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NCASE M1 V6 info
- Thread starter Necere
- Start date
So per this article it sounded as if there were two new designs in the works - one from you and the other from Necere. Are you able to share which of the two is on the way, please?
W360 talked about this a little in the SFF Gurus Discord, of course plans can still change, but there he said:
"the new product will come in two sizes, one horizontal and one vertical, the vertical kit will be the new MachOne
@Necere worked out the details for horizontal case, I follow his design cue for the vertical MachOne".
I'm an Ncase M1 user. I accidentally discovered it was discontinued last year when I recently wanted to buy another 2 for people I know.
From what I've gathered, they gave no heads up and no real reason why they've chosen to discontinue the (undoubtedly very popular) M1.
Then there's their official statement, from the link in their October reply above "The decision not to reorder was a difficult choice."
That announcement uses language and structure (beat around the bush, regurgitate a bunch of excuses/rephrases that don't give a real explanation and pretending like they give a shit about you when they don't) that stinks of shit commonly used in corporate environments like this:
"Due to various factors, we have decided not to continue your employment at this time. This means your role at the company is effectively terminated, and we do not have any other roles for available to transition to. It's been a good eight years having you as part of the (company name) family, but evolving job requirements and shifts in the market have made you a less compelling fit in recent times. We apologize to for the sudden* notice. The decision not to continue employing you was a difficult choice."
*Sudden = Planned wind-down months ahead of announcement to you.
I know they've said they're working on new products, but whatever they may be, I will no longer be purchase anything from Ncase in the future because of how much their M1 discontinuation reeks of insincere bullshit, and would highly encourage others to consider boycotting this group as well.
Buhu, cry me a river
On to better things:
- July to Sep available depending on 40XX GPU
- 12.5 - 14L depending on 40XX GPU (should look smaller next to M1 V6.1 classic)
- Flipping to allow GPU on top or bottom supported on all models
- Horizontal and vertical orientation via Vertical Stand supported on select models
- NO Riser or *With Riser build supported on all models.
- Interchangeable Front Panel supported
- Better air and water compatibility than M1
- USD 150 - 250
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Well…welcome to the forum. You seem to have a misconception about how big NCASE was. It wasn’t a giant company. It was two people who did this as a passion project.
Necere and W360 are some of the most active members in the community. Those two were NCASE so you can contact them directly and ask questions.
The loss of the M1 did take us all by surprise, but that is always the risk in small batch cases. Other examples of popular designs abruptly ceasing production include the CCD MI-6 COOJ Z13.
The M1 was struggling with modern hardware, and had been limited for quite some time now. It was designed when blower GPUs were the standard, and not particularly good at removing GPU heat. Quad core 95 watt CPUs were still the high-end standard when the M1 came out. Now we’re looking at 16 and 24 core CPUs that hit 300 watts. A 240m rad suffers to try to cool those basically limiting users to AMD CPUs. GPU wise there were very few high end options that even fit.
There are similar cases to the M1. Check out some of the other projects on the forum.
FormD was founded by one of the Ncase M1 guys. So FormD x Ncase collab is different from "Ncase" that made the M1 how... ???Buhu, cry me a river
On to better things:
- July to Sep available depending on 40XX GPU
- 12.5 - 14L depending on 40XX GPU (should look smaller next to M1 V6.1 classic)
- Flipping to allow GPU on top or bottom supported on all models
- Horizontal and vertical orientation via Vertical Stand supported on select models
- NO Riser or *With Riser build supported on all models.
- Interchangeable Front Panel supported
- Better air and water compatibility than M1
- USD 150 - 250
Hey man, I've been following the Ncase M1 project since inception in 2012. Very patiently waited for the launch of that case, and waited some more before being able to afford dropping $200+ on a PC case.
I appreciate you shedding light on why the case was dropped - that's something I've not read anywhere, which is where my qualms stem from. I pity the folks who wanted the case or even owners who wanted parts, since they got basically zero notice before production was ceased forever.
The fact these are indie project/small batch/boutique cases is all the more why makers should treat their customer/fanbase with respect - that includes being transparent, not pretending it's all good to not give a shit about their customers and drop a sudden EOL, substantiated by no real reason at all, but just excuses written in fluffy flowery language like a faceless corporation.
Please don't impute intent without knowing the full picture. There were circumstances leading up to the cessation of production that I could not disclose at the time. I wrote the original notice (which W360 later edited to sound more positive with an eye to his planned replacement) and I felt an obligation to explain why we were ending production, but not being able to discuss one of the biggest contributing factors is why it may have come across as insincere. The reasons I gave were not false - these were things we had discussed in the past. The launch of the 3000 series nvidia GPUs and increasing share of AIB cards that were no longer compatible due to ever growing proportions put the M1's future into question. It was only a matter of time before incompatibilities with modern hardware would render it obsolete. Sales had already fallen off a lot in 2021. Some of that was no doubt due to increased competition from cases like the NR200, but it was clear the writing was on the wall, and we would need to come up with an M1 successor sooner or later.
Having said that, those weren't the immediate factors leading up to the decision to end production when we did. So here's the rest of the story - the part I couldn't talk about.
A couple of years ago, Wahaha360 (who has run the business side of NCASE since its inception), acting on his own behalf, entered into an arrangement to design a new case in cooperation with a fledgeling daughter company of Lian Li (our manufacturer for the M1). This company was founded and run by a family member of the Lian Li founder. I was not involved, but my understanding is that W360 was instrumental in the development of the Meshlicious for Ssupd. The layout, specs, features, and name originated with him, while the engineering, manufacturing, and distribution were handled by Ssupd/Lian Li. My understanding is that for his role they made an agreement wherein w360 would be paid a portion of the profits generated from the Meshlicious. However, once sales begun, my understanding is Ssupd only offered him a fraction of the compensation they had previously agreed on. Unfortunately, they were not able to come to a new agreement, and as a consequence w360 made the decision to file a lawsuit against Ssupd for breach of contract and IP theft.
Last year, as we were coming up on the time when we'd need to place a new production order to replenish M1 stock, a decision needed to be made. W360 was concerned that because of Ssupd's close ties with Lian Li, once he filed the lawsuit it would endanger our manufacturing arrangement. So when the time came to reorder, he felt it was too risky to pay for new production. Hence the decision was made to discontinue the M1, and focus instead on developing new products with a new manufacturer. W360 had already been making the T1 in China for his other brand, FormD, so we wouldn't be starting entirely from scratch for a new product.
After deciding to end M1 production, I felt an obligation to make a statement, but as he had not yet filed the lawsuit W360 asked me not to make any mention of the situation with Ssupd. So I was left with the choice of either vague allusions to "changing hardware requirements and other factors," or saying nothing at all. I chose the former to ward off further speculation and questions. The lawsuit has been filed and publicly disclosed, so I'm now able to discuss what I know of it.
I should mention that I had no real say in the decision to discontinue the M1. If it were up to me we would've kept production going for as long as it was economically viable, or at least until we had a replacement ready to go. I've been personally affected as well, as a major portion of my income came from M1 sales. Believe me, I was as disappointed as anyone. I'm sorry things went as they did, and that I was not able to be as forthright as I would've liked to. I have always strived to adhere to a high standard of honest and ethical behavior so it causes me some distress to be accused of insincerity. I hope this makes it clear it was never my intent to deceive anyone.
Wow, shit, that sucks. My apologies for jumping the gun there with my earlier post. Appreciate the in-depth description on what happened. I've been in legal situations before as well, and couldn't disclose what was happening with people I knew, even though I felt they deserved an explanation. I know that what it's like going through shit like that and now I feel like an asshole =(
What I wrote earlier was based off how the notice was written in a way that was very stone-faced corporate-like. TBH, a much more blunt and brief "Due to personnel issues/a personal crisis, we're going to have to discontinue the case on short notice. We'll be back in the near term future with new products. So sorry and thanks for your support over the years" would have sat better. Maybe throw in "If you're looking for an ITX case right now, check out the FormD T1 as a current alternative" for good measure.
Well I guess I'll be sitting here embarassed and waiting for your next case design then
Hey no worries. I accept your apology and I appreciate your humility. It's good to get the story out there for people regardless.Wow, shit, that sucks. My apologies for jumping the gun there with my earlier post. Appreciate the in-depth description on what happened. I've been in legal situations before as well, and couldn't disclose what was happening with people I knew, even though I felt they deserved an explanation. I know that what it's like going through shit like that and now I feel like an asshole =(
What I wrote earlier was based off how the notice was written in a way that was very stone-faced corporate-like. TBH, a much more blunt and brief "Due to personnel issues/a personal crisis, we're going to have to discontinue the case on short notice. We'll be back in the near term future with new products. So sorry and thanks for your support over the years" would have sat better. Maybe throw in "If you're looking for an ITX case right now, check out the FormD T1 as a current alternative" for good measure.
Well I guess I'll be sitting here embarassed and waiting for your next case design then
The production for the M1 was threatened explicitly, so the risk is not hypothetical.
I told @Necere he could run M1 V6.2 if he wanted to take on the risk *by himself, but involving myself or my resources is likely to bring trouble.
In conclusion, I didn't make this decision on my own. It just didn't work out.
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[...]
On to better things:
- July to Sep available depending on 40XX GPU
- 12.5 - 14L depending on 40XX GPU (should look smaller next to M1 V6.1 classic)
- Flipping to allow GPU on top or bottom supported on all models
- Horizontal and vertical orientation via Vertical Stand supported on select models
- NO Riser or *With Riser build supported on all models.
- Interchangeable Front Panel supported
- Better air and water compatibility than M1
- USD 150 - 250
What ports are you hoping to have on these new cases?
I was very interested in DAN C4-SFX until I realised it only has 1x USB-C on front-panel, while NCASE M1 had 2x USB-A + combo audio jack as well!
The M1EVO kit will have the same IO excluding the audio jack atm.
The NCase was too long in the tooth as is. We're talking about a case that just could not handle a lot of current and most likely a majority of any future GPU releases. It's not their fault the cards have gone from fairly standard sizes to giant boats.
In my opinion, having worked at 2 case companies myself, it was the smartest thing they could do to avoid all of those people who are looking for solutions NOW or in the near future that could house these massive ass cards not buying in. I'm obviously not speaking for the NCase team, but outside of other circumstances,, I think it was a good point in time to stop. No company is ever under any obligation to keep making a specific product.
I've always appreciated the design and aesthetic, and am very much looking forward to more of the new design!
In my opinion, having worked at 2 case companies myself, it was the smartest thing they could do to avoid all of those people who are looking for solutions NOW or in the near future that could house these massive ass cards not buying in. I'm obviously not speaking for the NCase team, but outside of other circumstances,, I think it was a good point in time to stop. No company is ever under any obligation to keep making a specific product.
I've always appreciated the design and aesthetic, and am very much looking forward to more of the new design!
Just found about this now, I am utterly shocked. Really sorry for what happened to you, especially knowing you two have always been totally honest and fair about everything and practically started this SFF wave.
Maybe we should seek some EU grants, buy terrain and some machines and build stuff here
Maybe we should seek some EU grants, buy terrain and some machines and build stuff here
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I made a new post on the replacement here, but for those that too lazy to click, here is the summary:
The final specs will depend on the new Nvidia 40XX GPU and their AIB partner GPUs. Because Nvidia Founders Edition GPUs tend to be smaller than the AIB partner GPUs, we plan to finalize the specs when the GPU spec is confirmed.
Highlights:
1. Smaller
2. Better Compatibility
3. Better Build Quality
4. Better Price
5. Working on Better Availability
Following the FormD T1 project, M1 is modernizing to CNC, and we are calling it the M1EVO.
We finished teaser renderings. We will provide more information later.
2022-08-28: M1EVO is almost here.
In the image below, from left to right, T1 V2, M1EVO, M1 Classic V6.1.The final specs will depend on the new Nvidia 40XX GPU and their AIB partner GPUs. Because Nvidia Founders Edition GPUs tend to be smaller than the AIB partner GPUs, we plan to finalize the specs when the GPU spec is confirmed.
Highlights:
1. Smaller
2. Better Compatibility
3. Better Build Quality
4. Better Price
5. Working on Better Availability
2022-07-23: Updating or, more appropriately speaking, modernizing the M1 Classic.
Many of you guys are familiar with CNC machining on high-end mechKB. However, traditional cases made from thin metal sheets feel outdated and cheap compared to CNC machining.Following the FormD T1 project, M1 is modernizing to CNC, and we are calling it the M1EVO.
We finished teaser renderings. We will provide more information later.
