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

[3lfk1ng]

Hello Johnny and congrats on the case!

With 25mm fans up front, there is approximately 312mm worth of space for a GPU (personal measurement from back of case to direct contact with the fan shroud). Without case fans, 330mm is the max length of a GPU this case can support (according to official Sliger specs, likely leaving ~7mm to account for angled installation requirement at that point).

I think that if you slot in the gpu first and then slide the fans into position at the front of the case- it should work. If you run into any issues, there's nothing a little sandpaper can't do to lower the height of a fan or reduce the plastic GPU shroud itself.

If you skip the top-most intake fan, you could mount the 2.5"/3.5" drives comfortably at the cost of airflow behind the PSU over the VRMs.
With the inclusion of the swinging arm bracket, you cound mount a single 2.5"/3.5"drive to that as well -the Enermax cables are pretty forgiving.

However, if you can swing it -my best recommendation would be to stick to M.2s, or make use of an external Samsung T5 and keep the ventilation at optimal levels.

 

[Chann3l]

Hi everyone,

I have ordered and received a red Cerberus X and I'm currently planning my build.

Case itself is everything I hoped for, the quality is really good and it looks great! : ) Some panels are a bit stiff to take off but other than that nothing.

For specs I'm going to house a X399 Threadripper system with a RX Vega 64 card, and that is about how far I gotten : )

The motherboard I got is a X399 Gigabyte Designare EX, I also got the Enermax Liqtech 240 TR4 for cooling, all other parts are still subject for change, so any input is welcome.

I have seen the pictures of @3lfk1ng build, and while I'm going for the same orientation for the radiator, I still got some questions.

The GPU I'm hopingto buy is the Sapphire RX Vega 64 Nitro+, and it is 310mm long, will I have space for intake fans in front of the case with this GPU?

Will there be space for the Enermax AIO tubing with this large GPU?


I've been looking at the pictures for quite some time : P I can't figure out any space for 2,5 or 3,5 inch drives anywhere, is it possible or is it too crammed?

Would be thankful for any replies or ideas, expensive stuffs to buy so I rather not order and then realize they don't fit togheter : P

Thanks!

There are mounting holes for 2 2.5 inch drives on the motherboard tray to the right of the Mobo.

 

[Johnny0971]

Hello Johnny and congrats on the case!

With 25mm fans up front, there is approximately 312mm worth of space for a GPU (personal measurement from back of case to direct contact with the fan shroud). Without case fans, 330mm is the max length of a GPU this case can support (according to official Sliger specs, likely leaving ~7mm to account for angled installation requirement at that point).

I think that if you slot in the gpu first and then slide the fans into position at the front of the case- it should work. If you run into any issues, there's nothing a little sandpaper can't do to lower the height of a fan or reduce the plastic GPU shroud itself.

If you skip the top-most intake fan, you could mount the 2.5"/3.5" drives comfortably at the cost of airflow behind the PSU over the VRMs.
With the inclusion of the swinging arm bracket, you cound mount a single 2.5"/3.5"drive to that as well -the Enermax cables are pretty forgiving.

However, if you can swing it -my best recommendation would be to stick to M.2s, or make use of an external Samsung T5 and keep the ventilation at optimal levels.

Thanks for your very informative reply : ) That was quick.

Sounds promising that there is 312mm space for the GPU, that means that it should fit in theory. I would like to have at least one 120/140mm Noctua fan in the front as intake, and a 3,5 4TB drive in a HDD bracket above the fan, if it doesn't conflict with the GPU. If it does conflict, I can simply install 2 fans instead for better airflow.

Correct me if I'm wrong ,but I can't use the swinging arm bracket togheter with a rear mounted ATX power supply?

I can buy 3 M.2s but that would still not leave me with alot of storage space. Would the space next to the motherboard be available to mount 2,5' SSDs, the holes are there so it should work?

Choices choices : P

Edit; I did notice a few quality flaws on the case, nothing major though, only thing that bothers me is that the paint seems to be missing / chipped away at some extremely small parts on my top panel edges, is this normal or is the paint supposed to cover every mm?

 

[Anthony]

I just wanted to chime in and say that I could NOT get my vertical mounting solution (requires dremel modding) to fit with a 240MM rad at the bottom. Even if I somehow could, the FTW3's increased height would have likely collided with the ATX PSU in the Cerberus-X (pic).

That was originally my plan but the height of the rad+fans proved too tall, so unfortunately I had to gave it away to a friend's relocation project instead.

Now, had I gone with a standard size GPU like the 1080ti Black with a 240/280MM rad mounted to the front the case, I think that a vertical GPU mounting solution would have worked flawlessly.

There's also an ArticStorm Mini that's much smaller. It will likely fit with a vertical mount. The main issue is that I've only found it at two retailers, in Australia and Japan respectively.

 

[MarcParis]

lol, guys i don't understand...why are you considering shorter gpu (like artic storm) that is prone to higher coil whine than longer ones...

why not simply consider a MSI trio or asus poseidon (not sure this later one is fitting cerberus-x)?

 

[W1NN1NG]

I'm so torn on standard or Cerberus x

 

[minhbao92]

I wonder why ordering a Cerberus X with ATX Plate + an extra SFX Internal Kit ($285) is more expensive than a Cerberus X with SFX internal + an extra ATX PSU Plate ($267)?

 

[MarcParis]

I'm so torn on standard or Cerberus x

Cerberus-x is the easiest choice..

I wonder why ordering a Cerberus X with ATX Plate + an extra SFX Internal Kit ($285) is more expensive than a Cerberus X with SFX internal + an extra ATX PSU Plate ($267)?

Maybe you found a good deal..

 

[minhbao92]

I order mine with internal ATX, and now I want an extra SFX Internal as well. But it is more expensive than getting one with internal SFX and ordering an extra ATX. I am not happy with that

 

[TheHig]

I order mine with internal ATX, and now I want an extra SFX Internal as well. But it is more expensive than getting one with internal SFX and ordering an extra ATX. I am not happy with that

Shoot @KSliger an email and or PM here and they should be able to help you get sorted. Can’t hurt to ask!

Also has my case shipped!? —shameless piling on here. Lol.

Edit: hopefully you guys are buried in orders and this chassis is the huge success it deserves to be.

 

[TheHig]

I'm so torn on standard or Cerberus x

X was my choice due to it being only slightly taller and allows for the most component support. I plan on making this the last case I own that has ATX support. It’s the smallest out there that still allows one to go “big.”

My 2 cents

 

[W1NN1NG]

I feel like I'll go x. As much as I love the overall size of the standard. There just isn't matx boards there. I'm sure there will be more once h370 etc comes but right now I think I'm gonna go with the x. Even though I feel like there's going to be too much dead spaces for me that way. IDK.

 

[Chann3l]

I feel like I'll go x. As much as I love the overall size of the standard. There just isn't matx boards there. I'm sure there will be more once h370 etc comes but right now I think I'm gonna go with the x. Even though I feel like there's going to be too much dead spaces for me that way. IDK.

There are a few good z370 matx boards. I went with the non x and picked up the msi z370m gaming pro ac board for my upcoming build. Should provide a stable platform for overclocking and is crammed with features.

 

[W1NN1NG]

There are a few good z370 matx boards. I went with the non x and picked up the msi z370m gaming pro ac board for my upcoming build. Should provide a stable platform for overclocking and is crammed with features.

Yeah I'm not a fan of the msi one for this go around sadly nothing to do with features as it does pack plenty. I just don't like the aesthetic. The strix looks nice but I don't like the pcie placement for sli :/ in case I end up going that route

 

[Chann3l]

Yeah I'm not a fan of the msi one for this go around sadly nothing to do with features as it does pack plenty. I just don't like the aesthetic. The strix looks nice but I don't like the pcie placement for sli :/ in case I end up going that route

Ah ok, I love the all black aesthetic but if you're not a fan of that then the asrock pro4 is probably out too lol. They really need more matx boards though. The EVGA micro is not good either because it's missing 2 dimms.

 

[W1NN1NG]

Ah ok, I love the all black aesthetic but if you're not a fan of that then the asrock pro4 is probably out too lol. They really need more matx boards though. The EVGA micro is not good either because it's missing 2 dimms.

I actually don't mind the ASRock. I think I'll make the decision come march. That's when I plan to do my build or at least when I plan to start it

 

[FoskcoRS5]

Personally I think the Z370G is the best option. It supports SLI founder edition cards in the two PCIE slots. The ASRock has the lower slot but then the card interferes with whatever is on the bottom of the chassis. Old pic for reference.

I just noticed the VGA and DVI connectors built onto that ASRock and I cried inside.

 

[MarcParis]

Cerberus-x is the key....

 

[FoskcoRS5]

Cerberus-x is the key....

Meh. Cerberus is the OG. The X was merely a 61mm accident. Great design / chassis none the less.

 

[W1NN1NG]

Yeah, I kinda want the og cause I kinda wanna mod the panels to make it look like Nova did. With button on front panel. It'll take some body filler but I think I can handle it