@VELKASE Michael when we can expect the Prepurchase option to be live on the website? It was supposed to be up around 3 weeks ago...
For now it is best to assume that it will only be possible to order when they are ready to ship, so late July.
Just a quick follow-up on the PSU -- wouldn't the partial vent be mostly obstructed by the PSU and cables? Have you done tests to determine if it makes a difference with this vent vs. no vent? Perhaps you could have no vent on the PSU side and a partial vent on the other side, so if someone wanted to have a vent they could flip the case to have the PSU at the bottom and open vent on top. And if they didn't want a top vent (for instance with a low-power system, to prevent dust from settling in or just didn't like the look of it), they could flip it and have the PSU on top with no vent.
I haven't tested the difference but without top vents, the intake for the power supply would use more CPU and GPU exhaust. The Flex ATX mount cannot be made reversible due to how close it is to the left side of the case and the motherboard's IO cutout, so one orientation has to be chosen. It's in the current orientation because that allows power supplies that have vents on their large face to intake air from the outside. The other orientation is less than ideal for those power supplies because the motherboard tray will impede airflow on the large face of the PSU (the top face in this picture)
If you check page 13
here, that should give you an idea of how much space the cables take up if using the ENP-7660B. It's a colorful mess but they don't impede airflow that much for the power supply.
The way I see it is, the best way to create a solid top with a decent appearance would be to keep the current PSU orientation, flip the case, figure out a way to attach the motherboard tray without two screws on the new top. The only way to do this would probably be to sacrifice a little bit of structural integrity of the case and attach the motherboard tray to the side of the frame with two long standoffs. In this picture, that would mean removing the features marked in red and adding long standoffs between the blue points. This would also slightly reduce graphics card height clearance but that lost space might not actually be usable by ITX graphics cards anyway). With the way the case is right now, you can still flip the case to have a solid top and even keep the power button at the bottom, but you would have an extra pair of screws on top by the locations marked in red.
Awesome, thank you.
What size screws(m3, m4, or an imperial size) are you using to attach the flex atx PSU to the chassis?
6-32 UNC screws, the same ones used for SFX and ATX power supplies. 2.5" drive compatibility will not be affected as long as the adapter takes up the same space as a Flex ATX power supply.
From where are the cases shipping? I am from germany and have to see about customs if i shiuld get velka 5 plus psu or velka 7. also how much will shipping be to germany? 30 usd?
They ship from the United States. I'm still in the process of negotiating rates but you can assume it to be roughly $55 for a Velka 5 or 7 without a PSU, $65 for a Velka 5 with a PSU not including import tax and duties, with about 1 week transit time.
Much appreciated! Drives I have are all "top-side" IO so I think this option might not be fore me, will opt for the 7
Looking at the early user manuals (awesome work btw!) there's a couple questions re: rear-mounted M.2 drives:
- Is there enough clearance for a low profile heatsink such as:
https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-m-2-nvme-heatsink-black
- Will the ribbon cable be rated to withstand constant high ~70C? (current idling temp for me without heatsink)
- If either of the above is false, would you recommend not installing one?
What do you mean by "top side"? The diagonal drive could be flipped over if that's the issue.
The riser cable will be fine. If your graphics card does not have a backplate, you should actually be able to fit a low profile M.2 heatsink in the new Velka 5 or 7, something around 3-4 mm tall. Which M.2 drive and case are you currently using?
Do you foresee any issues with motherboards with a back-plate if the CPU is short enough?
That one looks fine. There may be some motherboards out there with larger protrusions on the backside, which would have to be removed.
From what is stated in the latest manual, we can now position the side panel further away from both CPU and GPU fan using the experimental 2mm or 4mm spacing holes. Does it mean that the memory height clearance is now taller such that I am able to fit in the 44mm high Gskill Trident Z memory?
That experimental extra panel spacing can be treated as a clearance increase for the CPU fan and RAM. It's more complicated for graphics cards so it's best to treat that as a simple spacing increase between fan blades and vents that decreases noise.
Spacing the panel farther away will increase RAM clearance, but you might need to use 4 mm spacing instead of 2 mm spacing or get 2mm tall adhesive rubber feet and place them between the side panel and body of the case to keep the side panels straight.
When do you think it would be available at EU resellers?
Maybe in a few months or closer to the end of this year. Until then, it will just ship from the US to EU customers directly.
