I must confess: I'm an addict. This forum is the largest supplier of the stuff I should avoid, because I've been down this road before. I'm... a case addict. Yes, gasp in awe at the putrid mind that's behind that avatar on your left, your dealing with someone who binges on the component most people think is a necessary evil.
@K888D announced his LZ7 project 8 months ago, while it was still very much in a seemingly early stage. When the first new renders popped up, I was intrigued by the design but it seemed like a difficult project. After some interesting discussion, K888D dropped these gems to show he was going to go all the way. If that wasn't enough, his daughter was standing on the case without any visible deformation. And he also threw impressive thermal performance figures at us. Or how about some transporting tests ? There was only one way I could deal with this...
Less than two months later, a supply ship dropped by, telling me I had "new construction options". Oh yes, the fun part: it comes as a kit
All the pieces, well-packaged and accompanied by plenty of very useful stuff. I choose my kit without feet, with both sidepanels "open", matte black and purple. But take special note of the stuff in the middle: optional zip ties, detailed manual, serial numbered PCI bracket retention cover and all necessary screws in a nice box. Very welcome and I was pleasantly surprised !
A closer look at that matte panel with the motherboard standoffs. That matte texture is amazing to the senses, it feels like a premium material. That white spot in the middle is a 30W light that was hovering just over it, casting a unique looking reflection.
00003, I got a fuzzy warm feeling inside ! In this picture it still had a protective layer on it's back.
That box of screws kept stealing my attention, I rarely see it done for PC cases although most are huge 40L empty behemoths. The countersunk screws on the top-right and the nuts below are plastic or maybe nylon, I'm not sure.
Oh boy, the bar has been raised now ! Look at the illustrations, the layout. This is well wonderful stuff, I've not seen this kind of documentation with any other case. Although I haven't had a case that needed assembly before either. Word of caution: this case requires patience and carefulness. If you have a history of RAGEQUIT, let someone else do the assembly !
Now this was a tear-jerker. Thank you too, Kevin, for the amazing case and the interesting conversations here on the forum !
No I didn't touch the vibration or contrast controls on this one, that purple material really pops. A different rougher texture on these 3D SLS printed pieces, very nice !
Considering this part of the corner piece is smaller than my thumb, I'm amazed at the resolution. Good choice on the material and finishing !
OK assembly time ! This is the right side-panel, attached the fan and the two corner pieces, all following the manual. The smoked Perspex (cast acrylic) panel gives a faint color in the photo but it's more neutral than that.
The rear and right side panel attached to the base plate, the next step is the motherboard !
I skipped ahead because this took quite some preparation and fiddling. Basically I've researched only the supported CPU coolers and GPUs, in my case a Scythe Big Shuriken 2 rev.B and MSI Radeon RX460 4G with a flat heatsink.
Apparently I didn't take into account my motherboard (ASRock Z87E-ITX) has it's socket close to the edge. The Big Shuriken has a non-offset design and because of this I had to choose between the Big Shuriken or the Prolimatech 140mm fan. Since I have a Noctua NH-L9i, another cooler of choice for this case, I used that one.
The fan shroud on the MSI GPU was a little frustrating, as it's screwed on from the inside of the heatsink, meaning you have to remove the entire heatsink to remove the shroud. Ofcourse there's a "warranty void if bluh bluh" sticker on it, so be aware of this for this specific card.
Also, at this point I realised I needed to attach the EPS 8-pin connector, which was already impossible to reach with the PSU in place. But the thumb screws supplied in the neat screw box made that an easy fix.
This is the distance between another Prolimatech Sleek 14 fan attached to the left side panel and the MSI GPU without the fan shroud. It's about 5 or 6mm so in theory a 20mm fan would have also fit.
Not much later I was done ! Insert half an hour of me fondling the case's matte panels and textured corner pieces.
Did you notice those four holes on the top ? It seems to be for a handle but I thought that wasn't possible ? First edition easter egg ?!
After the fondling, I had some more time to take some pictures. I ordered these 140mm mesh fan filters but because they are so extremely flimsy, they don't stay flat. Bah, these are going out ! Also notice the vandal proof switch, although I have yet to wire it up. Apparently I don't have any more connectors left over...
The rear view. Here you can see the thumb screws for the PSU I mentioned before and this is where the serial number plate attaches to. Awful PCI bracket, MSI
Out with the fan filters, in with the fan grills. So much better. I choose to place it on the outside to mimich the other side.
Yup, definitely looks better. Although dust will be a problem, but I have yet to see a fan filter that eliminates dust. It just reduces it.
The left side panel has a non-circular cutout, disallowing you to place the fan grill on the inside.
Still looking good !
Next to an Ncase M1, alligned at the rear. Yes it's that small.
Performance metrics will follow later when I have my connectors I'm missing to connect the GPU fan and power button. Hardware choices and some feedback will follow too.
@K888D announced his LZ7 project 8 months ago, while it was still very much in a seemingly early stage. When the first new renders popped up, I was intrigued by the design but it seemed like a difficult project. After some interesting discussion, K888D dropped these gems to show he was going to go all the way. If that wasn't enough, his daughter was standing on the case without any visible deformation. And he also threw impressive thermal performance figures at us. Or how about some transporting tests ? There was only one way I could deal with this...
Less than two months later, a supply ship dropped by, telling me I had "new construction options". Oh yes, the fun part: it comes as a kit
All the pieces, well-packaged and accompanied by plenty of very useful stuff. I choose my kit without feet, with both sidepanels "open", matte black and purple. But take special note of the stuff in the middle: optional zip ties, detailed manual, serial numbered PCI bracket retention cover and all necessary screws in a nice box. Very welcome and I was pleasantly surprised !
A closer look at that matte panel with the motherboard standoffs. That matte texture is amazing to the senses, it feels like a premium material. That white spot in the middle is a 30W light that was hovering just over it, casting a unique looking reflection.
00003, I got a fuzzy warm feeling inside ! In this picture it still had a protective layer on it's back.
That box of screws kept stealing my attention, I rarely see it done for PC cases although most are huge 40L empty behemoths. The countersunk screws on the top-right and the nuts below are plastic or maybe nylon, I'm not sure.
Oh boy, the bar has been raised now ! Look at the illustrations, the layout. This is well wonderful stuff, I've not seen this kind of documentation with any other case. Although I haven't had a case that needed assembly before either. Word of caution: this case requires patience and carefulness. If you have a history of RAGEQUIT, let someone else do the assembly !
Now this was a tear-jerker. Thank you too, Kevin, for the amazing case and the interesting conversations here on the forum !
No I didn't touch the vibration or contrast controls on this one, that purple material really pops. A different rougher texture on these 3D SLS printed pieces, very nice !
Considering this part of the corner piece is smaller than my thumb, I'm amazed at the resolution. Good choice on the material and finishing !
OK assembly time ! This is the right side-panel, attached the fan and the two corner pieces, all following the manual. The smoked Perspex (cast acrylic) panel gives a faint color in the photo but it's more neutral than that.
The rear and right side panel attached to the base plate, the next step is the motherboard !
I skipped ahead because this took quite some preparation and fiddling. Basically I've researched only the supported CPU coolers and GPUs, in my case a Scythe Big Shuriken 2 rev.B and MSI Radeon RX460 4G with a flat heatsink.
Apparently I didn't take into account my motherboard (ASRock Z87E-ITX) has it's socket close to the edge. The Big Shuriken has a non-offset design and because of this I had to choose between the Big Shuriken or the Prolimatech 140mm fan. Since I have a Noctua NH-L9i, another cooler of choice for this case, I used that one.
The fan shroud on the MSI GPU was a little frustrating, as it's screwed on from the inside of the heatsink, meaning you have to remove the entire heatsink to remove the shroud. Ofcourse there's a "warranty void if bluh bluh" sticker on it, so be aware of this for this specific card.
Also, at this point I realised I needed to attach the EPS 8-pin connector, which was already impossible to reach with the PSU in place. But the thumb screws supplied in the neat screw box made that an easy fix.
This is the distance between another Prolimatech Sleek 14 fan attached to the left side panel and the MSI GPU without the fan shroud. It's about 5 or 6mm so in theory a 20mm fan would have also fit.
Not much later I was done ! Insert half an hour of me fondling the case's matte panels and textured corner pieces.
Did you notice those four holes on the top ? It seems to be for a handle but I thought that wasn't possible ? First edition easter egg ?!
After the fondling, I had some more time to take some pictures. I ordered these 140mm mesh fan filters but because they are so extremely flimsy, they don't stay flat. Bah, these are going out ! Also notice the vandal proof switch, although I have yet to wire it up. Apparently I don't have any more connectors left over...
The rear view. Here you can see the thumb screws for the PSU I mentioned before and this is where the serial number plate attaches to. Awful PCI bracket, MSI
Out with the fan filters, in with the fan grills. So much better. I choose to place it on the outside to mimich the other side.
Yup, definitely looks better. Although dust will be a problem, but I have yet to see a fan filter that eliminates dust. It just reduces it.
The left side panel has a non-circular cutout, disallowing you to place the fan grill on the inside.
Still looking good !
Next to an Ncase M1, alligned at the rear. Yes it's that small.
Performance metrics will follow later when I have my connectors I'm missing to connect the GPU fan and power button. Hardware choices and some feedback will follow too.
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