Hi Everyone.
I have been away for a bit but figured its time i come back and share what has been occupying my free time as of late. I have been designing a simple 7.5L HTPC case with a focus on storage. My design goals were simple: don't use any risers or extensions, design around standard sff parts (sfx psu mostly), support a few drives, have some front IO, and look good in a living room
I feel like I mostly have what I set out to make. The sheet metal design is almost done, just needs to be triple checked and I will start looking at manufacturers near me to prototype with.
I already designed and prototyped the front IO PCB. The case sports two usb3.0 ports running full usb 3.0 speeds, and a cherry switch for power button.
For storage you can fit four 2.5" drives. Max GPU length is 204mm with 2.25 ish slot thickness. Although an SFX-L psu will fit, the vents are only designed to accommodate an SFX.
The cpu cooler is limited to 65mm tall, but really that will choke the fan. Practically I can only see this working with around 45mm tall coolers.
To help with cooling a 120mm fan can be mounted in the front.
Without further delay, some renders and pictures. Let me know what you think!
Update march 2024: first prototype is made!
Update August 2024:
I decided I want to try to do this for real and try to bring it up as a low volume product. To that extent I had to put the project on a small hold while I started building up supporting infrastructure. I opened a sole proprietorship in my province and built a website to host my current and future work. You can check it out below, as well my Instagram redshift.project. I also added hardware compatibility graphcis to this post.
For the case itself, i did notice some minor tweaks need to be made. Some of the screw holes don't line up perfectly (though they are so close i didn't notice until i was auditing the cad model, the actual prototype it was not evident at all). Im also battling with some tolerance issues with the wood. I need to make a bunch of prototypes tweaking the wood slightly until its a good fit every time. I also chose not to 3d prin the button but isntead go for an off the shelf keycap. I also need to see how to best tweak the front IO PCB. It works but, it could be better/easier to make. I will also be finishing the last 3 prototypes.
Update February 2025:
The prototypes are finished, with the front panels made with australian burl and colored resin. I am still tweaking the deisgn for a small volume production batch, more details on that in the feb 11 post below. Two of these resin prototypes are also for sale on my website if you wanted to grab one! Specifically the blue and purple one! https://redshiftproject.com/pages/sputnik-sff-case
I also put together a build video:
I have been away for a bit but figured its time i come back and share what has been occupying my free time as of late. I have been designing a simple 7.5L HTPC case with a focus on storage. My design goals were simple: don't use any risers or extensions, design around standard sff parts (sfx psu mostly), support a few drives, have some front IO, and look good in a living room
I feel like I mostly have what I set out to make. The sheet metal design is almost done, just needs to be triple checked and I will start looking at manufacturers near me to prototype with.
I already designed and prototyped the front IO PCB. The case sports two usb3.0 ports running full usb 3.0 speeds, and a cherry switch for power button.
For storage you can fit four 2.5" drives. Max GPU length is 204mm with 2.25 ish slot thickness. Although an SFX-L psu will fit, the vents are only designed to accommodate an SFX.
The cpu cooler is limited to 65mm tall, but really that will choke the fan. Practically I can only see this working with around 45mm tall coolers.
To help with cooling a 120mm fan can be mounted in the front.
Without further delay, some renders and pictures. Let me know what you think!
Update march 2024: first prototype is made!
Update August 2024:
I decided I want to try to do this for real and try to bring it up as a low volume product. To that extent I had to put the project on a small hold while I started building up supporting infrastructure. I opened a sole proprietorship in my province and built a website to host my current and future work. You can check it out below, as well my Instagram redshift.project. I also added hardware compatibility graphcis to this post.
For the case itself, i did notice some minor tweaks need to be made. Some of the screw holes don't line up perfectly (though they are so close i didn't notice until i was auditing the cad model, the actual prototype it was not evident at all). Im also battling with some tolerance issues with the wood. I need to make a bunch of prototypes tweaking the wood slightly until its a good fit every time. I also chose not to 3d prin the button but isntead go for an off the shelf keycap. I also need to see how to best tweak the front IO PCB. It works but, it could be better/easier to make. I will also be finishing the last 3 prototypes.
Update February 2025:
The prototypes are finished, with the front panels made with australian burl and colored resin. I am still tweaking the deisgn for a small volume production batch, more details on that in the feb 11 post below. Two of these resin prototypes are also for sale on my website if you wanted to grab one! Specifically the blue and purple one! https://redshiftproject.com/pages/sputnik-sff-case
I also put together a build video:
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