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

[HansWursT619]

In the current design, only the left panel has holes?

On the note of solid panels and windows:
I voted for no windows, but only because I don't like the small GPU only windows.

But I don't know how many people would want to remove the side bracket to allow bigger window.
I imagine a rear mounted SFX with watercooling in the front. An L shaped window that shows the GPUs and the reservoir mounted on the top fan spot of a front rad.

 

[jeshikat]

In the current design, only the left panel has holes?

On the production design, the left panel is vented, the right panel is solid, and the top panel is vented.

I was asking because several people in the survey asked for an option for solid top and side panels but most of them didn't fill out the parts list so I'm not sure how they plan to cool their build.

But I don't know how many people would want to remove the side bracket to allow bigger window.

From what I'm seeing so far in the survey we won't be offering a full window.

 

[BirdofPrey]

I thought you had removed top vents because it didn't make any real difference in temps

 

[jeshikat]

Ah, you're thinking of the top fan. Plus it was part of the carry handle bracket which isn't a default part.

 

[jeshikat]

Ok, still looking for feedback on two previous points and one new one:

Only about 7% of respondents so far need the rear water tubing cutouts. The cost of the grommets to cover them are non-trivial, so I was thinking of reducing them to partial cutouts. That way the few who need them can use a dremel and finish cutting them out. Thoughts?

Those asking for solid panels, what kind of build would you do?

Those needing just 1x 3.5" HDD, where would you mount it?

 

[Commissariat]

Ok, still looking for feedback on two previous points and one new one:

Only about 7% of respondents so far need the rear water tubing cutouts. The cost of the grommets to cover them are non-trivial, so I was thinking of reducing them to partial cutouts. That way the few who need them can use a dremel and finish cutting them out. Thoughts?

Those asking for solid panels, what kind of build would you do?

Those needing just 1x 3.5" HDD, where would you mount it?

While I'd rather not trust my brand-new Cerberus to my dremelling skills, if that's the only way to get that feature for a trivial cost, I'm all for it.

 

[Ankacat]

Those needing just 1x 3.5" HDD, where would you mount it?

My plan for the 3.5 drive/cage was to place it on the side bracket, forward of a back-mounted SFX psu.

 

[Qrash]

Those needing just 1x 3.5" HDD, where would you mount it?

I was planning to mount a 3.5 inch drive on the floor of the case, just behind a fan mounted to the bottom of the front panel.

 

[AstroWan]

So generally speaking, I've only recently learned about the Cerberus and was unable to back the kickstarter in time. Before I list out a part list, I guess I'll quickly update my general interest in the styling of the case.

So case wise, I actually prefer a silver case with a gpu window as shown in some of the final pictures in silver, no handle, and the ability to have a reservoir mounted as I'd like to plan to do a water-cooling set up in the future.

Now dealing with the build style, I'll first list out parts and then the manner to which I'd try to mount all the pieces.

Parts:
6700k intel I7 processor
2x 980ti graphics cards (no particular style or maker in mind, also may do the new general of pascal graphics cards instead, depending on what the reported performance shows)
16gb of ddr4 vram
512 samsung 850 evo SSD
700w silverstone SFX-L power suppler (will probably be upgraded to a 850w-900w power supply due to the second card)
mATX board

(list is incomplete for now as I was originally planning a more tame build in an ncase m1 but found this to be more to my liking)

As for mounting, I originally planned to do frontal mounting. similar to the style of Ncase's M1 case, but I feel that due to the second card now being installed, I'll likely need a larger PSU since I'm going to put in two gpus and this may prove to require a full size atx PSU. The motherboard will obviously be mounted on the mounting panel, with all other parts being placed in as normal. SSD will be mounted in the slots built in and I'll place noctua fans where possible (unless I'm capable of doing a water-cooling loop, to which, a reservoir or radiator would be placed instead). For now, plan sticks to just a air cooled set up, but I'm comteplating putting in a water-cooling system to handle all the heat from both the gpus and cpus.


Sorry for how messy this post may be, I wrote this in a very short amount of time. Beautiful work on the case and I hope to be capable of getting my hands on one soon .

 

[jeshikat]

Thanks for the feedback! Still looking for more.

So case wise, I actually prefer a silver case with a gpu window as shown in some of the final pictures in silver, no handle, and the ability to have a reservoir mounted as I'd like to plan to do a water-cooling set up in the future.

Welcome the forum! Silver is looking pretty unlikely at this point, but grey is pretty popular in the poll so we'll seriously consider it.

but I feel that due to the second card now being installed, I'll likely need a larger PSU since I'm going to put in two gpus and this may prove to require a full size atx PSU.

2x 980 Ti's should be fine on a 700W is they aren't overclocked. If the next-gen cards come through on the perf/watt improvements they've been talking up then 700W should be more than enough for the next-gen.

For now, plan sticks to just a air cooled set up, but I'm comteplating putting in a water-cooling system to handle all the heat from both the gpus and cpus.

If you do go with an ATX PSU, you'll almost certainly have to water cool at least the CPU. The heatsink height limit with ATX power supplies is only 48mm.

Beautiful work on the case and I hope to be capable of getting my hands on one soon .

I'm not sure when the full production run will be. Since the Kickstarter failed we're carefully incorporating feedback in order to make the design more feasible but that takes time.

There is a small prototype run tentatively planned within the next month or two. One of those will be pricey but it'd be the quickest way to get a case.

 

[PNP]

Those asking for solid panels, what kind of build would you do?

Those needing just 1x 3.5" HDD, where would you mount it?

I didn't ask for solid panels but I imagine that would make sound-proofing much easier. My server build might work.

In the front bottom, horizontal position, beneath a 120 mm radiator. Failing that, attempt to squeeze it onto the side bracket next to an ATX PSU.

 

[jeshikat]

I didn't ask for solid panels but I imagine that would make sound-proofing much easier.

That's what I'm curious about. A high-end build with solid panels actually wouldn't leave much room for sound-dampening foam so that's what I asked what builds they planned.

 

[PNP]

That's what I'm curious about. A high-end build with solid panels actually wouldn't leave much room for sound-dampening foam so that's what I asked what builds they planned.

Maybe not foam like the kind Silverstone sells, but what about Dynamat at 1.7 mm thick? I plan on using some on both of my builds.

 

[AstroWan]

Welcome the forum! Silver is looking pretty unlikely at this point, but grey is pretty popular in the poll so we'll seriously consider it.

Thanks for the update and thank you .

I'm not sure when the full production run will be. Since the Kickstarter failed we're carefully incorporating feedback in order to make the design more feasible but that takes time.

There is a small prototype run tentatively planned within the next month or two. One of those will be pricey but it'd be the quickest way to get a case.

Hmm, well if possible, do you have any idea what the price range of one of these cases may be and the flexibility or planned options for this intial batch?


Thanks for the speedy feedback, I think my build will have a lot of changes and alterations of pascal is released, and I'll be looking to see whether more options open up to offer a small form factor PSU that may allow overclocking.

 

[Theelichtje]

I would mount my 3.5" on the bracket, next to the rad.

 

[jeshikat]

Maybe not foam like the kind Silverstone sells, but what about Dynamat at 1.7 mm thick? I plan on using some on both of my builds.

I believe the thin Dynamat is more for dampening vibration by adding mass rather than absorbing sound.

Hmm, well if possible, do you have any idea what the price range of one of these cases may be and the flexibility or planned options for this intial batch?

Not sure, it depends on how many takers there are. Unless there's an unusually large amount of people wanting a prototype, it probably won't be less than $500. Options will be limited to the small run but they could maybe be made available at extra cost.

I would mount my 3.5" on the bracket, next to the rad.

Are you planning a front-mounted or rear-mounted PSU?

 

[alamilla]

Those asking for solid panels, what kind of build would you do?

I'm interested in building a music production workstation with an AIO and SFX power supply using the X99 platform (not too different from your prototypes).
I know people mentioned sound dampening, but in my experience unless you have sufficient space in the case the effect is negligible and at the cost of airflow.
For me, it will be a compromise of noise to performance in the Cerberus.

Either way, I'm still waiting for the announcement of SFF Broadwell-E motherboards that support TB3. [/QUOTE]

 

[artimaeus]

On the website it mentioned being able to put a 120mm radiator on the front, side, and bottom. Is it able to do all of that simultaneously with SFX-L PSU and SLI config?

 

[Vidjagames72]

Ok, still looking for feedback on two previous points and one new one:

Only about 7% of respondents so far need the rear water tubing cutouts. The cost of the grommets to cover them are non-trivial, so I was thinking of reducing them to partial cutouts. That way the few who need them can use a dremel and finish cutting them out. Thoughts?

Those asking for solid panels, what kind of build would you do?

Those needing just 1x 3.5" HDD, where would you mount it?

I pictured swapping the two side panels (one is solid right? And they are the same dimensions as each other right?) and drilling holes to match the pattern of the rest of the case but only in the top left of the panel (for the atx psu inlet) and using the rest of the panel as a reverse L shaped window.

The build would be a watercooled one and I would use this window to try and show off as much of the tubing as reasonably possible (hardline tubing).

This would probably end up showing off the res/pump combo, all the tubes leading into it from the front radiator, the tubes leading out to the gpu(s), the gpu(s) to the bottom radiator, and the some of the tubing that leads from the bottom radiator to the cpu, and back to the first radiator.

That reminds me, where I was planning on mounting the pump/res combo is right between the motherboard and front rad (26mm thick rad with either standard fans or slim fans) and I was wondering if you think this would work. I figured out in my head that in theory it would work based on all the dimensions but there are some cutouts in the panel right in that spot. I want to use two ethereal v2 mounts, one at the top of the res and the other on the bottom. ( https://www.singularitycomputers.co...s/reservoir-mount-ethereal-single-60mm-billet ) I believe I can remove that bracket off the backside of the mount and put the mount directly on the motherboard panel.

My main question here is do you think the holes here would interfere with my plan? If so would there be somthing I could do to make it work (like maybe just mounting a solid panel over the holes possibly).

 

[Vidjagames72]

I guess I should probably mention the pump/res combo I want to use huh.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/ek-xres-100-revo-d5-pwm-incl-pump.html

Maybe I don't need to use two of those mounts but I am paranoid and like to over engineer things to make sure I won't have issues. I want this to be a portable system so my worry is somehow breaking the res tube off from the rest of the unit so I want to keep it as ridged as possible from top to bottom so none of it can flex and cause an issue.