Completed Circle Pro - Solid Alu CNCed mini-itx case - 240mm liquid cooling

[jaruri]

Got some more time to work on my build and made some good progress. Came across a roadblock though that I'm not sure about. Is using a hard line fitting without the collar a good idea? My build uses the xspc 20mm 240 rad since im also using the 1080ti mini, the ports on it are really far out and don't allow enough room for the collar to screw on since it collides with the screw area of the psu shroud. Anyone know of any ultra low profile fittings or 90degs that might fit?

 

[DmanX]

I wonder...

... considering their exceptional design language, if they ever contemplated making an ITX console case? One capable of housing an air cooler of up to 85mm, a full length GPU, 240mm AIO/RAD support. SFX PSU. Glass top with spacer support to allow top airflow. Side and rear panel airflow.

And sexy aluminum feet.

Sort of like the Silverstone FTZ01 or Lian Li PC-05... but better.

With more component compatibility, especally high end components, I think it would be a hit. Even in the $400 range.

 

[jaruri]

I wonder...

... considering their exceptional design language, if they ever contemplated making an ITX console case? One capable of housing an air cooler of up to 85mm, a full length GPU, 240mm AIO/RAD support. SFX PSU. Glass top with spacer support to allow top airflow. Side and rear panel airflow.

And sexy aluminum feet.

Sort of like the Silverstone FTZ01 or Lian Li PC-05... but better.

With more component compatibility, especally high end components, I think it would be a hit. Even in the $400 range.

Id imagine a case like that with the build of the existing circle pro would be even more expensive than 400. I wouldn't be surprised if it had to be priced at 6-700 given the very low run numbers and cost of the machining. Maybe it could reach that if the build was simplified a lot, but then you would lose some of the design choices that make this case so unique.

 

[CircleTect]

Thanks for the suggestions guys @DmanX @jaruri @Bonusround @WinterCharm @thekinghippo, good ideas always welcome!

Actually some bad news from my end - it doesn't look like we're on track to raise enough funds for the MKII production run.

We're working out the details with our manufacturing partner, but it's basically looking like we'll have to cancel the order. I don't see any way we can continue making this case if we can't raise the money for the tooling, so I'm very disappointed to announce that we're basically looking at a discontinuation of this project at this point.

I'm still passionate about this project, so this is personally a very disappointing result for me. I've poured the last couple of years and a tonne of energy and love into this case, and it's frustrating to have it turn out like this. There's certainly a lot to learn moving forwards.

I just want to say that this isn't the end. I'm still dedicated to this community. I am committed to listening, taking on your feedback and moving forward to make something new and great together.

For now, unless a miracle happens it looks like I will be turning off pre-orders for Circle Pro in the next day or two. To everyone who has put down good money for a pre-order, we will be refunding you in full shortly after we take it down from the website.

We will continue to offer support and additional add-ons for Circle Pro MKI in the future, such as the 3D printable brackets which allow for a FE length card with an HDPlex.

Thank you all for your incredible support up till now.

CircleTect aka Josh

 

[AlexTzone]

Thanks for the suggestions guys @DmanX @jaruri @Bonusround @WinterCharm @thekinghippo, good ideas always welcome!

Actually some bad news from my end - it doesn't look like we're on track to raise enough funds for the MKII production run.

We're working out the details with our manufacturing partner, but it's basically looking like we'll have to cancel the order. I don't see any way we can continue making this case if we can't raise the money for the tooling, so I'm very disappointed to announce that we're basically looking at a discontinuation of this project at this point.

I'm still passionate about this project, so this is personally a very disappointing result for me. I've poured the last couple of years and a tonne of energy and love into this case, and it's frustrating to have it turn out like this. There's certainly a lot to learn moving forwards.

I just want to say that this isn't the end. I'm still dedicated to this community. I am committed to listening, taking on your feedback and moving forward to make something new and great together.

For now, unless a miracle happens it looks like I will be turning off pre-orders for Circle Pro in the next day or two. To everyone who has put down good money for a pre-order, we will be refunding you in full shortly after we take it down from the website.

We will continue to offer support and additional add-ons for Circle Pro MKI in the future, such as the 3D printable brackets which allow for a FE length card with an HDPlex.

Thank you all for your incredible support up till now.

CircleTect aka Josh

Man this is sad news, especially considering a case that is this unique and high-end ? You have the production and design down no doubt, but perhaps take a small pause and see how you can improve marketing. Examples: really hype the releases, the development journey, start a cult around the brand on social media (there's got to be a better word for this), etc. If there are people spending money on those $999 Apple display stands than there have to be lots and lots of people who are willing to put down a premium on this beauty!

Regarding funding, isn't it still worth it to let it go on for the remaining 19 days? I mean, you never know if something unexpected happens.

 

[DmanX]

Heartbreaking news indeed. Very sad to learn that the most elegant case in SFF is going to cease to be.

Of great consolation, is that you will continue to create. You have an exceptional design ethos. Can't wait to see what you come up with next. For sure it will be beautiful. And I'll want it.

 

[Sidy1116]

Thanks for the suggestions guys @DmanX @jaruri @Bonusround @WinterCharm @thekinghippo, good ideas always welcome!

Actually some bad news from my end - it doesn't look like we're on track to raise enough funds for the MKII production run.

We're working out the details with our manufacturing partner, but it's basically looking like we'll have to cancel the order. I don't see any way we can continue making this case if we can't raise the money for the tooling, so I'm very disappointed to announce that we're basically looking at a discontinuation of this project at this point.

I'm still passionate about this project, so this is personally a very disappointing result for me. I've poured the last couple of years and a tonne of energy and love into this case, and it's frustrating to have it turn out like this. There's certainly a lot to learn moving forwards.

I just want to say that this isn't the end. I'm still dedicated to this community. I am committed to listening, taking on your feedback and moving forward to make something new and great together.

For now, unless a miracle happens it looks like I will be turning off pre-orders for Circle Pro in the next day or two. To everyone who has put down good money for a pre-order, we will be refunding you in full shortly after we take it down from the website.

We will continue to offer support and additional add-ons for Circle Pro MKI in the future, such as the 3D printable brackets which allow for a FE length card with an HDPlex.

Thank you all for your incredible support up till now.

CircleTect aka Josh

Dude lower the price to near to 200 $ to 250$ I m sure your project will get backed up in no time . Right now there are good options available in 200$ range that's y people not going for 500 $ case .

 

[AlexTzone]

Dude lower the price to near to 200 $ to 250$ I m sure your project will get backed up in no time . Right now there are good options available in 200$ range that's y people not going for 500 $ case .

It's probably not possible to produce this case at $200 or 250. If it was, it's more likely that the Circle Team would lower the price rather than actually close down the project they've been working on for a couple of years. If I have to guess the guys most likely have margins of 15% tops, or perhaps not even that due to lower quantity.

 

[JDK]

Sad to hear, since the case is a beauty.

I guess it targeting a niche inside of a niche paired with the price makes it hard to sell high quantities. I really hope you continue making great things and who knows, maybe you find a way to cut down the costs without straying away too much from the concept of a killer AiO SFF Beautyqueen.

 

[WinterCharm]

Thanks for the suggestions guys @DmanX @jaruri @Bonusround @WinterCharm @thekinghippo, good ideas always welcome!

Actually some bad news from my end - it doesn't look like we're on track to raise enough funds for the MKII production run.

We're working out the details with our manufacturing partner, but it's basically looking like we'll have to cancel the order. I don't see any way we can continue making this case if we can't raise the money for the tooling, so I'm very disappointed to announce that we're basically looking at a discontinuation of this project at this point.

I'm still passionate about this project, so this is personally a very disappointing result for me. I've poured the last couple of years and a tonne of energy and love into this case, and it's frustrating to have it turn out like this. There's certainly a lot to learn moving forwards.

I just want to say that this isn't the end. I'm still dedicated to this community. I am committed to listening, taking on your feedback and moving forward to make something new and great together.

For now, unless a miracle happens it looks like I will be turning off pre-orders for Circle Pro in the next day or two. To everyone who has put down good money for a pre-order, we will be refunding you in full shortly after we take it down from the website.

We will continue to offer support and additional add-ons for Circle Pro MKI in the future, such as the 3D printable brackets which allow for a FE length card with an HDPlex.

Thank you all for your incredible support up till now.

CircleTect aka Josh

FUCK.

I've been trying to get my hands on this case from *day one* and it's such a heartbreak that it's going to be too expensive to keep making and the funding won't be met

This is my worst fear coming through. *sigh*

 

[WinterCharm]

It's probably not possible to produce this case at $200 or 250. If it was, it's more likely that the Circle Team would lower the price rather than actually close down the project they've been working on for a couple of years. If I have to guess the guys most likely have margins of 15% tops, or perhaps not even that due to lower quantity.

Yeah. These "small production run" and "Machined" cases are much harder to produce cheaply.

 

[Sidy1116]

Thanks for the suggestions guys @DmanX @jaruri @Bonusround @WinterCharm @thekinghippo, good ideas always welcome!

Actually some bad news from my end - it doesn't look like we're on track to raise enough funds for the MKII production run.

We're working out the details with our manufacturing partner, but it's basically looking like we'll have to cancel the order. I don't see any way we can continue making this case if we can't raise the money for the tooling, so I'm very disappointed to announce that we're basically looking at a discontinuation of this project at this point.

I'm still passionate about this project, so this is personally a very disappointing result for me. I've poured the last couple of years and a tonne of energy and love into this case, and it's frustrating to have it turn out like this. There's certainly a lot to learn moving forwards.

I just want to say that this isn't the end. I'm still dedicated to this community. I am committed to listening, taking on your feedback and moving forward to make something new and great together.

For now, unless a miracle happens it looks like I will be turning off pre-orders for Circle Pro in the next day or two. To everyone who has put down good money for a pre-order, we will be refunding you in full shortly after we take it down from the website.

We will continue to offer support and additional add-ons for Circle Pro MKI in the future, such as the 3D printable brackets which allow for a FE length card with an HDPlex.

Thank you all for your incredible support up till now.

CircleTect aka Josh

try talking to the manufacturer and reduce the price to 300 USD . Or find another manufacturer like Lian Li or who can get this done .

Example .
Right now you are tying to sell Iphone 11 . But you must understand , I phone sucess came with iphone 3 , which was a affordable phone . Right now its not getting funded because of price point only other than that i see no reason .

It a good product , but you have to understand the mood of market & competition , example like what intel is doing ,to stay in market they are dropping thier proces 1st time in 10 years .

 

[DmanX]

I wonder if it will be possible to obtain the original case (as opposed to the Mk II) if MK II funding does not meet its target goal?

There's nothing wrong with the original version.

 

[DmanX]

try talking to the manufacturer and reduce the price to 300 USD . Or find another manufacturer like Lian Li or who can get this done .

Example .
Right now you are tying to sell Iphone 11 . But you must understand , I phone sucess came with iphone 3 , which was a affordable phone . Right now its not getting funded because of price point only other than that i see no reason .

It a good product , but you have to understand the mood of market & competition , example like what intel is doing ,to stay in market they are dropping thier proces 1st time in 10 years .

Even so, each production run sold out in under on hour. So I don't think price is an issue. If anything, perhaps lack of advertising. Also, having to wait until next year for production might be another set back. People are used to being able to buy from inventory, even though it sold out before many could buy it.

I say, what needs to happen is to continue to sell the original. Push the idea of being able to install a reference sized card (<275mm) when used with a HD Plex 400 AC/DC combo and 3D printed brackets to mount the HD Plex. Air cooled 65w CPU or water cooled 120mm RAD 95w CPU.

As for 3D Printed brackets for the HDX Plex 400 combo, perhaps teaming up with J-Hack to produce them for $20-$30.

Then sending a review unit with this configuration or notes for this configuration (2080 Founders Edition w/HD Plex 400) to Optimum Tech or Linus Tech Tips to review. The original Optimum Tech review was unfortunate since he didn't have the requisite radiator. But by having a new review where people will know that one is not constrained to ITX sized graphics cards would be a big plus.

 

[WinterCharm]

@CircleTect would it still be possible to do a limited production run of V2 with a local machine shop and get those out to those of us who backed this case?

 

[thekinghippo]

Dude lower the price to near to 200 $ to 250$ I m sure your project will get backed up in no time . Right now there are good options available in 200$ range that's y people not going for 500 $ case .

I apologize for being rude, but this is ignorant...

 

[Sidy1116]

I apologize for being rude, but this is ignorant...

I am being truthful . Case is overpriced.

Also for reference

I would rather put my money on mjolnir which is priced right and with tons of options to put in case

 

[DmanX]

I am being truthful . Case is overpriced.

Also for reference

I would rather put my money on mjolnir which is priced right and with tons of options to put in case

Yet, as I said, it always sold out in under an hour whenever it was in stock.

It's all subjective anyway. People who buy the Ghost S1 think the Mjolnir is over priced. And people who buy a plastic shell steel frame box for $100, think the Ghost S1 is overpriced.

Yet all these things are in demand and sell at their respective prices.

*shrug, smirk*

 

[CircleTect]

@CircleTect would it still be possible to do a limited production run of V2 with a local machine shop and get those out to those of us who backed this case?

Each case would cost $1500-2000 each. Not even kidding. That's why the engineers who have said they're amazed we got the price this low already are correct.

I say, what needs to happen is to continue to sell the original.

We've completely sold out of these - only a couple more exist. I have a few spares in my personal inventory, but that's it. They cost the same as MKII to make, so it doesn't change the nature of our funding challenge.

try talking to the manufacturer and reduce the price to 300 USD . Or find another manufacturer like Lian Li or who can get this done .

As far as I'm aware, Lian Li don't have the capabilities to make our case. Completely different processes. Even if they could, they wouldn't be able to reduce the price by much. We have already teamed up with a good manufacturing partner, and they can't get it any lower.

Dude lower the price to near to 200 $ to 250$ I m sure your project will get backed up in no time .

$250 doesn't even begin to cover the costs of manufacturing this case.

If I have to guess the guys most likely have margins of 15% tops, or perhaps not even that due to lower quantity.

Taking into account the manufacturing issues we had in our first few batches, this is uncomfortably close. I actually had to sell my car to cover the cost of mistakes in the first couple of batches.

I apologize for being rude, but this is ignorant...

It's a fair point though. Customers shouldn't have to worry about the manufacturing techniques we've chosen or the challenges we've faced. The important things are if the product solves the customer's problems and does it for the right price.

When I started this project, mass manufacturability was not a design consideration. I just wanted to make a truly great computer case. And because it was essentially a hobby, I didn't approach the problem from the perspective of building a profitable business. I approached it from the perspective of making a perfect, no-compromise design.

Perhaps take a small pause and see how you can improve marketing. Examples: really hype the releases, the development journey, start a cult around the brand on social media

Definitely.. From what I've seen, you guys seem to be doing an excellent job with your marketing, and I truly wish you all the best in your kickstarter. Unfortunately this isn't my greatest strength. The designing and making of things is my real passion - I personally find social marketing exhausting and I hate the feeling of pushing an agenda on others.

I do acknowledge that we could have marketed the case a lot better, but to be honest we have a large and highly engaged email list already from our Dave2D video (over 1M views!), so I didn't feel like we needed more to fund the pre-order. I was obviously wrong about that, but I don't think I was wrong about the number of people we needed on the list, instead I think I was wrong about the thesis of the product in a more general sense. This includes the size of the market, the required features to access a larger market (full-length card support, etc), the ease of building in the case and the price, among other things.

All that said, I'm really proud of the work we've done on this project. I still think Circle Pro is an incredible design - perfect in its own way if you're happy with an ITX length graphics card. MKII would have improved MKI in almost every way, and addressed most of OptimumTech's complaints. Unfortunately, I've learnt the hard way that the market it serves doesn't appear to be large enough to make it a self-sustaining product at this time.

 

[WinterCharm]

Each case would cost $1500-2000 each. Not even kidding. That's why the engineers who have said they're amazed we got the price this low already are correct.



We've completely sold out of these - only a couple more exist. I have a few spares in my personal inventory, but that's it. They cost the same as MKII to make, so it doesn't change the nature of our funding challenge.



As far as I'm aware, Lian Li don't have the capabilities to make our case. Completely different processes. Even if they could, they wouldn't be able to reduce the price by much. We have already teamed up with a good manufacturing partner, and they can't get it any lower.



$250 doesn't even begin to cover the costs of manufacturing this case.



Taking into account the manufacturing issues we had in our first few batches, this is uncomfortably close. I actually had to sell my car to cover the cost of mistakes in the first couple of batches.



It's a fair point though. Customers shouldn't have to worry about the manufacturing techniques we've chosen or the challenges we've faced. The important things are if the product solves the customer's problems and does it for the right price.

When I started this project, mass manufacturability was not a design consideration. I just wanted to make a truly great computer case. And because it was essentially a hobby, I didn't approach the problem from the perspective of building a profitable business. I approached it from the perspective of making a perfect, no-compromise design.



Definitely.. From what I've seen, you guys seem to be doing an excellent job with your marketing, and I truly wish you all the best in your kickstarter. Unfortunately this isn't my greatest strength. The designing and making of things is my real passion - I personally find social marketing exhausting and I hate the feeling of pushing an agenda on others.

I do acknowledge that we could have marketed the case a lot better, but to be honest we have a large and highly engaged email list already from our Dave2D video (over 1M views!), so I didn't feel like we needed more to fund the pre-order. I was obviously wrong about that, but I don't think I was wrong about the number of people we needed on the list, instead I think I was wrong about the thesis of the product in a more general sense. This includes the size of the market, the required features to access a larger market (full-length card support, etc), the ease of building in the case and the price, among other things.

All that said, I'm really proud of the work we've done on this project. I still think Circle Pro is an incredible design - perfect in its own way if you're happy with an ITX length graphics card. MKII would have improved MKI in almost every way, and addressed most of OptimumTech's complaints. Unfortunately, I've learnt the hard way that the market it serves doesn't appear to be large enough to make it a self-sustaining product at this time.

damn. That’s such a shame. I’m quite upset to have missed what is one of the most beautifully built cases on the planet.

it may have had its compromises but it was a beautiful work of art.

please consider reviving the project in the future if at all possible, and seriously message / call me if you do!!