Concept The Golden Box - a compact mATX case

[CC Ricers]

Hey everyone,
I've decided to start designing a new case, this time larger than what I usually do. It supports micro-ATX, mini-ITX and mini-DTX motherboards.

I have the layout already roughly in place, but the case assembly itself needs more time to figure out. But its larger size would accommodate a greater variety of hardware and support for custom watercooling. I've gotten inspiration from cases such as Project mATX by @Jeffinslaw and a few crazy EVGA hadron mods, including one by @Allhopeforhumanity that stuffed a mATX motherboard inside with dual GPUs.

My spec goals:

• ~15 liter volume
• Micro-ATX motherboard support (and all smaller ones)
• Graphics card support up to 305mm length
• 120mm or 140mm radiator/AIO cooler support
• Support for an additional 240mm radiator/AIO cooler

I call it the Golden Box because I'd prefer that its height to width (and depth) ratio will follow the golden ratio. But dimensions are not set in stone yet.

The case will be made with aluminum or possibly a mixture of steel with an aluminum exterior, depending on what approach I'll take to manufacture the case.

Update: Here is a render of a very rough concept just to rough out the general look of the case, as long as to give a sense of its scale.

 

[CC Ricers]

I might decide to pivot into a vertical layout-style case. And besides I still love having a smaller case footprint on my desk.

 

[CC Ricers]

I started drafting out a rough concept yesterday and worked on some of the outer panel pieces.

The construction will follow some simple manufacturing rules. Any pieces that need bending should have no more than 2 or 3 bends, and should be along the same axis. Flanges that lay in the middle of a piece surrounded by more material won't be allowed. The bent metal shown here is 2mm thick.

It's very likely I'll stick with this vent pattern to the end, but there's still a ton of details left to work on.

The black box represents the size and placement of a SFX-L power supply and with shorter boards, you could also place the power supply in the front.

The right shows the two vertical sheets more clearly. The larger side piece makes up the motherboard tray and I need to cut out openings here.

I would like to have tempered glass for the front piece for a premium look but knowing how hard it is to source custom cuts with those, more than likely will be a thick piece of acrylic.

Also, here's a render of the very early design with some hardware to show how it will fit in the case.

Not quite golden ratio proportions but I'll see if I'll continue to go with it or not. I do like that it's still a smaller volume than the EVGA Hadron.

 

[Colinreay]

That render is beautiful! I wasn't aware of the golden ratio until now, but it explains why some cases just... look right to me. This is shaping up to be one of them! Excited to follow along.

 

[CC Ricers]

That render is beautiful! I wasn't aware of the golden ratio until now, but it explains why some cases just... look right to me. This is shaping up to be one of them! Excited to follow along.

Thanks for the kind words! I'm really hoping this case can at least get some decent attention. Not many mATX cases being made under 20L that have a high profile. But this case is also something for me to make do with the parts I have.

 

[mikro_do]

Looks like there is space for a rad in the bottom and top?
If yes, I am heavily interest

 

[CC Ricers]

Looks like there is space for a rad in the bottom and top?
If yes, I am heavily interest

There is space for a 240mm radiator at the bottom. Not quite room for one in the top, just for fans, since a top radiator will probably interfere with motherboard components. However, there will be the option to install a 120mm or 140mm radiator or AIO along the side panel with a mATX board, or an additional 240mm with a mITX board. These things will all require additional brackets that I will have to develop and include with the case.

 

[CC Ricers]

Did more work on the motherboard tray, plus most of the rear I/O is complete. You can now see one of the power supply mounting locations (there will be up to 3).

The screw holes may or may not be countersunk, depending on how I'll attach the standoffs. I could either go with self clinching fasteners (which require precision tooling), or very short countersunk screws or set screws to attach hex standoffs. Regular screw-on standoffs won't quite work as they will stick out on the other end, and the tray will be flush with the side panel.

 

[mikro_do]

There is space for a 240mm radiator at the bottom. Not quite room for one in the top, just for fans, since a top radiator will probably interfere with motherboard components. However, there will be the option to install a 120mm or 140mm radiator or AIO along the side panel with a mATX board, or an additional 240mm with a mITX board. These things will all require additional brackets that I will have to develop and include with the case.

How big is the space between the top and the mainboard? Looks a little bit more than 25mm for me

 

[CC Ricers]

How big is the space between the top and the mainboard? Looks a little bit more than 25mm for me

Approximately 18mm. This is enough room for most slim fans. It might fit 25mm fans but I can't guarantee that they won't interfere with the motherboard.

 

[mikro_do]

Oh ok 18mm, obviously my eyes are a little bit off then ?
Then the case is probably nothing for me, but still looks awesome!

IMO glass in the front is an amazing thing and way to less cases have this feature, and if so they are huge (Lian Li O11).
Will definitely keep the case in mind for non-watercooled builds if it will be produced some day!

 

[CC Ricers]

Oh ok 18mm, obviously my eyes are a little bit off then ?
Then the case is probably nothing for me, but still looks awesome!

IMO glass in the front is an amazing thing and way to less cases have this feature, and if so they are huge (Lian Li O11).
Will definitely keep the case in mind for non-watercooled builds if it will be produced some day!

This case can still support radiators for watercooling on the side and the bottom. For the side it will depend on the PSU and motherboard setup. As this case design is still in development, I haven't shown all the possible configurations yet. You'll have to wait and see!

 

[SFF Watercooled]

Hey I want you to check out this case:
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=590377328719

13L case with mATX, 80mm GPU clearance, and dual 240mm aios

 

[CC Ricers]

Hey I want you to check out this case:
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=590377328719

13L case with mATX, 80mm GPU clearance, and dual 240mm aios

That’s a good find. There’s some overlooked mATX cases on that site.

Using two 240mm AIOs limits the motherboard to mini ITX which is also true for my case. My case is 20mm taller because it has 5 slots instead of 4. I’m still not sure if I’ll keep all 5. One thing I do want to avoid is enlarging the case more to where it’s as big as Cerberus. I’d like to focus more on compactness, even if it is less easy to do with mATX than mITX.

 

[SFF Watercooled]

You might only need 4 slots because:

1. People only ever use dual radiators for a full loop, including the CPU and the GPU. This means that there is a GPU waterblock, which is around 1 slot or more. So, you have 50mm to 60mm for the rad+fans, which is definitely enough.
2. I've never seen any GPU that's >4 slots

But you might have a reason for 5 slots, say a really thick radiator.

There has to be a reason why people would choose this over the C26!

 

[thelaughingman]

per WinterOne development, dual 30mm rads have more cooling capacity than single 60mm thick rad so 5, even 4 slots is not necessary for optimum cooling. I would suggest you to shift some of that volume at the bottom to where you have a 2nd rad (top or side) for better compatibility and optimisation.

 

[SFF Watercooled]

per WinterOne development, dual 30mm rads have more cooling capacity than single 60mm thick rad so 5, even 4 slots is not necessary for optimum cooling. I would suggest you to shift some of that volume at the bottom to where you have a 2nd rad (top or side) for better compatibility and optimisation.

We were TALKING about the bottom rad lol, there is already a side rad

 

[buns_o_steel]

Am considering moving up to an mATX build and I'd totally be interested in something that's 4-slot since I don't want something too much bigger than my NCase M1.

 

[CC Ricers]

Am considering moving up to an mATX build and I'd totally be interested in something that's 4-slot since I don't want something too much bigger than my NCase M1.

I'll take that into consideration!

I was just about to post some PC component setups before reading your post. These setups will assume I shrink the case again, down to 29 cm in length and 26.5 cm in height. This size will accommodate 4 slots.

For now I will show two main setups. All the parts are approximately to scale.
The first is the standard setup using a Micro ATX board, with the PSU mounted against the back. This offers a clearance of somewhere between 65 and 70mm tall CPU coolers, but you can also opt for a 120mm or 140mm AIO liquid cooler mounted on the side.

Another setup is for a Mini ITX board. This opens up the possibility of moving the PSU to the front (via installation brackets) and having a ~130mm air cooler, or AIO cooler directly beside the CPU area. Some undersized Micro ATX boards (the narrow 3-slot boards with 2 RAM slots) can also use this layout.

In some cases, it could even be possible to use a standard ATX size PSU, if using graphics cards shorter than 190mm.
Both diagrams here use a 267mm reference length GPU for comparison.

 

[SFF Watercooled]

Am considering moving up to an mATX build and I'd totally be interested in something that's 4-slot since I don't want something too much bigger than my NCase M1.

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=590377328719
13L case with support for dual 240mm AIOs and 4 slot GPUs, as mentioned earlier