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MacPro (Late 2013) mini-ITX case mod

CC Ricers

Shrink Ray Wielder
Bronze Supporter
Nov 1, 2015
2,234
2,557
Around 9.4L, nice.
Is the funding page up yet?

Yes it is. I searched for "Dune" on Kickstarter and found it here:
Dune might want to make it searchable for "Small form factor" and "SFF" to get some more exposure.
 

Phuncz

Lord of the Boards
SFFn Staff
May 9, 2015
5,958
4,957
I amazed you could release this product at this price, I would have expected it to be $300 just to break even, at the very least. Mind you, that's not what I would have paid, but it's what I expected it would cost. Good luck with the campaign and keep us updated with any progress, this is the place to be for people discovering your case !
 

dunecase

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Dune Case
Jan 31, 2016
19
15
yeah ... the kickstarter is live at the moment and in the 4th day ... im not trying to promote it in the forums as I want to respect the rules
 

dunecase

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Dune Case
Jan 31, 2016
19
15
actually the cost of this case is quite high but there are no middle guys in the deal. Yes and phunc you must have some experience in this because for the prototype just to cut up the tube and bend it with no line on top cost a little more than $300-$500 and thats not painted and polished. I set the goal at $130K so it will cover the tooling, assembly and molds for those who paid up to that point. So the deals now you are getting it at a good deal.
 

PlayfulPhoenix

Founder of SFF.N
SFFLAB
Chimera Industries
Gold Supporter
Feb 22, 2015
1,052
1,990
yeah ... the kickstarter is live at the moment and in the 4th day ... im not trying to promote it in the forums as I want to respect the rules

You are allowed to promote yourself and your crowdfunding campaign on SFF Forum (contrary to most forums), so long as you aren't doing so disruptively. So, linking and discussing it in this thread is fine (and encouraged); bringing it up in other threads without a clear connection is not.

See our vendor rules:

Vendor Rules
Vendors are encouraged to interact with the community and are free to discuss their SFF-related products (including posting links to their products where appropriate).

HOWEVER, this is for the purpose of allowing the community to provide feedback on your products or work. Posting links to sites you have a financial interest in, without subsequently engaging the community (or posting where it's not relevant to the discussion), will be deemed as spam, and will lead to post deletion and/or account bans at the discretion of the SFF Forum staff.

Please contact a staff member to request a user banner displaying your company affiliation, which we use to ensure transparency and verify rep identities for users.

When in doubt, feel free to ask, but a big reason this forum exists is to provide a platform that supports creators, rather than hinders them with rules and other impediments.
 

Phuncz

Lord of the Boards
SFFn Staff
May 9, 2015
5,958
4,957
Yes and phunc you must have some experience in this because for the prototype just to cut up the tube and bend it with no line on top cost a little more than $300-$500 and thats not painted and polished. I set the goal at $130K so it will cover the tooling, assembly and molds for those who paid up to that point. So the deals now you are getting it at a good deal.
I don't have direct experience but I learn a lot from the many projects I've seen and plentiful discussions here on manufacturing to know this is an insanely low price.

So if I understand it correctly, the asking price is well below the real cost to manufacture. Will you be able to keep it under $250 for production after this crowdfunding has completed with the tooling and molds already funded ?
 
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dunecase

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Dune Case
Jan 31, 2016
19
15
Thanks for the questions our target price is 189 to retail and that will be after Kickstarter as well. We set the goal on Kickstarter at 130k so that if we reach that amount the backers will get a case and also the pay for the tooling and material. If the goal is met, it also means the tools and molds can be reused over and over again and the cost of making the dune case will only be the material and assemble because the molds and tools have been paid for. So yes if funded the price will remain at 189
 

iFreilicht

FlexATX Authority
Feb 28, 2015
3,243
2,361
freilite.com
Great to see the campaign up, it looks very professional, and getting 13% support after 4 days with over a month to go makes me feel like it will be successful.

One question, though: Why did you choose to have multiple tiers with differing price where the cheapest tier gets the case earliest? To me it seems more reasonable to let the people that want to go in early pay a small premium for delivering the case to them faster.
 

PlayfulPhoenix

Founder of SFF.N
SFFLAB
Chimera Industries
Gold Supporter
Feb 22, 2015
1,052
1,990
Thanks for the questions our target price is 189 to retail and that will be after Kickstarter as well. We set the goal on Kickstarter at 130k so that if we reach that amount the backers will get a case and also the pay for the tooling and material. If the goal is met, it also means the tools and molds can be reused over and over again and the cost of making the dune case will only be the material and assemble because the molds and tools have been paid for. So yes if funded the price will remain at 189

So wait, is the cost of that first run greater than what you're looking to fundraise?

Banking on future runs to finance current ones is a big gamble, and I would advise strongly against it. People are usually fine paying a premium for a first run, since tooling costs are understood, and since they get a guaranteed case now (versus waiting out a cheaper version, which may never come out).

One question, though: Why did you choose to have multiple tiers with differing price where the cheapest tier gets the case earliest? To me it seems more reasonable to let the people that want to go in early pay a small premium for delivering the case to them faster.

It's very common for a crowdfunding campaign to provide a small number of items at a discount. This provides incentives for people to pitch in ASAP, and that lends the appearance of early momentum in raising funds - all of which are a good thing.

It probably isn't economically efficient, since it invariably results in a lot of consumer surplus (diehard fans buy first, and they tend to be less price-sensitive anyway), but a lot of people seem to think it's worthwhile given the prevalence.
 

iFreilicht

FlexATX Authority
Feb 28, 2015
3,243
2,361
freilite.com
It's very common for a crowdfunding campaign to provide a small number of items at a discount. This provides incentives for people to pitch in ASAP, and that lends the appearance of early momentum in raising funds - all of which are a good thing.

It probably isn't economically efficient, since it invariably results in a lot of consumer surplus (diehard fans buy first, and they tend to be less price-sensitive anyway), but a lot of people seem to think it's worthwhile given the prevalence.

I see, and those are both good points on each side of the argument. It would be really interesting to know whether statistics regarding this exist. How effective and sensible this is probably depends on the number of possible supporters you can gain before starting the campaign. With your case it probably makes sense to either do it the way I imagined or offer just one tier, but if you didn't get a lot of exposure initially, doing it the way dunecase does is probably beneficial as you said.
 

PlayfulPhoenix

Founder of SFF.N
SFFLAB
Chimera Industries
Gold Supporter
Feb 22, 2015
1,052
1,990
I think early bird pricing makes sense for cheaper items, or those with broader appeal. It can make the difference for people on the fence, in those specific instances.

For projects such as this, I think you lose out in the long run, however, since the lost revenue adds up fast (hence why KI won't have early bird pricing, at least for enclosures).
 

johannbl

Chassis Packer
Jan 15, 2016
18
37
Wow! I'm impressed. This is an awesome project and an awesome challenge. Congratulation on your kickstarter launch, I wish you the best!
 

iFreilicht

FlexATX Authority
Feb 28, 2015
3,243
2,361
freilite.com
Hello.

Can you explain the difference between your case and this one here:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2015...free-2-LED-fan-without-power/32496222527.html

One user of the forum already bought this and snapped a few pictures.

It only takes single slot low-profile cards, the I/O of the board and GPU are directly exposed at the back. It also looks quite a bit cheaper in terms of quality, but it seems to take 3.5" drives and be a little bit smaller than the Dune Case.
 

Phuncz

Lord of the Boards
SFFn Staff
May 9, 2015
5,958
4,957
@dunecase are you planning on doing more campaigning to boost the Kickstarter or interest for cases afterwards ? I've not seen your case featured anywhere else.
 

ChrisW

Case Bender
Feb 15, 2016
2
0
This is the case that made me register! Would love to see it funded, I have a question though. On your homepage you mention the 2x Hdmi's on the I/O, while in the comments at kickstarter there is a mention of a Displayport. I would personally love to see a Displayport added, will it perhaps be optional or one of each?

I also agree with the previous poster, would love to see this case posted elsewhere, I got here by accident and hadn't seen any mention of the case before that. (I'll post a link to this page on Sweclockers to help out a bit)
 

Phuncz

Lord of the Boards
SFFn Staff
May 9, 2015
5,958
4,957
Since Mr. DuneCase doesn't update this topic, I'll quote his project updates:

Questions on Backing Levels/Funding Goal
I've seen a few comments re: backing levels and whether they will meet funding requirements. While I have answered those in comments/emails, I thought it would be good to send an update, so all backers have the information.

1. Kickstarter approved the project with the funding levels.
2. Our levels do get us to the amount needed to be raised.

However, I understand there's still some confusion on this, and I think I now understand why.

The descriptions for the $189+, $289+ and $1,345+ indicate there are limits (200, 50, and 5 respectively.) This was an editing mistake on my part. There are no amount limits in the area to the right of the backer tracking for those reward levels.

Kickstarter doesn't allow editing of a reward description after a project has gone live. But, I can assure you, if more people want in at the $189+, $289+ and $1,345+ levels, that is possible - and welcomed.

If you have any questions/concerns or just want to send a shout out of encouragement, you can comment here or email me at Alex@dunecase.com.

Thanks again for all the support so far. I really do appreciate it and look forward to the next 30 days of the campaign.

Alex

Technical Specs for Dune Case
Thanks for all the technical questions! Here's a consolidated view of the in's and out's of Dune Case.


Front Panel
The front panel is the Input and Output connections for the case. It serves as the bridge to connect the external devices to the motherboard, graphics card, and power supply. The connector consists of the following:
4 x USB 3.0 Connectors
2 x HDMI 2.0 Connectors or 2 x Display Port Connectors
1 x 3.5mm Female Headphone / Speaker output
1 x 3.5mm Female Microphone jack input
1 x Ethernet port – Supports up to 1 GigE 1 x Power on / off button

The connectors are all put on to a custom PCB. USB, Audio, Ethernet and power cables connect to the PCB and is routed to the motherboard. The display connectors are the same but connects to the graphics card or motherboard if a graphics card is not present and motherboard has on-board graphics. The custom cables are sized to fit exactly to the dimensions of the case.

The cables are connected to the front panel PCB from the bottom of the PCB. Once connected it routes into the PSU holder.

PSU Holder – Cables
The PSU holder has an Input and Output opening for cables. The input opening of the PSU holder joins directly to the bottom of the front panel. The input opening allows cables from the front panel to route into the PSU holder and to continue routing to the output opening which leads to the middle section of the case and finally to the motherboard / graphics card. The input opening also allows the power cable to be connected to the SFX PSU from the front panel.

The output opening enables routing from the input opening to continue, but also allows cables from the PSU to be distributed to the motherboard, graphics card, hard drives.

PSU Holder – Mount and Airflow
The PSU holder mount has two purpose, mounting and air flow. When mounting the PSU, it will be accessed from the bottom of the case. The positioning of the PSU needs to be air input from the bottom and pushing the air horizontally out towards the front panel. The design of the mount was to also segregate the air input from the bottom vents of the case into two section, graphics card and motherboard. This is done with air vents from the bottom of the case flowing directly to the graphics card and air vents for the CPU is sourced through the PSU pulling air from the bottom.

Mid-Section – Cable Management and Hard Drive Mounts
The mid-section of the case is positioned between the motherboard plate and behind the GPU door. It is a very important part of the case and helps with air flow distribution inside the case. The mid-section also manages the cables from the output opening of the PSU mount and provides a pathway for the cables to connect to the GPU and motherboard. The Mid-section has 2 x 2.5 inch brackets for hard drives. The power for the hard drives are sourced from the PSU through the output opening of the PSU mount. The SATA cables are managed through the motherboard back plate with an opening for power, SATA cables, and front panel motherboard connectors. The top of the Mid-Section is left open to allow the display cables to connect to the GPU and other cables to be connected to the motherboard back plate.

GPU Door Mount
The GPU door mount is unique and has two functions, mount GPU and hide cables. The door has an opening for the PCIe port to allow GPU card connect to the motherboard. A PCIe extender is mounted to the door near the opening to avoid any vibration from the GPU. The PCIe extender is then routed through the mid-section of the case and connects to the PCIe port on the motherboard. The door also hides the cables that resides behind when closed. When the door is open it allows access to the cables management of the case and mounts for the hard drives. The GPU door mount is built for GPU with a maximum of 2 slots and a maximum length of 185mm

140mm Case Fan
On top of the chassis of the case, a 140mm case fan is placed to help accelerate hot air out of the case. The fan mount for the fan is an exact fit allowing for optimal air flow. The fan pulls hot air from both GPU and CPU areas. Other non-standard fans can be replaced provided it is the same shape and size. The specs for the 140mm case fan is the following:
Dimensions: L150 mm x H140 mm x W13 mm
Rated Speed: 700~1300RPM±15% Noise Level: 30.6dBA(Max.)
Air Flow: 64.52CFM

Wi-Fi
The place for additional Wi-Fi antennas (optional) is placed on the Case Fan mount and position for best performance. The Wi-Fi antennas are not included.

CPU Clearance
The CPU cooling fan has a potential maximum height of 60MM.

Testing Equipment
We tested the Dune Case with the following equipment:
Intel i7 4770k
Intel Stock Fan (50x90x90mm)
Asus P8Z77-I DELUXE
Corsair 16GB DDR3
Silverstone ST45SF-G 450W Gold Certified
Intel 535 Series 2.5" 240GB
GALAX GeForce GTX 970 OC  

Case Temps
When testing with the equipment listed we used Prime 95 to do 100% stress test on all cores on the CPU. We tested this with outside climate of 30 degrees Celsius and humidity of 80-95%. We constantly got CPU temps between 58-59 degrees’ Celsius left for more than 6 hours of testing. We tested the GPU using Furmark stress test. In the same weather conditions and a 100% stress test on the GPU core we achieved a consistent 65 degrees Celsius.

Locking Mechanism
There are guides inside the case housing that help guide the case to closure. Once the case is fully close, it needs to be twisted in a clockwise direction to secure that the case is locked. There are icons on case to help indicate if the case in locked or not.
 

ChrisW

Case Bender
Feb 15, 2016
2
0
Sadly it seems that the kickstarter has totally stagnated, it hasn't moved at all for 3 days now. Unless the creator is actively looking for new ways to find backers I don't think this project will be funded in time... :/
 

Phuncz

Lord of the Boards
SFFn Staff
May 9, 2015
5,958
4,957
In those three days he did manage to write three project updates.
I'd hate to see this project fail, because it seems to be the first real chance at a MacPro-like mITX case that actually seems to be designed properly.