'Minefoxi's (crazy) ideas' thread (New: LAN-BOX)

[Minefoxi]

You could potentially shave down on the height some by routing your bulkhead connectors through where the reservoir is and not need the space directly above the motherboard.

Just thought about it before reading your answer lol
Like that the space on the other side also shrinks and I still have to fit a reservoir and a pump in there, mabye I'll just go with an SFX PSU again and fit a high res/pump combo next PSU and rad (if something fits there) or I'll have to find another solution.

Because this would be a very expensive build which I cannot afford atm all this is on a very theoretical level anyways

 

[|||]

People over-value reservoirs. You can get them down to 50cc's if you want. I am not including one in my build because I will have a long tube immediately before the pump that will have an internal volume of roughly 75cc's.

 

[Minefoxi]

I just realized that I also could place a dual 140mm rad on the lower right panel and place the PSU, pump and res along with some exhaust vents on the top, back or right side panel above it. I'll post a drawing or something of it tomorrow...
But hey the cooling performance rises and the volume sinks, what more do you want?

 

[Minefoxi]

Layout 1:

Layout 2:

Back layout with 180mm Rad:

(Dual 140mm doesn't work because it wouln't leave enough space for pump/res/psu above it)

This would save about 40mm of height!
Let me know which design you prefer

 

[Tek Everything]

I like layout one

 

[iFreilicht]

I'm not sure which one to prefer, but I like the angled routing of layout 1 better. An important thing to keep in mind is the position of the windows. If you pick layout 1, the small window on the front will be pretty much completely covered by the riser cable, while layout 2 would allow you to use an angled riser and place the GPU in such a way that the riser is pretty much hidden, showing of the beautiful waterblock on the GPU through the front window.
On the other hand, layout 2 requires the radiator and PSU positions to be flipped, not sure whether that could be problematic.
In any case, the ribbon cable should be run through the radiator and PSU compartment for cleaner looks.

Is the PSU position really the way you show it in the pictures? It seems to me that you leave no room for PSU exhaust or wiring, or is the exhaust to the right of that picture?

Other than that, this seems like a good layout in general, the I/O cabling area is spacious, so all normal cables should fit in there.

 

[Minefoxi]

I'm not sure which one to prefer, but I like the angled routing of layout 1 better. An important thing to keep in mind is the position of the windows. If you pick layout 1, the small window on the front will be pretty much completely covered by the riser cable, while layout 2 would allow you to use an angled riser and place the GPU in such a way that the riser is pretty much hidden, showing of the beautiful waterblock on the GPU through the front window.
On the other hand, layout 2 requires the radiator and PSU positions to be flipped, not sure whether that could be problematic.
In any case, the ribbon cable should be run through the radiator and PSU compartment for cleaner looks.

Is the PSU position really the way you show it in the pictures? It seems to me that you leave no room for PSU exhaust or wiring, or is the exhaust to the right of that picture?

Other than that, this seems like a good layout in general, the I/O cabling area is spacious, so all normal cables should fit in there.

Thank you for the tips!
The PSU power socket and the exhaust is in fact on the right side and the PSU will be mounted to the back panel like shown in the drawing.
If the front window would be covered I think I'd just leave it out.
About the rad position: I think it'd be a tight fit with the chamber connection sockets right behind the rad and if it doesn't work I'll have to find a different solution but I'd like to keep the PSU at the back.

I like layout one

Thanks for the feedback

 

[Minefoxi]

So here's a comparison of the old higher version:

and the new lower version I just tried out:

I think the higher one looks better because the lower version while it is saving some volume it looks quite big in terms of width and seems too short in height.

 

[iFreilicht]

I agree, the larger one does look better, especially because of the reservoir.

The problem here is that both pictures are cropped to a similar size, so the bottom one looks larger than it might actually be. It would be better to have a size-by-size comparison pic.

About the front window: I wouldn't leave that out of you can avoid it, it's an integral part of the cases aesthetics. Try it in your model, I'm fairly certain that it will look worse.

 

[Minefoxi]

I agree, the larger one does look better, especially because of the reservoir.

The problem here is that both pictures are cropped to a similar size, so the bottom one looks larger than it might actually be. It would be better to have a size-by-size comparison pic.

About the front window: I wouldn't leave that out of you can avoid it, it's an integral part of the cases aesthetics. Try it in your model, I'm fairly certain that it will look worse.

Here you go:

Mabye the window problem is gone too because I won't work with the small version now

 

[CC Ricers]

I also prefer the taller version. I like the small window in the front of the case. Makes a lot more sense for the tall version because you can see more tubes connecting and running from the waterblock and also from the reservoir in the front window. If you want you can also use a clear top for the res so you can see the liquid going through there.

 

[|||]

Keep in mind that you're going to want at least 35mm of clearance from the G1/4" inlets/outlets to have a right-angle fitting and hose adapter. You'll also have to contend with the height of the VRM riser on the Impact board, too.

It almost looks as though the depth is enough to have a 240mm radiator at the top, similar to the Lian-Li PC-Ox cases. You may also consider doing the taller chassis, but reconfigure the components to try to make it slimmer (take my Digital Storm Bolt II for example).

 

[Minefoxi]

Updated the motherboard texture and the tubing is now angled.

Do you have an idea what to put above the motherboard?

Also about the Lian Li O series and the Bolt II: I thought about other configurations (also the mentioned cases) but I wanted this to be a unique case with a focus on the MB, GPU and the watercooling with the nice waterblocks and anything else hidden and not taking up space on the display side.

 

[|||]

If you had the configuration of the motherboard and GPU similar to you're shorter one above, you could have the reservoir above it and have it feed into the pump behind the panel through a bulkhead connector.That would make the reservoir actually functional and remove the need to have two of them. So the flow path would be:

Pump >> radiator >> bulkhead connector on right side >> CPU block >> GPU block >> reservoir >> bulkhead connector on left side >> pump

 

[Minefoxi]

If you had the configuration of the motherboard and GPU similar to you're shorter one above, you could have the reservoir above it and have it feed into the pump behind the panel through a bulkhead connector.That would make the reservoir actually functional and remove the need to have two of them. So the flow path would be:

Pump >> radiator >> bulkhead connector on right side >> CPU block >> GPU block >> reservoir >> bulkhead connector on left side >> pump

Thanks for your idea to use the res as a res

To keep the front window clear with an angled PCI riser and the VRM riser card at the back where it does not disturb the view like it would in the middle when the MB is on the other side I'd rather swap the components in the other chamber (Pump-PSU-Radiator).

 

[Minefoxi]

Updated the thread "a bit" and also posted an updated picture of the two chamber design:

But the main subject of this post is yet another project that came to my mind:

Project LAN-BOX

Front view

Back view

Inside view

It measures 230 x 230 x 150mm for an internal volume of 6.56l (with 6mm plywood panels) and takes

• Mini-ITX MB,
  
• about 180mm long GPU with a "front-heading" PCIe power connector (like the R9 Nano or the ITX R9 285/380),
  
• 2.5" SSDs,
  
• Slim slot-in ODD,
  
• different 120mm AIO configs:
  • 22mm Silverstone TD03-Slim with two 12mm push-pull fans
  • 27mm AIO radiator with 15mm push or pull fan
  • anything else that fits into 44mm of total space

 

[iFreilicht]

Nice touch with the rounded "Network" pictograph on the side, I like that. The writing on the front isn't my cup of tea, though. If the other sidepanel is not getting any vents, why not add the pictograph there as well? Would make the whole thing look good from all sides.

Does this really support 190mm GPUs? To me it looks like the power button would get in the way, especially as it also has solder leads which and wires which have to be taken into account, same goes for the USB3.0 connectors.

Additionally, you won't be able to mount the raditor that close to the mainboard. The ATX connector has a locking latch which extends past the edge of the mainboard by a few mms, that will have to be taken into account. It also needs about 2-3mm of additional space to clear the locking ramp while plugging it in.

Not so sure about the ODD position either. It seems like you could move the PSU a little closer to the board and just put the ODD next to it. That way you're able to put the ODD slot in the top (if you want to) and will save 15mm of height.

It's very interesting how many things you can do with this ultra-simple layout and I think with an AIO intaking at the front, it's an absolutely viable decision to let the PSU intake from the inside. That would also make filtering easier if that's something of concern. With plywood, you could even integrate the filter into the panel by milling a 3mm recess into it from the inside.

 

[Phuncz]

I would suggest you also note the area where the PCIe cards are screwed-down, you made a slit for the tab that sticks out where the screw goes in. But it would be terribly difficult to allign it correctly to go into the slit and be positioned over the PCIe slot, so you'll have to make a larger cutout to "jimmy" it in.

 

[Minefoxi]

Thanks for your feedback @iFreilicht and @Phuncz!

Addressing what you said:

• Mabye I'll add another pictograph to the other side (WiFi or something like that)
• You're right 190mm GPUs aren't really possible because of the cables but most of the GPUs with that power connector are about 170mm anyways
• Mounting the radiator is possible though due to the slim Scythe 120mm fans having like 6mm of free space behind the fan blades (here the locking latch and other stuff would go), I'd also work with my current GB Z97N Gaming 5 instead of the dummy ASUS Maximus VIII
  
• The slit construction works perfectly fine because I've taken over the dimensions from Project Real Cube where it works well enough to keep the GPU in place

If I overlooked something please let me know

 

[iFreilicht]

The slit construction works perfectly fine because I've taken over the dimensions from Project Real Cube where it works well enough to keep the GPU in place

How are you installing a GPU in RealCube then? It seems like you'd have to connect it to the mainboard first and then insert mainboard and GPU into the case together.

You've overlooked my feedback about the ODD position