NCASE EVO

NCASE EVO, originally “M1EVO” is a CNC modular ITX case, with 3 supported layouts. Case pricing starts at US$215, with optional tempered glass panel, vertical GPU riser kit and additional fan/radiator bracket available separately.

SPECIFICATIONS

MODELM1 EVO v1.XEVO v2
OVERVIEWNCASE M1EVO is a remaster of the Small Form Factor (SFF) Icon M1 Classic.NCASE M1EVO didn’t live upto the OG M1 designers vision (Necere). The M1 branding will be dropped with NCASE EVO v2.
MATERIALS3-15mm aluminium, CNC machined and anodised
1.0mm steel, powder coated side panels.
DIMENSIONS366×160×256mm (L×W×H)366×166×256mm (L×W×H)
VOLUMEv1: 14.99 Litres15.55 Litres
CASE I/OPower Button
2x USB-A
1x USB-C
1x USB-C passthrough adapter
Power Button2x USB-A1x USB-C1x USB-C passthrough adapter
MOTHERBOARD SUPPORTMini-ITX / Deep-ITX / Mini-DTX / Micro-ATX (mATX may limit hardware compatibility)Mini-ITX / Deep-ITX / Mini-DTX / Micro-ATX (mATX may limit hardware compatibility)
COOLER COMPATIBILITY1. M1-Classic Config: up to 135mm max height with 4-Slot GPU
2. M1-EVO Config:  up to 135mm max height with 4-Slot GPU3. M1-VGPU Config: up to 50mm max height with 4-Slot GPU
RISER CABLE1. M1-Classic Config: Not Applicable
2. M1-EVO Config: Not Applicable
3. M1-VGPU Config: PCIe X16 4.0
GRAPHICS CARD COMPATIBILITY
1. M1-Classic Config: up to 142 x 358.5mm, 4-slots thick
2. M1-EVO Config: up to 142 x 358.5mm, 4-slots thick
3. M1-VGPU Config: up to 165 x 358.5mm, 4-slots thick
2.5″ / 3.5″ DRIVES SUPPORTED5x 3.5″ or 6x 2.5″ drives (based on components/hardware)
CASE FANS SUPPORTED2x 120 or 1x 140mm (next to motherboard)
2x side 120 / 140mm
2x top 120 / 140mm (separate radiator / fan bracket addon required for installation of top + side fans simultaneously; without splitting the included bracket set between top & side)
LIQUID COOLING SUPPORT1x 120 / 140 / 240 / 280mm radiator / AIO
2x 240 (side / top + bottom)
2x 280 (side / top + bottom)
3x 240mm or 2x 280 + 240mm (this combo is for extreme users and requires very specific hardware configurations, including separate radiator bracket for top / side sold separately)
POWER SUPPLY SUPPORTSFX / SFX-L / ATX (ATX support requires a modified bracket, not currently available)SFX / SFX-L / ATX (ATX support requires a modified bracket, not currently available)

BUILD #1

CASEM1EVO v1.0 (vGPU layout)
MOTHERBOARDRog Strix B760-I Gaming WiFi (paid link)
CPUIntel 13900K (paid link)
CPU COOLEREK-AIO 280 DRGB (paid link)
GPURTX 4080 Super FE (paid link)
PSU SilverStone Extreme 1200R (paid link)
RAM32GB Kingston FURY Renegade DDR5, 7600, CL38 (paid link)
STORAGE1TB + 2TB NVME (paid links)
AIO FANS2x SWP4 140’s (paid link)

Micro-ATX motherboards and the rear 92mm case fans are not compatible with the vertical GPU layout. Vertical layout also restricts the EVO to CPU liquid cooling or AIO only. If using an SFX-L power supply, you’ll be unable to install bottom case fan below the graphics card. Tempered glass side panel isn’t recommended in this layout.

CONCLUSIONS

NCASE EVO is a CNC aluminium chassis and is equipped for both air and liquid cooling. It also supports both ITX and mATX motherboards, which is a nice inclusion. It has alot of area’s that leave alot to be desired, but overall not terrible.

Most 4090/4080 graphics cards aren’t compatible with 160mm wide EVO variants, without use of the vertical GPU kit. This limits the case to liquid cooling / AIO for CPU cooling.

NCASE suggests the use of 180° 12VHPWR adapters in reference layouts, but we highly advise against this due to the risk of connector melting.

We’ve already seen one case of 180° degree ATX 3.0 adapter melting within SFFGurus discord.

180° 12VHPWR adapters also cause compatibility issues with side radiators/fan mounting.

For those considering the M1EVO, it’s worthwhile waiting for the 166mm v2. EVO v2 should address the issues of v1.X and hopefully remove the need for GPU power adapters in reference layouts with larger graphics cards.