Received the first part in the mail on Saturday. Unfortunately, it is the rear PCIe bracket so there's not much to look at until I get the rest of the parts. I'm guessing that means I should receive them soon.
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Production S700: Salvo Studios <23L ATX Steel Watercooled Unibody Chassis
- Thread starter grsychckn
- Start date
Received two more parts in the mail but have yet to receive either of the main two parts of the chassis. So far, all I have are some angled brackets so nothing to show. I was hopeful the remaining parts would show up before Christmas but it's seemingly not going to happen. If it does, I'll post some pictures here.
Teaser pics. Unfortunately, I have a bunch of things scheduled for this weekend, but I'm going to try and get a build put in here ASAP.
Thanks. I plan on offering acrylic panels but I'd like to see if I it's possible for me to cut my own steel panels upon request, once I get my plasma cutter operational.
I only had about an hour today to start testing the mounting holes/fasteners and although I found a few problems, nothing so far that would make me think I need a second prototype - yet.
A couple notes:
1. E-ATX/SSI-EEB boards will require the front rad/fan combo to be smaller than 81mm (HL 280GTX shown, 55.7mm thick + Noctua 25mm fans). I'll have to figure out the max depth for these parts once I remove the rad/fans and then re-mount with my H11DSi-NT.
2. The top radiator/fan combo only has 74mm of clearance so the HL 280GTX + Noctua 25mm fans will not fit up top with my current setup in the images above. I'll have to switch the rad and/or the fans to make them fit.
3. The HL radiator mounting holes fit well on all but one hole on both the top and front of the case. I need to review these dimensions.
4. The front panel USB/Audio header doesn't fit great. The holes are correct, but the mounting standoffs were in the wrong spot slightly. I might rethink how this part mounts.
5. Holes for the reservoir mounts needed to be bigger - easy fix.
6. PCIe mount in combination with the Li-Heat riser cables I typically use make the PCIe rear cover plate recessed to the point it needs to be adjusted.
1. E-ATX/SSI-EEB boards will require the front rad/fan combo to be smaller than 81mm (HL 280GTX shown, 55.7mm thick + Noctua 25mm fans). I'll have to figure out the max depth for these parts once I remove the rad/fans and then re-mount with my H11DSi-NT.
2. The top radiator/fan combo only has 74mm of clearance so the HL 280GTX + Noctua 25mm fans will not fit up top with my current setup in the images above. I'll have to switch the rad and/or the fans to make them fit.
3. The HL radiator mounting holes fit well on all but one hole on both the top and front of the case. I need to review these dimensions.
4. The front panel USB/Audio header doesn't fit great. The holes are correct, but the mounting standoffs were in the wrong spot slightly. I might rethink how this part mounts.
5. Holes for the reservoir mounts needed to be bigger - easy fix.
6. PCIe mount in combination with the Li-Heat riser cables I typically use make the PCIe rear cover plate recessed to the point it needs to be adjusted.
I've not made much progress in the last few weeks because I'm waiting on my new radiators to arrive. I'm also trying to decide what GPU to use in my build. I want to be able to water cool the GPU and given the limited options available on the market, I'm looking at possibly swapping out my WX9100 into the new build and replace that in my old S700 build with an older GPU I have on hand.
Regardless, the radiators have been ordered (EKWB Coolstream 280 CE) and should be delivered today. I still need to figure out the plumbing and the tube routes so that I can then buy all the connectors I'll need (going 16mm hard tube just like the previous S700 prototype).
On a side note, I ordered two monoblocks for the H11DSi-NT last year from Hybrid Cooling in France. They won't respond to my requests to know why I haven't received them and the status of the order is "in processing". It seems I've been bamboozled. Instead, I've ordered some standard VRM waterblocks in hopes I can rig something that will work with that board.
My latest concern is the CPU block clearance. I should have more clearance in this version than the last S700 prototype, but I'm not convinced it will be enough for easy routing. Also, the GPU will interfere with any PCIe riser installed in any slot below #1 (while the GPU is mounted to the nearest slot to the motherboard).
Sorry for the delays, but I'm working on 3 different case projects right now and hopefully I'll have something to share regarding the other two soon.
Regardless, the radiators have been ordered (EKWB Coolstream 280 CE) and should be delivered today. I still need to figure out the plumbing and the tube routes so that I can then buy all the connectors I'll need (going 16mm hard tube just like the previous S700 prototype).
On a side note, I ordered two monoblocks for the H11DSi-NT last year from Hybrid Cooling in France. They won't respond to my requests to know why I haven't received them and the status of the order is "in processing". It seems I've been bamboozled. Instead, I've ordered some standard VRM waterblocks in hopes I can rig something that will work with that board.
My latest concern is the CPU block clearance. I should have more clearance in this version than the last S700 prototype, but I'm not convinced it will be enough for easy routing. Also, the GPU will interfere with any PCIe riser installed in any slot below #1 (while the GPU is mounted to the nearest slot to the motherboard).
Sorry for the delays, but I'm working on 3 different case projects right now and hopefully I'll have something to share regarding the other two soon.
Very nice to see the prototype, looking very good with that finish (is it just me or is it more of a matte finish compared to S402?)
Did you manage to fix the issue with motherboard tray flexing due to the unsupported inner corner? I think that was mentioned briefly before
Did you manage to fix the issue with motherboard tray flexing due to the unsupported inner corner? I think that was mentioned briefly before
Thanks! I went back to my previous fabricator whose paint choices and painter are much better quality.
The motherboard tray is very well supported, have no flexing that I can tell. Going to work on it a bit today and try to get the SSI-EEB Supermicro board installed. I finally got the EK radiators so I'm hoping to get a trial fit done soon.
This is brilliant! I've been looking for a 360mm radiator compatible SFF case and if this continues at the rate it is currently going it has amazing cooling potential in such a compact package! Regarding colours, are you considering things like a light gray etc and I hate to rush but when would such a chassis be avaliable?
Thank you! I hope you noticed that the design changed from a single 360mm radiator to 2x280mm some time ago. Just making sure you're caught up with the latest. My post above has pictures of the latest proptotype.
I got the correct radiators in but I've got some other projects that have made a mess of my work area. I also finally got in touch with Hybrid Cooling Mooding and they are sending me my monoblocks for my H11DSI boards. I probably won't be getting those for another month or so - so I can forget having a built system before I make changes to the design. I am going to push hard this week to get the final adjustments made but I'm still worried about a few clearance issues. I want to get them right or there could be a lot of compatibility issues.
Okay, I am wrapping up my changes in the next few days and I will submit a production order by Monday the 8th. I am going to provide pricing info as I see it because I need to get a good idea on how many people are genuinely interested in buying an S700. I will start with my costs.
Costs (Per unit)
Chassis: ~$160-170
PCIe Riser: $20/75 (Gen 3.0/Gen 4.0)
Front Button: $8
Front Panel USB: $10
USB Angle Adapter: $3
Packing/Shipping Materials: $15
Shipping: $25
Acrylic Side Panels: $20
Fasteners: $15
Sub-total: $276-341 (Pre-Tax)
Now, I've made it clear for a long time that I don't view this as a business where I get rich. This is a hobby for me. Therefore, I would target $350 shipped (to lower 48) as the selling price which leaves no margin for me and probably a loss overall if there are quality issues or problems. This is not to garner sympathy or attempt to reduce my liability.
I am currently debating whether I want to produce 25-50 of these because I know it's over-budget for most people and it's already a niche product. Therefore, I need feedback on how many people would still be interested in purchasing this product. I would spend about 30 minutes per case of my time in pre-assembly and packing. Also, I would need to spend another 30 minutes on my laser cutter per unit to cut the panels. This is not an insignificant amount of time for me to spend prepping these to sell so I need honest feedback.
I do not plan on dropping support for things like the front panel USB/Audio board or other items listed above. This is the design and these are the costs to me. So if you are still interested, please let me know. The ETA would probably be end of March/Early April for shipping units.
Edit: Prices are subject to change as some of these prices are estimates. The final price can still fluctuate up or down based on my final costs.
Costs (Per unit)
Chassis: ~$160-170
PCIe Riser: $20/75 (Gen 3.0/Gen 4.0)
Front Button: $8
Front Panel USB: $10
USB Angle Adapter: $3
Packing/Shipping Materials: $15
Shipping: $25
Acrylic Side Panels: $20
Fasteners: $15
Sub-total: $276-341 (Pre-Tax)
Now, I've made it clear for a long time that I don't view this as a business where I get rich. This is a hobby for me. Therefore, I would target $350 shipped (to lower 48) as the selling price which leaves no margin for me and probably a loss overall if there are quality issues or problems. This is not to garner sympathy or attempt to reduce my liability.
I am currently debating whether I want to produce 25-50 of these because I know it's over-budget for most people and it's already a niche product. Therefore, I need feedback on how many people would still be interested in purchasing this product. I would spend about 30 minutes per case of my time in pre-assembly and packing. Also, I would need to spend another 30 minutes on my laser cutter per unit to cut the panels. This is not an insignificant amount of time for me to spend prepping these to sell so I need honest feedback.
I do not plan on dropping support for things like the front panel USB/Audio board or other items listed above. This is the design and these are the costs to me. So if you are still interested, please let me know. The ETA would probably be end of March/Early April for shipping units.
Edit: Prices are subject to change as some of these prices are estimates. The final price can still fluctuate up or down based on my final costs.
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Our of curiosity, which Gen 4 riser are you looking at? And as a follow-up, what length of riser is needed to use the back slot for an additional expansion card?
I have had no major complaints with the Li-Heat riser (Gen 3.0). I've sold hundreds of chassis and had no problem with them that wasn't a fault of my own. They are very affordable, and the narrower cables allow for easier through-hole snaking.
As for the Gen 4.0 cables, I think the only game in town is Link-Up unless there is a need to go directly to a 3M solution. Those are even more expensive though than the LinkUp cables so it's hard to justify those cables over the LinkUp ones. I will say that of the three Gen 4.0-compatible LinkUp cables I've owned (2 x Ultra, 1 x Extreme), none were compatible with my 5700XT. That could have been more of a GPU problem though and I need to review this now that I have a 6900XT.
As for the rear compartment length, worst-case scenario would put it around 400mm in length (assuming that you're using the PCIe connector nearest the CPU. I have several different cables of varying lengths and with anything over 300mm I would recommend going with the twinax cables from LinkUp.
I had issues with the LinkUp cables on a 5700xt as well, but it also might have been a mobo issue (x570 Taichi on a much older combo pi version), I'm still not sure. Haven't gotten my hands on any 6xxx series cards to test yet, so I'd definitely be interested in your experience here.
I will reserve units for users if you're interested. I try to list on my website in batches to avoid huge number of orders at a time. When I get closer to announcing availability shoot me an e-mail or DM here to make your reservation. I personally don't like pre-orders because I don't like the pressure it adds to my schedule.
As for the price, I was reviewing last night and there is the possibility the price is reduced after I manage to obtain everything because my fabricator is buying a second laser cutter so he said these would be perfect to run on those with such low quantity. We'll see, but I'm hoping to have more information in the next few weeks.
Plans have been submitted for production. I'll update when I know more but the last I knew the lead time was 5-8 weeks. That would put us around early April for delivery. I still need to design packaging and order all accessories so I can have an accurate BOM to set the price. It appears my costs are going to be on the lower end of the prices listed above, but I haven't purchased any of the accessories I'll need yet in quantity.
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