[SOLVED] Sliger Cerberus X build, which options would you go for?

[Gintama69]

Hey guys, I'm planning to build a new PC(for a friend) in near future and thinking of using Sliger Cerberus X case.
I want ask your opinions on which options could go for if you were also building a new system using the same case.
Which options(for Side Panel & Top Panel) would you go for if had to use Sliger Cerberus X case in Matte White colour and SFX Internal?
www.sliger.com/products/cases/cerberus_x/

1. Side Panel: Vented or Windowed(Acrylic)
Vented side panel would be bit better for CPU and GPU thermals.
Windowed side panel would look better for RGB RAM and GPU, and I don't think there'll be any thermal issue even with windowed side panel.
Q1: Would you get the Vented side panel or Windowed side panel?

2. Top Panel: Handle & Colour
Cerberus X can have optional handle on the top of the case(like Lian Li TU150/TU150) but the handle doesn't fold down like the one on TU150. Also you can install two 80mm fans on top of the case if you don't use the optional handle.
Q2: Would you get the Handle for the case? If yes, then in Black or Chrome?
Q3: Would you get the top panel in Matte White colour(to match with the rest of the case) or get it in Black colour(might go better Black Handle)?


Specs for the build(not confirmed):
CPU: Intel i9 11900K
HSF: Noctua NH-C14S
M/B: Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Ultra
GPU: Gigabyte RTX3060Ti Aorus Master
RAM: 32GB(4x 8GB) G.Skill Trident Z RGB 3600C16
SSD: 2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus
Case: Sliger Cerberus X (Matte White with SFX Internal)
PSU: Corsair SF750 SFX Platinum
FAN: 1x 120mm RGB Fan(Exhaust)

Parts for the system are NOT confirmed and that's the reason I made this thread, because there's no point using RGB RAM or RGB fan etc if I don't get the Windowed side panel.. so I'll probably get faster RAM without RGB and also go for 2x 16GB instead 4x 8GB etc.
But I don't want to use AIO cooler, so planning to use Noctua C14S(best air cooler for the case) and it should be sufficient for stock 11900K with one exhaust fan.
I might also change the GPU to RTX3070 etc, but thermal shouldn't be issue cos I'll get high-end gg model(Gigabyte Aorus, MSI Suprim, Asus Strix etc). Cerberus X is a very small ATX case but I don't think there'll be any thermal issues if I use Noctua C14S cooler and high-end gg model GPU.

 

[iPeekYou]

1. Side Panel: Vented or Windowed(Acrylic)
Vented side panel would be bit better for CPU and GPU thermals.
Windowed side panel would look better for RGB RAM and GPU, and I don't think there'll be any thermal issue even with windowed side panel.
Q1: Would you get the Vented side panel or Windowed side panel?

2. Top Panel: Handle & Colour
Cerberus X can have optional handle on the top of the case(like Lian Li TU150/TU150) but the handle doesn't fold down like the one on TU150. Also you can install two 80mm fans on top of the case if you don't use the optional handle.
Q2: Would you get the Handle for the case? If yes, then in Black or Chrome?
Q3: Would you get the top panel in Matte White colour(to match with the rest of the case) or get it in Black colour(might go better Black Handle)?


Specs for the build(not confirmed):
CPU: Intel i9 11900K
HSF: Noctua NH-C14S
M/B: Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Ultra
GPU: Gigabyte RTX3060Ti Aorus Master
RAM: 32GB(4x 8GB) G.Skill Trident Z RGB 3600C16
SSD: 2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus
Case: Sliger Cerberus X (Matte White with SFX Internal)
PSU: Corsair SF750 SFX Platinum
FAN: 1x 120mm RGB Fan(Exhaust)

Q1: I prefer airflow to looks, and you're looking at a hot processor to boot. With midtower or larger you can do away with side vents, but in a small case, I feel like it'll help to have better airflow with vented. Plus the NH-C14S is a top flow cooler IIRC, and side vents allow straight airflow channel to the cooler. Keep in mind, 11900K is a hot chip, befitting its high-end tier and TDP. Yeah, you can't see the lights inside, but seeing as we're having a high-end build I'd say airflow > aesthetics.

Q2: Personally won't, since I don't move PCs around. Your friend might, and I can see how handle helps a lot in that scenario. Otherwise, airflow >>> handle. You can fit an extra 80mm on the rear fan mount for extra exhaust also. In my experience, exhaust there is slightly better over no fan (only vents) and much better than intake. YMMV, case airflow varies by model and cooler/airflow setup.

Q3: If I were to get the handle, I'd rather have it matching the rest of the case, i.e. same colour, matte or gloss notwithstanding. Matte is better since I imagine glossy plastic is fingerprint magnet.

Another point in mind: if the system is moved often, AIO is better IMO since we're not putting (significant) weight on the motherboard. NH-C14s isn't exactly a beefy cooler like the D14/15 is, but I feel safer with an AIO for a system that moves around a lot.
That said, it seems like if you opt for the 240mm AIO it'll eat up the entire space up front. I expect slightly worse temps for GPU, at least from what I've seen in typical cases. Smaller form factors might suffer more due to limited airflow and space to dissipate the heat. Still, I'd wager it won't strangle the GPU that badly, at worst just limited boost clocks.

If 80mm fan is to be mounted, I suggest getting silent ones. The cheapo 80mms are loud AF. 120mm Chinese sub $5 ones can be silent and get some airflow. 80mm ones? Nope.

 

[Gintama69]

Thanks for the that advice.
I was planning to get the optional Windowed side panel, but think I'll just go for the standard Vented side panel for better thermals for the reasons you mentioned.
So I'll order one in Matte White with SFX Internal and probably a Black handle.

System wouldn't get moved often so I'll just go for Noctua NH-C14S. But I'll get a quality Noctua 120mm for exhaust.

 

[Karadjgne]

The handle is pointless imho. If you were looking at a full tower and with components it weighed 40 lbs or more, then sure handles are a blessing. But you are looking at a case that even with components barely weighs 10lbs. And it's tiny. It's pathetically easy to lift, move, tuck under 1 arm etc.

The case itself and the performance that it contains is the showpiece. Not the unicorn puke rgb that's the current fad with large cases.
This is me, nCase M1v6. Inside is a full custom loop with dual 240mm rads. No case fans, only rad fans.

What's not impressive? It's smaller than the shoebox my size 10 Adidas tennis shoes came in.

All the flash I need and dead silent.

Unless you have an absolute need for pcie4.0 on storage, might want to look at the 10900k instead. Same gaming performance, better thermals, better production. Lower price. The 11900k is Intels worst value-performance mainstream cpu to date. Even a 10700 is very respectable and temps will be much better dealt with. You'll be gpu limited mostly by a 3060ti, so for gaming at least, you'll not need such a monster cpu like the 11900k. If you were going for production, I'd not even bother with Intel at those prices, I'd be looking at Ryzen 5900x instead.

Also don't think that gigabyte board will fit inside the Cerebrus very well, pretty sure that's a mITX/mATX case, that while specd for larger, does run into clearance issues with some setups.

 

[iPeekYou]

Thanks for the that advice.
I was planning to get the optional Windowed side panel, but think I'll just go for the standard Vented side panel for better thermals for the reasons you mentioned.
So I'll order one in Matte White with SFX Internal and probably a Black handle.

System wouldn't get moved often so I'll just go for Noctua NH-C14S. But I'll get a quality Noctua 120mm for exhaust.

Eh, if it's not moved around so much then ditch the handle. Handle is useful for lugging cases for LAN parties or such, not much else. If the system is just moved around once in a blue moon, pretty sure a typical midtower is easy enough to move, let alone a Sliger X.

Who knows, my troll physics logic would say to maximize ventilation and opt for an AIO. Didn't cross my mind how a low-profile cooler would manage 11900K. Node is small enough to reduce heat transfer, and Intel pumps wattage into their processors like no tomorrow. I think Steve Burke also covered the power consumption in comparison to other chips in his review as well.


I concur with what @Karadjgne said, especially this:

The case itself and the performance that it contains is the showpiece. Not the unicorn puke rgb that's the current fad with large cases.

Although I do realize some people do like RGB, so there's that.

And this:

Unless you have an absolute need for pcie4.0 on storage, might want to look at the 10900k instead. Same gaming performance, better thermals, better production. Lower price. The 11900k is Intels worst value-performance mainstream cpu to date. Even a 10700 is very respectable and temps will be much better dealt with. You'll be gpu limited mostly by a 3060ti, so for gaming at least, you'll not need such a monster cpu like the 11900k. If you were going for production, I'd not even bother with Intel at those prices, I'd be looking at Ryzen 5900x instead.

Not sure which parts you already have at hand, but 11th gen Intel is a letdown. Reviewers lambasted the top-tier chips, they're no better than the 10th gen. If you have to have the 11th gen Intel, then 11600K. I think it's the only good SKU out of the lineup so far. Any higher and might as well get 10th gen or AMD. There's a reason 10th gen parts see some movement shortly after the reviews of 11700K and 11900K are released.

TL;DR: If I were you, I'd ditch the handle, get 10th gen Intel, and maybe consider AIOs if this system is to be used heavily (hours and hours of gaming, rendering, etc)

 

[Gintama69]

Umm I sold 10900KF for cheap about week ago, and also sold MSI Z490 Gaming Carbon for cheap yesterday.
So I'll just use latest and brand new parts for friend's PC.. he doesn't know anything about PC but at least I can tell him it's got the latest 11th Intel i9 processor.
I already have spare 11900K so I'm gonna get a Z590 mobo to go with it.

I was thinking of getting super fast gen4 SSD for him at the start(e.g. 2TB Samsung 980 Pro), but don't think he's gonna notice the performance increase from 2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus(or from 3600C16 to 4000C15 etc) so I think it's probably better to spend that money for high-end case.

He'll mainly use the PC for MS Office and browsing the net, and maybe occasional games(latest Call of Duty, maybe once a month). But I still want to get him a high-end PC, cos it'll sound better(latest i9!!! lol) and hopefully it'll also last him bit longer.


Specs for the build(not 100% confirmed, already have CPU & RAM)
CPU: Intel i9 11900K
HSF: Noctua NH-C14S
M/B: Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Ultra (or Aorus Elite AX if it's stable/durable and has good VRM)
GPU: Gigabyte RTX3060Ti Aorus Master
RAM: 32GB(2x 16GB) G.Skill Trident Z NEO 3600C16
SSD: 2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus
Case: Sliger Cerberus X (Matte White with SFX Internal, Vented side panel & Black handle)
PSU: Corsair SF750 SFX Platinum
FAN: 1x 120mm Noctua Fan(Exhaust)

As for the handle, I'll ask him about it before I order the case but I think it would be handy even if you don't move around the PC much cos that way you can easily carry it with one hand.

 

[Karadjgne]

Unless you are talking about extremely large file transfers, several Gb or better, then no your friend wouldn't notice the difference in pcie3.0 and pcie4.0 storage, especially for gaming or web surfing. And the EVO Plus is no slouch to begin with.

Even with that cooler, I'd make sure power limits are enforced, no MCE or similar 'performance' uplifts, or you'll be seeing high temps constantly with its 200-300w outputs, which is honestly more than any aircooler should be subjected to.

 

[iPeekYou]

Even with that cooler, I'd make sure power limits are enforced, no MCE or similar 'performance' uplifts, or you'll be seeing high temps constantly with its 200-300w outputs, which is honestly more than any aircooler should be subjected to.

Keep this in mind, OP. I didn't think of that when I first wrote my answer. NH-C14S would be straining keeping 11900K cool. A beefy air cooler or 240mm AIO at least. Probably the latter, seeing as the case is small enough as it is. Sacrifice a bit of GPU temps, get best cooling on the CPU. It's the most difficult thing to cool in the system, anyhow.

 

[Gintama69]

Keep this in mind, OP. I didn't think of that when I first wrote my answer. NH-C14S would be straining keeping 11900K cool. A beefy air cooler or 240mm AIO at least. Probably the latter, seeing as the case is small enough as it is. Sacrifice a bit of GPU temps, get best cooling on the CPU. It's the most difficult thing to cool in the system, anyhow.

Sigh.. really? I'm not a fan of AIO cooler.. and NH-C14S is the best air cooler for the Sliger Cerberus X case.

Personally I haven't noticed any heat problems with stock 9900K/9900KS/10700K/10900KF/11900K on Noctua NH-D15(only using one fan, and without any case exhaust fan).
So I thought stock 11900K would be also fine on Noctua NH-C14S, and I'm also planning to put extra 120mm Noctua fan for exhaust right next to the heatsink.
I know D15 is bigger and better than C14S, but I think stock 11900K should be fine on C14s? or at least I hope..


p.s. long story but I might not build the new PC for him for another ~6 months(cos Covid-19).. and by then new 12th Intel might be available.
I'll probably still use Sliger Cerberus X case, but 12th gen i9, Z690 and DDR5 would be much better cos it should last him longer.. and 12th gen 10nm should also run much cooler than 11900K.
(i'm trying to sell the 11900K and 32GB G.Skill 3600C16 atm, but not easy to find a buyer for the CPU.. but hopefully I can at least trade em for a decent GPU or 2TB SSD etc cos I can still use those two parts for 12th gen build)

 

[iPeekYou]

Sigh.. really? I'm not a fan of AIO cooler.. and NH-C14S is the best air cooler for the Sliger Cerberus X case.

Personally I haven't noticed any heat problems with stock 9900K/9900KS/10700K/10900KF/11900K on Noctua NH-D15(only using one fan, and without any case exhaust fan).
So I thought stock 11900K would be also fine on Noctua NH-C14S, and I'm also planning to put extra 120mm Noctua fan for exhaust right next to the heatsink.
I know D15 is bigger and better than C14S, but I think stock 11900K should be fine on C14s? or at least I hope..

Well, it'll boot and do general stuff fine. Throw load on it and throttling won't be hard to reach.

True, NH-D15 is better than C-14S, but mind that D15 is about top-tier for air cooling. It's as good as it gets for air. C-14S is designed for form factor first, and the difference in performance is considerable. It's essentially an NH-U12S turned on its side. Seems like the heatsink is a bit thinner as well.

The reviews suggest that C-14S is quite good, but note that these are done on older CPUs with less power draw than 11900K. Any small differences in temps will be exaggerated with higher watts of load.

Personally, I think it could be fine, but I wont' take "probably fine" on a 11900K. The C-14S is basically an NH-U12S on its side after all. I guess if you want to make sure you can try a 120mm single tower cooler on your 11900K and see how it performs.

 

[Gintama69]

Unless you are talking about extremely large file transfers, several Gb or better, then no your friend wouldn't notice the difference in pcie3.0 and pcie4.0 storage, especially for gaming or web surfing. And the EVO Plus is no slouch to begin with.

Even with that cooler, I'd make sure power limits are enforced, no MCE or similar 'performance' uplifts, or you'll be seeing high temps constantly with its 200-300w outputs, which is honestly more than any aircooler should be subjected to.

Well, it'll boot and do general stuff fine. Throw load on it and throttling won't be hard to reach.

True, NH-D15 is better than C-14S, but mind that D15 is about top-tier for air cooling. It's as good as it gets for air. C-14S is designed for form factor first, and the difference in performance is considerable. It's essentially an NH-U12S turned on its side. Seems like the heatsink is a bit thinner as well.

The reviews suggest that C-14S is quite good, but note that these are done on older CPUs with less power draw than 11900K. Any small differences in temps will be exaggerated with higher watts of load.

Personally, I think it could be fine, but I wont' take "probably fine" on a 11900K. The C-14S is basically an NH-U12S on its side after all. I guess if you want to make sure you can try a 120mm single tower cooler on your 11900K and see how it performs.

I think Noctua NH-C14S should perform quite well, cos Noctua makes best heatsinks/fans and the heatsink on C14S is very large/heavy(similar to the one on D14/D15).
Noctua NH-D15 = 1320g (weight with 2x fans) - https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15
Noctua NH-D14 = 1240g (weight with 2x fans) - https://noctua.at/en/nh-d14/specification
Noctua NH-D15S = 1150g (weight with 1x fan) - https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15s
Noctua NH-C14S = 1015g (weight with 1x fan) - https://noctua.at/en/nh-c14s/specification
Noctua NH-U12S = 755g (weight with 1x fan) - https://noctua.at/en/nh-u12s
So I think the C14S heatsink is only ~135g lighter than D15/D15S heatsink(1150 - 1015) & only ~55g lighter than D14 heatsink(1070 - 1015).


p.s. friend's Sliger Cerberus X build:

All on custom water with 2x 240mm Radiators for CPU and GPU(Titan SLI).

 

[Phaaze88]

Noctua even provides cpu compatibility lists for their coolers. Did you check at all?
https://ncc.noctua.at/cpus/model/Intel-Core-i9-11900K-1288

NH-C14S

If power limits are disabled in BIOS, CPU might not be able to keep maximum turbo clock under prolonged AVX loads, suggested maximum power limit: 185W

Core i9-11900K(F)
PL1 TDP(all core base clock): 125w
PL2 TDP(all core turbo boost): 251w
That cpu can 'break' the C14S without much effort; Noctua's suggesting a custom power limit lower than the Intel defined PL2 one!

 

[Gintama69]

Noctua even provides cpu compatibility lists for their coolers. Did you check at all?
https://ncc.noctua.at/cpus/model/Intel-Core-i9-11900K-1288

NH-C14S

If power limits are disabled in BIOS, CPU might not be able to keep maximum turbo clock under prolonged AVX loads, suggested maximum power limit: 185W

Core i9-11900K(F)
PL1 TDP(all core base clock): 125w
PL2 TDP(all core turbo boost): 251w
That cpu can 'break' the C14S without much effort; Noctua's suggesting a custom power limit lower than the Intel defined PL2 one!

Umm no, thank you for that link.. looks like I was being to optimistic about C14S cos it's a heavy Notuca heatsink..
(hopefully 12th gen Intel i9 will be available by the time I can build for system for friend.. cos C14S should be fine for 10nm 12th gen i9)

But if I end up using 11900K and C14S, everything should be fine as long as I set custom power limit to 185W, right?

Also my friend won't do anything even remotely demanding to the CPU(occasional Call of Duty would be probably be the most demanding program he's gonna run by far), so 11900K shouldn't really get hot on C14S even if I don't set custom power limit in mobo BIOS(hopefully)?
and 11900K & Z590 should automatically reduce the clock speed(to reduce the temp) if the CPU gets too hot?

 

[Phaaze88]

10nm 12th gen i9

Too early to tell how that will go.
Due to the big-little core design, bioses, Windows/Linux Adobe, etc., are gonna have some 'fun' with that one...

 

[Zerk2012]

Umm I sold 10900KF for cheap about week ago, and also sold MSI Z490 Gaming Carbon for cheap yesterday.
So I'll just use latest and brand new parts for friend's PC.. he doesn't know anything about PC but at least I can tell him it's got the latest 11th Intel i9 processor.
I already have spare 11900K so I'm gonna get a Z590 mobo to go with it.

I was thinking of getting super fast gen4 SSD for him at the start(e.g. 2TB Samsung 980 Pro), but don't think he's gonna notice the performance increase from 2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus(or from 3600C16 to 4000C15 etc) so I think it's probably better to spend that money for high-end case.

He'll mainly use the PC for MS Office and browsing the net, and maybe occasional games(latest Call of Duty, maybe once a month). But I still want to get him a high-end PC, cos it'll sound better(latest i9!!! lol) and hopefully it'll also last him bit longer.


Specs for the build(not 100% confirmed, already have CPU & RAM)
CPU: Intel i9 11900K
HSF: Noctua NH-C14S
M/B: Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Ultra (or Aorus Elite AX if it's stable/durable and has good VRM)
GPU: Gigabyte RTX3060Ti Aorus Master
RAM: 32GB(2x 16GB) G.Skill Trident Z NEO 3600C16
SSD: 2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus
Case: Sliger Cerberus X (Matte White with SFX Internal, Vented side panel & Black handle)
PSU: Corsair SF750 SFX Platinum
FAN: 1x 120mm Noctua Fan(Exhaust)

As for the handle, I'll ask him about it before I order the case but I think it would be handy even if you don't move around the PC much cos that way you can easily carry it with one hand.

The C14S has no chance at all of cooling that processor 0.

 

[Gintama69]

meh I might try to swap 11900K for a 11900(non-K) or 10900(non-K) then..

hmm looks like I'll still have to set max power limit to 185W/205W for 11900/10900(non-K) using C14S..
https://ncc.noctua.at/cpus/model/Intel-Core-i9-11900-1286

https://ncc.noctua.at/cpus/model/Intel-Core-i9-10900-314

Bit weird, cos says you need to set power limit to 250W for 10900K/10900(non-K) using D14.
But you don't need to set any power limit for 11900K/11900 using D14.

 

[Phaaze88]

11900
PL1: 65w
PL2: 224w
...

10900
PL1: 65w
PL2: 224w

Just stay away from i9s with a C14S.
I took a quick look using Noctua's compatibility lists, and the strongest cpu under the Intel defined limits they're saying that can comfortably be run under the C14S is a 10600K...
All the ones above that were suggesting power limits lower than the PL2 value. That means shorter/lower turbo boosts.

 

[Karadjgne]

Well that's the thing, isn't it. Tau. PL2 power limits are only applied for 56 seconds (Tau) , after which the boost is dropped to PL1 specs. Thats Intels specs. What ends up happening on most higher grade mobo's is that those recommendations are either ignored or bypassed by 'performance' mode (default) or stupid stuff like Dragon Center.

The MSI Godlike sets PL2 at 1000w, Tau at 99999 seconds. Leaving PL1 as totally immaterial since it never drops, PL2 basically being a permanent state, wide open power.

You could use the C14s on the 11900k and be just fine gaming, as long as you pay attention and specify in bios the actual power limits, vid etc (basically an overclocking process without locking the cores etc), but running the stock/motherboard settings could get dicey.

 

[Phaaze88]

The whole thing is a mess. It falls on the user to find/figure out how far their board has been/has not been tweaked if reviews haven't pointed it out yet.

Following Intel spec, plus with the gradual adoption of AVX/AVX2, 11900K is going to get toasty at times under a C14S.
If cooling is insufficient, even if it's 28 sec Tau, the cpu can see 80C+, thus deactivating TVB(70C or lower). AVX can come in bursts longer than that.