Completed Lone Industries L4

Kmpkt

Innovation through Miniaturization
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Same card. KFA in Europe is the same as Galax elsewhere.
 

jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
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Feb 22, 2015
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It may be too late to change it, but the only low profile 1050/1050 Ti that's been announced is a dual-slot bracket card: https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/GeForce-GTX-1050-Ti-4GT-LP.html

I think it'd make sense to cut out the second slot to account for it because a HDPLEX 160W AC + upcoming HDPLEX direct-plug unit with the 1050 Ti and Intel i5 (or maybe even Zen if the hype train is real) in this case would make for a sweet rig.
 
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Lone

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May not be too late. I did play around with adding a second slot. I'm just a bit conflicted. It seems there's a certain number of people that try out these GPU (like the 750 Ti), that aren't completely happy with them. I wonder if I shouldn't encourage people to use these GPU, and instead steer them towards something like the S4 Mini? Those who really want to may be able to de-solder the DVI port (?).

I should probably just stop overthinking it and make the case larger and add the dual slots. :)

I haven't made much progress in the last month. December was spent waiting on a new anodizer located in Calgary that I had high hopes in. Unfortunately, a month has passed and I still don't have my parts. I can't risk using him for anything else. So it looks like I'm back to powder coating. The current plan is to get a small number (2-5) of final prototypes made in January, make any necessary tweaks and then order a larger batch to finally sell.
 

Kmpkt

Innovation through Miniaturization
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I really think you need to think about the market reach of your product. The only viable single slot/low profile GPUs in the current generation of products are LP single slot workstation GPUs like the WX 4100. The only other alternatives to those cards in the form factor are sound cards which are arguably unnecessary for most users as well as some variants of x4 PCIe SSD (which are likely going to be rapidly supplanted by M.2 and U.2 NVMe or Optane drives). As soon as you add the second slot you are opening up an entire market of 1080p gaming rigs via cards like the Gigabyte 1050 while also adding more options for people who want to use your case for a workstation build etc, room for additional 2.5" SSD/HDD, etc.

I personally think you're committing commercial suicide should you choose to go with a single slot option again. I think in the case of the L1, you likely hit a niche of pent up demand that no one else had which is why the case was as well received as it was (I really loved mine). I think given the large number of alternatives to that case in the present market, it'll be a much harder sell to release a similar case again. This is just my two cents however.
 

Josh | NFC

Not From Concentrate
NFC Systems
Jun 12, 2015
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May not be too late. I did play around with adding a second slot. I'm just a bit conflicted. It seems there's a certain number of people that try out these GPU (like the 750 Ti), that aren't completely happy with them. I wonder if I shouldn't encourage people to use these GPU, and instead steer them towards something like the S4 Mini? Those who really want to may be able to de-solder the DVI port (?).

I should probably just stop overthinking it and make the case larger and add the dual slots. :)

I haven't made much progress in the last month. December was spent waiting on a new anodizer located in Calgary that I had high hopes in. Unfortunately, a month has passed and I still don't have my parts. I can't risk using him for anything else. So it looks like I'm back to powder coating. The current plan is to get a small number (2-5) of final prototypes made in January, make any necessary tweaks and then order a larger batch to finally sell.

It is a problem I haven't figured out yet. I wanted to set hard lines and limits and really focus on those, because customers can really steer you away from your goals. Sometimes it is for the better, but I still struggle trying to sell people on the focus of the S4 MINI because people want it all. I've said a thousand times and I mean it--good for them! But in my mind I am not sure I have the best product for that...then again I would have never sold more than a 100 units without the HDPLEX and the ASUS 970...so I really am not complaining.

SPECIFICALLY, for your excellent chassis, I would want dual slots so I could put in light load GPUs. But the moment you do that you will have tons of emails asking you about 1080 compatibility. I mean if I get emails all the time asking me if a 1080 will fit you probably will...

Peace!
 
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Kmpkt

Innovation through Miniaturization
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So Josh...

What are the odds that new Zotac 1080 will fit in the S4 mini ;)
 

jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
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Feb 22, 2015
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I personally think you're committing commercial suicide should you choose to go with a single slot option again.

I agree, there's very limited applications for a low-profile/single-slot card anymore but (nothing personal Josh :p) I and many others can't stand an external power brick for our PCs and want a GPU. So dual-slot in the L4 would be fantastic.
 
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anadeji

blushresponse
Sep 2, 2016
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My two cents: I'm all for either the single or dual, would prefer the single. I picked up a Nvidia Quadro K1200 for work and light gaming, it also sips vs. gulps on the power front. I think the compromises are actually a good thing, but that's just me. Whatever happens, I'm in for at least two L4s :thumb:
 
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Josh | NFC

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I agree, there's very limited applications for a low-profile/single-slot card anymore but (nothing personal Josh :p) I and many others can't stand an external power brick for our PCs and want a GPU. So dual-slot in the L4 would be fantastic.

Then again with the amazing IGP/APUs that are around the corner I could definitely live 100% without two slots. I would just use the extra slot for a better network card or maybe some PCIE storage.

I thought IRIS Pro 6200 graphics were legit, and there is much better stuff coming...

So yeah there is a line and I could go either way. I love your chassis.
 
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Lone

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Well, some good points on both sides. I'll try adding the second slot again and see what I come up with. Maybe I should just turn the L4 into a Mini STX case... that would solve the problem. ;)
 

Lone

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Then again with the amazing IGP/APUs that are around the corner I could definitely live 100% without two slots. I would just use the extra slot for a better network card or maybe some PCIE storage.

I thought IRIS Pro 6200 graphics were legit, and there is much better stuff coming...

So yeah there is a line and I could go either way. I love your chassis.

Thanks Josh. I would prefer if people using my case didn't need a GPU. That way it's simpler, quieter, cooler, and doesn't need a giant power brick (okay, the 19.5V PA-9E isn't too bad). That was my original vision. I never use the expansion slot myself... but I'm glad it's there in case I need to.

I'm still going to play around with adding the second slot. Maybe something good will come from it.
 
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jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
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Feb 22, 2015
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So what kind of hardware do you all want to put in the L4 anyway?

Personally I'm trying to find a way to fit the low-profile GTX 1050 Ti, Samsung 960 EVO, HDPLEX 250W AC-DC and DC-ATX combo, ASRock X99E-ITX/ac, and my i7-5930k for a airline-friendly workstation that will blow people's minds XD
 

Sean Crees

Airflow Optimizer
Jan 1, 2017
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So what kind of hardware do you all want to put in the L4 anyway?

Personally I'm trying to find a way to fit the low-profile GTX 1050 Ti, Samsung 960 EVO, HDPLEX 250W AC-DC and DC-ATX combo, ASRock X99E-ITX/ac, and my i7-5930k for a airline-friendly workstation that will blow people's minds XD

HDPLEX upgraded the 250 to 300w: http://www.hd-plex.com/HDPLEX-300W-Hi-Fi-DC-ATX-Power-Supply-16V-24V-Wide-Range-Voltage-Input.html

They don't even show the 250w version on their website anymore.

I like the HDPLEX, but trying to stuff a 24pin cable extension into these really small cases is a pita.

One thing I've always been curious about that i never see anyone mention, is taking a 12v signal from an ac/dc brick directly to the pci-e 6/8 pin power connector on a GPU. I remember doing this a long time ago with a dell 230w brick and it worked fine, though i didn't have a multi-meter to test it under various conditions to verify the voltage was staying within spec during load testings.

If you could do that, you could use a pico-psu for the motherboard and 75w pci-e slot power, and run a separate line from a power brick directly to a graphics card for the extra power. This configuration would result in a lot less cable clutter than trying to use an HDPLEX.

I personally would rather sacrifice on CPU performance with a 65w, 51w, or even 35w variant so that i can use a more power hungry graphics card and stick with just using the pico-psu.
 

jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
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Feb 22, 2015
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HDPLEX upgraded the 250 to 300w

Oops, brainfart. I knew it was 300W :p

If you could do that, you could use a pico-psu for the motherboard and 75w pci-e slot power, and run a separate line from a power brick directly to a graphics card for the extra power. This configuration would result in a lot less cable clutter than trying to use an HDPLEX.

You'll be interested in this thread then: https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/meanwell-epp-300-12.1270/
 

Kmpkt

Innovation through Miniaturization
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I like the HDPLEX, but trying to stuff a 24pin cable extension into these really small cases is a pita.

....

I personally would rather sacrifice on CPU performance with a 65w, 51w, or even 35w variant so that i can use a more power hungry graphics card and stick with just using the pico-psu.

The new board I'm working on will get rid of the 24 pin ATX and 8 pin EPS in favour of using the Plugless 160W DC as the motherboard part of the solution. What this means is you'll only need to run 4 cables to the motherboard instead of 32 (EPS will still need 8 cables to run from 24 pin header on motherboard to EPS plug though).

Also with this solution you won't need to skimp on the CPU. Hypothetically if you want to spend the money you could pair it with a 460W 24V switching power supply from Meanwell and have a full 300W to the GPU as well as an additional 75W to the CPU via the PCIe slot. As an added bonus the HDPlex boards are 1-2% more efficient when powered by 24V as opposed to 19V.
 

Lone

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Don't get too excited yet... I'm not 100% sold on the idea yet, and there's still some side effects to this I'm messing around with: