EVE-02

[ehqhvm]

Hey everyone,

After having implemented my first custom case, the EVE-01, I'm now ready for my next project, the EVE-02!

The motivation behind this, is to continue polishing the idea of my original design, for a vertical SFF case, this time taking the opportunity of using a PCI-E riser cable to make the design a bit more efficient, while sacrificing on some cooling compatibility.

If the EVE-01 was inspired by the Ncase M1 layout, rethought in a vertical way, the EVE-02 is the same concept, but inspired in the Dan A4 layout instead.

The motivation for this vertical layout is to have a very efficient case, not only in terms of volume, but also in terms of desk footprint. I have a small desk, and I don't necessarily care if my PC is tall, but I do care if it's taking more space on the desk itself.

Here are some screenshots from what I have so far on SketchUp:

And this is a very quick and dirty prototype I did with cardboard to validate the idea and some of the measurements:

I am now working on the illustrator file with the exact measurements for each cut, so I can send it to the acrylic factory and have it laser cut. Before doing that, I wanted to share what I have so far, and if anyone sees something that could be improved, I'd love to know!

 

[jtd871]

Have you given any thought to the location of a power switch or what might customarily be considered "front panel I/O"? The "front I/O" could be addressed by omitting it in favor of using only the provided rear I/O, but I'm curious about your thoughts regarding the power switch.

 

[ehqhvm]

Hey,

For the front IO, I have one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PV9EKGA/?tag=theminutiae-20, which I was planning to use, but then I ended up deciding against it, since the motherboard IO could almost be considered as a front IO, given it's so accesible.

For the power switch, I added it to the front panel. I'm planning to use a black vandal switch with violet LED ring. Here is a preview of the Illustrator file, so you can see the power switch cutout:

Currently, the only thing missing in this file, is adding the cutouts for the top panel, which I'm having trouble doing because I need to be super sure about the location of the GPU, and I'm just measuring and remeasuring everything to be safe.

For the theme of this case, I'm going with Rocket League, which is my favorite game and it's one of those timeless games that won't get old.

The logo in the front panel is inspired by the "Grand Champion" Rocket League logo:

And the background part will be done in a translucent violet acrylic, which will also have a white LED strip behind to try to achieve this white-gradient effect too. I have a cablemod white LED strip already that I've been using to measure things and I'm around... 56% confident this will turn up nicely :-)

The ventilation cutouts are inspired by the "dots" Rocket League car decal, for example:

A friend of mine asked me to do one of these for him too, but with another theme, so I'll update this post with other versions as I work on them too! I was also thinking it would be cool to do a version with the SFF Forum logo in the front.

Ah! btw, something I forgot to add before, the measurements for this case are: 190mm x 310mm x 125mm, for a total of 7.3L.

 

[iFreilicht]

Rocket League themed build? And a well-designed one, too? Hell yeah, good luck!

 

[Phuncz]

I can't wait for the first pics of the acrylic case, it looks very promising !

 

[tomternal]

If you dont mind me asking, where did you get the metal cubes from? I was looking for some a while back and had no luck finding them anywhere.

 

[ehqhvm]

If you dont mind me asking, where did you get the metal cubes from? I was looking for some a while back and had no luck finding them anywhere.

These are the Parvum Modding Cubes! http://www.parvumsystems.com/product/modding-cube

 

[ehqhvm]

The acrylic sheets are finally here!

The black sheets are translucent, which may or may not have been a good idea! hopefully it'll turn up nicely once it's fully assembled. The violet sheets are "diffusing violet", which I really like for this use case since it's not quite translucent, but still lets light through, which I think goes pretty well with the Rocket League Grand Champion logo and the white LED that it will have behind. The only problem though, is that I couldn't find a darker shade for the center, so I'll have to try and darken it somehow (like a small piece of vinyl or something).

The total cost for all acrylic sheets was 110 dollars.

I will get started with the build and post pics along the way!

 

[Phuncz]

Those look promising, keep us up to date !

The black sheets are translucent, which may or may not have been a good idea! hopefully it'll turn up nicely once it's fully assembled.

I've had a very dark translucent blue acrylic case (link: Blast from the Past: My 2005 casemod) in the past, it looked glossy non-see-through black when there was light in the room. If you turned off the light and installed a light inside the case, the entire thing became translucent. While I'm not someone who likes to have shiny lights everywhere, if there was ever a reason for having one, it's to see the insides of your PC like you have X-ray vision. Argh, now I want an acrylic case again...

The total cost for all acrylic sheets was 110 dollars.

That's a very good price in my experience, especially with the many lasercuts and multiple other-colored panels.

 

[ehqhvm]

Those look promising, keep us up to date !


I've had a very dark translucent blue acrylic case (link: Blast from the Past: My 2005 casemod) in the past, it looked glossy non-see-through black when there was light in the room. If you turned off the light and installed a light inside the case, the entire thing became translucent. While I'm not someone who likes to have shiny lights everywhere, if there was ever a reason for having one, it's to see the insides of your PC like you have X-ray vision. Argh, now I want an acrylic case again...


That's a very good price in my experience, especially with the many lasercuts and multiple other-colored panels.

Nice case! Love the idea of an almost mirror finish which can then be illuminated from the inside! I would love to see a 2016 version of that case.

 

[ehqhvm]

Here are some build pictures:

The first step was installing the M3 nuts in place. Maybe this is common knowledge, but in case anyone's interested, to do this: you line up the nut in place with the hole, insert a screw in the nut and touch the screw with a soldering iron, pressing it slightly down. The immediate acrylic surrounding starts to melt very slowly, which allows you to insert the nut all the way with the acrylic filling all the gaps of the nut, and then you let it cool off so the acrylic hardens and the nut stays in place, rock solid.

I'm pretty happy with how clean it looks!

 

[ehqhvm]

Some more pics:

Motherboard standoffs in place! Plus the 2 nuts for the PCI-E riser cable in the other side.

Building the case with these parvum cubes is so easy! I wish I'd used these for my previous project too...

PCI-E riser cable installed! The one I had wasn't working for some reason, so I ended up getting this one by 3M. I'm glad I did because this thing is more flexible than water, it's crazy.

Hardware going in! It's amazing just how tiny this thing is, and at the same time it almost feels "roomy" inside. Very easy to build in.

I'll post the final pics of the build process and the finished result later tonight or tomorrow! So far I think I couldn't be happier with this project! :-)

 

[Phuncz]

Awesome tip about the nuts and soldering iron ! This is lookning to become a mighty fine case, I can't wait to see it finished !

 

[Gautam]

Looks absolutely fantastic. How and where did you get the acrylic sheets for $110? That seems like a steal. I'd expect them to cost almost the same raw.

 

[Josh | NFC]

Great job so far

 

[ehqhvm]

Looks absolutely fantastic. How and where did you get the acrylic sheets for $110? That seems like a steal. I'd expect them to cost almost the same raw.

I live in Argentina, so maybe labor and materials are a bit cheaper over here! I got them from a local place, and the process was pretty simple. Basically I asked them if they could build what I had in mind, they replied saying that they could print literally anything as long as it was a 2d design, so I sent them the illustrator file and they had the sheets ready in 48hs!

 

[ehqhvm]

Great job so far

Thanks!!! I'm a huge fan of your work, so this means a lot :-) I love the S4, but your acrylic cases in particular were a huge inspiration and motivation do try and do my own.

 

[Josh | NFC]

Thanks!!! I'm a huge fan of your work, so this means a lot :-) I love the S4, but your acrylic cases in particular were a huge inspiration and motivation do try and do my own.

Well you made my day...nice to have inspired someone...and the results speak for themselves!

 

[ehqhvm]

OK, I've finally completed the build, I have pictures to share :-)

WARNING: I'm not a good photographer, and I even made the mistake of leaving the timestamps in the photos *facepalms*... so please excuse the underwhelming photography!

Here's an album with these images plus a few extra ones, including comparisons with other cases:


I'm very happy and satisfied with this project! I think these pictures don't do it justice though, and I still need to polish some details, like the positioning of the white LEDs for the logo, which are a bit off. But overall, this case is (I think) as compact as possible while still allowing to pack some truly high-end hardware inside, and at the same time I think I accomplished the goal of minimizing its footprint on the desk.

In terms of the cables sticking out of the top, it's something I don't really mind, as I see it as being in tune with the concept of a translucent case, where you are constantly seeing the internals anyway, and so seeing a couple of cables on the top is not a big deal. That being said, I think I could also create at some point an add-on for this case to cover the cables, and I have some magnet strips which I think would be nice for keeping it in place.

A friend of mine asked me to build him one of these, with a Deus Ex theme instead, so I may take a stab at that and if I make it I'll post the results here too. Something else I was thinking... it would be pretty cool to do one almost exactly like this one, but instead of the rocket league logo, using the SFF Forum logo in opaline blue! and instead of circles for the ventilation, perhaps squares.

 

[Colinreay]

Woah... What a beauty! I really like the circular grill pattern in the back, it looks really, really slick. Really interesting implementation of a gpu bracket, never seen someone use a modding cube!