Kimera Industries Cerberus: The 18L, mATX, USA-made enclosure

The problem with some open-air GPU coolers is that they are bad when installed directly below eachother. Some will be better than others but in the end, the top one will be recycling the bottom one's exhausted hot air.

With enough airflow inside the case, this point becomes less of an issue, but increasing airflow also increases noise.

But blower-coolers aren't quiet either. Testing will have to show how these setups perform, I believe Aibohphobia has already done some testing on this, but not all those setups.
 
Yup, reference cards help with regards to dumping the hot exhaust outside the case but at full load they're not quiet.

Dual AIO GPU water coolers should be a good option though that may limit you to a rear-mounted PSU.
 
For what its worth, I'm definitely going for SLI in this case. Currently using the NCASE M1 with a custom watercooled GTX980ti and I don't think I'll ever go back to air.
Noise isn't really an issue for me so I may go dual 240mm rads or one 240 and one 120 with Noctua PPC industrials.
I did try the AIO's from Corsair, H100, H60, H70, but the custom route is definitely the most convenient option as far as customization goes.
 
yoyo55 said:
Did you say Beige?! Put me in for 5!!!
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EdZ said:
... Actually, Beige is kind of tempting.
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superblockio said:
Oh man, that's making me a little nostalgic. I think I'd be pretty okay with beige....
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cowsgomoo said:
Beige with Pentium III stickers is the way to go.
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Phuncz said:
Don't forget the Turbo button !
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picard-facepalm.jpg
 
@PlayfulPhoenix I think you should maybe offer it as a limited option with the power button in silver with a green LED. Beige would look a lot better with the finish you're going for than with cheap injection molded plastic.
 
iFreilicht said:
@PlayfulPhoenix I think you should maybe offer it as a limited option with the power button in silver with a green LED. Beige would look a lot better with the finish you're going for than with cheap injection molded plastic.
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Maybe you could make it so people can get beige if they pledge extra money... market it as the "retro" version... wait, I don't want to pay extra! Never mind.
 
Beige painted metal, beige plastic front panel (careful! It needs to be a slightly different beige), and a metallic foil sticker somewhere with a ROYGBIV line pattern on it.
 
Aibohphobia said:
Yup, reference cards help with regards to dumping the hot exhaust outside the case but at full load they're not quiet.

Dual AIO GPU water coolers should be a good option though that may limit you to a rear-mounted PSU.
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Interesting... I hadn't considered that limitation. Maybe the best combo will be 1 AIO and 1 air-cooled. Will just have to wait and see.
 
WOAH! That looks amazing!! Anyway yeah, I'm not sure I'd actually pick the nostalgia edition, but I'd at least seriously consider it. :D I love how it looks like an old timey Apple logo.
 
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superblockio said:
WOAH! That looks amazing!! Anyway yeah, I'm not sure I'd actually pick the nostalgia edition, but I'd at least seriously consider it. :D I love how it looks like an old timey Apple logo.
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You're right that the rainbow is inspired by Apple's earlier logo (as is the text, in fact), though I think I'd probably prefer something more similar to the decal used on the Commodore 64.

Anyway, if I'm doing Apple, I might as well do IBM, right? (Not as interesting, but meh):

ziKd5y2.jpg


(For whatever reason, I'm incredibly fond of computers and computer advertisements from the 1980's :))


EdZ said:
All joking aside, I would legitimately pick that if it were an option.
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Do you mean a beige version of Nova? I have to admit that making such an edition, with a silver button and green LED, and then adding a custom badge like that... would be awesome.

But we've already got so much to do with the regular version that I don't think it's within the scope of what we can manage, at least for now. Maybe we could do a fun "special edition" run down the line, if we're super-lucky and Nova is incredibly successful.
 
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Oh man! Dat nostalgia. If only it had a floppy disk drive bay... actually, even just a plain DVD drive is pretty nostalgic at this point. :D

Edit:
Also, is it just me or does the Kimera logo look like a rectangle with a little triangle cut out of the middle... kind of like a backwards "play" button. I always see that rather than the "KI". Especially with the logo on their website at the top left.
 
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superblockio said:
Oh man! Dat nostalgia. If only it had a floppy disk drive bay... actually, even just a plain DVD drive is pretty nostalgic at this point. :D
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I haven't built or purchased a computer complete with an ODD for nearly five years now. I've never missed it, either, though I suspect I'm a bit ahead of the curve (regarding physical media) compared to most. Digital media FTW.

Anyway, my respect to anyone who can figure out the inspiration for this one, as it's a tad more obscure (unless you have some decent familiarity of early computer companies):

cWTxpjQ.jpg



superblockio said:
Also, is it just me or does the Kimera logo look like a rectangle with a little triangle cut out of the middle... kind of like a backwards "play" button. I always see that rather than the "KI". Especially with the logo on their website at the top left.
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Yes, it's actually something I've thought about every now and then. One of the reasons we have the logo we do now is because the glyphs are very versatile - they're legible at small sizes, can be printed/silkscreened/cut very easily, etc. But because the letters are so thick/bold, and the forms are so simple, you sometimes see the negative space instead of the characters.

The kerning of the text (how separated the characters are) contribute a lot to this perception, as I've leaned towards keeping the gap between the K and I pretty tight. On smaller media I do tend to add a larger gap to maintain a visible separation, but this may be the sort of thing that I decide to resolve with a simple evolution of the logo, to a wider spacing that makes the characters more obvious.


Edit: Since some might find it interesting, here's a few of the logotypes I fooled around with last year, before settling on what we're using now:

PjLthXO.jpg


On the right-hand column, that family of fonts is actually something we will be using on our website and other media - just not as our primary logotype.
 
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Oh man, these are awesome! Shame I didn't see the Sinclair one earlier. My dad's an expert at old computers, he totally would've been able to identify that. His company website is literally oldsoftware.com :p

He's got tons of old computer stuff lying around... I'm more into the new stuff myself, but the nostalgia factor is strong with me. :D
 
Very cool art, Phoenix ! Keep those designes ready for fan T-shirts or mouse pads :D
 
So what CPU coolers are everyone planning on using?
Ill be building a 6700k build with this case.
- has anyone done any research on the best AIO cooler that will fit this?
- what is the best air cooler that will fit in the case?

Do you think the Swiftech H140-X CPU cooler will be the pick?
 
brendo_87 said:
So what CPU coolers are everyone planning on using?
Ill be building a 6700k build with this case.
- has anyone done any research on the best AIO cooler that will fit this?
- what is the best air cooler that will fit in the case?

Do you think the Swiftech H140-X CPU cooler will be the pick?
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As for AIOs, you've basically got three mounting options:
1) Use the Side mounting option for the AIO (as displayed in the OP). This mounting location supports 140mm x 140mm radiators, such as the Corsair H90 or NZXT X40. According to Anandtech, the H90 is one of the quietest AIO coolers out there, and its performance is surprisingly good despite low fan speeds. The NZXT X40 has exceptional performance for its size, but it's a little louder.

2) Mount the AIO in the bottom of the case, which can support 120mm x 240mm radiators, which is 1.5 times as much surface area as 140mm x 140mm. It might be problematic to route the tubes all the way around the video card, I'm not sure. It could also be a problem if the radiator is thick, as it could interfere with your graphics card(s). One of the best "slim" 120mm x 240mm AIOs is the Corsair H100i which vastly outperforms the H90 for only a little more noise.

3) Mount the PSU on the side of the case and use the whole front for mounting the AIO. It looks like you could fit 120mm x 240mm here too. This spot could also easily interfere with long graphics cards.

I don't know if the "Nova" has enough width for the swiftech unit. According to the Swiftech page, the H140-X radiator is 115mm thick (including fan and pump). That's huge. The "Nova" is 170mm wide, which only leaves 55mm to account for the thickness of the panels, the AIO mounting plate, the motherboard panel, the standoffs, the motherboard, the CPU socket, the H140-X waterblock, and room for tubing. ... it would be a very tight fit, if it works at all. EDIT: after trying sketchup for the first time and downloading the Nova skp file, it looks like the H140-X could fit, maybe. There's about 25mm of space left for the waterblock, but I can't find any specs on how thick the waterblock is. From pictures/video, it looks thin enough. I still can't say anything for certain. Knowing for sure would probably require a physical test-fit.

It's expensive and the pump is totally overkill for such a small loop. The only reason I'd consider the H140-X is if I was planning to expand the loop to include graphics cards.

As for air coolers, you can almost any "Moderate" sized cooler, but your main limitation will be height. For example, you won't be able to get the popular Noctua NH-U14S or NH-U12S in there, because they're too tall, but the smaller sibling NH-U9S will fit.

According to Anandtech's "Bench" results, the Noctua NH-L12 and the Silverstone Argon AR02 are the best performing air coolers that will fit.

The 6700k is, apparently, temperature-limited when it comes to overclocking. You'll probably want the best cooling performance you can manage.

I'm hoping to put a 6700K in the "Nova" too, and right now I'm leaning towards the NZXT X41 because I'd rather not interfere with my graphics cards airflow for the sake of a couple CPU MHz. That said, I'll be waiting until Pascal GPUs start shipping. Pascal will have HBM2 memory, which could mean that the card will be (relatively) short, similar to the R9 Fury, and it might include an AIO cooler too. I'll wait to re-evaluate the CPU cooler choice once I know how much space I need available for two Pascal cards.

I hope that helps, that's about all I can do without actually owning any of these products :p
 
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Kaldskryke pretty much nailed it.

SPCR gave the NZXT X41 their approval and I concur, with the pump running at 6-9V it's extremely quiet yet still performs great.

For air coolers, large top-down coolers like the Noctua NH-C14 will perform best since it'll pull cool air in directly from the side vent.

I'm pretty sure the H140-X won't fit due to the tubing.
 
Kaldskryke said:
As for AIOs, you've basically got three mounting options:
1) Use the Side mounting option for the AIO (as displayed in the OP). This mounting location supports 140mm x 140mm radiators, such as the Corsair H90 or NZXT X40. According to Anandtech, the H90 is one of the quietest AIO coolers out there, and its performance is surprisingly good despite low fan speeds. The NZXT X40 has exceptional performance for its size, but it's a little louder.

I don't know if the "Nova" has enough width for the swiftech unit. According to the Swiftech page, the H140-X radiator is 115mm thick (including fan and pump). That's huge. The "Nova" is 170mm wide, which only leaves 55mm to account for the thickness of the panels, the AIO mounting plate, the motherboard panel, the standoffs, the motherboard, the CPU socket, the H140-X waterblock, and room for tubing. ... it would be a very tight fit, if it works at all. EDIT: after trying sketchup for the first time and downloading the Nova skp file, it looks like the H140-X could fit, maybe. There's about 25mm of space left for the waterblock, but I can't find any specs on how thick the waterblock is. From pictures/video, it looks thin enough. I still can't say anything for certain. Knowing for sure would probably require a physical test-fit.

It's expensive and the pump is totally overkill for such a small loop. The only reason I'd consider the H140-X is if I was planning to expand the loop to include graphics cards.

The 6700k is, apparently, temperature-limited when it comes to overclocking. You'll probably want the best cooling performance you can manage.

I'm hoping to put a 6700K in the "Nova" too, and right now I'm leaning towards the NZXT X41 because I'd rather not interfere with my graphics cards airflow for the sake of a couple CPU MHz. That said, I'll be waiting until Pascal GPUs start shipping. Pascal will have HBM2 memory, which could mean that the card will be (relatively) short, similar to the R9 Fury, and it might include an AIO cooler too. I'll wait to re-evaluate the CPU cooler choice once I know how much space I need available for two Pascal cards.

I hope that helps, that's about all I can do without actually owning any of these products :p
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Thanks so much for the detailed reply!

So I started looking at the X41, then I saw a review for the Corsair H80i GT.
It looks to have brilliant cooling abilites for a 120mm radiator.

As it has two fans in push pull setup, and the hoses are at right angles to the cooling block, I would like to get advise before I purchase this if possible.

So far my skylake build that I plan to purchase the parts this weekend and use in my full atx case until the 'nova' is available:

cpu: i7 6700k
mobo:ASUS ROG III GENE Z170 mATX
cooler: Corsair H80i GT
ram: not sure yet, thinking high speed 2x8gb ddr4

I still have 2x gtx 670 4gb cards in sli until this case + pascal comes out next year.
-also still using an intel Sata 3 SSD until NVMe becomes cheap.

Has anyone looked into something similar to see if this combination will fit in the 'Nova'??

Thanks for the help!
 
To Aibohphobia and PlayPhoenix: have you ever taken a poll of what color buyers might want for their case? I have a feeling that blue is not very high up on the list of colors people want.
 
Black and Red samples (not the case itself) have been shown, but the only one confirmed at this time has been Black.
 
brendo_87 said:
So far my skylake build that I plan to purchase the parts this weekend and use in my full atx case until the 'nova' is available:

cpu: i7 6700k
mobo:ASUS ROG III GENE Z170 mATX
cooler: Corsair H80i GT
ram: not sure yet, thinking high speed 2x8gb ddr4

I still have 2x gtx 670 4gb cards in sli until this case + pascal comes out next year.
-also still using an intel Sata 3 SSD until NVMe becomes cheap.
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The H80i GT doesn't look like a good fit for Nova. The hoses are thick and sleeved so they're probably stiff, and they stick straight out of the block instead of using swivel barbs so I'm pretty sure it won't fit with both fans, and maybe not even with one fan.

Other than that your parts list should fit. What model 670s are they?


cowsgomoo said:
To Aibohphobia and PlayPhoenix: have you ever taken a poll of what color buyers might want for their case?
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We've gotten several powder coat samples to see what our options are but to keep things simple we're only promising black for now.
 
Aibohphobia said:
The H80i GT doesn't look like a good fit for Nova. The hoses are thick and sleeved so they're probably stiff, and they stick straight out of the block instead of using swivel barbs so I'm pretty sure it won't fit with both fans, and maybe not even with one fan.

Other than that your parts list should fit. What model 670s are they?
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I have the EVGA 670 4gb with reference coolers.

Thanks for the reply, so it looks like I'm back to the NZXT X41.
With any sort of OC with minor voltage bump on the 6770k is going to create cooling dramas, so I am just trying to get a good performing AIO that will fit!
 
Ok, you shouldn't have any issue with those cards.

The X41 handles my 5930K just fine so a mildly overclocked 6700K shouldn't be a problem.
 
I apologize if this has been asked before but are there going to be usb connectors in front? I've read the first few pages and the drawings there show a couple of usb sockets however, the case in the Kimeras site doesn't show any. Also, is there going to be space to install an internal card reader? Thanks in advance guys.
 
vpr said:
Looky what I found here
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I had saw that, I think he picked it up because PC Gamer had featured Nova just prior to when that video came out.

couchtrader said:
I apologize if this has been asked before but are there going to be usb connectors in front? I've read the first few pages and the drawings there show a couple of usb sockets however, the case in the Kimeras site doesn't show any. Also, is there going to be space to install an internal card reader? Thanks in advance guys.
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Current plan for the production model is for front 2 x USB 3.0 and headphone/mic jacks.

I suppose you could maybe tape a card reader in there somewhere but there are no external 3.5" or 5.25" bays.
 
Aibohphobia said:
No, we're still a bit too early for that. They still haven't really standardized the motherboard header.
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I can't wait for USB-C to be widespread. One cable to rule them all! Phones, computers, displays, storage devices... even Thunderbolt will be done over the USB-C connector. And it's so cute and tiny and also reversible! *Swoon*
 
What colors are you considering for the case? Is there a possibility for a primer gray or bare case?
 
I also expressed the sentiment of a bare metal case, nothing like raw materials to get me aroused :D
 
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