A ~6L brickless LAN/Gaming/LRPC case concept.

[iFreilicht]

Pictures: (sorry I started using Inventor a week ago)

Full album can be found here

Blue: Mainboard, Green: GPU, Yellow: 2.5" storage, Red: PSU

SPECS: (preliminary)
Dimensions: 69(H)x342(D)x342(W) = 8.07L
Motherboard support: mITX
CPU cooler height: >50mm
GPU length: 226mm w/ 2.5" cage, 322mm w/o (excluding bracket)
GPU height: 129mm (excluding bracket)
GPU thickness: Double-Slot WITH ODD installed OR Triple-Slot
PSU support: SFX OR SFX-L
Storage support:2.5" drives, 4 * 7mm high OR 2 * 15mm high IF GPU is <= 226 AND 2*2.5" drives below GPU if GPU thickness is <= Dual-Slot
ODD support5.25" slim slot-in IF GPU thickness <= Dual-Slot


FEATURES/GOALS:

Airflow:
All intakes are on the top panel, which is planned support one large dust filter. This not only keeps the insides clean and provides amazing airflow for such a small case, but also removes the need for foots. It is also possible to mount a 120mm or 140mm over the Mainboard when using low-profile RAM in combination with a passive CPU cooler.

Mobility:
Being 69mm thick without hidden volume (PCIe brackets sticking out), this case will fit into a shoulder-bag alongside a few peripherals, enabling you to carry all your gear in one package (except a screen, probably).

ODD support:
Most uSFF cases will not support ODDs for a cleaner front design or spatial reasons. This case offers the option without making compromises. The front part that contains the slot can be flipped so it is closed and the PCIe bracket mount then allows for GPUs of up to Tripe-slot thickness if no ODD is used.

Design:
The front is designed to be simplistic without being boring. The two accent panels, red in the rendering, are supposed to be available in different colours and materials, anodized aluminium, frosted acrylic or even wood are all a possibility. Acrylic would provide the option of being lit from the edges, space for LEDs and a PCB to do that already exists. Both panels will be spring-mounted to enable pressing them into the case slightly. The blank one of them is the power button, the other can press against the eject button of the ODD.

Connectivity:
Front I/O will not exist on the front, but there is room for it to be mounted behind the top or bottom panel.
With accent panels of a non-conductive material, there is the possibility of mounting wireless dongles for Bluetooth or IR inside the case.

Construction:
After removing all panels, only one wall and the bottom of the case are left, allowing for easy mounting, assembly and replacement of components. All parts of the case are connected by screws, allowing for easier modification. The bottom has a cutout to allow for easy changing of CPU coolers or M.2 SSDs on the back of the board.

Storage:
With GPUs shorter than 226mm, the remaining space can be used for HDDs and SSDs,
and if the GPU is mounted in the top two slots, there is space for two 2.5" drives under the GPU.

Noise: With support for SFX-L PSUs and triple-slot aftermarket GPU coolers, there are a lot of options for setting up a cool and silent HTPC or gaming system.


ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS:

It may be possible to mount a 3.5" HDD in the front when a mITX sized GPU is used. In the same circumstance, there should be space for two 2.5" drive cages.

 

[Aibohphobia]

Woohoo! Another custom case design.

The more the merrier

 

[iFreilicht]

Woohoo! Another custom case design.

The more the merrier

Doesn't go for everything, but for PC cases, you are definitely right

 

[Aibohphobia]

Could you maybe do renders with the case in gray (or some other color) instead of black? It's hard to see the details because it's too dark.

How are the accents attached to the case?

 

[iFreilicht]

Sure thing!

The accent panels have a countersunk hole in the middle and screw onto another panel that sits in front of the PSU. Between that panel and the accent, there is a spring to allow for a travel of about 2mm into the case. I'm not sure what type of spring I'll go for, plate springs seem reasonable, but they would probably take up too much space.
Also, to make the accents look good and eliminate any gaps, I would need another spring just below/above the accents to press them against the top/bottom panel.
So that part isn't modelled yet, sorry.

Renders in bright white:

 

[Aibohphobia]

Thanks! The details of the chassis are much clearer (this is why most all the early renders of Nova were in red or blue).

It's a cool idea but my initial impression is that the springs will add too much complexity to the design. Especially it seems like the kind of thing that will require a few physical iterations to perfect. No big deal for a large company planning to mass produce a design but for something like this that seems risky.

Not to dissuade you, if you think you can pull it off that's awesome, but that's my $0.02.

 

[iFreilicht]

I was thinking about the accents being made of acrylic, that way they could be milled from a block, so the accuracy would be pretty high. But I have no idea what that costs, tbh

Also, I don't think there's too much difference between screwing something on and screwing it on and having a spring in between, but I can definitely see where you're coming from. My initial design had just a plain front, but with that the ODD slot looked completely poor. I'm still playing around with different solutions to the problem, but I really want this as a feature of the case.

I'll change the renderings in the OP to the white ones.

 

[Aibohphobia]

Not sure on plastics, but machining metal is expensive due to the time and waste.

How were you thinking of attaching the springs? I could see someone (like me) easily losing them.

I'm assuming the case is made from aluminum? Also, are you planning on Lian-Li to make them or someone else?

 

[iFreilicht]

I would hope plastics to be cheaper.

No attachment, but pretty good point, many people could easily lose them. A small piece of metal, bent by 330° would work, too, and that could be bolted to the case. The problem I have with such parts is that it's hard to replace them when they break of.

Yes, the case is all aluminium, and I don't really have the intent of giving this to LianLi, there are good metalworking companies in germany, quite a few of which seem capable of doing this job. Every part of this case is a simple, folded metal sheet, except for the front panel that has a larger bend radius.

Everything needed is a press brake and one of those presses for press-in threads, like the ones used in Nova.

 

[Aibohphobia]

That's great. Nothing against Lian Li but it's nice to see manufacturing brought back from China and Taiwan.

If you want to start researching, the primary source of self-clinching nuts is PennEngineering. They also make press-in standoffs for the motherboard mounts.

 

[nekrosoft13]

that looks great! I would buy it

 

[SaperPL]

I really like the front idea - If you're able to fit a power button backlit with led into the top accent somehow it will be awesome.

But that's all I'm impressed about


Can you show us the renders of back and if you think you could the interior? Yeah, I know, I'm the one to talk here about the interior, but you already showed it partially through the air inlets


What is questionable in my opinion:

I understand that card is rotated upside with flex riser so it takes air from the top.I can see the gap between motherboard and the card but is it big enough so the top PEG connectors won't collide with RAM? Did you take into account that there's additional space needed to angle the riser ribbon? Are you supporting the raiser's connector somehow? What's the distance between motherboard IO opening and VGA bracket opening?

I don't like the idea of using FlexPSU - those are not easy to get in consumer grade shops and have low power. And those server grade ones will probably have different output ratio on rails than PC psu's so drawing PEG power from molex might be bad idea. Not sure on this though.

What's the cost of the acrylic/plastic piece in production? Milling this will take a lot of time, injection will be pricey.

I don't like the shape of air inlets, those will need some discussion over different designs I think .

 

[iFreilicht]

that looks great! I would buy it

I really like the front idea - If you're able to fit a power button backlit with led into the top accent somehow it will be awesome.

But that's all I'm impressed about

The idea was to edge-light them with multiple LEDs, and yeah, I hope that would look awesome Nice to see that you seem to share my love for the front design

Can you show us the renders of back and if you think you could the interior? Yeah, I know, I'm the one to talk here about the interior, but you already showed it partially through the air inlets

Will do once I get back home!

What is questionable in my opinion:

I understand that card is rotated upside with flex riser so it takes air from the top.I can see the gap between motherboard and the card but is it big enough so the top PEG connectors won't collide with RAM? Did you take into account that there's additional space needed to angle the riser ribbon? Are you supporting the raiser's connector somehow? What's the distance between motherboard IO opening and VGA bracket opening?

Yes, I'll be using a flexible riser. The GPU in the rendering is actually about 11mm taller than normal ones, because mITX GPUs tend to be that way and I want them to fit. But yes, that is taken into account. I may make the case a bit wider to allow for taller GPUs, though.
Yes, I took the riser bending into account, but I have not decided which one will be shipped with the case, so there will probably be changes there, still. Right now the space for the bending of the riser is quite large.
Currently the raiser itself is not supported, but the bracket of the GPU is. The smaller endings of the GPU brackets slide into slots in the case. This makes the construction a whole lot easier and moves stress from the riser connector to the bracket. That was a very important point when designing this case.
The distance between the mobo and VGA I/O is quite large, I've fit the the C14 inlet between them. You'll see what I mean when I get back home.

I don't like the idea of using FlexPSU - those are not easy to get in consumer grade shops and have low power. And those server grade ones will probably have different output ratio on rails than PC psu's so drawing PEG power from molex might be bad idea. Not sure on this though.

I understand you totally, and I am planning to ship the case with a FlexATX PSU. Large order quantities make it very easy to get your hands on those. There are PSUs of that formfactor with up to 500W, and even the lower ones with ~300W have proven to be powerful enough to power a system with a GTX970.
The output ratio on the rails is a concern, in the best case we would have a single-rail design, but that doesn't seem to exist. The 500W unit I'm looking at has consumer-grade power connectors, though, including PEG. But it is by athenapower, a company not very well regarded for quality, so I'll do rigorous testing on that unit.

The thing I don't like about SFX is the size, I wanted to go smaller, and I believe FlexATX is the way to go there.

What's the cost of the acrylic/plastic piece in production?

I don't like the shape of air inlets, those will need some discussion over different designs I think .

I don't know that, I don't even know what kinds of tolerances to expect, so that's a critical point right now.

Yeah I don't really like those either, but at least on the sides, they seemed quite fitting to me. I agree there will probably be a lot of iterations to go through, IIRC you had to deal with that, too.

 

[dondan]

Does the case come with custom flex psu's that have cutingholes and mountingpoints for the 80mm fan? Also if you plan to sell the case in europe the maximum watt level we could get for flex psu is 350W because Athenapower doesn't sell here. I think the idea of the 80mm fan flex psu is nice, but not realizeable for the normal user with no modding experience. Also if the case comes with such a costimzed psu you have to think on some conditions for selling it in europe (CE Norm, ElektroG (Stiftung EAR), EMC- 2004/108/EG, warranty for all components in it etc.)

Producing in germany could be very expansive i think the price could be doubled and more.

If you arrange the case (linke in picture one) on the desk how is it possible to put a CD/DVD/BluRay in it? To less space between cutout and ground. Also the thin base under the cutout isn 't very robus and could easily break.

I think the design is cool with the rounded corners and the cutouts in the front but the layout of the components is not as good as with a sfx psu and the possibility to mount larger gpu's or short gpus in combination with a drivebay.

 

[SaperPL]

For the front accent I'd go for something like this:



Top and bottom fins would hide just behind the front and also you could try to make hdd/odd and psu supports screwed to this part and finally this whole thing put inside the case and screwed from the sides.

This way you would have 4 screws on each side but no glue/welding or acrylic/plastic parts needed with configurable design.

 

[Runamok81]

This should be interesting.. lets see where it goes! Subbed.

 

[iFreilicht]

Does the case come with custom flex psu's that have cutingholes and mountingpoints for the 80mm fan? Also if you plan to sell the case in europe the maximum watt level we could get for flex psu is 350W because Athenapower doesn't sell here. I think the idea of the 80mm fan flex psu is nice, but not realizeable for the normal user with no modding experience. Also if the case comes with such a costimzed psu you have to think on some conditions for selling it in europe (CE Norm, ElektroG (Stiftung EAR), EMC- 2004/108/EG, warranty for all components in it etc.)

That was the plan. I would want to manufacture a custom enclosure for the PSU (more like the top panel of it), so that option could be made available. The problem I saw was that most FlexATX PSUs have their Fan soldered to the PCB.
I thought about the regulations at one point and then forgot about them. I would really like to do this, but hiring a lawyer that can help me with this stuff would increase the cost of the case.
And when just changing the enclosure requires that amount of work, I might aswell sell it with the fan already installed, so nobody would have to mod it.
Don't you think it would be possible to import the Athena PSU? I got my current one from the US, no questions asked.

Producing in germany could be very expansive i think the price could be doubled and more.

That might be true, I will have to check that once the case is actually in a phase where a prototype can be produced.

If you arrange the case (linke in picture one) on the desk how is it possible to put a CD/DVD/BluRay in it? To less space between cutout and ground. Also the thin base under the cutout isn 't very robus and could easily break.

The ODD is flipped upside down, see rendering at the end of this post. But you are right, that part is very thin, a little more than 1mm.

I think the design is cool with the rounded corners and the cutouts in the front but the layout of the components is not as good as with a sfx psu and the possibility to mount larger gpu's or short gpus in combination with a drivebay.

So I thought about this quite a lot, and there are of course advantages and disadvantages to the FlexATX and the SFX solution:

Advantages SFX:

• Longer GPUs possible
• More space for PSU and GPU power cabling
• Support for really silent SFX-L PSUs
• No fiddling around with FlexATX imports, connectors, legal stuff etc.
• Ability to turn ODD right side up again (there are other factors to this)
• Possibly support for 3.5" HDDs in combination with mITX GPUs

Advantages FlexATX:

• Smaller footprint (296x342mm vs 341x342mm with SFX)
• Slimmer design (61mm vs 69mm)
• Much smaller volume (~6.1L vs ~7.9L)
• Less wasted internal space for the standard configuration with 2.5" drives.
• Case won't feel like a rip-off of SaperPLs case

So FlexATX allows the case for a much smaller volume (~25% decrease) at the cost of higher effort for me and probably higher cost for the customer.

Maybe, if it proves to be too complicated, I will make two versions, one for SFX(-L) and one for FlexATX, just like you did

For the front accent I'd go for something like this:



Top and bottom fins would hide just behind the front and also you could try to make hdd/odd and psu supports screwed to this part and finally this whole thing put inside the case and screwed from the sides.

This way you would have 4 screws on each side but no glue/welding or acrylic/plastic parts needed with configurable design.

There was no glue/welding involved to begin with. When cutting in slots to your design, the button functionality of the accents would remain, but it is missing one crucial feature. Having the accents as single panels allows turning the bottom one by 180° to close the ODD slot if it is not needed. See the renderings below.

What's the distance between motherboard IO opening and VGA bracket opening?

44.36 from the mobo I/O opening to the closest side of the VGA bracket.


RENDERINGS:

 

[iFreilicht]

This should be interesting.. lets see where it goes! Subbed.

Thanks, man! Is subbing even possible on [H]?

 

[Necere]

Thanks, man! Is subbing even possible on [H]?

"Thread tools" in the top right.

Btw, it looks like the optical drive is upside down, am I wrong?

 

[iFreilicht]

"Thread tools" in the top right.

Btw, it looks like the optical drive is upside down, am I wrong?

That is correct, I actually said that to dondan three posts ago after he asked me how the slot could be so close to the bottom.

The ODD has to be upside down in order for the PCIex16 riser to fit.

 

[Necere]

That is correct, I actually said that to dondan three posts ago after he asked me how the slot could be so close to the bottom.

The ODD has to be upside down in order for the PCIex16 riser to fit.

My bad - I should've read more carefully.

That seems a little awkward for the user. What about flipping the case in its horizontal orientation? You'd need sufficiently tall feet for air intake, of course.

 

[iFreilicht]

My bad - I should've read more carefully.

That seems a little awkward for the user. What about flipping the case in its horizontal orientation? You'd need sufficiently tall feet for air intake, of course.

True dat. Yes I thought about this a lot too, and I think it would be a very convenient feature for people that want to incorporate this into their HiFi rack, as stacking other equipment on top of it wouldn't hurt airflow in any way.
This also opens up another possible use for the case; under a screen. You could put one of your screens on top of the case, which could be a very cool way to reduce the space it takes up on the desk.

 

[SaperPL]

Imho rear isn't stiff/hard enough with that opening for the VGA bracket.

How are you going to attach the top cover to the rear?

In general I like how the front looks, but from the interior I think you've got one big problem - case looks like some modded radio/hub/switch box and first thing that comes to mind is the hell of cables inside. Maybe that's just because of these initial renders though.

 

[Screes]

honestly, id rather it be 1 liter larger and have a 120mm fan on the PSU instead of an 80mm fan. I'm sure loud/small fans don't bother everyone, but they bother me.

 

[Aibohphobia]

I'm with Screes, plus a customized PSU opens up all sorts of liability issues.

 

[rawrr]

Although I don't really like FlexATX (or SFX for that matter), I think you should stick with it. It might be tricky acquiring them from the manufacturer, but it gives the case its unique touch, which is what I think all these custom cases should have.

 

[Necere]

Imho rear isn't stiff/hard enough with that opening for the VGA bracket.

The problem of GPU mounting is probably half of the difficulty of designing for this layout, at least for me. That's due in no small part to caring a lot about aesthetics.

In general I like how the front looks, but from the interior I think you've got one big problem - case looks like some modded radio/hub/switch box and first thing that comes to mind is the hell of cables inside. Maybe that's just because of these initial renders though.

Yeah - one thing that isn't apparent when working in a CAD program is just how much room cables take up. The smaller you go, the bigger the issue becomes. As long as you're working with off the shelf parts (i.e., not including custom cables with the chassis), there's a lower practical limit to volume before it just becomes borderline impossible to build in, IMO.

 

[iFreilicht]

Imho rear isn't stiff/hard enough with that opening for the VGA bracket.

How are you going to attach the top cover to the rear?

In general I like how the front looks, but from the interior I think you've got one big problem - case looks like some modded radio/hub/switch box and first thing that comes to mind is the hell of cables inside. Maybe that's just because of these initial renders though.

Ah, I forgot to add that before rendering, I just wanted to get the idea out there. The GPU should move down by 1.5mms, which gives headroom for a flange on the top. That way, the top panel will stiffen the construction of the GPU mount when attached.

The cabling could be problematic, that's right. I'll quite surely have to make the case a bit larger to accommodate for that. Or go the SFX route, because not only are those available as modular PSUs, but they would also give a lot more room for cables.

honestly, id rather it be 1 liter larger and have a 120mm fan on the PSU instead of an 80mm fan. I'm sure loud/small fans don't bother everyone, but they bother me.

2 Litres. But I understand where you're coming from. My psychological blockade with this is that I set out to build the smallest PC case possible, and SFX is a hindering factor. And from my experience, 80mm fans are nearly silent when used on FlexATX PSUs.

I'm with Screes, plus a customized PSU opens up all sorts of liability issues.

Yeah that is probably the biggest issue. I would have to find a manufacturer that is willing to sell their PSU in a modified version to me or some electrical engineer and lawyer that help me with all that stuff.

Although I don't really like FlexATX (or SFX for that matter), I think you should stick with it. It might be tricky acquiring them from the manufacturer, but it gives the case its unique touch, which is what I think all these custom cases should have.

That is the other reason why I wouldn't want to ditch FlexATX, but when you think about it, the design, the airflow and the support for an ODD are already main selling points of this case. Do I really need to be even more unique and risk nobody buying the case? I start to doubt it.
Also, there would be no shame in first offering an SFX variant of this design, and using that to fuel the R&D of the FlexATX version. Dondan didn't plan the A4 to use SFX in the initial design, either.

The problem of GPU mounting is probably half of the difficulty of designing for this layout, at least for me. That's due in no small part to caring a lot about aesthetics.

Yeah - one thing that isn't apparent when working in a CAD program is just how much room cables take up. The smaller you go, the bigger issue becomes. As long as you're working with off the shelf parts (i.e., not including custom cables with the chassis), there's a lower practical limit to volume before it just becomes borderline impossible to build in, IMO.

Hm, do you reckon moving the GPU to the other side of the mainboard would change that? It would require the mobo to sit about 3mm higher to make space for the flexible riser, but then the GPU would be supported by the whole backpanel, not just one part of it I already made that kind of design once, but ditched it to support a little bit larger coolers.

That is very correct. I know the bend radii of the cables, so I know what kind of clearances I need, but the actual volume of the cabling is very hard to determine this way.
If I really go for a custom PSU, maybe even that would be possible, but I'm completely new to the business and I don't think any PSU manufacturer would team up with me when I don't even have the smallest of idea how many units I could actually sell.
Maybe I really should change the design to use SFX for now and save the FlexATX version for a later date.

 

[backfeed]

Very interesting and good-looking case!

As is, it's not for me personally though, since I have zero use for ODD and dislike FlexATX (high noise, low power).

 

[iFreilicht]

Very interesting and good-looking case!

As is, it's not for me personally though, since I have zero use for ODD and dislike FlexATX (high noise, low power).

Well by the looks of it, I will make a different version with SFX(-L) support and try to manufacture that first.

Also when the ODD is not used, the GPU can be mounted a bit lower, allowing for GPUs that are thicker than the standard permits.

 

[backfeed]

Well by the looks of it, I will make a different version with SFX(-L) support and try to manufacture that first.

Also when the ODD is not used, the GPU can be mounted a bit lower, allowing for GPUs that are thicker than the standard permits.

Ah. I'll be following this project, hoping for the best!

 

[SaperPL]

I totally agree with necere - going for the lowest possible volume when you're still far away from the design of component supports is a bad idea.

Eventually you will need some additional space and you'll end up with lest than inch away from SFX-L support.

Note that your case will be like 0.8L smaller than mine but it won't have any space for the 2.5" with 295mm card installed and it'll have a weird modded flexATX psu that lets you cut the height of case by 5mm?

You have avoided the problem of the internal IEC connector angling next to psu for multiple recepatcle rotations by shipping the psu with the case though.

 

[Screes]

And from my experience, 80mm fans are nearly silent when used on FlexATX PSUs.

I have seen people say a certain fan is "silent" to them, and then i hear it and it sounds like a jet engine.

"Silent" is a very subjective term. If its louder than 20db, its loud IMO. Most review sites think 30db is "silent" because the lowest sound level in the room with the review sample off is usually above 30db.

 

[AFD]

Very awesome case design!

I really like how you were able to add in ODD support in a visually pleasing manner, and also how you allowed use of additional drives when using short GPU cards.. lots of versatility there. Not really sure about the FlexATX PSU, though.. haven't really looked into them enough tbh.

 

[iFreilicht]

I totally agree with necere - going for the lowest possible volume when you're still far away from the design of component supports is a bad idea.

Eventually you will need some additional space and you'll end up with lest than inch away from SFX-L support.

Note that your case will be like 0.8L smaller than mine but it won't have any space for the 2.5" with 295mm card installed and it'll have a weird modded flexATX psu that lets you cut the height of case by 5mm?

You have avoided the problem of the internal IEC connector angling next to psu for multiple recepatcle rotations by shipping the psu with the case though.

You are right about that. This whole FlexATX business is very tempting, but it's too much effort and too high of a risk for a first time case.

Well it wasn't only height but also depth that was going to be minimised by the FlexATX PSU. And as soon as I add SFX support, SFX-L will work, too. I wouldn't call it weird, I would call it awesome

I would've avoided that by using FlexATX in general, because the orientation of the outlet is part of the standard, if I recall correctly.

I have seen people say a certain fan is "silent" to them, and then i hear it and it sounds like a jet engine.

"Silent" is a very subjective term. If its louder than 20db, its loud IMO. Most review sites think 30db is "silent" because the lowest sound level in the room with the review sample off is usually above 30db.

I can't measure it, but it's sitting about 1m from my ear, and the GPU fan is louder in idle because it doesn't get air so well.

Very awesome case design!

I really like how you were able to add in ODD support in a visually pleasing manner, and also how you allowed use of additional drives when using short GPU cards.. lots of versatility there. Not really sure about the FlexATX PSU, though.. haven't really looked into them enough tbh.

Thanks! Yeah I'm very proud of that, too But as dondan already said, the slot is too close to the bottom panel, the accent panel could easily break, so that'll need a revision of some sort.

The main problem with FlexATX is the 40mm Fan and the mostly server-oriented power outputs (most don't have PEG power connectors for the GPU), but they are available in 80 plus Gold and whatnot, and they are probably the smallest internal PSUs one can get these days.

I think you guys convinced me to go for SFX and SFX-L, though. I still want to do a FlexATX case, but it should support that form factor out of the box so I won't have to deal with anything apart from probably distributing the PSU with the case.

I'll do my best to make renderings of the new version available as soon as possible.

Thank you very much for the input and compliments on the design

 

[Screes]

If you can hear the fan, at all, from inside a case during normal use, its loud.

It should be indistinguishable from normal background noise in a quiet room. You should not be able to tell when it kicks in, or ramps up and down just by listening to it from 1 meter away. You should have to either put your ear next to the case, or take the case panels off in order to hear the fans.

 

[iFreilicht]

If you can hear the fan, at all, from inside a case during normal use, its loud.

It should be indistinguishable from normal background noise in a quiet room. You should not be able to tell when it kicks in, or ramps up and down just by listening to it from 1 meter away. You should have to either put your ear next to the case, or take the case panels off in order to hear the fans.

That was my impression. I made the comparison because the GPU fan is the only thing I can hear when putting my ear against the case, the NH-L9i is completely silent in idle (as usual), and the PSU fan is so, too. Under load I couldn't tell, because the GPU and CPU coolers are quite loud.
Maybe I can get my hands on a device to measure this for you.

 

[Aibohphobia]

That was my impression. I made the comparison because the GPU fan is the only thing I can hear when putting my ear against the case, the NH-L9i is completely silent in idle (as usual), and the PSU fan is so, too. Under load I couldn't tell, because the GPU and CPU coolers are quite loud.
Maybe I can get my hands on a device to measure this for you.

That's the problem, a "silent" system is relative. To me, the slim 92mm Noctua fan is not silent even at low speed.

I wouldn't spend money on a sound level meter, unless you spends lots of money and you have access to some kind of anechoic chamber the results will be worthless.

 

[iFreilicht]

That's the problem, a "silent" system is relative. To me, the slim 92mm Noctua fan is not silent even at low speed.

I wouldn't spend money on a sound level meter, unless you spends lots of money and you have access to some kind of anechoic chamber the results will be worthless.

Wasn't talking about buying one, but finding someone in my social circles who has one

 

[iFreilicht]

So I adapted the case for SFX-L and made some additional changes based on your feedback about stability.

From the outside, little has changed. Inherently, the case got deeper and taller. The accents are also enlarged to fit the new height, to make pressing them in easier and to make the panel with the slot more rigid.

The layout has not changed really, I'm sketching ideas for how to attach the accents, though. They are also changed to be 3mm thick instead of 1.5, and the distance between the slot and the bottom is now >3mm.

And, with the case being so tall now, there is space for a third expansion slot. From what I can tell, a Titan Z would now fit in this case without a problem, as well as large aftermarket GPU coolers that take up three slots. Same with mDTX, boards with that formfactor should fit aswell, but then you'd be limited to standard height GPUs. You can also use a second expansion card with an mPCIe riser, but the space under the lower expansion slot is limited (3.33mm). I also added some preliminary air outlets on the back of the case which will be relevant for users of ASUS mITX boards that have that vertical daughterboard, because it would prevent air from flowing out the side. CPU cooler size also increased, of course. The distance from the top of the PCB to the top panel is >57mm, but I don't know how tall CPU sockets are.

All that comes at a cost, though. The footprint is now 342x342mm and the height increased to 69mm, so the total volume is now 8.07L.