Log Laser-cut Custom SFF

[aromachi]

Hey all, just wanted to share a finished project with my fellow cable-tie ninjas. Maybe it will inspire a few to try designing their own case and take it all the way to completion. Had a lot of fun with this!

LostRanger's Completed Build - PCPartPicker

 

[BaK]

Very cool!
An improved version of the K39 with more cooling, à la Hot Rod with the protruding cooler!

Dimensions?
Why did you put the lateral Arctic fans at exhaust?
Aren't you afraid the hot air they blow out will be sucked back inside by the fans of the GPU?

Oh and what is that little thing at the back of the PSU?

 

[Apotessar]

Great project! Intentional or not, the hot rod design rocks.

A Question out of interest and concern, is the PSU missing a part of the case and associated cooler?
I have a similar setup with a power supply from Mean Well. My power supply went flat after a few months of continuous operation (mining). During my troubleshooting, I discovered that the airflow for the power supply cooling was too low for the power drawn.
Under load, the power supply unit was used to approx. 30% of its capacity. Only a minimum was used for ventilation because my PSU cooler is coupled to the CPU temperature. However, it remained very cool in mining mode.
I'm not sure if this could also affect this build, but it's certainly the first thing I would think of when troubleshooting start-up problems or graphics errors.
Luckily the power supplies are pretty cheap. Btw I replaced mine with a stronger one and put a 120mm fan in front of it. Now I hope to have peace for the next 2-3 years.

Oh and what is that little thing at the back of the PSU?

I'm interested in that too .

 

[aromachi]

Dimensions?
Why did you put the lateral Arctic fans at exhaust?
Aren't you afraid the hot air they blow out will be sucked back inside by the fans of the GPU?

Oh and what is that little thing at the back of the PSU?

A Question out of interest and concern, is the PSU missing a part of the case and associated cooler?

Dimensions are 115x191x249mm

Lateral fans are actually acting as exhaust for the PSU. I didn't want a 40mm fan in my PC, and I wanted to come up with my own (silent) cooling solution that was far better than a simple noctua swap. A single 40mm noctua only pushes 5.5cfm of air. Just one of these Arctics pushes 7x that amount. So I replaced the PSU casing with mesh and mounted those two 92mm side fans directly next it. I stress tested it over and over again, and it is extremely stable (and very silent).

Where the case currently sits on my desk, the GPU could very likely be getting some of the hot air from those side fans. So yeah, it might be worth experimenting with an intake setup right there.

Oh, and that black thing is my power switch, recycled from an old Rosewill case. I mounted it inside the PSU where the 40mm fan was at

 

[BaK]

Where the case currently sits on my desk, the GPU could very likely be getting some of the hot air from those side fans. So yeah, it might be worth experimenting with an intake setup right there.

The CPU cooler might then be the one getting some hot air, but maybe not as much as the GPU...

And adding a duct to the Wraith fan would probably be too much!
Or that could be a way to prevent touching it, I hope there are no kids' fingers around btw!

 

[Elaman]

This is just so brilliant.
Only 'but' I can think of: there are many ways to orientate this case so that a fan will blow on your face.

 

[Valantar]

I saw this build in another thread, right? Or is my brain messing with me?

Either way, it's really cool, and very well executed. Love how close you got the cpu cooler cutout - that's the kind of measurement I just know I would mess up. The deshrouded flex PSU is also nice, though personally I would have gone for a MeanWell 12V+PicoPSU combo. That's likely more expensive though, and this looks like a banging little budget rig. I like the design of the vent cutouts too - looks both open and reasonably strong, and the pattern works for me. One question: why did you only cut out one slot for the GPU? I can't imagine it really matters overall, but opening up the second one would have improved ventilation there (a grille outside of a grille = restrictive). Oh, is there anything holding the bottom GPU I/O shield tabs in place? If not, you could drill a small hole in between them and use a screw and a nut (and maybe a washer or two) to clamp them in place without a too complicated structure. That would add some more structure and ensure less gpu movement for any transportation of the case

Great job overall though!

 

[aromachi]

I saw this build in another thread, right? Or is my brain messing with me?

Yeah i shared it with jmarin before I decided to make my own post, as he was the one who inspired me to try this.

Theres a ton of stuff I could have done, but like i’ve said in other posts I really don’t like spending a ton of money on computer hardware. I got way too many other hobbies that I spend that kind of money on

GPU only has one slot’s worth of outputs, so I didn’t consider putting in a 2nd. I definitely agree, though, a 2nd slot would likely improve airflow. I’ll have to add it to my list of fixes.

Not a bad idea about a mounting screw for the gpu’s io plate. The GPU is being held in place with 3 standoffs mounted to the pcb, and the io plate is flush with the side wall. It’s pretty solid tbh.

 

[aromachi]

The CPU cooler might then be the one getting some hot air, but maybe not as much as the GPU...

And adding a duct to the Wraith fan would probably be too much!
Or that could be a way to prevent touching it, I hope there are no kids' fingers around btw!

I toyed with the idea of having a cover over the wraith, but decided to keep it simple for the first version.

 

[Valantar]

I toyed with the idea of having a cover over the wraith, but decided to keep it simple for the first version.

You could just get a standard 120mm wire grille (ideally black), remove the outer rings that you don't need (pliers ought to do the job), bend the "legs" down to sit flush around the Wraith's shroud and hot glue/epoxy it in place.