Greetings!
Some background before the details. I was traveling for a few months this past fall and had a lot of time in a hotel room away from home to brainstorm all sorts of projects. One was to build a new PC as my current rig was from 2013 and showing its age. I started with a regular old ATX in mind but after over researching I eventually fell into the world of SFF cases and my imagination took over. Then I discovered some of the wood cases out there, both commercially and custom jobs by enthusiasts, and I realized I could blend several of my hobbies together for a good project to keep me busy.
My space constraints are not extreme and I am personally not a maximalist when it comes to pushing the limits of small dimensions. My goals for the design are :
1.) Small enough to fit on my desk inconspicuously.
2.) Minimalist in style and presentation to blend in with my furniture.
3.) Enough performance options for mid-level gaming and production.
4.) Room for upgrading should greater performance become desired.
5.) Be a quality long-lasting piece of furniture.
6.) All wood and aluminum parts must be fabricated via 6040 CNC.
As you can tell from the pictures and as would be inevitable for this style and material case, the Volta V is obviously one of the cases I crossed paths with (as well as the Taku). It seems like good kit, but I am personally not a fan of its asymmetry and especially it's completely nonfunctional but function suggesting front panel. A good bit of this project is taking that basic layout and making all the exterior features functional in relevant ways, and if not removing them. One note is in using structural wood the thickness of the case is not a rounding error, so there are two volumes given.
Details:
- Overall Dimensions 540mm L x 315mm W x 116mm H
- Internal Volume 12.6L
- Total Volume (panel external planes in) 19.7L
- Max GPU Length 254mm
- 92mm x8 Fans, 4 front, 2 back
- Room for 2 Dual 92mm Radiators (Aquacool NexXxos XT45 used for design)
- ITX or M-DTX Mother Boards
- MB cooler height approximately 78mm.
- SFX PSU
- Front I/O (2 USB 3.X)
- Magnetic Attached Top Panel
The case is made up of six wood panels (five using dowel joints, one screw) and two interior bracing panels that also serve as fan/radiator/dust filter mounts. The default configuration is shown and will be a full size two fan GPU, ITX MB, one dual 92mm Radiator with two 92mm slim pull fans, two 92mm slim intake fans, two 92mm slim exhaust fans, and an SFX power supply. There is an area forward of the PSU left empty to allow for options for hard drive racks, water cooling pump/reservoir, or any other future expansion. Power and Reset buttons are on the back. The MB I/O is internal to the case, with two passthrough cableways (one rear, one bottom). All predrilled mountings will have metal threaded inserts to preserve the life of the wood, though obviously new holes can be drilled as required for custom additions. There are no feet on the images but they will only be roughly a 1/4 inch tall, there is no intention to put a keyboard under it.
For cooling, it's a straight front to back affair, there are no vents to the bottom for intakes or exhausts. Water cooling of the CPU is assumed. The case was designed for the Aquacool NExXxos XT45 Dual 92mm Radiator. You can use others of course, but access to screws mounts was only evaluated for this radiator. For the GPU the two fans in front of it push intake air over the top and around the card. The GPU fans face up into the top void allowing it to pull fresh air into the card.
The case will be pre-configured for other configuration options. Specifically, a second radiator for an extended primary or independent GPU (or another purpose) cooling loop if a shorter GPU is used, and the aluminum panels are predrilled to allow tubing access to the front panel, which can be replaced with a distribution plate/reservoir.
The only RGBs the case will come with is a strip around and recessed into the interior of the front panel, providing a backlight around that panel if desired. I am thinking of a simple white illumination at startup and red for error.
I am curious what you guys think about the idea. I have been kicking around doing it all over again with 80mm fans which will significantly reduce the overall size but for now I feel there would be too many compromises. Thanks for taking a look!
Some background before the details. I was traveling for a few months this past fall and had a lot of time in a hotel room away from home to brainstorm all sorts of projects. One was to build a new PC as my current rig was from 2013 and showing its age. I started with a regular old ATX in mind but after over researching I eventually fell into the world of SFF cases and my imagination took over. Then I discovered some of the wood cases out there, both commercially and custom jobs by enthusiasts, and I realized I could blend several of my hobbies together for a good project to keep me busy.
My space constraints are not extreme and I am personally not a maximalist when it comes to pushing the limits of small dimensions. My goals for the design are :
1.) Small enough to fit on my desk inconspicuously.
2.) Minimalist in style and presentation to blend in with my furniture.
3.) Enough performance options for mid-level gaming and production.
4.) Room for upgrading should greater performance become desired.
5.) Be a quality long-lasting piece of furniture.
6.) All wood and aluminum parts must be fabricated via 6040 CNC.
As you can tell from the pictures and as would be inevitable for this style and material case, the Volta V is obviously one of the cases I crossed paths with (as well as the Taku). It seems like good kit, but I am personally not a fan of its asymmetry and especially it's completely nonfunctional but function suggesting front panel. A good bit of this project is taking that basic layout and making all the exterior features functional in relevant ways, and if not removing them. One note is in using structural wood the thickness of the case is not a rounding error, so there are two volumes given.
Details:
- Overall Dimensions 540mm L x 315mm W x 116mm H
- Internal Volume 12.6L
- Total Volume (panel external planes in) 19.7L
- Max GPU Length 254mm
- 92mm x8 Fans, 4 front, 2 back
- Room for 2 Dual 92mm Radiators (Aquacool NexXxos XT45 used for design)
- ITX or M-DTX Mother Boards
- MB cooler height approximately 78mm.
- SFX PSU
- Front I/O (2 USB 3.X)
- Magnetic Attached Top Panel
The case is made up of six wood panels (five using dowel joints, one screw) and two interior bracing panels that also serve as fan/radiator/dust filter mounts. The default configuration is shown and will be a full size two fan GPU, ITX MB, one dual 92mm Radiator with two 92mm slim pull fans, two 92mm slim intake fans, two 92mm slim exhaust fans, and an SFX power supply. There is an area forward of the PSU left empty to allow for options for hard drive racks, water cooling pump/reservoir, or any other future expansion. Power and Reset buttons are on the back. The MB I/O is internal to the case, with two passthrough cableways (one rear, one bottom). All predrilled mountings will have metal threaded inserts to preserve the life of the wood, though obviously new holes can be drilled as required for custom additions. There are no feet on the images but they will only be roughly a 1/4 inch tall, there is no intention to put a keyboard under it.
For cooling, it's a straight front to back affair, there are no vents to the bottom for intakes or exhausts. Water cooling of the CPU is assumed. The case was designed for the Aquacool NExXxos XT45 Dual 92mm Radiator. You can use others of course, but access to screws mounts was only evaluated for this radiator. For the GPU the two fans in front of it push intake air over the top and around the card. The GPU fans face up into the top void allowing it to pull fresh air into the card.
The case will be pre-configured for other configuration options. Specifically, a second radiator for an extended primary or independent GPU (or another purpose) cooling loop if a shorter GPU is used, and the aluminum panels are predrilled to allow tubing access to the front panel, which can be replaced with a distribution plate/reservoir.
The only RGBs the case will come with is a strip around and recessed into the interior of the front panel, providing a backlight around that panel if desired. I am thinking of a simple white illumination at startup and red for error.
I am curious what you guys think about the idea. I have been kicking around doing it all over again with 80mm fans which will significantly reduce the overall size but for now I feel there would be too many compromises. Thanks for taking a look!