Chimera Industries Cerberus: The 18L, mATX, USA-made enclosure
- Thread starter PlayfulPhoenix
- Start date
And if it doesn't fit, maybe SFF forum should team up with Hydraulic Press Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcMDMoNu66_1Hwi5-MeiQgw
Like they say in rocketry, given enough thrust pigs fly just fine.
I do actually like the "waste of space" as I can have more room for a dual rad setup. However, I may still go with the X and install/glue some standoffs to mount a MATX board. By the time I mount all of the components and cooling solutions, a MITX mobo might look diminutive.
So, following this up. I'm really wanting to go all out as this will be my first ever rig and I will most likely not ever build a secondary PC (I'm the only gamer and pc enthusiast in the house.). I'm aware that air cooling is more than applicable for my cooling needs; but it just isn't pretty enough lol. I've been toying with the idea of soft line or hard line tubing. If anyone has read my earlier posts, I'm wanting to go for a clean industrial look; metal fans, possibly a bare Cerberus with a clear coat, minimum RGB, and hopefully a custom side panel for full window view. Though I am aware that there are apparently some issues with how the panels attach. I won't be taking the panel off that often so I'm sure I can figure something out. That being said, stainless steel piping seems so elegant for my build. However, the limitations of it's bending capabilities, my knowledge of metal working, lack of metal working tools, and the small case size make this solution less than ideal. As luck would have it, I've come across steel braiding; which could easily be slipped over soft or hard line tubing.
https://d1rktuf34l9h2g.cloudfront.net/7/7a/7a646a35_5a1dd7d1_IMG_0307-001.jpeg
It seems Techflex and MCMaster sell these by foot (There may be other stores that you guys and gals could recommend.). It's not nearly as pricey as I thought thankfully. I'm thinking of going hardline tubing to create that "Stiff Pipe" look and covering it with the steel braid. Working plastic pipe won't be nearly as troublesome and will need less tools. My knowledge is lacking in this area though.
* What size OD pipe would best be suited for Cerberus?
* What type of fittings would work best with the braid and hard tubing?
* Would it be feasible to install a dual rad setup with hardline piping into the Cerberus X?
~ matx mobo, sfx psu, 1080ti, 1 3.5 hdd (10TB), 1-2 2.5 ssd's ~
* Considering all of the above, any recommendations on materials and pumps?
So, following this up. I'm really wanting to go all out as this will be my first ever rig and I will most likely not ever build a secondary PC (I'm the only gamer and pc enthusiast in the house.). I'm aware that air cooling is more than applicable for my cooling needs; but it just isn't pretty enough lol. I've been toying with the idea of soft line or hard line tubing. If anyone has read my earlier posts, I'm wanting to go for a clean industrial look; metal fans, possibly a bare Cerberus with a clear coat, minimum RGB, and hopefully a custom side panel for full window view. Though I am aware that there are apparently some issues with how the panels attach. I won't be taking the panel off that often so I'm sure I can figure something out. That being said, stainless steel piping seems so elegant for my build. However, the limitations of it's bending capabilities, my knowledge of metal working, lack of metal working tools, and the small case size make this solution less than ideal. As luck would have it, I've come across steel braiding; which could easily be slipped over soft or hard line tubing.
https://d1rktuf34l9h2g.cloudfront.net/7/7a/7a646a35_5a1dd7d1_IMG_0307-001.jpeg
It seems Techflex and MCMaster sell these by foot (There may be other stores that you guys and gals could recommend.). It's not nearly as pricey as I thought thankfully. I'm thinking of going hardline tubing to create that "Stiff Pipe" look and covering it with the steel braid. Working plastic pipe won't be nearly as troublesome and will need less tools. My knowledge is lacking in this area though.
* What size OD pipe would best be suited for Cerberus?
* What type of fittings would work best with the braid and hard tubing?
* Would it be feasible to install a dual rad setup with hardline piping into the Cerberus X?
~ matx mobo, sfx psu, 1080ti, 1 3.5 hdd (10TB), 1-2 2.5 ssd's ~
* Considering all of the above, any recommendations on materials and pumps?
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I think you'll be very happy with what's in the works.
I ordered 16mm OD PETG for my Cerb-X build. People have thrown 16mm into NCASE M1's so it's really a question of bend radii and angled fittings vs straights only.. I'm sure you could make it work.
If you want a fullpanel window, you won't be mounting the PSU there. Dual rad WITH panel window is my plan, 240mm bottom and 120mm front-bottom, with the SFX psu mounted front-top. You might/could mount your drives to the top of the case. I think the recommendation will always be to find room for a D5, usually as part of a reservoir combo.
Ahh, thanks for the info!
With an MATX board in the CX and most likely nothing in the second PCI slot, does anyone know the available depth for the bottom radiator? I'd post a "current" pcpartpicker list but the new coffee lake parts have yet to be listed. I have a hard limit on the fan size being 25mm because the Prolimatech Vortex Fan Aluminum Series are beautiful. However, the true fan size will more likely be around 32mm when I add some Halos Lux (http://www.phanteks.com/HalosLux.html).
The big space taking parts are as follows:
Mobo - EVGA Z370 Micro (https://www.evga.com/articles/01151/evga-z370-series-motherboards/)
GPU - EVGA 1080ti Hydro Copper (expensive I know, but easier than buying and installing my own)
PSU - an SFX-L EVGA Supernova G3, I don't know the capacity I need yet. I'm assuming the 650 or 750 would be adequate.
If I can get thick enough of a rad, I don't think I'll need a front 120. Which should give me the space to mount a 3.5 drive correct? Not that I really need the 3.5; it's just very easy to use high capacity that way when you have 8 and 10 TB options. I'll more than likely be purchasing a delidded 8700k from siliconlottery due to that awful tim Intel has been using. Which should lower the temp 10-20c easily as I'm mostly just trying to hit 4.9-5 ghz. I'm not looking to make any records lmao.
So I can't really claim to be an expert but in my long hours of research I have an opinion that adding any more rad area, however slim, is superior to thickening up an existing radiator. Generally thicker radiators need to have faster fans to keep up with more radiator space. Faster fans = loud, which I cannot abide. If noise isn't a concern, thick radiator + fast fans is certainly very performant.
With an mATX board in Cerb-X you'll have ~100mm between the bottom of the case and the edge of the motherboard. With 32mm dedicated to fans, you've still got a massive 68mm of potential rad thickness. If you're only using the first (top) PCI slot for your GPU, that's another 50mm or so of space (overlapping with motherboard) for a potential horizontal res/pump.
Hard drive will be... tricky. Power cables don't bend sharply... you could consider getting an SFX psu over an SFX-L, which would save you 30mm of space (a TON) for cable routing!
Mocked it up for you (note that I'm too lazy to model screw holes in these tinkercads so fine placement could be off - but hopefully not to a disastrous level. 32mm fan height, 60mm rad thickness. Also note that the PCI slots on the case are going to be fucky because I just stretched the cerberus model taller to make it a cerb-x. You can totally flip around the bottom radiator, too, so the ports would be towards the rear.
With an mATX board in Cerb-X you'll have ~100mm between the bottom of the case and the edge of the motherboard. With 32mm dedicated to fans, you've still got a massive 68mm of potential rad thickness. If you're only using the first (top) PCI slot for your GPU, that's another 50mm or so of space (overlapping with motherboard) for a potential horizontal res/pump.
Hard drive will be... tricky. Power cables don't bend sharply... you could consider getting an SFX psu over an SFX-L, which would save you 30mm of space (a TON) for cable routing!
Mocked it up for you (note that I'm too lazy to model screw holes in these tinkercads so fine placement could be off - but hopefully not to a disastrous level. 32mm fan height, 60mm rad thickness. Also note that the PCI slots on the case are going to be fucky because I just stretched the cerberus model taller to make it a cerb-x. You can totally flip around the bottom radiator, too, so the ports would be towards the rear.
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I'm not too concerned with the fan noise. I have listened to consoles and laptops making audible whining for years now. That, and the aluminum fans will be louder in general.So I can't really claim to be an expert but in my long hours of research I have an opinion that adding any more rad area, however slim, is superior to thickening up an existing radiator. Generally thicker radiators need to have faster fans to keep up with more radiator space. Faster fans = loud, which I cannot abide. If noise isn't a concern, thick radiator + fast fans is certainly very performant.
With an mATX board in Cerb-X you'll have ~100mm between the bottom of the case and the edge of the motherboard. With 32mm dedicated to fans, you've still got a massive 68mm of potential rad thickness. If you're only using the first (top) PCI slot for your GPU, that's another 50mm or so of space (overlapping with motherboard) for a potential horizontal res/pump.
Hard drive will be... tricky. Power cables don't bend sharply... you could consider getting an SFX psu over an SFX-L, which would save you 30mm of space (a TON) for cable routing!
Mocked it up for you (note that I'm too lazy to model screw holes in these tinkercads so fine placement could be off - but hopefully not to a disastrous level. 32mm fan height, 60mm rad thickness. Also note that the PCI slots on the case are going to be fucky because I just stretched the cerberus model taller to make it a cerb-x. You can totally flip around the bottom radiator, too, so the ports would be towards the rear.
Thanks for the mockup! I tried doing one but I greatly lack cad skills lol. So I just need a top left exhaust fan to blow out excess heat, a d5 pump/res combo mounted somewhere, and a ssd. Theoretically, plenty of room right? I'll check and see if EVGA has regular sfx supplies. These G3's are their brand new fully modular high efficiency models so it seemed like a good choice.
- Feb 22, 2015
- 1,052
- 1,990
Hi all,
I'm getting pretty darn close to being able to share details on pricing and availability. Not much else to say at the moment, but I wanted to confirm that this is an active conversation that we're pushing hard to wrap up.
I'm getting pretty darn close to being able to share details on pricing and availability. Not much else to say at the moment, but I wanted to confirm that this is an active conversation that we're pushing hard to wrap up.
I have a question.
I read we can have a bracket to use an Atx psu mounted in the rear of the chassis, do we have the option to mount SFX/SFX l in the rear aswell?
Forgive me if I missed something over 132 pages.
I read we can have a bracket to use an Atx psu mounted in the rear of the chassis, do we have the option to mount SFX/SFX l in the rear aswell?
Forgive me if I missed something over 132 pages.
My memory of this thread might be fuzzy, but if there isn't a mounting plate for SFX you could go get an ATX to SFX mounting adapter. Or some SFX PSUs might come with it
Also trying to work out if the motherboard can be inverted.
The old Nova project thread mentioned a bracket for both ATX and SFX.
I will have to trawl through all pages again.
The old Nova project thread mentioned a bracket for both ATX and SFX.
I will have to trawl through all pages again.
Anywhere an ATX will fit an SFX on a bracket must also fit. A good bracket is Silverstone SST-PP08 as it offsets the PSU to one side so you benefit from more clearance one one side and / or putting the fan against the outside for fresh air.
Thanks for posting this, it actually really helps to know an announcement is coming soon as I have time pressure & was getting twitchy on doing an interim build for travelling.
I'm too cheap to buy an interim case, so I'm blaming you if anything happens to my cardboard floor case. Please, save me from myself! I beg you!
- Feb 22, 2015
- 1,052
- 1,990
When ordering your enclosure you will be able to choose either a SFX kit or an ATX kit. The SFX kit will include the front bracket, rear plate, and internal extension cord. the ATX kit will include the rear bracket.
You should be able to order the brackets separately after the fact, as well.
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