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

[grsychckn]

Since I saw your design, I am quite fixed on using this pump and reservoir:

PWM exists to regulate the flow and thus, the noise, so it should be perfectly duable. On top of that, the pump should be close to the exhaust fans, and that means cooling it with a heatsing should be easy enough. The disposition of the motherboard should also help air to not trap the heat behind the back of the board. On the issue of less expansion for cards, I can see creators using a sound card or a video capture card, but not much beyond that, to be honest. SLI/Crossfire is becoming less and less prominent due to cost and performance.

And last but not least: 23 liters. Big for conventional under 10l SFF cases, tiny for something that can run dual radiators and full ATX boards. With the reduction to 23L, what would the external measures of the case be?

That reservoir *should* work with the smaller S700 DDC design but you'd have to fill it while the side panel is off. It would be nice if they added a fill port on the back side as well because they know for fact that there is a required clearance. Then you could connect a remote fill point for ease of access. It is too wide to have a 90 degree elbow on the outer surface with the S700 side panel installed.

The external dimensions (no side panels) of the updated "smaller/DDC" chassis are 15.375" x 5.75" x 16". The width will have to be increased by a few mm to provide some tolerance for 280mm radiators but I also think I can reduce the height from 16" down to about 15.5" so probably still room to reduce the volume by a little.

 

[grsychckn]

BTW, not complaining about anyone here but I find it odd that EKWB will charge $250+ for a 240 pump/res combo but $300 for a custom designed case is viewed as too expensive. /rant

 

[Allhopeforhumanity]

BTW, not complaining about anyone here but I find it odd that EKWB will charge $250+ for a 240 pump/res combo but $300 for a custom designed case is viewed as too expensive. /rant

Custom water cooling is indeed expensive, and usually considered a pretty significant luxury compared to a chassis. The real kicker is when you get a $250 chassis and $300 in custom water cooling components; then you've likely spent more than the vast majority of users spend on their CPU and GPU combined.

In most cases getting a $50 air cooler and a $75 mid tower case is sufficient for most people, but there are those of us who appreciate cramming enthusiast level components into handcrafted tiny packages comprised of high quality materials. *crys in Ncase, SM580, 2x Stecks, 2x Node 202s, and a Mjolnir backing.

 

[Vacceo]

That reservoir *should* work with the smaller S700 DDC design but you'd have to fill it while the side panel is off. It would be nice if they added a fill port on the back side as well because they know for fact that there is a required clearance. Then you could connect a remote fill point for ease of access. It is too wide to have a 90 degree elbow on the outer surface with the S700 side panel installed.

The external dimensions (no side panels) of the updated "smaller/DDC" chassis are 15.375" x 5.75" x 16". The width will have to be increased by a few mm to provide some tolerance for 280mm radiators but I also think I can reduce the height from 16" down to about 15.5" so probably still room to reduce the volume by a little.

There is a catch, good sir: the reservoir also has ports on the bottom side for intake and outake, not just the front.

In this pic you can appreciate those bottom ports a bit better (yes, I know these are the D5 version, the DDC also has them):

Having to fill or drain with the side panel off is, well, not that terrible as you can take the chance to dust off the components. It is true, however, that a fillport also helps bleeding the air out of the loop.

BTW, less than 15cm wide!!!! I´m drolling right now.

Custom water cooling is indeed expensive, and usually considered a pretty significant luxury compared to a chassis. The real kicker is when you get a $250 chassis and $300 in custom water cooling components; then you've likely spent more than the vast majority of users spend on their CPU and GPU combined.

In most cases getting a $50 air cooler and a $75 mid tower case is sufficient for most people, but there are those of us who appreciate cramming enthusiast level components into handcrafted tiny packages comprised of high quality materials. *crys in Ncase, SM580, 2x Stecks, 2x Node 202s, and a Mjolnir backing.

I was introduced to watercooling more than a decade ago by a graphic artist and animator. He still runs furnace-level setups (first time I saw an SLI) and they were quiet as a whisper even under heavy load. That got me sold. Yes, it´s expensive. Yes, you don´t have to watercool today for quiet peformance. Yes, most of the time it´s an excuse to make the RBG look like the Enterpise. But it´s damn amazing to build a loop.

BTW, not complaining about anyone here but I find it odd that EKWB will charge $250+ for a 240 pump/res combo but $300 for a custom designed case is viewed as too expensive. /rant

Materials may not be horrendosly expensive but the amount of design, numbers, thought and all the previous knowledge to make a case that is almost artisan work exist, are well worth it IMO.

I have a thing for industrial design, it is something I absolutely love, so I see it as owning a piece of art.

 

[Vacceo]

BTW, not complaining about anyone here but I find it odd that EKWB will charge $250+ for a 240 pump/res combo but $300 for a custom designed case is viewed as too expensive. /rant

 

[Allhopeforhumanity]

I was introduced to watercooling more than a decade ago by a graphic artist and animator. He still runs furnace-level setups (first time I saw an SLI) and they were quiet as a whisper even under heavy load. That got me sold. Yes, it´s expensive. Yes, you don´t have to watercool today for quiet peformance. Yes, most of the time it´s an excuse to make the RBG look like the Enterpise. But it´s damn amazing to build a loop.

I totally understand, built my first watercooling rig when I went off to university right at the advent of bitcoin to mine in the dorms on the uni's dime before they wised up to block the protocol. Burned out the VRM on the GPUs (who would have guessed that they needed cooling too?), and ended up trading my 100 coins when they plateaued around $20/coin for a new rig when I got out of the game. In hind sight, not my wisest long term financial decision, but definitely learned a lot about water cooling.

have a thing for industrial design, it is something I absolutely love, so I see it as owning a piece of art.

I'm with you there too, a large reason why I backed the mjornir. I do a lot of industrial design/analysis for work these days, so it's definitely lead to a heightened appreciation of high quality alloys and tight tolerances.

 

[Kit]

there are d5 versions of flat reservoirs too, this might allow you to reduce volume while retaining flow/reliability

EK-Quantum Kinetic FLT 240 D5 PWM D-RGB - Plexi

All new Flat (FLT) series EK-Quantum Kinetic FLT D5 pump-reservoir units! The new Kinetic combo units are part of the EK Quantum Line of products and come with sophisticated addressable D-RGB lighting implementation and a genuine D5 pump! Each unit is featuring standard 120mm fan mounting holes...

www.ekwb.com

 

[Vacceo]

there are d5 versions of flat reservoirs too, this might allow you to reduce volume while retaining flow/reliability

EK-Quantum Kinetic FLT 240 D5 PWM D-RGB - Plexi

All new Flat (FLT) series EK-Quantum Kinetic FLT D5 pump-reservoir units! The new Kinetic combo units are part of the EK Quantum Line of products and come with sophisticated addressable D-RGB lighting implementation and a genuine D5 pump! Each unit is featuring standard 120mm fan mounting holes...

www.ekwb.com

Initially I thought that too, but the measures don´t add up in certain configurations; let me explain: the flat reservoir with a D5 pump is around 88mm deep (counting the mounting brackets). That depth is equivalent to more than an ATX PSS (they´re 83,2 mm if I remember correctly). The idea to reduce volume in the case to 23l is going from ATX to SFX/SFX-L PSU´s as those are 63mm deep.

That said, you can use an EK flat reservoir and pump with a DDC, as those are 51mm deep, making them no biger than the psu and thus, they can fit above it and even allow some slack for fittings.

Hypothetically, it would be possible to comfortably use a D5 and an SFX PSU, but the most eficient way would be turning the mounting plate for the motherboard into a distro plate and that can increase prices pehaps way beyond the designer´s initial idea (look at Singularity Computers´ prices). It would be beyond amazing, and incredibly convenient to build a loop, though.

 

[duynguyenle]

there are d5 versions of flat reservoirs too, this might allow you to reduce volume while retaining flow/reliability

EK-Quantum Kinetic FLT 240 D5 PWM D-RGB - Plexi

All new Flat (FLT) series EK-Quantum Kinetic FLT D5 pump-reservoir units! The new Kinetic combo units are part of the EK Quantum Line of products and come with sophisticated addressable D-RGB lighting implementation and a genuine D5 pump! Each unit is featuring standard 120mm fan mounting holes...

www.ekwb.com

No you can't, the D5 version of this is far too deep (almost 90mm including mounts). The whole point of using a DDC is to reduce the required depth andreduce overall case volume. The D5 flat reservoir wouldn't fit into the depth available.

 

[Kit]

Initially I thought that too, but the measures don´t add up in certain configurations; let me explain: the flat reservoir with a D5 pump is around 88mm deep (counting the mounting brackets). That depth is equivalent to more than an ATX PSS (they´re 83,2 mm if I remember correctly). The idea to reduce volume in the case to 23l is going from ATX to SFX/SFX-L PSU´s as those are 63mm deep.

That said, you can use an EK flat reservoir and pump with a DDC, as those are 51mm deep, making them no biger than the psu and thus, they can fit above it and even allow some slack for fittings.

Hypothetically, it would be possible to comfortably use a D5 and an SFX PSU, but the most eficient way would be turning the mounting plate for the motherboard into a distro plate and that can increase prices pehaps way beyond the designer´s initial idea (look at Singularity Computers´ prices). It would be beyond amazing, and incredibly convenient to build a loop, though.

I see, thanks for explaining

 

[grsychckn]

BTW, I bought one of those EK housing/reservoirs along with another 240mm one from E-bay. I want to get a small sample of them so I can at least ensure some level of compatibility. Looks like I'll be able to make it work with the DDC, but not with the D5 right now. If I need to make the design wider in the future, I'll try to squeeze in the D5.

 

[Vacceo]

EK has just released a new pump/res combo in the traditional cylindrical design (VTX). Hopefully it will be a true upgrade over a DDC. Even if the pump keeps the flow rate and head pressure but reduces the noise, I´d be more than happy. With this new pump it seems there is no need for a heatsink. Now we just need that pump to be by itselft so we could use it on different reservoirs.

At any rate, I´ll love to see how the flt reservoir fits in this case and I really hope the design is going forward as nice as it is coming along.

 

[Vacceo]

grsychckn, do you have any news or evil plots on the design desk so far?

 

[grsychckn]

grsychckn, do you have any news or evil plots on the design desk so far?

Unfortunately, no news right now. Just trying to get as prepared as possible for the S402. It's a huge undertaking to get everything done so I can sell them.

Dropping in a render to include the EKWB reservoir. I have a few different ideas on mounting that I need to experiment with. I also don't like how close the radiator inlets are from the front to the top. I may have to increase a dimension to ensure users have clearance to work around the potential interference caused by having them so close (or only support one of the radiators in an inverted orientation compared to the renders).

 

[Allhopeforhumanity]

Far right RAM slot isn't red 4/10. Otherwise looks good.

Remind me what the CPU height clearance is? I flipped back into the thread but didn't see it with the new layout. My curiosity is whether Wahaha's or Nouvolo's CPU block/pump combos might fit.

 

[grsychckn]

Far right RAM slot isn't red 4/10. Otherwise looks good.

Remind me what the CPU height clearance is? I flipped back into the thread but didn't see it with the new layout. My curiosity is whether Wahaha's or Nouvolo's CPU block/pump combos might fit.

The clearance is going to be around 60mm. My mainboard location is not set just yet as I'm playing with the space behind it so I can maximize the mounting area and try to include some sort of cable management.

 

[Allhopeforhumanity]

The clearance is going to be around 60mm. My mainboard location is not set just yet as I'm playing with the space behind it so I can maximize the mounting area and try to include some sort of cable management.

Oh nice, I think that Nuovolo is aiming for <60mm to fit the Steck, and Waahaha's looks to be around 48mm without fittings. Both could be a good solution in the future to minimize the tubing hassle of a rear mounted pump/rez, and allow you to load up on drive space.

 

[Vacceo]

Unfortunately, no news right now. Just trying to get as prepared as possible for the S402. It's a huge undertaking to get everything done so I can sell them.

Dropping in a render to include the EKWB reservoir. I have a few different ideas on mounting that I need to experiment with. I also don't like how close the radiator inlets are from the front to the top. I may have to increase a dimension to ensure users have clearance to work around the potential interference caused by having them so close (or only support one of the radiators in an inverted orientation compared to the renders).

View attachment 578
View attachment 579

I can only wish you the best on the release of the S402. First of all because you have worked a lot towards that release, and second, because that will be experience and know how that will transfer to the S700.

Perhaps the gap between radiators could be used for a front IO for the power, reset, usb´s and so on (I´d make it modular, so in the future you could upgrade to USB 4.0 and so on, when you release this case I intend to use it for years to come and hopefully, in evolving setups). For the cable management, perhaps something as simple as a shroud and cuttouts could do the trick. The res and pump on the back looks fantastic, by the way. Have you also toyed with mesh instead of cut out grills?

On the other hand, there is a quite a nice amoun of space between the front pannel and the motherboard tray so thicker than 30mm radiators could be a thing...

 

[grsychckn]

I can only wish you the best on the release of the S402. First of all because you have worked a lot towards that release, and second, because that will be experience and know how that will transfer to the S700.

Perhaps the gap between radiators could be used for a front IO for the power, reset, usb´s and so on (I´d make it modular, so in the future you could upgrade to USB 4.0 and so on, when you release this case I intend to use it for years to come and hopefully, in evolving setups). For the cable management, perhaps something as simple as a shroud and cuttouts could do the trick. The res and pump on the back looks fantastic, by the way. Have you also toyed with mesh instead of cut out grills?

On the other hand, there is a quite a nice amoun of space between the front pannel and the motherboard tray so thicker than 30mm radiators could be a thing...

Yes on the front gap between the radiators. I'm even playing with the idea of allowing a stack of 2.5" drives to be installed up there. The cable routing would be difficult, but to be able to house up to 6 x 2.5" drives in that spot would be a huge win for someone I'm sure. However, at that point there may be a desire to add a RAID adapter as a second PCIe device. Regardless, this is the least of my concerns right now as I'm primarily stuck trying to figure out how to reinforce the top corner of the mainboard tray. As it stands, it's going to be a little wobbly and I'd like to attach it to one side of the chassis just to add some support. The challenge is going to be strengthening it without introducing an impedance to building/aesthetics.

Edit: This is the kind of thing my brain needs to soak on for a while and then suddenly I know what to do.

 

[Vacceo]

Yes on the front gap between the radiators. I'm even playing with the idea of allowing a stack of 2.5" drives to be installed up there. The cable routing would be difficult, but to be able to house up to 6 x 2.5" drives in that spot would be a huge win for someone I'm sure. However, at that point there may be a desire to add a RAID adapter as a second PCIe device. Regardless, this is the least of my concerns right now as I'm primarily stuck trying to figure out how to reinforce the top corner of the mainboard tray. As it stands, it's going to be a little wobbly and I'd like to attach it to one side of the chassis just to add some support. The challenge is going to be strengthening it without introducing an impedance to building/aesthetics.

Edit: This is the kind of thing my brain needs to soak on for a while and then suddenly I know what to do.

Do you see why I said what I said about price? I teach art, and this is art in the making.