• Save 15% on ALL SFF Network merch, until Dec 31st! Use code SFF2024 at checkout. Click here!

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

Which MJOLNIR I are you interested in?

  • Standard Version - 299 USD

    Votes: 486 74.4%
  • RGB Version (No controller) - 319 USD

    Votes: 63 9.6%
  • RGB Version (With controller) - 349 USD

    Votes: 104 15.9%

  • Total voters
    653

beerbuddha

Cable-Tie Ninja
Apr 27, 2021
222
213
Thank you for this information.
so all mjolnir owners will have this "4.0" riser now? the list of faulty things becomes a book. i will let my lawyer look into this.
no qc here. "made in sweden" is a joke. wouldnt buy again and i bet nobody will pay this sh*tload of money to me for a case with these faults.
technically they pulled an Apple. "made in Sweden, assembled in china"
 

runsamok

Average Stuffer
Jul 12, 2021
75
116
There's no way I'm even gonna bother trying the pseudo-4.0 riser, as I don't want to have to borrow someone else's GPU just to get my system booting again. I'll be purchasing a real 4.0 riser & chalking up this as a long & expensive learning experience.

Second time I've taken Thor Zone at their word regarding the riser in my case, the second time I've gotten less than I thought I'd paid for, second time I paid for a 4.0 riser, second time I didn't get one.

I have no idea how a business that only sells 1000 products a year manages such poor communication & support, but that's what you get for a boutique manufacturer who delays things until their customers are outside of chargeback windows & other forms of consumer protection.

I feel extra bad for the latest batch customers who presumed TZ had learned from their mistakes & missteps in the first rounds, only to get a case with all the same problems & with the same terrible support as ever. Turns out those redesigned magnets on the panels just means you've got twice as many to fall off. But hey, I think you likely have actual tempered glass in your cases & not the cheap, chipped chemglass I have in mine!
 

beerbuddha

Cable-Tie Ninja
Apr 27, 2021
222
213
Second time I've taken Thor Zone at their word regarding the riser in my case, the second time I've gotten less than I thought I'd paid for, second time I paid for a 4.0 riser, second time I didn't get one.
I don't think the "pseudo" thing is coming from the single riser shipment.
I just got mine but im not slapping it on till others who ordered their single one can confirm....I cannot find if it is a pseudo or a real one since I don't have the same code as what the other person shown....

this is the riser I have received.
 

the_trev

Caliper Novice
May 25, 2022
25
29
I don't think the "pseudo" thing is coming from the single riser shipment.
I just got mine but im not slapping it on till others who ordered their single one can confirm....I cannot find if it is a pseudo or a real one since I don't have the same code as what the other person shown....

this is the riser I have received.

That's identical to mine, it'll be pseudo-4.0.

@runsamok I too am just chalking it down to a learning experience. Knowing that people have been waiting for replacement parts for over a year (I think some people are waiting for risers? That's gonna be a kick in the teeth), I don't foresee a quick resolution to this. Sometimes I just have to know when to quit.

I glued the magnets back on, replaced the riser myself and snapped off the part of the fan header. The gaps between the glass and it's frame needed filling to stop it from rattling around. The GPU mounting system feels physically weak. The case itself is well made, anodising is great, aesthetically great.

Not entirely convinced I got what I paid for, but I am sure that I can't invest any more emotional energy into this. So I'm going to leave a bit wiser, unsubscribe from this thread and move on. Good luck all
 

runsamok

Average Stuffer
Jul 12, 2021
75
116
Yep, we've all got the same riser.

Looking at @riba2233's storefront our "4.0" riser is listed here: https://www.sfftime.com/product-page/riser-cable-for-p-atx-v3-gen3-4-compatible & clearly states that this model is only good enough to support 4.0 long enough to get into the UEFI & change it down to 3.0, a real 4.0 riser is almost twice as much money.

I'm certainly gonna take the word of @riba2233 over @AlexTzone in regards to the riser quality & leave this thing in the static bag where it belongs. I'm not sure if we were always fated to get the downgraded, not-as-promised risers or if this was initiated by the same over-promising & under-delivering that neccessitated re-opening the last batch multiple times in an attempt to hit the required MOQ.
 
Last edited:

beerbuddha

Cable-Tie Ninja
Apr 27, 2021
222
213
I'm certainly gonna take the word of @riba2233 over @AlexTzone in regards to the riser quality & leave this thing in the static bag where it belongs. I'm not sure if we were always fated to get the downgraded, not-as-promised risers or if this was necessitated by the same over-promising & under-delivering that neccessitated re-opening the last batch multiple times in an attempt to hit the required MOQ.
so from the picture I've shared it states v6.0, so I will experience the same issue issue then?

@the_trev confirm the same numbers and version yes?
 

runsamok

Average Stuffer
Jul 12, 2021
75
116
The "6.0" is just the revision number of the riser itself, which appears to be the latest revision of this:


There's a lovely disclaimer on the page:
Usage restrictions: PCIe 4.0 has high requirements on the equipment. As long as the extension cable is connected, the signal will be attenuated. This product does not guarantee the full speed of PCI-E 4.0. The equipment is aging. If the signal is poor or the environment is not good, please slow down to PCIe 3.0 or lower.
ADT PCIE 4.0 risers that actually, y'know, work at 4.0 (or at least lack that lovely disclaimer) look completely different from the ones we've gotten:


A couple cursory searches identifies a number of forum & reddit posts across the internet going back 12-18 months describing the exact issues people are experiencing & I am sure that those of us with issues will be blamed for those issues because of our hardware choices.

A cable that doesn't reliably work at 4.0 is actually a worse cable than one that runs at 3.0 consistently. I've paid & waited for a downgrade.

Hooray! And it's been so long I can't file a chargeback or otherwise avail myself of consumer protection laws in my country.

At least I can speak freely now that Alex can't PM me & threaten to cancel my order like he did before...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Shinken1

riba2233

Shrink Ray Wielder
SFF Time
Jan 2, 2019
1,774
2,359
www.sfftime.com
Yeah situation is not ideal, these risers were launched as gen4 but I guess they realized they don't perform so they downgraded them to gen3.
I bought a few to test them and concluded that they can at least boot at gen4 (which majority of gen3 can't so that is an advantage) but they fail bandwidth test.

It is possible that the supplier lied to Alex or didn't know better at the time, but still, I always test risers before selling them just to be sure.

If anyone wants a true gen 4 option, you can get ones from linkup, ADT R33JK model, or JHH gen4 which is the best imho.
 

beerbuddha

Cable-Tie Ninja
Apr 27, 2021
222
213
@runsamok I too am just chalking it down to a learning experience. Knowing that people have been waiting for replacement parts for over a year (I think some people are waiting for risers? That's gonna be a kick in the teeth), I don't foresee a quick resolution to this. Sometimes I just have to know when to quit.
im in the boat of lucky first batch that over waited...then used it...but as re-wire cables a whole lot...some of the stuff are getting un-glued now...my cabling got so bad that I cannot have the bottom piece sealed anymore.

I would like to see if anyone has a T1 already and have it next to the mjolnir.... to see space/size if I actually still put it on my desk as intended
 

beerbuddha

Cable-Tie Ninja
Apr 27, 2021
222
213
I bought a few to test them and concluded that they can at least boot at gen4 (which majority of gen3 can't so that is an advantage) but they fail bandwidth test.
basically you can POST and make a bios mod instead of trying to hunt for a compatible input...
it just sucks for the amount of time/money wasted. I would have been ok if I didn't pay the duty on top...

the dream of a PCI4.0 is gone I mean unless @riba2233 you got on your site as a standalone?
 

riba2233

Shrink Ray Wielder
SFF Time
Jan 2, 2019
1,774
2,359
www.sfftime.com
basically you can POST and make a bios mod instead of trying to hunt for a compatible input...
it just sucks for the amount of time/money wasted. I would have been ok if I didn't pay the duty on top...

the dream of a PCI4.0 is gone I mean unless @riba2233 you got on your site as a standalone?


You can get them directly from ali, it would probably be easier.



 

VictorNg

Trash Compacter
Oct 14, 2019
34
43
The question now is, what is a direct replacement riser cable i can buy that will support 4.0 and fit this case?

I went straight to this when I received my case... glad I did and never looked back...

 

NotBoringCase

Trash Compacter
May 20, 2021
40
53
What a bunch of scammers they are! I was having issues with my graphics card after installing the new riser (black screens, slowdowns, restarts...) and decided to change it back to the original that came from batch 1. Now I enter here and see that my cable is not foulty, simply IT IS NOT a "high quality PCI-E 4.0 cable" @AlexTzone promised, and that, in the manufacturer own page it warns that "This product does not guarantee the full speed of PCI-E 4.0. The equipment is aging. If the signal is poor or the environment is not good, please slow down to PCIe 3.0 or lower.". 3.0... or lower? What a joke this is? Waiting more than a year for a super expensive 3.0 or lower cable?
 
  • Angry
Reactions: Shinken1 and PoneG

AlexTzone

I design minimalistic – but not boring – PC stuff
Original poster
THOR ZONE
Silver Supporter
Sep 23, 2017
1,349
2,826
thor-zone.com
The other riser that @riba2233 mentioned was not available to us when we made the order, I didn’t know it existed as it was released later.

I've tested that riser on our own machines (for both work and gaming) and they are still running fine in Gen4 on our RTX 3080 & Strix motherboards. Moreover, I’ve seen that cable being labeled 4.0 and used in T1 and quite a lot. The supplier told me that as long as the equipment is of high quality (i.e. not PC gear from alibaba) the 4.0 signal will be achieved, which given our own tests, I believed. Also, comparing that cable to the older Gen3 cable…my PC wouldn’t even boot.

Still, seeing that some get this issue is frustrating, but as always equipment is always evolving. I’ve spoken with our riser supplier during the past days to investigate the issue and they showed me the new cable @riba2233 was talking about, it’s basically 2x the price of the previous model. Again I didn’t have this option when we started manufacturing, but with this cable the MJOLNIRs and riser upgrades would have been about $40 more expensive.

If you experience problems running PCIe 4.0 on the riser, you can switch it to 3.0 in BIOS with negligible performance loss. I’ve heard some think this is somehow worse than a Gen 3 riser, but that is categorically wrong. A Gen 3 wouldn’t even boot a 4.0 device.

Now I’m going to list all issues in the current batch, from most important to least:

1. Riser

2. Booster Cell fan header

- While this issue is easily fixed, just snap off the plastic guard, it is saddening because this supplier has manufactured our electronics without any issues for the past years. Other than the wrong header the electronics are beautiful. I don’t believe the supplier had bad intentions, the connectors are super similar and it’s not like one is cheaper than the other. Again, luckily it’s an easy fix.

3. Tear in O2 Panel mesh
- It seems that for some people, the sharp riser bag punctured the O2 mesh during shipping. We should have secured them better, some shipments seem to have very violent journeys.

4. Magnets falling off
- This is extremely irritating issue, because we doubled the number of magnets but didn’t improve our gluing skills. I should have insisted the factory show me how they glue them, because when I do it myself it’s permanent. In any case, once you glue them back with Loctite (I can’t believe this issue still persists since Kickstarter) they will never fall off again and your MJOLNIR will have a LOT tougher panels than any previous iteration. On a positive note it seems we fixed the gluing of the corner guards, not heard anyone say they have fallen off in the latest batch.

5. No manual for BORG
- We are working on the manual for BORG now. I wanted to get the BORGs shipped before Chinese new year, but that would mean once they arrive we would have not finished the manuals yet. I still stand by this decision, it’s better that you have the product first and the manual later then getting both after Chinese new year. Also, BORG is pretty easy to attach without a manual, so I though it would be better if people got them asap.

6. Wrong label on BORG package
- This is basically a non-issue, but it’s frustrating to me that it even happened (easily avoidable and a reason to never skip triple-checking your work). Once you take the product out of its package you’ll probably never see that package again.

Of course I wish none of these problems would have been in the new batch, and some of them could have been avoided (Booster Cell fan header, magnets, BORG label) if we investigated more, which we should have done. It makes me sad though that some people think I’m like some evil dude that goes around and lies to your face and tries to hide problems. There are a lot of things in the new batch that have been improved, like tighter panels gaps, better corner guards, double panel hold (if all magnets are there), etc. But everyone instead overemphasizes the issues (most of which are easily solved), I understand why this happens though…super expensive case and you expect everything to be perfect (which I would expect as well).

Last but not least, I have never stated that we make the cases in Sweden, never. We’ve looked into Swedish factories in the past but they don’t have the capabilities to produce precision extrusions at lower quantity (say below 10.000 units). Also, the anodizing was subpar and very limited vs our factory in China. I have said they are designed in Sweden and made in China. You can’t find me saying anything else, period.
 
Last edited:

AlexTzone

I design minimalistic – but not boring – PC stuff
Original poster
THOR ZONE
Silver Supporter
Sep 23, 2017
1,349
2,826
thor-zone.com
Asking for a friend.
For those who bought a BORG and received it
1. there are no rubber footing comparing to the case, what are y'all doing to compensate for this (would have prefer to have a rubber underneath to not scratch desk)
2. the "spacing" for cable, have y'all bought new "angled" cables to compensate or is everything fitting for y'all?

Asked the guy that made this epic BORG build:

Here are the cables underneath the BORG, both standard and angled plugs fit: