Stalled Alpha Cases - T7 SFX - Sub 5L

[snyed]

• WIP Pictures

• Size
  • Mini ITX form factor
  • 228 x 107 x 203mm (L x W x H)
  • Sub 5L (Internal Volume)
  GPU Compatibility
  • 1x Dual Slot Full Height
  • Length up to 216mm (DC-ATX PSU) or 174mm (Flex PSU)
  • Height up to 142mm (with top fans) or 156mm (without top fans)
  CPU Cooler Compatibility
  • Max Height of 43mm (Noctua L9i Recommended)
  Storage
  • 2x 2.5" Drive
  • 1x 3.5" Drive (with Direct Plug DC-ATX PSU)
  • M.2 Drive Under Motherboard
  Features
  • Front Power Button
  • 2x 92mm Top Fan Mount (Slim)
  • 1x 92mm Bottom Fan Mount (Slim)
  • Flex PSU or DC-ATX PSU Compatibility
  • 1.5mm Aluminum Chassis
  • Included PCI-E Riser

 

[Deleted member 3671]

Dope concept. Have you considered both fans off the front of the GPU though? Most 170mm cards spit the hottest air from the front and back. I'm working on a similar concept with dual 92x25mm fans up front. With the added height a flex-ATX PSU under the M/B, a perfect space is left for PSU cable management and front I/O options. The concept is the same 5L +/- a small amount that yours is (depending ofc on how tight you want everything). Just thought I'd throw it out there in case it gives you any ideas. Either way, sick stuff!

 

[daedos]

Looking forward to seeing how this progresses. This form factor is becoming increasingly popular - Hahutzy, CustomMod Flex, ZS-A4M, Loli2 and others.

Some thoughts:
1, As above think about a front vent for the GPU. Similar to the ZS-A4M and L7. There is an observation in a CustomMod thread here that it could have a big impact on temps. If you don't like the aesthetics then may be a slot on the side panel at the front would work too.
2, Front I/O please. The Loli2 4.1L manages 2 USB and audio it as an option!
3, There seems to be a big space at the top, will the fans make a big difference? Cases this small tend to exhaust most of the heat straight out the side of the case. Any test results with/without would be interesting.
4, GPU position could raised if it makes the riser shorter and/or cabling easier.
5, Build quality. Most similar cases suffer from questionable quality. Nail this and you may have a winner.

 

[snyed]

Dope concept. Have you considered both fans off the front of the GPU though? Most 170mm cards spit the hottest air from the front and back. I'm working on a similar concept with dual 92x25mm fans up front. With the added height a flex-ATX PSU under the M/B, a perfect space is left for PSU cable management and front I/O options. The concept is the same 5L +/- a small amount that yours is (depending ofc on how tight you want everything). Just thought I'd throw it out there in case it gives you any ideas. Either way, sick stuff!

I have yes and I'm hoping the hot hair exhausted from the card is able to rise and be sent out of the case by the top fan

 

[snyed]

Looking forward to seeing how this progresses. This form factor is becoming increasingly popular - Hahutzy, CustomMod Flex, ZS-A4M, Loli2 and others.

Some thoughts:
1, As above think about a front vent for the GPU. Similar to the ZS-A4M and L7. There is an observation in a CustomMod thread here that it could have a big impact on temps. If you don't like the aesthetics then may be a slot on the side panel at the front would work too.
2, Front I/O please. The Loli2 4.1L manages 2 USB and audio it as an option!
3, There seems to be a big space at the top, will the fans make a big difference? Cases this small tend to exhaust most of the heat straight out the side of the case. Any test results with/without would be interesting.
4, GPU position could raised if it makes the riser shorter and/or cabling easier.
5, Build quality. Most similar cases suffer from questionable quality. Nail this and you may have a winner.

Thanks for the input, I will consider adding a front vent. As for the front I/O, I wasn't really sure what should be included but adding compatibility for it shouldn't be too difficult.

When it comes to ventilation, I don't expect much air to be exhausted out the side panels due to the fact that the cpu and gpu fans will be in-taking from them. I could replace the spaces for fans with just a top vent, but I created a straw poll on sff case fans and 75% of 240 people voted that they would prefer a slightly larger case with 2 fans than a smaller case with none. I may create 2 prototypes; one with and one without just to test the temps and go from there.

The reason why I left so much vertical space for the gpu is because I wanted it to be compatible with the msi 1070 aero itx which is a well performing and cool gpu. This will be subject to change depending on what other people think.

 

[ondert]

This type is becoming my favorite layout. Can you squeeze it a bit around 4.5 lt without removing the top fans?

Also, could you put vents on the front side where the gpu is located like on ZS-A4M? It seems to work.

 

[snyed]

I may be able to squeeze it down a bit yes, as for the vents in the front I will make a few variations and see what everyone thinks of them.

 

[snyed]

Update: Added vents on the front panel for the gpu to exhaust through and 2 usb ports

 

[daedos]

Good work. Here is my other venting suggestion for any prototyping and testing you do - a small complete gap for exhausting

Is the intended material aluminium? You may have issues with the holes. Hahutzy XS is thread is a good read re some of the difficulties he faced on the vent patterns.

Is this a personal project or something you intend to sell? If the latter any idea of timelines and expected cost?

 

[snyed]

Good work. Here is my other venting suggestion for any prototyping and testing you do - a small complete gap for exhausting

Is the intended material aluminium? You may have issues with the holes. Hahutzy XS is thread is a good read re some of the difficulties he faced on the vent patterns.

Is this a personal project or something you intend to sell? If the latter any idea of timelines and expected cost?

The intended material is 1.5mm aluminum, and I have created another variation of the ventilation design.
As long as there is enough interest in this project, I will be doing a small production run and I hope to create the prototype in the next month or two. When it comes to the price, it's too early to determine but I plan to go with a higher quality manufacturer.

If this does become the design then a mesh will definitely be included as quite a bit of dust can enter the case without one.

 

[CC Ricers]

I like the diagonal slot pattern on this case. It could be a good stand-in for the proposed Catz ITX cases that were going to be made in this style (before the creator went MIA).

 

[ondert]

I sold my SG13 sff pc and went for eGPU setup with my Macbook. However, I'm still interested this type of cases and many are not well built or only available in Chinese market. If the price and build quality will be reasonable, I'll be in the line to buy one of your cases.

 

[snyed]

Here are some more top ventilation designs

 

[ondert]

I think it's better with the same pattern on all sides of the case.

 

[ignsvn]

Quite a lot of nice FlexATX or 1U based cases here.

Just wondering, have we got a quiet / silent FlexATX PSU?

Edit: last time I checked, not really, since the 40mm fan has to spin very fast to move more air. But do let me know if I missed anything.

 

[snyed]

Quite a lot of nice FlexATX or 1U based cases here.

Just wondering, have we got a quiet / silent FlexATX PSU?

Edit: last time I checked, not really, since the 40mm fan has to spin very fast to move more air. But do let me know if I missed anything.

There is the ZF240 Fanless 240W flex psu, but it relies on using the case as a heat sink. An alternative would be to use a dc-dc power supply like the hdplex; which is fanless but requires a power brick.

 

[ZMan]

A few remarks based on my experience:
1. The two fans on top are useless. The video cards that fit in the case do not exhaust hot air upwards. And on the MB side there is the PCIe raiser cable.
2. Front exhaust cut is a must. Otherwise you are choking the Video card exhaust. This small slit on the side panel will not be sufficient.
3. Front I/O connectors will just add cables in the case. They had some reason to exist in the Classic ATX design. Where the back ones were to far away to be easy accessible.
4. Rework the PSU exhaust cutout. Not all FlexATX has their fan in the same side.

 

[jØrd]

3. Front I/O connectors will just add cables in the case. They had some reason to exist in the Classic ATX design. Where the back ones were to far away to be easy accessible.

Just because you dont use them it does not mean no one does. Whilst I can only speak for myself front USB is something i use all the time, front audio less so but still fromt time to time they come in handy.

 

[Thehack]

There is the ZF240 Fanless 240W flex psu, but it relies on using the case as a heat sink. An alternative would be to use a dc-dc power supply like the hdplex; which is fanless but requires a power brick.

Meanwell or any other 12V PSU will work. Up to 400W. You can also use an internal 24V Meanwell with the HDPLEX.

 

[snyed]

Fixed the psu mount