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Completed Lone Industries L4

Lone

King of Cable Management
Original poster
Lone Industries
Feb 25, 2015
731
1,249
loneindustries.com
2018-11-13: Work is progressing on new L5 model.
2017-08-07: Sold out. All pre-orders have been shipped.

---

Below are some renderings of the upcoming L4. Estimated availability is Q1 Q2 2017 (earlier if possible). I hope to have a prototype by mid September (received).

Notable changes from L3:
  • New construction with wrap-around design.
  • Support for C14 power input connector.
  • Power input adapter plate.
  • Exterior screws on only one side.
  • No visible exterior fan mounts.
  • More space at front of case.
  • More 2.5 inch drive mounting points (4-5x).
  • Improved part quality.
  • Optional two-tone colour schemes.
Specifications:
  • Motherboard Support: Mini-ITX
  • PSU Support: Plugin DC-ATX with external AC power adapter
    • G-Unique, HDPLEX (not all combos), Mini-Box PicoPSU, Pico-Box
    • C14 support for internal AC-DC power supplies
  • Storage Device Support: 4x 2.5 inch
  • Expansion Slots: 2x low profile (half height)
  • CPU Cooler Height Support: 66 mm (60 mm or less recommended)
  • Construction: Anodized aluminum
  • Dimensions: 225 x 216 x 95 mm
  • Made in Canada















Feedback welcome.
 
Last edited:

Kmpkt

Innovation through Miniaturization
KMPKT
Feb 1, 2016
3,382
5,936
Looks great James. Out of curiosity, what are the major refinements from the L3? From the renders, it looks like vented side panels with a different venting pattern than previously as well as (I presume) fixation points for HDPlex 160/80 units. Am I missing anything?
 

Lone

King of Cable Management
Original poster
Lone Industries
Feb 25, 2015
731
1,249
loneindustries.com
Looks great James. Out of curiosity, what are the major refinements from the L3? From the renders, it looks like vented side panels with a different venting pattern than previously as well as (I presume) fixation points for HDPlex 160/80 units. Am I missing anything?

Thanks! I've listed the primary changes from the L3 above. The construction is entirely different (simpler I believe), which isn't really noticeable unless you dig into it further. The front looks the same, so most people won't notice unless you compare side by side. The change in construction gives the wrap around design, makes two tone colour schemes work well (exterior colour wraps all the way around), and also allowed me to remove some screws (no screws on the left side). The SSD mounts behind the motherboard was done to support the HDPLEX 80W/160W AC-DC PSU.

Looks really good James, some nice updates all around.

Thank you!

How about mounting points for 120mm/140mm above the CPU? It'll allow people to install a full size fan for quiet operation.

That may be very easy to accommodate actually. I'll look into this. I already have mounting holes for an 80 mm fan, so adding some 120 mm mounting holes to the same brace/bracket would be easy.

A 120 mm fan mounted to the CPU cooler works well, but I realize some people may have a passively cooled CPU, or just want to try something different.
 
Last edited:

Thehack

Spatial Philosopher
Creator
Mar 6, 2016
2,814
3,670
J-hackcompany.com
Thanks! I've listed the primary changes from the L3 above. The construction is entirely different (simpler I believe), which isn't really noticeable unless you dig into it further. The front looks the same, so most people won't notice unless you compare side by side. The change in construction gives the wrap around design, makes two tone colour schemes work well (exterior colour wraps all the way around), and also allowed me to remove some screws (no screws on the left side). The SSD mounts behind the motherboard was done to support the HDPLEX 80W/160W AC-DC PSU.



Thank you!



That may be very easy to accommodate actually. I'll look into this. I already have mounting holes for an 80 mm fan, so adding some 120 mm mounting holes to the same brace/bracket would be easy.

A 120 mm fan mounted to the CPU cooler works well, but I realize some people may have a passively cooled CPU, or just want to try something different.

You can easily make it blend in with the sea of ventilation holes. The way I see it, is that you can have a low profile cooler, and then add a 25mm fan to the chassis rather than the cooler since not all coolers have mounting points for 120mm fan, especially low profile ones. That was how I designed my stratos 3.
 

Lone

King of Cable Management
Original poster
Lone Industries
Feb 25, 2015
731
1,249
loneindustries.com
You can easily make it blend in with the sea of ventilation holes. The way I see it, is that you can have a low profile cooler, and then add a 25mm fan to the chassis rather than the cooler since not all coolers have mounting points for 120mm fan, especially low profile ones. That was how I designed my stratos 3.

Thanks for the example. It's already possible to mount a 120 mm fan to the side vent over the CPU, but doing so will likely interfere with removing the left side panel/shell. The internal mount would work, and will keep the mounting screws hidden.
 

rokabeka

network packet manipulator
Jul 9, 2016
248
269
clean and beautiful. makes me think about stacking options. and I like the color options. that green is cool and relaxed.
 
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Lone

King of Cable Management
Original poster
Lone Industries
Feb 25, 2015
731
1,249
loneindustries.com
Thanks everyone. I guess the challenge remaining is to make the real thing look as good as the renderings. :)

I must say, even though this isn't a serious gamers case, I was disappointed to see the Galax 950 LP with fixed two low profile brackets. I didn't think we'd see another one like that after Gigabyte did the same thing with their 750 Ti LP card. If everyone goes that route I may have to re-evaluate my single slot only design.
 

K888D

SFF Guru
Lazer3D
Feb 23, 2016
1,483
2,970
www.lazer3d.com
Great looking case, can't wait to see it progress.

Thanks everyone. I guess the challenge remaining is to make the real thing look as good as the renderings. :)

I must say, even though this isn't a serious gamers case, I was disappointed to see the Galax 950 LP with fixed two low profile brackets. I didn't think we'd see another one like that after Gigabyte did the same thing with their 750 Ti LP card. If everyone goes that route I may have to re-evaluate my single slot only design.

I don't think that you will see a single slot low profile card with a TDP above say 30W, a thin heatsink does not have enough surface area to dissipate that much energy fast enough, the fan would need to be screaming to keep the GPU temps under control. The second slot is also usually used as an exhaust to help with temps.

Personally I think having dual slot compatibility will definitely widen the appeal of your case for the gaming crowd, as single slot low profile GPUs are very performance limited.
 
Last edited:

Phuncz

Lord of the Boards
SFFn Staff
May 9, 2015
5,959
4,957
Simple and elegant in outer design, very very attractive ! Interesting, keep us updated !
 

Lone

King of Cable Management
Original poster
Lone Industries
Feb 25, 2015
731
1,249
loneindustries.com
Great looking case, can't wait to see it progress.

I don't think that you will see a single slot low profile card with a TDP above say 30W, a thin heatsink does not have enough surface area to dissipate that much energy fast enough, the fan would need to be screaming to keep the GPU temps under control. The second slot is also usually used as an exhaust to help with temps.

Personally I think having dual slot compatibility will definitely widen the appeal of your case for the gaming crowd, as single slot low profile GPUs are very performance limited.

I should have been more clear. I'm referring to the bracket only. The L3 and now L4 have clearance for oversize heatsink/coolers (nearly double slot width), but only have a single expansion slot. This works with the MSI 750 Ti LP (note the single slot bracket): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127836

The Galax 950 Ti LP likely has the same size heatsink/cooler, but the bracket on the Galax 950 LP is a fixed dual slot design.

Simple and elegant in outer design, very very attractive ! Interesting, keep us updated !

Will do, thank you!
 
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MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Apr 1, 2016
3,681
2,802
Very nice case and project!

I guess you can also go for pico box z4-atx-200 or/and pico psu 160w.

I see it a marvellous desktop or htpc
 
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Hahutzy

Airflow Optimizer
Sep 9, 2015
252
187
Are the vent holes laser cut as well?

My prototype was all laser cut and it ended up warping the side panels from the excess heat while cutting vent holes.
 

Lutfij

Chassis Packer
Modworkx Customs
Mar 4, 2016
17
11
www.modworkx.com
I was a big fan of the First 3 iterations of the chassis. Never had the financial ability to purchase one and am yet looking for one which is how I stumbled onto this thread. If I might add, there may be a few people who may be working with a BeQuiet! Shadow Rock LP or a Cryorig C1 so the height limitation would be a little too bad for such an amazing chassis and it's predecessors.

Do you see any possibility to include a couple of drive brackets for those who'd like to stack 2.5" drives to act as add-on storage? There already is options for 2x2.5" under the motherboard tray though where is the third 2.5" mount? When do you see this project materializing? What about color options?

Nice seeing you back after a long time though ;) How've you been since?!?!
 

pazoo

Caliper Novice
Dec 25, 2015
33
5
The new case looks great!
But I have the same concern as Lutfij on the cpu cooler height limitation. I personnaly don't need tthe space for SSDs on the back of the motherboard. Would it be possible to have a system to elevate the MB only when needed, and if you don't, you have more height for the cooler.