Stalled Compact 24L water cooling oriented ATX case

[Phuncz]

Did a little work on the front panel, equalizing the top and bottom solid section and adding taller feet:

Any improvement for you @Phuncz ?

I think it looks more balanced this way. I'll refer it as #2.1 for now and the original M1 style #2.0. The next one with less rows on the sides (#2.2) I feel is less balanced. I'm thinking because #2.1 mimics the front panel's dimensions more accurately ?

EDIT: apparently it's not that close as I imagined. I marked the grill area (purple) and scaled it while maintaining the aspect ratio to the width of the front panel (red):

The renders are slightly into perspective and was to lazy to correct the overlays.

It's probably not good practice to discuss looks as in-depth as we are now when the internals are probably way off from finalisation

But how many people water cool and then put that work of art on the floor? Unless there's no windows. Then the floor it goes.

I was also thinking about this, it's certainly not a case that belongs on the floor. But I feel that the I/O on the top is nicely executed like that.

 

[Necere]

I really really like your new design language that you started with Rev3 for the SteamBox.

I'd say it's more of an evolution of the M1 design language, rather than something completely new. Visual continuity between models is something I've kind of wanted for a while, but for whatever reason hadn't been able to make work well across different sizes. Also I didn't want to just rehash the M1 design, but I think the new designs are just different enough to look fresh, while maintaining the M1 DNA.

Do you have a rough estimate of the case weight?

Couldn't tell you at this point. If we go steel for the chassis, it won't be particularly light. As always though, the majority of the weight will be from what you put in it.

I can't put my finger on it but there I get the feeling that something could be better for watercooling placements.
Like how some guys on the M1 use a slim 240 rad at the bottom and a thick 120 ram on the back exhaust in the same loop.

I would love to see this design intentionally have multiple spots for multiple rads of different sizes, even if they are custom sized.

280+240 isn't enough for you? The top rad could be relatively thick, depending on the GPU setup. A 92mm rad wouldn't add much, anyway.

Personally I don't like 280 on the front, makes the case 2cm thicker than the m1.
I think 240 on the front and 280 on the side , maybe a 360 on the top would be nice.
and maybe multiple psu positions , like bottom a(what it is now), b(90°angle, M1 position, and M1 ATX position etc.

The case would have to be substantially longer to support a 360mm rad, which are typically close to 420mm long.

The front 280 isn't what's driving the width of the case; rather, it's 1) support for taller GPUs and CPU coolers (+10mm over the M1), and 2) a bit more space behind the motherboard to run cables.

This design won't have any side vents, in part so it can have a window.

Yeah, that looks better. Maybe even remove two more columns?

I'm not totally convinced it looks better. Like, it's more like some vent holes punched into a flat panel, vs. vents framed by a structure when they come right up to the bend. This is probably a sort of Rorschach test or blue dress/white dress thing; different people will see it differently.

On the functional side, reducing the hole count will of course have an impact on airflow, however minor. For reference, the ventilated area started at 135mm wide, and every two columns removed reduces it by 6mm. So it already starts at a little less than the frontal area of a 140mm fan.

 

[grumpyrobin]

280+240 isn't enough for you? The top rad could be relatively thick, depending on the GPU setup. A 92mm rad wouldn't add much, anyway.

The guys that deal with x299 mobos, and i9 chips need even more cooling if they don't dellid their processors.
Heck, because of the VRM heating issues on those boards we might even see people water cool the mobo.

Plus, I can definitely see people who try to get to 5ghz on the i9-7900x would definitely appreciate ALL the cooling they can get.

Edit:
but for people who want this type of setup to work in your case , they would definitely need room for those bigger 1200W PSUs.

 

[EdZ]

Heck, because of the VRM heating issues on those boards we might even see people water cool the mobo.

The VRMs themselves are fine once you remove the 'heatsink', it's the dubios cosmetic heatsinks themselves that are causing the problem. Active airflow across the board from the radiator fans should be sufficient to cool the bare VRMs, through you could stick on some tiny self-adhesive ramsinks if you wanted.

 

[grumpyrobin]

The VRMs themselves are fine once you remove the 'heatsink', it's the dubios cosmetic heatsinks themselves that are causing the problem. Active airflow across the board from the radiator fans should be sufficient to cool the bare VRMs, through you could stick on some tiny self-adhesive ramsinks if you wanted.

I am waiting for more testing on the VRM issue. Apparently 12V stability seems to cause it.
I will wait for lvl 1 techs to give their findings. They mentioned this at 13:02 I think

 

[Necere]

The guys that deal with x299 mobos, and i9 chips need even more cooling if they don't dellid their processors.
Heck, because of the VRM heating issues on those boards we might even see people water cool the mobo.

Plus, I can definitely see people who try to get to 5ghz on the i9-7900x would definitely appreciate ALL the cooling they can get.

For the size though, the rad support is pretty good, and IMO sufficient for a pretty respectable W/C loop in up to a dual GPU system. Standard thickness fans everywhere, and enough clearance for airflow should lead to decent performance.

You could cram more rads into less space, for sure, but it would come at the cost of a less elegant, less good looking, and less flexible system. It might not even perform better, without very carefully considered airflow design.

 

[jeshikat]

Do you have a rough estimate of the case weight?

If we go steel for the chassis, it won't be particularly light.

Probably 4-5kg for steel frame and aluminum panels.

This is probably a sort of Rorschach test or blue dress/white dress thing; different people will see it differently.

Yeah, the more I look at it the less I'm sure which looks best, and then there's the renders vs real life thing too. At this point I'm leaning to your minus 2 rows.

Apparently 12V stability seems to cause it.

I'd take Roman's conclusion on whether a single 8-pin is enough for OCing X299 with a grain of salt. The temp measurement he got for the EPS wire is a bit suspect.

 

[Kmpkt]

But how many people water cool and then put that work of art on the floor?

This is why I don't get doing really fancy ATX builds with tempered glass and stuff. Unless you have an 8+ foot wide desk, it's just going on the floor.

 

[nerdalertdk]

Would it support an 240 top and front rad ?

Also Shutup and take my money

Ps. I like the front with most holes, the other look cramped/ to framed

 

[Necere]

Would it support an 240 top and front rad ?

Sure, as long as you don't mind the PSU being over the motherboard. Like it says in the first post, up to a 280 in front and 240 on top is possible. Here's an image showing such a setup:

 

[iFreilicht]

I/O placement is a bit tricky with this, because I know some people don't like upward facing ports. OTOH, I/O at the bottom like the M1 are borderline unusable if the case is on the floor. Forward facing I/O at the top is a possibility, and would probably offend the fewest number of people, but IMO the aesthetics of that aren't great.

Yeah I agree, top front I/O wouldn't look good.

I'm not totally convinced it looks better. Like, it's more like some vent holes punched into a flat panel, vs. vents framed by a structure when they come right up to the bend. This is probably a sort of Rorschach test or blue dress/white dress thing; different people will see it differently.

On the functional side, reducing the hole count will of course have an impact on airflow, however minor. For reference, the ventilated area started at 135mm wide, and every two columns removed reduces it by 6mm. So it already starts at a little less than the frontal area of a 140mm fan.

Interesting point. When seeing the thumbnails, I can certainly see where you're coming from, the holes form one rectangle that goes from one edge to the other. So the blank part above with the NCASE logo is it's own thing. When removing holes, the whole front is one rectangle that then has a smaller rectangle inside (the vent holes). So the segmentation with the holes going up to the edges is much clearer.

After looking at them for a while, it also seems like the bottom cutout is much better proportioned to the vent holes when they span the entire width, as opposed to there being a margin around it. Very interesting.

 

[Necere]

Here's a side-by-side to compare them more easily, since James' triptych included the OP pic of the 129mm* wide vents version, rather than the updated one with the equalized bottom section and taller feet:

*Made a mistake earlier; the widest version is actually only 129mm

 

[grumpyrobin]

Can we have a size comparison with some famous cases?

 

[iFreilicht]

Here's a side-by-side to compare them more easily, since James' triptych included the OP pic of the 129mm* wide vents version, rather than the updated one with the equalized bottom section and taller feet:

*Made a mistake earlier; the widest version is actually only 129mm

They both look good, but I'm not sure which is better. Good thing I don't have to decide

 

[Necere]

Can we have a size comparison with some famous cases?

Here's one you might recognize:

 

[Boil]

How about a comparison with the Apple 'cheese grater'...?

 

[Arboreal]

SFF genius! An ATX case that makes a Prodigy look large and bloated is quite something.
That NCase house look is spreading well
ATX has been 'too big' for me for a while, particularly the length of the board and 7 slots. That said, a 24L ATX case would do it for me!
It would make even the TJ08-E look a little wide, and as for my Evolv ITX that is hidden in the attic in shame, 36L of 'too much room'.
Or put it another way, at least 50% bigger than it should be

 

[Biowarejak]

ATX case that makes a Prodigy look large

I was like, "Meh, not much smaller" and then you reminded me it was ATX

 

[grumpyrobin]

Probably the only atx case that can fit in a carry-on.

 

[Necere]

How about a comparison with the Apple 'cheese grater'...?

SFF genius! An ATX case that makes a Prodigy look large and bloated is quite something.
That NCase house look is spreading well
ATX has been 'too big' for me for a while, particularly the length of the board and 7 slots. That said, a 24L ATX case would do it for me!
It would make even the TJ08-E look a little wide, and as for my Evolv ITX that is hidden in the attic in shame, 36L of 'too much room'.
Or put it another way, at least 50% bigger than it should be

I was like, "Meh, not much smaller" and then you reminded me it was ATX

I kind of think of it as an ATX/microATX hybrid design, since most builds would end up blocking some of the PCIe slots. That said, for most people that's not a big deal, and the advantage of including ATX support over mATX-only is the much greater board choice and additional features.