Prototype Mini-malist: 5L console style gaming case design, "The 1st"

[Day VReamer]

Update of first post:

Case has been ordered (23/09/22) for final checks and testing before I open up pre-orders.

Final specs:
Dimensions (without feet) 340mm x 268mm x 59mm.
Mini Itx Motherboard
Approximately 37.5mm CPU cooler clearance (to be confirmed on receipt of the current case which has been ordered)
GPU up to 2.5 slots thick (50.8mm guaranteed, but potentially up to 54.5mm depending on gpu backplate etc - to be tested), upto max of 265mm in length (but could be tricky to get in, so more likely 255mm long), and up to 127mm tall (there will be 19mm available for the power connector on top of this, so 146mm total). It is the rear internal power connector that reduces the height available for the GPU. Please note though that some GPU heights are measured including the bracket, the bracket increases the height of the gpu by approx 15mm, so if I include that, this case can take GPU's upto 142mm tall, and still has 19mm space for the power connector.
PSU - Flex ATX PSU upto 150mm long recommended, however some PSU's which have modular connections will fit depending on the configuration/layout.
Storage - M.2 on motherboard, and one 2.5 inch SSD/HDD if you are fitting a GPU that is just 2 slots thick (but please note past 200mm in length the GPU fan might start to be obstructed - it is therefore not recommended to have a full length 255mm GPU that is double slot and have a 2.5" SSD in place). For GPU's that are 190mm long or shorter, up to three 2.5" SSD's can be fitted within an included drive cage.
Fans - up to 6 x 40mm fans (10mm thick recommended).
Power button: This will be a silver metal 12mm button, provided with the case with various different illuminations to choose from (blue light, red light, white light or green light.)

Some of the final renders:

Now the original first post:


Hi all,

So I have yet another case I have designed. It is 5 litres in size and measures 34 x 5.9 x 26.8 cm. Can fit mini itx motherboard, GPU's up to 5.4cm thick, approx 26cm long, and up to 15cm tall (including power connector), flex atx PSU (although I may also add the mounting for hdplex units), has space for 6 x 40mm fans (which I recommend as being 10mm thick for next to the motherboard, and thickness depends on gpu height for the other side). CPU cooler height is technically up to 37.5mm, but this needs confirming when in place. Thinking of getting it finished in brushed stainless steel, or sprayed mild steel depending on the cost of both options. The case is 1.5mm thick. It will use a short flexible pcie riser, and the gpu will use m3/m4 bolts to fix in position. SSD will be m.2 drive on the motherboard at the moment. It's a bit difficult to see the vent pattern on the bottom of the case, but its the same as the top.

I will be looking to get a quote - let me know if you might be interested.

First renders:

 

[Mashndrow]

It's a great design. Using fans to create extra airflow to lower the temps is a great idea in such a small case. However, fans might create clearance issues for the riser cable and the cables on top of the MOBO. Also, you might need legs for the case so, GPU can breathe or if its vertical PSU needs space.

 

[Day VReamer]

It's a great design. Using fans to create extra airflow to lower the temps is a great idea in such a small case. However, fans might create clearance issues for the riser cable and the cables on top of the MOBO. Also, you might need legs for the case so, GPU can breathe or if its vertical PSU needs space.

Thank you, Yes sorry I should have said, it will have feet, just need to add them on.
I have allowed sufficient clearance between the fans and mboard, and the gpu is facing down, so the pcie riser cable will only need to be around 5cm long, and won't get near the fans that are on the gpu side of the case. The pcie ribbon will also therefore not block the vent holes on the top or bottom. As the power connector on the gpu usually sticks above the gpu, I have used that space along the rest of the gpu for the fans

 

[ebolamonkey3]

Following this for updates

 

[RenG]

I'm interested. It would be nice if you go with more premium materials to differentiate it more from existing cases.

Though I must say I'm not a fan on the position of the flex PSU. It will be awkward seeing the power cable sticking from the side if you meant the case to stand horizontally. Maybe design it for the new HDPlex GAN PSU then route the c13 to the back?

 

[Vir]

This'd be the smallest case to fit a 3 slot on the market iirc. Good job!

 

[Runamok81]

Subbed. We do NOT have enough <5L console case options that can handle gpus.

 

[Day VReamer]

So I have had the quote back, and I'm pretty sure I can get it for about half the price with some slight design tweaks, the quote was approximately £160 per case (if I do it in a batch of 10), thats without a PCIe riser cable, but is in brushed stainless steel. To do it in mild steel and get it spray painted cost more than the stainless brushed finish. Thats with all the screw holes countersunk and pemsert's installed for the motherboard standoffs and for the lid to be screwed/fixed to. So I'll work on the design now to reduce the price and will put some more renders up soon.

In relation to the power cable going out the side, I was thinking of something like this adapter (or a cable) below, a 90 degree cable/adapter which send the power cable towards the back of the case (on the outside, not inside). I could move the power button 20mm along, then put a spacer between the flex atx psu and inside wall, and route the power cable towards the back inside, but there is nowhere for a connector to fit on the panel at the back due to the motherboard and gpu taking up the rear panel. I could make the case about 3cm wider and I could then fit the connector and flex psu inside, and the case would then be around 5.85L instead of 5.36L

I did have a look at the 250w HDPlex GAN PSU, and it would easily fit, however I still don't have the space for the connector on the rear panel, so it would probably have to come out the side. Also it is quite pricey for 250w, at $145. You can get 500W for that in flex atx. I will consider how I can incorporate it/other HDPlex options though.

One other consideration is whether I keep the GPU orientated as it is, or flip it so the fans face up. If the fans face up then it will mean about 3mm less space for the GPU due to the PCIe cable running under it, so would be nearer the 50mm thickness max for GPU's. The benefits of it are that the fixing point for the GPU will be a typical screw into a tapped hole, rather than a bolt going through the tab and being secured with a nut.

 

[Vir]

IMO a side connector is the more practical solution. This way it can sit pretty much flush to the wall, taking up less desk surface. Having the connector on the back would require more clearance and negate the low volume.

 

[RenG]

I believe if you go with hdplex, you can push it more inside so you'll have extra space. Though I understand designing it for flex psu make it more accessible.

 

[Valantar]

I'm not actually in the market for a case right now, but I really like this design - except for the power cable. For me, that would be a deal breaker, as having cables coming out of two sides would make everything exponentially more clumsy and impractical.

A suggestion: would it be possible to fit a power socket next to the GPU I/O bracket, in the space above where the GPU mounting screws are (i.e. towards the corner of the case)? It would obviously need to be relatively easily removable, but that looks like the only available space. If that would work, you could turn the PSU around the other way, and not add any more volume to the case. And, of course, the power inlet would need to be quite short to not conflict with any tall GPUs.

 

[Day VReamer]

I'm not actually in the market for a case right now, but I really like this design - except for the power cable. For me, that would be a deal breaker, as having cables coming out of two sides would make everything exponentially more clumsy and impractical.

A suggestion: would it be possible to fit a power socket next to the GPU I/O bracket, in the space above where the GPU mounting screws are (i.e. towards the corner of the case)? It would obviously need to be relatively easily removable, but that looks like the only available space. If that would work, you could turn the PSU around the other way, and not add any more volume to the case. And, of course, the power inlet would need to be quite short to not conflict with any tall GPUs.

So I've given it some more thought, and have added the space for a panel mount power cable, and have routed a cable from the PSU, into the case and would mount it in that rear corner. This gives the added benefit ofthe hot air from the psu still being pushed out the side and not into the case, the cable ismanaged a bit better, people have the choice of having:
- the full 7 x 40mm fans, with the psu cable running along the side of the outside of the case, or
- 6 x 40mm fans, with the psu cable running through the case to the rear, or
- A tall GPU with the psu cable running along the side/outside of the case.

Hopefully this is a good compromise

 

[Day VReamer]

So I have now had it re-quoted for where it is at the moment, and in 1.5mm brushed stainless steel (brushed 1 side so internally it won't be brushed), the costs are as follows:

The top panel = £19 (that includes 1 bend on the piece, and 8 countersunk M3 holes)
Main body/component = £52.95 (includes all bends, 29 countersunk holes, and 12 tapped m3 holes)
Including VAT, and delivery in a batch of 10 to me, is a total of around £86 per case.

Then a riser would be needed = approx £25
Power cable from the PSU to rear of the case is approx £5
£0.50 worth of countersunk rivets
16mm power button = TBC
4 x pemsert motherboard standoffs to be installed (will be done when the case is cut/folded, but haven't obtained a quote for this yet)

So all in all if I were to order 10 of these it would be around £120 per case. Is this too expensive? Would people be interested?

I still need to design the feet so that would add some additional cost.

I managed to reduce the cost from my first quote by changing supplier and by reducing the fan fixings from 4 to 2 (so only 2 screws will fix on each 40mm fan, and this reduced the countersinking of the amount of holes for fans by half).

Final specs:
Dimensions (without feet) 340mm x 268mm x 59mm.
Mini Itx Motherboard
Approximately 37.5mm CPU cooler clearance
GPU up to 2.5 slots thick (50.8mm), upto max of 265mm (but could be tricky to get in, so more likely 255mm long), and up to 146mm tall (including power connector).
PSU - Flex ATX PSU
Storage - M.2 on motherboard
Fans - up to 7 x 40mm fans (10mm thick recommended). Space on the GPU side for fans will depend on the height of the GPU.

 

[Day VReamer]

Some more renders, with an option for the feet fitted. These can be rotated to turn inwards, or outwards (as shown). You can then remove either of the feet and fit it to the top of the case to act as a stand with the case upright. Note that all screw holes and rivet holes will be countersunk (not shown in the renders). I have added the small cutouts on the PSU side of the case to allow for the cable to be cable tied along the side of the case if needed - would work well with a short extension being cable tied (thats if using a tall gpu, or all 4 case fans on the gpu side). I might remove the cable tie cutouts though, not quite certain about the look of them. The feet lift it by just over 1cm - but I am considering putting a strip of black rubber channel over the end of each, so that will lift it further by another couple of mm. In the upright configuration the case is lifted by 21mm, I don't know if this will be enough for the PSU cable to be the side facing down as I haven't got the extension/panel cable yet.

 

[Day VReamer]

And some upright

 

[Day VReamer]

Some renders with the feet turned inwards. The feet can also be put on the top of the case to have the motherboard facing down, and gpu facing up.

 

[NinoPecorino]

Some renders with the feet turned inwards. The feet can also be put on the top of the case to have the motherboard facing down, and gpu facing up.

i really like that it's the same feet for all orientations. are you planning on changing the design so that they are always resting on the rubber pads?

 

[Day VReamer]

i really like that it's the same feet for all orientations. are you planning on changing the design so that they are always resting on the rubber pads?

Thanks, I had been trying to figure a way to do it for a while with making minimal new holes/using the ones there already and I'm quite pleased with it. In relation to the rubber trim, I hadn't added that on the design when I did the render of the case lying down, but yes with the trim in place the case/feet will always (in whatever orientation) rest on the rubber trim so won't damage any desk surface etc
I'll swap the renders of the case lying down asap to show that the edges of the feet are protected by the rubber trim

 

[Day VReamer]

I have now swapped the renders in the above posts so that the ones with the case lying flat, now have the rubber on the feet.

 

[george5]

what about internal PSU with this item https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.1-c.w4004-21269506603.3.57a723c3QHNqa9&id=568815392676 ?