Concept Premium 20L mATX enclosure for quiet air cooling

DriverDaily

Efficiency Noob
Original poster
Nov 13, 2022
5
9
Highlights
  • Internal dimensions: 250mm x 185mm x 360mm
  • mATX with 4-slot GPU compatibility
  • SFX PSU
  • Closed side panels, vertical airflow
  • Premium construction, materials, and features

Compact
Although this is a 20L case, none of the extra volume is wasted.

  • 250mm internal height for mATX boards
  • SFX-L PSU support
  • Modular “top hat” design
  • No extra length or height for 360mm radiators

Performance Air Cooling
Ignoring radiator requirements will help keep the case compact.

  • 185mm internal width (supports NH-D15, Prosiphon Elite)
  • 360mm internal length (supports 3 x 120mm or 2 x 180mm fans)
  • Fully open PCIE Backplate (crossbars block Founder's Edition exhaust)

Quiet Closed Case
The goal is a quiet, closed case without sacrificing too much performance over mesh or open designs.

  • Vertical airflow design (low turbulence)
  • Closed side panels
  • Case decoupled from desk
  • I would like to spend more R&D time here testing absorber and dampeners like dynamat, rockwool, and 3M Thinsulate, etc.

Premium Design
First, fit and finish can’t be compromised to save a penny. Second, the building experience must match the fit and finish.

  • 3mm thick anodized aluminum construction
  • magnets and latches in place of screws and clips
  • Glass instead of acrylic side panels
  • Power switch for PSU power cable passthrough

Smallest Configuration (no case fans)




Top/Bottom Hats




Hats Installed




Size Comparison (no top/bottom hats)



About Me
For the last 10 years I have worked professionally as a Digital Designer, UX Designer, and Frontend Developer. Recently, I began using CAD to design moderately complex snap-fit parts, and parts with tight clearances in my hobby projects. This seems like the next logical step for me.

Final Thoughts
I reached the point where the design and configuration need community feedback before I spend more time finalizing the design. I aim to keep styling minimal, along the lines of other sucessful cases made from 3mm aluminum: Iqnix ZX-1, Circle Pro, Ghost S1, etc.
 

DriverDaily

Efficiency Noob
Original poster
Nov 13, 2022
5
9
Hey everyone, I'm working on designing the motherboard tray using Fusion 360. There is a ton of conflicting information, so I went back to the original specs. To my knowledge these are the most up-to-date.

For the motherboard tray: ATX 2.2 Specification
For the PCIE slots: PCI Express Card Electromechanical Specification Revision 2.0




Example of conflicting info

Protocase's article says there should be a 0.065" (1.7mm) gap from the motherboard edge to the the case.



ATX 2.2 says there should be 0.400" from the mounting hole to the motherboard edge, and 0.483" from the motherboard edge to the inside of the case. That means a 0.083" (2.1082mm) gap from the motherboard to the case.


 

Gotmachine

Chassis Packer
Oct 7, 2020
14
29
Hey everyone, I'm working on designing the motherboard tray using Fusion 360. There is a ton of conflicting information, so I went back to the original specs. To my knowledge these are the most up-to-date.
The protocase articles are full of minor errors (or rather simplifications and assumptions on metal thickness used)

The resources section of this site has a set of *.STEP motherboard templates here : https://smallformfactor.net/forum/resources/accurate-blank-motherboard-pcie-card-models.25/

I've thoroughly verified that they are accurate according to the ATX specs.
 
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RenG

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jul 17, 2016
136
63
Looks like OP is MIA. Agree, such a nice project though. Good potential for a niche product.
 
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