SENTRY: Console-sized gaming PC case project

Ugh, so the price went up for the 100 unit limited preorder? I was expecting ~$235 and they are ~$290 instead. Shipping and fees brought it to about $360 shipped to the US.

I didn't run the conversion till after I placed the order (dumb). I'd read $235 so many times that I had no doubt.

Edit: Yes I see the 230 euro note. I've been waiting over a year to order one so I hurried thru the check-out process, as the internet has conditioned me to do for limited items. I was expecting to be in around $300 total so it sucks, but the kids won't starve or anything.

In [LTT] forum someone also asked if and why the price looks different than the one in the campaign. I will quote my answer below:

The price is at the same level as we showed the predicted after-campaign-retail price, but it is still not a standard retail but "on-demand pre-order" like in indiegogo campaign (we have to be sure that everything works fine and that there is still a market for such product, before we go into standard retail). Because we are in Poland, Paypal forced us to use our account based in PLN, that is why we decided we will be showing PLN as our main paying currency.

But we understand where is the problem: very weak USD currency compared to EURO and Polish PLN now and during the indiegogo campaign.



Predicted after-campaign prices showed in the indiegogo campaign (link to the currency calculation table from the date of the indiegogo campaign start 10.01.2017):
970 PLN, €222 EURO, $235 USD



First after-campaign sale (current pre-orders) (link to the currency calculation table from yesterday 29.01.2018):

970 PLN, €234 EURO, $291 USD



It looks like on the date of the campaign start the EURO to USD ratio was 0,94 : 1 (for one dollar you could buy 94 euro cents), so it was nearly 1:1.
Today this EURO to USD ratio is 0,81 : 1 (for one dollar you can buy only 81 euro cents). That makes this difference you asked
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What is more, some of our suppliers from outside EU, rised their prices in USD or even asked us if we can pay in EURO, because of currently weak dollar... and in the current situation we understand them. It also means that in the future the price of Sentry in USD can rise or goes down, depending how good will be the condition of US economy and the "power" of dollar (same goes for EURO, since Poland is still outside EURO-zone). From our side, we decided to keep our price from the campaign, and since PayPal forced us to use bank account in PLN, we will be showing it as our main currency (at least for now).



I hope this clarifies some things in this matter.
 
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Thanks for the response ZombiPL. I understand.

One more thing while I'm bothering you. It says on the web page to provide an accurate phone number during the ordering process, or the order will be canceled. I'm probably missing something, but at no point was I asked for a phone number. They payment went through Paypal, and I don't see my phone number on the e-mail from Paypal (though they certainly have it on file).

I know when I buy something via a retailer using Shopify, it explicitly asks for my phone number so I wanted to check to see if the store is working properly. Did Paypal silently pass this information along?
 
Thanks for the response ZombiPL. I understand.

One more thing while I'm bothering you. It says on the web page to provide an accurate phone number during the ordering process, or the order will be canceled. I'm probably missing something, but at no point was I asked for a phone number. They payment went through Paypal, and I don't see my phone number on the e-mail from Paypal (though they certainly have it on file).

I know when I buy something via a retailer using Shopify, it explicitly asks for my phone number so I wanted to check to see if the store is working properly. Did Paypal silently pass this information along?

Yesterday when we were making some tests, I also wasn't asked by the system to give the phone number. It turns out that if your account is fully activated, then probably in the past you had to add this phone number to your PayPal account. Please log in to your Paypal account and go Settings. In the right bottom corner you should see your phone number. If you see it, then probably we also received it.
 
Yesterday when we were making some tests, I also wasn't asked by the system to give the phone number. It turns out that if your account is fully activated, then probably in the past you had to add this phone number to your PayPal account. Please log in to your Paypal account and go Settings. In the right bottom corner you should see your phone number. If you see it, then probably we also received it.

Cool, yeah that looks ok.

Anxious to start picking up parts for the build.. will be going back thru the whole thread to pick out all the valuable info!
 
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Shipment price withing EU is very expensive :(
It costs me 50 EUR to ship it from Poland to Sweden, that's 20% of a Sentry price.
Can you offer another option for EU shipments?
 
Shipment price withing EU is very expensive :(
It costs me 50 EUR to ship it from Poland to Sweden, that's 20% of a Sentry price.
Can you offer another option for EU shipments?

According to todays EUR to PLN ratio cost of transport to Sweden should be less than 46 EUR. However we understand that it is still expensive. In the previous campaign (indiegogo), we offered a little bit cheaper transport to Sweden (~27 USD (also nearly 27 EUR at that time)), but we also had many problems with that shipping company (damaged external packages, lost packages, damages made to the product itself, problems with getting refunds, longer than expected delivery time, etc.). We had to improve that, and we contacted with DHL. The offer which we received was of course more expensive, but also they claim they have issues at the level below 0,5 % of all packages. Because of that we decided we will give them a try and all packages during the current pre-order sale will be sent with this company. We really, really wanted to have a cheaper shipping, but the biggest feedback we received from our supporters was in matter of time and quality of shipment. People decided, that next time they would like to pay 10-30 EURO more to get package faster and in great condition than pay less and wait for ages. We will see how good is DHL. Right now we do not offer separate forms of transport for this sale. Sorry :(
 
So I've been thinking about parts since I ordered the Sentry yesterday.

Originally I was going to do something separate from my gaming/work rig. Now I'm thinking that I might try to move as many gaming components over and rethink the work aspect of the current setup.

Problems:

-The CPU that I'd move is the 8700k, so it's well outside the TDP recommendations. I see some people struggling with temps, so curious if I really need to ditch it for a new 8400 or 8700. Edit: looks like the 8700k isn't worth the fight.
-My current GPU is a Founders 1080Ti. I'm thinking that's ok since it won't be dumping into the case. However it might not play well with the endeavor of trying to tame the CPU. I have a 1070 I could use, but it's an open-air card and it'll struggle with the 4K TV this thing will be attached to. Also, I intend to use the Sentry horizontal if possible.

I'm reading the thread end to end now, but any thoughts greatly appreciated.
 
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looks like the 8700k isn't worth the fight.
Depending on how much you like to tinker, you could underclock/undervolt it to suit your cooler.

The Dan HSLP-48 could be a good cooling solution in the future.
 
Depending on how much you like to tinker, you could underclock/undervolt it to suit your cooler.

The Dan HSLP-48 could be a good cooling solution in the future.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I go the underclock/undervolt route, I'll defeat the fluctuating frequency and lock it in right? My overclocking skills perhaps haven't kept with the times, but I'm trying to wrap my head around the underclocking piece. Obviously it's better to not buy another CPU.

Thanks for the response.
 
The frequency fluctuation will stop, but you can still have different frequencies set depending on the number of cores under load.

Thanks again. I obviously have a lot of reading to do.

My previous SFF endeavors were with considerably larger cases.
 
So what does the future look like for the white paint Zaber Sentry coming back? Anything as of last update saying not for the foreseeable future?
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I go the underclock/undervolt route, I'll defeat the fluctuating frequency and lock it in right? My overclocking skills perhaps haven't kept with the times, but I'm trying to wrap my head around the underclocking piece. Obviously it's better to not buy another CPU.

Thanks for the response.

Underclock will lock or limit frequency. Undervolt will not. My 4790k is at stock clocks, with a decent undervolt, aka negative vcore offset. No problem. Still idles at 800mhz and turbos to 4.4ghz on all 4 cores/8 threads.
 
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So what does the future look like for the white paint Zaber Sentry coming back? Anything as of last update saying not for the foreseeable future?

Worst case scenario, you can get a black Sentry and use white vinyl wrap to change the color. Better to have a Sentry in any color than not have one at all ;)
 
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Worst case scenario, you can get a black Sentry and use white vinyl wrap to change the color. Better to have a Sentry in any color than not have one at all ;)
I will have to see someone do a full case wrap to figure out how that plays out. Sounds like a huge PITA. Itd be easier to go for a silver skyreach 4 mini if the white zaber will never happen. I will wait a year for the white zaber if I have to.
 
So what does the future look like for the white paint Zaber Sentry coming back? Anything as of last update saying not for the foreseeable future?

At this moment we do not have an offer for white painting. During the campaign we had to paint those Sentry units in the separate paintshop which took a lot more time and was more difficult in terms of making proper quality control. If our current steel parts manufacturer (who is also painting black Sentry cases) will offer us painting elements in white with the high quality we need, then we will be able to offer this colour once again. Right now we can't say if and when white cases will be available.


Worst case scenario, you can get a black Sentry and use white vinyl wrap to change the color. Better to have a Sentry in any color than not have one at all ;)

Hmmm. If you want just to wrap your case with some vinyls just to make it white, why not just take off the powder coating? I know we are using more durable painting than you will probably find on other pc cases, but it is still a powder coating. It means it can be taken off with chemical methods, even without damaging galvanized surface of steel elements. It is very common process and many companies do such things. For example this one: link. If you will take off the powder coating, then you could paint your case in any colour you want. Vinyl wraping may look good at start, but with time it "ages" and can get more scratches and damages, which will kill the nice look and will make you think to wrap the case once again.
 
At this moment we do not have an offer for white painting. During the campaign we had to paint those Sentry units in the separate paintshop which took a lot more time and was more difficult in terms of making proper quality control. If our current steel parts manufacturer (who is also painting black Sentry cases) will offer us painting elements in white with the high quality we need, then we will be able to offer this colour once again. Right now we can't say if and when white cases will be available.




Hmmm. If you want just to wrap your case with some vinyls just to make it white, why not just take off the powder coating? I know we are using more durable painting than you will probably find on other pc cases, but it is still a powder coating. It means it can be taken off with chemical methods, even without damaging galvanized surface of steel elements. It is very common process and many companies do such things. For example this one: link. If you will take off the powder coating, then you could paint your case in any colour you want. Vinyl wraping may look good at start, but with time it "ages" and can get more scratches and damages, which will kill the nice look and will make you think to wrap the case once again.

I haven't decided to change the color of either of my Sentries yet. But it's good to know it's feasible. I'd hate to fully remove the powder coating, I doubt whatever I do would look as nice, and if I changed my mind there'd be no going back to the original finish.
 
I haven't decided to change the color of either of my Sentries yet. But it's good to know it's feasible. I'd hate to fully remove the powder coating, I doubt whatever I do would look as nice, and if I changed my mind there'd be no going back to the original finish.

If you think in terms of cost, then probably taking off the powder coating and applying new colour would cost you something like 30-50 euro for one whole unit (it may cost even less, depending on your location and competition on your local market in this kind of paint works). If you are afraid that you won't get as good results as we did... then it is possible. We made 1 prototype, then another 3 prototypes, then 5 prototypes, then 25 prototypes and after that we were finally happy with the black painting. If you wish to change a colour, it will be always a lottery, but with steel and chemical methods of taking off the powder coating you can do it over and over again.
As always, everythings ends in a place where you have to make a serious conversation with your wallet :)
 
Unit no. 0837 reporting in, though I'm a bit late to the party.

Not really unique, but here's my build on PCPartPicker: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/knfQ3F

I was never in a hurry to build this PC; the first part I bought was the SSD, which I bought last Nov 2016.
Optimized-DSC_0466 copy.JPG

St. Pope John Paul II and Megumin says hi.

One significant part that I'm missing is the GPU. Given the current global GPU crisis, I just feel that I'm better off waiting for GeForce Volta.

The motherboard standoff near the female power port was not aligned with the hole so I just gave up on that.

Cable management was so difficult that I'm surprised that everything is functional despite using, in my mind, barbaric amounts of force. I was really surprised how stiff the Corsair PSU cables were because I've handled electrical wiring of similar gauges that were more flexible. The USB front panel cable was also tough but I managed somehow.
Optimized-DSC_0464.JPG

As it is right now, my Sentry is a very snappy non-gaming PC. My whole system has a black/red theme.
Optimized-DSC_0467.JPG

Funny thing is, MS Office Professional 2016 is activated but Windows is not; there was a nice offer from Microsoft at my company last year Feb so I bought an MS Office license key, but not the OS, and only used it now.

Future plans:
  • Pre-order a GeForce Volta GPU as soon as it is announced since the MSRP is a deal these days.
  • Buy a Windows 10 license, preferably with a huge company discount.
  • Replace, or add to, my current SSD with the Samsung 860 EVO M.2 SSD.
  • Buy custom-length sleeved cables.
  • Mount a CD/DVD drive under my DIY monitor stand.
A huge thanks, again, to the Dr. Ząber team!
Thanks for reading :D
 
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AgShield you might want to rotate your cooler 90 degrees (if possible). If you can get the 24pin cable vertical instead of flat it might help with routing. The ac power cable should just tuck under the edge of the motherboard below everything keeping out of the way. As for the 8pin CPU power cable it should be long enough to go straight up to the PCIe riser and underneath, keeping it away from the fan.
 
AgShield you might want to rotate your cooler 90 degrees (if possible). If you can get the 24pin cable vertical instead of flat it might help with routing. The ac power cable should just tuck under the edge of the motherboard below everything keeping out of the way. As for the 8pin CPU power cable it should be long enough to go straight up to the PCIe riser and underneath, keeping it away from the fan.
Thanks for the tips. I guess I'm opening my Sentry earlier than I thought.

Edit: Done
 
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I have never done sleeved cables, but will try for this build. Has anyone setup pre-remade kits for this case, or does everything need to be sorted out individually?
 
Just giving a little update on my build. I received the Sentry in May 2017, and put it together at the same time. So it has been running for approx. 9 months, with an uptime of 1503 hours. I decided to open it up today, to clean it for dust, since the fan on the SF600 wasn't at 0 RPM very often anymore. This is the amount of dust it has collected over the course of 9 months, which isn't all that bad:
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So based on this i'd say that (for regular house/room environment atleast) that dust-filters won't do very much for you. The only noticeable thing from the "dust buildup" is the lack of 0 RPM mode and 1-2 degress loss on the CPU temp.

I delidded the i7-7700K to be able to use it with the NH-L9i, and never hit 85C+. Before the delid it would hit 95C+ in games and benchmarking. So for any new builders; be cautious with 95W+ CPU's.

I've had the 250W 1080Ti FE in the build too for 9 months, and at this point i think it's pretty safe to say that it does just fine in the sentry. I dont get max Boost 3.0 clocks all the time, but i never see it throttle (going below 1480MHz), and most of the time it runs between 1480-1582.

Next step is to create custom sleeved cables, and then i'm considering replacing the SF600 fan with the Noctua NF-A9x14.
 
So based on this i'd say that (for regular house/room environment atleast) that dust-filters won't do very much for you. The only noticeable thing from the "dust buildup" is the lack of 0 RPM mode and 1-2 degress loss on the CPU temp.

I delidded the i7-7700K to be able to use it with the NH-L9i, and never hit 85C+. Before the delid it would hit 95C+ in games and benchmarking. So for any new builders; be cautious with 95W+ CPU's.

Amazing feedback, man. I finally built in my Sentry this weekend and was thinking both about the dust factor as well as my CPU, also an i7-7700K so your post is perfectly timed for me :]

Re: Dust I wasn't crazy about attaching my Silverstone 120mm filters on the inside of the case, and thought they looked kind of clunky on the outside. I might just give it a test run without filters for a while based on your results and just schedule a breakdown plus full dust-out every 6mo or so.

Re: CPU temps I also delidded my i7-7700K, but went with the LP53 + Noctua fan replacement mod that was talked up here. I haven't yet finished my software setup so I can't stress test just yet. I'll try to remember to double back here and compare temps with you to see if the beefier cooler makes a huge difference, or if the delid alone puts that and the stock NH-L9i in similar territory.
 
Amazing feedback, man. I finally built in my Sentry this weekend and was thinking both about the dust factor as well as my CPU, also an i7-7700K so your post is perfectly timed for me :]

Re: Dust I wasn't crazy about attaching my Silverstone 120mm filters on the inside of the case, and thought they looked kind of clunky on the outside. I might just give it a test run without filters for a while based on your results and just schedule a breakdown plus full dust-out every 6mo or so.

Re: CPU temps I also delidded my i7-7700K, but went with the LP53 + Noctua fan replacement mod that was talked up here. I haven't yet finished my software setup so I can't stress test just yet. I'll try to remember to double back here and compare temps with you to see if the beefier cooler makes a huge difference, or if the delid alone puts that and the stock NH-L9i in similar territory.

IMO sacrificing performance for dust filters isn't worth it, when cleaning isn't an issue at all. Even if temps aren't impacted directly, i'm pretty sure it will atleast affect the GPU core-clock.

Your LP53+NF-A9x14 should beat my NH-L9i by a fair bit. I only went with the NH-L9i because it was easiest at the time, and because the LP53 isn't compatible with the Z270i Strix out of the box. The Strix can be modded to fit (by removing heatsinks), but i decided not to bother after seeing how easily NH-L9i handles a delidded 7700k.
 
IMO sacrificing performance for dust filters isn't worth it, when cleaning isn't an issue at all. Even if temps aren't impacted directly, i'm pretty sure it will atleast affect the GPU core-clock.

Your LP53+NF-A9x14 should beat my NH-L9i by a fair bit. I only went with the NH-L9i because it was easiest at the time, and because the LP53 isn't compatible with the Z270i Strix out of the box. The Strix can be modded to fit (by removing heatsinks), but i decided not to bother after seeing how easily NH-L9i handles a delidded 7700k.

I have dust filters everywhere in my Sentry and haven't noticed any difference other than a complete lack of dust inside :cool:. Even my psu has a dust filter. I used the Silverstone magnetic filters on the inside of the vents. Iirc, two 140s on each side completely covers the vents. I just take a vacuum hose with a soft attachment to it from the outside once every other month or so.
 
did you ever actually measure, with like a meter? cause there is no way that a filter doesn't cause airflow loss. you shouldn't ever vacuum a pc, the static that builds up on the nozzle can jump a good distance and fry shit. I've seen it..
 
Isn’t ESD basically a non-issue now a days?

Never had an issue and can confirm vacuums do a darn good job of cleaning my computer many years ago. (Haven’t had dust build up in last two places I’ve lived over 3 years)
 
did you ever actually measure, with like a meter? cause there is no way that a filter doesn't cause airflow loss. you shouldn't ever vacuum a pc, the static that builds up on the nozzle can jump a good distance and fry shit. I've seen it..

Haven't measured airflow empirically but if there's a difference in temps it's maybe 1-2C. So negligible.

As for ESD, I live along the Gulf of Mexico. It's one of the most humid places you can imagine. Theres no such thing a static electricity here lol. Honestly though with the case closed I'd imagine any static would just jump to the case itself, which is grounded..Of course, anything you do to your pc is at your own risk.
 
Just giving a little update on my build. I received the Sentry in May 2017, and put it together at the same time. So it has been running for approx. 9 months, with an uptime of 1503 hours. I decided to open it up today, to clean it for dust, since the fan on the SF600 wasn't at 0 RPM very often anymore. This is the amount of dust it has collected over the course of 9 months, which isn't all that bad:

So based on this i'd say that (for regular house/room environment atleast) that dust-filters won't do very much for you. The only noticeable thing from the "dust buildup" is the lack of 0 RPM mode and 1-2 degress loss on the CPU temp.

I delidded the i7-7700K to be able to use it with the NH-L9i, and never hit 85C+. Before the delid it would hit 95C+ in games and benchmarking. So for any new builders; be cautious with 95W+ CPU's.

I've had the 250W 1080Ti FE in the build too for 9 months, and at this point i think it's pretty safe to say that it does just fine in the sentry. I dont get max Boost 3.0 clocks all the time, but i never see it throttle (going below 1480MHz), and most of the time it runs between 1480-1582.

Next step is to create custom sleeved cables, and then i'm considering replacing the SF600 fan with the Noctua NF-A9x14.

I agree with your conclusion about CPUs with 95W TDPs. I moved my i7-7700K build into a Sentry last month with everything stock, no overclock and no delid. The cooler was an LP53 with Noctua NF-A9x14, but it still ran really hot; gaming would often raise CPU temperatures to 80-90 degrees C playing games like Batman: Arkham Knight, Titanfall 2, DOOM, and Mirror's Edge Catalyst. I've since switched to a Ryzen 5 1600 with Noctua NH-L9a-AM4, and even with a mild overclock of 3.7 GHz at 1.25 V, temperatures in those same games are closer to 60-65 C with CPU wattage peaking around 60-68 W. Obviously benchmarks will push it closer to 80 degrees C and 90-100 W, but thermals are still better than the 7700K and its gaming and Dolphin performance is just as good at 1080p/60Hz.

It's a shame about the dust filters. I'd prefer to have them on in my dusty environment, but unfortunately my idle CPU temps rise from 33-35 C to about 40-44 C, and the GPU goes from about 32 C to 35 C. Gaming is out of the question; I take the filters off immediately whenever I launch a game or render a video, and only put them back on when I shut down my PC for the night.

I have dust filters everywhere in my Sentry and haven't noticed any difference other than a complete lack of dust inside :cool:. Even my psu has a dust filter. I used the Silverstone magnetic filters on the inside of the vents. Iirc, two 140s on each side completely covers the vents. I just take a vacuum hose with a soft attachment to it from the outside once every other month or so.

Wish I could do that on my Sentry. As I mentioned above my temperatures rise too much with filters on for my liking, even without a CPU overclock; I only ever use them when I shut down. Maybe it's because of your custom job as opposed to the pre-made DEMCiflex filters I'm using externally, which cover the entire intake?

One thing that has been working for me is your idea for using weather stripping as fan shrouds. The kind I bought was 3/8 in x 5/16 in x 10 ft (9.5 mm x 7.9 mm x 3.05 mm), so I had to stack two layers together to extend from the case to the CPU and GPU fans. It definitely seems to work, I'm noticing the CPU fan at idle is now around 1790-1840 RPM instead of 1870-1920 RPM. GPU fan is at the same RPM, but temps will now dip to 29-30 C at idle.

Combined with the switch to a Founders Edition cooler and a Ryzen 5 1600 CPU rated at 65 W TDP, my temperatures are much lower under load than my previous build with the 7700K and open air EVGA ACX 3.0 cooler. The noise with the Ryzen build is a little louder at idle, but it's not because of the GPU; the Founders Edition cooler is surprisingly quiet on my desk, and not at all like the jet engine I was expecting based on peoples' comments online.

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Combined with the switch to a Founders Edition cooler and a Ryzen 5 1600 CPU rated at 65 W TDP, my temperatures are much lower under load than my previous build with the 7700K and open air EVGA ACX 3.0 cooler. The noise with the Ryzen build is a little louder at idle, but it's not because of the GPU; the Founders Edition cooler is surprisingly quiet on my desk, and not at all like the jet engine I was expecting based on peoples' comments online.
I think most of the FE-cooler hate is based on a history of shitty stock coolers. The vapor chamber FE-cooler that comes with the 1070 Ti/1080/1080 Ti is pretty nice. It runs silent, and easily maintains good boost-clocks in most environments.
 
Anyone know if the motherboard side hdd trays can take up to 15mm tall 2.5" HDDs?

I believe ~9mm is ideal. Im not sure sentry can even accommodate 12 let alone 15mm drives. The Sentry website lists 9.5mm drives in the configurator. I think Seagate has a 2TB 2.5in drive that's 9mm. (double check that though, it might be 12mm).
 
I believe ~9mm is ideal. Im not sure sentry can even accommodate 12 let alone 15mm drives. The Sentry website lists 9.5mm drives in the configurator. I think Seagate has a 2TB 2.5in drive that's 9mm. (double check that though, it might be 12mm).

Seagate actually makes a 2.5 2TB drive that is 7mm, Seagate 2TB Baracuda. I have one and it is a great compact storage drive.
 
I believe ~9mm is ideal. Im not sure sentry can even accommodate 12 let alone 15mm drives. The Sentry website lists 9.5mm drives in the configurator. I think Seagate has a 2TB 2.5in drive that's 9mm. (double check that though, it might be 12mm).

Thanks, I already have a 2TB HDD drive and fits on the MB bay hdd tray.

Wanted to expand it to 4tb 2.5" which unfortunately is 15mm thick
 
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