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

Soules

Caliper Novice
Feb 26, 2018
24
15
Anyone know the maximum amount of drives that you can mount in a Cerberus? I'm thinking of a mATX platform for a NAS, and I want it to be sexy... :)

I would imagine 6-7 standard HDD is all, probably should be looking a the lian li pcq25/26 they are just better equipped to handle the drives and cables. So better thermals overall. The pc-q25 is a mitx 7x3.5 (5 hotswapable) case and the pc-q26 is a mitx 10x3.5 (2 hotswapable) case and both are decently small.

My ¢2 about it.
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
3,836
3,000
Anyone know the maximum amount of drives that you can mount in a Cerberus? I'm thinking of a mATX platform for a NAS, and I want it to be sexy... :)

I would imagine 6-7 standard HDD is all, probably should be looking a the lian li pcq25/26 they are just better equipped to handle the drives and cables. So better thermals overall. The pc-q25 is a mitx 7x3.5 (5 hotswapable) case and the pc-q26 is a mitx 10x3.5 (2 hotswapable) case and both are decently small.

My ¢2 about it.
In fact here what can be achieved, at first guess :
  • 2x2,5"/1x3,5" between motherboard tray and SFX front psu
  • 2x2,5"/1x3,5" front panel, below SFX psu
  • 2 times 2x2,5"/1x3,5" on bottom panel
  • 2x2,5"/1x3,5" on side bracket (if no big aircooler installed)
Total : around 12x2,5"/6x3,5"
 
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hiepphotog

Caliper Novice
Feb 2, 2016
26
15
Woohoo, finally ordered the case. Anyone here has done a custom water loop with this puppy? I'm going to put the 1950X in this to run my CFD and it's going to be my first custom loop. Thank you!
 
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Solo

King of Cable Management
Nov 18, 2017
922
1,553
I keep recommending both versions of this to my friends knowing damn well that they can't afford it or have no interest in spending more than usual on an enclosure lelelelelel.
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
3,836
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Woohoo, finally ordered the case. Anyone here has done a custom water loop with this puppy? I'm going to put the 1950X in this to run my CFD and it's going to be my first custom loop. Thank you!
As it will be your first custom loop, in order to avoid any frustration, keep it simple..:D
What do you want to cool? CPU? GPU? both?
 

hiepphotog

Caliper Novice
Feb 2, 2016
26
15
As it will be your first custom loop, in order to avoid any frustration, keep it simple..:D
What do you want to cool? CPU? GPU? both?
Just the CPU, and I don't plan to overclock those 16 cores any time soon but likely will after summer. Thinking of going copper/brass tubing since I already have the tools to bend and cut. For a front radiator placement, what reservoir and bump would you recommend? And the placement as well... Thank you.
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
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Just the CPU, and I don't plan to overclock those 16 cores any time soon but likely will after summer. Thinking of going copper/brass tubing since I already have the tools to bend and cut. For a front radiator placement, what reservoir and bump would you recommend? And the placement as well... Thank you.
Well Enermax TR4 AIO are a very good choice indeed.
How many GPU will you use?
My advice is to stick on front SFX-L psu and use bottom panel for radiator.
To be honest, right now, we didn't see a lot of full custom loop inside Cerberus/Cerberus-X. If only Apogee Drive ii was available in TR4 socket I would have advice it to you..;)

If you don't plan to OC this beast 1950X, simply go to Noctua U9S TR4 edition..:D
 
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hiepphotog

Caliper Novice
Feb 2, 2016
26
15
Well Enermax TR4 AIO are a very good choice indeed.
How many GPU will you use?
My advice is to stick on front SFX-L psu and use bottom panel for radiator.
To be honest, right now, we didn't see a lot of full custom loop inside Cerberus/Cerberus-X. If only Apogee Drive ii was available in TR4 socket I would have advice it to you..;)

If you don't plan to OC this beast 1950X, simply go to Noctua U9S TR4 edition..:D
Thank you Marc. Thank you for the suggestions. I made the decision and bought custom parts the loop. Will go the non fancy way with copper tubing and local hardware fittings. I'll post something up when I get it done within 2 weeks. Wish me luck!:)
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
3,836
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Thank you Marc. Thank you for the suggestions. I made the decision and bought custom parts the loop. Will go the non fancy way with copper tubing and local hardware fittings. I'll post something up when I get it done within 2 weeks. Wish me luck!:)
sure, please share picture of your setting once it's complete and working..:)
 

Taswegian

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Oct 1, 2017
89
76
In fact here what can be achieved, at first guess :
  • 2x2,5"/1x3,5" between motherboard tray and SFX front psu
  • 2x2,5"/1x3,5" front panel, below SFX psu
  • 2 times 2x2,5"/1x3,5" on bottom panel
  • 2x2,5"/1x3,5" on side bracket (if no big aircooler installed)
Total : around 12x2,5"/6x3,5"

As I was swapping some parts around on the weekend I noticed the pair of 2.5" drives I have on the side bracket seem they could mount on the rear vent instead of a 92mm fan. I plan to put a fan there so I didn't test the fit but measured with Mk 1 eyeball seemed it would work.
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
3,836
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As I was swapping some parts around on the weekend I noticed the pair of 2.5" drives I have on the side bracket seem they could mount on the rear vent instead of a 92mm fan. I plan to put a fan there so I didn't test the fit but measured with Mk 1 eyeball seemed it would work.
You are right, there are some infinite vents overthere too..;)
 

MaskedNozza

Chassis Packer
May 4, 2017
13
4
Okay. So it's time for me to order a Cerberus to Australia. However, I have a couple questions trying to squeeze my build into this small chassis. I really, really, REALLY want to watercool since I can push the envelope with performance on my CPU and keep my high-powered GPU fairly cool. The GPU is NVIDIA reference length 980ti, but might upgrade to 1180ti once that comes out. With watercooling, this case only has so much space for rads, and I'm wondering if there's any possible way that a 240 rad could fit on the side bracket with an internal-mounted SFX crammed over to the side? If not, my second question is can a rear-mounted SFX be shifted away from the side bracket by flipping the PSU bracket?

EDIT: FYI this build is SUPPOSED to be a custom loop but since I plan on getting the 9700k for dem OCTOCORES and probably the next gen nvidia card, I might be sticking with my 7700k and h105 for a while. WHEN I do the custom loop, it's planned to be sexy with lots of RGB/UV, a UV-reactive decal on the side-panel window and an illuminated reservoir on the bottom. Unfortunately I do need a single mechanical for mass storage (games that i play and build tend to be on the large side) and I can't think of a way to hide it, so maybe I'll just slap a nice decal on it?
 
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MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
3,836
3,000
Okay. So it's time for me to order a Cerberus to Australia. However, I have a couple questions trying to squeeze my build into this small chassis. I really, really, REALLY want to watercool since I can push the envelope with performance on my CPU and keep my high-powered GPU fairly cool. The GPU is NVIDIA reference length 980ti, but might upgrade to 1180ti once that comes out. With watercooling, this case only has so much space for rads, and I'm wondering if there's any possible way that a 240 rad could fit on the side bracket with an internal-mounted SFX crammed over to the side? If not, my second question is can a rear-mounted SFX be shifted away from the side bracket by flipping the PSU bracket?

EDIT: FYI this build is SUPPOSED to be a custom loop but since I plan on getting the 9700k for dem OCTOCORES and probably the next gen nvidia card, I might be sticking with my 7700k and h105 for a while. WHEN I do the custom loop, it's planned to be sexy with lots of RGB/UV, a UV-reactive decal on the side-panel window and an illuminated reservoir on the bottom. Unfortunately I do need a single mechanical for mass storage (games that i play and build tend to be on the large side) and I can't think of a way to hide it, so maybe I'll just slap a nice decal on it?
If you want to maximize cooling, you can choose to use hdplex or similar dc/dc unit...and place a ac/dc brick outside.
 

Nyven

Caliper Novice
Nov 16, 2017
21
15
Okay. So it's time for me to order a Cerberus to Australia. However, I have a couple questions trying to squeeze my build into this small chassis. I really, really, REALLY want to watercool since I can push the envelope with performance on my CPU and keep my high-powered GPU fairly cool. The GPU is NVIDIA reference length 980ti, but might upgrade to 1180ti once that comes out. With watercooling, this case only has so much space for rads, and I'm wondering if there's any possible way that a 240 rad could fit on the side bracket with an internal-mounted SFX crammed over to the side? If not, my second question is can a rear-mounted SFX be shifted away from the side bracket by flipping the PSU bracket?

EDIT: FYI this build is SUPPOSED to be a custom loop but since I plan on getting the 9700k for dem OCTOCORES and probably the next gen nvidia card, I might be sticking with my 7700k and h105 for a while. WHEN I do the custom loop, it's planned to be sexy with lots of RGB/UV, a UV-reactive decal on the side-panel window and an illuminated reservoir on the bottom. Unfortunately I do need a single mechanical for mass storage (games that i play and build tend to be on the large side) and I can't think of a way to hide it, so maybe I'll just slap a nice decal on it?

If you rear mount a power supply you can get a 1 fan radiator on the side. If you mount the power supply in front you have 260mm of room roughly, all the 240mm rads i've seen are 272+mm so just a little to long to fit. You can however fit 2x 120mm standing up side by side on the side bracket and the power supply up front, though the rear(left) rad will only be anchored by the 2 right side screws unless you drill 2 holes in the side bracket, also the power supply cable will be sorta in the way and make it a real PITA as well to get in. Wished they'd moved the power cord plug to the left side on the rear bracket instead of the right side, believe the ncase m1 made this same revision on their case for this reason.
 
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Alfvin

Minimal Tinkerer
Mar 1, 2018
3
1
If you rear mount a power supply you can get a 1 fan radiator on the side. If you mount the power supply in front you have 260mm of room roughly, all the 240mm rads i've seen are 272+mm so just a little to long to fit. You can however fit 2x 120mm standing up side by side on the side bracket and the power supply up front, though the rear(left) rad will only be anchored by the 2 right side screws unless you drill 2 holes in the side bracket, also the power supply cable will be sorta in the way and make it a real PITA as well to get in. Wished they'd moved the power cord plug to the left side on the rear bracket instead of the right side, believe the ncase m1 made this same revision on their case for this reason.
Sorry to say, but two 120mm fans can't actually fit together on the side bracket with the front-mounted PSU. The two fans together take up 8.5 of the 9 mounting slots given, while the power supply needs a clearance of about 1.25 slots on the frontward end to fit.

 
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SilverJS

Airflow Optimizer
Feb 8, 2018
244
117
My search hasn't been very productive - anybody use this case mounted horizontally? Was looking at the Thermaltake Core G3 for just in my ac rack but ironically enough, by the time I get all the parts to make that case work, the Cerberus is actually a bit cheaper considering the parts I already have on hand....

I'm sure it's POSSIBLE to just lay the case on its side and run it this way, just curious to see it it's been done. I'd use a Gene VIII, 7600k, H90 and RM550x.