Stalled [New Video Assembly] Densium 4 & 4+ - Tiny cases with real hardwood frontpanel!

[Aguda33]

Got mine on Friday. There are some bubbles but no big deal. The wood has some imperfections though and that sucks since it is the front panel. I will try to upload some pictures later and give my thoughts on the case.

Here are the pictures for my densium 4+:

CPU is a 5600 cooled by Z39
GPU is an EVGA 3060 TI XC
Motherboard is an MSi 450i

My thoughts on the cooler:
Extremely noisy, I need to swap it for a noctua and pray it is a bit more quiet. The screws were extremely tightened and for a moment I thought I was going to "break" the screw with the screwdriver. Unfortunately the paint job was slightly damaged on one of the pipes and you can see the copper

The riser (3rd gen) works as intended, no complains.

The PSU works perfectly, Jon from overtek did an excellent job, I haven't heard the fan yet (might be because of the CPU fan though, lol. Totally recommended nevertheless.

Now, as for the case:

1. the long silver hollow studs (I have no idea how to call them) were very tightened and I had to use pliers to unscrew them, hence the marks
2. there is a small gap when you close the side panels - hardly visible on sight but if you press them to the frame you can feel that it is not fully closing
3. there are small paint marks. I noticed like 1-2 marks but it's not a big deal
4. the wood panel came slightly damaged and you can actually see the marks on it. It is a "problem" because it's the part you see the most

Last picture has a beer for size comparision. A real life comparision would be "as long and as tall as your hand".

Overall thoughts on the case: good overall quality but it needs a better QA - at least on the wooden panels since it's the most enticing feature.

My Densium 4 arrived Saturday in perfect condition. Amazingly your build uses all the same components as mine, but the case is white. The only problem I ran into was on assembly I pulled out one of the 24 pin wires and the GPU wasn't working. Then on disassembly 2 more wires pulled loose. I'm not blaming the quality of Overtek's work, I feel it was completely my clumsiness as the power supply worked well in the cardboard box it was temporarily housed in for the few months I waited for the case. I sent an e-mail to Jon at Overtek about sending it back for repair at my expense and should get a reply soon.

 

[Valantar]

My Densium 4 arrived Saturday in perfect condition. Amazingly your build uses all the same components as mine, but the case is white. The only problem I ran into was on assembly I pulled out one of the 24 pin wires and the GPU wasn't working. Then on disassembly 2 more wires pulled loose. I'm not blaming the quality of Overtek's work, I feel it was completely my clumsiness as the power supply worked well in the cardboard box it was temporarily housed in for the few months I waited for the case. I sent an e-mail to Jon at Overtek about sending it back for repair at my expense and should get a reply soon.

Ouch, that's too bad. Can you post a close-up pic of the pins that pulled out? Unless they are severely deformed and won't lock properly in place, they can most likely either be re-seated directly or can have their locking tab bent out to lock in place properly. Could be as simple as manufacturing variance for the pins making them not quite lock in place.

 

[RedSawn]

I remember Gucks pulled out one of the GPU pin wires when trying to get it to the GPU while the case was fully assembled on livestream. Always thought it was the rather awkward bend the cable had to do and the pressure placed on it to attempt to slot it in while the case was already put together but if it happened to someone else's 24-pin as well that's rather concerning

 

[Densium.net]

I remember Gucks pulled out one of the GPU pin wires when trying to get it to the GPU while the case was fully assembled on livestream. Always thought it was the rather awkward bend the cable had to do and the pressure placed on it to attempt to slot it in while the case was already put together but if it happened to someone else's 24-pin as well that's rather concerning

Yeah I remember this, there is no reason for concern though. Don't remember exactly, but I think @Otamot determined it to be caused by a wrongly calibrated die, and it has since been adjusted.

 

[rod]

My Densium 4 arrived Saturday in perfect condition. Amazingly your build uses all the same components as mine, but the case is white. The only problem I ran into was on assembly I pulled out one of the 24 pin wires and the GPU wasn't working. Then on disassembly 2 more wires pulled loose. I'm not blaming the quality of Overtek's work, I feel it was completely my clumsiness as the power supply worked well in the cardboard box it was temporarily housed in for the few months I waited for the case. I sent an e-mail to Jon at Overtek about sending it back for repair at my expense and should get a reply soon.

Ouch. I hope you get it sorted soon. If you don’t mind I would like to know if you feel like the side panels are fully closed with no gaps. I think you can kind of remove the evga plastic deco on the fans to make it flat, have you tried it?

To other z39 owners: how are you dealing with it? Is it closing without gaps? Did you swap the direction of fan? Got yourselves a noctua? Changed to another cooler? If you did, is it closing without gaps however small?

@Densium.net is there any way to replace the wood panel or are these imperfections within the expectations? Same with the cooler

 

[Aguda33]

Ouch, that's too bad. Can you post a close-up pic of the pins that pulled out? Unless they are severely deformed and won't lock properly in place, they can most likely either be re-seated directly or can have their locking tab bent out to lock in place properly. Could be as simple as manufacturing variance for the pins making them not quite lock in place.

Unfortunately, the wiring pulled out of the terminal. I have a tool kit and the terminal parts, but for some reason can't get the terminal to release. Since it is 3 wires, I have no idea which wire goes to which hole in the 24 pin connector. I rather have a professional handle it.

 

[Aguda33]

Ouch. I hope you get it sorted soon. If you don’t mind I would like to know if you feel like the side panels are fully closed with no gaps. I think you can kind of remove the evga plastic deco on the fans to make it flat, have you tried it?

To other z39 owners: how are you dealing with it? Is it closing without gaps? Did you swap the direction of fan? Got yourselves a noctua? Changed to another cooler? If you did, is it closing without gaps however small?

@Densium.net is there any way to replace the wood panel or are these imperfections within the expectations? Same with the cooler

I had the same issue with the GPU fans pushing against the panel. I solved it with putting some rubber adhesive strips on the end side of the GPU, but then decided a couple of zip ties from the back of the GPU to the center spine of the case was less visible. No problem with the Z39 touching the panel.

 

[Valantar]

Unfortunately, the wiring pulled out of the terminal. I have a tool kit and the terminal parts, but for some reason can't get the terminal to release. Since it is 3 wires, I have no idea which wire goes to which hole in the 24 pin connector. I rather have a professional handle it.

Oh, wow, that's worse, yeah. And yes, depinning PC power connectors can be quite horrible even with a good depinning tool - it typically requires an uncomfortable amount of force, and if you don't have a wire to pull on to get the pin out you essentially need three hands to get the pin out using tweezers. I've bent and broken enough low quality depinning tools to know how just how bad that can be.

 

[Densium.net]

@Densium.net is there any way to replace the wood panel or are these imperfections within the expectations? Same with the cooler

Send me a private message here at the forum and we'll sort it out!

 

[Densium.net]

Major update today everyone, be sure to read it.

 

[rod]

Major update today everyone, be sure to read it.

If you are still taking suggestions:

Have you considered slim top fans? If anything I've noticed that my case gets surprisingly warm - might be due to the fact that the cooler is touching the panel and transfering part of the heat

A "clicky" power button but this might be personal preferences

Slightly bigger case feet like the ones shown somewhere in this post

 

[zigzigzig]

would love to see the Densium 4 APU, would be fantastic for upcoming Turing Pi v2 builds! With that in mind perhaps pico psu / hdplex support for the APU design? Also quite stoked to see the changes coming for the new version though I do wish there was a way to incorporate some of the new bits into v1, guess I shouldn't have gotten three of them

 

[Mackan]

Really good changes! Some comments.

• Maybe consider offering a longer securing piece for the GPU, at the back of the case. I believe the current one will not secure a single slot GPU, or any other single slot pcie card.
• Is there any reason you are not going for 1.5mm aluminium on everything? Does steel have any advantage in some case, or perhaps aluminium is just more expensive?
• As pointed out previously, consider 2 fans on top reduce temperatures. I believe you can successfully redesign the top compartment of the case to be bigger to contain fans, as well as help securing the spine better, instead of just the 2 long spacers you use right now. Although this would of course make the case bigger, but I think it can be worth it.
• As pointed out previously, the new HDPlex 250W is very interesting. Maybe possible to offer a flex-to-c13 converter bracket? Assuming it fits, and that the 24 pin terminal has space in the front. Looks very tight.
• Lastly, where is the prototype that supports dual 92mm radiator that you showed on reddit? I have always wanted to try to watercool a flex-psu case.

 

[oasis1991]

where did densium ship from ?
Mainland China?

 

[Densium.net]

Really good changes! Some comments.

• Maybe consider offering a longer securing piece for the GPU, at the back of the case. I believe the current one will not secure a single slot GPU, or any other single slot pcie card.
• Is there any reason you are not going for 1.5mm aluminium on everything? Does steel have any advantage in some case, or perhaps aluminium is just more expensive?
• As pointed out previously, consider 2 fans on top reduce temperatures. I believe you can successfully redesign the top compartment of the case to be bigger to contain fans, as well as help securing the spine better, instead of just the 2 long spacers you use right now. Although this would of course make the case bigger, but I think it can be worth it.
• As pointed out previously, the new HDPlex 250W is very interesting. Maybe possible to offer a flex-to-c13 converter bracket? Assuming it fits, and that the 24 pin terminal has space in the front. Looks very tight.
• Lastly, where is the prototype that supports dual 92mm radiator that you showed on reddit? I have always wanted to try to watercool a flex-psu case.

I'll actually have a look at getting a new gpu-tab fastener, upgrading this will likely not be that expensive.

Not sure you read the change notes correctly, It's going to be made out of 1.5 aluminum.

In regards to the top mounted fans. I skipped them this time too, not because it's a bad idea, but there are 3 reasons why.
Firstly, I feel like it's kind of overkill for low power builds. In addition never had any issues with my 200W 3060ti in there (although I'm aware Norway are colder than most places, and people might have hotter appartments than mine.)

Secondly, I was also reaching the very top of my budget and this feature would add quite a bit of cost.

Thirdly, I wanted to make the entry threshold lower for new SFFPC builders, as the cable managment is already challenging as is, and I feel like this is an 'enthusiast' feature that deserves to be a separate case. Once Densium gets some cash flow, I can make new ideas like this come to life much faster

I actually just asked Larry a couple days ago for some CAD-files of the 250w unit, as I'd like to add support for it, or possibly even designing an entire case for it

I'd really like to develop the 92mm radiator case, but for now It'll be too expensive for me to justify - Perhaps I'll make it in the future!

Hope that answers everything sufficiently, I'm open to more questions and suggestions - All you have to do is ask!

 

[Densium.net]

where did densium ship from ?
Mainland China?

Yes that is correct, It'll be manufactured and shipped from Shenzen

 

[Densium.net]

would love to see the Densium 4 APU, would be fantastic for upcoming Turing Pi v2 builds! With that in mind perhaps pico psu / hdplex support for the APU design? Also quite stoked to see the changes coming for the new version though I do wish there was a way to incorporate some of the new bits into v1, guess I shouldn't have gotten three of them

You'd have no trouble fitting the new hdplex unit in there, but it might require some ingenuity!

 

[oasis1991]

i have get OG densium 4 real quick

new update increase volume :/

 

[Mashndrow]

Fans save lives.

 

[oasis1991]

on densium 4

could front panel install upside down?