Concept AOS Crossbow - A super clean open air case to show off your build

[Chris Rosser]

Hi Everyone!

I'm excited to show you a project I've been working on for the last little while. I call it the AOS Crossbow. It's an open air sandwich case/frame with support for up to SFX-L power supplies and GPUs up to 315mm (TBC may go bigger based on your feedback).

This case is for people who want the exceptional thermals and low noise afforded by an open air design while also turning their PC into a mini art installation for their components!

All the cables and drives fit within the central spine of the frame out of sight for a clean look, while all the connections for GPU, Motherboard IO and Power come discretely out of the bottom of the case where they can be cleanly managed to where they need to go. You'll use a right angled C13 power cable that is internally routed through the spine of the case to connect to the PSU.

GPU is connected via a riser cable that passes through the spine.

Cutouts in the spine support flow through GPU coolers (although for thermals a standard axial design will probably perform best).

Assembly is a breeze as far as SFF PCs go as you can assemble the two halves of the case separately and then connect them together with all the cables inside as the final step!

What I need help with:
1. Feedback on the design
2. Suggestions for manfuacturing partners (I've contacted Lian-Li and Protocase already)

Background on me in case you're interested:

I'm an aerothermal engineer by training and over the last year I've been designing FPV drone frames and selling them around the world with the help of several manfuacturing partners (you can find me on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/chrisrosser). I've always been passionate about SFF PC cases so this project is an exciting one for me!

 

[Chris Rosser]

Reserved

 

[Revenant]

I like the idea of an inverted Xproto style case but I do have a couple concerns.

First, the power wall cable tolerances look really, really right.

Second, the 24 pin cable cut out needs to be a bit wider to avoid cable bending.

Third, you can have any shape you want on the top. Maybe integrate a spot for 2.5inch drives?

Fourth, maybe allow for 90 degree GPU rotation for blow through cards.

 

[Chris Rosser]

Reserved

I like the idea of an inverted Xproto style case but I do have a couple concerns.

First, the power wall cable tolerances look really, really right.

Second, the 24 pin cable cut out needs to be a bit wider to avoid cable bending.

Third, you can have any shape you want on the top. Maybe integrate a spot for 2.5inch drives?

Fourth, maybe allow for 90 degree GPU rotation for blow through cards.

Thank you for the feedback. It shoud be easy enough to provide a little more tolerance for the power cable and open out that 24pin cable cutout. Do you think it's necessary to be able to unplug the power cable without disassembling the case? At the moment the power cable is "integral" if you know what I mean!

I have added 4x 2.5" drive mouting spots in the spine.2 behind the PSU and 2 behind the GPU at the bottom. That's a good suggestion.

 

[Tizzz]

Forward thinking a bit but maybe adding support for dual 360/280/240 rads on the back side by side. Also maybe make this different from the xproto, lose the wings up top, move the psu down a some if possible. It would save on production cost by using less materials and it would stand out more against the xproto, have unlimited gpu support length. Or make an add on where you could add dual radiators on top in place of the wings. Maybe even a cool distroplate! Just some thoughts, I love this form factor and have been toying around with some ideas but I'm no good at 3d modeling!