NCASE M1: a crowdfunded Mini-ITX case (updates in first post)

When you started this thread, I didn't think it was much more than dreaming. Great that you've got it this far. I think this case can be a real winner. Looking forward to being able to order one. :D

wahaha360 said:
SilverStone, particularly Tony has been pretty awesome communicating us and we are pretty excited about exploring design options with them.
Click to expand...

Get the thread title changed :)
 
WiSK said:
When you started this thread, I didn't think it was much more than dreaming. Great that you've got it this far. I think this case can be a real winner. Looking forward to being able to order one. :D

Get the thread title changed :)
Click to expand...

Hahaha, our official status is still vaporware, until the product is delivered to backers, still in the dreaming phase, but it's nice knowing there are others who share this dream.

Necere and I spoke about the unfortunate situation with Lan-Gear's availability and pricing, which we can definitely learn from.

Our biggest hurdle is still ahead of us, but definitely appreciate the support and it's been fun, so we will keep moving forward :)

I will email Kyle as soon as we finalize who's going to make this case, still too many uncertainties.
 
Last edited:
That's great news, definitely take one too when possible, have to wait :)
 
Last edited:
Waiting to see a kickstarter, but otherwise count me in for 1! I've been jumping back and forth between Full ATX and mATX for years and I was about to pull the trigger on an ITX build with a Bitfenix Prodigy, but this has me thinking maybe I should wait and see. Looks very promising. Good luck guys!
 
board2death986 said:
Waiting to see a kickstarter, but otherwise count me in for 1! I've been jumping back and forth between Full ATX and mATX for years and I was about to pull the trigger on an ITX build with a Bitfenix Prodigy, but this has me thinking maybe I should wait and see. Looks very promising. Good luck guys!
Click to expand...

If you are building it to be as small as possible, I would wait. This seems to offer most of the cooling capability in a much smaller package. I'm thinking I will actually be able to fit more radiator in this than I have currently in my prodigy.
 
The factory workers are likely on New Year break in Asia and CES 2013 is also next week.

We are waiting for more price quotes before moving forward with Indiegogo for prototype.
 
foremi said:
If you are building it to be as small as possible, I would wait. This seems to offer most of the cooling capability in a much smaller package. I'm thinking I will actually be able to fit more radiator in this than I have currently in my prodigy.
Click to expand...

Really? The Prodigy seemed pretty well packed. I was planning on using my Corsair H100 up top in a push/pull, installing a 200/230mm fan up front with the 140 going out back. Seemed like plenty.
 
The Prodigy fits a lot in, but it's also quite large. Bordering on mATX in size, with over twice the volume of this case.
 
board2death986 said:
Really? The Prodigy seemed pretty well packed. I was planning on using my Corsair H100 up top in a push/pull, installing a 200/230mm fan up front with the 140 going out back. Seemed like plenty.
Click to expand...

The biggest you can fit in the back is a 120 because itll interfere with the motherboard or your gpu from what I gathered when I did my build with an asus p8z77-i

If you want to keep the lower drive bay you're basically limited to the top, back and maybe a smaller one up front.

The prodigy can pack a lot in it, but it also has ALOT of dead space that's not real useful. I've got a 120 single rad and a 120 double rad in my prodigy (with fan controller in the 5.25 bay and the lower drive bay in) and when I hopefully get the M1 I will up that to 2 120 double rads.

I'm thinking I will have to have my 1tb hard drive external esata, but it will still be like half the size as my prodigy but with more cooling.

So the prodigy is nice, and can fit quite a bit of radiator but your talking about no 3.5/5.25 drive bays when you fill it up with rads, and at that point why bother with such a big case.
 
I'm totally going to get my copy this powder coated or anodized black with only the letters in red by a local company, whenever it's ready to be released. Don't know how much that's going to cost, but I don't particularly care. Too stoked. :3
 
In for one... you should create an interest poll to see how many people are seriously considering one
 
Google docs form to collect email addresses would work, but then you have to sign up for a third party mass email provider. Or use Mailchimp to compile a mailing list and generate a form at the same time, they're pretty cheap and reputable.
 
^Whatever he said. I'd love to see what kind of interest there is so I can see if it's worth waiting or not. I'll send this along to my old LAN groups to see if anyone is doing any new builds.
 
Signed up so I could subscribe to this thread and continue to lurk, but if interest is still in question, I figure I'll toss my name in the hat. I've been slowly gathering parts to build a SFF box and would like to make this chassis its new home.
 
You guys are probably sick of looking at this thing... right? Blame w360, he made me post these:

GUdPh.jpg


GpZIY.jpg
 
Yeah man, I'm totally sick of looking at Coca-Cola cans. Pepsi's 100x better.

It's a damn conspiracy, I tell 'ya. Always Coke cans. :l
 
Take my money already! But you can keep the cruddy Dell monitor and keyboard. I see enough of that junk at work everyday.
 
M4rk said:
Yeah man, I'm totally sick of looking at Coca-Cola cans. Pepsi's 100x better.

It's a damn conspiracy, I tell 'ya. Always Coke cans. :l
Click to expand...

Here's another, just for you:

gFfS6.jpg


bXn62.jpg
 
Last edited:
This is amazing guys, i really admire what you have done here, so many case manufacturers just don't understand design, this though is beautiful! :D If i can get the money ill be buying one for sure! Really good job guys!
 
Have you decided if you are going brushed aluminum or not? I don't notice any brush lines. I thought that I would prefer brushed aluminum, but as I look at that render in black aluminum, I find myself realizing that the case doesn't need it.
 
black aluminum w/ the dark red styling ([H] colors, if you will) looks absolutely hot!
 
wahaha360 said:
We requested an all aluminum build for quote and very much prefer all aluminum.

However, for less quantity, we probably have to pay a higher price, that's the trade-off.

If the price doesn't make sense, maybe a combo design where the outer panels are aluminum and 0.8mm SECC chasis (FT02 use 0.8mm SECC)
Click to expand...

I'm a car guy...and usually custom metal parts are made of stainless for strength...so how much for a stainless steel computer case? I want a super strong case that won't bend if I drop it :D

PS I'm just kidding...stainless steel is way more expensive than aluminum :( not to mention heavier
 
I like my cases made out of Bismuth. I know it's unpopular and dense, but damn those colors really shine!
 
Bare aluminum all around so I could anodize it myself would be ideal, even if it costs a little more per case. Buying a couple and changing the colors for me/wife/girls would be a lot of fun.

That all black rendering is a close second though. It looks fantastic.
 
Amazing stuff guys- I am down for one once this turns into reality :D
 
Flat black with red text mixed with the case's subtle design is absolutely fantastic. Although it wont match the orange power led I want. is it just me or does it look like the red text on the side could easily be a red plastic plate behind the panel, to make it easily changed to another color (similar to the apogee drive 2's top led logo). It would look better than just etching / paint also imo.
 
Could be thin clear acrylic shipped and then easily replaced later. The only issue is what kind of mounting system would be used to keep the plastic/acrylic flush with the case side and not waste a ton of useful space on the other side behind the motherboard tray (assuming you don't want to ruin that beautiful side panel with screws/rivets). This would all introduce new costs to the system.

Plain bare aluminum is better to ship and gives people like myself with a vision the ability to do whatever we want with it in the end. ;)
 
usually with a kickstarter they have several tiers. often a 'limited edition' option (for more money obviously). maybe something extra could be done for those willing to pay for it :D

also, i'm not seeing black. maybe its my monitor but looking at those renders it seems to be a gunmetal color instead of pure black.
 
illli said:
usually with a kickstarter they have several tiers. often a 'limited edition' option (for more money obviously). maybe something extra could be done for those willing to pay for it :D

also, i'm not seeing black. maybe its my monitor but looking at those renders it seems to be a gunmetal color instead of pure black.
Click to expand...
That's probably due to render settings and light reflections. If the case was as deep dark black as possible and the lighting in the render was as dim as possible, you wouldn't be able to see the edges of the case! Just a guess. ;)
 
illli said:
usually with a kickstarter they have several tiers. often a 'limited edition' option (for more money obviously). maybe something extra could be done for those willing to pay for it :D

also, i'm not seeing black. maybe its my monitor but looking at those renders it seems to be a gunmetal color instead of pure black.
Click to expand...

It does have a gunmetal shade to it, but that's probably due to it being anodized the texture can effect the way it looks and how it rendered. Im all for Gunmetal though... Gunmetal makes everything badass, well maybe not everything...

But yeah I was thinking about the mounting system after I posted that and couldn't come up with anything that would not use rivets, pushin mounts, etc outside of double face tape. Honestly though, a good tape would get the job done and it'd be hidden by the motherboard tray anyway, right? Eh, maybe a little too diy though...
 
foremi said:
But yeah I was thinking about the mounting system after I posted that and couldn't come up with anything that would not use rivets, pushin mounts, etc outside of double face tape. Honestly though, a good tape would get the job done and it'd be hidden by the motherboard tray anyway, right? Eh, maybe a little too diy though...
Click to expand...

Slightly flexible snap-in plastic bracket? That way you can have a bracket that will hold the colored plexi piece, and you can snap it in/out if you wanted to change the color. But I highly doubt this would make it into production.

To be honest, I would rather have the complete case a flat color with absolutely no branding. Instead, on the panel that opens to see the components, have the brand/logo printed there just below the 120mm fan openings.

Another idea is just to stamp the brand/logo/model and not have it colored, thus it just looks embossed.
 
I think, don't quote me on this (wow I say that a lot), that the letters were going to be etched. Stamping aluminum might be affordable, but it could cause other issues.
 
I did keep the rendering a little lighter so the details wouldn't get lost. The plan is sandblasted + anodized, to give it a satin finish, which is a bit hard to convey well in renders, particularly without a variety of objects/materials for context.

Regarding a cutout logo with a backing, there's not really much space at all between the motherboard tray and side panel - just 1.5mm - so the backing material + mount would have to be thinner than that. Not really worth doing IMO.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top