Chimera Industries Cerberus: The 18L, mATX, USA-made enclosure

Crysilus

Caliper Novice
Nov 7, 2017
23
9
So I'm currently looking at the model and putting in different water cooling components to insure everything is going to fit. One thing I'm looking at is a 240mm rad on the bottom and then a 140mm fan mounted on the front grid below the SFX power supply. I noticed that there are holes for the feet of the case. Will there be bolts that protrude into the case at these locations?
 
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MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
3,616
2,705
What components are you planning to put?
Please note that a sfx psu will live in warm environment with dual radiator with intake fans...that will lead to noisy sfx psu...:)
Thus i recommend sfx-l psu plus 120 radiator on front...that won’t change much cooling capabilities.
 

Crysilus

Caliper Novice
Nov 7, 2017
23
9
What components are you planning to put?
Please note that a sfx psu will live in warm environment with dual radiator with intake fans...that will lead to noisy sfx psu...:)
Thus i recommend sfx-l psu plus 120 radiator on front...that won’t change much cooling capabilities.

Right now I'm just using ekwb parts for sizing purposes. It's still a preliminary build. More specifically I was using the EK-CoolStream PE240 for the rad and the appropriate Vardar fans. This would be on the bottom. For the PSU I was using the Corsair SF600 as I've heard a lot of praise for it.

I looked at the option of using a 120 rad on the front, but it won't fit with a 240 rad on the bottom. This was with a sfx PSU mind you.

I'm also going to look at placing a 140mm fan on the top so that I have 2 140's blowing in and 2 120's on the rad blowing out. If there is room I may do a push/pull on the rad, but I haven't gotten that far yet.
 
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MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
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Having testing sf600 myself in my cerberus-x i can guarantee you that sf600 will be very noisy in a warm environment...:)
You should opt for sfx-l on rear bracket and use front panel for radiator and pump/radiator..:)
 

FoskcoRS5

Designated LMG
Jan 31, 2017
363
623
Having testing sf600 myself in my cerberus-x i can guarantee you that sf600 will be very noisy in a warm environment...:)
You should opt for sfx-l on rear bracket and use front panel for radiator and pump/radiator..:)

I don't think it's a guarantee.

I am running the SF600 with 2 120's on intake through a rad and my rear mounted PSU is whisper quite.

The GPU on the other hand.
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
3,616
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In my personal all gpu heat is inside case...as far as i remember you have a blower gpu that exhausts hot air outside case...:)

Using gtx 1070 with my sf600 it was ok..however while using gtx 1080ti, sf600 became really hot...500w of power sucked by setup while gaming is too much for this tiny psu..:)

Anyway it’s worth sharing my experience while others are designing their cerberus setup..:)
 

ninetailfox97

Cable Smoosher
May 13, 2017
9
1
That sounds more like power draw is causing the fan to ramp up, rather than the heat itself. I would say generally the temp matters but the power draw is much more in control of the fan curve. My old rm650 will stay fan off no matter the temp as long as the power draw is under 20%.
 

Crysilus

Caliper Novice
Nov 7, 2017
23
9
Having testing sf600 myself in my cerberus-x i can guarantee you that sf600 will be very noisy in a warm environment...:)
You should opt for sfx-l on rear bracket and use front panel for radiator and pump/radiator..:)

I'm actually going to remove the side bracket since I'm doing a custom loop with hard tubes. So the psu has to go up front. Plus for this build I'm heavily considering modding the side panel with tempered glass. I at least have the advantage of waiting to see what people do with their cases since I'm holding off till next October for the build itself.
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
3,616
2,705
That sounds more like power draw is causing the fan to ramp up, rather than the heat itself. I would say generally the temp matters but the power draw is much more in control of the fan curve. My old rm650 will stay fan off no matter the temp as long as the power draw is under 20%.
Well i used one sf600 (i got 2 of these..:)) in my node 202 setup (4770k undervolt and gtx 1070).
Sf600 forced me to put cpu fan as exhaust otherwise it was very noisy.

What i mean is to make sure to not warm sf600 otherwise it will get noisy..;)

Even with watercooling you can have some exhaust fan on top to remove hot air...especally if you are using a modded tempered glass..:)
 

Sancus

Trash Compacter
Nov 12, 2017
44
92
Assuming I want to bottom mount a 240mm AIO in this case, is the Corsair H100i v2 going to work, or is the reportedly very inflexible tubing going to be an issue? Is there a better 240mm AIO to choose? This would be with an SFX-L PSU in the front, so at least there should be no clearance issues above the CPU. I'm planning to run a >5ghz 8700K so I don't really want to go smaller than 240mm AIO.
 
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FoskcoRS5

Designated LMG
Jan 31, 2017
363
623
Assuming I want to bottom mount a 240mm AIO in this case, is the Corsair H100i v2 going to work, or is the reportedly very inflexible tubing going to be an issue? Is there a better 240mm AIO to choose? This would be with an SFX-L PSU in the front, so at least there should be no clearance issues above the CPU. I'm planning to run a >5ghz 8700K so I don't really want to go smaller than 240mm AIO.

I don't have any pictures from when I tested the H100i v2 on the bottom of the chassis. When I first received the chassis I toyed with the H100i v2 AIO in one of four positions but I wanted to keep the hoses out of the way of the PCIE slots since I was dinking around with hardware.

For a front mounted 240mm rad I'd suggest the H100i v1 because the pump header has the plastic hose connectors rather than coming straight out of the pump.

That said, I think for the front mounted PSU the H100i v2 should be fine.


 

ninetailfox97

Cable Smoosher
May 13, 2017
9
1
What i mean is to make sure to not warm sf600 otherwise it will get noisy..;)
haha, I'll have to see for myself, I still have faith in corsair. But could you elaborate on why you think having the psu in a rear mount would be better? Do you mean having more cooling capacity with dual 240s would be beneficial?
 
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MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
3,616
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my advice is to go for a SFX-L psu on rear bracket in order to make a dual 240mm radiator setup in a cerberus-x..:)
SF600 is OK in terms of noise, while inside case when you are exceeding 400W of power consumption...if it's the case, you have no need to go to watercooling (at least for cooling purpose..:))...and even with only 400W of components, one 240mm radiator is clearly enough..:D

If you planned to use more power (using like Vega or GTX 1080ti, X299, Threadripper, etc..), watercooling could be useful...but SFX-L is becoming essential to avoid noisy fan from SFX..:D
 

TheHig

King of Cable Management
Oct 13, 2016
951
1,171
So if one is going with a single front 240mm aio,the rear psu mount is the way to go? I will continue with my sf600 for now.

Thinking front intake with aio. Bottom intake 120mm x2 and top fan as exhaust.

All parts listed I have on hand. I’m not opposed to changes but plan on starting with these.
 
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terex

Minimal Tinkerer
Oct 27, 2017
4
4
I made a booboo with ordering parts. @MarcParis, hopefully you can educate me a little and clarify this more me, since you've been playing with the Cerberus X for so long. I think I've got it figured out, but I would love as many eyes on this as possible to make sure I get it right.

I'm going with a Asus Z370-E motherboard for the Cerberus X. I ordered a Noctua NH-C14S CPU cooler, which in the dual fan/high clearance set up is listed as 142mm in height, so right at the max for CPU cooler height with the side bracket installed. However, I did a dumb thing and ordered an ATX power supply (EVGA G3 750) thinking that I could front mount the ATX PSU in a Cerberus X. Just to be clear here, that is NOT possible, correct? I don't think it is. If so, it is possible to front mount an SFX-L PSU? I just want to make sure I have the correct parts ready to go for the exciting day the Cerberus X comes in the mail. :) Also looking for SFX-L PSU suggestions if, in fact, they are mountable on the front panel of the Cerberus X. My main concern is quiet/silent operation. I will be doing minimal/no overclocking here. I feel so silly, especially since I was originally going to go with the Corsair SF600, but found a great price for the EVGA PSU.

Also, I went with an EVGA Hybrid card (128.6mm H x 266.7mm L, so should fit just fine). I'm thinking that I will place the 120mm radiator at the bottom of the case, but I thought that I should mention this just in case you (or anyone else) has a better suggestion for placement. I've got 2 120mm NB eLoops fans right now, too, but I have no idea what other case fans I might need.
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
3,616
2,705
So no, it's impossible to put an ATX PSU on front panel on cerberus-x. Forget rear psu mount is you go on air on cpu.

For quieter operation, SFX-L is a great winner over SFX, especially if you are considering a GTX 1080ti (i guess as it's the hybrid version). Pinnacle remains the silverstone SX800-lti (but could be expensive and rare to find). SX700-lpt or bequiet could be nice alternative.
If you are going to GTX 1080ti + 8700K (let's assume it), your system could use 550w in max charge (500W in some games...like mass effect andromeda)...so 700W seems to be the minimum...and of course 800W from silverstone remains my advice/recommandation (on my setup sx800-lti is delivering Watts 500-550W quietly...and on desktop, low charge...it's silent...as it's passive..:))

for your hybrid gpu, well you can place on bottom. Just the tubing could be the issue. After you have to test if you are going to place fan as intake or exhaust. As it's GPU, my advice is exhaust...because putting 300W hot air inside case...well you need to remove it...:) But definititely you will have to test both setup.
 

PlayfulPhoenix

Founder of SFF.N
Original poster
SFFLAB
Chimera Industries
Gold Supporter
Feb 22, 2015
1,052
1,990
Hey all,

Needless to say, I'm spread a little thin across a few projects, so I apologize for not being as responsive as normal to inbound inquiries. I've received a few emails and PMs and have been getting back to folks within a few days, but just know that I appreciate your patience!

Ok, so I have a few updates for you all. The main thing I want to emphasize, however, is when we expect the product page (and thus ordering) to go live: early next week. This is a bit later than we targeted initially, but (as I'll elaborate below) the main reason for this is fortunately not manufacturing related - we've got enclosures and we're chomping at the bit to send them out. Rather, there is still some web dev and authoring/specification work to do, and Sliger will also only be able to take photos of the enclosures going into the weekend. We want to launch, but we want to launch right, so we'll be taking the time we need to ensure that we have a complete product page and that there are no hiccups as we open up Cerberus and Cerberus X to ordering.

That's the TL;DR. Below are some more granular update notes:

-

From a manufacturing point of view, Sliger has already produced most of our initial order of enclosures, and we've been able to resolve each of the challenges we encountered as they've come up. There are two items in this regard that I'd like call out in particular, though:
  1. For the case feet, we've found a vendor that has made us nice, durable, grippy rubber ones that meet our exact specifications for radius and (particularly) height. The quality is solid and I'm honestly relieved to have been able to find/source these, since we've been trying really hard to maintain the more aggressive $225 entry price point. That said, I know some folks will likely prefer the custom aluminum carved feet we've used before, so we are planning to offer those as an option for those who want it.
  2. For the paint colors, Sliger was informed by their supplier that the cost of the red powder coat we use for Cerberus will be significantly more expensive than for the other colors (75%+ more, to give you a frame of reference). Because of this, we're likely going to mark up the cost of red enclosures by $5-10, as otherwise it would be challenging economically to provide it as an option in an ongoing manner.

Operationally, we've been busy as well:
  1. Sliger has been working very hard to get the product page ready. I actually have some work to do on my end with respect to writing up some of the copy and specifications for the enclosures, as the KI website is a bit out of date and doesn't have information on Cerberus X. That said, we are about ready for prime time save for the front-end stuff; the most complex work is done.
  2. Per above, Sliger has enclosures made and ready, and we have batches for each color as well as bare metal enclosures that we can paint as orders come in. What we don't have yet are photos, and that's mostly because Sliger won't have the resources to get that done until the weekend. Needless to say, I'm very much looking forward to sharing those with you all, and we'll probably post them at a time coinciding with the launch of the product page.
-

Please do continue to reach out if you have questions, or even post them here so that the answers can be shared with everyone! I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank @KSliger , loudly and publicly, for the work they've been doing - they've been a fantastic partner for us, and their work in supporting fulfillment and web ordering for Cerberus - and even going so far as to hop on the forum and engage with folks directly in a support capacity - is just awesome. I would have been hopeless to get this across the finish line without them in James' absence, and so their work deserves recognition for making production possible.

Thanks all,

- Joshua