Good morning all,
This is a new project I'm working on right now. The objective is to design a case compatible with a MicroATX board (which can accommodate crossfire, plenty of DDR/HDD/ ) while being as compact as possible. It should be transportable if possible = light. And rugged so that it would resist a minimum of handling (avoid very light/thin aluminum).
The constrains are the following:
- Be able to fit a ATX power supply / Full ATX possibly (6.5inch max in length in its current form)
- Be able to fit a long video card (HD 4870 / GTX 280)
- Be able to fit most of the high end heat sink available today
- Have at least 1 5.25" bay
- Have at least 2 3.5" bay
- Good ventilation for CPU, DDR, HDD, GPU - no overheating
- Nice smooth design
Right now, the case is as follow:
Dimension:
NEW PROJECT CASE 14.6 x 11.1 x 7.9 (1280 cub. Inch.)
Here are some comparison
Thermaltake LANBOX Lite VF6000BNS : 17.0'' x 11.8'' x 9.1'' (1825 cub. Inch.)
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133045)
Thermaltake VF1000BWS Black Aluminum Front Panel : 11.8'' x 17'' x 11'' (2206 cub. Inch.)
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133035)
Apevia X-Qpack : 13.8 x 11.2 x 9 (1391 cub. Inch.)
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144162)
Siverstone Sugo SG02 : 15.5 x 10.6 x 8.4 (1380 cub. Inch.)
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163112)
Shuttle Prima XPC SX48P2 : 12.8 x 8.7 x 8.3 (924 cub. Inch.)
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856101072&Tpk=Shuttle Prima XPC SX48P2)
So its 8 to 72% smaller than most regular lanbox but its still 38% bigger than a Shuttle (quite a bit). It is interesting to notice that it is not as high as the Shuttle but wider (MATX motherboard size 9.64 x 9.64) and a bit longer.
That being said, here is how it compares to the other cases:
Upside
- You can fit almost any size ATX PSU. None of the others can.
- You can fit 1/2 video card up to 12 Inch. (with the DFI LANPARTY JR P45-T2RS (http://www.dfi.com.tw/portal/CM/cmp...g=false&action=e&windowstate=normal&mode=view), you can actually have a nice crossfire setup).
- You can fit a heatsink as high as 7 Inch (180 mm - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283, Tuniq tower for exemple). None of the others can.
- You can put 2 120mm fans, 1 in the back, 1 over the video card. Plus optional fans over hard drives, possibly RAM. Most of the other cases dont even have a 120mm fan.
- You have a good looking sturdy case. I went for a Lian-Li look. Nice 1/16 brushed aluminum, solid motherboard tray. This is subjective, so Ill let you judge.
Downside: Only 1 5.25" bay. Instead of 2 for most of the other cases.
I will post some CAD drawings to give you an idea of what it looks like.
Ill wait for your advices before I move forward with the project.
I also want to know if people would be interested in such a case and what else they'd like to see/have.
Thanks,
Matt
UPDATE - Size comparison "chart"
This is a new project I'm working on right now. The objective is to design a case compatible with a MicroATX board (which can accommodate crossfire, plenty of DDR/HDD/ ) while being as compact as possible. It should be transportable if possible = light. And rugged so that it would resist a minimum of handling (avoid very light/thin aluminum).
The constrains are the following:
- Be able to fit a ATX power supply / Full ATX possibly (6.5inch max in length in its current form)
- Be able to fit a long video card (HD 4870 / GTX 280)
- Be able to fit most of the high end heat sink available today
- Have at least 1 5.25" bay
- Have at least 2 3.5" bay
- Good ventilation for CPU, DDR, HDD, GPU - no overheating
- Nice smooth design
Right now, the case is as follow:
Dimension:
NEW PROJECT CASE 14.6 x 11.1 x 7.9 (1280 cub. Inch.)
Here are some comparison
Thermaltake LANBOX Lite VF6000BNS : 17.0'' x 11.8'' x 9.1'' (1825 cub. Inch.)
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133045)
Thermaltake VF1000BWS Black Aluminum Front Panel : 11.8'' x 17'' x 11'' (2206 cub. Inch.)
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133035)
Apevia X-Qpack : 13.8 x 11.2 x 9 (1391 cub. Inch.)
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144162)
Siverstone Sugo SG02 : 15.5 x 10.6 x 8.4 (1380 cub. Inch.)
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163112)
Shuttle Prima XPC SX48P2 : 12.8 x 8.7 x 8.3 (924 cub. Inch.)
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856101072&Tpk=Shuttle Prima XPC SX48P2)
So its 8 to 72% smaller than most regular lanbox but its still 38% bigger than a Shuttle (quite a bit). It is interesting to notice that it is not as high as the Shuttle but wider (MATX motherboard size 9.64 x 9.64) and a bit longer.
That being said, here is how it compares to the other cases:
Upside
- You can fit almost any size ATX PSU. None of the others can.
- You can fit 1/2 video card up to 12 Inch. (with the DFI LANPARTY JR P45-T2RS (http://www.dfi.com.tw/portal/CM/cmp...g=false&action=e&windowstate=normal&mode=view), you can actually have a nice crossfire setup).
- You can fit a heatsink as high as 7 Inch (180 mm - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283, Tuniq tower for exemple). None of the others can.
- You can put 2 120mm fans, 1 in the back, 1 over the video card. Plus optional fans over hard drives, possibly RAM. Most of the other cases dont even have a 120mm fan.
- You have a good looking sturdy case. I went for a Lian-Li look. Nice 1/16 brushed aluminum, solid motherboard tray. This is subjective, so Ill let you judge.
Downside: Only 1 5.25" bay. Instead of 2 for most of the other cases.
I will post some CAD drawings to give you an idea of what it looks like.
Ill wait for your advices before I move forward with the project.
I also want to know if people would be interested in such a case and what else they'd like to see/have.
Thanks,
Matt
UPDATE - Size comparison "chart"