Project Orthrus - Smallest SLI mATX case (V2)

I decided to get a Seasonic 500Watt Gold fully modular PSU. This will probably be useful to those who are looking to run a single GPU setup or dual 1080 + 6700k setup.

Seasonic_FSP_copy.jpg
Is it actually possible to run those specs with 500 watt?
 
So my new friend at LiHeat decided he'll share with me 2 of his pre-production PCIe 3.0 riser cables that they've been working on ! And good news, I didn't have to pay $10,000 for it :) so the work on the case can continue :)

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Nice, by the way do you think a tempered glass panel with small slits for venting air on the GPU side is possible?

Quite honestly the only concern I have with the case are the temperatures and noise levels. But darn do I love the case concept.
 
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Nice, by the way do you think a tempered glass panel with small slits for venting air on the GPU side is possible?

Quite honestly the only concern I have with the case are the temperatures and noise levels. But darn do I love the case concept.

I think tempered side panels with slits will be possible, but expensive to make. You cannot cut tempered glass. Therefore the glass would need to be cut first and then tempered. Might be a very very expensive process especially at a low quantity run. Acrylic would definitely be cheaper. And you can always flame smooth acrylic cuts to make them look much cleaner.

If you use a 240AIO tempered side panels won't be a problem as the air will be pushed from the front to the back of the case and out. If you're going to use air cooling however, especially on the CPU and fanned GPU's, you will need ventilated side panels for sure.

Im ordering the V2 prototype with slit side panels (acrylic) and then I'm also going to have tempered side panels made with no slits. I'll test the temps and report back what I find.
 
I played around with the Seasonic SS-500L1U today.
Converted its cables to support 2 GPU's:

IMG_5112_X.jpg


Also did some noise / temp testing on the PSU.
Ambient temp: 24.6c
Hot side psu temp: 38.1c
Cold side psu temp: 27.9c
PSU is less audible than the CPU and GPU's
All while sucking down no more than 450 Watts from the wall, using a 6700K@4Ghz, 32GB DDR4 3200Mhz RAM, 2 x 1080FE, NVME SSD, SATA SSD :)

 
The FSP 700 Watt is dead silent until you hit around 600 Watt load. I will do some more tests and publish the results once I get the new case.
Only problem is i won't have beefy enough hardware to push 600 watt load onto it.
I'm asking nVidia if they'd help me out with some Titan XP's, just for testing, but I haven't had any luck yet.
 
Project Orthrus V2 is officially now in the queue for production :)

I had a few small delays with regards to the acrylic side panels and I'm still going to need to find an alternative but the case will start manufacturing this upcoming week (12th December)

I will post up more details shortly ;)
 
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Project Orthrus V2 is officially now in the queue for production :)

I had a few small delays with regards to the acrylic side panels and I'm still going to need to find an alternative but the case will start manufacturing this upcoming week (12th December)

I will post up more details shortly ;)
Nice can't wait to see the new case. Hopefully we can also get some case Temps and sound measurements as soon as you receive it.
 
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Me too. Can't wait to get my hands on it.
I haven't got an email from Protocase that its being produced just yet (this is at least what happened last time). So I doubt i'll get it in time for Christmas but hopefully around end of December / January.

With regards to temp testing, I've got some really good thermocouples. Just wondering more so, what do I do noise testing with ?
Originally I used the iPhone but I'd rather pick up something a little more "solid" and dedicated for the job.
Also is there a particular distance I should be testing noise at ? 60cm away from the case ? Is there a standard I should be following ? Any tips guys would be greatly appreciated.
 
Me too. Can't wait to get my hands on it.
I haven't got an email from Protocase that its being produced just yet (this is at least what happened last time). So I doubt i'll get it in time for Christmas but hopefully around end of December / January.

With regards to temp testing, I've got some really good thermocouples. Just wondering more so, what do I do noise testing with ?
Originally I used the iPhone but I'd rather pick up something a little more "solid" and dedicated for the job.
Also is there a particular distance I should be testing noise at ? 60cm away from the case ? Is there a standard I should be following ? Any tips guys would be greatly appreciated.
Tom's Hardware posted an article on how they do their testing on graphics cards a few years ago, which included a section on noise testing, http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-card-benchmarks-charts-review,3154-9.html

TLDR, find a place isolated from other sounds like AC, cars, other computers. Sound dampening foam and carpet helps absorb sound too. Measurements are taken by a sound level meter positioned 50cm away and aimed at whichever part you'e testing the noise levels from.

I don't think there's a set standard, though explaining your setup can help give context to the numbers. I'm also not an expert, so please don't take my word as law, look at how other review websites test their hardware.
 
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Me too. Can't wait to get my hands on it.
I haven't got an email from Protocase that its being produced just yet (this is at least what happened last time). So I doubt i'll get it in time for Christmas but hopefully around end of December / January.

With regards to temp testing, I've got some really good thermocouples. Just wondering more so, what do I do noise testing with ?
Originally I used the iPhone but I'd rather pick up something a little more "solid" and dedicated for the job.
Also is there a particular distance I should be testing noise at ? 60cm away from the case ? Is there a standard I should be following ? Any tips guys would be greatly appreciated.

The way I look at it, noise testing needs to be done in a relative manner and not in absolutes. As in... dB do not mean anything useful for anybody. Because we aren't trying to find out which is the best sounding videocard (absolutes) but how much worse does the case make the videocard sound (relative).

In this day and age, clock speeds are dynamic, they are self-adjusting based on the power and thermal load of the card. So, comparing the same card in different temperature environments will mean different clock and fan speeds, and those will deem most testing done completely useless.

With all that said, though, what I would do is thig:

a) Test the system in an open-bench case. (ie no case at all, and the motherboard being horizontal). For the cpu you will only need to measure the cpu temperature but for the gpu you will need clock speeds AND fan speeds.

b) Test the system inside your bespoke design. How worse got the cpu temperature? How worse got the gpu clock speeds AND fan speeds?

If you do it like that there is no guessing, no "I think it is a big louder". We all know how a gpu fan sounds at 2k rpm so that would suit everybody. Of course you could add your personal opinion based on your own experience. But numbers should come first. If gpu fan speeds ramps up by 800rpm and clocks goes down by 200mhz then it is something very significant.

PD: it would be ideal if clocks and fan speeds could be kept at the same level and you simply checked for the gpu fan speeds, but I don't think you can have it.
 
How is the center divider attached to the rest of the case? I can see what look like tab and slot connections, but it seems to me that those would easily come loose. Are there fasteners or are they welded/brazed together or something?
 
So could you give us an update on what you are looking at production-wise, e.g. will you kickstart the whole thing, or what company is signing it (and how serious they are about it), expected production dates, when place into production will there be special cables produced and included (assuming the person buys the other hardware themselves), or will it be a pre-constructed item sold by a company with gear already in it.

I am looking at buying a new computer in January next year and may just but the internals for this and wait to buy the case if possible (meanwhile run it in my regular tower while waiting).
 
How is the center divider attached to the rest of the case? I can see what look like tab and slot connections, but it seems to me that those would easily come loose. Are there fasteners or are they welded/brazed together or something?

It is a slot tab solution and it is welded in the appropriate points. The case assembles in a way that these parts cannot come undone unless you literally crack the case in half

So could you give us an update on what you are looking at production-wise, e.g. will you kickstart the whole thing, or what company is signing it (and how serious they are about it), expected production dates, when place into production will there be special cables produced and included (assuming the person buys the other hardware themselves), or will it be a pre-constructed item sold by a company with gear already in it.

I am looking at buying a new computer in January next year and may just but the internals for this and wait to buy the case if possible (meanwhile run it in my regular tower while waiting).

Right now i'm trying to finish off prototype version 2. After which I will approach a number of companies I think will work well with this concept. The idea would be to get the case out to DIY builders, however I will be open to all ideas.
 
It is a slot tab solution and it is welded in the appropriate points. The case assembles in a way that these parts cannot come undone unless you literally crack the case in half
Ahh, that's what I thought, but wasn't sure, thanks! It certainly sounds sturdy.

As small as this case is, I'd be interested in seeing what it would look like if designed for an ITX board, probably more in line with the Hutzy or Dan A4 in terms of form factor.
 
A little teaser of things to come.... shortly....

Nice front badge and those front slotted holes looks awesome. Looks like the top I/O ports are getting an overlay. Looking forward for those 'things to come'.

Great job and happy new year.
 
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What size (dimensions) video cards can the mkII case take?
Also whats the clearance for watercooling on GPU and CPU?
 
What size (dimensions) video cards can the mkII case take?
Exactly like mk.I - 10,5" cards with additional clearance.

Also whats the clearance for watercooling on GPU and CPU?

I can tell you that the following GPU water blocks (attached to reference height PCB's) have been accounted for in mk.II:
- Alphacool Nexxxos
- EK WB
- Bitspower

(I used the 1080 as a reference for the clearances)

For CPU water blocks there's about 52mm clearance so unfortunately AIO coolers likes MasterLiquid Pro and DeepCool Gamer Storm is not supported, but most "off the shelf" CPU water blocks should be.
 
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Ahh, that's what I thought, but wasn't sure, thanks! It certainly sounds sturdy.

As small as this case is, I'd be interested in seeing what it would look like if designed for an ITX board, probably more in line with the Hutzy or Dan A4 in terms of form factor.

It can be done. Maybe I'll undertake a Project Orthrus Mini in the future :)

I do have another thing in the pipeline already however. Something totally different, so this idea might get pushed out a bit :)
 
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm, gpu's will look much better being in the proper position and not inverted :)
 
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Yes, Lian Li have had the same dreams (& nightmares) that I have :)
After the initial inspiration the nightmares that follow are:
- riser cables
- sli cables

I'll be very interested to see how Lian Li have solved these problems :)

As I mentioned in another forum:

Whilst their case is larger with more storage options, I'm actually hoping this new form factor which has been shared across other cases in the past is more widely adopted.
It only makes sense to do so. We have the technology these days to do it.

Wouldn't it be great if we had "modular" PCIe slots on motherboards as a result of this ?
So we could insert the PCIe connector to the front or the back side of the motherboard as we wish ?
One can only dream
 
Yes, Lian Li have had the same dreams (& nightmares) that I have :)
After the initial inspiration the nightmares that follow are:
- riser cables
- sli cables

I'll be very interested to see how Lian Li have solved these problems :)

As I mentioned in another forum:

Whilst their case is larger with more storage options, I'm actually hoping this new form factor which has been shared across other cases in the past is more widely adopted.
It only makes sense to do so. We have the technology these days to do it.

Wouldn't it be great if we had "modular" PCIe slots on motherboards as a result of this ?
So we could insert the PCIe connector to the front or the back side of the motherboard as we wish ?
One can only dream

Lian Li has never solved any problems in a meaningful way. So I wouldn't expect them to have solved anything at all.

Also, if you are looking at similar solutions to your design... the only one that I know of is this:

http://www.thermaltake.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00002936

pic2.jpg


Of course, the brand itself doesn't inspire anyone and I'm sure the quality is pretty flimsy... but the design I do find very interesting (as I do yours, IMO it is the way to go, slim but tall cases offer a lot of advantatges while keeping a small footprint).
 
It's coming :)
I'm going to be building a few variations:
Legend:
AIO = All in one
CL = Custom loop


a) AIO CPU + 2 x AIR GPU
b) CL CPU + 1 x CL GPU
c) CL CPU + 1 x CL GPU + 1 x AIR GPU
d) CL CPU + 2 x CL GPU (this one I think I can actually pull off)
 
Someone mentioned X99 compatibility and when i tried running an X99 in the case it sounded like a jet because there was no good cooling option for X99.
Then I thought to myself, adding around 10mm width will not only allow me to support 240mm rads but also allow me to provide more space in the motherboard chamber for taller heatsinks.
As a side effect to that I can now support tall RAM modules as well :) which is nice because all the LED ones are tall :D bling bling :D
 
It was a great decision. You really opened up the potential with that slight increase in width.

Buy this case
Steal Underpants
.
.
PROFIT

Looking forward to more updates before eventual release. Hopefully by then I will have a more detailed plan. :)
 
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