ITX case design inspired by TJ08-E and SG05, just for funsies

I've had a bunch of these ideas for different ITX cases swirling around my head for a while, so I finally decided to actually draw one up. Downloaded Sketchup today and pretty much messed around with it trying to figure it all out and this is the result of all that. Here's one of the designs I just wanted to spill out, just for funsies.

After looking at the TJ08-E, I've wanted to see an SFF ITX case that can handle a 180mm radiator (the Prodigy doesn't count, it's a behemoth), and seeing as the SG08 couldn't fit a radiator in there (as far as I can tell), this design came into perspective:



As you can see, it mostly resembles an engorged SG05. The Alphacool NexXsos XT45 180mm radiator was used as a standard along with the Silverstone AP181. The total dimensions are 232 x 210 x 378.



To put that into perspective, here it is next to the 304, for which the dimensions are 250 x 210 x 374. Not the best render, but it's all I could get.



It's long enough to accommodate an EVGA Titan Hydro Copper. This would most likely be a tight squeeze, much like the SG05, but that's part of the appeal. Yes, there is a slim optical drive, mostly just to show that it could be integrated.



At the back, you can see the 4 x 2.5" hot swap bays, which can accommodate up to 12.5mm thick drives. I got the idea for this a while ago from synaps3's SG05 build. There are no 3.5" drive bays in here displayed here, but there could be one mounted on the side panel next to the motherboard. Sticking with the SFX PSU because a) it's SFF; b) the upcoming 600 watter would be ideal for this type of build.



Just another angle from the GPU side of things. It needs a bit of tweaking, but you get the general idea.



Another angle. The hot swap bays clear the GPU PCB by ~40mm. Would be interesting if the proposed 790 could fit in here.

So after messing around for a few hours, that's what I've come up with. There are a few variations that could be change, such as rotating the radiator so it sits vertically and make the case a bit thinner, or allow the GPU to run up the side of it, making it shorter. Both would make it taller, obviously. I would have added ventilation on some of the panels and maybe some exhaust fans on the back of the case, but I just can't be bothered at this point.

Now this was just for fun and I have no grandiose plans to follow wahaha and Necere to full scale production, but what do you guys think, good design or should I never touch a CAD program ever again? (Might make it hard when I return to my trade). Any suggestions are welcome. Hope it's been interesting.

PS, Hopefully these images work. Never used this method before.

Looks good! I wish more people knew about SketchUp, it's so easy to pick up and start designing cool stuff.

Here's a model I found of the Impact if you want to check rough clearances for the sound card and stuff: https://www.dropbox.com/s/m82pp9k50blx02d/ASUS_Maximus_VI_Impact_pre-release_v2.skp

I think it's very interesting

I would be interested to see your secondary proposal: turn the rad and have the GPU alongside it. It would look more like a TJ08e then I guess.

Wow nice! TJ08-E and the SG05 are my favorite cases. Naturally seeing a hybrid is always welcoming. It truly is a novel idea to design with a 180mm radiator in mind, however we're truly limited in radiator choices in this size. I see some space above for a 120mm possibly using a bracket to mount one?

Designed a few more cases. With this one, it ended up more of a cube. Basically the same as the original, but with the radiator offset to one side to make space for the GPU.



As you can see, it's much shorter, but wider to boot. The total dimensions for this were 298x250x308. You may not be able to see it, but the extra width allowed for extra two hot swap bays, bringing the total to six.



Shot from the side. looks a bit more cramped than the original, but there's still enough room.



And just for the hell of it, I threw a 2x92 radiator just to show that it could fit. Overall, I'm not too happy with the way this one turned out. It's a bit too big for what it contains and I just get that icky feel like the one I get when I see a Prodigy, but now I can cross it of the list.

Thanks for making the effort of showing the alternate design, and I agree, it's too Prodigy-like.

WiSK said:

I would be interested to see your secondary proposal: turn the rad and have the GPU alongside it. It would look more like a TJ08e then I guess.

Click to expand...

You should like this one then. After my previous mess up with the last one, I decided to go with a tower style while still keeping the GPU tucked away underneath the radiator. I think it came out rather well.



Everything just feels much more uniform in this one. Along with the 180mm radiator and fan on the front, there's a 120mm fan on the back, which, conveniently enough, still has room for a 120mm radiator. The 180mm radiator alone should be more than enough to cool a CPU and GPU alone, so if anyone thinks this isn't enough cooling, they need their head examined. Personally, I wouldn't have a 120mm radiator on the back, but it shows it's quite possible. I forgot to put the USB, speaker jacks and power buttons on this one, but you can guess where they would be by looking at the previous entries. The overall dimensions for this one are 193x300x310, making it just under 18L. BTW, I should mention that all the dimensions given include 2mm per side of the case. That whole thick aluminium case seems the go right now.



This side shot here shows how much potential room is available. Like I said, I wouldn't use the 120mm radiator just because it might be a bit too cramped.



Here's the view of the bum. Unfortunately, there was only enough room for 3 hot swap bays with this setup. I'll have a go with another layout with the PSU rotated 90 degrees and on the right hand side. I'll be able to add extra hot swap bays, but the 120mm fan may have to be replaced with a 92mm or 80mm fan in the process.



Shot from the other side. Not much going on over here, just showing the clearance between the radiator and GPU.

So that's just about it. In the end, I am quite happy with the way this last design wound up and would like to see this (or something similar) be made in the future. Hope you like this one as much as I do, and as always, please give any recommendations or feedback, even if you think it sucks. I'll have a go at the alternate layout for the back and post it later.

Aibohphobia said:

Here's a model I found of the Impact if you want to check rough clearances for the sound card and stuff: https://www.dropbox.com/s/m82pp9k50blx02d/ASUS_Maximus_VI_Impact_pre-release_v2.skp

Click to expand...

Thanks for that, I'll be using it in some future designs.

Did the switcheroo with the PSU on this one:



With this orientation, there's plenty of room for additional hot swap bays. It may not look as organised, but it works. Had to downgrade the fan to a 92mm as predicted.



Side view here, but nothing much new.

So that's about it for these designs based around a 180mm fan. I have a few other ideas I'd like to do later, but I'll leave them for another time.

All pics are gone?

They're coming up on my work compy. Try the usual temp file delete.