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

Rudde93 said:
1 & 2 support 12.5" GPU cards

What does this mean? It dosn't support 2 GPUs
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slots 1 & 2 support a card up to 12.5", so you can have a double-slot 12.5" GPU.

if you have a GPU with an aftermarket triple-slot cooler, it cannot be that long due to the USB/audio ports / power switch.
 
Contributed.

Been watching this from the beginning and i'm just blown away at how fast you guys got this going. Awesome work!
 
Contributed!

Rudde93 said:
1 & 2 support 12.5" GPU cards

What does this mean? It dosn't support 2 GPUs
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Its an ITX case. ITX by design does not support 2 GPUs. It could take a DTX board, then you could use a short, single slot GPU in the 3rd slot.
 
crazjayz said:
Necere, do you know if you're going to provide a cover for this hole. I know cases, like the Lian Li Q11, have the same external mounting style, and they provide a small aluminum piece to cover the hole.
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I was contemplating it at some point, but W360 insisted it didn't matter. I'm sort of indifferent towards it, so I let it go.

Would you guys prefer a cover? I guess it's mainly for EMI shielding, and perhaps to prevent dust coming in (though most people will probably configure the fans so the case is positive pressure).


Ark :o said:
One clarification, if I could...

With an ATX power supply mounted in the case, it looks like the 2x 3.5" drive cage is out. Assuming an ATX PSU is used, how many total drive mounts (2.5", 3.5") will be present in the case?

(Just planning ahead, lol)
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With an ATX PSU, there's 1 x 3.5" mount on the bottom, plus room for 1 x 2.5" drive on the inside front, and 1 x 2.5" drive in lieu of the optical drive.
 
1911Shootist said:
It could take a DTX board, then you could use a short, single slot GPU in the 3rd slot.
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"Short" being relative here - it's still 11 inches in the third slot!

Also, it wouldn't be single slot. Mini-DTX has two slots, and they have to be in the correct configuration (like this board), but you could get an 11" dual-slot GPU and a sound card in that way.
 
Contribution is in! Sorry I couldn't give more, money is tight at the moment but I really want to see this happen
 
Necere said:
I was contemplating it at some point, but W360 insisted it didn't matter. I'm sort of indifferent towards it, so I let it go.

Would you guys prefer a cover? I guess it's mainly for EMI shielding, and perhaps to prevent dust coming in (though most people will probably configure the fans so the case is positive pressure).
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I would definitely want a cover. Shame to think about every single detail and then let this one slide.
 
crazjayz said:
I would definitely want a cover. Shame to think about every single detail and then let this one slide.
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Seconded. And that hole is not a small hole. In fact, does it need to be that wide? Unless it has some purpose for watercooling.
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Edit: my white box probably need to be longer near the top because of the GPU bracket jutting out, but in terms of left-right thickness maybe it can be smaller.
 
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The hole is that size because it likely shares its width with the dimension of the bent, perpendicular portion of a PCI bracket. The PCI mounting bracket on the case is cut and bent from that panel itself.
 
The tab is actually only 10mm, while the opening is ~22mm. Remember that the card has to be angled into place when inserting it into the PCIe slot, which is why the hole is as large as it is. It's a small thing and important to enough people, so we'll include a cover.


Btw, it was brought up on another forum that the lack of an exhaust fan at the top might be an issue; I've had this concern as well, but there are two reasons I think it's okay as-is: 1.) the SG07/08 has a similar setup with its 180mm fan blowing in and just the side vents for exhaust (no fans), and 2.) an 80 or 92mm fan can be installed at the rear if necessary to aid in pulling the heat out of the motherboard area. The amount of potential airflow in the case is actually not too dissimilar from some MATX cases, e.g. the Fractal Core 1000 with 1 x front 120mm, 1 x 92mm rear and PSU exhaust.
 
Regarding the hole next to the PCIe slots, even something along the lines of the guard provided on Silverstones TJ08 or PS07 would work. Also now that I think about it would it be possible to consider internal/external magnetic filters to cover the vents in the final production version? It just seems so much work has been put forth to develop the best possible SFF enthusiast case to date leaving something like that out at the end feels, I don't know, a bit lazy.
 
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IMHO, some of these things should be included in an add on "accessory" pack that can be bought separately. Adding that cover and magnetic dust filters on the outside just raises the cost. It's already at a cost that I'm not sure I'd be comfortable paying in the first place, so raising it even more will almost surely make me not want to buy it.
 
I think most people don't realise how hard it will be to fit a large 2-slot card when the room to maneuvre the bracket is too small. Although I'd like it if it was able to be covered up somehow, it's not a dealbreaker for me.
Placing this and magnetic filters in an option package would be a good solution in my opinion.
 
Thanks for clarifying. I don't really care for the size of the hole actually. It's just that it looks larger than on the cases I have. A cover would be nice, it's just strange to see gaping hole enough to give birth to a calf there. :p

Yes it does look like the positive pressure system in SG07/08 except in a vertical orientation and you got 2x120mm fan instead of 1x180mm fan.
 
Phuncz said:
I think most people don't realise how hard it will be to fit a large 2-slot card when the room to maneuvre the bracket is too small.
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Actually putting it in is not such a big problem most of the time (i had no issues putting a GTX570 Phantom inside a PC-Q08 - and that is really a tight fit). What is the problem most of the time is actually getting the card out due a design oversight in most mITX cases - you put in a 2 slot card, but your fingers can't reach for the PCI-E plastic retention thing at the end of the slot, because the long 2 slot card covers the whole thing. For example P8Z77-I Deluxe :
OcZ466xKvSUYrQEk_480.jpg

How do you press the white thing at the end of the PCI-E slot, when it is under a long, 2 slot card and you can't reach it from the bottom ? Maybe it won't be an issue in M1 due the extra PCI-E slot, but i am not 100% sure about that.
 
I remove that little tab when dealing with tight configurations like an ITX build.
 
faugusztin said:
How do you press the white thing at the end of the PCI-E slot, when it is under a long, 2 slot card and you can't reach it from the bottom ? Maybe it won't be an issue in M1 due the extra PCI-E slot, but i am not 100% sure about that.
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Actually, I don't think this should be problem at all in the M1. The right-side panel is removable, which allows you to reach the PCIe slot from that side and avoid going under the GPU altogether. I don't have a render onhand to show that perfectly, but these ones should give you the idea:

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6zYUcgI.jpg
 
@Necere: the problem is that some monkey thought that putting a "lock" into a pci-e was something really clever, even thought the cards themselves go screwed or secured into the case. The problem is that such lock is so terribly designed that stays BELOW the VGA, which means that you have no access to it and, sometimes, the ram holders block it... which means that you can't remove anything unless you do some wonders.

Examples:

This one is horrible. I bet you need to unlock the card to remove the RAM sticks... but I have no idea how the heck you can access it in a cramped case...

MSI%20Z77IA-E53%20BoxBoard.png



This one is not that terrible, althought its pretty bad. Do you have a big heatsink in there? Yes? Time to make wonders then.

Zotac%20Z77ITX%20Top_575px.jpg



Gooooooooooooood:

ASRock%20Z77E-ITX%20Top_575px.jpg



Good too (no idea about performance, though):

EVGA%20Z77%20Stinger%2004%20Oblique.jpg



Teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrible:

ASUS%20P8Z77-I%20Deluxe%20Top.jpg


This would be a nightmare to service. Even if the bottom of the case could be disassembled from the outside (Which I doubt), it would be a HUGE pita.

---

So, I bet the safe choice in regards to the mobo decision is... the Asrock, and its funny because its also a very strong pick performance wise. Oh dear, not only is it hard enough to work on cramped spaces that the world is full of monkeys and put stuff in the worse possible placement. And don't let me get started about yach servicing... as there are some scary (and funny :D ) stories about the exact same thing. Wanna fix a waste reservoir? Guess what: you gotta stay below it when you plan to uninstall it.. which means that... yup, you need underwater goggles... since you are "diving" in shit XD
 
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I also vote for covering the hole, or an option to.

Been lurking on this forum for a long while, finally registered for this thread. Great work, really looking forward to it. Contributed as well!
 
I'd like a cover, but it doesn't have to be anything fancy. Not even formed or perforated - just a plate with a couple of screws to secure it would be good enough.
 
I was going to go with the ASRock anyways. Honestly I have started to love ASRock boards. I have built a whole ton of machines with them recently and they have been really great boards, best bang/buck combo out there at the moment. They have good quality, and a lot more features than some other top brands for the same/better prices.
 
1911Shootist said:
I'd like a cover, but it doesn't have to be anything fancy. Not even formed or perforated - just a plate with a couple of screws to secure it would be good enough.
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I'd settle for a flimsy piece of pot metal like what I/O shields are made out of and no screws, just friction.
 
prava said:
Motherboards...
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For performance / stability the Asus board is leagues ahead of everything else on that list, especially if overclocking. I'd even buy the ASrock one before the evga, that thing is a big let down.
 
1911Shootist said:
I'd like a cover, but it doesn't have to be anything fancy. Not even formed or perforated - just a plate with a couple of screws to secure it would be good enough.
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M4rk said:
I'd settle for a flimsy piece of pot metal like what I/O shields are made out of and no screws, just friction.
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I would honestly be okay with a rubber grommet (like what's used for the external watercooling holes) if it came to that. Just something to cover the hole and minimize the dust flying in. Because regardless of how much actual positive pressure you have, it's not going to prevent dust from coming in a hole that big, unless you're using an air compressor or some fans that move 3-400 cfm.

Plus, as I said before, it's such a small part that affects the final product tremendously. You don't go through 4 iterations of design, then ask about logo's and names, then bring up an internal DVD drive, only to forget this.
 
crazjayz said:
I would honestly be okay with a rubber grommet (like what's used for the external watercooling holes) if it came to that. Just something to cover the hole and minimize the dust flying in. Because regardless of how much actual positive pressure you have, it's not going to prevent dust from coming in a hole that big, unless you're using an air compressor or some fans that move 3-400 cfm.

Plus, as I said before, it's such a small part that affects the final product tremendously. You don't go through 4 iterations of design, then ask about logo's and names, then bring up an internal DVD drive, only to forget this.
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Don't think it was "forgotten" as much as it wasn't considered important. But hey, I'm not N. Just a fan. :)
 
M4rk said:
Don't think it was "forgotten" as much as it wasn't considered important. But hey, I'm not N. Just a fan. :)
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I suppose. Maybe I'm being supercritical too. I mean, to be honest, I didn't even notice it in the renderings until it was recently brought up.
 
Necere said:
The tab is actually only 10mm, while the opening is ~22mm. Remember that the card has to be angled into place when inserting it into the PCIe slot, which is why the hole is as large as it is. It's a small thing and important to enough people, so we'll include a cover.
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guiseguiseguise. necere already confirmed there will be a cover. no need to freak out, crisis averted! :D
 
cover/no cover plastic, metal, rubber, i dont care. wont stop me from buying the case when it goes on sale. nobody will ever see the back of it why should i matter
 
illli said:
cover/no cover plastic, metal, rubber, i dont care. wont stop me from buying the case when it goes on sale. nobody will ever see the back of it why should i matter
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Aww, u matter 2 me bro.

Saw your threads for this case on some other forums, hope your accounts are safe. :)
 
illli said:
cover/no cover plastic, metal, rubber, i dont care. wont stop me from buying the case when it goes on sale. nobody will ever see the back of it why should i matter
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Klrgoten said:
this
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No. Not "this". You do it once, and you do it right.

Seriously, because of "this", the US is the way it is today. People not caring about the small things. Necere and W360 are putting their name behind it. If it were me, I would want it to be the best possible, not the "oh it has all the features, but we slacked off and forgot some details".

Strive to be the best and don't settle when you know that something is amiss.

/soapbox

And yes, I know that Necere said that he would include it, so hopefully we're done with this topic.
 
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