Personal mini-ITX case idea

[SumGhai]

Preliminary exterior concept:

So after being encouraged to do so a while back, I’m creating a thread for a case idea that’s been spinning about in my head for a long time. I’ve been very much inspired by all the SFF cases and projects that I’ve explored since coming here; in particular by Josh’s S3 and S4 Minis, CC Riser’s Mini LP, and Soul_Est’s RSC, as well as the MSI Trident case.

This project is meant to be a slim console-esque enclosure for a personal rig and as an avenue for learning CAD and 3D modeling software and sheet metal fabrication. While I expect progress on this to be slow, hopefully I can find free time to work on this and have it completed by the end of the semester while I still have access to the school’s makerspace for their 3D printer and laser cutter.

Below is a list of design goals which I’ve set for myself to keep me on track.

Spoiler

• Support for Mini ITX motherboard, dual-slot video card up to ~215mm, 25cm-30cm PCIe flexible riser routed underneath graphics card, 16mm Bulgin switch, a 2.5” SATA drive, and HDPLEX 300W DC-DC unit; support for internal AC-DC dependent on GPU selection
• Dimensions (H x D x W): 360mm x 220mm x 70mm at 5.54L
• Fan intake for GPU and CPU facing same side
• 3D print brackets and mounting accessories as needed, such as GPU support bracket
• Standard C14 cutout with extra interchangeable plates for different DC-DC barrel connectors; support for internal AC-DC dependent on GPU selection
• Frame made from bent steel or aluminum
  • What grade steel or aluminum should I use? Benefits to one or the other? How is strength relative to thickness on the two materials?
  • Should the screw holes be tapped? PEMs? Upsides and downsides to either?
• Side panels made from aluminum, to be secured to frame by screws.
  • Again, what grade aluminum should I use? Thickness recommendations?
  • Tips on making screwheads flush with the finish or as flat as possible?
• Interchangeable acrylic/steel/aluminum front plate
  • Allows for cosmetic customization at minimal cost
  • Allows for different I/O configurations (such as front HDMI access or USB-type C) or accessory mounting (such as an LED screen)
• If neither steel nor aluminum, will follow the LZ7’s path and 3D print brackets for the case’s frame and use acrylic for the side panels.

Mockup of component placement:

Spoiler

Next Step: Studying for exams! Then working some more on exterior front aesthetic & laying out case in Inventor.

I've started on making the frame in Inventor, but before I continued on it I wanted to tackle how the case should look from the front. In order to make the front plate interchangeable like I wanted it to, it would be unlikely that I could avoid using screws from the front of the case. So instead of trying to hide the screws, I thought I'd try to make them as part of the aesthetic by wrapping the side panel around the front like so:

I like the current look, but I'm not completely convinced by it. I can move around the front elements like the screws or the cutout location and shape, but I can't really move the switch or else I'd have to move the HDPlex unit down into the GPU area, limiting the GPU length. I'd like some feedback or suggestions for the front aesthetic.

Anyways, for now it's back to studying. I'll revisit this project in a week or two, during Spring Break hopefully.

 

[GentlemanShark]

Very nice, I'm trying to learn CAD by designing my case as well!

 

[amitoza]

Nice. Front panel without holes will look much better... and button between cutouts. - Mayby put hdplex below gpu? There is a lot of space. And maybe round cutout?

Quick Paint mod cant make anything better on tablet by finger

 

[Soul_Est]

I'm quite humbled to have inspired you in some part, @SumGhai . The case looks phenomenal so far. As for the thickness of the various parts and the materials used, that is your prerogative. The bottom tray needed to be aluminium for a feature that I wanted. I set the metal to 1.5mm thick as it makes measurement calculations easier. As @Aibohphobia stated in his STX160 thread, you may have to adjust your design to your chosen manufacturer's tooling.

 

[SumGhai]

Necromancy is dangerous magics.

First off, sorry Soul_Est and amitoza, I never thanked you for your posts when I initially made the thread.

So it's been more than two weeks (twice that long actually..) since I posted this idea, and in that time I've been in awe of all the SFF projects that have been taking off since then. So much that I left this case on the idea shelf and went reading and studying what others have been doing. About this time last week, I scrapped my initial inventor file and started again from scratch, and I'd like to share some of that progress.


With 2mm thick sheet metal, I've managed to hit all the external dimensions I was looking for: 220mm x 70mm x 360mm (L x W x H). It looks great! At least to me. 46-48mm of CPU cooler clearance too. There's 214mm of internal width for the GPU and 24mm above the GPU flange, so I shouldn't have to worry too much about GPU compatibility if I go with short PCB cards.

But now I'm getting greedy, and I think I'm feeling that SFF bug that everyone has on their projects. I want to shrink the width even further down to 64-65mm! Maybe go with 1.5mm thick sheets instead; doing so already shaves 2mm in width! Of course parts allowance and finish might reclaim that space.

I've run into a few snags, however. Accommodating for the HDPLEX 300W AC-DC has kept the width from shrinking, as it still sits at 62mm; a total bummer. A solution to this would be to change the case's vertical footprint from 220mm x 70mm to 250mm x 65mm. This would make the 300W AC-DC compatible with 180mm GPU's if the AC-DC is rotated 90-degrees so it screws into the motherboard tray. However, this might ruining the proportions of the case :<

Doing so might make room for a FlexATX or SFX PSU, but I wanted to go with a DC-DC unit to shrink internal volume! I could just throw the AC-DC out entirely and go with an external brick, but I had hoped to keep everything internal in this case. I'm still not sure what to do, so I'll think on this more.

My other snag is the mating of the side panel with the main body. The top and bottom edges, as shown in the album, kind of looks strange to me. The main body curves at this edge, but the side panel doesn't; there's this contrast between the two pieces. It just looks kind of odd to me. Thoughts?

 

[Soul_Est]

Necromancy is dangerous magics.

First off, sorry Soul_Est and amitoza, I never thanked you for your posts when I initially made the thread.

So it's been more than two weeks (twice that long actually..) since I posted this idea, and in that time I've been in awe of all the SFF projects that have been taking off since then. So much that I left this case on the idea shelf and went reading and studying what others have been doing. About this time last week, I scrapped my initial inventor file and started again from scratch, and I'd like to share some of that progress.

--snip--

With 2mm thick sheet metal, I've managed to hit all the external dimensions I was looking for: 220mm x 70mm x 360mm (L x W x H). It looks great! At least to me. 46-48mm of CPU cooler clearance too. There's 214mm of internal width for the GPU and 24mm above the GPU flange, so I shouldn't have to worry too much about GPU compatibility if I go with short PCB cards.

But now I'm getting greedy, and I think I'm feeling that SFF bug that everyone has on their projects. I want to shrink the width even further down to 64-65mm! Maybe go with 1.5mm thick sheets instead; doing so already shaves 2mm in width! Of course parts allowance and finish might reclaim that space.

I've run into a few snags, however. Accommodating for the HDPLEX 300W AC-DC has kept the width from shrinking, as it still sits at 62mm; a total bummer. A solution to this would be to change the case's vertical footprint from 220mm x 70mm to 250mm x 65mm. This would make the 300W AC-DC compatible with 180mm GPU's if the AC-DC is rotated 90-degrees so it screws into the motherboard tray. However, this might ruining the proportions of the case :<

Doing so might make room for a FlexATX or SFX PSU, but I wanted to go with a DC-DC unit to shrink internal volume! I could just throw the AC-DC out entirely and go with an external brick, but I had hoped to keep everything internal in this case. I'm still not sure what to do, so I'll think on this more.

My other snag is the mating of the side panel with the main body. The top and bottom edges, as shown in the album, kind of looks strange to me. The main body curves at this edge, but the side panel doesn't; there's this contrast between the two pieces. It just looks kind of odd to me. Thoughts?

If banning were the punishment for necromancy, this forum would be kind of empty. I really like how this case is turning out and the thought that you've been putting into it. As for the side panels, you can shorten them so that they don't reach the very top and bottom of the case, and only to the beginning of the bends.

 

[SumGhai]

If banning were the punishment for necromancy, this forum would be kind of empty. I really like how this case is turning out and the thought that you've been putting into it. As for the side panels, you can shorten them so that they don't reach the very top and bottom of the case, and only to the beginning of the bends.

Thank you, I'm very happy to be making progress on this project! Though I'm beginning to wonder if this should be moved to the Build Logs forum instead.

I've taken your feedback and made some before (left) and after (right) comparisons. At first, I didn't think having the side panel shortened would look that great; after staring at it for some time, it's starting to grow on me.

On the other hand I had shown a friend the same edge, and his opinion was that with the two-tone color scheme makes the original panel's edge less pronounced and less of an aesthetic bother to him. I'll have to ask him again now that I've shortened the panel.

I've also made a small change to the GPU's position; it's now closer to the left side panel, allowing for an SSD to be installed underneath.

It's also been moved closer to the motherboard, which leaves ~14mm of space from the top of the retention flange to the edge of the board. Doing so has given me 42mm of space from the interior wall to the bottom of the PCI key! This leaves just enough space to install the 300W AC-DC, and still allow for ~210mm long cards. And if an AC-DC isn't installed, then I'll need to find something to occupy that space. Maybe some 60mm fans? LED hub & controller? Another friend suggested having a Raspberry Pi/Arduino + capacitive board + LED's hooked up to the front acrylic plate for some fancy lighting.

My only worry now is if this sacrifices compatibility with cards like the Gigabyte 1070 mini and the MSI 1070 Aero; I don't know exactly how much taller the PCB's are above the GPU flange, only that they're ~130mm tall. If they've been measured from the bottom of the PCI key to the top of their fan shroud/PCB, I should be ok, but I'll have to seriously double check.

Next up is cutting out holes for some pemserts and then cutting some vents.

 

[Soul_Est]

Thank you, I'm very happy to be making progress on this project! Though I'm beginning to wonder if this should be moved to the Build Logs forum instead.

I've taken your feedback and made some before (left) and after (right) comparisons. At first, I didn't think having the side panel shortened would look that great; after staring at it for some time, it's starting to grow on me.
--snip--

On the other hand I had shown a friend the same edge, and his opinion was that with the two-tone color scheme makes the original panel's edge less pronounced and less of an aesthetic bother to him. I'll have to ask him again now that I've shortened the panel.

I've also made a small change to the GPU's position; it's now closer to the left side panel, allowing for an SSD to be installed underneath.
--snip--

It's also been moved closer to the motherboard, which leaves ~14mm of space from the top of the retention flange to the edge of the board. Doing so has given me 42mm of space from the interior wall to the bottom of the PCI key! This leaves just enough space to install the 300W AC-DC, and still allow for ~210mm long cards. And if an AC-DC isn't installed, then I'll need to find something to occupy that space. Maybe some 60mm fans? LED hub & controller? Another friend suggested having a Raspberry Pi/Arduino + capacitive board + LED's hooked up to the front acrylic plate for some fancy lighting.

My only worry now is if this sacrifices compatibility with cards like the Gigabyte 1070 mini and the MSI 1070 Aero; I don't know exactly how much taller the PCB's are above the GPU flange, only that they're ~130mm tall. If they've been measured from the bottom of the PCI key to the top of their fan shroud/PCB, I should be ok, but I'll have to seriously double check.

Next up is cutting out holes for some pemserts and then cutting some vents.

The new side panels look much better and won't cause much of an issue when packing or unpacking. Hopefully the changes you made keep the short 1070 (and Vega) compatibility. Have fun with the holes and the vents!

 

[SumGhai]

The new side panels look much better and won't cause much of an issue when packing or unpacking. Hopefully the changes you made keep the short 1070 (and Vega) compatibility. Have fun with the holes and the vents!

Thanks! I'm really digging the shorter side panels; gives it a bit of a different silhouette the more I look at it.

Really hoping Vega comes out with something the size of the R9 nano. I think an RX570 was already leaked to have a mini version, which I might get too; otherwise, I'll just have to settle for a GTX 1060 of some sort.

I'm digging through some old threats on the forums trying to find out how much the Gigabyte card hangs over the top of the flange. I figure if I can fit the Gigabyte in the case, then I should be ok for most other overheight cards for the future. Otherwise, I'll have to make that design choice of only supporting close-to-reference height PCB's.

I'm starting to hit that stage of feature creep though, where I want to add a lot of features for compatibility and modularity and aesthetic customization, but I know in the back of my head I can't do everything at once.

 

[Soul_Est]

Thanks! I'm really digging the shorter side panels; gives it a bit of a different silhouette the more I look at it.

Really hoping Vega comes out with something the size of the R9 nano. I think an RX570 was already leaked to have a mini version, which I might get too; otherwise, I'll just have to settle for a GTX 1060 of some sort.

I'm digging through some old threats on the forums trying to find out how much the Gigabyte card hangs over the top of the flange. I figure if I can fit the Gigabyte in the case, then I should be ok for most other overheight cards for the future. Otherwise, I'll have to make that design choice of only supporting close-to-reference height PCB's.

I'm starting to hit that stage of feature creep though, where I want to add a lot of features for compatibility and modularity and aesthetic customization, but I know in the back of my head I can't do everything at once.

Have a look in the LZ7 thread as I know that the case's size had to be changed for that card. Don't fall into development hell, my friend.

 

[K888D]

This is the correct size of the Gigabyte GTX 1070 ITX (bottom card):

The LZ7 has this much space and it just fits the card height wise (30mm from PCI bracket screw flange up to underside of top panel) once power cable is fitted:

 

[SumGhai]

Thank you! I might have to revert moving the GPU placement and look for another place to stuff the AC-DC unit.

Dang and I thought I had something by moving the GPU towards the motherboard

 

[SumGhai]

So I've been playing around with possible layouts to get compatibility with the Gigabyte and MSI 1070, and wanted to share my thoughts:


Original components layout (Not exactly to scale). GPU as 14mm of clearance between the top of its flange to the edge of the motherboard. I wish to adjust this to gain another 10-15mm so as to fit very overheight GPU's like the Gigabyte 1070.

Spoiler

First idea: swapping the placements of the AC-DC and DC-DC Unit. This would let me drop the GPU down 10mm without much issue, but could pose problems of heat as the GPU is now directly blowing hot air onto the DC-DC. Wiring would also be more troublesome this way, with their positions reversed.

Spoiler

Second idea: Move AC-DC to the top of the case and shift everything down. Doing this might let me squeeze like 10mm of extra space, but I don't want to go this route as it means the biggest and heaviest wire is coming out the top of the case. I don't like this as it might get caught on something and force the case to tip over much more easily when in the vertical position.

Spoiler

Final idea: Expand depth by 10mm and limit GPU length Doing this would net me my previous ~25-28mm of overheight support, but require increasing case depth from 220mm to 230mm (gives 180mm + 42mm + ~3mm support) and drop support for both AC-DC and 200+mm GPU's (No Zotac 1070s/1080s + 300W AC-DC ). The volume would increase from 5.54L to 5.79L, which still keeps it sub 6L.

I'm not sure which method I want to go for, but the final idea is more in line with my preliminary list of design goals from the first post, where I wrote "support for internal AC-DC dependent on GPU selection".

Hopefully I can come to a decision over the weekend.

 

[Ceros_X]

For the second idea just swap the top and bottom of the case so that the heaves wire is coming out of the bottom.

For final idea it looks like there is room for AC-DC between MB and GPU. I would look at this S4 Mini build to see how he got all 4 components in his rig, maybe you can take inspiration from it:

NFC S4 Mini #77 - Orangulan Brickless S4

 

[SumGhai]

For the second idea just swap the top and bottom of the case so that the heaves wire is coming out of the bottom.

For final idea it looks like there is room for AC-DC between MB and GPU. I would look at this S4 Mini build to see how he got all 4 components in his rig, maybe you can take inspiration from it:

NFC S4 Mini #77 - Orangulan Brickless S4

If I swap the top and bottom, I'd end up with the same issue that I have currently, and I did try out some dimensions and Second idea doesn't seem feasible, as I just don't have the vertical height to fit everything at once

For the final idea, the space between the MB and GPU is reserved to handle anything that's overheight and to handle any PCIe risers that might be very flexible; currently, the case can't support the Gigabyte 1070, which I want to implement so I have a bit more freedom in GPU selection should new short GPU's be overheight too.

I've been going through the Orangulan build, and the way he fit the AC-DC was also by limiting GPU length, but limiting it down to the GTX 1060 which has a shorter PCB than the Gigabyte 1070 by 10mm. This would definitely work in the current dimensions of the case, but I'd like to try and squeeze a 1070 with an internal AC-DC unit.

I'm still playing around with some measurements, so I'll keep trying.

 

[SumGhai]

So it's been two months and I figure it's about time I get back to this project. With everyone posting new cases and new ideas and the forum all buzzing, I felt put-off because surely someone could do this idea better than I can right now.

But then I thought about the fun I would miss if I didn't continue. Like my previous posts, this will probably be really long as I just want to put all of my thoughts down to share.

So some changes since last time I posted about this project; nothing too crazy here:

Spoiler

• Length has been increased from 360mm to 370mm. This is still shorter than the length of my 15.6" laptop, and will still (hopefully) fit inside a laptop bag. Height and depth have remained the same.
• AC-DC unit has been moved internally with the 10mm increase in length
• Made room underneath the GPU to fit (possibly two) 7mm SSD's; Hoping to orient these so that the top of the SSD (where the logo usually is) faces outward towards the side panel
• Moved many things around to fit a Gigabyte 1070 Mini, which is what the GPU box outline in the images below is referencing

And here are some problems I ran into while working, which I really need some help with/feedback on:

The AC-DC unit is large and takes up a big portion at the bottom of the case. This didn't seem like a problem at first, but after looking more into Li-Heat's PCIe risers, I don't have the 20mm of clearance (for the type B riser, the type D riser requires 30mm of clearance) underneath the graphics card PCIe key. I have three options, which I am having a hard time deciding:

Spoiler

• I can increase the length of the case again by another 10mm, going to 380mm, but I'd still be hitting 5.85L and the proportions of the case just don't look good at that size. In addition, i'd be approaching Node-202 levels of largeness; a case that I just wish was much smaller after having purchased one in the fall.
• I can forego the brickless idea and go back to an external brick: this would let me shrink the case back down to 360mm (maybe even 350mm) and remove a heat source from the case. Obvious downsides are the bulkiness of 300W+ external bricks, which still has to be lugged around with the case
• I can rotate the AC-DC so it's parallel to the DC-DC unit (it's perpendicular right now) but doing so would force me to move the power switch and limit GPU length; this would still require me to increase the case's length to 380mm, and with all the downsides from earlier.

Something I've been contemplating is switching the position of the GPU and motherboard. I've seen this done in the Custom_MOD mini slim and the Catz C-1, but I've never been a fan of snaking the PCIe riser underneath the motherboard out of fear of interference with other components.

However, I've made some edits to test out this layout and I would like some opinions on it:

Spoiler

Option A:

• Current layout of the case, and the one I prefer at the moment.
• With the new HDPLEX 400W DC-DC's length of 160mm, it interferes with the GPU which means I have to be very strict about my GPU length; nothing longer than 175mm, unless I move the circular cutout for the power switch somewhere else; maybe move the AC-DC closer to the rear of the case where the IEC inlet is and have the power switch in front of the AC-DC?
• Not enough clearance between the bottom of the GPU (the bounds of the GPU box sketch includes the bottom of the pcie key) and the AC-DC unit. There's 10-12mm of space there, which I don't think is enough even for Li-Heat's riser cable. Unless I can source a much more compact riser (like HDPLEX's, which seems to be sold out), or I increase the length of the case again, or I limit the amount of overheight-ness the GPU gets (it currently has an allowance of 28mm of overheightness) this layout just won't work

Option B:

• Proposed revision of case layout, requires snaking the PCIe riser underneath the motherboard
• Gain ~25mm of clearance below the GPU's pcie key for the riser clearance, which is great!
• Motherboard and AC-DC unit are *very* close to each other; i'm worried that being less than 1mm close like that would more introduce problems.
• Power switch still limits length of the GPU. This seems to the the bane of my existence.
• Unsure of weight distribution with a heavy short-PCB card at the top of the case; trying very hard to keep the center of gravity of the case low to the table surface to avoid easy tipping in the event of a top-heavy vertical orientation; this is a big one for me.

Now that I've written all of that, i'm not sure what to do. I'm sure I'll revisit this more tomorrow. Or the next day. I just need to remind myself not to let two months go again until I come back to this.

Thanks for bearing with me through this post.

 

[jeshikat]

Option A also has the advantage of the PCIe power connector having a bit extra clearance since it could probably overhang the motherboard if needed, while in Option B it's a hard limit since the case wall is in the way.

 

[SumGhai]

Option A also has the advantage of the PCIe power connector having a bit extra clearance since it could probably overhang the motherboard if needed, while in Option B it's a hard limit since the case wall is in the way.

Oh god I completely forgot about that! Thank you for reminding me. I'll have to account for the power connector, but it looks like no matter how I rearrange things if I want that AC-DC internally I'll have to increase dimensions in some respect :S