It is perfect on the Cerberus, thick but their's a single handle that doesn't add a sense of heaviness. Seriously, grabbing the caselab from its 2 handles while everything is packed will grant you a garanted lumbago.
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Chimera Industries Cerberus: The 18L, mATX, USA-made enclosure
- Thread starter PlayfulPhoenix
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It is perfect on the Cerberus, thick but their's a single handle that doesn't add a sense of heaviness. Seriously, grabbing the caselab from its 2 handles while everything is packed will grant you a garanted lumbago.
I think this is an important step for Caselabs, this might be the first case from them to even have native support for SFX PSUs and it is a good way of opening up a new market segment for them while staying true to their philosophy of making everything replacable, upgradable and moddable. In that regard, I find it very strange that this case isn't compatible with their replacable front panel assemblies.
It is completely different from what you're trying to achieve, though. The horizontal layout is absolutely impractical at LANs, as you said, and makes the case awkward to carry. There's no good way to carry that in one hand.
Of course, this is the sort of SFF case that could do very good in the mainstream market, but being efficient with dimenions or volume doesn't seem to be nearly as much of a concern as it is with Cerberus. The amount of wasted space in this case will be enormous for most scenarios, there's no way to mount radiators in the bottom if you don't need HDDs, No way to mount a radiator on the side if you can sacrifice the slots. It's not at all embracing compromise-driven building that Cerberus and the M1 are so very good at. You've got dedicated space for each kind of component, and if you don't use it, that space is wasted.
A identical build in each case should weight about the same though and I'd think carrying the Caselabs with two hands versus Cerberus with one would be easier on your back. In theory anyway, part of the reason I wanted a single handle was that I often am carrying something with the other hand so I'd just use a single handle anyway and that would be much more difficult with their handle layout.
Yup, it's good to see them branch out from gargantuan monster cases. I'm real surprised to see they went SFX-only. We all think it makes sense but I could see their existing customer base balking at the idea.
Except that the case being wider, it will be in an awkward position and further away from you. Not the more comfy position, especially if you have to open a door or answer the phone 
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Trust me, my Lian-Li has the same size and I wouldn't like to grab it from above.
.Trust me, my Lian-Li has the same size and I wouldn't like to grab it from above.
I've been watching Caselabs' progress on their new SFF project but in my opinion your design is still superior and utilises space far more efficiently.
Obviously, there are die hard fans and they will have their niche but in terms of aesthetics and orientation in particular, Cerberus is still
Reading comments on this thread, I'll be interested to see where you take the design with discussion of ATX compatibility being batted around.
My use case scenario is very specific, but because I need Thunderbolt 3 it's still so disappointing that only Gigabyte have released an X99 board with TB3 and it's ATX.
Hopefully, with Broadwell-E we will see further support for the protocol in mATX and perhaps even ITX if Asrock do a refresh of their Mobo.
Obviously, there are die hard fans and they will have their niche but in terms of aesthetics and orientation in particular, Cerberus is still
Reading comments on this thread, I'll be interested to see where you take the design with discussion of ATX compatibility being batted around.
My use case scenario is very specific, but because I need Thunderbolt 3 it's still so disappointing that only Gigabyte have released an X99 board with TB3 and it's ATX.
Hopefully, with Broadwell-E we will see further support for the protocol in mATX and perhaps even ITX if Asrock do a refresh of their Mobo.
Wow, if you think the mATX would be bad, the ATX version must be terrible to carry: http://www.overclock.net/content/type/61/id/2752335/width/500/height/1000/flags/LL
I really hope we'll see refreshes. I like my ASUS X99-M WS but I still want a Rampage V Gene:
I just don't like the idea of two handles for occasional or regular carrying, since you'll have no hands free to open/close doors or trunk lids. In this regard, the Cerberus has a 50% reduction in "hand-requirement", which makes it a supremely better case to lug around. Considering that one hand of redundancy, you are looking at a 100% increase in possible hand-usage scenarios when lugging. That alone would warrant a logo on the box !
I just want an X99-M WS with twin M.2 slots (PCIe 3.0) and Thunderbolt 3.
Then ASUS can take my money!
Thunderbolt is quite widely used in the video and music production industry.
For the latter, it offers THE best latency outside of proprietary PCIe and Dante Ethernet cards.
I've used MacBooks exclusively for the last decade as a result but recently switched to an XPS 15.
There are a lot of manufacturers in the video world who are jumping on board, but unfortunately it's a chicken and egg situation with not one Thunderbolt 3 audio interface having been released yet.
Fortunately, companies such as MOTU and RME have openly spoken about adoption in their product line and they have a solid history for Windows support in music production, field recording, broadcast etc.
/History Lesson
Cool, thanks for the lesson
I appreciate my use case scenario is quite niché
I am not a fan of the asthetics at all, rounded cube with two super fat handles on top looks pretty bleh. Looks like a slick power distribution box.
I think it is an important step for SFF as a whole and hope they are very successful, just not something I'd buy.
I think it is an important step for SFF as a whole and hope they are very successful, just not something I'd buy.
For me the idea of a limited ATX support version of this case was intriguing, but for some reason it didn't occur to me that it would have to be increased in height. This actually would make this version of the case even more appealing to me because I want to put dual 240mm radiators in this case. This increase in height would completely remove any chance of a clearance issue on the bottom front of the case between the two radiators.
In the event you guys do decide to make a limited support ATX model that will definitely be the option I shoot for.
Little edit, just two questions.
1 What would have to happen for an atx version of this case to even be a possibility to manufacture?
2 If it did become a reality would this be the smallest atx motherboard compatible computer case ever built?
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I think we should get the matx version finished and funded then expand...
Still wanna try this thing
Still wanna try this thing
All that's needed is to extend the side/front panels and PCI dust cover, extend the frame and add more slots, and arrange the standoffs as needed. It would take me about 10 minutes to modify the CAD files.
So really it's just a matter of deciding whether there's enough demand to justify the extra logistics and production.
We're making good progress on Cerberus, but we don't have anything to talk about yet. It's mostly boring business stuff.
Since the development work for an ATX version is relatively trivial, it would make more sense to offer it at the same time as the regular version. I imagine most people couldn't afford both so it would upset them if they bought the mATX version and we released the ATX later when they would of rather had that instead.
At ~22.2L (with 8-slots) it would probably be the smallest ATX case you could buy but it wouldn't be the smallest ATX case ever. @BoloisBolo made a custom case that's 20.0L: http://www.overclock.net/t/1583393/scratch-build-project-flip-sub20l
And there may be other custom cases that are as small or smaller than that but I don't know of any offhand.
The Jonsbo RM1 and RM2 are slightly smaller (22 and 21.5L respectively), but they only have six slots and the airflow looks rubbish.
Cool to find out about these other tiny cases. Those Jonsbo cases do look like they don't very good airflow at all. That case by boloisbolo on the other hand isn't too bad but looks like a pain in the butt to build in. Then again I'm not a terribly well experienced builder especially when it comes to sff builds.
Also, here's to hoping demand is high enough to warrant making the ATX model.
- Feb 22, 2015
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I have the same mentality. Aiboh is very interested in the ATX idea, but we've agreed that we aren't investing any attention or effort or what have you that would pull away from Cerberus. So don't worry about ti distracting us.
Speak for yourself! I thrive on this stuff... And the progress has been great. I'm very happy with where we're at - bluntly put, the potential exists for us to be able to offer a better enclosure than we could through the Kickstarter, in a variety of ways. The Kickstarter failing may become a blessing in disguise.
I'll admit that I can see the use case for an "ATX Cerberus". No idea what the demand is, but I can see the use cases.
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