Log sub 5L 2080ti/3700x case feasibility

Alster370

Cable Smoosher
Original poster
Jun 1, 2020
11
3
"Laptop" style build.
Components - 400w TFX PSU
2080Ti 270mm true 2 Slot
Ryzen 3700X
Noctua NH-L9i

Materials: top and bottom panel - ABS first, then aluminium
Shroud: ABS first then aluminium
standoffs: Nylon or Derlin probably.

Im considering building a case that can house top tier components, and be very backpack friendly. I love the S4 Mini and the Sentry layout, and id go for a variant of that myself. I want this case to have a similar footprint to a chunky 18.4" gaming laptop, so it needs to be kept as thin as possible, id say no more than 50mm thick. my quick model is 350mm by 300mm footprint, so easy to fit into a backpack and gives a volume of 5.2L at 50mm width.

At 50mm thickness, cpu cooling is restricted to a noctua LiH9 or simlar, aswell as the shortest "true" 2 slot 2080tis, such as the founders edition. To keep thermals in check and noise I propose large cutouts for the gpu intake and CPU exhaust, with magnetic grills for transporting the case/ leaving it unattended for days/weeks etc. Power wise CPU and GPU would probably need slight undervolting to keep to 400w power target.

Plan would be to have a the gpu riser cable pass underneath the motherboard, left 5mm gap which should hopefully be enough. Storage wise im not sure, probably limited to NVME SSD.

As far as the case goes its a very simple design, with top and bottom panels, which sandwich the shroud which completes the enclosure. the standoffs connect the top and bottom panels and add strength. Id have them threaded inside so that feet can be screwed in to raise the case. Would need to add a piece in the middle no-doubt to keep rigidity and support the graphics card, although I thought about maybe mounting the graphics card on plastic standoffs ( like a motherboard).

Any thoughts?
 
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Carsten

Chassis Packer
May 16, 2020
20
69
I like the layout, compact and all fans on one side.

The GPU seems to be pretty close to the MB. Have you found a riser cable that allows for the GPU to be placed like this?
A straight riser would collide with the MB, unless you raise the MB or seperate the components a bit further.
90° riser seem to be all pointing down in your config, which would mean raising the GPU.
A 90° riser pointing up and then a 180° bend would probably have the smallest space requirement, but I couldnt find one.

You dont show a cutout for a power connector, where would that be?
 

Alster370

Cable Smoosher
Original poster
Jun 1, 2020
11
3
The GPU seems to be pretty close to the MB. Have you found a riser cable that allows for the GPU to be placed like this?

You dont show a cutout for a power connector, where would that be?

Im not sure how bendy riser cables are, but Id guess that one with 90 degree bends on either end would be best, with the cable routing underneath the motherboard and looping round at the other side. the gap between the gpu and the motherboard is 25mm, the same as the gap between the motherboard and the chassis at the far end where the pci slot is, sufficient enough maybe? Im sure ive seen a case with this setup before. gpu and cpu are both raised by 5mm from the bottom panel.

As for the power connector, i thought that was fairly trivial in this case as there is plenty of places it could go. Ideally though Id have an extension to fit the power connector inbeween the gpu and cpu sections at the rear of the case, as Id like to keep all the cables to one side.
 

Carsten

Chassis Packer
May 16, 2020
20
69
Im not sure how bendy riser cables are, but Id guess that one with 90 degree bends on either end would be best, with the cable routing underneath the motherboard and looping round at the other side. the gap between the gpu and the motherboard is 25mm, the same as the gap between the motherboard and the chassis at the far end where the pci slot is, sufficient enough maybe? Im sure ive seen a case with this setup before. gpu and cpu are both raised by 5mm from the bottom panel.

As for the power connector, i thought that was fairly trivial in this case as there is plenty of places it could go. Ideally though Id have an extension to fit the power connector inbeween the gpu and cpu sections at the rear of the case, as Id like to keep all the cables to one side.

OK, 25mm is more than I assumed you had.
The cables are quite bendy but the pcb and plastic casting on each end need some room.
See this pic of a cable I have:


My approach was to buy a promising cable, test out the needed space and then fit my design to that.

I guessed you wanted to go with an extention. A standard C14 inlet can be quite big in a case like this. I think you can fit it between GPU and MB, but it will be a tight fit. Its probably best to model one in.
 

ignsvn

By Toutatis!
SFFn Staff
Apr 4, 2016
1,707
1,646
"Laptop" style build.
Components - 400w TFX PSU
2080Ti 270mm true 2 Slot
Ryzen 3700X
Noctua NH-L9i

.. so it needs to be kept as thin as possible, id say no more than 50mm thick. my quick model is 350mm by 300mm footprint, so easy to fit into a backpack and gives a volume of 5.2L at 50mm width.

At 50mm thickness, cpu cooling is restricted to a noctua LiH9 or simlar, aswell as the shortest "true" 2 slot 2080tis, such as the founders edition.

Seems like a good start.

However, TFX PSU dimension is 65 x 85 x 175mm. If you want to have 50mm case thickness, perhaps you need to use FlexATX PSU (seems like so, looking at your 3D model). Do remember about the additional noise though.
 

blubblob

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jul 26, 2016
104
127
If you are looking for risers that support "odd" placements of PCIe card in relation to the motherboard slot take a look at the risers ADT-Link offers.

I'm personally using an R33UF-TU type to place a GPU beside the motherboard with both CPU and GPU heatsink facing on direction and the riser flat on the back of the GPU.
The riser cable only has to make a single 45° bend right when it flows from the PCIe-slot on the motherboard towards the back of the case because the connectors on both ends are already soldered to the cable turned 180° to their usual orientation. Motherboard and GPU can pretty much sit flush together. The riser only adds about 15mm to the side of the GPU where it usually slots into the motherboard - space you would need in your case dimensions anyway to accommodate the GPU IO-Slot bracket "spurs".
 

k0n

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jul 3, 2019
213
280

This is the Layout I also ended up with. The Riser was the same one would use on something like the DAN A4... with 300mm a little to long. 250mm should have been perfect. With 350mm widht you can place a C14 at the back... use the space you have left because of the PCIe power connectors.