Production S700: Salvo Studios <23L ATX Steel Watercooled Unibody Chassis

[Qzrx]

Opened up the S600 & S700 models today for the first time in a while and wanted to ask for some feedback on the following questions:

1. What hardware would you plan to use in the S700? (Specifically, what motherboard/CPU/GPU/Storage)

Gigabyte x570 AORUS ITX, 3900X, EVGA 2080ti BLACK (2-slot, watercooled), NVME-only for storage

2. Would an SFX PSU be sufficient? If not, what wattage would you target?

Yes, ≥650W

3. Are you planning on watercooling?
--3a. What radiator compatibility would you need?
--3b. Would you be interested in using an air-cooled GPU and watercooled CPU configuration?

Yes
Anything yielding at least at least 57,000mm^2 of radiator space (4x120 or 3x140 in any configuration of radiators)
No, I'm looking for complete silence

4. Would you rather have the option of custom Acrylic side panels (your logo etched with custom vent patterns), or solid tempered glass? (Tempered Glass would require watercooling CPU/GPU, not sure how I'd manage the PSU)

No preference

5. What price point are you targeting?

Whatever accomplishes the above. I haven't found a case yet besides the Cerberus that can, and it's aesthetics are lacking to me.

 

[grsychckn]

Ok, I have been playing around with the design and have come up with a new spec for the S700. It is now significantly larger than my initial design because I can't cram everything in that people want to use (especially for watercooling setups). This is going to be primarily a watercooling design. It will support a front radiator up to a triple-120mm (360mm) or dual-140mm (280mm) radiator. On the side, it will support at dual-120mm (240mm) radiator. Total depth available for the front raidator + fan combo is 65mm for the 360 radiator and 120mm for the 240mm. The side 2x120mm (240mm) radiator will be sandwiched in between the outer panel and the mounting surface which is 89mm (remember to leave space for the fans to breathe).

I made the original larger to accommodate the following components:
1. D5 pump + reservoir (been told on the watercooling subreddit that the D5 is superior to the DDC).
2. Supports full-sized ATX. I actually wanted this for myself because now that I have a dual-Naples system, I wanted to build a dual-Rome and I'm going to need more power than the 750W Platinum PSU. My dual-Naples consumes 510W at the wall when under load so I've unhooked the WX9100 for now to keep the power consumption down.
3. More room for the side radiator to breathe.
4. More clearance for the mainboard watercooling hardware.

The following changes I believe were necessary:
1. Flex slot is gone - too expensive to make and no need for PCIe devices on the back side. PCIe devices moved to the mainboard side and allow for 1 x dual-slot or 2 x single-slot devices (SLI watercooled). Now that the PCIe devices are mainboard side, extender/riser cables will be less expensive and more reliable. No need to route them underneath the mainboard and introduce interference.
2. Flex ATX PSU is gone. Too complicated to have a dual-PSU setup. With the support of the full ATX PSU, extra flex ATX is redundant.
3. No more adjustable front panel. The previous prototypes allow to telescope the front panel in and out based on your mainboard width. There will be a minimum support of a 13" wide mainboard when using 65mm or less depth on the radiator/fans. This is because I want to build my next Supermicro H11DSi-NT system and need 13" support.

More additions I want to make:
1. PSU Shroud to cover help with cable management.
2. Allow for multiple pump/reservoir mounts. This is going to take a long time to figure out.
3. 2.5" and 3.5" disk storage. Most likely, there will be disk mounts where the pump/reservior and additional radiators are located in the renders. I may also add some optional brackets for installing more disks on the mainboard side.
4. I would really like to make a handle for this one. It's going to be extremely heavy when fully built though. I'm guessing around 40-50lbs when fully packed.

Material note:
I made this new revision from scratch because I've learned some better ways to model in Solidworks. On top of that, I wanted to see what a 12 gauge aluminum would look like. It should provide more rigidity than the thinner steel. Especially in the center where my existing prototype is solid but can bow very slightly. I probably will switch back to steel (18/16 gauge) because the corner reliefs will be less noticeable and the edges harder.

Edit: I forgot to mention that the volume is now 28L using outer most dimensions. Current Dimensions are: 15.25" x 7.25" x 15.75" (387mm x 400mm x 184mm).

 

[Vacceo]

When I saw the specs all I could think was "capacity to use a HWL GTS triple and a GTX dual". That is a serious amount of cooling, even more so in a relatively compact case. That means there´s even room for overcloking, and not just a light one. For the pump and reservoir, I´m partial to EK flat reservoirs, and in this case it would be easy to fit a double one with relative ease.

On those sizes, the side pannels deserve to be transparent at least on the side of the motherboard (or both with a shroud) because the setting allows to really boast the components. Now that Asus is releasing the Z11, this is the case that puts it to shame.

Also, were will the power swich, USBs and so on be located?

 

[Ariamella]

What's the maximum length of the pump/res combo? Will there be a glass side panel?

 

[grsychckn]

On those sizes, the side pannels deserve to be transparent at least on the side of the motherboard (or both with a shroud) because the setting allows to really boast the components. Now that Asus is releasing the Z11, this is the case that puts it to shame.

Also, were will the power swich, USBs and so on be located?

First, thank you for the kind words. Second, sorry for the delay in responding.

I'm still trying to work out how to manage the side panels. If I make this a water-cooled only chassis this is made easier by trying to find a source for tempered glass. If there is any need for side ventilation though, it will have to be done with acrylic panels I can cut at home. I'm currently working on maintenance for my laser cutter and have replaced the mirrors and focus lens but now I have to re-calibrate it all which is taking a lot of time. Back to addressing your concern though: I am toying with the idea of several removable panels per side rather than one large panel. It would make it more flexible in terms of component support but I've not really gotten to the point of noodling through this challenge.

As for the USB/power: I'm going to try a few different locations and try to present two or three options to get some feedback on. I'd like the power/reset buttons on the front face with maybe a dual-USB Type A cable on the top but again, I have to play with this to see how I like it.

 

[grsychckn]

What's the maximum length of the pump/res combo? Will there be a glass side panel?

The maximum for the pump/res combo in the rendered position would be around 240-280mm. I'm thinking I'd like to support a vertical mount just behind the ATX PSU which would grant about 140-150mm vertical clearance. This would be handy for opening up the top chamber to 3.5" disks or maybe even another radiator.

 

[Retrias]

Will it support aio ? I am using the ROG impact so larger custom cases like these appeal to me

 

[grsychckn]

Will it support aio ? I am using the ROG impact so larger custom cases like these appeal to me

I'm not quite sure on the AIO support just yet. I'm not even sure on the 360mm support in general. They're all a little different in their length. I'm going to have to make the design a little bit larger to allow for up to 400mm total length radiators to be supported. I decided this time to make a mounting bracket for the 360 and 280 radiators so that I don't have to make the front vent pattern work with both. Along with that, I'm going to have to allow users to vertically adjust where the radiators sit because they are all a bit different - but I do have an idea how I can achieve this. I was able to work on this a little more today but didn't get much done besides some of the rear cutouts for the PSU/PCIe. When I make a little more progress I'll update here.

 

[Vacceo]

I'm not quite sure on the AIO support just yet. I'm not even sure on the 360mm support in general. They're all a little different in their length. I'm going to have to make the design a little bit larger to allow for up to 400mm total length radiators to be supported. I decided this time to make a mounting bracket for the 360 and 280 radiators so that I don't have to make the front vent pattern work with both. Along with that, I'm going to have to allow users to vertically adjust where the radiators sit because they are all a bit different - but I do have an idea how I can achieve this. I was able to work on this a little more today but didn't get much done besides some of the rear cutouts for the PSU/PCIe. When I make a little more progress I'll update here.

Would the changes need a growth in thickness? I´m simply asking, as petty as this may sound, because a thinner case is far easier to handle under a desk.

In terms of cooling, a dual 280, even with standard (or at least, not thick) radiators is not small at all.

 

[grsychckn]

Would the changes need a growth in thickness? I´m simply asking, as petty as this may sound, because a thinner case is far easier to handle under a desk.

In terms of cooling, a dual 280, even with standard (or at least, not thick) radiators is not small at all.

No, it would not require a change in width (if that's what you mean by thickness). I'm thinking it would add some mm to the height. Right now, the height of the front panel allows for a ~395mm-length Radiator. I would need to increase that to support more 360mm radiators as they all vary in height and most are around 398-405mm.

The other option would be to simply not support 360mm radiators but then there is a lot of wasted space up by the front panel. But I could leverage some of that for front panel buttons/USB connections/etc. Let me know what you think of a 280mm support instead of 360mm.

 

[Vacceo]

No, it would not require a change in width (if that's what you mean by thickness). I'm thinking it would add some mm to the height. Right now, the height of the front panel allows for a ~395mm-length Radiator. I would need to increase that to support more 360mm radiators as they all vary in height and most are around 398-405mm.

The other option would be to simply not support 360mm radiators but then there is a lot of wasted space up by the front panel. But I could leverage some of that for front panel buttons/USB connections/etc. Let me know what you think of a 280mm support instead of 360mm.

Height, personally, if you want to design a skyscraper, go for it. ? Way to smash the Evolv Shift X with an actually practical design, not just shiny.

280 rads do not have a performance that, that different from a 360 in static terms. The difference is not so much in the radiator but on the fans. Usually, 140mm fans do not run as fast as 120´s (Noctua is a good example) so cooling capacity is a bit worse for starters, but also scales a bit worse too as you have less total airflow at, typically, not so many RPM´s by design. The trade off? Less noise.

However, with the design you have provided, it wouldn´t be just a single 280, but two. How to offset that? Well, with a thicker radiator, but that would increase the depth of the case. Going from a 360 to a 280 reduces the height, but that reduction could go to the depth ultimately keeping the total volume the same.

Wasted space up top? Well, you can always add a 5,25 drive for optical drives, ssd´s/mechanical drives, reservoirs/pumps (sure, they feel outdated but they work just fine)...

 

[grsychckn]

Just to offer up what I've been working on lately. I've fit a slim-dvd drive into the design, but all of this is very early in design so I likely will change it.

Edit: I've also thought about adding a cable "channel/baffle" that should allow for some level of cable management. I've got to see just how large I can make it though and the best area to route it but I'm hoping to have an initial attempt completed for that next week.

 

[Vacceo]

Just to offer up what I've been working on lately. I've fit a slim-dvd drive into the design, but all of this is very early in design so I likely will change it.

Edit: I've also thought about adding a cable "channel/baffle" that should allow for some level of cable management. I've got to see just how large I can make it though and the best area to route it but I'm hoping to have an initial attempt completed for that next week.

Is the piece on the lower front part a tray for an optical drive? ??????

 

[grsychckn]

Is the piece on the lower front part a tray for an optical drive? ??????

Yep - 9.5mm slim drive bay. I have to create a mount for it, but hopefully that won't be too hard.

 

[grsychckn]

However, with the design you have provided, it wouldn´t be just a single 280, but two.

Just for clarification: The front panel can currently hold 1x360mm or 1x280mm radiator. The side radiator will be limited to 1x240mm at most. If a 140x280mm radiator were to be used on the side panel, I'd have to both increase the height and length of the chassis. I might play around with this, but the increased width will make the plumbing much more difficult to/from the pump and the front radiator. I'll play around with it though and update as I make decisions.

 

[Vacceo]

This forum offers several examples of cooling a poweful CPU and GPU with a single 240mm rad. Double and more than double that amount should allow to even overclock very demmanding hardware, so it's all good.

 

[grsychckn]

This forum offers several examples of cooling a poweful CPU and GPU with a single 240mm rad. Double and more than double that amount should allow to even overclock very demmanding hardware, so it's all good.

Right now I'm playing with a different design that supports 2x280mm radiators. With this design I won't support a 360 or 240 but from what I've read, having a 280 is much more desirable because of the lower fan noise anyway. Temps may be slightly higher but with two radiators I feel that mitigates the concern for losing fan RPM/CFM.

This new design has potential to be much less expensive to produce because there aren't 3 complicated pieces to bend out just to make the chassis. I'm going to continue working on it today and should have some renders Monday if the idea pans out.

 

[Vacceo]

So the design would push a 280mm on the front and a 240mm on the side. That is more than capable to keep a good temperature on a full loop, even including the motherboard VRM´s.

If you want the extra punch in temperatures, you can also exchange lenght of a radiator for thickness. The good thing about some 140mm fans is that you get better static pressure than their 120 counterparts in the same manufacturer (EK for example), thus being able to pass better on thicker radiators.

 

[grsychckn]

So the design would push a 280mm on the front and a 240mm on the side. That is more than capable to keep a good temperature on a full loop, even including the motherboard VRM´s.

If you want the extra punch in temperatures, you can also exchange lenght of a radiator for thickness. The good thing about some 140mm fans is that you get better static pressure than their 120 counterparts in the same manufacturer (EK for example), thus being able to pass better on thicker radiators.

I've actually shuffled the two radiators such that one is front and the other on top. I figure this provides a much better airflow than the original design, but presents new challenges like how ensure the mainboard is mounted solidly.

 

[duynguyenle]

In terms of surface area I think a 360mm radiator is slightly ahead of a 280 (all else being equal of course, in reality fin density and arrangement really comes into play).

As for the revised arrangement compared to the S700 prototype, I didn't really like it at first but I think it's starting to grow on me. My personal preference for this would be to have a 360mm radiator at the front rather than a 280mm. I think the narrower size should leave a bit extra room on the front of the case, potentially allowing a front IO panel? I know a lot of SFF cases eschews any front IO at all in the name of making the front panel clean and aesthetically uncluttered, but I really appreciate the utility of having easily accessible USB ports (even more relevant in a slightly bigger case like this, shifting a heavy watercooled rig around just so I can reach the ports on the back is a bit tedious).

I have a few suggestions/criticism of the latest batch of renders, mainly to do with the top panel, right now the whole of the top panel is a flat blank sheet. I don't think the rear of the case has enough clearance for an exhaust fan like conventional tower cases, so without anywhere for the heat to go, I think the motherboard VRMs will cook themselves slowly. Some perforations will be really helpful here I think (perhaps a bracket to fit a slim 120mm fan sucking air in from the side panel and blowing it straight towards the CPU socket? Or maybe the whole motherboard could be moved vertically downward enough for a couple of 80 or 92mm fans to fit at the top, extracting hot air and blow it out of the top panel (it seems like there's some wiggle room there since the motherboard is a ways away from the bottom floor of the case)

There's a decent amount of empty space directly above where the graphics card is mounted right now, is there enough room for another single-slot PCIe mount? Could potentially be useful for a high speed NIC card or something like that (or a sound card or capture card or something like that)