Concept PROTOCASE - 15.37L ATX - 8 PCIe slots (NV-Link friendly)

DiamondATX

Cable Smoosher
Original poster
Dec 29, 2018
8
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UPDATE for 01/01/19
See Post 11... for revision details.
I will try to keep one picture of the latest revision at the very top of this post.


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Hello, this is my first time posting here. I was playing around with Protocase software. This is a different take on the 5 sided enclosure with removable lid (lid is actually the front) Here is what I drew up.

  • Overall size: 14"x12"x6" Weight is around 4lbs
  • Material: 2.31mm aluminum
  • Supports only ATX motherboards and ATX power supplies
  • Supports only low profile CPU cooling or Small AIO
  • SSDs and HDDs can be mounted on the floor of the case
  • Supports dual NV-Link Graphics cards up to 298mm. Compatible with cards that occupy 2.5 pci express slots each.
I know, it would be cumbersome to build. The goal here is ATX support with high wattage power supplies required to support dual RTX2080TIs. The entire design revolves around the dual card concept, hence the missing PCI cutouts.

Just getting people's thoughts on this...










 
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DiamondATX

Cable Smoosher
Original poster
Dec 29, 2018
8
7
Update: Case has been redesigned to be made from 3.26mm aluminum and has been resized to be 13.75 x 11.75 x 6. A volume of 16.52L was a bit sloppy. New volume is 15.9L. An ATX case larger than 16L clearly needs to do some cardio.

Update: So 15.9L didnt happen. haha, see update further down.
Update: Um actually, it did.... see post 11
 
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Arboreal

King of Cable Management
Silver Supporter
Oct 11, 2015
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An ATX case larger than 16L clearly needs to do some cardio.

Brilliant way of expressing the SFF ethic!! XD
16L is impressive to say the least, I wouldn't usually see anything ATX based as 'properly' SFF, as there's a lot of space needed.
This is epic, AND smaller than an mATX Cerberus!
 
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DiamondATX

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Dec 29, 2018
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UPDATE:
  • Resized to 13.5" x 11.628" x 6.25" (16.08L)
  • 3.26mm aluminum! (about 7lbs)
  • "Swiss Cheese" pattern on motherboard tray was removed (nobody liked it)
  • Shape of cutout revised for structural rigidity and improved aesthetics (yes, the cutout is needed as the side panels are welded on).
  • SSD trays added to front cover and positioned between cards
  • Max video card length is now 290mm




 
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VELKASE Michael

King of Cable Management
VELKASE
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Oct 7, 2018
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I like how you approached this from the minimum size perspective. Is there any reason why you excluded some of the expansion slots?
 

DiamondATX

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Original poster
Dec 29, 2018
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Brilliant way of expressing the SFF ethic!! XD
16L is impressive to say the least, I wouldn't usually see anything ATX based as 'properly' SFF, as there's a lot of space needed.
This is epic, AND smaller than an mATX Cerberus!
Thanks for the kind remarks. My idea was to design a case that knows what it wants to be from the get-go.

As someone who works (and games) at a bezel corrected resolution of 7480 x 2560 @75hz, the graphics cards have always been the bottleneck, not the processor. Hence the reason why I'm not budgeting space for huge AIOs or custom water loops and am instead using the space for GPUs. BTW, setup selfie :D

 
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DiamondATX

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Original poster
Dec 29, 2018
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I like how you approached this from the minimum size perspective. Is there any reason why you excluded some of the expansion slots?
Because I hate the look of unused tabs...they lack purpose..XD

Well, I could put them back in there but it's kind of conter-intuitive to what this case begs to be used for. I'm assuming that the person who loads this case with 2 GPUs (2.7 PCIE slots each) is not going to want anything in between them. Additionally, all new ATX boards seem to be putting graphics in the second PCIe position.

I am aware that mATX boards put PCIe16 in the first position, but as of now I'm choosing not to support mATX with this one. I'm working on a mATX version that is smaller yet. Putting a ITX or mATX board in this case would make its carefully calculated size purposeless (like those unused tabsXD).
 
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VELKASE Michael

King of Cable Management
VELKASE
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Oct 7, 2018
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Because I hate the look of unused tabs...they lack purpose..XD

Well, I could put them back in there but it's kind of conter-intuitive to what this case begs to be used for. I'm assuming that the person who loads this case with 2 GPUs (2.7 PCIE slots each) is not going to want anything in between them. Additionally, all new ATX boards seem to be putting graphics in the second PCIe position.

I am aware that mATX boards put PCIe16 in the first position, but as of now I'm choosing not to support mATX with this one. I'm working on a mATX version that is smaller yet. Putting a ITX or mATX board in this case would make its carefully calculated size purposeless.


If you ever need to make a prototype, feel free to reach out to me too. I can provide prototypes of the same complexity at lower cost.
 

DiamondATX

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Original poster
Dec 29, 2018
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If you ever need to make a prototype, feel free to reach out to me too. I can provide prototypes of the same complexity at lower cost.
Thanks! I will keep working on the design of this case to improve it and then send it off to Protocase for a quote. If you would like to send me a quote as well though it will be appreciated, although please do so through PM. A ballpark figure is sufficient for the time being.
 

DiamondATX

Cable Smoosher
Original poster
Dec 29, 2018
8
7
01-01-19 UPDATE - 15.37L !!
  • 2.06 mm Aluminum (5052).
    • Calculated Weight = 4.006 lbs.
    • Laser Cutting Distance = 491.57"
  • Enclosure resized to 13.5" x 11.581" x 6" (15.37L). Reduction of over 0.71L achieved by using tighter radii in the bends (benefit of using 2 mm aluminum) allowing faces to be shrunk slightly. This also allowed the addition of an 8th PCIe slot.
  • Further small changes to diamond design to provide more structure to the side panel following the decrease in material thickness. This design will be evolving with the project.
  • PCIe openings are back... 8 of them! Some Rizen ATX boards are putting PCIe-16x in positions 1, 3, 5, and 7. (see picture) The 8th PCIe opening would be required if one was to actually populate the 7th slot with a GPU.
  • Supports up to 4 full size GPUs and the largest of ATX power supplies (portable quad GPU mining?)
  • Max GPU length is now 292 mm (gained 2 mm from the previous revision). However, using GPUs that are closer to reference size will leave room on the front panel for a 240 mm radiator and fans.
  • Different front panels would be available... from minimalist to Swiss-cheese.
  • mATX and mITX boards are now supported with this revision
I need ideas on how to actually mount the PCIe cards. The second picture shows how I would do it but with a L flange welded (or bolted) to the face (not shown in the picture). It might be cleaner to just bend the flange out of the case material, however I'm concerned about the radius that 2 mm aluminum would require. It really should be a very tight bend. A further drop in material thickness is not out of the question. I'm open to ideas.







 
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Tazpr

Master of Cramming
Aug 7, 2018
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Cool design, I really like it with the fully ventilated front.
Any idea when you'll get the case fabricated?
 

enricko7

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jun 12, 2018
95
50


Very cool design. I am a little concerned with your front panel. I feel like you should put at least one other screw halfway along the left and right flanges. Otherwise I might be worried about the front panel bowing out when you install it. If you do that, you could probably also get rid of the fastener on the top and bottom edges.