DoubleU - 3.99L gaming machine

[iFreilicht]

Looks nice! Maybe you could offer an option for the PSU to intake air mainly from the side, especially when you're using the Seasonic PSU.
For the CPU cooling, what cooler are you using right now, and what orientation is it installed in? You could try to remove the ATX I/O shield to make an exhaust, maybe that will help a little.
Do you have more pics of the prototype? What particular issues did you have with the GPU I/O?

 

[SmitiaS]

This week I've studied water cooling opportunities suitable for this case. Only three option turned out to be available: single 60mm, single 50mm and dual 40mm (radiator blocks). While single 60mm and dual 40mm are almost same, single 50mm is lacking potential. After researching drawbacks like price, user maintenance and size (also considering that most 60mm fans are 25mm high), estimating cooling potential and etc., I've concluded that it's bad idea. With water cooling aside, I decided to do what I should try in a first place: to run some tests.

I've tried all available combinations of CPU cooler, 60mm intake fan and 40mm exhaust fan. GPU has been unplugged (while physically staying in place) so I could estimate excessive power wiring impact. I was running CS:GO in match spectating in order to get the most true-to-life load while being able to fully concentrate on measurements (also iGPU could at least run it). Test was running until there was no new max temp in 5 minutes. Here are results:

No extra fans: 73°c
40mm exhaust: 71°c
40mm and 60mm: 64°c
60mm intake: 62°c

Results have surprised me. Firstly, I was considering wiring minor issue (max temp impact <5°c) but it turned out to be the main source of problems. Secondly, considering that 60mm are pretty high above GPU-MB gap, I expected it to have low efficiency. 11°c difference has proved that I was wrong.
Now to less important but more interesting findings: 40mm actually drops 2°c (too little considering added source of noise and 2.25 square difference compared to 60mm) but same 2°c was added to 60mm only result when both fans were used which was kinda weird.

So what we have as conclusion? PSU definitely should have 6+2 PCI-E power cord of correct length, effective 60mm fan must be implemented, no 40mm fans should be used at all. Cooling does not require further improvements, however, such improvements should be made if possible.

 

[SmitiaS]

Looks nice! Maybe you could offer an option for the PSU to intake air mainly from the side, especially when you're using the Seasonic PSU.
For the CPU cooling, what cooler are you using right now, and what orientation is it installed in? You could try to remove the ATX I/O shield to make an exhaust, maybe that will help a little.
Do you have more pics of the prototype? What particular issues did you have with the GPU I/O?

Sadly, turning around this particular PSU is not possible - modular system made in such way that wires goes from side, not from a back. Situating PSU on other side won't work since it will cover up main air source for CPU.

It still same cooler that I showed on picture before but now I found out what model I have, it's Ice Hammer IH-1500 and it's seems to be next to impossible to find anything better for such case.

Well, I couldn't picture GPU I/O problem since it was covered up, GPU bracket overlaps PSU a bit at bottom and cutouts for these spot weren't made as should, some workaround should be done here as well as new drawings.

I don't have more pictures yet and I had to disassemble it for now (it's mine main computer so cooling problem actually gets in my way) but I have picture of all case parts (besides screws).

Four small parts in bottom are to hold it all together. There should be more of them (even these prototype have six spots for them) but they are quite expensive to produce by one. You may notice GPU bracket area bended a bit- it's related to mentioned issue.

 

[EdZ]

Now to less important but more interesting findings: 40mm actually drops 2°c (too little considering added source of noise and 2.25 square difference compared to 60mm) but same 2°c was added to 60mm only result when both fans were used which was kinda weird.

Possibly because the 40mm fan cannot extract the same quantity of air per second that the 60mm intake is pushing into the case, so is acting as a net restriction. Because the fan will inherently block some of the exhaust vents (because it sits in front of them) the net effect is for it to act as a flow restriction, regardless of whether it is spinning or not.

 

[SmitiaS]

Possibly because the 40mm fan cannot extract the same quantity of air per second that the 60mm intake is pushing into the case, so is acting as a net restriction. Because the fan will inherently block some of the exhaust vents (because it sits in front of them) the net effect is for it to act as a flow restriction, regardless of whether it is spinning or not.

That seems to be the case, I expected that PSU will divide flow so weakness of 40mm fan won't cause troubles. Well, I was wrong.

 

[SmitiaS]

Fifth update

At this point I've finalized technical design leaving only esthetic aspect to work on. Here is one of renderings made for third update with new one to compare.

Old:

New:

Sadly, to properly install a PSU 1.5mm washers will be required, however, it's not really a problem. Also I moved drive mount from center of front to its right side to improve cable management. Additional USB ports and on/off switch will provide more impact on style then cause components and cables interference so I left them for next stage. As soon as I deal with that, I'll provide frontal before/after renderings as well.

 

[SmitiaS]

Never thought designing simple button (and couple USB ports) will be so difficult to do right, thought "just snap that little thing on when time will come". Truly the devil in the details. I guess I gotta go creative on button itself since I just can't make the rounded one not look ugly (or find ultimate positioning which I can't see yet)

 

[Phuncz]

An option instead of building your own cluster is trying to find an existing one for existing cases (as spare parts) that's easy to implement. Cooler Master, Corsair and lian-Li for instance offer spare parts for their cases.

 

[SmitiaS]

Having some extra difficulties in my life at the moment. Since now I have less spare time and lacking creativity lately, I've decided to leave button design as it currently is, well, for now.

Black on black looks terrible while rendering unlike how it is in real life (at least with my current rendering skills). As result, I switched around red and black here.

Right now I'll concentrate on cleaning up various left overs, like 40mm fan spots which turned out to be not just useless, but harmful as well. Since it's very technical task, I'll be able to do progress even with little time I have instead of just sitting and trying to get that creativity spark

 

[iFreilicht]

You should consider rendering in perspective projection instead of parallel, that makes the image look a bit more natural to people who aren't used to working in parallel projection.

What diameter does that switch have? It looks pretty large but that could just be your case being very small.

 

[SmitiaS]

Well, it took a while... Sometimes it's all fine one day but other day you feel like you on your way to hell and it's one way ticket...

But finally I'm back reporting live! Now I'm putting pieces thrown around by the storm back together and that's why I'm here today - to get this project moving again. What I did first, now filled with determination, actually started to use prototype as case for my main computer. Turned around the only actual problem was 300W PSU, it's just don't pack enough punch. 400W is a must, but thermal conditions was fine throughout couple weeks so that's a good news. Also, I've done some tests by sealing off some ventilation holes and applied results.

First, ex-40mm fan spots on the left. Their existence gives moderate positive effect on cooling, they save around 1 degree on all CPU core. So, here like it looked before:

After recompilation:

As I wasn't satisfied with result, I made some cosmetic changes and it's ended up like this:

Second, 40mm spot above I/O with proved to be useless with a fan. As it's been sealed off, impact was minor so I removed it. I think it will look better and I/O side will be more structurally solid. Still, I have some uses in mind for that area. So it's gone from this:

To this:

As you might notice, I started to experiment with color combinations, hope it'll get me somewhere. Tuned some quality settings, swapped some materials. I have to step up my rendering and it seems to take a while.

The last but not least, finally I developed proper standoffs for prototype cases, soon I'll be able to test tower orientation as well as having overall better fit of components.

P. S. Now looking back to where I started, I find out that some side elements of project (self training for stuff like PR especially), as well as project itself, improved me personally and, that's was unexpected, my looks - some people failed to recognize in a good sense. Now, when I understand that I'll benefit from this project even if I fail to launch it, I actually committed to finish it. I'll try to overcome obstacles life throws at me to do what I want (this project) besides doing what I need because it's the only way to make them merge into same thing. At moment I mostly learn stuff like laws since my funds are kinda dry but soon I'll be able to make final prototype. Hope to see you next time, signing out.

 

[SmitiaS]

You should consider rendering in perspective projection instead of parallel, that makes the image look a bit more natural to people who aren't used to working in parallel projection.

What diameter does that switch have? It looks pretty large but that could just be your case being very small.

If you could give me some link on projection types, it would be wonderful. I'm really noob at 3D visuals and not being native english speaker isn't helping at all

Diameter of switch is 20mm, button itself is 18mm. Now as you mentioned, I guess, it's actually too big for case of this size even though it's fine in general.

 

[iFreilicht]

Very simple example from Autodesk. If you want to know more, google is your friend

 

[SmitiaS]

It's been quite a long time, huh? Had to spent half year away from home. Still, I'm kinda disappointed in myself since I could try to find a way to push forward
Let's cut to the chase though

I have received new parts. This time quality was below expectations - one of them came in clearly bended, as you might see on photos. More of that later

Standoffs fitted in perfectly and opening up GPU I/O cutout on top made assembly much easier. However, I made two miscalculations:
1) When I took measures of bracket, I haven't considered GPU board itself. As result, bracket can't be fully fitted outside while being partially inside makes it interfere with PSU. The only solution is to make cutout couple mm longer.
2) Slip which was meant to secure GPU by screwing down bracket is just completely off. Somehow I measured wrong hole on bracket.
Good news is that all of this on one cheaper part so it's not expensive to "try again"

Other than that process was pretty much the same as a last time. Once again, design gave additional room during assembly. Here's everything packed up:

End result

The bend wasn't made during assembly, as I mentioned, it's how the part came in. GPU fiasco is here as well.

Once again about manufacturer, two top fixation points on other side are 1mm off. Double checked all blueprints, models, etc. and they are all correct. No idea where this gone wrong, I'm going to contact them pretty hard as soon as possible. I don't sure if you will see effects of this, but here it goes:

Yep, it's not as tight as it should be

I'm lacking fixation elements for now, but since it's coming together pretty well, I'm ordering some more. Also, as soon as manufacturer thing will be cleared out (and GPU thing as well), I'm finally going to paint it, should be neat.

In general, there are two things which are bothering me:
1) Amount of space. I consider to enlarge one or two dimensions (not height though). It would break 4L point, however, what if consider 4L not as a target but as an inspiration? Nevertheless, current general proportions of the case are very pleasant when held in hands so I'm not sure about it.
2) I'm not sure yet if aluminum is strong enough, I/O zone is pretty weak area. Maybe I should switch over to steel but then there will be no anodizing whatsoever.

P. S. 24 pin is such troublemaker. Very bulky, connector might be in so many areas on motherboard.

 

[W1NN1NG]

It's been quite a long time, huh? Had to spent half year away from home. Still, I'm kinda disappointed in myself since I could try to find a way to push forward
Let's cut to the chase though

I have received new parts. This time quality was below expectations - one of them came in clearly bended, as you might see on photos. More of that later

Standoffs fitted in perfectly and opening up GPU I/O cutout on top made assembly much easier. However, I made two miscalculations:
1) When I took measures of bracket, I haven't considered GPU board itself. As result, bracket can't be fully fitted outside while being partially inside makes it interfere with PSU. The only solution is to make cutout couple mm longer.
2) Slip which was meant to secure GPU by screwing down bracket is just completely off. Somehow I measured wrong hole on bracket.
Good news is that all of this on one cheaper part so it's not expensive to "try again"

Other than that process was pretty much the same as a last time. Once again, design gave additional room during assembly. Here's everything packed up:

End result

The bend wasn't made during assembly, as I mentioned, it's how the part came in. GPU fiasco is here as well.

Once again about manufacturer, two top fixation points on other side are 1mm off. Double checked all blueprints, models, etc. and they are all correct. No idea where this gone wrong, I'm going to contact them pretty hard as soon as possible. I don't sure if you will see effects of this, but here it goes:

Yep, it's not as tight as it should be

I'm lacking fixation elements for now, but since it's coming together pretty well, I'm ordering some more. Also, as soon as manufacturer thing will be cleared out (and GPU thing as well), I'm finally going to paint it, should be neat.

In general, there are two things which are bothering me:
1) Amount of space. I consider to enlarge one or two dimensions (not height though). It would break 4L point, however, what if consider 4L not as a target but as an inspiration? Nevertheless, current general proportions of the case are very pleasant when held in hands so I'm not sure about it.
2) I'm not sure yet if aluminum is strong enough, I/O zone is pretty weak area. Maybe I should switch over to steel but then there will be no anodizing whatsoever.

P. S. 24 pin is such troublemaker. Very bulky, connector might be in so many areas on motherboard.

Powder coating and cerakoting look 1000000 times better to me honestly, anodizing is nice but I feel like youre extremely limited in colors that route.

 

[Runamok81]

IO agree. It is your machine, but man it would be soooo NICE to paint or powder coat this design. It's rare to see a sub 4L gaming PC. I think you should celebrate it!

 

[SmitiaS]

Powder coating and cerakoting look 1000000 times better to me honestly, anodizing is nice but I feel like youre extremely limited in colors that route.

I've chosen anodizing mostly for it's tactile texture and there are plenty colors nowadays. But yeah, powder coating can be done really good (I hate fingerprints level of glossiness). I have to do powder coating this time anyway so I'll try to make it good enough to change my mind.


Also, update on that manufacturer fail: they already making a new part free of charge, I hope it'll turn out better this time.

 

[SmitiaS]

Seventh update
And I'm here again!

I just painted it all with a spray can. Why? Long story short - I reached a boiling point trying to do powder coating through companies. Since I didn't want gloss, my options in colors were quite limited. Moreover, for some reasons none of them answered what colors they have. They forced me to go one by one throughout RAL. And classic RAL is really bad for this type of design IMHO. Still, no color I asked was there (besides only one red) so I bailed out of this. Ordering affordable DIY kit to where I live though would take it too long (up to 90 days)

So I raided closest major hardware store. Not much suitable I could find, mostly it was gloss. But not much to worry, I already putting order on second half of third prototype, so it's not final but experimental.

I should stop using autocapture though, it tends to screw up... something (I'm not pro at this). Last fixation parts should be handled to me at 1st of September, colors made their shortage more obvious.

I've got a word that there are two major arts and crafts stores in the city and they might have huge variety of matte paint. If so, I'll be able make better color scheme next time.


P. S. Also, I noticed that when placed as a tower case, design looks surprisingly pleasing. Maybe I should fork some other models out of it in a future...

 

[ignsvn]

Cute little case there. What caused the bulge btw? GPU too thick?

 

[SmitiaS]

Cute little case there. What caused the bulge btw? GPU too thick?

Nah, I received this part already bended (too many holes for this way of manufacturing they say). After all the effort, bend still shows up slightly (compared to what it was). Also, described shortage of fixation elements makes it more apparent too. Maybe when I got them, with some weights, I'll finally be able to liquidate it