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EVE 01: Vertical all-acrylic SFF case

Regack

Trash Compacter
Sep 11, 2015
53
29
The top panel looks a little iffy with the one bar just floating there. It will break pretty easily unless it is actually bonded to another panel.
 

ehqhvm

Trash Compacter
Original poster
Nov 18, 2015
39
59
Nice, though the holes are pretty close to the edges of the panels, won't the other panels cover them up?

The front and back panels go above the side panels, adding an extra 6mm (the depth of the acrylic I'm using) to the sides, so in reality the holes won't be *that* close. Still, there's like an 83.9% chances that my calculations are utterly wrong. I'll keep reviewing everything just in case...
 

ehqhvm

Trash Compacter
Original poster
Nov 18, 2015
39
59
The top panel looks a little iffy with the one bar just floating there. It will break pretty easily unless it is actually bonded to another panel.

Yeah, you're right. It's hard because I didn't want to add extra room in that direction since the back panel is already 6mm thick and I don't *need* more space. I figured this would be ok-ish but I'll try to bond that panel to the left side panel together just in case. I also measured it to ensure that I can secure that floating column with a parvum cube (the column is exactly 12mm, same as the cubes) on each side, which should add some rigidity.

Did you see any other warning signs I should look into??
 

ehqhvm

Trash Compacter
Original poster
Nov 18, 2015
39
59
Using the measurements from the Illustrator file, I made a prototype of the prototype :-)



For some reason all photos appear rotated 90 degrees, sorry about that! I'll try to fix it and edit it.

It seems everything will fit nicely and the perforations make sense, so I'm pretty eager to get my hands on the acrylic plates and start putting it together!

I didn't have a 140mm fan so I used a 120mm, but still confirmed that both would fit ok. Oh and this Titan X is not the GPU I'll be using, this one is dead, unfortunately. I've ordered a Gigabyte G1 980 TI which is a bit longer (305mm or so) and it should fit just fine, taking more advantage of the space below.

The timeless beauty and simplicity of the M1 puts my proto-prototype to shame :p, but I wanted to get an idea of the volume difference. The M1 is a bit smaller in volume compared to my EVE01 (which is currently at 14.6L if I'm not mistaken), but of course I have 2.5cm for the feet and 2.5cm extra on the top walls to hide connectors, so that adds up a lot.

I've been debating if I should make the case any smaller, but I think I've convinced myself I'm ok with this size. I knew from the start that I wouldn't be making the most space efficient case ever... I'll get an A4 for that if I want to, but I like that the space is not necessarily wasted, but rather used to showcase the internals in the transparent case while at the same time keeping an eye on efficiency as a secondary priority. In contrast to that, if I moved the PSU and put it in front of the motherboard, I could save up some space and allow for 120mm AIOs, but then I think a bit of the transparent-case magic would be lost, and honestly I don't really mind the case gaining altitude.
 
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iFreilicht

FlexATX Authority
Feb 28, 2015
3,243
2,361
freilite.com
I see, but for next time, add that additional material on the panel that actually gets perforated, that will reduce the probability of anything breaking.

Well the footprint is smaller, so that's a plus compared to the M1. It's always lovely to get a bit of a feel for the size of everything before it arrives, keeps the anticipation up ;)
 

ehqhvm

Trash Compacter
Original poster
Nov 18, 2015
39
59
Finally got the acrylic sheets cut! :-)





Over the next couple of weeks I will finish receiving the components and last missing parts for the case and I'll update this with new pics as stuff comes in and I continue putting it together!
 

Phuncz

Lord of the Boards
SFFn Staff
May 9, 2015
5,951
4,954
Sometimes you just have to say it: amazeballs.

Those perforations look really good, I hope it didn't cost an arm and a leg for the time-consuming lasercuts.
 

ehqhvm

Trash Compacter
Original poster
Nov 18, 2015
39
59
Alright! The EVE01 is officially built!

Here are some (pretty poorly taken) pics:



In the next couple of days I will take more photos, with better quality and update this thread.

Building the case was more difficult than I'd thought it'd be! I made a few mistakes in the design phase, so I had to get creative in some areas. Particularly the power button was not aligned correctly and it interfered with the PSU, so I had to move the hole down a bit.

I unfortunately didn't receive my Parvum Cubes (lost in the mail) so I had to bond some panels and come up with some acrylic cubes, equivalent of the parvum ones.

Oh, I also had to laser cut the carbon fiber vinyl because cutting it by hand produced awful results!

Overall the process was pretty fun, I learned a lot and improved the design in Sketch and Illustrator, in case I need to make a new one at some point.

Total cost of this project was around 150 us dollars. Basically 90 dollars for the acrylic sheets, 40 dollars for the 3M carbon fiber wrap and 10 for some m3 screws and misc stuff.

Temperatures and noise levels are amazing, and the thing is super quiet, especially with the GPU being in silent mode when not under full load. When it does go to full load, it reaches 80 degrees at most, but overall remains pretty quiet nonetheless (especially comparing it to the Titan X I used before.)

Thank you all for the tips, advice, suggestions and ideas!! you've been a tremendous help and I sincerely appreciate your input :-)

If anyone ever wants to make one of these for themselves, let me know and I'll publish the Sketch and Illustrator files, and otherwise give more details about the overall process.
 

PlayfulPhoenix

Founder of SFF.N
SFFLAB
Chimera Industries
Gold Supporter
Feb 22, 2015
1,052
1,990
This is a fantastic case build for the price. That picture from the front, with the shroud of the graphics card perfectly framed... That makes the design :)
 

jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
Silver Supporter
Feb 22, 2015
4,969
4,784
Very nice! And I don't blame you for getting the vinyl wrap laser-cut. With all those vents holes it's pretty much impossible to keep the all the cuts clean doing it by hand.
 

ehqhvm

Trash Compacter
Original poster
Nov 18, 2015
39
59
This is a fantastic case build for the price. That picture from the front, with the shroud of the graphics card perfectly framed... That makes the design :)

Thank you for the nice words :-) I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, how silent it is, how it showcases everything inside and how little space it takes up on my desk!
 

ehqhvm

Trash Compacter
Original poster
Nov 18, 2015
39
59
Very nice! And I don't blame you for getting the vinyl wrap laser-cut. With all those vents holes it's pretty much impossible to keep the all the cuts clean doing it by hand.

Haha yeah, exactly! it took me a few dozen tries before my wife suggested "why don't you just have the vinyl laser cut too?" and then found out I had a place that did that 5 minutes away from where I live. Costed $8. Felt a bit silly for not having thought of it in the first place!
 
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BirdofPrey

Standards Guru
Sep 3, 2015
797
493
Hey mate, just because the components are at an unconventional angle doesn't mean the pictures have to be :p
===
But in all seriousness. Nice.

Is the entire thing clear acrylic under that carbon fiber vinyl?
 

Phuncz

Lord of the Boards
SFFn Staff
May 9, 2015
5,951
4,954
Awesome case ! I like the top the most, the clear acrylic with the large square holes. Amazing how well it turned out. It makes me want to try to contact my local acrylic shop, there a few miles from home and they've already done a case for me, over 10 years ago. But then I remembered I don't know 3D and at the moment I'm not motivated enough to learn.