Concept Necere's concept/ideation thread

[Thehack]

I think it looks pretty solid.

Personally I would like to see the possibility of an open air front though. It would be pretty awesome to be display your fans. I'm not sure why a lot of people like to hide them when personally I find it can be very aesthetically pleasing. For example

 

[Choidebu]

I'm curious what people think of the front grille design of this concept, whether like, dislike, or indifferent.

Even if this particular case doesn't make it past the concept stage, I may carry some of the design elements over to other case designs.

Also just in case noone else notices - mygod those case feet! I think you found a nice balance of floating effect and sturdy look. I do still worry though if it'll really hold the case stability irl. If I scale that in my mind correctly it should, but who knows..

 

[Nasp]

Also just in case noone else notices - mygod those case feet! I think you found a nice balance of floating effect and sturdy look. I do still worry though if it'll really hold the case stability irl. If I scale that in my mind correctly it should, but who knows..

I'm actually using that case now. It's a solidly built case. Feet are very sturdy and support the weight of the water-cooling components I have.

Here's a crappy cell phone pic.

 

[Necere]

I think it looks pretty solid.

Personally I would like to see the possibility of an open air front though. It would be pretty awesome to be display your fans. I'm not sure why a lot of people like to hide them when personally I find it can be very aesthetically pleasing. For example

Well, it's a bit of a hazard to have completely exposed fans. You'd want some kind of grille to prevent accidental injuries.

Most people will probably also use a dust filter on the intake, which will cover up the fans anyway.

Also just in case noone else notices - mygod those case feet! I think you found a nice balance of floating effect and sturdy look. I do still worry though if it'll really hold the case stability irl. If I scale that in my mind correctly it should, but who knows..

I don't see why it wouldn't. Strips of thick rubber are what I had in mind.

@Nasp I think you got confused by which case Choidebu was referring to.

 

[Necere]

So the other case I had in mind using the same styling is a standard layout mATX case:

This comes in at right under 20L, and is a pretty straightforward design that I think nevertheless could be appealing to a lot of people. A couple of big fans in front for plenty of airflow, room for a couple of drives, decent for air or basic water cooling, nice big side window. Not really for SLI, but that's largely obsolete anyway. This is for the 95% of people who just build a system with a single GPU, but for various reasons need more than mini-ITX can offer.

 

[owliwar]

So the other case I had in mind using the same styling is a standard layout mATX case:

This comes in at right under 20L, and is a pretty straight forward design that I think nevertheless could be appealing to a lot of people. A couple of big fans in front for plenty of airflow, room for a couple of drives, decent for air or basic water cooling, nice big side window. Not really for SLI, but that's largely obsolete anyway. This is for the 95% of people who just build a system with a single GPU, but for various reasons need more than mini-ITX can offer.

sometimes simple is all we need.

I love how you used the same grill pattern on the back as mounting points. I really like the way you design stuff, nicely done

 

[Nasp]

@Nasp I think you got confused by which case Choidebu was referring to.

I did. I see it now.

 

[Nasp]

I can see the ITX version being more popular by the enthusiasts/SFF crew, but that's not to say that the mATX version wouldn't be appealing.

IMO, the two biggest selling points that differentiate it from mainstream cases are:

1. SFF
2. unique aesthetic with good balance of function and form

 

[Necere]

sometimes simple is all we need.

I love how you used the same grill pattern on the back as mounting points. I really like the way you design stuff, nicely done

Thanks man, I appreciate it.

I can see the ITX version being more popular by the enthusiasts/SFF crew, but that's not to say that the mATX version wouldn't be appealing.

IMO, the two biggest selling points that differentiate it from mainstream cases are:

1. SFF
2. unique aesthetic with good balance of function and form

Yeah, keeping it under 20L is a little bit of challenge, and is the main reason I went for an intake grille rather than a shrouded front intake (a'la the Fractal R-series), which needs more depth. Much as I might not like it, if I can slip it under the line and avoid every third comment complaining that it's "not really SFF," I might as well.

BTW, this design incorporates the bonus feature of ATX motherboard support (with the bottom three slots blocked by the PSU), which is something I've shown before in layout-siblings of this.

 

[Nasp]

Yeah, keeping it under 20L is a little bit of challenge, and is the main reason I went for an intake grille rather than a shrouded front intake (a'la the Fractal R-series), which needs more depth. Much as I might not like it, if I can slip it under the line and avoid every third comment complaining that it's "not really SFF," I might as well.

BTW, this design incorporates the bonus feature of ATX motherboard support (with the bottom three slots blocked by the PSU), which is something I've shown before in layout-siblings of this.

That's a great feature that doesn't take away anything for those that just want an mATX board.

If the PSU is gone then, I'm assuming that folks that want to use an ATX board need to use an HDPlex or pico type PSU, or am I missing something?

 

[Necere]

That's a great feature that doesn't take away anything for those that just want an mATX board.

If the PSU is gone then, I'm assuming that folks that want to use an ATX board need to use an HDPlex or pico type PSU, or am I missing something?

You don't actually lose the PSU. Rather, the PSU sits next to and blocks the lower portion of the board, including the last three PCIe slots:

The ATX spec mandates that nothing in this part of the board should exceed 15mm tall, so there's no issue with board compatibility. About the only thing you might lose is a USB 3.1 header if the board has one at the bottom edge.

 

[AcquaCow]

Some of the water cooling pumps (NZXT) need access to those usb headers at the bottom. I had some issues with my Rajintek Thetis and had to use some flat ribbon extension cables to be able to squeeze between the upper radiator and the board.

 

[Necere]

Some of the water cooling pumps (NZXT) need access to those usb headers at the bottom. I had some issues with my Rajintek Thetis and had to use some flat ribbon extension cables to be able to squeeze between the upper radiator and the board.

USB 2.0 cables would still fit, as the connector on those doesn't exceed 15mm tall, and the wires themselves add very little to that. It's only the much bigger USB 3.1 connector/cable that would be an issue. Fortunately, not many boards place a USB 3.1 header down in that corner.

Accessing any of those covered headers would of course have to be done with the PSU out, though.

 

[rcradiator]

So the other case I had in mind using the same styling is a standard layout mATX case:

This comes in at right under 20L, and is a pretty straightforward design that I think nevertheless could be appealing to a lot of people. A couple of big fans in front for plenty of airflow, room for a couple of drives, decent for air or basic water cooling, nice big side window. Not really for SLI, but that's largely obsolete anyway. This is for the 95% of people who just build a system with a single GPU, but for various reasons need more than mini-ITX can offer.

This seems perfect for the X399M Taichi. Support for standard components with AIO cooling and plenty of airflow across the case. I think Gamers Nexus would be salivating if this came out on the market after the dearth of new cases with good airflow in 2017. The only problem is no sfx psu supports 2x8 pin EPS 12v at the moment, which is problematic for Threadripper as it guzzles power like no one's business, although not nearly as much as its Intel counterpart.

 

[Nasp]

This seems perfect for the X399M Taichi. Support for standard components with AIO cooling and plenty of airflow across the case. I think Gamers Nexus would be salivating if this came out on the market after the dearth of new cases with good airflow in 2017. The only problem is no sfx psu supports 2x8 pin EPS 12v at the moment, which is problematic for Threadripper as it guzzles power like no one's business, although not nearly as much as its Intel counterpart.

SFX-L should be able to fit but you may have to swap those 3.5" drives for 2.5" ones .

 

[Necere]

This seems perfect for the X399M Taichi. Support for standard components with AIO cooling and plenty of airflow across the case. I think Gamers Nexus would be salivating if this came out on the market after the dearth of new cases with good airflow in 2017.

Steve's case critiques have definitely factored into my thinking over the last few months. Not just in terms of freer-flowing front air intakes, but also things like limited GPU to PSU shroud clearance that chokes off the GPU intake on several commercial mini-ITX cases. Same thing with cases that support vertical GPUs next to the window -- they typically don't leave enough room for the GPU's fans, and temps/fan speed suffer as a result.

The only problem is no sfx psu supports 2x8 pin EPS 12v at the moment, which is problematic for Threadripper as it guzzles power like no one's business, although not nearly as much as its Intel counterpart.

True. There are EPS Y-splitters, though I couldn't tell you if they're a good idea to use or not. No complaints on the Amazon reviews, at least.

SFX-L should be able to fit but you may have to swap those 3.5" drives for 2.5" ones .

It'd be a bit tight but doable, I think:

Not with a rad in front though.

 

[dangwang]

What’s the max CPU cooler height for that tower case?

 

[Necere]

What’s the max CPU cooler height for that tower case?

If you mean the mATX design in the last few posts, cooler height is about 140mm.

I may be able to finesse the dimensions a bit to get it up to 145mm to fit a cooler like the Cryorig H7, but even that little increase will be tough if I want to keep it under 20L.

 

[SomeBeardo]

I really like both designs. I'll back you when you're ready.

I feel like there's a lot of threads all over all kinds of different forums expressing interest in keeping hardware cool, but I feel like case designs are following form over function in thermal design. Also, some cases were designed when hardware was just different, less dense, fewer cores, etc. Some newer concepts are trying to incorporate 240mm rads to make up for that, but I think there are ways to do principled, simple designs that work with air. Both of these designs honor that, and I find it refreshing. I watch a lot of Steve's/GN's videos on cases too, and I'd love to see some meshy or otherwise air-flow focused designs in smaller footprints than a Meshify Mini-C.
I do prefer the mATX/ATX style, simply becasue the ability to rock an ATX board really expands the options, since I think mATX support from board manus is super questionable going forward. In fact, I'd almost rather it be an ATX design, but that's maybe not necessary.

We speak a lot about compromise in SFF, but I sometimes feel like not exploring cases that are slightly larger is a compromise too far. It's fine to reel it back in sometimes, but if 1 cm in any direction made it better, isn't it worth it?

Could the case go to 21.5 liters still be small and give a little extra cable routing and a good tower cooler?
Maybe 145 doesn't open it up to enough "good" cooler option, but does it give enough room to snake a couple wires more cleanly?

What about getting rid of the 3.5 drives and focusing on SSD mounts (compromise, get an a NAS) to open space up? Vertical SSD mounts to show off your Samsungs?

Thanks for the work you put into these ideas. I love hardware and hardware designs and you come up with some great stuff.

 

[Nasp]

I really like both designs. I'll back you when you're ready.

We speak a lot about compromise in SFF, but I sometimes feel like not exploring cases that are slightly larger is a compromise too far. It's fine to reel it back in sometimes, but if 1 cm in any direction made it better, isn't it worth it?

Could the case go to 21.5 liters still be small and give a little extra cable routing and a good tower cooler?
Maybe 145 doesn't open it up to enough "good" cooler option, but does it give enough room to snake a couple wires more cleanly?

What about getting rid of the 3.5 drives and focusing on SSD mounts (compromise, get an a NAS) to open space up? Vertical SSD mounts to show off your Samsungs?

Thanks for the work you put into these ideas. I love hardware and hardware designs and you come up with some great stuff.

Speaking of compromises and cable management in terms of SFF, I think that's one of the top things that has to be downsized. Cable management is harder in SFF cases, and that's just the nature of SFF. Smaller volume means less room for long cables and usually means there is no dedicated compartment for cables like there is in the mainstream cases. Cable management is also partly an art form and a skill, especially when it comes to cutting length off of the cables and/or cable sleeving.

I don't think it is in the spirit of SFF to make the case larger in order to manage cables easier, but that is just my opinion. Cheers