Chimera Industries Cerberus: The 18L, mATX, USA-made enclosure

jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
Silver Supporter
Feb 22, 2015
4,969
4,781
It's literally in a depot in the next big city up the interstate. I could drive there and back if I didn't have work tomorrow.

That sucks. I hate then that happens.

[x] Crappy lighting
[x] Baked potato camera

Better than nothing! Many of the cases from this run basically disappeared into the void since I haven't gotten any feedback or pictures from them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Biowarejak

PNP

Airflow Optimizer
Oct 10, 2015
285
257
Oh, I was thinking like a flipbook of unboxing pictures.

There will definitely be a build log. I uh...spent an hour in Photoshop and made a banner for mine...

 

clean003

Caliper Novice
Nov 30, 2016
22
15
Will there be any shipping of the panels in the color of current owners chose? I haven't heard anything about the panels nor power cable.
 

jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
Silver Supporter
Feb 22, 2015
4,969
4,781
Panels and cables are waiting on next pre-production run, but it took longer that we thought it would to sell the last of this batch.
 

TheHig

King of Cable Management
Oct 13, 2016
951
1,171
I just want to say that the Cerberus X is the ONLY case that I would go full ATX for since catching the SFF bug. It really has no equal. Best of luck getting it ready for prime time.
 

PNP

Airflow Optimizer
Oct 10, 2015
285
257
Just picked mine up since FedEx couldn't be bothered to drive 20 minutes yesterday and deliver on time. No pictures yet since my body is telling me that it's too early o' clock in the morning (hurrah for night shift!). I'm not sure how far I'll get since when I get up I'll only have about 10 hours before pounding out another 3 days of 12 hour shifts, but we'll see.
 

PNP

Airflow Optimizer
Oct 10, 2015
285
257
First, I would like to say thank you for using ferromagnetic screws. As someone who has to deal with aluminum screws daily this is bliss.

Second, I'll post initial impressions when i get around to a formal build log thread, but could this reeaalllly use some documentation. Some of it is intuitive: there are 8 silver countersunk screws for 8 motherboard standoffs, 2 hex bolts for the handle, 4 screws for the 2.5 mount and so on. The rest of it not so much, like what are the self-taping screws for and are the gold screws different somehow?

Third, speaking of motherboard standoffs, there is a problem.


I don't suppose anyone else has had this issue with an X99-M WS or any other motherboard? I've already been almost-bamboozled by the upside-down socket and the padded IO shield that bulges too much for comfort...

EDIT: Also how does the power cable work? It appears to use metric threads but none of the screws are long enough...

EDIT2: Nevermind about the power cable, I am a dumdum. I went ahead a screwed into all the motherboard standoffs that line up, same result. I'd be okay with it if it wasn't so close to the CPU area. I'm not really comfortable hanging the NH-C14S's kilogram weight off of this board with that area not fully supported.
 
Last edited:

Ankacat

Trash Compacter
Silver Supporter
Mar 11, 2016
41
107
First, I would like to say thank you for using ferromagnetic screws. As someone who has to deal with aluminum screws daily this is bliss.

Second, I'll post initial impressions when i get around to a formal build log thread, but could this reeaalllly use some documentation. Some of it is intuitive: there are 8 silver countersunk screws for 8 motherboard standoffs, 2 hex bolts for the handle, 4 screws for the 2.5 mount and so on. The rest of it not so much, like what are the self-taping screws for and are the gold screws different somehow?

Third, speaking of motherboard standoffs, there is a problem.


I don't suppose anyone else has had this issue with an X99-M WS or any other motherboard? I've already been almost-bamboozled by the upside-down socket and the padded IO shield that bulges too much for comfort...

I'd completely forgotten it since it happened so early in my build transfer, but I had the same problem in my Cerberus with that top middle standoff not lining up. Board is a Gigabyte H97M-D3H.


I was also afraid of using the gold screws because they didn't seem to match anything obvious. XD
 

PNP

Airflow Optimizer
Oct 10, 2015
285
257
I'd completely forgotten it since it happened so early in my build transfer, but I had the same problem in my Cerberus with that top middle standoff not lining up. Board is a Gigabyte H97M-D3H.


I was also afraid of using the gold screws because they didn't seem to match anything obvious. XD

Ok, so at least this isn't an isolated issue (whew). But, if I am guessing correctly, you have a Cryorig C7, which is about half the weight of a Noctua C14S. The sound of cracking fiberglass is already ringing in my ears >_<

Yeah, I've been doing this by ear. It's worked mostly, a torque of more than 0.6 Nm means it's wrong, except for that one part where two of the black M3s were slightly longer than all the others. That was cruel.
 

Kwirek

Cable-Tie Ninja
Nov 19, 2016
186
198
Well, the stand-off is a known issue so it is not just you. :-)
I didn't notice any flexing with the noctua c14s, but it was on a z270 board.

I assumed the brass screws were for the motherboard, fits perfectly.
 

PNP

Airflow Optimizer
Oct 10, 2015
285
257
I assumed the brass screws were for the motherboard, fits perfectly.

Ah, well I came to a somewhat different conclusion:


(No I'm not really planning on using a 17 year old IBM Deskstar. I just needed a placeholder to verify grommet placement and it just so happens 3.5 inch mounting holes haven't changed since then or...ever, really)

I am beginning to suspect that Cerberus is some sort of teaching tool for Zen Buddhists.
In life, as in selecting screws, there is more than one correct path
 
Last edited: