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

[KSliger]

A good type of double-sided adhesive is 3M VHB, which they have in different widths and material colors (including translucent). It's an insanely strong adhesion and can be removed without leaving residue.

This is correct, it's 3/8" 5915 VHB, might be hard to find anywhere - can possibly try and ship some as a replacement if anyone needs it to fix their case window.

@KSliger i gotta minor bug report:
flathead screw interferes with 2.5" disk on the front SFX PSU mount
minor workaround would be to shorten that screw, but I probably would only do that if I'm populating the upper disk slot

Can you shoot a pic of another angle of that? I will probably just move the SSD mount holes down on next batch. Haven't seen this before - sure it's not hitting PSU or just a bad screw?

Next rev is all about reducing screw problems, getting lots of stripped screws on handle brackets, side brackets, and PSU kits.

I put my order in for a black X, vented/vented with handle and ATX a few days ago.

Going to transfer my existing and ancient mATX i7 4790k build into this case and see about upgrading to threadripper 2 toward the end of the year.

I've never spent even half of what this costs on a case before, really looking forward to it.

I always love feedback, and hope you love this case and it lasts you 20+ years, thank you!

 

[Icytundra]

In that case, customed cable are a must. I'm not sure cable mods is making short enough 24 pins.

Would you have an idea of what measurements I would need? Sorry if it's a noob question, I'm very new to pc building but really enjoy the aesthetic of the Cerberus X.

 

[kecoal2]

Can you mount ssds to the base of the chassis and also mount 140mm fans + 280mm rad? I really can't decide if i should switch to this from my meshify C (Having to go for an AIO from Noctua NH-D15). Also, are there cable tie hoops on the base of the chassis? (Cerberus X)

Are there full window options coming out ?

Are there significant temperature increases with the wooden top?

I need to fit 3 2.5inch drives into the case. I was either going to use the 2 base on the chassis + 1 on the swivel bracket. Or try to get 2 brackets and chain them together to house 3 drives on the swivel bracket. Any ideas?

 

[VegetableStu]

Can you shoot a pic of another angle of that? I will probably just move the SSD mount holes down on next batch. Haven't seen this before - sure it's not hitting PSU or just a bad screw?

Next rev is all about reducing screw problems, getting lots of stripped screws on handle brackets, side brackets, and PSU kits.

here's additional pics. it's actually a non-issue with 7mm thick disks, but regular 9mm HDDs will definitely be affected

(on mobile; i can't rearrange images. the SSD did clear)

(I'm slightly scared that this has already been mentioned on the website or instructions actually ,_, I've been working without a manual so far and I haven't stripped any screws yet (but I think I have 3(?) kinds of flathead screws i got i my set? i know they can't be used for other parts interchangably)

 

[Joe89]

another fluff post while preliminary testing fan fittings:
let's trigger gamersnexus, LOL

How is your result? I tested Front exhaust, side exhaust and top exhaust with 1X 140mm noctua fan (bottom with 2x 140mm fan intake kept constant).
For me, the front exhaust gives superior cooling results. I do have to block off the bottom slit to prevent hot air from recirculating into the bottom intake though.

 

[Joe89]

How is your result? I tested Front exhaust, side exhaust and top exhaust with 1X 140mm noctua fan (bottom with 2x 140mm fan intake kept constant).
For me, the front exhaust gives superior cooling results. I do have to block off the bottom slit to prevent hot air from recirculating into the bottom intake though.

My front configuration was inside the case, not in between the panels though.

 

[FoskcoRS5]

here's additional pics. it's actually a non-issue with 7mm thick disks, but regular 9mm HDDs will definitely be affected

(on mobile; i can't rearrange images. the SSD did clear)

(I'm slightly scared that this has already been mentioned on the website or instructions actually ,_, I've been working without a manual so far and I haven't stripped any screws yet (but I think I have 3(?) kinds of flathead screws i got i my set? i know they can't be used for other parts interchangably)

What happens if you flip the screw around? Go from inside out, rather than outside in.

 

[VegetableStu]

How is your result? I tested Front exhaust, side exhaust and top exhaust with 1X 140mm noctua fan (bottom with 2x 140mm fan intake kept constant).
For me, the front exhaust gives superior cooling results. I do have to block off the bottom slit to prevent hot air from recirculating into the bottom intake though.

I gotta be honest, I didn't put much thought to test ventilation setups ._. also I don't have enough of the same fan at the moment to test out. sorry

What happens if you flip the screw around? Go from inside out, rather than outside in.

oh right I see where you're coming from! I'm a bit too late to find out though, but from eyeballing it I think the head of the screw is right about the same length as the protrusion EDIT: okay nope it's shorter, but the panheadedness of the screwhead miiiight interfere more towards the disk plane than across

I'll try to remember this the next time I empty the case again. (which will happen for sure because I kinda want to explore recabling the mess. should start about two weeks time)

 

[Ray2r]

Received my case yesterday and did my build in it. I mounted 2 hard drives on the side panel could have done 3 but decided against it. I put the 2 SSDs on top of the GPU because they had no place to go due to the short SATA cables.

I also chose the ATX PSU option and then used the SFX plate to mount an SFX PSU. This way I get some extra air holes whereas the original SFX plate that comes with the case does not. Additionally this allows me to change between SFX and ATX PSUs at will.

The last 2 pics are of the top panel where there USB port and the power button. The laser cut (or whatever cutting) isn't perfect or even near perfect so it looks incredibly bad since its the main non-flush portion of the case that is looked at. And the last picture there is metal stuck inside of one of my PCIe Slot's screw hole. I've tried drilling it to no avail so I guess I have to double sided tape to hold on the bracket. This wasn't noticed until the end of the build when I screwed in my WiFi card, GPU, and capture card.

 

[MarcParis]

Received my case yesterday and did my build in it. I mounted 2 hard drives on the side panel could have done 3 but decided against it. I put the 2 SSDs on top of the GPU because they had no place to go due to the short SATA cables.

I also chose the ATX PSU option and then used the SFX plate to mount an SFX PSU. This way I get some extra air holes whereas the original SFX plate that comes with the case does not. Additionally this allows me to change between SFX and ATX PSUs at will.

The last 2 pics are of the top panel where there USB port and the power button. The laser cut (or whatever cutting) isn't perfect or even near perfect so it looks incredibly bad since its the main non-flush portion of the case that is looked at. And the last picture there is metal stuck inside of one of my PCIe Slot's screw hole. I've tried drilling it to no avail so I guess I have to double sided tape to hold on the bracket. This wasn't noticed until the end of the build when I screwed in my WiFi card, GPU, and capture card.

Nice & clean full watercooling loop!
What components are you cooling?

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

Chimera reborn.

We're switching things up.

 

[Kwirek]

Good luck. :-)

Btw, does this mean you'll change the stylized KI logo in the Cerberus? I just got curious regarding this completely irrelevant thing.

 

[musicmaker99]

Hello! Two-year lurker here. Very exciting to see this is in production. I thought this might make a great case for a home server. I know there's something unusual about the motherboard standoffs. Can't fit mATX in a Cerberus-X or something. Does anyone know if the standard microATX Cerberus will fit a Supermicro Flex ATX motherboard?

 

[Solo]

I'm trying so bloody hard to be a shill for KI (or rather CI, now). My friends all want mass produced ATX cases. They'll never understand, man. I simply cannot make them understand.

 

[Phuncz]

Some people don't like challenges or think bigger is better or go completely off the rail with "back in the day, everything was betta" crap because PCs were much bigger back then (because they needed to be). Nowadays, most PC builds are just air/dust storage devices. Just give them a shiny box the equivalent of the volume difference with some dust and air inside to compensate, put some RGB and a window in there, they'll have their compensation.

 

[Taswegian]

Hello! Two-year lurker here. Very exciting to see this is in production. I thought this might make a great case for a home server. I know there's something unusual about the motherboard standoffs. Can't fit mATX in a Cerberus-X or something. Does anyone know if the standard microATX Cerberus will fit a Supermicro Flex ATX motherboard?

Flex ATX uses a subset of mATX standoffs so anything that takes mATX should also take FlexATX.

Regular Cerberus is optimized for mATX.

Cerberus X is the same in nearly every way except it's 3 expansion slots taller and it does not have the bottom row of mATX stand offs.
mATX boards will fit, but you would need to use some self adhesive standoffs for the bottom row (same for FlexATX)

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

Good luck. :-)

Btw, does this mean you'll change the stylized KI logo in the Cerberus? I just got curious regarding this completely irrelevant thing.

I've actually decided not to ask Sliger to update it. I think the current design is great for what it is, and I want to separate the new products Chimera Industries will work on from the original Cerberus and Cerberus X that started it all. So the KI is a nice, subtle nod to that lineage.

I'm trying so bloody hard to be a shill for KI (or rather CI, now). My friends all want mass produced ATX cases. They'll never understand, man. I simply cannot make them understand.

There is a greatly unexplored and undervalued frontier for innovative, disciplined, high-end ATX enclosures. I hope that Chimera Industries (or SFFLAB more broadly) can do more in that space at some point. But it is a punishing area to compete in commercially, given the customers and the expectations around price and compatibility.

 

[Suryc]

Hi there,

I've tried searching through this thread but I can't find an answer.

What is the purpose of this panel here? In the red rectangle.

I'm going to be using an ATX power supply, which (if I can tell from the pictures) replaces the available grommets for running tubing through the rear panel. What I'm hoping to hear is that the thing in the red rectangle is a flat panel that I can take out and waterjet myself to add my own grommets. What is it supposed to be used for? Am I right about the ATX power supply removing the (built in) ability to run tubing through the rear panel?

 

[Kwirek]

It is a cover for the hole above the pci-e slots. You can just leave it off if you prefer.

 

[c3l3ry]

I'm actually really impressed with the small size and compatibility with an eatx board... very nice