FCase "Chameleon" <9L

[FCase]

Good Day SFF,

I have been reading and and commenting here for some time; enjoying all the beautiful submissions from your creative minds. Finally I am able to make my own contribution.

As we all know computers are industrial machines, therefore by association their cases are industrial designs. The goal of FCase is to push back the industrial and machine aspects and bring forward more of the design elements. I lean more toward simple lines, hidden fasteners and ports, and creative venting. To me nothing softens the hard edges of an industrial design like wood. Wood has the ability to interact with multiple materials and so is comfortable in any environment. So wood will be a prominent material in all my cases.

My first case is the Chameleon, a <9L case made from a 3pc frame and hard wood shell. Plans are to house 2x 2.5" drives, ITX GPU up to 192mm, and slot load blue ray player. PSU is SFX and cooling options are amphibious based around a 140mm case fan.


This is where I am so far. To do is countersink the holes, color the frame and shell, permanently bond the shell together, and mount the parts to verify fitment.

Enjoy,

Mal

 

[jeshikat]

Looks interesting!

How do you like FreeCAD? And doesn't the metal between those really long vents in the back flex a lot?

 

[FCase]

I love FreeCAD. I really like the G_Code compiler.

The vent flex is pretty bad but it may have more to do with the fabrication method as opposed to the design. Will try a CNC cut as opposed to laser next time.
Once assembled the 1.6mm metal may hold its shape better.

Mal

 

[jeshikat]

The vent flex is pretty bad but it may have more to do with the fabrication method as opposed to the design.

No, it's the design. Such a long and thin strip of metal is just going to flex. You'll either want to break up each vent into 3-4 shorter cutouts or substantially increase the spacing between cutouts to leave more metal between them.

 

[FCase]

No, it's the design. Such a long and thin strip of metal is just going to flex. You'll either want to break up each vent into 3-4 shorter cutouts or substantially increase the spacing between cutouts to leave more metal between them.

Good to know. I'll look into that for the next prototype design.

Mal

 

[jeshikat]

Maybe in keeping with the natural look with the wood, you could do a s-curve vent like the XForma MBX Mk II? https://xforma.com/assets/images/galleries/mkii/gallery_intro/MBX_MKII_FG_07.jpg

It's hard to see, but at the apex of each curve in the vent both sides of the cutout are connected with a thin strip of metal.

Edit: And a series of long vents are visible on the left but they can get away with it because that motherboard tray is made out of really thick aluminum.

 

[Phuncz]

Interesting goals, I'll be following this thread !

 

[iFreilicht]

Oh whoops, already replied on [H], should've checked whether you posted here first.

 

[FCase]

Oh whoops, already replied on [H], should've checked whether you posted here first.

Let me see if I can help.

Hi! Good to see more ideas here!

So about the case: I guess the idea is that CPU cooling will be done by an AIO in the top, and the PSU will intake from the inside, right? I think this could work very nicely if the AIO intakes air from the top, so the PSU gets access to fresh and relatively cool air. I also like the idea of the wooden shell aesthetically. It would also make the case very sturdy if it was glued together to form a single piece that was just slid over and secured in the back like the OSMI does. A few people actually asked for a version of the OSMI with AIO support, so I guess there's at least some interest in a case like this. The design for the ODD mount is neat as well, maybe you could try to incorporate 2.5" mounts behind the motherboard as well? Looks like there's space for at least one drive there. USB ports at the top are a good idea as well.

The air flow will hopefully be positive pressure, incoming from top and bottom (via GPU) and be forced out the rear. The slots in the rear should double as mounts for up to 3 optional 40mm fans to help with cooling. I know how loud this can be so this is looking more like a low power TDP case on air alone. If using an AIO (which I took in consideration while designing) then a lower power TDP cpu should allow full water cooling for a quieter system.
As for the drives, only two are planned at this point. I wanted a case somewhat easy to build in, so I cut a big hole in the rear of MB tray for cpu mount and M2 access. Will see if there is room left for 3rd drive.

What you might have to improve is the bottom intake and the stability of the back. Right now, you're heavily limiting the bottom intake with the two flanges you've got there I recognise those are for stability, but that surface isn't load bearing, and general increased stiffness can be obtained by having the flanges face upwards just as well. Design the metal enclosure to use all of the intake area the wooden shell provides. Not sure if that is enough, but it could suffice.
The back seems a little flimsy where the PSU is supposed to be mounted. It looks like you're using steel, so it might be fine, but PSUs are still heavy and especially SFX-L PSUs will exhibit a good amount of torque on that part of the case. Just getting rid of the one slot closest to the PSU will increase stiffness significantly already.

I haven't shown you everything about the case yet. Gotta get it together first. GPU cooling will be more evident then. But you are right about the rear. You never know what you got until you get it off of a screen drawing and into your hands. Once I redesign the rear venting, I will see if I need to add internal PSU support.

Oh and another thing I just noticed: If you rotated the top ventilation, you could extend it towards the edges so that a disc would be inserted through one of those slots into the ODD, making it very unobtrusive. Not sure how you'd integrate the USB ports into that, though.

I'm not much of a photographer (apparent by the large pics) but if you look closely you will see the wood shell has one vent with a squared off end. That particular vent frames the USB ports and the slot of the Blue Ray drive. We will see if I measured enough times before I cut.

Thanks for the support,

Mal

 

[iFreilicht]

I'm not much of a photographer (apparent by the large pics) but if you look closely you will see the wood shell has one vent with a squared off end. That particular vent frames the USB ports and the slot of the Blue Ray drive. We will see if I measured enough times before I cut.

Ah, now I can see it! At first it looked like I was looking at the front of the case, not the side. Very subtle, I like it!

The slots in the rear should double as mounts for up to 3 optional 40mm fans to help with cooling.

I'm reluctant to believe those would actually help. Looking at Noctua fans, a single 40mm fan has 8.2m³/h airflow, so three in parallel will have 24.6, wile a single 120mm fan can have over 100m³/h, so an AIO or regular fan in the top will help a lot more, even with just passive exhaust through the back. Using 40mm fans there could actually reduce the airflow.

If using an AIO (which I took in consideration while designing) then a lower power TDP cpu should allow full water cooling for a quieter system.

You mean using a radiator, right? Or do you think an expandable AIO system would actually fit? A full custom loop would be very cool indeed, something like a 65W i5 paired with a 1060, could be quite a nice system. You could even design the case to allow for a front window, that could look amazing.

 

[CC Ricers]

This case appears to address the two issues I have with the Osmi:

• Supporting a 140mm top fan, but still not being tall enough for a closed loop water cooler, to get around the low height restriction of air coolers
• Awkward spot for the slim ODD being placed on the side. Placing it on the front would be better aesthetically, like the Apple G4 Cube

So of course I'll be following this closely! I was thinking of a case like this one ever since the R9 Nanos were brand new- now I can imagine a more up-to-date system in this case with a GTX 1060 or 1070 mini.

 

[iFreilicht]

Awkward spot for the slim ODD being placed on the side. Placing it on the front would be better aesthetically, like the Apple G4 Cube

It looks to me like the slim ODD is still on the side, behind the motherboard tray. But I don't really think that's an issue in the first place.

 

[FCase]

Good News / Bad News / Good News

Good News:
All my measurements are perfect. Holes line up, and once assembled the steel case felt sturdy despite the long thin vents. As seen the small fan mounted nicely.

Bad News:
My fan mount and USB mount measurements are perfectly wrong. I goofed somewhere and they totally don't fit. The PCIE mount screw hole does not allow the GPU to align properly. It needs to slide over about 5mm. Also, my first fabricator only tapped the SSD holes properly. All the other holes were tapped too big for M3 if they were tapped at all. And the motherboard holes and PCIE mount holes I specifically asked to be tapped 6-32. They were tapped M3. This after keeping me waiting for two months and not powder coating the case like he said he would. So you can see my use of "Duct Tape Prototyping" to hold the screws in. But the case is nice and sturdy. I was tempted to install the shell, but I resisted. I will bond the shell over the weekend. All this means the money I was going to use to order the water cooling loop must be put toward the second prototype; pushing acquiring the loop back a bit.

Good News:
Because I was going to redesign the rear vents anyway I went and adjusted the measurements for the PCIE, fan, and USB mounts. I submitted the files to a new fabricator and I'm awaiting his quote. With the (old) parts installed you can see the space available for a 140mm fan and radiator. My plan is to install a Swiftech H140-X AIO. Looking at it, I may be able to mount an XSPC Ion Pump/Reservoir below the SSD if I forego the second drive. What do you guys think?

Mal

 

[FCase]

@iFreilicht You wrote: "What you might have to improve is the bottom intake and the stability of the back. Right now, you're heavily limiting the bottom intake with the two flanges you've got there I recognize those are for stability, but that surface isn't load bearing, and general increased stiffness can be obtained by having the flanges face upwards just as well."

If you look closely (I gotta get a better camera) you will see two holes at the bottom of the shell that match the two holes on the bottom flanges. The flanges of the case frame will not touch the surface the case is placed on. The shell suspends the frame. I extended the rear of the case frame to try and limit the amount of warm exhaust re-injested by the GPU fan. You will see this better after the case is done.

Mal

 

[jeshikat]

Looking good!

And why not do M3 thread everywhere?

 

[iFreilicht]

If you look closely (I gotta get a better camera) you will see two holes at the bottom of the shell that match the two holes on the bottom flanges. The flanges of the case frame will not touch the surface the case is placed on. The shell suspends the frame. I extended the rear of the case frame to try and limit the amount of warm exhaust re-injested by the GPU fan. You will see this better after the case is done.

Jup, I can see that. Makes a lot more sense now. Too bad the manufacturer didn't do everything to spec How did you submit your drawings? Were there notes in the actual drawing which holes should be tapped which size?

 

[FCase]

Looking good!

And why not do M3 thread everywhere?

Thanks, just tryin to stay within standards for common motherboard stand-offs. Motherboard OEMs include stand-offs with their products, no need to add another set is there?

Mal

 

[FCase]

Jup, I can see that. Makes a lot more sense now. Too bad the manufacturer didn't do everything to spec How did you submit your drawings? Were there notes in the actual drawing which holes should be tapped which size?

I converted my FreeCAD files to .step and included notes for the hole sizes and which ones were to be counter sunk. I even reinforced those instructions in person, because the fabricators I am using are close to me in my attempts to avoid these problems. This choice was just the wrong choice. We will see how fabricator #2 turns out. He is already ahead of #1 because he did the wood shell beautifully. We will see now how he handles metal.

Mal

 

[jeshikat]

Motherboard OEMs include stand-offs with their products, no need to add another set is there?

#6-32 is commonly used for motherboard standoffs but they don't come with the motherboard, they come with the case. Lian Li exclusively uses M3 for the standoffs in their cases, so I don't see a problem with using M3 standoffs as long as you provide M3 screws to use with them.

Also, you can click the "+Quote" button on the bottom right of the posts you want to respond to, then when you're done selecting them, click "Insert Quotes" on the bottom left of the text editor to insert them rather than making individual posts for each response.

 

[FCase]

Good to know. I could have sworn I got those with my boards. I gotta source standard height M3 stand-offs now.

Thanks,

Mal