Production Lazer3D LZ7 - Quiet Gaming Cube PC Case

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
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It my usual i7-7700 system with GTX 1070, but I've swapped out the SFX power supply for the HDPLEX 400W HiFi DC-ATX, and replaced the CPU cooler with the Noctua NH-U9S, the rear panel has been modified to include a 92mm/80mm fan mounting position with cyclone vent pattern for maximum airflow.

Temperatures are around 10C lower on the CPU under heavy load compared to the NH-L12 + SFX PSU, system temps are a little lower too.





The Vandal IO panels, Non IO Front Corner, Vandal switches, HDPLEX mounting panel, DC Rear Panel and Custom XL Vent Top panel will all be available in around 6 - 8 weeks stocked at Overclockers UK.
AHAHA..that reminds me some early discussion we had about external psu solution...that you changed by HDplex 400 solution..:D

That what i appreciate the most with your case, its modularity..:D

Next step : full ATX tower like Cerberus-X..:D
 

Boil

SFF Guru
Nov 11, 2015
1,253
1,094
It my usual i7-7700 system with GTX 1070, but I've swapped out the SFX power supply for the HDPLEX 400W HiFi DC-ATX, and replaced the CPU cooler with the Noctua NH-U9S, the rear panel has been modified to include a 92mm/80mm fan mounting position with cyclone vent pattern for maximum airflow.

Temperatures are around 10C lower on the CPU under heavy load compared to the NH-L12 + SFX PSU, system temps are a little lower too.

The Vandal IO panels, Non IO Front Corner, Vandal switches, HDPLEX mounting panel, DC Rear Panel and Custom XL Vent Top panel will all be available in around 6 - 8 weeks stocked at Overclockers UK.

Do you have a HDPlex AC>DC (under the HiFi unit?) in there as well, or is this with an external power brick...?

Possibility of 92mm black fan grill for the rear vent...?

How are GPU temps with this change...?

Pics of Custom XL Vent Top...?

Looking good...!
 

K888D

SFF Guru
Original poster
Lazer3D
Feb 23, 2016
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www.lazer3d.com
Do you have a HDPlex AC>DC (under the HiFi unit?) in there as well, or is this with an external power brick...?

I am using the HDPLEX 300W AC-DC unit, but its outside the case.

I tried my best to get it to fit, but I just couldn't get both the 400W HiFi DC-ATX and the 300W AC-DC unit to fit in the case at the same time as the tower cooler, which is the whole point of adding the DC power supply in the first place (to fit taller coolers).

So the compromise will have to be if you want a tower cooler then you will need to use an external AC-DC brick.

My experience with the 300W AC-DC unit has been a bit of a mixed bag to be honest, its small for a power supply, but once combined with the 400W HiFi DC-ATX they aren't much smaller than an SFX power supply, the advantage however is you can split their volume in 2 different places in the case.

Secondly when I first wired it all up my system wouldn't power on, it turned out there was a loose connection in the white connector that links the mains input (kettle lead) to the power input wire into the AC-DC unit. I discovered this after moving the PC there was a loud 'POP' noise and a flash from the connector as the loose wire briefly made contact. It turned out when I connected this plug together I had pushed through one of the wire probes, its not a massive issue, but it is a bit unsettling when your dealing with mains voltage.

Something else I wasn't so sure about was how hot the unit got after around 1 hour of heavy load testing (i7-7700 + GTX 1070). The 300W AC-DC unit was outside the case in cool 20C ambient environment, yet the unit was hot enough to burn my fingers (uncomfortably hot) when I touched its casing. I wasn't fully stressing my system either, the test was Prime95 (2 threads) + Unigine Valley. Not sure if these temps are safe or not, but the unit would probably benefit from some active airflow.

Possibility of 92mm black fan grill for the rear vent...?

The rear DC panel will only be available with the Cyclone vent, adding a fan guard will over complicate the panel and require more seperate components which will be too difficult to manage.

How are GPU temps with this change...?

GPU temps are a couple of degrees lower, not a massive change, but enough to notice.

Pics of Custom XL Vent Top...?

in good time my friend :) I'm still working through all the different stuff, hopefully should have something to show next week.

Looking good...!

Thanks!
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
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Ahah i wasn't that mad to put u9s as cpu cooler...however, even with u9s, you can't push 7700k at max oc on air...especially as there is no direct air intake on u9s...:)

That led to my other proposal to put an slim 180mm on top panel...this can lead to really good cooling..:)
 

K888D

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Original poster
Lazer3D
Feb 23, 2016
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Ahah i wasn't that mad to put u9s as cpu cooler...however, even with u9s, you can't push 7700k at max oc on air...especially as there is no direct air intake on u9s...:)

That led to my other proposal to put an slim 180mm on top panel...this can lead to really good cooling..:)

Unfortunately you won't be able to fit a 180mm onto the top panel, even if you were to remove the front HDD panel, the case is about 5mm too small in both length and width.

The biggest single fan you could fit would be a 140mm fan. Or maybe 4x 80mm fans if you really wanted.

Not 100% sure yet how the top panel will work, haven't sat down to design it yet, I'm thinking it will need to be some kind of flexible vent pattern that will allow you to mount fans in different positions, for example AIO coolers are all shaped differently with bits sticking out their sides. Plus depending on what configuration you have setup you may have a fan mounted to the rear panel, or a HDPLEX 400W HiFi DC-ATX mounted the front HDD panel.
 
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Boil

SFF Guru
Nov 11, 2015
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@K888D

Don't forget about the G-Unique PSUs; external power brick, Pico-style 24-pin internal unit...

Those are available up to 400 watts (modified Dell bricks) and the internal 'bulk' is truly at a minimum...!

One could, if using the G-Unique rig & no 2.5" SSDs, have THREE 140mm fans; front, side, & top...!

Or have mounts for two 2.5" SSDs on the side (where original 140mm intake is on SFX LZ7) and just have a front & top fan...?
 

K888D

SFF Guru
Original poster
Lazer3D
Feb 23, 2016
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www.lazer3d.com
Don't forget about the G-Unique PSUs; external power brick, Pico-style 24-pin internal unit...

Those are available up to 400 watts (modified Dell bricks) and the internal 'bulk' is truly at a minimum...!

Good point about the G-unique PSU's, I've not really looked into them properly, but they sound like a good alternative. Is there any information/dimensions anywhere on how the power input connector mounts to the rear of the case?

ne could, if using the G-Unique rig & no 2.5" SSDs, have THREE 140mm fans; front, side, & top...!

Or have mounts for two 2.5" SSDs on the side (where original 140mm intake is on SFX LZ7) and just have a front & top fan...?

I don't really want to add a fan intake on the front of the case, I think it will really damage the aesthetics and also cause many compatibility headaches!
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
3,669
2,784
Unfortunately you won't be able to fit a 180mm onto the top panel, even if you were to remove the front HDD panel, the case is about 5mm too small in both length and width.

The biggest single fan you could fit would be a 140mm fan. Or maybe 4x 80mm fans if you really wanted.

Not 100% sure yet how the top panel will work, haven't sat down to design it yet, I'm thinking it will need to be some kind of flexible vent pattern that will allow you to mount fans in different positions, for example AIO coolers are all shaped differently with bits sticking out their sides. Plus depending on what configuration you have setup you may have a fan mounted to the rear panel, or a HDPLEX 400W HiFi DC-ATX mounted the front HDD panel.
Yes i know, 180mm is too big..:)

But 140mm fan is clearly enough. Another setup could be to put 140mm/120mm on top panel as exhaust and put top-down cpu cooler in exhaust mode also like noctua l12 with dual fan (not sure c14s could fit as it's pretty big..:)) or be quiet cpu cooler.

@K888D

Don't forget about the G-Unique PSUs; external power brick, Pico-style 24-pin internal unit...

Those are available up to 400 watts (modified Dell bricks) and the internal 'bulk' is truly at a minimum...!

One could, if using the G-Unique rig & no 2.5" SSDs, have THREE 140mm fans; front, side, & top...!

Or have mounts for two 2.5" SSDs on the side (where original 140mm intake is on SFX LZ7) and just have a front & top fan...?
You are completely right about g-unique...it could clearly help..but i wonder compatibility with top-down cpu cooler.
 

Boil

SFF Guru
Nov 11, 2015
1,253
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Good point about the G-unique PSU's, I've not really looked into them properly, but they sound like a good alternative. Is there any information/dimensions anywhere on how the power input connector mounts to the rear of the case?

I don't really want to add a fan intake on the front of the case, I think it will really damage the aesthetics and also cause many compatibility headaches!

Front fan would just be another modular panel for the end user to configure as needed...

Why can we not make a chassis out of NF-A20 (200mm x 30mm) PWM fans...?!?
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
3,669
2,784
Front fan would just be another modular panel for the end user to configure as needed...

Why can we not make a chassis out of NF-A20 (200mm x 30mm) PWM fans...?!?
Lol i proposed the same but with 180 slim fan...:)

But you are right, with g-unique, you can have front intake fan with u9s...that is excellent for airflow...intake, u9s and exhaust fan..:)
 

K888D

SFF Guru
Original poster
Lazer3D
Feb 23, 2016
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Front fan would just be another modular panel for the end user to configure as needed...

you can have front intake fan with u9s...that is excellent for airflow...intake, u9s and exhaust fan..:)

I'm not going to make a front fan panel for the LZ7, here are a few reasons why:
  • It will ruin the aesthetics of the case
  • It will remove support for 2.5" drives
  • There is only a 16mm gap from the front edge of the ITX motherboard to the inside surface of the front panel, meaning cables and power connectors will catch on the fan blades
  • It adds another layer of compatibility complexity making it difficult for people to understand what fits with what
 

Acalanata

Trash Compacter
May 26, 2017
38
25
Good point about the G-unique PSU's, I've not really looked into them properly, but they sound like a good alternative. Is there any information/dimensions anywhere on how the power input connector mounts to the rear of the case

It uses the third type of connector in this photo:



Also, here the G-Unique small mount connector dimensions (credits to SERGIIUA):

 

karagoal

Minimal Tinkerer
New User
Sep 14, 2017
3
1
Hello guys, do you think those cables would be long enough for the lz7? :
- 20+4 pin ATX modular cable, 20cm
- 4+4 pin CPU/EPS modular cable, 24cm
- Dual 6+2 pin PCI-e modular cables, 24cm

I've a Corsair SFX 450W.