CPU Cooler

• Top-down coolers are recommended.
• Height restriction: 130mm (with side bracket in place and no fan mounted)
• Cooler cannot extend past the top of the board by more than 10mm. For many larger coolers, this limits motherboard choice to those with centrally-located sockets.
• Large coolers that extend past the front of the board will prevent the 3.5" HDD cage from being used.

Watercooling

• Sealed liquid coolers or integrated pump/block and radiator/res recommended.
• Single 120mm or 240mm radiators only.
• A 240mm radiator on the side bracket will prevent use of ATX power supplies or the dual 3.5" HDD cage.
• Recommended maximum radiator length: 290mm (303mm available internally, however the chassis lip makes 290mm+ difficult. Utilizing the inside front 2.5" drive mount also limits radiator length).
• Recommended maximum thickness of radiator+fans: 60mm (85mm total available between side bracket and SFX bracket)

GPU

• Rear exhaust cards recommended, especially for cards with TDP greater than 150W. Look up your card's TDP (external link).
• Max length: 12.5" (317mm) in slots 1 & 2; 11" (279mm) in slot 3
• Max height (or width):
  • For cards up to 12.5" (317mm) or cards in the third slot: 4.4" (111mm)
  • For cards up to 11.5" (292mm) in the first or second slot: 5.5" (140mm) (4.7"/120mm at the PCIe power connectors)
• Cards with PCBs that extend to the full height at the corners will not fit due to interference from the chassis. This includes the oversized ASUS Strix and Matrix series cards. See this post for more information.
• For more detailed GPU size limitations, see this image.

Power supply

• SFX PSU support is standard
• SFX-L (SFX extended to 130mm long) is possible using the v3 and later SFX bracket, which has been revised specifically for models based on the Sirfa/High Power unit, which include:
  • SilverStone SX500-LG
  • Sharkoon SilentStorm SFX Gold
  • High Power SFX-L500GD
  • Chieftec SFX-500GD-C
  • Scythe SPKRG-S500P
  Please note that due to the limited space available, SFX-L is a tight fit when used with long GPUs.
• ATX PSU support is possible using the included bracket with the following limitations:
  • Cannot be used with GPUs over 195mm long.
  • Cannot be used with the dual 3.5" HDD cage or 240mm radiator mounted to the side bracket (120mm radiator is still possible over the motherboard area)
  • Maximum recommended length: 160mm
  • The AC inlet orientation on some ATX power supplies may prevent the angle plug from fitting, please check carefully. See this image. Note: the included AC cable has been changed from right-angle to left-angle for v2 and later.

For specific components, the community has created a user-contributed spreadsheet (be careful! Edits are open and shared with everyone).

Other sources of information include:

• The user build gallery
• The M1 build thread
• The M1 v2 build thread
• The M1 v3 build thread
• The original M1 project thread

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FAQ

Ordering

How can I order an M1?

When cases are in stock, you may order directly from this website.

At times when we have no inventory available, we may instead offer pre-orders for the next production run.

How long will it take to receive my M1? When will I get a tracking number?

Orders of in-stock items: orders are shipped in batches two times a month, according to the following schedule:

• Orders placed between the 8th-23rd: shipped 2 to 3 business days after the 23rd.
• Orders placed between the 24th-7th: shipped 2 to 3 business days after the 7th.
• Tracking numbers are sent out 2-3 business days after shipping.

Pre-orders: a shipping date or date range will be noted, and orders will be shipped directly from Taiwan. Tracking numbers are sent out 2-3 business days after shipping.

Actual shipping duration depends on shipping method and destination country, as well as any delay resulting from the destination country's customs processing. Typically, shipping by air may take 1-3 weeks from the ship date.

Something is out of stock! Will it be restocked?

Items are restocked after production runs. The period between production runs varies based on demand, but is typically one production run every 8 months.

What's included with the M1?

The M1 comes with the following: screws for drive and fan mounting, rubber softmounts for drive mounting, 3.5" HDD cage, 2.5" stacking brackets, slim optical drive bracket, SFX PSU bracket, ATX PSU bracket, front USB/audio ports and power switch, left-angle internal AC cable, 2x 120mm fan filters, 4x 120mm metal fan grilles. No fans or paper manual are included.

What's the difference between the different versions of the M1?

Each version has a few minor revisions. You can see a list of changes here.

Can I turn the optical drive slot version into the no-ODD slot version if I get the slotless top panel?

Yes. The only difference is the top panel, which may be easily swapped out.

Are the panels compatible with a different version of the chassis (e.g., V2 chassis with V3 panels)?

Yes. All panel versions are compatible with all chassis versions.

Build-related

There's no manual! What do all the screws do?

See this image.

How do I remove the side panels?

The side, top, and front panels require no tools to remove. Using your fingertips, simply pull them away from the case by the edges.

How do I mount drives in the case?

There are two types of drive mounting:

1. For the rounded keyhole mounts (2.5" mounts, one bottom 3.5" mount), attach the rubber softmounts and screws to the drive first, then slide the drive into the keyholes.
2. For the spade-shaped keyhole mounts (on 3.5" HDD cage and one bottom 3.5" mount), insert the rubber softmount into the keyhole first, then screw the drive in.

Will x fit in the M1?

Please see the compability tab for size restrictions and links to more information.

A 240mm radiator can't possibly be enough to cool both a high end CPU and GPU, can it?

It most certainly can. Radiator requirements are often exaggerated, but this also has to do with expectations and what your goals are. A 240mm radiator and full water loop in the M1 can significantly lower the noise of the GPU, while keeping temperatures below stock.

Are there any accessories designed for the M1?

Yes! Demciflex offers magnetic filters specially designed for the M1. They can be purchased directly from their site, or from FrozenCPU or Performance PCs.

Additionally, other members of the community have spearheaded the development of the following accessories for the M1:

• A high quality, custom made softshell carrying bag
• FrozenQ offers a reservoir for attachment to the rear fan mount of the M1

Etc.

Why isn't the M1 microATX? All you have to do is add a slot!

One of the primary design goals of the M1 was to be able to house, power, and cool high performance components, while being as small as reasonably possible. Mini-ITX is the smallest motherboard form-factor capable of supporting such a build, and is actually considerably smaller than mATX. In particular, the short length of mini-ITX is what allows the front-mounted power supply, and by extension, the side-mounted dual radiator. Keeping the same layout with mATX would result in a a significantly larger case.

MicroATX also has a higher set of requirements in regards to cooling and power delivery, necessitating a move to larger components (ATX PSUs) and less compact layouts to ensure good airflow.