Completed MJOLNIR: The minimalistic – but not boring – 9.7L Case

[AlexTzone]

Heey guys, major prototype update!

Picked up quite a few parts yesterday, very happy with how they turned out! I'll meet up with local manufacturers next week and anodize 2 of the 3 prototypes in DARK color (a.k.a space gray, a.k.a dark gray). The remaining parts are on their way now and should be here some time next week, then it's assembly time baby Also, I'll make sure to film the new RGB setup in action before Saturday. But for now, grab some popcorn and marvel at what you & us have developed together:

Bana-for-scale, but not-for-sale (I know my jokes are lame).

Just for reference, the split-up prototype enclosure will be snapped together with dowels (below pic). The production model will of course still be precision cast unibody, but casting 3 prototypes is waaay to expensive.

Let me know what you think guys

Best,
Alex

 

[Allhopeforhumanity]

Bana-for-scale, but not-for-sale (I know my jokes are lame).

And here I was cash in hand, but the lack of potassium is a clear deal breaker.

 

[AlexTzone]

And here I was cash in hand, but the lack of potassium is a clear deal breaker.

I was about to reply to you with a meme, but then I remembered Article 13...stupid EU politicians

 

[Supercluster]

The parts look precisely cut and nicely blasted.
It seems like sand blasting, instead of the glass beads, which makes the surfaces a bit more rough and less silky. I could be wrong, but it is no matter at this phase.

But what I'm really waiting for, and am here for, is to witness the magic of precision casting up close.
Looking forward to the production samples!

 

[Windfall]

I just sorta lurk around this thread, but WOW. That's awesome.

Have you considered metal 3D printing (SLS probably, may be wrong) for a full unibody prototype?
You could even do it in plastic just to get a feel for it.

 

[Van0]

I was about to reply to you with a meme, but then I remembered Article 13...stupid EU politicians

Memes are exempt in case you didn't know

 

[wolfatpno]

It is really amazing quality.


BTW : What is this space for?

 

[For_Science]

It is really amazing quality.


BTW : What is this space for?

Should be clearance so that the board can actually make it to the I/O shield. That whole region has a thinner casing so that the I/O is not too recessed with respect to the back of the chassis.

@AlexTzone Glad to see everything is going smoothly, I've just moved to another country and still getting used to things around here so less active, but still keeping a close eye

Do you have any rough estimates of the case weight?

 

[dfrgu]

I found that the AIO or fans are mounted on the bottom holes of the inner frame, can we use those holes to mount a 2.5 drive (with bracket) ? There is a bracket available on https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JGMRKOQ/?tag=theminutiae-20

 

[AlexTzone]

The parts look precisely cut and nicely blasted.
It seems like sand blasting, instead of the glass beads, which makes the surfaces a bit more rough and less silky. I could be wrong, but it is no matter at this phase.

But what I'm really waiting for, and am here for, is to witness the magic of precision casting up close.
Looking forward to the production samples!

We suspect the back panel to be sand blasted, the other parts are bead blasted as expected. However, we'll retreat all parts at our local anodizer later this week so that everything is smooth and matching

I just sorta lurk around this thread, but WOW. That's awesome.

Have you considered metal 3D printing (SLS probably, may be wrong) for a full unibody prototype?
You could even do it in plastic just to get a feel for it.

Thanks a lot! Well we have actually produced a unibody prototype before, it was CNCd and welded to mimic a cast unit. However, the anodized surface wasn't perfect due to welding and therefore we decided to split it up and use dowels this time around. Sturdiness is very similar between the old unibody prototype and the new joined prototype, but the joined one looks a heck of a lot better

It is really amazing quality.


BTW : What is this space for?

Thanks a lot friend! That is clearance for the MOBO as per @For_Science description

Should be clearance so that the board can actually make it to the I/O shield. That whole region has a thinner casing so that the I/O is not too recessed with respect to the back of the chassis.

@AlexTzone Glad to see everything is going smoothly, I've just moved to another country and still getting used to things around here so less active, but still keeping a close eye

Do you have any rough estimates of the case weight?

Thank you friend, all the support given here is the reason things go so smoothly Where do you live now?

It's approx. 3.0kg for the Glass panel version and 3.9kg for the alu panel version

I found that the AIO or fans are mounted on the bottom holes of the inner frame, can we use those holes to mount a 2.5 drive (with bracket) ? There is a bracket available on https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JGMRKOQ/?tag=theminutiae-20

That should be possible As long as the bracket width is within 120mm.

 

[AlexTzone]

Heey guys, update!

The prototypes are more or less complete, just need to send them off to our local anodizer for some final touch-ups. This is also the reason I don't want to show you the prototypes in broad daylight yet, you deserve to see perfection...nothing less Buut I can show you some RGB action:

The lighting setup uses 5V and is controlled over bluetooth. The LED strips have a density of 144 LEDs/meter and are mounted with 3M tape. You can also choose between 200 lightning-effects in addition to solid colors. I'm very happy with the results as you never directly observe the LED strips, only your epic hardware basking in their light

On a whole other matter, I've had some problems squeezing in the Kraken M22 & 25mm fan (NF-A12x25 PWM from Noctua), which I think can be contributed to:

• Kraken M22s large-diameter tubes are hard to bend.
• Kraken M22 seems to be 154mm long as opposed to the 152mm stated on their website. Can anyone please measure their and report back to me?
• I'm terrible at cable management.

I did manage to comfortably install the Kraken M22 & 15mm fan (NF-A12x15 from Noctua) though. The Corsair H60 & 25mm fan should be much easier to work with, will order one next week.

Best,
Alex

 

[Shinken1]

Heey guys, update!

I did manage to comfortably install the Kraken M22 & 15mm fan (NF-A12x15 from Noctua) though. The Corsair H60 & 25mm fan should be much easier to work with, will order one next week.

Best,
Alex

Thanks for the update Alex, were you planing to post some thermal results for the prototypes in the near future?

 

[wolfatpno]

For_Science// thx for reply

AlexTzone//

oh wow.. this is gorgeous.....

 

[dlal1520]

Looks amazing guys, cant wait for more

 

[AlexTzone]

Thanks for the update Alex, were you planing to post some thermal results for the prototypes in the near future?

Will post them here as soon as they are finished

For_Science// thx for reply

AlexTzone//

oh wow.. this is gorgeous.....

Looks amazing guys, cant wait for more

Thanks a lot guys, really glad that you like the results!

 

[AlexTzone]

Does anybody know a good anodiser & bead blaster in the European region? I have found a couple locally but it never hurts to find a couple more.

 

[Sebbie]

So will the kraken M22 with the noctua fan be compatible? Really hope so, cause that is my dream for this case!

 

[keepcoding]

The case looks awesome, good work!
A question regarding the glass panels: will that version still come with a metal top panel? I think it would be a bad idea to have no ventilation at all on the top side...

 

[Flyingpepper]

Glad the LED strips have a super high LED density. Looks awesome.

 

[Van0]

The case looks awesome, good work!
A question regarding the glass panels: will that version still come with a metal top panel? I think it would be a bad idea to have no ventilation at all on the top side...

I recall reading on a previous update that the glass top is now gone. Only the ventilated aluminium top panel will be available.