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

VegetableStu

Shrink Ray Wielder
Aug 18, 2016
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This picture sucks though. Sorry to disappoint my ...many fans...

HAR HAR HAR

HOH HOH HOH HOH I wonder if using two or more HDPlex 300W ACDC adapters at the same time is possible...
 

VegetableStu

Shrink Ray Wielder
Aug 18, 2016
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How do you get them to turn on and off at the same time? Keeping tabs on a future possibility that I ditch the SFX 700W power supply for something much smaller (although two/three AC cables from the wall...)
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
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Well, you just use wire/shunt to keep hd plex related to graphic card always ON (not consuming energy, but active).

@Aibohphobia I don't see real interest inside cerberus-x...but you know @Josh | NFC is truly in love with hdplex 300W dc/dc..:D
 

tusing

Efficiency Noob
Apr 20, 2017
6
6
Would this be able to fit 2x240mm rads and dual 1080 Ti's? Thinking about a custom loop and wondering if I can go SFF.
 

VegetableStu

Shrink Ray Wielder
Aug 18, 2016
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Refer to this image:

Here's an old mockup of dual Alphacool ST30 240mm rads:



The problem is the bottom fan on the front rad will interfere with the tubing on the bottom rad.


One of the 240mm rad would go to the bottom of the case, but for the remaining rad you'd run into issues. You can't put it at the front face because it'd interfere with the bottom rad, and you can't put it at the side if the SFX PSU's there.

See also: 240mm rad on front face:

Numbers:
EK 240mm Slim: 25mm
Alphacool ST30 240mm: 30mm
Deepcool 240mm: 27mm
 
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scdudt

Chassis Packer
Mar 28, 2017
17
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Would this be able to fit 2x240mm rads and dual 1080 Ti's? Thinking about a custom loop and wondering if I can go SFF.

I am currently trying to solve the 2x240 rad question too. I don't believe that there would be enough clearance in Cerberus for a custom 2x240 loop and SLI. Just the lower rad and normal 25mm fans would put you at 55mm (not including tubing, fittings, manufacturing variances, etc). 15mm fans could be used, but without an actual case in hand I can only sketch on paper to get approx clearances. However, the main hurdle to this idea is where the front and bottom meet in the case. It is going to be a game of millimeters just to get the rads/fans connected due to the port alignments and potential overlap.

I posted over on FoskcoRS5's build log (https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/kimera-industries-cerberus-build-m109a6-v1.1770/):

"I was planning on trying to use xflow radiators in order to reduce the tubing runs, but I don't think there will be enough room for 2 hardware labs xflows with fittings (unless the Cerberus w/o SFX psu bracket opens up some more space vertically).
One potential solution I was thinking about for this was mounting the fans in "pull" to allow some rad overlap under the bottom front fan (if needed), and using 1 xflow "http://hardwarelabs.com/nemesis/gtsxflow/240gts-xflow/" and 1 regular "http://hardwarelabs.com/nemesis/gts/240gts/". The xflow in front to move coolant past the front of the GPU without tubing, and the regular (fittings near pcie slots) to save space and route back up through the GPU block.
I also found a short xflow radiator "http://www.performance-pcs.com/magicool-240-g2-x-flow-slim-radiator-black.html#Specifications". No idea about the quality though, Ideally looking to stay with hardware labs but this one saves 20mm and would potentially allow a "straight shot" right into the bottom rad (depending on "pull" fan clearance). This might allow enough room for another hardware labs xflow rad in the bottom."

However, with the Cerberus-X your may be able to get away with 2x240 and SLI. Since the vertical height is increased, the longer x-flow rads will fit more readily. This will really help save space by eliminating tubing. Right now the ideal Cerberus loop I am considering is:

http://i.imgur.com/6U9ktLg.jpg

This is the primary reason I am considering moving up to the Cerberus-X. The pump/res combo would fit in Cerberus, but it is very close between the top of the chassis and the GPU backplate, not to mention the clearance issue for the rads. Initially, I had planned to do a horizontal res mounted to the bottom rad, but there isn't enough clearance between the bottom of the case and the bottom of the single slot GPU water block to achieve this in the mATX config. However, in the ATX version it should provide plenty of space.

http://i.imgur.com/fNhNeiR.jpg

I haven't decided whether or to connect to the pump/res unit in the front or the back yet. That decision would primarily be based on port alignment and fan housing clearances. If it's too tight in the front I would most likely just connect at the back. The drain for both would most likely be on the bottom fitting near the pcie covers with a T connector + ball valve + plug.

However, in the case of SLI + 2x240 you would most likely need to adapt a Cerberus loop (pump up top) inside a Cerberus-X to have enough clearance below for the second GPU.

EDIT: The formatting threw a wrench in my drawing. So i cobbled something together in Visio.
 
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MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
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Stupid question from my side : why do you want to watercool even sli of GTX 1080 ti as we have now great aircooling model (like Asus Strix, Evga sc2, Msi Gaming X, etc...)
After my guess is that Cerberus-x is far better for dual gpu setup than Cerberus..:D
 

VegetableStu

Shrink Ray Wielder
Aug 18, 2016
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Most air cooler 1080Ti-s are practically 3 slots (I don't usually call them 2.5 slots since they'd bump off normal cards on the third slot minus riser cables) (minus cards like MSI's armor cards). As for reasons to SLI... not for me to comment? Personal preference or requirements?
 

scdudt

Chassis Packer
Mar 28, 2017
17
11
Stupid question from my side : why do you want to watercool even sli of GTX 1080 ti as we have now great aircooling model (like Asus Strix, Evga sc2, Msi Gaming X, etc...)
After my guess is that Cerberus-x is far better for dual gpu setup than Cerberus..:D

Personally, I like the appearance (in windowed version), noise vs cooling performance for overclocking (minimal vs the AIB variants you listed but I am looking at single card FE for single slot EKWB), and the challenge of achieving it in a sff chassis.

Additionally, at least for me, it much easier to make a quiet system on water with temp probes. Doing so allows you to have 1 input to control all fan curves. Because CPU and GPU temps can jump up and down rather quickly, fans monitoring those sensors will scale accordingly. So sometimes you can end up with a "yo-yo" affect (loud-quiet-loud...). However since water has a large thermal mass, increasing its temperature takes a long time. For example, the GPU may be at 80 C after a few minutes of gaming, but the water in the loop may only be 40 C coming off idle (this is an extreme example). The water still is cooling the GPU effectively due to the temp delta, so ramping the fans up to match the GPU temp immediately is not necessary. Rather if you monitor the water temp the fans will gradually increase speed until the loop stabilizes.

I kind of akin it to running. When you walk you aren't breathing heavy or sweating much (unless ambient temp is high). Then you sprint for 15 ft, you can do this without panting and breaking a sweat. This is because the load and temp was not not outside the cushion your body can absorb in load/temp variance (much like the water in the loop). However, prolonged exercise (load) will steadily increase your temperature and your body will begin to increase cooling (sweating) until you cool down, stabilize (think marathon), or overheat.
 
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dreix

Trash Compacter
Sep 11, 2016
38
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There's physically enough space, but the mounting holes on the side bracket are not lined up for it to properly mount the fans.

So.... 140mm works just fine? My idea was to put two fans on the side bracket (does not matter if 120 or 140, got both) and place SFX-L in the front. Is that possible?
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
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Personally, I like the appearance (in windowed version), noise vs cooling performance for overclocking (minimal vs the AIB variants you listed but I am looking at single card FE for single slot EKWB), and the challenge of achieving it in a sff chassis.

Additionally, at least for me, it much easier to make a quiet system on water with temp probes. Doing so allows you to have 1 input to control all fan curves. Because CPU and GPU temps can jump up and down rather quickly, fans monitoring those sensors will scale accordingly. So sometimes you can end up with a "yo-yo" affect (loud-quiet-loud...). However since water has a large thermal mass, increasing its temperature takes a long time. For example, the GPU may be at 80 C after a few minutes of gaming, but the water in the loop may only be 40 C coming off idle (this is an extreme example). The water still is cooling the GPU effectively due to the temp delta, so ramping the fans up to match the GPU temp immediately is not necessary. Rather if you monitor the water temp the fans will gradually increase speed until the loop stabilizes.

I kind of akin it to running. When you walk you aren't breathing heavy or sweating much (unless ambient temp is high). Then you sprint for 15 ft, you can do this without panting and breaking a sweat. This is because the load and temp was not not outside the cushion your body can absorb in load/temp variance (much like the water in the loop). However, prolonged exercise (load) will steadily increase your temperature and your body will begin to increase cooling (sweating) until you cool down, stabilize (think marathon), or overheat.
Well, when looking at asus/corsair/nzxt/speedfan software you can handle really handle several temperatures monitor/fan control..:)
So.... 140mm works just fine? My idea was to put two fans on the side bracket (does not matter if 120 or 140, got both) and place SFX-L in the front. Is that possible?
nope it won't work