

How does a flex-bay mount differ from a standard?
There are two sides to the M8. One side has three fan mounts, the other has 5 1/4 bays. The flex mounts are used to mount harddrives and fans on the 5 1/4 bays where typically you'd mount things like DVD drives/fan controllers, etc.

Quote:
What is a motherboard backplate?
Not sure what you mean. They have removable motherboard trays, which is handy if you want to install your motherboard outside of the case.

Quote:
I would like to get the tall top cover and mount 1 or possibly 2 radiators onto it. Does the Tall Top Cover come with Rad mounts? What size for the M8? How do they mount? If I wanted to put a fan on each side of a rad for push/pull would that interfere with mounting the rad?
Yes, the Extended top will allow for a push/pull configuration with radiators. CL has RadMounts that you can purchase to make it a lot easier to install. You mount the radiator to the Radmount, then fans on either side of the radiator, then just drop it in to the case and screw it down. Makes life simple.

Quote:
I want to get all ventilated panels. Do they come with fan mounts where it is ventilated or side rad mounts or are those also sold separately?
They do not, however you can get vertical accessory mounts to mount as many fans as you want, this is also nice because you won't worry about the fan wires needing length on them when you open the side panel.

Quote:
Does the M8 come standard with any rad mounts? Location?
You can mount radiators almost anywhere in the M8. Front, bottom, and top of both sides. You can do 4 360 radiators (two on the top, two on the bottom)

Quote:
Lastly, are there any upgrades/accessories that you would recommend I get? I guess, just pretend I'm looking to buy the M8 stock with no upgrades. If you were doing what I am what would you get?
I have no idea. What I purchased was done over 3 separate transactions simply because I didnt finalize my hardware until after I bought the case itself.

I also purchased the Pedestal for the M8 to house my powersupplies. I bought a spare HDD caddy, three 360 rad mounts *two for the M8, one for the pedestal.

It's really late and I'm exhausted so I'm hoping that I'm making sense.
post #6 of 24
I too have some questions regarding the M8 before ordering. Thanks XNine for some of the answers, I have several more.

Quote:
Originally Posted by XNine View Post
Not sure what you mean. They have removable motherboard trays, which is handy if you want to install your motherboard outside of the case.

I think OP means this item: MAC-103 M8 Motherboard Back Plate Kit 14.95
I am not sure what that is either or what it looks like.


Yes, the Extended top will allow for a push/pull configuration with radiators. CL has RadMounts that you can purchase to make it a lot easier to install. You mount the radiator to the Radmount, then fans on either side of the radiator, then just drop it in to the case and screw it down. Makes life simple.

Where/How does the radmount mount into the case? I saw some pictures with it on the side of the PSU side. Is this what you are talking about?

They do not, however you can get vertical accessory mounts to mount as many fans as you want, this is also nice because you won't worry about the fan wires needing length on them when you open the side panel.

If I am not mistaken, the vertical accessory mount is the vertical 'bar' with holes ? How do fans mount on that?

You can mount radiators almost anywhere in the M8. Front, bottom, and top of both sides. You can do 4 360 radiators (two on the top, two on the bottom)

How do you mount a 360 rad to the front? looks like the spacing of the screws is a bit far apart, is an adapter required? if so what is the part number?


I also purchased the Pedestal for the M8 to house my powersupplies. I bought a spare HDD caddy, three 360 rad mounts *two for the M8, one for the pedestal.

Where did you mount the 3 rad mounts inside the case? I thought the rad mount is a piece that goes along the side of the PSU side?
What about this item what is it?
MAC-105 M8 Tech Station 69.95

How do these mounts differ? and what can mount onto them?
MAC-111 Vertical Accessory Mount 12.95
MAC-112 Horizontal Accessory Mount 12.95
MAC-128 Bottom Accessory Mount - Single 9.95
MAC-129 Bottom Accessory Mount - Double 11.95
MAC-130 Bottom Accessory Mount - Triple 13.95
MAC-152 Vertical Accessory Mount - XL 15.95
MAC-154 Horizontal Accessory Mount - XL 15.95

+all the fan mounts, etc

I am soooo confused!!

Thanks a lot for your help, maybe Caselabs would like to chime in as well? thanks!!
Edited by icecube_pmb - 7/4/11 at 9:54am
post #7 of 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by icecube_pmb View Post
I too have some questions regarding the M8 before ordering. Thanks XNine for some of the answers, I have several more.



What about this item what is it?
MAC-105 M8 Tech Station 69.95
This is a M8 motherboard tray with mounts and feet on the back of it to make it into a tech station. It is only those parts and not a "case".

Quote:
Originally Posted by icecube_pmb View Post
How do these mounts differ? and what can mount onto them?
MAC-111 Vertical Accessory Mount 12.95
MAC-112 Horizontal Accessory Mount 12.95
On is a vertical bar/bracket and one is horizontal. They are mounted to the little holes around the inside edge of the case and all the various flat (some have a 1/2" offset so aren't technically flat, but create a flat mount or plate still) fan mounts and accessory plates can mount on them. I have a pic of a vertical with a large flat plate and a flat 120mm fan mount from when I was mocking thing up originally:

Quote:
Originally Posted by icecube_pmb View Post
MAC-128 Bottom Accessory Mount - Single 9.95
MAC-129 Bottom Accessory Mount - Double 11.95
MAC-130 Bottom Accessory Mount - Triple 13.95
The open spots at the bottom and top of the case for fans and rads have thin covers on them. These are not really suitible for a stable mount if you drill holes in them. These mounts are way more sturdy and go in those spots with out any modding. They also are slightly raised so you can hide small wires and screws under them, whereas the thin covers are just plates and not boxed off. Single covers one 120mm opening, double a 240mm or 2 fan holes in the bottom, and so on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by icecube_pmb View Post
MAC-152 Vertical Accessory Mount - XL 15.95
MAC-154 Horizontal Accessory Mount - XL 15.95

+all the fan mounts, etc
Probably as above but the vertical XL is for the T series since they are taller and the horizontal is for all extended length ones including the MH.

A bunch of the accesories are pictured here.

--Rome
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post #8 of 24
Thanks Rome!

Do you know if a RX360 can be mounted to the front of the case? The holes look a bit far apart, is there an adapter?

Also, do you think I can mount a Koolance RX452x2 bay res/pump ? How sturdy are those brackets for mounting the 5.25" drives ?
post #9 of 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by icecube_pmb View Post
Thanks Rome!

Do you know if a RX360 can be mounted to the front of the case? The holes look a bit far apart, is there an adapter?
There is an adapter for the flex bay side for sure, the MAC-162 360 Flex-Bay Radiator Mount for $34.95. They were thinking about one for the PSU side I believe.

Quote:
Originally Posted by icecube_pmb View Post
Also, do you think I can mount a Koolance RX452x2 bay res/pump ? How sturdy are those brackets for mounting the 5.25" drives ?
The brackets are deceptively strong, they are thick and the way they mount is genius like everything for the flex bay. If you want to mount your bay res though, you would need to see if they have, or have completed the PSU side front vertical rad mount.
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post #10 of 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by Forsaken_id View Post
The brackets are deceptively strong, they are thick and the way they mount is genius like everything for the flex bay. If you want to mount your bay res though, you would need to see if they have, or have completed the PSU side front vertical rad mount.
what do you mean? I cannot mount my bay res on the flexbay side?
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