Completed Lone Industries L5 - 4.6L Mini ITX

[Lone]

1. I have chosen the L5 because it is perfect for my workflow. I carry it every day from my home into the musicstudio and back. I have monitors at both places, so sticking it into my backpack is no effort at all. It's really small but it doesn't try to be the smallest which is good because you have enough space for aircooling of powerful CPUs. Especially in my case as I don't use a dedicated GPU.

2. I still would choose the small version. Sooner or later I will need a powerful graphics card for 3d realtime visualisation. But that would be something in the range of rtx2080. As soon as there is a intel mini-itx MOBO with full range TB3 I will add an eGPU case to the L5. That way I can decide if I can leave the eGPU at home or not.

... but that just me, very niche I guess :-)

Sounds like you might be a good candidate for an APU version of the L5! I don't need anything more than a GT 1030 myself (allows me to have anti-aliased visuals using CAD software), so I sometimes think a smaller model might be nice, but I hate to limit my choices when Mini-ITX boards have a PCIe slot.

 

[Analogue Blacksheep]

@Lone - I see what you are doing now. It's like when the Chevy Corvette went from front engine to midship. I'm fine if its the HDPlex 400W Hifi and it plugs to an external Dell 330W brick.

1. Do you have any more renders of the sandwich case, the backside in particular?
2. What are you looking at for CPU cooler height?
3. Will it have 2.5 drive support?
4. Does it have a name yet? Can we refer to it as the L6?

 

[Lone]

@Lone - I see what you are doing now. It's like when the Chevy Corvette went from front engine to midship. I'm fine if its the HDPlex 400W Hifi and it plugs to an external Dell 330W brick.

1. Do you have any more renders of the sandwich case, the backside in particular?

I just started playing around with the idea on Friday, so there's not much to show at this point.

2. What are you looking at for CPU cooler height?

TBD, but it would obviously support coolers like the NH-L9.

3. Will it have 2.5 drive support?

I would hope so. I currently don't know how.

4. Does it have a name yet? Can we refer to it as the L6?

No name. Sandwich is the working name at this point. This wouldn't replace the L5, and therefore probably should not be called L6. It's currently based on the L5, the original idea being that it would simply look like a wider/larger version of the L5. It may only ever exist as a concept.

 

[rfarmer]

Casting a wider net for feedback (i.e. “Why did you *not* choose the L5”) may be more enlightening—I've gotten a sense that a lot of builders here did a bit of self-discovery in the process of building in the L5, rather than coming to it with a laundry-list of needs, or just transplanting some another case… and aren't solely focused on space-optimization, favoring proper cooling, quiet, etc. over shaving off a millimeter here and there.

This would apply to me. I have always been a fan of @Lone's cases but the lack of full height GPU has been what has stopped me from every owning one.

 

[Jello]

I think a big bonus for the L5 is the ability to fit a 70mm cooler iirc. The L12S is a very good cooler, allows for a strong CPU.

 

[maxdfw]

This would apply to me. I have always been a fan of @Lone's cases but the lack of full height GPU has been what has stopped me from every owning one.

Same here. I have an ITX GPU I've modified with a noctua fan and I've tried to go to a LP gpu and can't stand the fan noise. A full height L5 would be an instant buy from me.

 

[Analogue Blacksheep]

An update on my U.2 proof of concept for the L5.

I got the ultra cheap M.2 NVME in the post and after putting it into the U.2 adapter IT WORKS! It detected, although I did need to format the M.2. So with the proof of concept now confirmed, I just need to wait till I can get one of those 3.2TB Micron 7300 MAX U.2's. Should go nicely with the 4TB QNAP TR-002 setup I'll be getting to serve as redundancy.


So to recap if you want to do what I did. M.2 to OCuLink adapter > OCuLink to U.2 cable > U.2 device. The M.2 adapter with the OCuLink cable in is around 10mm thick and there is enough space on the bottom of the board for it to fit.


In other news, I got a USB 2 Pin to 2 ports adapter. Sadly it didn't fit due to the USB 3.0 adapter being a touch too wide.


And finally I reworked the cable management.

 

[smitty2k1]

Lone if you build a mini-sandwich case I think it would be great with your design language. I think making the case a touch wider and supporting 92mm fans is a great idea, as the 10x80mm fans supported by some mini-sandwich cases area really lacking.

In addition, I find the mini-sandwich cases on the market don't really support the HDPlex or Meanwell 400w so it would be great if yours did.

 

[Lone]

Estimated availability for next batch is beginning of May. This will only be a small batch of white/black L5. I have some extra parts from last batch for a couple all black for those who don't like white/black.

Notable changes:

• I've squeezed approximately 1.2mm of additional clearance at the front (for HDPLEX 200W DC-ATX). This change is backwards compatible. The overall size of the case remains the same, only the inside chassis was adjusted.
• Rear motherboard cutout has been enlarged slightly to give greater clearance for screwdriver access to rear M.2 slot.

 

[theGryphon]

I have a couple questions for anyone who has purchased or would like to purchase the L5:

1. Why did you choose the L5?

2. If there were a larger version of the L5 (sandwich style, 17-19mm wider) that only added support for a standard height graphics card, what would you choose?

Hey man,
I felt like I should chime in as someone who considered Lone cases but instead got something of the same functionality: a Realan e-i7 (https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/i-think-i-found-a-little-gem-realan-e-i7.6175/)

The reason for this form factor for me is
1) Need for a powerful CPU but no need for a powerful GPU.
2) Need for portability, so it wasn't just about volume but weight and the slim profile to be carried daily in a largish laptop bag.

In your proposed design, you will be able to support more powerful GPUs but will have to forgo support for powerful CPUs. That to me indicates a totally different target audience, which I believe can be called "gamers", no offense meant. The potential problem I see there is that that audience would probably more inclined towards standard-size PSUs, which you won't be supporting. I bet though there is a niche group out there who would be comfortable using non-standard PSUs along with your proposed design, I just cannot estimate how large/small that group is... The thing is, that niche group is currently within the potential L5 buyers, so I believe there is great overlap between the potential buyers of the two cases. In short, you may be working on a new case for little additional turnover...

If I may give you an unsolicited inspiration, I would love for you to build the case I dreamed of: https://smallformfactor.net/forum/t...ruly-sff-itx-case-for-3950x.11847/post-174951
That design above would be a great addition under your brand. It's about double the volume of L5; more hardware supported at the expense of volume, so there wouldn't be any cannibalization between the two.

 

[Lone]

@theGryphon thanks chiming in!

 

[plyr0ne]

@Lone

I've been interested in your case for a while, but there isn't a low profile gpu powerful enough for me to make the swap. Possibly when an lp 1650 super comes out(, but I've never seen a power connector on an lp gpu, so that's probably not going to happen)

1) I don't have a lone, but I liked the design elements of it as well as being small, but having enough room for cable management, the fans up front and a 2 slot gpu. (A lil extra space for options)

2) I personally would not be interested in a sandwich design because there are so many out there atm.
Have you ever considered making a version of the L5 that is slightly taller then a regular pci slot to fit mini itx gpus. The only reason I ask is that I personally have only seen 2 other options that I would have conidered, one of which is only availble as a prebuilt system made by logic supply, and the other is the 3d printed LZ7 case. Your design language and that size is what I've been waiting for. I would have jumped all over the L5 if there was a gpu that fit that was more powerfully then a 1650 (1050ti when I first saw your case).

Sorry I don't post much, but I just like to read and take in all the info. I chime in when I am extremely interested in a specific thread (this, the logic supply case, and a thin itx am4 motherboard thread).

 

[smitty2k1]

@Lone

I've been interested in your case for a while, but there isn't a low profile gpu powerful enough for me to make the swap. Possibly when an lp 1650 super comes out(, but I've never seen a power connector on an lp gpu, so that's probably not going to happen)

1) I don't have a lone, but I liked the design elements of it as well as being small, but having enough room for cable management, the fans up front and a 2 slot gpu. (A lil extra space for options)

2) I personally would not be interested in a sandwich design because there are so many out there atm.
Have you ever considered making a version of the L5 that is slightly taller then a regular pci slot to fit mini itx gpus. The only reason I ask is that I personally have only seen 2 other options that I would have conidered, one of which is only availble as a prebuilt system made by logic supply, and the other is the 3d printed LZ7 case. Your design language and that size is what I've been waiting for. I would have jumped all over the L5 if there was a gpu that fit that was more powerfully then a 1650 (1050ti when I first saw your case).

Sorry I don't post much, but I just like to read and take in all the info. I chime in when I am extremely interested in a specific thread (this, the logic supply case, and a thin itx am4 motherboard thread).

I think the J Hack Pure XL fits into your criteria for a case?

 

[Lone]

@Lone

I've been interested in your case for a while, but there isn't a low profile gpu powerful enough for me to make the swap. Possibly when an lp 1650 super comes out(, but I've never seen a power connector on an lp gpu, so that's probably not going to happen)

1) I don't have a lone, but I liked the design elements of it as well as being small, but having enough room for cable management, the fans up front and a 2 slot gpu. (A lil extra space for options)

2) I personally would not be interested in a sandwich design because there are so many out there atm.
Have you ever considered making a version of the L5 that is slightly taller then a regular pci slot to fit mini itx gpus. The only reason I ask is that I personally have only seen 2 other options that I would have conidered, one of which is only availble as a prebuilt system made by logic supply, and the other is the 3d printed LZ7 case. Your design language and that size is what I've been waiting for. I would have jumped all over the L5 if there was a gpu that fit that was more powerfully then a 1650 (1050ti when I first saw your case).

Sorry I don't post much, but I just like to read and take in all the info. I chime in when I am extremely interested in a specific thread (this, the logic supply case, and a thin itx am4 motherboard thread).

Thanks for your comments. I haven't considered making a case like that since it would end up being very cube-like which hasn't really appealed to me. There are definitely advantages though (no riser, and tall CPU cooler support). For something like that, I would personally buy an NCASE M1 myself. It's a beautiful design IMO.

 

[plyr0ne]

@smitty2k1
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll check that out.

@Lone
Thanks for the reply and sharing your opinion. I will still be trying to get in on the next batch for the case to upgrade my htpc. I just went back through the past 39 pages of this thread and checked out all the pics. That is one good looking case.

 

[Lone]

An update on my U.2 proof of concept for the L5.

I got the ultra cheap M.2 NVME in the post and after putting it into the U.2 adapter IT WORKS! It detected, although I did need to format the M.2. So with the proof of concept now confirmed, I just need to wait till I can get one of those 3.2TB Micron 7300 MAX U.2's. Should go nicely with the 4TB QNAP TR-002 setup I'll be getting to serve as redundancy.

So to recap if you want to do what I did. M.2 to OCuLink adapter > OCuLink to U.2 cable > U.2 device. The M.2 adapter with the OCuLink cable in is around 10mm thick and there is enough space on the bottom of the board for it to fit.

In other news, I got a USB 2 Pin to 2 ports adapter. Sadly it didn't fit due to the USB 3.0 adapter being a touch too wide.

And finally I reworked the cable management.

Thank you for sharing all this information for posterity!

Can any of the HDPLEX wiring be run under the motherboard, or is there just too much of it?

 

[Analogue Blacksheep]

@Lone - Thanks, I'm just seeing this as data to give people ideas. Hopefully you and the members here find use from it!

---

I did run the cables from the HDPLEX under the motherboard previously. Even got the earlier 2.5 sata adapter to sit in place. While it was great for airflow and appearance, it was awkward pulling the cables out and then putting them back in when making changes so I decided to keep them up top. I'm using cable ties to keep it all in place.

 

[Lone]

@Analogue Blacksheep, I was just thinking, if you were willing to give up one of your front case fans, there is room there to mount a 2.5 inch drive. The question is whether there would be enough space for right angle SATA connectors, with only about 12-14 mm clearance remaining. Just a thought.

Found these specs:

 

[Analogue Blacksheep]

@Lone - Cheers, I appreciate the suggestion, but I'm happy with how the drives are currently set up.

 

[staircase]

1. Why did you choose the L5?
2. If there were a larger version of the L5 (sandwich style, 17-19mm wider) that only added support for a standard height graphics card, what would you choose?

1. aesthetic. I like hard defined edges. I don't mind the visible screws.
2. I have a 1080ti 300mm long gpu in my graphic card in my other case. In order to fit all these, the size and layout will become like NCASE M1, but I personally, I prefer this design over M1.

things I dislike: lack of internal psu support. (I solved mine with a 300w G-unique.) I have a HDplex (which I don't use now). A 200w power brick takes a lot of space in my backpack. Other than that, I don't have any other things dislike.