New revision of Ncase M1, when?

[Brude27]

Don't listen to the people in here. They seem to want to justify their purchase more than being truthful. I've had 4 NCASEs throughout the years and can assure you they scratch very easily. I actually sold 3 of them precisely because of the scratches, and even the latter I sold had scratches and marks.

Like you I travel a bit, and I also found myself changing specs in my case a bit (I had to experiment a bit and forth to find the most optimal set-up in terms of fan and noise, for example). And man did the NCASE scratch by the smallest touch to another hard material. Especially the black one, which was one of the reasons I stopped using it alltogether. The silver scratches just as easily as well, but it's not as glaring as the black one, as the silver is pure, uncolored metal.

I ended up being extremely careful with my case, treating the panels csrueful like they were explosive material, and even attached a ton of rubber bumper sticks on my last one as a precautionary measure. Didn't prevent it from getting scratches though, as there would always be that one time when a drinking glass, the headphones or something else touched them enough to scratch then. That one time I took one NCASE build to a big LAN event was the worst.

I even bought a ton of Plastidip as a plan to deal with scratches, but the Plastidip look was bad. Its removal was a huge pain in the ass as well (mostly due to the venting holes, where the dip got in between).

None of this would have been that big of ab issue had SFFLabs sold the panels for less than bloodthirsty prices. That way you could always have new fresh backup panels, and not worry about your current ones. With the success and growing sales of NCASE, economy of scale ought to have at least made these cheaper to manufacture. But I guess the company want to pursue even higher margins instead...

I can't comment on the Ghost S1. But it'll be my next build (I'll receive one in 3 wreks), due to its, imo, better look, as well as being substantially easier to build in (in that area, the NCASE, like ITX' in general, is a pain in the ass). I'm kind of excited about the new NCASE revision as well. It's still a fantastic case, both aesthetically and in build potential (its cooling options for CPU and GPU make it, if you choose to, the most quiet SFF build).

Everyone is free to have their own opinion, but saying those of us who take care of our nice things are trying to justify our purchases is a bit much. It sounds like you are just rough with your cases, which is fine... not everyone treats their stuff the same way... but don’t discount what the majority have said b/c it doesn’t align to your own experience.

With that said... if you scratched your entire M1 collection, you will 100% scratch your Ghost. The anodization is subpar at best. Also, if you travel with your case as you’ve said... the Ghost is much heavier than the M1 if that’s a concern for you.

For those who read this with inexperience in either case... they are both a dream to build in. I honestly don’t know how one could have struggles in either unless they didn’t plan accordingly... and in the SFF world... you need to plan.

 

[rfarmer]

Everyone is free to have their own opinion, but saying those of us who take care of our nice things are trying to justify our purchases is a bit much. It sounds like you are just rough with your cases, which is fine... not everyone treats their stuff the same way... but don’t discount what the majority have said b/c it doesn’t align to your own experience.

With that said... if you scratched your entire M1 collection, you will 100% scratch your Ghost. The anodization is subpar at best. Also, if you travel with your case as you’ve said... the Ghost is much heavier than the M1 if that’s a concern for you.

For those who read this with inexperience in either case... they are both a dream to build in. I honestly don’t know how one could have struggles in either unless they didn’t plan accordingly... and in the SFF world... you need to plan.

I used my Ncase continually from May 2016 till just recently and redid the build many times, the frame is admittedly kind of beat up but I do not have a single scratch on any of the exterior panels. Like you said you just have to take care of nice things.

 

[Necere]

Don't listen to the people in here. They seem to want to justify their purchase more than being truthful. I've had 4 NCASEs throughout the years and can assure you they scratch very easily. I actually sold 3 of them precisely because of the scratches, and even the latter I sold had scratches and marks.

Like you I travel a bit, and I also found myself changing specs in my case a bit (I had to experiment a bit and forth to find the most optimal set-up in terms of fan and noise, for example). And man did the NCASE scratch by the smallest touch to another hard material. Especially the black one, which was one of the reasons I stopped using it alltogether. The silver scratches just as easily as well, but it's not as glaring as the black one, as the silver is pure, uncolored metal.

I ended up being extremely careful with my case, treating the panels csrueful like they were explosive material, and even attached a ton of rubber bumper sticks on my last one as a precautionary measure. Didn't prevent it from getting scratches though, as there would always be that one time when a drinking glass, the headphones or something else touched them enough to scratch then. That one time I took one NCASE build to a big LAN event was the worst.

I even bought a ton of Plastidip as a plan to deal with scratches, but the Plastidip look was bad. Its removal was a huge pain in the ass as well (mostly due to the venting holes, where the dip got in between).

I definitely recommend a well-padded bag/carrying case if you plan to transport the M1. Leaving it exposed to the bumps and scrapes of travelling is just asking for problems.

With the success and growing sales of NCASE, economy of scale ought to have at least made these cheaper to manufacture.

It costs about the same as it always has, actually. Economies of scale don't kick in automatically after some point; you actually need to invest in tooling to make it cheaper over the long term. That's a $50k-$100k proposition, depending on how much of the case you want to create tooling for. That would eat up the profit margin of multiple production runs, and ultimately probably wouldn't reduce cost that much.

The other part of it is the cost of international shipping, which also costs about the same, and makes up a larger share of the price than you'd think (hint: the actual cost of shipping isn't what you see on the order page). You don't get economies of scale there until you can ship over a bunch by ocean freight, then store them with a distributor to ship out domestically. We've never had the sales volume for that to make a lot of sense, and with distribution via e.g. Amazon they take a large percentage, while simultaneously increasing the support burden and costs through increased return rate (common with Amazon). Ultimately it's never made sense for us to go that route.

 

[blindphleb]

Just so people have another data point, I'll add my experience. I have gone through two motherboards, two cpus, and two gpus inside my case. I've switched the heatsinks on the cpu a bunch, I've swapped the gpu heatsink a bunch. Point being I've been inside the case a ton -- it's part of the fun of SFFPC. The only significant scratches have been where the side bracket attaches. That's metal on metal so you'd expect that to scratch. The rest of the case frame looks fine. I've never stripped out screws.


I have flown across the country a handful of times. I just use a duffel bag for this and surround the case with some paperback books and a few shirts. I don't advice this because removing it at the gate isn't the most fun. The exterior, luckily, doesn't show any evidence of this abuse. It looks like the day it arrived.

I have no hesitation in recommending it to everyone, and as soon as Necere can get them in stock, I plan on buying another one for my brother's first build.

 

[Sflot]

Kinda not the topic at hand but those renders - they show the new bottom vent, don't they? It looks like dedicated 140mm fan holes if one removes the clips in the middle, and 120mm fans are now on a much longer rail mounting system than before?

That's correct.

I kinda liked how the old bottom vent matched the rear vent. Made the case look more balanced. Just curious, why is a redesign necessary? What do the new mounting point have to do with the vent design?

 

[Qrash]

I'm going to make some changes to my M1 (V4) and one of them is increasing the ventilation of the bottom panel for my dual 140 mm fans. Search has not been my friend, so can someone point me to the post from Necere that has a render of the new (V6) case bottom? I'd like to use that as a basis for cutting up my case. Thanks in advance.

 

[Engr62]

I'm going to make some changes to my M1 (V4) and one of them is increasing the ventilation of the bottom panel for my dual 140 mm fans. Search has not been my friend, so can someone point me to the post from Necere that has a render of the new (V6) case bottom? I'd like to use that as a basis for cutting up my case. Thanks in advance.

I don't think @Necere has posted a render of the V6. In fact, he hasn't listed all of the changes for the V6.

 

[Qrash]

I don't think @Necere has posted a render of the V6. In fact, he hasn't listed all of the changes for the V6.

I know Necere has posted some renders of the side panel with more ventilation and two views of the new Front I/O with dimensions to help us understand the dimension limits for 2 and 3 slot graphics cards. I thought I'd seen an image of the new ventilation pattern for the bottom panel, too.

 

[Engr62]

@Qrash, is this the post you're looking for?

Pictures are worth a thousand words, right?

So obviously it will change the look somewhat, no way around that. The extra ventilation holes are right next to the video card though, so it should help quite a bit with getting the hot exhaust out of the case.


The bottom filter is the same construction as the side filter, though larger and a different shape. It will attach magnetically to the underside of the case, part of which will now be steel.


Unlikely we'll offer solid panel options. Stay tuned for the feet.

 

[Qrash]

@Qrash, is this the post you're looking for?

No, I'm looking for a render of the bottom panel. The V6 no longer has mounting holes for the 3.5-inch drive cage and I recall Necere stating he was able to simplify and enlarge the amount of ventilation slots in the bottom. Maybe I dreamed seeing the render? I'll look again and update this post if I find it.

 

[Necere]

I kinda liked how the old bottom vent matched the rear vent. Made the case look more balanced. Just curious, why is a redesign necessary? What do the new mounting point have to do with the vent design?

The bottom vents will still match the rear. I've redesigned both.

There are a number of factors I took into account when choosing a new vent design:

• Must use one of LL's existing punches
• Maximize open area without compromising the integrity of the sheet metal
• Sized and spaced to support standard 92mm fan mounting

I'm going to make some changes to my M1 (V4) and one of them is increasing the ventilation of the bottom panel for my dual 140 mm fans. Search has not been my friend, so can someone point me to the post from Necere that has a render of the new (V6) case bottom? I'd like to use that as a basis for cutting up my case. Thanks in advance.

I haven't posted a full image of the bottom yet. It's just the fan mounting slots that were visible in one pic.

 

[Alessio.B87]

So if I understood correctly with the new version it will be possible to install two 140mm fans at the bottom?

 

[Necere]

So if I understood correctly with the new version it will be possible to install two 140mm fans at the bottom?

See this post.

 

[Khaledious]

Any word from LL, purchased board and ryzen 3000 CPU, just missing case. Thinking of buying used but really want TG panel.

 

[Sterio]

Feels like at this rate, we wont have the case in hand till September.

I would take V5 rather than waiting for 3 months.

 

[JustinDulay]

No, I'm looking for a render of the bottom panel. The V6 no longer has mounting holes for the 3.5-inch drive cage and I recall Necere stating he was able to simplify and enlarge the amount of ventilation slots in the bottom. Maybe I dreamed seeing the render? I'll look again and update this post if I find it.

It's this post that had a partial shot of the revised bottom ventilation and 140mm fan mounts.

 

[Sflot]

I would take V5 rather than waiting for 3 months.

Yup, me too. Especially considering that V5 was already as good as perfect.

 

[Qrash]

It's this post that had a partial shot of the revised bottom ventilation and 140mm fan mounts.

Yes, I saw that post. I guess I'm mistaken about seeing a full view of the new ventilation pattern. Thanks everyone.

 

[C3N0B1T3]

Come on guys, the V6 might be available in grey! And with no front I\O it will look amazing.

 

[Necere]

LL sent out the latest prototype today.