I think there's definitely room in the market for this sort of case. I saw a lot of folks really excited about the Jonsbo U1 Plus, myself included, but the poor airflow and top-mounted PSU threw a lot of people. A thoughtfully-designed case in a similar form-factor would be real nice.
For your specific points:
- I think intake fans would be a really good choice, especially because other cases in this form-factor tend to leave them out (presumably for aesthetics). The enthusiasm around the Lone L5's initial concept design makes me think that those concerns are overblown, though, and adding them would likely really boost airflow.
- Watercooling support might be nice, but if there's space for a U12S I'm not sure if there would be a real cooling boost for water over air, and it would probably meaningfully increase volume. Maybe add a 120 or 140mm fan mount where the GPU would sit (if you went with an inverted layout) so you could run a rad there if you didn't need a dGPU?
- As for features, front-to-back airflow might mean that a side glass panel would make sense, but those are likely a pain in the neck for a small manufacturer so I'd understand not wanting to go near that. That size is also at the point where front IO might be nice, but considering the current state of the USB-C front panel connector standards I can understand avoiding that, too. I do like that you're supporting 2.5" internal drives, as well. They're falling out of favor a bit with M.2, but there's definately space for them in a case this size and having an internal SSD for a game library or a dual-boot disk is still useful.
- For my part I think I'd prefer a standard motherboard layout just because it would allow a clean top panel, but I know tastes differ. If you did go inverted, I think there's definitely a way you could put the GPU up top that would look artful. Maybe continue the vent pattern from the front fans over to the top panel?
- I'd be interested in a case like this. If you weren't watercooling (I don't) and were okay with ITX GPU options (I am), it'd provide all the utility of a standard midtower at a significantly smaller volume. With front fans and the taller cooler clearance it might have better cooling potential than something like the M1, too, though it'd obviously be less flexible in other ways.
Very good feedback. I think it is important to discuss and gain diverse insight as this will be a bigger project.
1. I like the idea of intake fans. The trade off is how much intake fans are we using and how are we handling the front intake? If we do a solid front panel, like H200/Define Nano S, it would add about 15mm to the overall case. That is about 0.7L for aesthetics. If we assume 2x 120mm fans, then we need at least 20mm clearance in front of the GPU, increasing by almost 1L. If we do 1x120mm, we can also have an 2x80mm on the bottom for the GPU if using standard layout.
Aesthetics is a huge reason why people are drawn to certain designs, I'm leaning towards a solid front panel. I think at the very least, I can offer the solid panel first, and if it does well, I can expand to an airflow version during batch 2.
2. That is my opinion as well on air cooling. The new Noctua NH-U12 is a beast! I would say it can beat most 240 AIOs. But a lot of people prefer AIOs or custom cooling. Sometimes catering to a small minority makes it worth it if some really cool things are born from it. Assuming we stick with front to rear airflow, we can do a 120mm and a 75% 240 rad support. The 120mm radiator can fit with low profile RAM. The 240 radiator would only be able fit 1x 120mm and 2x 60mm, with the center clearance for the GPU. Or full 240 with extra short ITX GPU or no GPU.
3. I cannot do glass. Acrylic is possible, but not at the scale I'm working with.
4. If we use an inverted layout, aftermarket feet can be offered. You can flip the unit right-side up with about 15mm worth of feet to provide clearance for the GPU to breathe. This also allows open up to dual 120mm radiator PC.
5. Offering a single USB C port is a likely feature. The question is to place it in the front or hide it somewhere? I'm guessing it would make sense to use a simple button/IO layout as dancase as that seems like a tasteful design. If done so, would likely be placed at the top.
---- To Tidy the thoughts
LAYOUTS:
Inverted (PSU on opposing side of mobo)
PROS: Can be flipped with additional case feet to hide ventilation. GPU on top orientation allows good ventilation. Using a low power GPU, one can use 140 AIO with no obstructions.
CONS: Cannot use a smaller PSU in exchange for 3 slot GPU.
Standard Mini Tower layout
PROS: Straight forward and people seem to feel more comfortable with it. Using a smaller PSU means you can use a 3 slot card (EVGA).
CONS: Cannot provide easy ventilation for GPU.
Ventilation
1. Solid front panel, top OR bottom ventilation - sleek minimalist design. Works well with both layouts.
2. Solid front panel, top and bottom ventilation - Works best with inverted layout, gives options and is a good compromise between minimalism and functional design.
3. Fully ventilated - Most functional design. Gives you the most cooling and AIO options but the large number of (large) holes means it's a bit of an ugly duckling. Also saves 0.7L of space.
