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

[phazeshifta]

Why do you want 25mm fan on external front side?
You can put a 30mm thick radiator + 25mm fan on the interior if you choose a reference/fe gpu (26.67cm +5.5cm=32.17...that fits inside 32.9cm depth of cerberus)

For multiple reasons:

1. 25mm fans are superior in every way to their thin counterparts, especially for radiators
2. Mounting fans on the front would open up the possibility of a custom reservoir (radikult reservoir) to the front radiator
3. It doesn't feel right to do a push pull setup with 15mm fans on front and 25mm fans on back.
4. Because, to be perfectly frank, it should've been designed this way to begin with.

For someone that talks about fans so much, you of all people should understand why someone would want 25mm fans over slim fans.

 

[dreix]

Nice build @dreix ! I'm happy of your happiness while building in Cerberus..

You are right about 400mm tubing of Celsius s24 AIO...I noticed that also with my customed swiftech AIO. For front radiator, you need really shorter tubes..

For airflow, it should not be that bad as you have both PSU and a "small" 140mm fan on above MB.

Is Celsius S24 pump noisy?

Glad you like it!

Celsius s24 AIO and it's 40cm tubes are perfect in this situation, in my opinion - I have to go around the 3,5 drives a little bit so it is quite good balance between "long enough to reach the bottom comfortably and still have room to go around other things".

Yeah, even 120mm on the top will do the trick - but at this moment I have no way to mount it Or the holes for handle are right for 140mm already? But I guess, even without top exhaust there should be no issue - I do not push my Hackintosh hard

Pump is there - if I put my head literally on the top panel I hear stuff is happening in there (but I have to be alone in the room and have my music turned off). But what I hear is probably one of the 3,5 drives. So I would say it is alright

By the way good eye knowing what AIO it is just from not so clear images

 

[Stephlearnstobuild]

Finally got the pics I was looking for. Thanks!

 

[MarcParis]

For multiple reasons:

1. 25mm fans are superior in every way to their thin counterparts, especially for radiators
2. Mounting fans on the front would open up the possibility of a custom reservoir (radikult reservoir) to the front radiator
3. It doesn't feel right to do a push pull setup with 15mm fans on front and 25mm fans on back.
4. Because, to be perfectly frank, it should've been designed this way to begin with.

For someone that talks about fans so much, you of all people should understand why someone would want 25mm fans over slim fans.

Thus you can start watercooling without front panel.

You will need customed front and top panels to be able to mount 25mm on exterior front panel.

Mp @KSliger, maybe he can help.

 

[Notorious]

I'm still about a month/month and a half out from starting my next build. I'm still a bit undecided on which size Im going to go with. SLI and AIO water-cooling would be a tight fit but possible, and if I can still fit a capture card between the gpus without choking them for air I'd be happy. I just won't be sure until I start seeing thermals

 

[KSliger]

Might start a build in this case because it looks so sleek! Is there a hefty wait time in order to get it?

No delays, will ship today if you order today.

 

[3lfk1ng]

if you put SFX / SFX-L PSU on the back (like I did) + want to use AIO be prepared to bend the tubes on the pump - might be solved with AIO that has fittings on the side instead on the top ... With normal PSU it would be impossible for me to bend it because there would be literally no space.

This is absolutely correct! For those of you with a Threadripper (*cough* @chemist_slime), the Enermax Liqtech TR4 AIO units have side-mounted tubing that allow for a standard length ATX PSU to fit comfortably (available in 240mm and 280mm for this chassis).

I personally went with the 240mm but I could see the 280mm fitting on the front if you have standard length GPUs (i.e. Not a FTW3 @ 11.8in/299.72mm)

With the Liqtech TR4, I even have access to all 8 slots of ram and the gap between the block and the PSU housing is just perfect. I don't see this ATX configuration working comfortably with any other AIO's as even NZXT's Kraken units were so tall that they hit the PSU. The best part is that the Liqtech 240 outperforms the 280mm Kraken x62 even when it was in the 41.5l iter 340-Elite chasis
https://i.imgur.com/bWQ80Z9.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/JMFuYVsl.jpg

There is just barely enough room for 'tall' memory
https://i.imgur.com/6irrj6k.jpg

Full build here for anyone that missed it.

 

[MarcParis]

@3lfk1ng with this feedback i guess you are fully pleased by your cerberus-x build..
What about noise of pump and enermax d pressure fans?

 

[3lfk1ng]

Oh hell yes! Outside of the week long trial and error game of Tetris to make everything fit -it's absolutely perfect for me.

The Liqtech TR4's pump is completely inaudible over the low whir of the fans in the case. To date, I've yet to hear it spin up like a HDD under load but the cool temps tell me that it's working and that it's working really well. The entire setup is ever so slightly louder than the temporary setup that I had in the NZXT S340-Elite chassis but with all the swiss cheese holes surrounding the Cerberus-X, it's entirely understandable and well within safe margins of noise tolerance (which for me is low when it comes to computers).

The Enermax fans are surprisingly high quality and they move A LOT of air for not being too terribly loud (about as loud as the once-revered Bitfenix Spectre Pro fans that I had on my previous build). I figured I would save money off the bat and at least give them a chance before buying replacements but color me impressed. In fact, the whole AIO setup has changed my opinion of the Enermax Brand.

Also worth mentioning are the anti-vibration properties. Not only do the fans have a vibration damper on each corner but so does the radiator that it mounts too. Combine that with the beefy Cerberus feet and it does a terrific job keeping the desk free from vibrations.

 

[MarcParis]

Thanks for your feedback..

Next step is dust filters, no?

 

[3lfk1ng]

YW

Those and perhaps some additional Cerberus modifications/accessories.

 

[Ubermarshall]

Hello,

so, my build is finished, yay!

Images attached bellow, hope you like it as I do

Might help someone who is about to build or even purchase new HW:

• you can fit 240mm AIO on the bottom and not in the front - with 40cm long tubes it was impossible to twist it comfortably (with respect to other HW)
• if you put SFX / SFX-L PSU on the back (like I did) + want to use AIO be prepared to bend the tubes on the pump - might be solved with AIO that has fittings on the side instead on the top. Even though mine has quite robust (but flexible!) tubes, it is quite a bend between pump and PSU (but all works and seems to be in the OK territory). With normal PSU it would be impossible for me to bend it because there would be literally no space.
• With no exhaust fan (I have no way to mount it anywhere - waiting for my second package with handle to arrive) it gets quite "toasty" around motherboard in this config (nothing major, but I see the difference from previous case). Especially if your case sits right above radiator as mine
• Really think through what goes where and in what order - it gets quickly compact and there was no possibility of "oh, I forgot this 15minutes ago, so I just do it now".
• Start with plugging front IO. These little bastards disappeared under tubings, sata cables, power cables and god knows what else in seconds after I put anything inside the case.
• In case this small it took me 2 hours (including cleaning mess I always do when building computers) to disembowel my old case and put everything into Cerberus
• Building in Cerberus was quite weird combination of fun and stress - right after "if this does not fit here with all cables already there I have literally no other place to put it" comes "It is coming together really, really fast in case this small. Oh...am I done already? Wasn't that hard after all!"

+ BONUS - my wife took a picture of me mounting the motherboard (and decided to include Vault Boy as well). She said I had this face expression the whole time of the assembly

Nice build. You could always get some 90 degree connectors and connect the fractals g1/4 fitting at a right angle, if you wanted to remove that bend in the tubing.

 

[chemist_slime]

This is absolutely correct! For those of you with a Threadripper (*cough* @chemist_slime), the Enermax Liqtech TR4 AIO units have side-mounted tubing that allow for a standard length ATX PSU to fit comfortably (available in 240mm and 280mm for this chassis).

I personally went with the 240mm but I could see the 280mm fitting on the front if you have standard length GPUs (i.e. Not a FTW3 @ 11.8in/299.72mm)

With the Liqtech TR4, I even have access to all 8 slots of ram and the gap between the block and the PSU housing is just perfect. I don't see this ATX configuration working comfortably with any other AIO's as even NZXT's Kraken units were so tall that they hit the PSU. The best part is that the Liqtech 240 outperforms the 280mm Kraken x62 even when it was in the 41.5l iter 340-Elite chasis
https://i.imgur.com/bWQ80Z9.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/JMFuYVsl.jpg

There is just barely enough room for 'tall' memory
https://i.imgur.com/6irrj6k.jpg

Full build here for anyone that missed it.

OMG, thanks so much for the info. I already have a 280mm on order and was actually scared that with the standard length graphics cards, it would not fit. But it seems like it might just squeeze by. Furthermore, I ended up returning all 4 Titan Xps and ordered 4 Titan Vs instead -- that should arrive next week. Only delay might be the 280mm Enermax, I have two on pre-order from newegg and shipping is after the 15th of Dec so fingers crossed I also get it next week!

 

[chemist_slime]

This is absolutely correct! For those of you with a Threadripper (*cough* @chemist_slime), the Enermax Liqtech TR4 AIO units have side-mounted tubing that allow for a standard length ATX PSU to fit comfortably (available in 240mm and 280mm for this chassis).

I personally went with the 240mm but I could see the 280mm fitting on the front if you have standard length GPUs (i.e. Not a FTW3 @ 11.8in/299.72mm)

With the Liqtech TR4, I even have access to all 8 slots of ram and the gap between the block and the PSU housing is just perfect. I don't see this ATX configuration working comfortably with any other AIO's as even NZXT's Kraken units were so tall that they hit the PSU. The best part is that the Liqtech 240 outperforms the 280mm Kraken x62 even when it was in the 41.5l iter 340-Elite chasis
https://i.imgur.com/bWQ80Z9.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/JMFuYVsl.jpg

There is just barely enough room for 'tall' memory
https://i.imgur.com/6irrj6k.jpg

Full build here for anyone that missed it.

Btw, what PSU is that? The Corsair AX1500 I have is 225mm in length. My tube bend might be much sharper than yours. Also, do you have the fans on the radiator exhausting air or sucking air in? If sucking air in, did it affect GPU temps?

 

[3lfk1ng]

You're very welcome.

I think the only trouble with a 280mm might be thickness of the radiator under 25mm fans -I have no idea how much space you will have at the end of the Titans between the front of the case. You might have to do a 15mm push-pull config but either way, it should work and pull enough fresh air in for those Titans.

It's the Seasonic Prime 850 Titanium but they don't make one larger than 1000watts, which I suspect you will need more than.

Huge congrats on the Titan V's, I am going to share your rig with everyone I know. Insane!

The radiator exhausts out so I have a 140mm Noctua pulling in fresh air for that bottom section of the case

 

[jsco]

Huge congrats on the Titan V's, I am going to share your rig with everyone I know. Insane!

seriously. definitely sets a FLOPS/liter high water mark.

 

[SufferLouder]

Anyone have any experience in which CPU coolers would go best in it? I'm trying to use this for my next build, so I have a list of parts! Let me know if they'll work and if u have any suggestions for a cooler!


Core i7 8700K
ROG STRIX Z370-G
HyperX Fury 16GB
M.2 SSD
GTX 1080 TI FTW3
SF600
2.5 In SSD


Thanks for the help! I'm only used to doing full tower cases, this is a whole new ballgame. 8700K May be delidded due to the heat issue, so just lmk what y'all think!

 

[MarcParis]

OMG, thanks so much for the info. I already have a 280mm on order and was actually scared that with the standard length graphics cards, it would not fit. But it seems like it might just squeeze by. Furthermore, I ended up returning all 4 Titan Xps and ordered 4 Titan Vs instead -- that should arrive next week. Only delay might be the 280mm Enermax, I have two on pre-order from newegg and shipping is after the 15th of Dec so fingers crossed I also get it next week!

If i were you i will consider a celsius s24 with radiator on front with 25mm fans, BUT with shorter tubes...definitely a very good option with your four titan V (gg on that, you will a tremendously powerful Cerberus-x..)

Anyone have any experience in which CPU coolers would go best in it? I'm trying to use this for my next build, so I have a list of parts! Let me know if they'll work and if u have any suggestions for a cooler!


Core i7 8700K
ROG STRIX Z370-G
HyperX Fury 16GB
M.2 SSD
GTX 1080 TI FTW3
SF600
2.5 In SSD


Thanks for the help! I'm only used to doing full tower cases, this is a whole new ballgame. 8700K May be delidded due to the heat issue, so just lmk what y'all think!

As you are going to a micro atx variant with no offset in pcie slots, i recommend you celsius s24. Its native long tubes are great to put radiator on the bottom. Furthermore you can easily shorten tubes length if required..

Noctua c14s, on air cooling, should be possible but i’m not sure of clearance between heatsink and gpu, as you don’t have a pcie 1x as offset before gpu.

 

[VegetableStu]

oh wow the previous version of this comment I made was a disaster. here's the correct ones:

First worry would be RAM clearance, but normal height RAM should easily go under it (my setup for RAM reference)

 

[dreix]

Nice build. You could always get some 90 degree connectors and connect the fractals g1/4 fitting at a right angle, if you wanted to remove that bend in the tubing.

Thanks Yeah I could but I am not experienced with watter cooling at all, so tempting with fitings, fluid etc. is not something I want to deal with unless I have to.