Another argument for FlexATX with an 80mm fan on top, that would probably suit that layout well.
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Production Lazer3D LZ7 - Quiet Gaming Cube PC Case
- Thread starter K888D
- Start date
Yes it would be an ideal PSU for the LZ5 form factor, but I don't really want to sell the power supply with the case and therefore I don't think a custom PSU would be suitable as customers would need to source it. Unless FlexATX PSU's with 80mm fans is adopted by manufacturers into their consumer products in which case it would be OK to design around it.
In other news, the UK (where I live) has decided to vote itself out of Europe. My concern is component prices will rise as importing becomes increasingly difficult and extra fees/taxes are added along with exchange rates.
The 3D printed parts of these cases are made in the Netherlands, so whatever happens with UK<>European trade will directly affect the price of this case, both from a manufacturing cost and also import costs of final product for the customers who live within Europe. In the short term though nothing should change other than Pound to Euro exchange rates, which since the vote is actually favorable for those who use the Euro currency.
It would be a massive headache indeed! I work for a company that manufactures safety gear out of the UK and sell worldwide, most of our products are CE certified to multiple standards as well as being approved to local standards in various regions, if we had to re-approve our products just to be sold in the UK it would cost the company hundreds of thousands of pounds.
We haven't received any statements from BSI that the approval situation will be changing, I can't see us moving away from CE for the short to medium term. Even if it did change then I'm sure that BSI would 'write across' the approvals to the new system and all current certifications would still stand. Most CE standards are BS EN standards anyway which are UK based standards.
Also ISO standards are being used more often now which are basically a worldwide single standard, ideally the various industries should be moving towards that. i.e. you approve a product locally and it can be sold worldwide.
We haven't received any statements from BSI that the approval situation will be changing, I can't see us moving away from CE for the short to medium term. Even if it did change then I'm sure that BSI would 'write across' the approvals to the new system and all current certifications would still stand. Most CE standards are BS EN standards anyway which are UK based standards.
Also ISO standards are being used more often now which are basically a worldwide single standard, ideally the various industries should be moving towards that. i.e. you approve a product locally and it can be sold worldwide.
Well, out of the EU, it's still part of Europe. But yeah, this is not good for your project at all. Not only is the GBP course already decreasing way faster than the Euro, leading to higher material costs for you, but additionally, everyone of your customers in the EU now has to pay customs, so for me the case just got 20% more expensive just because of that. Maybe that impact will hit enough large companies so that they lobby for a return to the EU.
Exactly, but it will be 2 years until we actually exit if it goes ahead. So hopefully those import duties will be kept at bay until 2018.
The first full set of 3D print prototype parts have arrived, I'm very pleased with the quality:
The laser cut acrylic panels have also been shipped this morning and will hopefully arrive in the next couple of days. Fingers crossed everything fits together first time!
The laser cut acrylic panels have also been shipped this morning and will hopefully arrive in the next couple of days. Fingers crossed everything fits together first time!
The PCB has been assembled into the casing and it fits ok, the screw positions need moving downwards 1mm to align the ports better, but they will do for now.
The power button LED shines through nicely, in fact maybe a little bit too much! Compared to FDM this SLS material lets light bleed through the plastic, so the small holes are probably not required as thinned out material will be sufficient to highlight the power symbol:
The power button LED shines through nicely, in fact maybe a little bit too much! Compared to FDM this SLS material lets light bleed through the plastic, so the small holes are probably not required as thinned out material will be sufficient to highlight the power symbol:
Yes that would work well, I think it would also work for the HDD activity LED that's positioned below the power button, any ideas on what an international symbol for HDD activity looks like?!
My advice is to keep it as small and unobtrusive as you can get away with. A simple LED would do. If you must go symbolic, the cylinder symbol works.
I'm considering not hooking up any "front panel" LED indicators (power, disk) for my upcoming desktop build - if performance bogs down, I usually open up task manager to investigate anyway.
Yeah, I don't know any official symbol, but the cylinder symbol seems to be what I see most of the time on the rare occasion it's actually marked.
I second this. The cylinder symbol he's talking about is this one:
I've seen that used quite often, but really it has no meaning at all. If it's just a dot that flickers, that's enough to tell what information it conveys to most PC users.
I don't see a need for an HHD activity LED. It used to make sense back in the Win98 days where your computer would hang or take forever to respond and you'd want to know if it was doing something or not. Nowadays with SSD and fast HHD there's no reason to pay attention to it.
I got this in the post today, it must be my Birthday! Well, actually it literally is my Birthday today, so this is a nice coincidence:
I will post more photos as I build it up and test.
Is it bad of me that I'm more excited about these laser cut acrylic panels than actual Birthday presents?!
I will post more photos as I build it up and test.
Is it bad of me that I'm more excited about these laser cut acrylic panels than actual Birthday presents?!
This first prototype has turned out much better than I expected, everything fits together nicely, it was so satisfying to build up!
I've used hex head bolts for this build, but the intention is investigate countersinking the screw holes for a flush finish. But saying that I actually quite like how these black hex bolts have turned out!
For the prototype I chose a slightly transparent white material for the 5mm panels and a smokey grey transparent material for the 3mm panels.
Here are a few shots of assembling the Acrylic panels onto the corner joints:
In the first photo you can see the bottom panel vents, the positive pressure design of the case in conjunction with these vents will allow for much improved cooling of M.2 drives that are mounted under the motherboard. The vents at the front of the bottom panel will help to have the same effect with the front mounted 2.5" storage drives. The vents under the graphics card will allow for direct exhaust path for GPU's with a radial style cooler such as the Asus GTX 970 Mini:
For this prototype I chose to go with angled slots for the GPU intake side panel:
Here you can see the IO panel in place, you can also see the mounting holes for 120mm and 140mm fans. A 140mm dust filter will be provided, I may develop a side panel with slots similar to the GPU side for those who would prefer a case without a dust filter:
Here is a shot of the case pretty much fully assembled, its jsut missing the dust filter and rubber feet:
Here is a shot of the rear:
Later on today I am hoping to put my ITX system into this case, this will be the real test of whether everything fits together!
I sold the EVGA GTX 960 ITX card a few weeks ago so I don't currently have a decent GPU to try out in this case. I'm in 2 minds whether to just get another 960 or even 970, or whether to wait a few weeks (or potentially months) to see if any ITX sized 1060's or 480's are released. Or I may do both!
I've used hex head bolts for this build, but the intention is investigate countersinking the screw holes for a flush finish. But saying that I actually quite like how these black hex bolts have turned out!
For the prototype I chose a slightly transparent white material for the 5mm panels and a smokey grey transparent material for the 3mm panels.
Here are a few shots of assembling the Acrylic panels onto the corner joints:
In the first photo you can see the bottom panel vents, the positive pressure design of the case in conjunction with these vents will allow for much improved cooling of M.2 drives that are mounted under the motherboard. The vents at the front of the bottom panel will help to have the same effect with the front mounted 2.5" storage drives. The vents under the graphics card will allow for direct exhaust path for GPU's with a radial style cooler such as the Asus GTX 970 Mini:
For this prototype I chose to go with angled slots for the GPU intake side panel:
Here you can see the IO panel in place, you can also see the mounting holes for 120mm and 140mm fans. A 140mm dust filter will be provided, I may develop a side panel with slots similar to the GPU side for those who would prefer a case without a dust filter:
Here is a shot of the case pretty much fully assembled, its jsut missing the dust filter and rubber feet:
Here is a shot of the rear:
Later on today I am hoping to put my ITX system into this case, this will be the real test of whether everything fits together!
I sold the EVGA GTX 960 ITX card a few weeks ago so I don't currently have a decent GPU to try out in this case. I'm in 2 minds whether to just get another 960 or even 970, or whether to wait a few weeks (or potentially months) to see if any ITX sized 1060's or 480's are released. Or I may do both!
It depends on what you class as affordable?
The panels you can see in the prototype above cost about 120 Euro for the complete set, this high cost was because they are a 1 off.
I estimate the price of the Acrylic panels to be below 40 Euro for a set if produced in runs of more than 20. The price would be even lower if you had your own laser cutter, but then you would have to factor in the price of the laser cutting machine.
The panels you can see in the prototype above cost about 120 Euro for the complete set, this high cost was because they are a 1 off.
I estimate the price of the Acrylic panels to be below 40 Euro for a set if produced in runs of more than 20. The price would be even lower if you had your own laser cutter, but then you would have to factor in the price of the laser cutting machine.
Oh yes .... Happy birthday ! As for the cutting price, this doesn't sound too expensive for a one-off.
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