Returning to this question, I’m curious to hear your take on the idea (which several people have mentioned) of including a cutout in the side panel to preserve easy access a CPU cooler mounting bracket or an m.2 drive on the underside of the motherboard. The primary challenge would be to design an insert for the cutout that is removable while preserving the aesthetic and strucural integrity of the side panel.
One possible solution would be to create a removable steel mesh “cutout insert” that can be toollessly removed and, when installed, sits firmly in the cutout and flush with the exterior of the panel. (See A in picture.)
The Node 304 (pictured) has two of these, one on either side of its three-sided slide-on panel. (See A and B.) The idea is that the cutout has a lip on the interior of the panel around the circumferemce of the cutout. (See C.) The mesh cutout insert then has a half dozen or so “fingers”—sections around its circumference where the edges of the insert extend slightly—that act as clips that grip onto the shallow internal lip. (See D.) The result in the Node 304 is quite sturdy and attractive. Both inserts are removable—you can simply pop them in and out, which in the Node is handy for cleaning the mesh moreso than accessing components.
Possible Issues:
1) Manufacturing tolerances for the “fingers” may be quite small to ensure a snug fit. (My layman’s guess.)
2) Can you pop the inserts in and out of the cutout from the outside of the case, without removing the panel? (I believe so, but would require testing.)
3) Cost. For larger cutouts, the inserts seem to be reinforced with a plastic frame, rather than just bare mesh. Note that, in the Node picture, the smaller “A” side cutout insert is bare, unreinforced mesh (no plastic frame), whereas the larger “B” side insert is reinforced with a plastic frame. The manufacture of the combination frame + mesh inserts seems expensive. (Again, just a layman’s hunch.)
Best wishes and thanks for engaging the community in this project!
