Project Reality

[Karamazovmm]

Hello guys!

Due to work getting in the way of my previous project and seeing it now, I can say for sure that that case needs rework, and thus Project Reality is born!

The whole idea here is a quick and dirt design, sporting the parts that I already have with minimal budget spent!

I'm fairly confident of the way the case is right now, and wanted to post here for some inputs on what I can do to make it better, to make it smaller and more efficient!

So what are the constraints here?

Components!

- CPU - i5 4460
- MOBO - Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H matx
- GPU - PNY GTX 970 (reference design)
- HDD - 3.5" 2TB, 2.5" 250GB SSD
- PSU - Cougar 550w ATX

Here is the thing... I was designing cases with 4-5L in mind, to which I would have to change basically every component, I was even thinking of doing custom watercooling loops... however reality has dawned me that sincerely for now I dont need a new pc, and just need that space back!

The design is for a vertical case... I know its not the most efficient layout, given that we need space for cables, and for the vents... However in my case the space that is at a premium is the horizontal one, not the vertical, aside that I have always been in love with such designs.

I thought a mix of industrial with minimalist would be good, and thus I have used everything to be as functional as possible in the case.

The side is even more so

and the back shows that the feet are the front of the case and the vent entry....

Well as is usual in such design I have placed 2x 120mm fans on the bottom to create a tunnel effect, however I'm still debating on how many fans I should place there, with a minimal change I can put 6x 80mm fans, however I'm still searching on how loud that would be.

Which leads me to the exit of the air....

Anyway here is the internal layout as it is now..

The storage would be attached to the back of the case, with a L bracket, I thought of putting a motherboard tray in there, however I have opted in the end to do without it and use a longer riser to accommodate the storage there.

The layout itself is very common. As can be seen...

And I have put the power button where it is due to it also helping support the weight of the psu, however, I'm currently tending to move it to the side of the case, it would still be used that way, however I would have a clear front panel.

The bend radius is taken into account, and I have thus steered clear to smash any components against the front panel corners, and acrylic can do a very tight bend radius.

In the end the part count is going to be very low for the case

Parts

- 3x Acrylic panels of 5mm and 1x of 8mm which is going to be the top of the case, the extra thickness is due to it supporting the weight of the PSU.
- 20x L brackets, and 20x screws, 12x for the panels to be together and the others are for the storage, which is going to receive dampening from rubber fittings
- 1x power button

Measurements!

This is a SFF forum! We have to know the size! 360mm (H), 190mm (D), 269mm (L) Vol = 18,3L

I'm really open to suggestions on what can be improved in this case!

Here is what I'm trying to do away with!

and here is the giant stuff occupying all that space!

Really appreciate any help!

 

[ElinaNguyen]

Very interesting design

 

[iFreilicht]

I like the button in the exact middle in the front. It's unusual to a see a case like that, and it's already a very monolithic design. Not having anything might make it look too empty.

 

[Thehack]

You have some good ideas here. It's a very tried and true design except stood up straight and you identified it to be relevant for your needs.

What I recommend is that you mount the 3.5" drive on where the last PCIe slot is. This is empty space that is unused. This also allows you to keep the motherboard closer the acrylic panel, which puts less stress on it.

The space in front of the PSU can also be used to have 2.5" drives.

If you make those adjustments, you can reduce the volume by 1-2L!

 

[Karamazovmm]

Very interesting design

Thank you very much!

I like the button in the exact middle in the front. It's unusual to a see a case like that, and it's already a very monolithic design. Not having anything might make it look too empty.

I agree with you... however I have moved the button now to the top and refined the case a bit more... yeah..

To fill the front void? Im thinking about drawing something, my gf is quite a talented artist.. and I was thinking to ask her to draw something on it

You have some good ideas here. It's a very tried and true design except stood up straight and you identified it to be relevant for your needs.

What I recommend is that you mount the 3.5" drive on where the last PCIe slot is. This is empty space that is unused. This also allows you to keep the motherboard closer the acrylic panel, which puts less stress on it.

The space in front of the PSU can also be used to have 2.5" drives.

If you make those adjustments, you can reduce the volume by 1-2L!

Thanks for the comment!

I followed what you said regarding the drives and indeed the size shrank considerably, we lost more than 2L there. Its still a sizable case, Im not going to sugar coat it, its simple as that, however where I live we usually have temps of 34c/93F during the summer, spring and autumn, during winter its much more comfortable and doesnt feel like the life of you is being ripped out, aka 10c/50F

And thus my focus on cooling, it has to work and has to be more than needed.

Here are some pics of the redesign of the case.

I still focused on easy access to components... Here you can see the new addition to the case, its a new plate at the top of the case, given its existence I have decided to put a IO access there.

Hope you like it!

And here is how the front has changed, not much... however I have rounded all the corners a bit, the bend isnt 90 degrees anymore and I feel it looks much better this way

this is now the redesigned back, as you can see here there are some changes here, the bend is also applied to the back plate, and its still quite easy to service the case, since basically everything is going to be assembled in the back plate and the back IO

And here is the new layout of the parts.

Im still thinking on how Im going to jam those 2 there.

Given the new position of the HDD, Im going to create a drive cage for it and use the screws already in place to secure it to the case

Thanks for all the feedback, I really appreciate all input!

EDIT: here is the bracket and the easy of access to the components

 

[iFreilicht]

Looks like it will be quite tedious to plug anything into the PC, but the general layout I do like.

Maybe make the top detachable easier?

 

[Karamazovmm]

Looks like it will be quite tedious to plug anything into the PC, but the general layout I do like.

Maybe make the top detachable easier?

Rest assured the top is quite easily removable, Im thinking on using a hinge mechanism on the the front, aka, where all the buttons are, Im still thinking on easy of access to the components.

At first I merely pictured simply on resting the top on the screws that are there...

However as you saw my house is in a dusty environment, I live in downtown São Paulo, near 3 major freeways, and have cats. Basically I vacuum, and look whos back! Dust.....

And that made me think that a more fixed structure would be beneficial, and that is one of the things that made me think of this design, the only place for the dust to come is from below, and im going to put a couple of filters there.

Sorry that i didnt put those design tid bits there, am still terrible at using sketch up

 

[buLL]

Dude, a chinese friend of mine did a very similar design case to yours. Check out his Chiphell thread: https://chiphell.com/thread-1333320-1-1.html

Maybe you can get some ideas from his build log. I can give you his Skype too if you want. Cheers

 

[Karamazovmm]

Dude, a chinese friend of mine did a very similar design case to yours. Check out his Chiphell thread: https://chiphell.com/thread-1333320-1-1.html

Maybe you can get some ideas from his build log. I can give you his Skype too if you want. Cheers

its a very interesting case! Thanks!

those doors make the case really come together, and i like that its also very minimalist and albeit on the sportive side, with those frame cutouts and the way that the doors are more like falcon doors

 

[Biowarejak]

Honestly this thing is gorgeous! Might not be everyone's cup of tea but I love the new corner designs and the industrial aspect of those screws sticking out.

 

[Karamazovmm]

Honestly this thing is gorgeous! Might not be everyone's cup of tea but I love the new corner designs and the industrial aspect of those screws sticking out.

Thanks man! I really prefer designs these way, that are cleaner and more organic. The industrial side I think it adds more character to it, it kind off let the structure be known, you can see what makes think tick

for example, this kind off structure always bring me the "damn thats the right way to do things"

And you are still the wizard of the custom rads!

Updates, I have been on the phone with several manufacturers that could build this, so far I have 15 no, 3 I need more drawings and info, with 2 budgets so far.

I find it strange that those companies arent willing to do this, there are only 2 bends and basically I went for the ones that can laser cut and are able to bend acrylic.

Manufacturing issues aside, I have found the button that I want, however Im still having issues with the I/O panel, if anyone has any recommendations on that please shoot it out, because Im in dire need.

I couldnt find a place here that would sell anything that wasnt at least several years old and used. I have tried some case replacement parts, but they dont deliver in Brazil, so far I saw from major manufacturers.

Ebay so far has proven to be outrageously expensive, with those front panels costing U$50+

 

[Biowarejak]

I agree, seeing things like that just really shows you the artistic side of functional design. It's hard to pull off, but when you do, the results speak for themselves.

I'm actually rather surprised at how low your hit-rate with the manufactures has been, hope that's not just inexperience on my part. As for the front panel IO you might have to make your own with extension cables and pin connectors, it's a pain but its possible if you can't find reasonably priced front IO configurations available.

PS. Thanks for the comment about the radiator, I sense a new title in the near future! ^.^

 

[Karamazovmm]

I agree, seeing things like that just really shows you the artistic side of functional design. It's hard to pull off, but when you do, the results speak for themselves.

I'm actually rather surprised at how low your hit-rate with the manufactures has been, hope that's not just inexperience on my part. As for the front panel IO you might have to make your own with extension cables and pin connectors, it's a pain but its possible if you can't find reasonably priced front IO configurations available.

PS. Thanks for the comment about the radiator, I sense a new title in the near future! ^.^

I too found it very strange that they didnt want to close the deal.

The design itself is very simple and it should be fairly easy with a laser cutter, the most difficult part which is the top, is one of the cheapest parts that I got a quote on (R$40 = U$12,69), ah well....

Well its a possibility to make the cables myself, I saw some shops that have the connectors (except the 20pin), I have soldered 3 times in my life with my grandpa and thus Im not the most confident nor skilled person, and I have a soldering gun, instead of a soldering iron, its not for such a delicate job as this...

As usual Im open to see where it gets me, well see what I can scrounge up.

Oh! And here is a picture of a case that Im designing for mitx:

Its called Valkyrie 7 or V7 (possible name change pending)

- Size 7L
- SFX PSU
- mITX
- 4x 2,5" 7mm
- GPU up to 10,5"
- 2x 92mm slim fans

Imagine an air tunnel on a DAN A4 case size, to give it a silent and robust cooling, with easy of access to the I/O and great serviceability, the way that the chassis is going to open up for you to work on it is just going to be great. If you serviced notebooks from the elitebook line, you know what I want to create.

On and sorry for the image quality on this one, Im on my MBP 13

 

[Soul_Est]

Dude, a chinese friend of mine did a very similar design case to yours. Check out his Chiphell thread: https://chiphell.com/thread-1333320-1-1.html

Maybe you can get some ideas from his build log. I can give you his Skype too if you want. Cheers

It's a small world. I remember chatting with him a while back on GrabCAD about the first design. https://grabcad.com/library/computer-case-design-itx-dc-dc-cd15920-1

 

[Biowarejak]

No worries about the imagine quality, I like the idea! Maybe you can get the acrylic cut and find a way to bend it yourself? I have no idea how hard that would be to do reliably I imagine you could rig something up with a block of wood and a PVC pipe with a diameter the same as your bend, plus a heat gun to soften your material.

A decent $15 soldering iron is worth investing in for those connectors though.

 

[Soul_Est]

I too found it very strange that they didnt want to close the deal.

The design itself is very simple and it should be fairly easy with a laser cutter, the most difficult part which is the top, is one of the cheapest parts that I got a quote on (R$40 = U$12,69), ah well....

Well its a possibility to make the cables myself, I saw some shops that have the connectors (except the 20pin), I have soldered 3 times in my life with my grandpa and thus Im not the most confident nor skilled person, and I have a soldering gun, instead of a soldering iron, its not for such a delicate job as this...

As usual Im open to see where it gets me, well see what I can scrounge up.

Oh! And here is a picture of a case that Im designing for mitx:

Its called Valkyrie 7 or V7 (possible name change pending)

- Size 7L
- SFX PSU
- mITX
- 4x 2,5" 7mm
- GPU up to 10,5"
- 2x 92mm slim fans

--snip--

Imagine an air tunnel on a DAN A4 case size, to give it a silent and robust cooling, with easy of access to the I/O and great serviceability, the way that the chassis is going to open up for you to work on it is just going to be great. If you serviced notebooks from the elitebook line, you know what I want to create.

On and sorry for the image quality on this one, Im on my MBP 13

Image looks good nonetheless. I've only worked on older ThinkPads. Will need to have a look at EliteBook Hardware Maintenance Manuals to see what you need. As for the connectors, you can source whole connector modules from AliExpress:

• USB 2.0
• USB 3.0

For making them yourself, you'll need a decent soldering iron ($15+) or a soldering station ($60+) and either helping hands or QuadHands.

 

[buLL]

@Karamazovmm hey dude, did u manage to find a metal shop to do your project in Brazil? I am still looking for that, but no luck finding it :/

 

[Karamazovmm]

@Karamazovmm hey dude, did u manage to find a metal shop to do your project in Brazil? I am still looking for that, but no luck finding it :/

Im on the same standing as before, they let go the small orders and are only taking the big ones. Same excuse, too expensive, too much retooling time and so forth.

Still looking though, however I was caught on details regarding the case structure

 

[Biowarejak]

Well, if you can't get something made sometimes you just gotta pick up a new skill

 

[buLL]

Well, if you can't get something made sometimes you just gotta pick up a new skill

I dont think skill helps a lot in this case haha. If only aluminum was as easy to deal as acrylic and wood...