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

Hi Necere and wahaha360,
first of all huge thanks for designing and realizing this case! (made an account just for saying this)
any progress with the production campaign?
(for some weeks now, checking this thread is pretty much the first thing I do in the morning, and I'm always a bit dissapointed there is not a new page with awesome posts :p)
Greetings from the Netherlands (the case was discussed on Tweakers.net, so expect to ship some cases to the Netherlands ;) )
Gerhard
 
Can't wait to get this, you've put so much work into it and it looks amazing :). I was wondering if you will be offering insured postage (any clue on the cost if yes?) as I live in the UK and would be a very sad camper if it was damaged in transit. Good luck with the final stages thanks for all the hard work. And thanks Sith :)
 
I am more interested on how you would put a value on something that is a limited addition. Not like if it gets damaged on the way to the UK you can just order another one?

Also I am in UK so interested in knowing but you would only get your money back rather than another case I assume?
 
Would a 9.5 mm thick 2.5" HDD fit on the inside with a Swiftech H220, or would it be too tight? It looks like there is a 7 mm SSD in the picture below. 2.5 mm isn't a lot, but it's probably hard to "force" it in if it simply won't fit. Do you think I could mod the mounting bracket if it doesn't fit?

l28VahE.jpg


An idea of mine is to have two 2.5" HDDs in RAID 0. One in the front instead of the ODD and another on the inside if possible. Then I could leave the bottom area (underneath the GPU, which would be water-cooled) empty (or put two 120 mm fans there) while still having the option of adding an SSD in the NGFF or mPCIe slot on the Asus Maximus VI Impact.
 
I'd like to hear a few opinions on this: we can get the logos and serial laser etched, and not only is it cheaper per unit to do, it also doesn't need the up-front tooling cost that silkscreen printing does. Given that it should look nice, it seems win-win, so I'm kind of leaning towards that.

But: it'll be a brighter logo vs. printing - basically the color of the underlying raw aluminum. The options for removing the logo will also be limited to painting over it.

Thoughts?
 
Curlyriff said:
I am more interested on how you would put a value on something that is a limited addition. Not like if it gets damaged on the way to the UK you can just order another one?

Also I am in UK so interested in knowing but you would only get your money back rather than another case I assume?
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We plan to order 10-15% more units to protect again manufacturing defects. So if we get 300 units placed, we will order 330 - 345 units just to be safe.

This makes planning math even more complicated, but it has to be done.
 
+1 for silk-screening. I'd still like to be able to easily customise it and remove one or more of the logo's. Although to be honest I'm not sure what "thoughts" you want here Necere? A straw poll, a consensus, ideas? There are likely to be people on here both for and against the idea, so by what criteria will you make the final decision? As you seem to be in favour of laser-etching and ultimately it's your choice...
 
daavee said:
+1 for silk-screening. I'd still like to be able to easily customise it and remove one or more of the logo's. Although to be honest I'm not sure what "thoughts" you want here Necere? A straw poll, a consensus, ideas? There are likely to be people on here both for and against the idea, so by what criteria will you make the final decision? As you seem to be in favour of laser-etching and ultimately it's your choice...
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I think they are past that decision.
 
daavee said:
+1 for silk-screening. I'd still like to be able to easily customise it and remove one or more of the logo's. Although to be honest I'm not sure what "thoughts" you want here Necere? A straw poll, a consensus, ideas? There are likely to be people on here both for and against the idea, so by what criteria will you make the final decision? As you seem to be in favour of laser-etching and ultimately it's your choice...
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Well, I'm interested to see if there's any strong opposition to it, and also if there's any other factors I've missed.
 
Necere said:
Well, I'm interested to see if there's any strong opposition to it, and also if there's any other factors I've missed.
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If I understand correctly, you are talking about etching not engraving, so on anodized aluminum black will be changed to white, rather than removing the coating. I am for it, lower complexity, time, and cost.
 
Necere said:
I'd like to hear a few opinions on this: we can get the logos and serial laser etched, and not only is it cheaper per unit to do, it also doesn't need the up-front tooling cost that silkscreen printing does. Given that it should look nice, it seems win-win, so I'm kind of leaning towards that.

But: it'll be a brighter logo vs. printing - basically the color of the underlying raw aluminum. The options for removing the logo will also be limited to painting over it.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Is this identical to what you're talking about? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wia9zRwm3I

Would you consider using some sort of dithering pattern to lower the brightness of the logo, if possible?
 
I'd strongly prefer the silk-screening, honestly, to have the option to easily remove a logo if it didn't go with my workspace theme. I liked that you gave us the option (once you decided the size/placement/style of the logo) to easily remove it, etching would remove a lot (hell, all) of that ease.

That being said, I lost the no-ODD slot argument, so maybe I'm just the bad penny around here :p
 
I don't care for etching myself, especially if you're going to brand the case in more than one spot, like has been proposed. I was against any branding, but the gray silkscreen didn't look too attention grabbing... but bright aluminum will do just that.

I prefer minimalistic. Painting aluminum = :eek:. If you're going to etch it, please do it before anodizing so it's not so glaring.
 
Etch it!

Side note, my main desktop PC has been crashing for a week straight now. Can't figure out why, it only happens during the day when I'm at work (or maybe at night when I'm sleeping, I don't usually check it in the morning...)

BUT Haswell and the 7xx series Gforce chips are out, so all I'm waiting for now is the ncase :)
 
Diverge said:
I don't care for etching myself, especially if you're going to brand the case in more than one spot, like has been proposed. I was against any branding, but the gray silkscreen didn't look too attention grabbing... but bright aluminum will do just that.

I prefer minimalistic. Painting aluminum = :eek:. If you're going to etch it, please do it before anodizing so it's not so glaring.
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Laser etching only bleaches the anodized coating and will not expose the aluminum. The aluminum will need to be anodized first in order to be etched. This of course will not wash off like silk screening would, but it doesn't leave the surface engraved. Necere maybe you can clarify the technology you are referring to. Is it YAG/CO2 laser (10-60w), or something else? How would the silver color be etched, thermally bonded metal marking solution? Did the silver option get cancelled?
 
adamantium said:
Necere maybe you can clarify the technology you are referring to. Is it YAG/CO2 laser (10-60w), or something else? How would the silver color be etched, thermally bonded metal marking solution?
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I don't know, but this is what it looks like:

AjAJqUh.jpg


NI08stc.jpg


So yeah, it seems to be more white in color (on black, at least).

adamantium said:
Did the silver option get cancelled?
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We're planning to offer the case in black or silver.
 
Will we see some actual pictures of both the silver and the black before the full blown production, and before we place our orders?
 
Diverge said:
Will we see some actual pictures of both the silver and the black before the full blown production, and before we place our orders?
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Yes, though the campaign will probably launch before we have pics, since the latter will take at least a couple of weeks.
 
Necere said:
I'd like to hear a few opinions on this: we can get the logos and serial laser etched, and not only is it cheaper per unit to do, it also doesn't need the up-front tooling cost that silkscreen printing does. Given that it should look nice, it seems win-win, so I'm kind of leaning towards that.

But: it'll be a brighter logo vs. printing - basically the color of the underlying raw aluminum. The options for removing the logo will also be limited to painting over it.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...


I'd say no to the etching if you're intent on the "M1" on the sides.
I'd be ok with etching the "NCASE" on the front.

Etching makes them non-removable... paint over it, sure... but that will be quite obvious.

I think you *should* have a logo on it, but it should be humble, reserved, quiet, small yet powerful... which is what I think the "NCASE" is.

I think the "M1" is loud. Not ugly, but certainly more flash... and if people aren't going to be able to remove them, then I'd leave the panels plain.

Laser etching can be done by one of hundreds of laser shops after the fact.

Lian Li might even allow you to order some with and some without etching (though probably not for any discount)
 
Zangmonkey said:
I'd say no to the etching if you're intent on the "M1" on the sides.
I'd be ok with etching the "NCASE" on the front.

Etching makes them non-removable... paint over it, sure... but that will be quite obvious.

I think you *should* have a logo on it, but it should be humble, reserved, quiet, small yet powerful... which is what I think the "NCASE" is.

I think the "M1" is loud. Not ugly, but certainly more flash... and if people aren't going to be able to remove them, then I'd leave the panels plain.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm thinking about removing the 'M1' from the side. If the logo were low-contrast, it would be okay IMO, but in white I think it's better without it. I'm also looking at reducing the size of the front logo.
 
Necere said:
Yeah, I'm thinking about removing the 'M1' from the side. If the logo were low-contrast, it would be okay IMO, but in white I think it's better without it. I'm also looking at reducing the size of the front logo.
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Another nice thing about etching is that It's slightly recessed, so people can ink it into whatever color they like.
This isn't easy but a semi-skilled modder can do it.
 
I'd say leave the NCASE on the front, same size, laser engraved. Add a small M1 on the bottom left or right of the front panel, smaller in font than the M1. Or remove the M1 entirely. But I do like the laser engraving.
 
I was going to remove M1 and keep NCASE anyways so my vote is for;

Yeah, I'm thinking about removing the 'M1' from the side. If the logo were low-contrast, it would be okay IMO, but in white I think it's better without it. I'm also looking at reducing the size of the front logo.
Click to expand...
 
I agree with removing the M1 (and not having M1 on the front either) while keeping NCASE. I don't think you should make NCASE any smaller, because the case (and its logo) is already very small. The logo looks about as thick as a USB port!

37n00dP.jpg
 
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Necere said:
Yeah, I'm thinking about removing the 'M1' from the side. If the logo were low-contrast, it would be okay IMO, but in white I think it's better without it. I'm also looking at reducing the size of the front logo.
Click to expand...

These steps would resolve my issues concerning the logos/etching, FWIW :)
 
Alright, one last render dump with a modified "M1" on the side. Outlined lettering compensates for the higher contrast of the white laser etching. Front logo reduced by 25%. Trying for more realistic/less dramatic angles and lighting this time, to get a better impression of what it'll look like:

M63oWEC.jpg


XYcyihk.jpg


2QGeQd6.jpg


sXZ4SaE.jpg


E0VXf70.jpg


G55CqKA.jpg


u6Bmqp1.jpg



I'll take a final look at the feedback and make a decision on it tomorrow.
 
I still think the M1 should be removed entirely. I don't like the outlines; it clashes with the rest of the design.

The smaller NCASE is nice, but I think its placement is a tad too high. I think it should be placed a little bit further down, similarly to the previous front logo, like so:

NrwvdB6.png
 
I like the laser etching idea (self serving), but I do agree that the only logo should be out in front. The side panels do distract. If anything, maybe the logo in the front should have a tiny M1 under the NCASE logo, or to the side of it.
 
the older text/logo layout and placement looked better.
to me the new m1 placement looks a little awkward now. just kind of hovering in air away from everything. also wondering why the lettering on the side is different traced/outline compared to the front. can you do a mockup with traced letters on the front too?
 
I like it, but definitly prefer the solid scheme. The side looks ok with the outline scheme, but it clashes with the solid 'NCASE' on the front, which I think should most certainly be kept bold. I'm good with M1 being on the sides, but what if instead of having writing on each side the rear had 'NCASE M1' underneath the power socket? That way there would still be an identifier of exactly what NCASE it is, but M1 wouldn't be all alone on each side. Whereas 'NCASE M1' on the sides would be a bit too much.

BTW, does 'NCASE' stand for 'Necere Case' by any chance? :D

Also I've gotten so excited for this that I'm definitely going to buy 2.
 
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