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Concept SENTRY 3.0: Development and Suggestions
- Thread starter ZombiPL
- Start date
While we would like to move forward with the design, the current situation with graphics cards market doesn't seem like a good place to make a product that forces the user to be picky about which GPU should they buy. And on the other side, we don't want to make a bulky version that would fit anything you can get just so we can release a product that would work for the current market conditions while being against the core principle of our chassis for being small in console-like form factor.
If you looked closely at Unreal Engine 5 info when it launched, Epic dropped the ray tracing as the main high quality lighting method in favour of their own implementation that seems to not use ray tracing specific hardware. If we get a batch of games launched with this tech on consoles, we might see next gen GPUs falling back to not use stuff like RTX cores and thus being smaller with less power consumption. Add chip production issues to this and we might see completely different GPUs in next generation of cards, with our luck, right around the time we would finalise designs and prepare for manufacturing for example.
I should probably check more often to see if we have reference sized GPUs available, but from last I've seen, everything we have in our stores seems to be oversized and not just by the card thickness of 2.5~2.75 slot but the width/height as well.
Also other projects are taking our focus from Sentry 3.0 design.
How about a rerun of the 2.0 version. some missed it, some want the other color. ^^
The GPU situation is quite sad for SFF enthusiasts. Nvidia especially runs way to inefficient. what a design are 300+ watts and 3 slots.
And of course we get the easiest cooler design with price ranges befitting a small car.
The GPU situation is quite sad for SFF enthusiasts. Nvidia especially runs way to inefficient. what a design are 300+ watts and 3 slots.
And of course we get the easiest cooler design with price ranges befitting a small car.
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Why blame Nvidia for AIB issues? I have a 2-slot 3080 founders in a Velka 7 and it runs just fine with undervolting.
Make it flow through and it’ll be fine
I've been using the Sentry 2.0 case for a while. I think if I had some suggestions they'd be the following.
Completely drop support for water cooling. I think it's largely not needed. It's a small case so compromises will have to be made
Drop support for 2.5mm HDDs. At this point you can get pretty large NVME drives and some motherboards even have slots for two
The USB3 cable is honestly awful. It's not your fault, it's just a ridiculous cable. In my case with my motherboard it is bent at a weird angle and looks like it's going to snap something on the PCB in half in order to fit. IMHO, i'd include it but I think a cool way to be able to hide it would be to have to cutouts for USB, but also include a sentry 3.0 name plate that can screw over it so that we can not use them if we want.
The main things that I'd personally love would be support for slightly taller coolers. That's the main limiter right now for cooling.
Also the power cable light should be reddish rather than blue so it doesn't kill peoples night vision.
Completely drop support for water cooling. I think it's largely not needed. It's a small case so compromises will have to be made
Drop support for 2.5mm HDDs. At this point you can get pretty large NVME drives and some motherboards even have slots for two
The USB3 cable is honestly awful. It's not your fault, it's just a ridiculous cable. In my case with my motherboard it is bent at a weird angle and looks like it's going to snap something on the PCB in half in order to fit. IMHO, i'd include it but I think a cool way to be able to hide it would be to have to cutouts for USB, but also include a sentry 3.0 name plate that can screw over it so that we can not use them if we want.
The main things that I'd personally love would be support for slightly taller coolers. That's the main limiter right now for cooling.
Also the power cable light should be reddish rather than blue so it doesn't kill peoples night vision.
We want to improve manufacturing capabilities as well and we don't want to go back to the old process, so it won't happen, sorry.
While this makes sense because with how current CPUs behave on such small AIOs especially with limited airflow, the initial concepts of the new perforation indicate that we'll be able to have this for free if we drop support for 2.5" and 3.5" drives in the GPU compartment which literally noone used. It may make sense if we figure out a way to make a pass-through perforation, for the end of the cards like 3080 FE, that won't look ugly.
I am considering replacing the old 20-pin header plug with this new type-C header type if we'll have it on most of the board. I hope it will work with two type-A ports without problem. This should do the job of the mess that we had so far, we'll just have to see if our suppliers will be able to comply with that.
I wish we could do that, but adding just one or two mm won't do much and going for much wider case will completely change the looks and the volume - the main selling points of the case.
The included power button has a red LED so I have no idea what are you talking about
How difficult is it to exchange the power button if I don't like the red led? Is this easily doable?
That's an industrial anti-vandal switch that just fits in a 16 mm hole. You can get any of those that fit the 16 mm hole, you just need it wired for PC or rewire it/resolder it. Some modding shops have those wired though.
Hello once again,
As you all know, Sentry 2.0 crowdfunding campaign ended almost 2 years ago. In the last few months we received many, many emails, pm’s and tweets from you guys asking if we will make another run of the case.
Because of the pandemic situation last year was very busy for us at our daytime jobs, so we really did not know if and when we would be able to move forward with this project.
Since the time we were designing Sentry 2.0, we have seen AMD’s Zen2 and Zen3 launch as well as 300W+ TDP GPUs becoming more mainstream, so we had to start thinking about catching up to the PC components evolution with our product design.
At this point we are considering making changes/improvements in the below fields:
- improving ventilation,
- analyzing adding support for thicker GPU cards,
- analyzing adding support for full height 120 AIO’s in GPU chamber,
- analyzing adding support for Founders Edition Nvidia GPU cards,
- making changes in the vertical stand, to simplify manufacturing of this component,
- analyzing possible changes in galvanization process of the Sentry,
- changing the manufacturing methods to use molds, which should allow us faster production and even better final quality, while keeping the last revision’s price (or even make it lower),
- redesigning shipping box to make it smaller, which will result in cheaper shipping cost,
- many smaller changes to improve manufacturing time and improving final quality of product.
The most time consuming part of the above changes is designing the molds, which not only improve the quality of the final product, but also will allow us to make it faster in bigger quantities. It also means we will need some time to prepare for it properly.
While we are still gathering your ideas on what we could or should improve, we would like to do so within the SFF community here, so if you have any ideas for the next version of Sentry, make sure to write them here on the forums and also discuss them with others.
With regards
DR ZĄBER Sentry Team
Might I suggest making dedicated countersunk mount hole pattern to place an asetek 645LT 92mm water cooler? This would make for the opportunity to fit a 200mm GPU (Asus 3060 ti dual mini, MSI 3060 itx aero), the liquid power on something like a 5600x or some other similar 65-95w TDP CPU’s the future may bring and make for a fairly hidden mounting compared to cap head screws. The 645 is a great candidate as it has the 90 degree fittings making for a more manageable build, smaller tubing, and most importantly giving us a more usable alternative to the SFF copper blocks.
Along with this, I know you have your plate behind the gpu that helps block hot air from pooling. It may be worth making this airblock a two piece so that you can remove the section closest to the front of the chassis to allow air pass-thru of gpu’s much like the 3070/3080 fe’s. This would alternatively work to help feed the 120/92mm liquid cooler with an air pass-thru making for better temps, as well still giving the ability to block the air pooling behind the gpu. Making it optionally installed when you use a longer gpu such as the evga 3080 xc3 to provide that same hot air pooling protection.
Hello once again,
As you all know, Sentry 2.0 crowdfunding campaign ended almost 2 years ago. In the last few months we received many, many emails, pm’s and tweets from you guys asking if we will make another run of the case.
Because of the pandemic situation last year was very busy for us at our daytime jobs, so we really did not know if and when we would be able to move forward with this project.
Since the time we were designing Sentry 2.0, we have seen AMD’s Zen2 and Zen3 launch as well as 300W+ TDP GPUs becoming more mainstream, so we had to start thinking about catching up to the PC components evolution with our product design.
At this point we are considering making changes/improvements in the below fields:
- improving ventilation,
- analyzing adding support for thicker GPU cards,
- analyzing adding support for full height 120 AIO’s in GPU chamber,
- analyzing adding support for Founders Edition Nvidia GPU cards,
- making changes in the vertical stand, to simplify manufacturing of this component,
- analyzing possible changes in galvanization process of the Sentry,
- changing the manufacturing methods to use molds, which should allow us faster production and even better final quality, while keeping the last revision’s price (or even make it lower),
- redesigning shipping box to make it smaller, which will result in cheaper shipping cost,
- many smaller changes to improve manufacturing time and improving final quality of product.
The most time consuming part of the above changes is designing the molds, which not only improve the quality of the final product, but also will allow us to make it faster in bigger quantities. It also means we will need some time to prepare for it properly.
While we are still gathering your ideas on what we could or should improve, we would like to do so within the SFF community here, so if you have any ideas for the next version of Sentry, make sure to write them here on the forums and also discuss them with others.
With regards
DR ZĄBER Sentry Team
Might I suggest making dedicated countersunk mount hole pattern to place an asetek 645LT 92mm water cooler? This would make for the opportunity to fit a 200mm GPU (Asus 3060 ti dual mini, MSI 3060 itx aero), the liquid power on something like a 5600x or some other similar 65-95w TDP CPU’s the future may bring and make for a fairly hidden mounting compared to cap head screws. The 645 is a great candidate as it has the 90 degree fittings making for a more manageable build, smaller tubing, and most importantly giving us a more usable alternative to the SFF copper blocks.
Along with this, I know you have your plate behind the gpu that helps block hot air from pooling. It may be worth making this airblock a two piece so that you can remove the section closest to the front of the chassis to allow air pass-thru of gpu’s much like the 3070/3080 fe’s. This would alternatively work to help feed the 120/92mm liquid cooler with an air pass-thru making for better temps, as well still giving the ability to block the air pooling behind the gpu. Making it optionally installed when you use a longer gpu such as the evga 3080 xc3 to provide that same hot air pooling protection.
some news, maybe newer pics, when u predict we finally can buy sentry 3.0 and where exactly I mean do u make some good web page, because old one is so confused.......some pics.....
I doubt there is much of anything new since the status update in July.
As been noted several times, computer cases are just a side project for them, so it makes sense that other things would take precedence.
Plus I think it would be prudent to see how the next generation of GPUs will shape up size and power-wise before settling on a design. Not the least now that Intel is entering that market as well.
As been noted several times, computer cases are just a side project for them, so it makes sense that other things would take precedence.
Plus I think it would be prudent to see how the next generation of GPUs will shape up size and power-wise before settling on a design. Not the least now that Intel is entering that market as well.
Late to the party here. 
For those asking to drop the AIO support. Why? It's a by-product of the 2-slot VGA support, can't see what having support for AIOs hinders in any way. Unless you want to put a 3.5" HDD in there which is, nowadays, useless and rarer than using an AIO in the Sentry?
I hop on the 2.5-slot VGA support request bandwagon. The space is already there, I believe in you, you can make it happen!
As for the possibility to access the back of the motherboard, have you considered a magnetic cover? I don't know how magnets so close to the back of the motherboard would interfere which electric signals, but it could be an elegant way to address the closing mechanism (as in there's no mechanism).
I haven't really looked into this space-wise but could it be possible to move the front USBs from the bottom (considering a vertical positioning) of the case to the centre, below the power button? I think it would be more eye and symmetry pleasing?
Speaking of which, going on a mass production, why not let the buyer select either a Type-C (with the newer connector) or a Type-A (with the old, blue bulky connector) hub, much like it is possible to choose between different color coating? Btw, can more colors be added to the choise?
(Hoping a standard-compliant one emerge before mass production) PCIe 4.0 riser, please! I know VGAs are nowhere near the 3.0 bandwidth limit atm but, with the rising of both PCIe 4.0 VGAs and motherboards, it will happen more and more frequently that a build won't POST simply because the end user forgot to switch PCIe slot speed from "automatic", or "4.0", to "3.0", meaning the build must be taken apart and either a PCIe 3.0 (or lower) VGA has to be used to enter BIOS or PCIe 4.0 VGA has to be mounted directly to the motherboard. Either or which is not really feasable nor user friendly.
For those asking to drop the AIO support. Why? It's a by-product of the 2-slot VGA support, can't see what having support for AIOs hinders in any way. Unless you want to put a 3.5" HDD in there which is, nowadays, useless and rarer than using an AIO in the Sentry?
I hop on the 2.5-slot VGA support request bandwagon. The space is already there, I believe in you, you can make it happen!
As for the possibility to access the back of the motherboard, have you considered a magnetic cover? I don't know how magnets so close to the back of the motherboard would interfere which electric signals, but it could be an elegant way to address the closing mechanism (as in there's no mechanism).
I haven't really looked into this space-wise but could it be possible to move the front USBs from the bottom (considering a vertical positioning) of the case to the centre, below the power button? I think it would be more eye and symmetry pleasing?
Speaking of which, going on a mass production, why not let the buyer select either a Type-C (with the newer connector) or a Type-A (with the old, blue bulky connector) hub, much like it is possible to choose between different color coating? Btw, can more colors be added to the choise?
(Hoping a standard-compliant one emerge before mass production) PCIe 4.0 riser, please! I know VGAs are nowhere near the 3.0 bandwidth limit atm but, with the rising of both PCIe 4.0 VGAs and motherboards, it will happen more and more frequently that a build won't POST simply because the end user forgot to switch PCIe slot speed from "automatic", or "4.0", to "3.0", meaning the build must be taken apart and either a PCIe 3.0 (or lower) VGA has to be used to enter BIOS or PCIe 4.0 VGA has to be mounted directly to the motherboard. Either or which is not really feasable nor user friendly.
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2022? Are you crazy? Stop asking for too much here..
Seriously though, I can only hope it will not be anything but 2022. Even more wishful thinking, I hope it will be before Q3 as well. It wouldn't difficult at all if they start working on it soon. But the zaber team did say they are busy with other things these days. So, who knows.
Hi DR ZĄBER,
I was wondering where I would find a Sentry case when I saw this thread. I am so happy that you would be making another revision of the case.
Will it support mini-DTX motherboard? Can you move the power connector close to the top/side panel?
Improved aesthetic with no visible screws would be really nice.
I support increasing the width of the case with few millimeters. Extra space for coolers is always helpful. The case being wider will make it more stable in the vertical position. Please make the stand as minimalistic as possible.
I prefer having AIO support. 2.5" drives are not so popular anymore. Someone mentioned that the case was heavy. Not installing hard drive will certainly help with reducing the weight.
No need for 3 slot GPUs. This case is for a build to put in the living room or in the backpack, not for fastest performance.
About colours - black is boring, white doesn't look great, please add polished, brushed, silver or space grey.
I also support hexagonal holes in the case instead of round. It will give it more modern futuristic sci-fi look.
Putting your signatures inside the case will be a welcome addition. Also a unique serial number plate somewhere at the back of the case. How will you allocate the lower numbers?
I can't wait to build in this case!
I was wondering where I would find a Sentry case when I saw this thread. I am so happy that you would be making another revision of the case.
Will it support mini-DTX motherboard? Can you move the power connector close to the top/side panel?
Improved aesthetic with no visible screws would be really nice.
I support increasing the width of the case with few millimeters. Extra space for coolers is always helpful. The case being wider will make it more stable in the vertical position. Please make the stand as minimalistic as possible.
I prefer having AIO support. 2.5" drives are not so popular anymore. Someone mentioned that the case was heavy. Not installing hard drive will certainly help with reducing the weight.
No need for 3 slot GPUs. This case is for a build to put in the living room or in the backpack, not for fastest performance.
About colours - black is boring, white doesn't look great, please add polished, brushed, silver or space grey.
I also support hexagonal holes in the case instead of round. It will give it more modern futuristic sci-fi look.
Putting your signatures inside the case will be a welcome addition. Also a unique serial number plate somewhere at the back of the case. How will you allocate the lower numbers?
I can't wait to build in this case!
Well, we are in a pretty weird economic situation right now, and it's not just the prices of the GPUs themselves that wen't up, but also steel prices went significantly up since the pandemic started.
It's interesting to see that in the meantime for example indiegogo started allowing use of our own currency (PLN) while we couldn't use Euro for both campaigns and we were forced to use USD, and I'd guess that there's a reason for that. Consider gathering money for a project to see three months later when you get the money that supplies/raw materials go up threefold over this time and you either have to say to the backers that you can't start production and need to wait or you have to return the money, but you still pay the platform fees.
We don't plan to make another campaign as of right now, and we'd rather sell the cases from stock in the future, but still the situation is complicated.
As for the timeline - for next version - it's also hard simply because while me and Zombi can take some of our time to make improvements to the design in the same manner as we had with first and second version of the case, we want to make proper tooling to make crucial elements fully repeatable to eventually reduce the amount of QA required. And for that we need people who have experience with this, and they are occupied with bigger projects.
A side news is that I got into 3d printing recently to learn the technology a bit, and while obviously we're not planning to make 3d printed cases, this is something that potentially could let us prototype some parts that would be made with injection mould at some point like funnels, some mounting brackets etc. Since we got to a point that we have a most optimal cooler like NH-L9 (unless we get better prepared for Cryorig's C7) we could start thinking about optimising airflow around it, at some point in the future, assuming a streamlined configuration with this specific cooler. But it would also bring up the costs a bit, at least initially.
On the matter.
Would you think adding a(n optional?) fan shroud to the package could be a nice add to 3.0 ?
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