The Chimera MachOne: For the pros. Small meets flexible.

[Arboreal]

This is the SFF equivalent of a superhot plus-sized model. I seriously never thought I'd think about building a mATX system, but with this case there's a pretty good chance that will happen. Nice work guys ; )

Any chance you guys will be publishing all case specs anytime soon?

The mental images that sentence conjured up! Can't clear my head on that one yet...
Seriously, this is a great innovation. Nice to see the unique 'multi mode' aspect and the unusual vertical orientation with top IO.
Please let there be some decent mATX boards available this generation, it seems to have been glossed over a bit with a lot of love in the ATX and ITX departments.
Bring it on, great work guys - @Necere; very generous of you to let them run with one of your designs, I look forward to seeing something off your drawing board and on the production line soon.

 

[Psyclone]

Any idea yet on where the USB ports and power switch will go?

 

[Ankacat]

Any active female member in this forum can comment on this one?

I'm more of a purple, silver, grey, and Cinnamoroll person, but pink can be nice as long as it doesn't come with a pink tax and continually changing cultural perspectives about color gendering.

 

[Wahaha360]

With the Gear One setup, will I be able to attach fans or SSDs or other things to the rear perforated panel?

I intentionally didn't allow said scenario.

Mounting hardware to the rear perforated chassis will block exhaust air flow. Given that there is mounting for drives at the bottom of the chassis already, I didn't see the marginal benefit at the cost of exhaust efficiency / temperature.

Actually, I want to say, have you considered other colors? For example, pink will be more popular with women. Who says girls will not be DIY PC? I think the HelloKitty version of MachOne must be interesting.

In terms of more color, we are trying to figure out the logistics.

Possibility of front panel that has opening for 5 1/4" bay, so one could see the EK reservoir / pump combo...? Maybe even have adjustable mount so it can protrude out a bit to fit flush with front panel...?

We are using a EK Single 5.25" DDC Pump/Res combo now. The 5.25" bracket already has adjustable mounting.

Has anyone ever tested how the top aluminium panel might interfere with wifi/bluetooth signals from antennas positioned around the I/O pannel?

I can confirm that the aluminum top panel in the current prototype interferes with my Logitech Unifying receiver. My Logitech keyboard is perfectly fine, but the mouse I'm using is not as smooth.

I can also confirm that USB-C memory sticks seems to interfere with my Logitech Unifying Receiver.

For production, the top panel will most likely be black tinted tempered glass. Solves the problem of connectivity.

Any idea yet on where the USB ports and power switch will go?

It will be at the top as an upgrade kit. While the power button will be standard, the USB kit will likely be an upgrade kit.

The motherboard I/O ports are already at the top and quite convenient to access, a separate USB I/O offers marginal benefit and more cable mess.

The cost increase is also a concern, because a USB I/O with USB-C is pricy. To offer only USB-A will make a lot of people unhappy.

So it's just makes more sense to offer an upgrade kit for people willing to pay for it.

 

[Wahaha360]

Necere; very generous of you to let them run with one of your designs, I look forward to seeing something off your drawing board and on the production line soon.

As I mentioned in this post, I pushed and advocated the design concept to Necere in the first place.

Over the years, we have discussed varying layouts with the same front panel.

So I reaped the fruits of all my labor and materialized the Mach One.

 

[Psyclone]

For production, the top panel will most likely be black tinted tempered glass. Solves the problem of connectivity.

So will we be able to choose either the tempered glass or the aluminum panel?

It will be at the top as an upgrade kit. While the power button will be standard, the USB kit will likely be an upgrade kit.

Any chance of a render or a sketch to help me see what you mean please?

 

[rfarmer]

We are using a EK Single 5.25" DDC Pump/Res combo now. The 5.25" bracket already has adjustable mounting.

Can I ask what the maximum length for a reservoir you can have in the 5.25 slot?

 

[Necere]

As I mentioned in this post, I pushed and advocated the design concept to Necere in the first place.

Over the years, we have discussed varying layouts with the same front panel.

So I reaped the fruits of all my labor and materialized the Mach One.

Sigh... must we?

You had some vague desire to make a "vertical M1," to compete with the Corsair One.
I came up with the overall design of the exterior and wraparound front panel, as well as the internal layout (in the standard, riserless mATX configuration).
The switchable configuration to B2B with risers and dual window stuff was all your idea, and of course you did most of the work to turn it into something manufacturable (though I helped you with this, too).

Really, no one cares about who deserves credit for what.

 

[Wahaha360]

Sigh... must we?

You had some vague desire to make a "vertical M1," to compete with the Corsair One.
I came up with the overall design of the exterior and wraparound front panel, as well as the internal layout (in the standard, riserless mATX configuration).
The switchable configuration to B2B with risers and dual window stuff was all your idea, and of course you did most of the work to turn it into something manufacturable (though I helped you with this, too).

Really, no one cares about who deserves credit for what.

I clarified.

 

[tinyitx]

When there is still no case, it makes friends.
Now there is a case, it breaks friends.

 

[VegetableStu]

please stay friends... :c

 

[vex_sb]

I intentionally didn't allow said scenario.

Mounting hardware to the rear perforated chassis will block exhaust air flow. Given that there is mounting for drives at the bottom of the chassis already, I didn't see the marginal benefit at the cost of exhaust efficiency / temperature.

Bottom of the case is great place for small rad, pitty to close it with 2.5 inch drive wich can be mounted anywhere ... In this tiny builds i always tape 2.5 with double tape on most convinient place

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

Bottom of the case is great place for small rad, pitty to close it with 2.5 inch drive wich can be mounted anywhere ... In this tiny builds i always tape 2.5 with double tape on most convinient place

The bottom would be a challenging place to mount the radiator mostly because it would compete with the PSU and cables for space/airflow internally, while having little breathing room below it (on the exterior; the feet we’ve selected are pretty slim).

The diagrams I added to the OP show the various areas we’d suggest stowing 2.5” cards in various builds. I think that (in general) unless you have a lot of them, you should be able to find good places to stow them!

 

[Halfdan]

Wow you guys did it again. Your first prototype case of the chimera (the blue case) started me down the path of sff pc's and while I'm more of a fan of sub 10L cases nowadays, this just looks so beautiful. Might have to pick this one up when it becomes available for my new build.

 

[smitty2k1]

snip

I can confirm that the aluminum top panel in the current prototype interferes with my Logitech Unifying receiver. My Logitech keyboard is perfectly fine, but the mouse I'm using is not as smooth.

I can also confirm that USB-C memory sticks seems to interfere with my Logitech Unifying Receiver.

For production, the top panel will most likely be black tinted tempered glass. Solves the problem of connectivity.

snip

If you look at those Logitech unifying receivers wrong they get interfered with. I have to use a 6" USB extender cable for the one on the front of my HTPC case even though the keyboard is less than 5' away.

 

[Boil]

...the feet we’ve selected are pretty slim...

@PlayfulPhoenix

How high are the feet / what is the clearance under the chassis...?

 

[Wahaha360]

@PlayfulPhoenix

How high are the feet / what is the clearance under the chassis...?

6-10mm.

 

[Boil]

6-10mm.

@Wahaha360

So, the feet are 6mm tall & there is a total of 10mm clearance under the chassis...?!?

 

[Wahaha360]

@Wahaha360

So, the feet are 6mm tall & there is a total of 10mm clearance under the chassis...?!?

I'm undecided between 6mm vs 10mm feet, so the final space under the chassis is one or the other.

 

[Wahaha360]

oh I see. I was thinking of a more complicated setup (but hopefully more universal), like plugging in a headless DP connector and connecting the laptop directly over LAN and grabbing a stream over. trying to figure something out like NDI and whatnot, but not sure what the latency's like over ethernet after everything, LOL ._.