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

[AlexTzone]

Phew finally semi-done and measured! Paracord is certainly a lot easier to adapt to the case compared to stiff PET. I’m going to remake the EPS & GPU cables in the same fashion as the 24-pin, mainly because I think the dimensions for those cables can be slightly optimized and I want to verify it.


Almost had a heart attack when the GPU fan didn’t spin on startup Turns out I accidentally disconnected the riser without noticing haha...phew!

 

[For_Science]

Phew finally semi-done and measured! Paracord is certainly a lot easier to adapt to the case compared to stiff PET. I’m going to remake the EPS & GPU cables in the same fashion as the 24-pin, mainly because I think the dimensions for those cables can be slightly optimized and I want to verify it.


Almost had a heart attack when the GPU fan didn’t spin on startup Turns out I accidentally disconnected the riser without noticing haha...phew!

Looking good, (not sure if there is a way to get the EPS between the core and the back of the motherboard, I did it like that for my Ncase M1.

Do you think the glass issues just a particularly poorly QCed batch of tempered glass? Or is there a possibility that the glass factory forgot to temper a batch or something of the nature?

 

[keepcoding]

Looking good, (not sure if there is a way to get the EPS between the core and the back of the motherboard, I did it like that for my Ncase M1.

Do you think the glass issues just a particularly poorly QCed batch of tempered glass? Or is there a possibility that the glass factory forget to temper a batch or something of the nature?

I checked my panels with a polarized lens but couldn't see the typical shady lines/spots that show up in tempered glass. Would also be interested in a statement from Alex.
The easiest way to test this is to intentionally damage the glass (maybe someone who has an already damaged panel is willing to do this?).

 

[For_Science]

I checked my panels with a polarized lens but couldn't see the typical shady lines/spots that show up in tempered glass. Would also be interested in a statement from Alex.
The easiest way to test this is to intentionally damage the glass (maybe someone who has an already damaged panel is willing to do this?).

I tried it too, but I didn't have a handy positive control so was hesitant to show my photos , if you can get a side-by-side with TG that shows the lines/spots I think this will be compelling evidence.

 

[protoMario]

Phew finally semi-done and measured! Paracord is certainly a lot easier to adapt to the case compared to stiff PET. I’m going to remake the EPS & GPU cables in the same fashion as the 24-pin, mainly because I think the dimensions for those cables can be slightly optimized and I want to verify it.


Almost had a heart attack when the GPU fan didn’t spin on startup Turns out I accidentally disconnected the riser without noticing haha...phew!

Hey Thorzone,

Today my package should of been delivered but instead I was greeted with a "Damaged to package, returning to sender". I am not sure what to do. I have sent you an email but have not heard back. Please let me know the next course of action when you are able.

 

[AlexTzone]

Looking good, (not sure if there is a way to get the EPS between the core and the back of the motherboard, I did it like that for my Ncase M1.

Do you think the glass issues just a particularly poorly QCed batch of tempered glass? Or is there a possibility that the glass factory forgot to temper a batch or something of the nature?

I think routing the cable that way will make it very very long and not very clean (it will be blocked in a couple or weird ways by the core) :/

As for TG vs Glass, your guess is as good as mine atm. Glass factory representative is on Holiday the coming week so it’s going to take a while to get a response. We’ve specified Hardened Mineral Glass as the material to be used in production, as per their guidance based on our discussion. Maybe Hardened and Tempered are not the same, but again, it’s best to wait until I can speak with them directly.

Hey Thorzone,

Today my package should of been delivered but instead I was greeted with a "Damaged to package, returning to sender". I am not sure what to do. I have sent you an email but have not heard back. Please let me know the next course of action when you are able.

Hmm, this is the first time I’ve heard of such a situation. I’ve checked our inbox and I can see your email so Denize will investigate in the next few days.

 

[Nobodyseven]

Hi!

Any updates about remaining countries? 2 weeks without any concrete update. On FB show good progress with B2 & B3 with possible Aug shipping. Could be possible to B2&3 US backers get earlier the case than original (2019 dec) backers of RoW and missing EU countries?

Thnaky for the answer in advance!

 

[AlexTzone]

Hi!

Any updates about remaining countries? 2 weeks without any concrete update. On FB show good progress with B2 & B3 with possible Aug shipping. Could be possible to B2&3 US backers get earlier the case than original (2019 dec) backers of RoW and missing EU countries?

Thnaky for the answer in advance!

Our UPS rep is on holiday and will be back the first week of August, that’s why progress on the final 4% has been slower. But he’ll get straight to the last countries as soon as he’s back!

 

[nik3563]

Hay, has somebody tried the Noctua L9x65 without the fan in the mjolnir case? In theory it should just fit in.

I am thinking of mounting two 40mm fans on the side instead of the bigger fan on top. Any thoughts on that?

 

[wolfatpno]

Phew finally semi-done and measured! Paracord is certainly a lot easier to adapt to the case compared to stiff PET. I’m going to remake the EPS & GPU cables in the same fashion as the 24-pin, mainly because I think the dimensions for those cables can be slightly optimized and I want to verify it.


Almost had a heart attack when the GPU fan didn’t spin on startup Turns out I accidentally disconnected the riser without noticing haha...phew!

Can Mölnir buyers buy custom cables for flip psu?

 

[protoMario]

I think routing the cable that way will make it very very long and not very clean (it will be blocked in a couple or weird ways by the core) :/

As for TG vs Glass, your guess is as good as mine atm. Glass factory representative is on Holiday the coming week so it’s going to take a while to get a response. We’ve specified Hardened Mineral Glass as the material to be used in production, as per their guidance based on our discussion. Maybe Hardened and Tempered are not the same, but again, it’s best to wait until I can speak with them directly.



Hmm, this is the first time I’ve heard of such a situation. I’ve checked our inbox and I can see your email so Denize will investigate in the next few days.

I am pretty bummed out after waking up to the email. I eventually called UPS and they said there was shattered glass.

 

[Sharknose]

I just received my steel Mjolnir as well, I was part of the original kickstarter so I have the exact same order as you. I also have the same issues as you in regards to the glass side panels. 2 of the 3 glass side panels have the exact same markings and edges being very jagged. Could this be an issue primarily for recent orders that were sent out? I have not seen this problem on the other earlier shipments from other people.

I ordered both a Dark and a Steel case. The Shield of Founders that came with my Dark case appears to be fine - no visible chips, but I haven't inspected the panel closely for jagged edges. The glass panel on the Steel case however shows the exact same damage as @For_Science and you mentioned: chipped surface, very jagged/sharp edges and lots of little shards in the bag. Such obvious defects should have been caught by even the most cursory QC. I too doubt this is actually tempered glass.

 

[For_Science]

I ordered both a Dark and a Steel case. The Shield of Founders that came with my Dark case appears to be fine - no visible chips, but I haven't inspected the panel closely for jagged edges. The glass panel on the Steel case however shows the exact same damage as @For_Science and you mentioned: chipped surface, very jagged/sharp edges and lots of little shards in the bag. Such obvious defects should have been caught by even the most cursory QC. I too doubt this is actually tempered glass.

As a side point, i didnt think i saw any glass chips in the bag the panels came with, maybe ill have to double check.

 

[Zedd]

I've also received my Steel case and I checked the founders shield panel and it also has some small imperfections around 2 of the borders. Very minor though.

I'm having some trouble trying to fix the rattle of the front panel. I followed the instructions in the youtube video but I can't remove the rattle. The slots seem to be bigger than the inserts, so they can always move around. I have seen others complain about the rattle, have any of you been able to fix it?

 

[Zwelgje]

Love the steel case. Only also this one suffering of chipped glas panels. I saw that Alex they go Tru the mails from more people with same problem. Hope it get sorted correctly. Have to wait it out I guess.

 

[Ovni]

Nice finish of the vacation, just in time to pick the Mjolnir up from the local Ups store before it was sent back to China ....

Everything o.k. here. (#771)
Had to do the non rattle trick for the front panel.
Glued 2 magnets.
Some rattle of the glass panels.
But more important; no scratches, no colour differences.


Question;
Isn't it better to start 1 or more new threads (vendor general , air builds, liquid builds e.g.)?

 

[Sldr]

Finished the first version of my 'new' mobile SFF gaming rig in the Mjolnir R.

All photo's here:



Part list here: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/TTwcwz (might be incomplete, out of the top of my head)

Mjolnir R with: i9-10900F, Z490, Dominator RGB, Corsair H60, RTX2080Ti
Peripherals: Asus XG17 (AHP is the one with the stand), G733 + G Pro Superlight and an Asus Falchion

I recently got the Louqe RAW S1 and found out pretty early that any build/combination with my RTX 3090 Founders Edition would probably not work at all. So the RTX3090 moved to a H520 stationary case at home, and I moved my Louqe ghost build into the Mjolnir.

I have to see how it fits in my Wallye Tactile Duffle bag, but I have the impression that it looks smaller because it's less wide than the Ghost.
It might even fit in a backpack, I'll try that out later.

Actually I moved to an Asus ROG Strix Z590-E ATX motherboard, and I still have my Asus ROG Strix Z590-I SFF motherboard from the Raw build. So currently running the previous SFF build in the Mjolnir with the Asus Turbo RTX2080Ti - which luckily still has the VirtualLink USB-C connector which is a killer feature for any "mobile" build. As you can see in the pictures there's really only 1 cable.

Anyway, overall, I'd say I'm pretty happy with the case, but the Ghost was far superiour. Not to any surprise because I ran that one with 2 NF-A14x15 and 2 NF-A14x25 as exhaust. I'll revisit the Z590-I build when a 11th gen (or even 12th gen?) 10850K emerges. Until then this baby can fill the XG17's 240Hz fairly good and at an acceptible noise level. The Corsair H60 is a tight fit, I'm not really happy with a sharp bend one of the tubes makes. I'll see if I can find a way to route it more pleasantly. If that means getting rid of the Dominator RGB DIMMs, so be it. It's not the most aesthetic CPU cooler anyway, I'll maybe try a ROG Ryuo, I saw they came in 120mm too.

As for the Mjolnir itself, it has a few things going for it, that's for sure!
The quality of the finish and the build quality is top notch. It's pretty impressive that the shell is made out of different parts, and they're pressed together (or did the production process change? Haven't been following the development)
The lock mechanism is pretty neat, and works really well. Too bad the shell is easily damaged, I made a mistake to unlock the lock with a flat head screwdriver, and now there's some damage. And it's surprising to see such a good lock mechanism and then a shitty idea for the plastic endpieces of the core. They've all come off of mine. Would be easily fixed by making an extrusion a bit furter down the length of the core, and then press the plastic parts between them, easily designed, not a lot more difficult to produce, since it has the same thinkness everywhere, it should be easier to produce.

Powerbutton is also extremily cool, one of the finest I've ever operated. I'm even going to make a Y-splitter, so I can use them both to power the system instead of having one power and the other reset.

I've used the PSLate sustom unsleeved PSU cables from my Ghost build, and they're good enough. With some new measurements, I'm sure Phil will be able to release a set that is an even better fit than now. Especially the GPU cables are a tad too long. Overall I'd even say that there's enough room in the Mjolnir to route cables. The case feels specious, because of there's a sort of open space without any cabling or fan in the lower center part. And with the glass panels this area is clearly visible, and that gives the case an open breathing impression.

Oh, don't get me wrong, the case really needs to breathe, although I must say that the Corsair H60 is doing a pretty impressive job at keeping the i9-10900F with all little registers it has wide open cool to an acceptible 70°C while playing Doom Eternal and idling at around 40°C (but that's with an ambient temperature of 28°C, there's some sort of summere here). Playing that game gets the Blower style cooler RTX 2080 Ti to a hot 83°C, which is what the GPU chip itself decides it wants to run on. And it can do that for hours on end, a couple of hours from the moment I got the card a few years ago, so I'd say that's how this card works. It's fast, it's hot, and there's no SFF case this small that's going to do anything about that.

And then lastly: the sidepanels, how cool would it be if we would have some sort of locking mechanism with some sort of arm that you can operate when you release the top panel, and then like release a hinge or whatever which would then pop out the sidepanels. As for the bottom sidepanel, a locking mechanism is a must there, cables pressing against the panel keeps popping it out. I don't even have it installed anymore, what's the point. All fans are intake (RAD H60, top casefan, and the 14mm casefan in the Booster Cell. The connector for the booster cell's fan could use some love. With trying to fit a thick Noctua connector on the booster cell while sliding the shell over the core I think I damaged it, and now the fan doesn't spin anymore. I'm now running an extention cable and running the front fan as casefan, and I have the top fan connected to the AIO RAD's fan. Might not be the best solution, I'll see if I can use a Y-splitter to connect both front and top casefan, and then let the AIO RAD's fan do it's own thing.

Anyway, pretty decent case, would recommend!

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, no pictures of the insided without the shell yet, cable management could be much much much improved, I'm not there yet. It's actually a pleasure to work with the case, and I think that's important. Before I moved the RTX 3090 Founders Edition into a H510, I tried a Coolermaster NR200. For some reason I didn't like it, maybe because it's just a big company's take on a smaller-ish case. You get the feeling that there was some thought behind the Mjolnir, and that's a thing I can appreciate.

 

[rudy44]

To the community and Alex (Message will be sent via email too).

I just got my case through UPS today, (Kickstarter, Germany, Steel + 2 panel sets). Overall the case packaging looks like it is improved and I did not have any fallen magnets or missing corners as far as I could see. The case exterior finish is great and I did not observe any immediately obvious blemishes worth reporting on. There were a few scratches on the inside of the shell and some panels, but at a tolerable level for my standards.

However, what was noticeable was that the glass was looking not in great shape. I immediately noticed that the Shield of Founders (Fig 1) and one of the glass panels had a large chip in the corner (Fig 2). Close inspection of the chip on the Shield of Founders show that there are also numerous smaller chips in the surrounding area (Fig 3). It was also noticeable that the edge of the glass must be incredibly jagged as you can see many sparkling artifacts on the edge of every panel (Fig 4).

Now apart from being rather disappointed about the chipped glass on two panels, this raised an overall question in my head - I thought tempered glass doesn't chip. I always was under the impression that if you damaged TG like how it is in these photos, they will shatter completely, and that is the point of TG. So I am in an uneasy situation with the following possibilities:

1 - The glass panel is actually not tempered glass and that's why it got chipped.
2 - The glass is tempered glass, and now that it is chipped, it is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode spontaneously
3 - I don't understand materials as well as I think I do.

Fig 1: Overview of the Shield of Founders and the noticeable chip in the glass

Fig 2: Overview of the glass panel and the noticeable chip in the glass

Fig 3: Near-Macro shot of the chip on the Shield of Founders

Fig 4: Very jagged glass edge visible from angles

Does the shade of silver of your case match with the O2 panel?

I didn't think it was an issue at first but it's starting to bother me.

 

[keepcoding]

Does the shade of silver of your case match with the O2 panel?

I didn't think it was an issue at first but it's starting to bother me.

Don't have a Steel case but the O2 panels of my Dark case also show a slight color mismatch. At first I hardly noticed it and now it is also bothering me a bit.
To me it looks like the O2 panels were not anodized together with the shell and other panels.

 

[For_Science]

Does the shade of silver of your case match with the O2 panel?

I didn't think it was an issue at first but it's starting to bother me.

For my standards, yes, I think they match. The bottom and top sides only have a small section of flat area and curve quite quickly, so the curved area look like a different shade and might make it look overall different. But to my eyes, the flat areas match the O2 panel.