Concept The Golden Box - a compact mATX case

[CC Ricers]

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!

Supposing I get the case down to 4 slots, and then have 10mm extra for more space to more easily install the motherboard into. 10mm is only 1/2 slot, but enough space that could make a difference with radiators.

A GPU with a full cover waterblock takes up 1 slot leaving 3 slots, which are ~57mm of space. The extra 10mm will make 67mm. A standard 30mm thick radiator with 25mm fans is 55mm so there's still some 12mm left over.

In some mATX motherboards (like the B550 Aorus Pro), the full x16 slot is in the 2nd slot which lowers the GPU location. I could see this proving more difficult in a 4-slot case with a full watercooling loop (unless you go extra slim with rad and fans). I still see pros and cons with both 4 and 5 slots. Wouldn't yet know of cooling benefits I can try right now. Either way, with mATX you're gonna top out at one 240mm + 140mm.

 

[SFF Watercooled]

Either way, with mATX you're gonna top out at one 240mm + 140mm.

No, go check out the case I linked
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=590377328719

 

[CC Ricers]

No, go check out the case I linked
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=590377328719

I've seen that case before, but the style isn't really to my liking. Also, the dual 240mm AIOs option is not compatible with mATX.

 

[SFF Watercooled]

How do you model your PC case?

 

[CC Ricers]

How do you model your PC case?

I'm using Fusion 360 for modeling.

 

[Marocco2]

Hi! You modelled a pretty good case, I like it. I was wondering if it's capable to host low profile ATX PSU (140x150x86 mm for example). In my country SFX and SFX-L are very expensive, double the price at the same wattage or more. This support would be a killer buy to me!
Thanks

 

[CC Ricers]

Hi! You modelled a pretty good case, I like it. I was wondering if it's capable to host low profile ATX PSU (140x150x86 mm for example). In my country SFX and SFX-L are very expensive, double the price at the same wattage or more. This support would be a killer buy to me!
Thanks

Support for ATX power supplies is definitely something I want to have in my case. It will be possible to install one either against the back of the case if using a low profile CPU cooler, or beside the front of the case, with mini ITX or extra narrow Micro ATX boards provided they are no wider than 190mm.

 

[CC Ricers]

Here's where I currently am with the design. A major change is removing the fifth slot so it's now down to four slots and makes the case shorter. I also widened the case from 160 to 160mm which does give clearance for several more air coolers, up to 145mm in height. This effectively makes the proportions "golden" again with a 168 x 272 mm cross section. The length remains the same.

A back-left view of a possible cooling configuration with a 120mm radiator on the side and 240mm on the bottom. PSU is against the side which can get fresh air along with the radiator.

Side view of the same setup. Admittedly that's a tight fit for the radiators. These in particular are HW Labs Nemesis GTS which at 133mm are rather wide. Fans and radiator stack to 55mm which is enough to fit in the 4 slot area with room to spare for the watercooled GPU. No slim fans necessary!

A view of the top looking down gives a better idea of how much room there is between to route tubes and maybe even add a small reservoir.

I'm aware of the complications that might arise from inlet fittings getting in the way of a side mounted radiator. Because of this, it might be advisable to swap PSU and radiator positions. The new RTX cards might be the only exception, what with the non-traditional design and inlet ports being placed the front. The air coolers for a 3080 or 3090 might be too large for the case but the PCB is short enough to allow it to be watercooled inside the case!

 

[Arboreal]

Hi CC, you mentioned this design in a reply to me elsewhere recently, and I had quite forgotten that you had a 15L mATX design on the go.

This concept is very close to my heart, as I have had the idea of a sub 20L mATX rattling round my brain for many years, well before I discovered this brilliant site.

If you look in my attic, you will find a sad and poorly executed mATX case mod sitting there.

It started life as a compact Packard Bell Imedia mATX case. It was about 22L with the front plastic trim removed.

I removed the case top intact, and cut off the section of the case that held the (ATX) PSU above the motherboard and the optical/HHD cage.

The top was refitted and that brought it down to 17L. It was test run with no side panels, as I was not able to refit the original steel ones, or perfect a mount for the replacement aluminium sheet ones.

The SFX PSU was fitted with alu brackets to the back of the front panel at the top, leaving room for a 120mm intake fan below.

That's as far as I got, nut the idea for a really compact mATX case has never gone away. I've been playing with ITX for 10+ years, and don't have a real requirement for more than a single PCIE slot, but do think that dual M.2 slots are essential.

As far as I can see, (other suggestions welcome), only Asus offer dual M.2 ITX boards, at a fair premium above most other models, which is a bit limiting.

I did start prototyping again in lockdown, but the demise of my B250M / i5 6500 setup took the shine off that project.

But still, the need to create a 'bit bigger than an NCase M1' mATX case won't go away...

Keep up the good work, this is really interesting. I did also consider adapting a small ITX design like the MT4S to SFX, to reduce the Flex ATX noise problems, but I think a 15L mATX design is going to be really practical unless you choose stupidly hot components

/brain dump

 

[Walderstorn]

This is looking really promising. I really like this concept.

 

[CC Ricers]

@Arboreal I've seen some OEM case mods of chopping it to SFF size and wish that form factor was much more common with mainstream cases. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think Project Nova (before it became Cerberus) also started out with a modded mid-tower case!

Depending on how things go with my other case, I might continue working with this one. Even so this one is somewhat more developed than my ITX sandwich case. While I don't have mATX board anymore to test out the full size I could now use the "NCase M1 but with extra slots" layout to try my hand with that. This is also the most optimal setup for a custom watercooling loop.