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

[Josh | NFC]

We can agree on that. Wouldn't a 240 AIO be even better in terms of noise than a huge air-cooler, though?

I have a love/hate relationship with AIOs.

I ship a decent amount of custom systems out for my other job and we switched to the AIOs because they put less stress on the CPU socket. They allow (particularly for the SG05s we use) you to improve cooling by moving where the hot air is escaping, but those two things are where my love for them ends.

My hate for them springs up in that they are super noisy. Because they are rarely bled perfectly, and because many designs allow for evaporation, they gurgle and hiccup a bit, PLUS you have pump noise. On top of that their cooling efficiency is pretty weak compared to similarly priced coolers and I would personally NEVER use them for a custom build in a space where you can use a tower cooler as they can crush them in performance. It might not be fair to add the fan noise on top of all that, but as we know those AIO cooler's rads are fairly restrictive compared to high end custom liquid radiators like from Aquacomputer or, more directly, the fins on a high end tower cooler.

Lastly, they die. We stopped using them in 2011 because no matter what brand we bought, they ended up failing in under two years. My theory is that the airbubbles get trapped and the cavitation causes the pump to burn out.

 

[Anthony]

Will custom colors be an option for a fee? I'm really craving a nice bright green or vault hunter yellow. The wait is pretty much killing me ; though, the longer you take the easier it is for me to justify spending more.

Now if Nvidia would just release the next Titan class card...

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

...

I can't say that I've had any of the negative experiences you've had, but I know of folks that have had noise and reliability issues alike. I think Necere's comment sums up my own feelings on AIO's:

Watercooling has its value, of course: for high TDP GPUs and SLI/Crossfire, you can get much quieter under load with everything under water than pure air cooling could hope to achieve. At the other end of the spectrum, it has applications in SFF, where it can be advantageous to move the heat all to one place to dispose of. It's easier to make a quiet watercooled SFF than air cooled, IMO, at least for high performance parts.

(I agree with Necere's response to my prior comments as well - I was too broad to sweep in tower coolers into what I was trying to say, though the overall point stands true. Though, it might be personal experience as well, I've only ever owned one tower cooler and it was not a happy experience given the size)

Will custom colors be an option for a fee? I'm really craving a nice bright green or vault hunter yellow. The wait is pretty much killing me ; though, the longer you take the easier it is for me to justify spending more.

Now if Nvidia would just release the next Titan class card...

Tentatively, yes, though you'll have to pay a decent amount for this. We'll be speaking towards this sort of thing once we have a few things settled, which could be as soon as this week.

 

[Popstar]

We'll offer as many colors as we can, and prioritize in the same order we did for the Kickstarter: Black, White, Red, and Blue.

Black and white are 100%. The others, we'll let you know

Darn, I was hoping Grey would make the prioritized shortlist.

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

Darn, I was hoping Grey would make the prioritized shortlist.

Grey would be the next color - red and blue had similar interest, but gray was behind.

That said, each additional color substantially lowers the number of enclosures in each pool of colors, and that increases costs pretty quickly at a point. So offering grey as standard is unlikely. You may be able to do what @Anthony was asking about, but the cost would not be insignificant.

 

[Phuncz]

Or get the white and paint it or let someone paint it. A blank canvas to airbrush even.

 

[Anthony]

@PlayfulPhoenix - I'll just have to explain to my wallet that with great powder [coating] comes great responsibility. I do have a couple questions though; which may or may not be answered once you've given us back the precious and all its' details lol.

Will the EK Coolstream SE-240 still fit? (https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-coolstream-se-240-slim-dual) With the unveiling of the highly efficient GTX 1080, I can easily toss out dual rad cooling; going air for the gpu, water for an overclocked 5820k, all while spending the extra cash on an m.2 drive and higher storage capacity. Would a single 3.5 drive need the drive bay or could it be mounted to the chassis?

I'm still fiddling with the specifications, but I am getting closer to an emptier wallet.
pcpartpicker.com/user/Shimp-the-Imp/saved/gxMscf

ps. Do I still need an ATX adapter bracket to nudge over the psu, or would a reservoir fit either way? Any recommendations on a high capacity M.2 drive? I'm mainly considering it for aesthetics and less cables. The Samsung 950 Pro doesn't offer anything special that I need, especially considering the $300 price tag. I'm just having some difficulty shifting through all the brands/models/types.

 

[candyman]

A custom color chosen by the customer could be a practicable option?

 

[Phuncz]

Any recommendations on a high capacity M.2 drive? I'm mainly considering it for aesthetics and less cables. The Samsung 950 Pro doesn't offer anything special that I need, especially considering the $300 price tag. I'm just having some difficulty shifting through all the brands/models/types.

If you are going for an overclocked 5820K and GTX 1080, there's no point in ignoring the storage of the future that is available now: PCIe M.2 SSDs. SATA-600 has been clipping it's physical limits since early 2012, no need in buying into the past. Storage is still a bottleneck and with the Samsung 950 Pro you can alleviate that one considerably. If you want to cut costs, consider replacing the watercooling with a good Noctua air-cooler and you'd get the Samsung for about the price of a SATA SSD.

A custom color chosen by the customer could be a practicable option?

@PlayfulPhoenix already addressed why that's an issue:

That said, each additional color substantially lowers the number of enclosures in each pool of colors, and that increases costs pretty quickly at a point. So offering grey as standard is unlikely. You may be able to do what @Anthony was asking about, but the cost would not be insignificant.

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

@PlayfulPhoenixWill the EK Coolstream SE-240 still fit?.. Would a single 3.5 drive need the drive bay or could it be mounted to the chassis?

If it fit earlier, it fits now. And if by "drive bay" you mean the 3.5" bracket, then yes - that's necessary to install any 3.5" HDD's to the enclosure via mounting on the Infinite Vents.

Do I still need an ATX adapter bracket to nudge over the psu, or would a reservoir fit either way?

I'm not sure what you're asking here. If you're planning on using a reservoir mounted to the back of the case (We're looking to make Cerberus compatible with FrozenQ's solution for the NCASE M1), you must use a SFX or SFX-L unit up front since it relies on the "standard" rear arrangement of a vent and tubing cutouts. If, instead, you want to mount a SFX unit in the back, then you can do that by using an SFX-to-ATX adapter (Silverstone sells one that would shift it to the outside edge of the enclosure), and you'd presumably use the reclaimed space at the front of the case to mount a reservoir with a fan bracket or some such thing.

A custom color chosen by the customer could be a practicable option?

@PlayfulPhoenix already addressed why that's an issue...

To be clear, there's a very big difference between colors we offer "standard" and the possibility of letting people order custom colors. With "standard" colors, you can get those at the regular price, there's no added waiting or complexity, but you're limited to what's on offer.

With a custom color, comparatively, beyond the fact that we aren't 100% on offering it at this point, it introduces time delays and additional expense since our manufacturer has to remove a bare unit off the line, order the color you want, and then do an entire paint booth setup for just your color (instead of being able to do a big batch of cases per a color we offer as "standard"). All of that work adds up to a cost that you'd then have to pay, on top of the cost of the enclosure itself.

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

If you wanna check, I uploaded a model of the Coolstream SE 240: https://smallformfactor.net/forum/resources/ek-coolstream-240-se.65/

 

[Vidjagames72]

Will the EK Coolstream SE-240 still fit? (https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-coolstream-se-240-slim-dual)

I originally was looking at this rad as well based on its thin profile ( thinnest rad available I think) but based off the one objective, scientific review I could find I wouldn't use this rad. Granted in this review the guy is testing 360mm rads but I'm pretty sure his results can be directly translated to the 240mm variants of all the rads he compared. In all but one test the se-360 performed the worst out of the 6 rads he compared (and in the one test it wasn't the worst it only beat one rad).

http://www.xtremerigs.net/2015/07/03/ek-coolstream-se-360mm-radiator-review/5/

 

[Ninjapro]

We'll offer as many colors as we can, and prioritize in the same order we did for the Kickstarter: Black, White, Red, and Blue.

Black and white are 100%. The others, we'll let you know

I must have red!
(More like, I really, really, really, want)

 

[Anthony]

@PlayfulPhoenix Thank you, you answered my questions perfectly; and the Silver-Stone bracket is the one I was mentioning. As for the custom colors, would you be able to estimate how much of a price hike it would be? I do recall seeing the option during the kickstarter but it was for nearly a grand. I do love green, but if it will be that costly, the green will have to stay in my pocket haha.

@Vidjagames72 Way to burst my happy bubble lol. Though, now I'm digging through the site and reading all of their reviews which has been a great benefit. Anything you would suggest as an alternative? Google is only so much help when you have little knowledge and experience on the topic in question. My main issue is that this will be my first rig build; I can pick parts to put together all day but I lack any knowledge about cooling said hardware or creating the best airflow.

**Edit** hmm, just discovered this (http://www.xs-pc.com/radiators-ex-series/ex240-dual-fan-radiator-white)

@Phuncz Thank you, you did hit the nail on the head with that response. I didn't occur to me that there's not really any point in saving a hundred dollars or so when the rest of my future rig will be near state of the art. Hopefully the prices will drop further and the rest of my storage capacity will be slow Sata ssd's instead of a 5 TB hdd .

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

I must have red!
(More like, I really, really, really, want)

I like the red a lot. It's a little bright, but in a good way, and the hue and texture are quite nice.

@PlayfulPhoenix Thank you, you answered my questions perfectly; and the Silver-Stone bracket is the one I was mentioning. As for the custom colors, would you be able to estimate how much of a price hike it would be? I do recall seeing the option during the kickstarter but it was for nearly a grand. I do love green, but if it will be that costly, the green will have to stay in my pocket haha.

It wouldn't be nearly that much. Probably $100+, but that's a guess. If we end up offering it we can provide a more specific number, though different colors cost different amounts so there would be a ~$10-20 variability depending on what you wanted.

@Phuncz Thank you, you did hit the nail on the head with that response. I didn't occur to me that there's not really any point in saving a hundred dollars or so when the rest of my future rig will be near state of the art. Hopefully the prices will drop further and the rest of my storage capacity will be slow Sata ssd's instead of a 5 TB hdd .

Is there a 1TB M.2 SSD that's within the realm of performance of Samsung's 950 PRO?

 

[alamilla]

Is there a 1TB M.2 SSD that's within the realm of performance of Samsung's 950 PRO?

Even better:

http://www.thessdreview.com/our-reviews/ngff-m-2/toshiba-xg3-m-2-nvme-ssd-review-1tb/

Unfortunately OEM for the time being

 

[Vidjagames72]

@Vidjagames72 Way to burst my happy bubble lol. Though, now I'm digging through the site and reading all of their reviews which has been a great benefit. Anything you would suggest as an alternative? Google is only so much help when you have little knowledge and experience on the topic in question. My main issue is that this will be my first rig build; I can pick parts to put together all day but I lack any knowledge about cooling said hardware or creating the best airflow

I probably don't have much more experience than you. I've just done a lot of research. Personally I'm going to go hardwarelabs (http://www.performance-pcs.com/blac...w-profile-radiator-black-carbon.html#Features) from what I've been able to find they generally have some of the best performing radiators especially when using low speed fans.

Edit:
Forgot to mention, as long as I'm using the correct measurements to get this (on kickstarter the listed maximum length for pci-e cards) as long as the card you get is the same length as a reference (10.5 inch or 266.7mm) you should have 62mm of space for rad/fans in the front of the case so the radiator you are looking at should work with standard thickness fans, and in turn so will the one I want to use (it's 5mm thinner than the xs-pc one you just linked)

About airflow, I have a question myself, this whole time I've been thinking I'll do 2 240mm radiators. If you guys do make the ATX version that is still what I will do in that case. If you only make the mATX version I think I will probably do a 240 in the front and a 120 in the bottom. Would it be better if the bottom 120 was closer to the front of the case or the back (or does it even matter).

 

[Phuncz]

Is there a 1TB M.2 SSD that's within the realm of performance of Samsung's 950 PRO?

Not yet, the Samsung 950 Pro 1TB is expected later this year (their words) and I'm expecting Micron/Crucial to finally show something worthy of a competitor some time this year too. I can't believe all those companies are just leaving the market all for Samsung.

Even better:
http://www.thessdreview.com/our-reviews/ngff-m-2/toshiba-xg3-m-2-nvme-ssd-review-1tb/
http://www.thessdreview.com/our-reviews/ngff-m-2/toshiba-xg3-m-2-nvme-ssd-review-1tb/

Unfortunately OEM for the time being

Some new competition on the horizon, finally. Too bad the SSD isn't available.

 

[PNP]

I probably don't have much more experience than you. I've just done a lot of research. Personally I'm going to go hardwarelabs (http://www.performance-pcs.com/blac...w-profile-radiator-black-carbon.html#Features) from what I've been able to find they generally have some of the best performing radiators especially when using low speed fans.

The GTS is as wide as the EK Predator. It's going to be a very tight fit with the motherboard headers. Although for that matter the EK SEs aren't much narrower.

 

[Vidjagames72]

The GTS is as wide as the EK Predator. It's going to be a very tight fit with the motherboard headers. Although for that matter the EK SEs aren't much narrower.

The front shouldn't have any issue right, just anything I try to install in the bottom? There will defiantly be a 240 in the front for me and probably a 120 in the bottom At first I was going to try two 240s but I don't want to deal with the clearance issues I'll run into in the front bottom corner of the case.

Edit: You know what, I think that answers my question in my last post. I'll just put the bottom rad wherever it is least in the way for whatever headers I need, the airflow will probably be fine wherever it is.