Production SENTRY 2.0: Evolution of console-sized gaming PC case

FoskcoRS5

Designated LMG
Jan 31, 2017
363
623
What's the story with security torx screws? Why do we need those? Can they be replaced with standard philips head ones?
The chassis comes with a torx screw driver. Maybe Dr Zaber just thought they were super cool and wanted to use them.

I'm sure you can find pan head philips head screws with the right thread if you were motivated enough.
 
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SaperPL

Master of Cramming
DR ZĄBER
Oct 17, 2017
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What's the story with security torx screws? Why do we need those? Can they be replaced with standard philips head ones?

Phillips and pozidriv M3 screws have 2.5 mm tall head while allen/hex and security torx screws have 1.65mm tall head. It's an aesthetic choice for the external screws to have smaller heads not to stand out too much and be ugly.

We've replaced hex with torx because hex screws and wrenches at this size have so big tolerances that if you overtighten it, you may damage the socket while doing so making the socket useless and requiring additional tools to open your case.

Torx is security so you won't damage the socket with other type of screwdriver/wrench, so it has just enough material around to handle proper screwdriver and this can be small because of that.

With normal torx or phillips/pozidriv we would have significantly bigger screws on the outside of the case making it look significantly worse in effect than what we have now.

The chassis comes with a torx screw driver. Maybe Dr Zaber just thought they were super cool and wanted to use them.

I'm sure you can find pan head philips head screws with the right thread if you were motivated enough.

We wouldn't need to provide a screwdriver if we could just go with phillips screws, so it would be a bit simpler to us.
 

SaperPL

Master of Cramming
DR ZĄBER
Oct 17, 2017
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Interesting note for the ones trying to go over the top with Sentry 2.0.

If you are thinking about doing a 9900K build without AIO - stop and listen to these few words from der8auer (timestamp):

TL : DW (5 seconds from timestamp though): 9900K can easily consume 150W on full load, with OC easily 200W.

If you want top CPU power for some professional workload, go for ITX sized 2070 or something like that and put a AIO on 9900K if you must go intel route, otherwise I recommend going with 65W CPU, unless you don't really care about your build being loud.
 

zustroy

Trash Compacter
Jun 19, 2018
54
33
Autch...! xP
The worse isn't the price itself, but the fact i will probably pay taxes and shippment as expensive or even more than the Sentry itself...
My thoughts as well. With shipping costs, we'll spend around 250 EUR which is no small price for small case :)

I'll buy it, anyway.
 
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dapperlilsailor

Caliper Novice
Sep 9, 2018
25
28
I'm hoping to see if anyone decides they want both a full-sized GPU and that AIO. I think with some pretty basic modding you could get an HDPLEX in there and potentially squeeze a 120 where the PSU was.
 

SaperPL

Master of Cramming
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Oct 17, 2017
472
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I'm hoping to see if anyone decides they want both a full-sized GPU and that AIO. I think with some pretty basic modding you could get an HDPLEX in there and potentially squeeze a 120 where the PSU was.

This might have been possible with SFX-L support in Sentry 1.0/1.1, but with power button moved to the middle of the case front this will get really hard as the distance between USB and power switch is barely enough to fit just a few 120mm AIO models, I think. Some may simply not fit in between. Also you'd have to cut out the PSU holding tabs, which is not recommended to do just to test if stuff fits ;p.
 

Idle2824

Average Stuffer
Apr 26, 2018
67
68
So I assume the campaign starts when the countdown ends, rather than you just being really excited for Brexit or something.
Is the grey going to be an option that will be available at the same time as the black? If so, you've given me another difficult decision to make. Have you got pictures?
 

prefinem

Trash Compacter
Apr 12, 2018
43
38
This might have been possible with SFX-L support in Sentry 1.0/1.1, but with power button moved to the middle of the case front this will get really hard as the distance between USB and power switch is barely enough to fit just a few 120mm AIO models, I think. Some may simply not fit in between. Also you'd have to cut out the PSU holding tabs, which is not recommended to do just to test if stuff fits ;p.

What if we swapped out the power switch with an angled version? Would that make it easier to fit a 120 AIO in? I hadn't even thought of using an HDPLEX instead of an SFX PSU, but that would be an interesting build.

How big are the PSU holding tabs? Are they truly tabs or a sheet bent and fitted?
 

prefinem

Trash Compacter
Apr 12, 2018
43
38
@SaperPL Do you have any 3D cad files, or even drawings with dimensions?

EDIT:

Thinking more about the HDPlex and full size GPU.

If you put the HDPlex on the right of PSU tabs against the wall (remove the USB front ports), and then mounted the AIO inverted with the hoses running underneath it with something like the kraken m22, you would have around 6-8mm of gap to run the PSU Cables through. It might be a little tight, but you would only need the GPU and Mobo cable at most. (letting the CPU cable fold flat across the HDPlex) If you setup the AIO to exhaust air, you could pull in cool air on the VRM and then out through the radiator. You would also get air flow from the GPU side since it shouldn't be blocked at least next the AIO. A custom made mother board PSU cable with a built in flat 90 degree angle and correct length would keep the fan / radiator from being blocked too much as well.

Granted, this is all hypothetical until I can get my hands on a case, or some drawings.

That being said, you would be losing the front USB ports and potentially the power button. A mini tactile button with custom button cover and rear mount would give a less satisfying click, but probably better than a flat mounted capacitive switch.
 
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ZombiPL

Airflow Optimizer
Original poster
DR ZĄBER
Apr 13, 2016
238
762
So I assume the campaign starts when the countdown ends

That's right :)

Is the grey going to be an option that will be available at the same time as the black? If so, you've given me another difficult decision to make. Have you got pictures?

Yes, it will be our 2nd option for this campaign. We will include photos of the new colour version in the near future. Right now you can see it at the beginning of Linus live build.



Below you can check what kind of gray is our Sentry 2.0 Navy Gray (to make your decision even harder:))




 
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SaperPL

Master of Cramming
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Oct 17, 2017
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What if we swapped out the power switch with an angled version?

What do you mean by "angled version" of power switch? if you 3d print something, you might get those missing mm obviously.

Corsair H75 has 152mm long radiator for the 120 mm fan size. I don't have the cad in front of me right now, but I remember there was something like 147mm of space between the tabs and the power switch hole.

How big are the PSU holding tabs?

I'll check that, but I remember those are 12 mm wide from the side and the single one on opposite side is slightly wider, 18 mm or something like that (I'll check that when I can).

Are they truly tabs or a sheet bent and fitted?

I have no idea what you mean by that. Those tabs are made of bent metal sheet. Whole chassis body is made of bent metal sheet.

@SaperPL Do you have any 3D cad files, or even drawings with dimensions?

We obviously have the cad files, but will definitely not share those. I'll make some screenshots of the issue when I'll get back to my PC.
 

prefinem

Trash Compacter
Apr 12, 2018
43
38
What do you mean by "angled version" of power switch? if you 3d print something, you might get those missing mm obviously.

I was thinking a custom 3D printed switch with a mini tactile. My guess is it would be 5-10 mm or so depending on the 3D build quality and how much you let it protrude from the front of the case. Even a flat capacitive touch sensor would let you drop to just a couple of mm's which could be mounted perfectly in the cut out hole.

Corsair H75 has 152mm long radiator for the 120 mm fan size. I don't have the cad in front of me right now, but I remember there was something like 147mm of space between the tabs and the power switch hole.

I can see that. I was looking at the Kraken M22 which is a 152mm long radiator and 120mm fan. Assuming the radiator mounted to the top of the case, you should be able to fit the button as its only 32 mm thick.

I'll check that, but I remember those are 12 mm wide from the side and the single one on opposite side is slightly wider, 18 mm or something like that (I'll check that when I can).

How far are they from the closest wall?

I have no idea what you mean by that. Those tabs are made of bent metal sheet. Whole chassis body is made of bent metal sheet.

I meant tabs versus a cut out. Hard to explain without being able to draw something out, but I looked at the images on your site and got the answer. I was mostly asking since tabs will be easier to bend flat if need be.

We obviously have the cad files, but will definitely not share those. I'll make some screenshots of the issue when I'll get back to my PC.

Of course. I was thinking something more like an eDrawning file (http://www.edrawingsviewer.com/) that I could pull measurements off of to try and calculate if this would work (without trying to steal your designs). A 2D drawing would work as well, but that might be a little too close to usable information.


Completely unrelated, but do you mind me asking what you use for 3D design? I have always used SolidWorks, but was wondering if you used something else and what your experience with it was.
 

SaperPL

Master of Cramming
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Oct 17, 2017
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How far are they from the closest wall?
These are the dimensions from the closest wall. The vertical tab that holds two screws is 12 mm from the case's front wall and the one holding the third screw is something like 18~20 mm from the bottom of the case when laying flat.

Of course. I was thinking something more like an eDrawning file (http://www.edrawingsviewer.com/) that I could pull measurements off of to try and calculate if this would work (without trying to steal your designs).

Being an e-drawing doesn't mean it's secure. If someone wants to extract this, import it into his cad and reverse engineer our design, starting off with 1:1 model with correct proportions will set him for a good start. And I'm not sure if spending time to obfuscate the model in a way it's useless for manufacturing, but good for you guys to figure out what you can fit outside of the specified hardware, is something we want to spend our time doing.

Completely unrelated, but do you mind me asking what you use for 3D design? I have always used SolidWorks, but was wondering if you used something else and what your experience with it was.

SolidWorks, imo this is the best CAD software and potentially best 3D software and other professional types of I know and tried using. It's not like it's only my fully subjective love to the software I'm accustomed to. SolidWorlks is a rare case of software being made to be used specifically for the company making the software and not for external clients. There are ton of stuff that just make sense right away as you start using it.

Other cads and 3d software are a pile of deprecated approaches to doing stuff because their developers couldn't just go back and rip out the functionality and start over because it was made in a bad way, since the clients have already used that in their projects and had those in their documentation. Dassault did that internally and probably was forced to re-do some of the work because of that, but in effect we have a proper software. Why did they do that? Because they had tons of military projects and they simply had to have a proper tool to continue doing so.
 

prefinem

Trash Compacter
Apr 12, 2018
43
38
These are the dimensions from the closest wall. The vertical tab that holds two screws is 12 mm from the case's front wall and the one holding the third screw is something like 18~20 mm from the bottom of the case when laying flat.

So too small for the HDPLEX to fit in between the tabs and the bottom wall. They would have to be bent, or another location would have to be found.

Being an e-drawing doesn't mean it's secure. If someone wants to extract this, import it into his cad and reverse engineer our design, starting off with 1:1 model with correct proportions will set him for a good start. And I'm not sure if spending time to obfuscate the model in a way it's useless for manufacturing, but good for you guys to figure out what you can fit outside of the specified hardware, is something we want to spend our time doing.

I didn't realize you could import an edrawings into cad software. Probably a good thing my old clients didn't know that either as we sent all our 3D designs out this way for approval. With that being said, I completely understand not wanting to spend the time and effort to export a safe design for someone.

Would you guys be open to sharing 3D plans with an NDA in the future if someone wanted to case mod the sentry?

SolidWorks, imo this is the best CAD software and potentially best 3D software and other professional types of I know and tried using. It's not like it's only my fully subjective love to the software I'm accustomed to. SolidWorlks is a rare case of software being made to be used specifically for the company making the software and not for external clients. There are ton of stuff that just make sense right away as you start using it.

Other cads and 3d software are a pile of deprecated approaches to doing stuff because their developers couldn't just go back and rip out the functionality and start over because it was made in a bad way, since the clients have already used that in their projects and had those in their documentation. Dassault did that internally and probably was forced to re-do some of the work because of that, but in effect we have a proper software. Why did they do that? Because they had tons of military projects and they simply had to have a proper tool to continue doing so.

Glad I am not the only one that feels this way. I have tried a bunch of others lately, mostly so I can try and design on my Mac, but none of them feel right for parametric modeling. They always feel clunky and I keep going back to SolidWorks.

I just hate that I need a windows PC just for SolidWorks.
 

prefinem

Trash Compacter
Apr 12, 2018
43
38
Also, thank you for taking the time to respond to all my questions. I am really excited to see the sentry case come out and think you guys are doing an amazing job.
 

SaperPL

Master of Cramming
DR ZĄBER
Oct 17, 2017
472
882
So too small for the HDPLEX to fit in between the tabs and the bottom wall. They would have to be bent, or another location would have to be found.

I get what you meant now. I'll check that when I get back to my PC and make some drawings, I think I have some HDPlex model somewhere on my hdd as well.

I didn't realize you could import an edrawings into cad software.

It's not that they can be imported out of the box to the cad software. It's just that if you can display it on your screen, then data of those vertices is somewhere in that file. There are various ways to crack the system, you may figure out how is it stored inside, or you may try to spoof the viewer to send data to virtual GPU and then analyse memory etc. There are people making a living from this so assume it's not safe to simply share it.

Would you guys be open to sharing 3D plans with an NDA in the future if someone wanted to case mod the sentry?

You have to look at this from our perspective: We have potentially one more client for a risk of him "running away to china" to make a clone of our case or simply releasing it, where even if we sued such person for breaking the NDA, there's a high chance we won't get back what we've lost. Also making such precedence would mean others wanting to come and then figuring out who released this is getting harder. Anyway product documentation is not something to just release to a third party without a proper deal between companies.

I just hate that I need a windows PC just for SolidWorks.

I feel the same. I'd probably move to linux if not for this.
 

prefinem

Trash Compacter
Apr 12, 2018
43
38
I get what you meant now. I'll check that when I get back to my PC and make some drawings, I think I have some HDPlex model somewhere on my hdd as well.

Thanks!

It's not that they can be imported out of the box to the cad software. It's just that if you can display it on your screen, then data of those vertices is somewhere in that file. There are various ways to crack the system, you may figure out how is it stored inside, or you may try to spoof the viewer to send data to virtual GPU and then analyse memory etc. There are people making a living from this so assume it's not safe to simply share it.

I gotcha. It's been a few years since I have been developing designs (not PC cases mind you) and sending them to clients. Granted, these were clients paying us for designs so the risk is substantially less than just a random person over the internet.

You have to look at this from our perspective: We have potentially one more client for a risk of him "running away to china" to make a clone of our case or simply releasing it, where even if we sued such person for breaking the NDA, there's a high chance we won't get back what we've lost. Also making such precedence would mean others wanting to come and then figuring out who released this is getting harder. Anyway product documentation is not something to just release to a third party without a proper deal between companies.

I completely understand. I meant more into the future once you have done your initial kickstarter. Again though, by all means, do what's best for your company. I am just a random person on the internet.

I feel the same. I'd probably move to linux if not for this.

Ah linux... I wish I could just own only linux. Unfortunately, most of the software I use now runs on Mac or Windows only.
 

SaperPL

Master of Cramming
DR ZĄBER
Oct 17, 2017
472
882
This might not be a completely not working idea to fit AIO in there, maybe even without replacing the switch or damaging the case, it's just that you might need to jerry-rig the HD-plex somewhere above the motherboard because there's literally not place left to put it if you want a full-length GPU.


Completely different question is whether you want to damage the case and perforate it under the AIO or you want to push the air through that gap underneath the AIO.

Also it looks like attaching this in a civilised way is going to be pretty complex.
 
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Zephyraeon

Caliper Novice
Nov 15, 2018
33
24
Can’t make out the measurements on those photos but would the 92mm Asetek AIO fit if a 120mm is too large without making modifications?
 

SaperPL

Master of Cramming
DR ZĄBER
Oct 17, 2017
472
882
Can’t make out the measurements on those photos but would the 92mm Asetek AIO fit if a 120mm is too large without making modifications?

It definitely would, but also it seems like 120mm would fit as well without modifications of the case. The issue is figuring out how to attach it and where to fit HD-Plex.

As for Asetek's 92mm AIO, I'm not sure if the radiator thickness isn't going to affect how much space you're going to have to bend the tubes. In effect it may be like it fits but the tubes are bent in a way it's blocking the flow. There's going to be this new 92 mm asetek AIO with 90 degree bends however, so it might fix this issue IF those bends fit inside the case.
 
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