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

[SaperPL]

gotta say that back panel would be critically important, the tight fit of the USB 3.0 cable coupled with a constant need to remove the nvme drive on the rear has resulted in the breakage of several USB pins, ruining the value of the motherboard.

How many times did you have to remove the nvme drive? Just curious, because I actually didn't had a need for that in my system so far nor did I have an option to put it into another system.

And yeah, I know that USB 3.0 20-pin connector is terrible, but that's a standard at this point and we are eagerly waiting for the 3.1 gen 2 header (that ASUS connector) become a standard for mITX. At some point we were considering just using the 2.0 version because of that in Sentry but people wanted 3.0 on the front and that's reasonable to have high speed connection up front for data transfers.

 

[Tjo2012]

A Aio mounting point would be phenomenal since its a niche that isnt really filled by other console style cases like the node 202 (which is comparable in size and power delivery) and its likely with gddr6 around the corner that theyre will be even more itx variant Gpu's since the tdp should be lower than a comparable gddr5 gpu.

If u find a way to support a 120mm water cooler for the cpu and maybe had a fan bracket for cooling mobo heatsinks it could be able to support very high end components in the next gen.

Im not sure the mobo access panel is worth the hassle from a design perspective. Your market is PC enthusiasts so i dont think the slight extra labor of taking the whole case apart is worth extra aesthetic, and monetary cost. If people have stated otherwise who knows maybe im way off and its a super necessary addition.

 

[SaperPL]

A Aio mounting point would be phenomenal since its a niche that isnt really filled by other console style cases like the node 202 (which is comparable in size and power delivery) and its likely with gddr6 around the corner that theyre will be even more itx variant Gpu's since the tdp should be lower than a comparable gddr5 gpu.

If u find a way to support a 120mm water cooler for the cpu and maybe had a fan bracket for cooling mobo heatsinks it could be able to support very high end components in the next gen.

That's exactly what we are aiming to do. We want to support 120 mm AIO with ITX sized GPUs and the new perforation layout is optimised to let us add mounting points for 120 mm rad in the GPU chamber so similarly we can add mounting points in the perforation above the motherboard.

We want to make it simple so the screws will be visible on perforation. Making some additional brackets would complicate things.
You might need to source black screws to make that look okay or simply paint them black.

Im not sure the mobo access panel is worth the hassle from a design perspective. Your market is PC enthusiasts so i dont think the slight extra labor of taking the whole case apart is worth extra aesthetic, and monetary cost. If people have stated otherwise who knows maybe im way off and its a super necessary addition.

It might be just my bias because of multiple builds and messing with prototypes, and of those who were figuring out how to cool their 7700K and such SKUs, that made us think this should at least find its way to the concept stage.

It's just something that I believe would remove unnecessary frustration for the user in some situations.

 

[zey]

A question I have which I'm sure has been asked before. Would you consider an MATX edition?

 

[ZombiPL]

A question I have which I'm sure has been asked before. Would you consider an MATX edition?

You really want that Threadripper inside, he?

 

[zey]

but I must have it from the moment I saw it, I need it..

Issue would be finding a cooler. I would normally use Dynatron's heatsink with a noctua fan but they don't have a sTR4 model as of yet. I prefer air coolers maybe a AIO solution exist.

 

[SaperPL]

Issue would be finding a cooler. I would normally use Dynatron's heatsink with a noctua fan but they don't have a sTR4 model as of yet. I prefer air coolers maybe a AIO solution exist.

Dynatron heatsink on its own is not going to cool down threadripper. It's TDP ratings are for the rack systems where you have whole server area vented aggressively, so they can give you 165W and more TDP rating for their rads.

We have T318 and in tests with either noctua 92 mm fan it's barely any different from L9i on R7 1700.

To support mATX it would need to be either using TFX psu or supporting only ITX sized cards with PSU in place where we now want to put the 120 mm AIO while also gaining at least 1L of volume.

Anyway we don't want to make new case/variant until we are keeping up with the demand on the current one. And Threadripper variant of Sentry is something that might sound interesting, but in reality it would throttle like hell with that TDP.

 

[Reldey]

How many times did you have to remove the nvme drive? Just curious, because I actually didn't had a need for that in my system so far nor did I have an option to put it into another system.

And yeah, I know that USB 3.0 20-pin connector is terrible, but that's a standard at this point and we are eagerly waiting for the 3.1 gen 2 header (that ASUS connector) become a standard for mITX. At some point we were considering just using the 2.0 version because of that in Sentry but people wanted 3.0 on the front and that's reasonable to have high speed connection up front for data transfers.

Yeah, constantly removing your NVME drive seems like a weird use case. Any particular reasoning?

 

[NuclearLemons]

Yeah, constantly removing your NVME drive seems like a weird use case. Any particular reasoning?

yeah i work alot with hackintoshes and as my only boot drive, it has to go in 2-4 systems. whenever a project is complete, back it goes into the sentry. it would be fine if i just had multiple boot drives but i'm not made of money .

 

[Fruergaard]

but I must have it from the moment I saw it, I need it..

Issue would be finding a cooler. I would normally use Dynatron's heatsink with a noctua fan but they don't have a sTR4 model as of yet. I prefer air coolers maybe a AIO solution exist.

I'm pretty sure the SP3 and TR4 is the same physical socket so Dynatron does have a cooler:
https://www.dynatron.co/product-page/a28

Or the loud one:
https://www.dynatron.co/product-page/a31

For the A28 I would recommend having 25mm thick fan options for increased pressure and possible high rpm industry fans :-)
However, that means a CPU cooler hieght of 52,5mm which adds a lot to the volume (had to do it in my own case).
With a 2500 rpm 25mm thick fan I would still suspect some thermal throttle :-/

 

[Tjo2012]

Theres a problem solved page here for cooling very high tdp in low profile factors

Again an aoi seems better for everything but the mobo.

Who knows maybe you figure out a new configuration. Theres a 42 mm titan 4heatpipe aluminum fins with a 10mm fan installed im looking forward to. The goal seems to be replacing the noctua l9

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/low-profile-cpu-cooler-round-up.7206/page-3

 

[SaperPL]

Theres a problem solved page here for cooling very high tdp in low profile factors

Again an aoi seems better for everything but the mobo.

Who knows maybe you figure out a new configuration. Theres a 42 mm titan 4heatpipe aluminum fins with a 10mm fan installed im looking forward to. The goal seems to be replacing the noctua l9

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/low-profile-cpu-cooler-round-up.7206/page-3

That is nicely done but note the fact that it's tested on open test bench and therefore it's not a great measure for cases like Sentry and A4-SFX where there's ~50 mm of space for cooler. It's a similar problem when testing all of this in tower case with front and rear fans.

Testing low profile coolers on open bench is kind of useless as it defeats the whole point of the cooler working in limited space, at specific conditions.

 

[Tjo2012]

That is nicely done but note the fact that it's tested on open test bench and therefore it's not a great measure for cases like Sentry and A4-SFX where there's ~50 mm of space for cooler. It's a similar problem when testing all of this in tower case with front and rear fans.

Testing low profile coolers on open bench is kind of useless as it defeats the whole point of the cooler working in limited space, at specific conditions.

I agree to a certain extent however, for general use i think we can still see the trend in effectiveness. For example i probably wouldnt use a 45mm cooler like the IS-40V3, but i think we can all agree that the noctua L9i and thermolab LP53 (with a shorter noctua fan) have similar air flow and are well below the maximum height.

heres a review in the DR ZABER Sentry that backs that up (but obviously wont be available for all cooler configurations in the roundup)

https://hardforum.com/threads/thermolab-cooltek-lp53-review.1923635/

again the new design should hopefully render this problem near obsolete with a 120mm water cooling solution, so maybe this discussion doesn't matter that much

 

[zey]

I'm pretty sure the SP3 and TR4 is the same physical socket so Dynatron does have a cooler:
https://www.dynatron.co/product-page/a28

Or the loud one:
https://www.dynatron.co/product-page/a31

For the A28 I would recommend having 25mm thick fan options for increased pressure and possible high rpm industry fans :-)
However, that means a CPU cooler hieght of 52,5mm which adds a lot to the volume (had to do it in my own case).
With a 2500 rpm 25mm thick fan I would still suspect some thermal throttle :-/

Yea it just wouldn't really work out.. Then again SP3/TR4 aren't for the SFF community. I'm just looking for an excuse to build it and replace my 8700K.

 

[ZombiPL]

For the last week we were analysing different options of the motherboard backside panel installation. Most of them are doable, but all of our ideas have an influence on the external look of the case and also would increase the time of production (longer manufacturing, bigger possibility of errors and longer quality control) which will end in higher cost and longer order realization time.

Because of the above we were wondering if this function is really worth it, and if it is even such a “must-have”. What is more some voices showed up asking if anyone really needs this panel if usually it will be used only once per one PC installation. That still did not convince us if we should leave this feature. This is why we asked you guys to help us with this decision answering to our straw poll. It looks like only ~25% chose the “must-have” option, while almost 2 times more do not want it at all.

We won’t be forcing options or features which you guys do not like while at the same time they would have an influence on price and manufacturing time. Because of that “motherboard backside panel” will not be added in this revision of Sentry. Maybe in the future we will get back to this idea.

 

[quetzacoatlx]

Is it possible to fit in an EKWB MLC 120 or 140mm radiator in the sentry 2.0?

120:133*177*68
140:142*195*68

 

[SaperPL]

Is it possible to fit in an EKWB MLC 120 or 140mm radiator in the sentry 2.0?

120:133*177*68
140:142*195*68

This won't fit. Note the 68 mm dimension while the case itself is less than that and the gap for radiator is 50 mm. Radiators with that taller area beside the fan will also generally not fit because it will be hard to bend the tubes.

I've looked through, I think, all 120 mm AIOs currently on the market and there are quite a lot of potentially fitting rads that will fit, but will require use of slim fan on top.

In terms of thickness, there are 3 AIOs that are 50 mm or less in total when you put a radiator with single fan that is included in the package. There are 25 AIOs that have 27 mm radiator that will fit in terms of thickness if you put a slim fan on them to fit within those 50 mm, and there are 3 more that are slightly thicker but still should fit with a slim fan.

I'll have to go through all of them and check remaining dimensions thoroughly to make sure which of them will fit before combining a list and some guidelines for matching AIO / 120mm rads.

 

[Tjo2012]

10mm thick slim fan for those who are interested

http://www.akasa.com.tw/update.php?...no=181&type=Fans&type_sub=Slim&model=AK-FN076

 

[SaperPL]

10mm thick slim fan for those who are interested

http://www.akasa.com.tw/update.php?...no=181&type=Fans&type_sub=Slim&model=AK-FN076

But that's 80 mm fan. I think lowest 120 mm is 13 mm Raijintek fan, but 15 mm fans like the one included in silverstone tundra slim should be okay with 27-34 mm rads.

 

[Idle2824]

For the last week we were analysing different options of the motherboard backside panel installation. Most of them are doable, but all of our ideas have an influence on the external look of the case and also would increase the time of production (longer manufacturing, bigger possibility of errors and longer quality control) which will end in higher cost and longer order realization time.

Because of the above we were wondering if this function is really worth it, and if it is even such a “must-have”. What is more some voices showed up asking if anyone really needs this panel if usually it will be used only once per one PC installation. That still did not convince us if we should leave this feature. This is why we asked you guys to help us with this decision answering to our straw poll. It looks like only ~25% chose the “must-have” option, while almost 2 times more do not want it at all.

We won’t be forcing options or features which you guys do not like while at the same time they would have an influence on price and manufacturing time. Because of that “motherboard backside panel” will not be added in this revision of Sentry. Maybe in the future we will get back to this idea.

This is what I voted for, so I'm happy, but I was quite interested to see what you'd come up with as a mechanism to secure the back panel without affecting the look too much. It isn't a trivial problem, it seems to me. I couldn't come up with a particularly elegant solution, at least.

Also, I was wondering about the airflow around the aio, since there are no vents on one side of it. Maybe this was discussed elsewhere, but do you imagine it to be pulling air into the radiator from the top and exhausting out the side, or pushing the exhaust out the top?

Thanks for your continued work on this case, btw. I wasn't ready for a new build when you launched the original, but I definitely will be when this one arrives. I just hope RAM is a little cheaper by that time too...