Kimera Industries Cerberus: The 18L, mATX, USA-made enclosure

PlayfulPhoenix said:
Random thought: Any way you could fit a 140mm up front, blowing over the cards? That would be quieter and provide airflow quite directly across everything. I'd check dimensions myself but I'm on my phone atm.
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A 140mm would run into the front IO. A 120mm would blow over everything that needs cooling anyway:

2014-05-19_front-120-check1.png
 
What are some popular slim 240mm rads?

I test fit the Black Ice GT Stealth 240 and it would be a very tight fit if there is anything tall near the bottom edge of the motherboard:

2014-05-20_HWLabs-GTS-240_fit-test1.png


Those red squares are the sata ports on the Z97 Maximus Gene.
 
Ones that come to mind:

  • Alphacool's NexXxoS ST30 is 30mm thick.
  • Magicool's Extreme Dual 120 is 30mm thick.
  • Swiftech's MCRx20-QP/XP radiators are 34mm thick.
  • And, of course, you have a ton of AIO radiators that range anywhere from 25-35mm thick, typically.
There is also an unbranded 25mm thick radiator floating around, with bare fins. Only place I know of it as being available currently is on an eBay listing. Would be handy for any case with incredibly tight tolerances - this particular option has come up a few times in conversations about a bottom-mounted radiator in the NCASE M1 (perhaps unsurprisingly).
 
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I think the best use case for this case is AIO kits. I know, I know, blasphemy :p

I may have noticed something. The vent areas on the top and side... do they match length-wise?

I'm still torn between round holes and hexagons... What do you guys think?

Let's get this going man! I can't wait!! :D
 
PlayfulPhoenix said:
They both look good, but I think the hexagons are a tad more distinctive. The case itself is quite boxy and angular, so IMHO the hexagons compliment that.
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That's exactly what I'm thinking: hexagons strengthen that image and give more character to the case.

+1 for Hexagons! :)

Maybe try 6mm hexagons with 2.5mm spacing?
 
Thanks for the rad suggestions Phoenix, I'll check those out.

theGryphon said:
I think the best use case for this case is AIO kits. I know, I know, blasphemy :p
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You're right, I'm sure people will try but it's looking like there isn't much room to do custom water-cooling.

I was playing around with different layouts to see what it would take to really accomodate a custom loop and came up with this though:

2014-05-21_water-cooled-idea.png


It's like a mini TJ11. Fits dual 360mm rads (though not push/pull) and at 410mm (H) x 180mm (W) x 450mm (D) = 33.2L it's about the same size as the Prodigy :cool:

theGryphon said:
I may have noticed something. The vent areas on the top and side... do they match length-wise?
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No, they don't. The top vents comes forward a little more than the sides so that there is roughly the same amount of space between the edge of each panel and the vents.

theGryphon said:
Let's get this going man! I can't wait!! :D
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I'm trying but I don't have nearly as much time to work on this as I would like :). I'm hoping it won't take as long as the M1 to bring to production but it's not going to be done next week or anything.

PlayfulPhoenix said:
They both look good, but I think the hexagons are a tad more distinctive. The case itself is quite boxy and angular, so IMHO the hexagons compliment that.
Click to expand...

theGryphon said:
That's exactly what I'm thinking: hexagons strengthen that image and give more character to the case.

+1 for Hexagons! :)

Maybe try 6mm hexagons with 2.5mm spacing?
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Since the hexagons are relatively small they would probably be indistinguishable from circles at a distance. I think it will be hard to decide for sure without seeing both in person. When I get a prototype made I think I'll get one panel with circles and another with hexagons.
 
I'm not into custom water-cooling myself but the thought of being able to adequately power and cool dual 295X2s in something about the size of certain ITX cases is really tempting :D
 
Aibohphobia said:
I'm not into custom water-cooling myself but the thought of being able to adequately power and cool dual 295X2s in something about the size of certain ITX cases is really tempting :D
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I'll reiterate:

PlayfulPhoenix said:
I think there are two directions that this case can go:

  • If you want this case to have the capability of surpassing the M1 in terms of graphics support, you have to reconcile with the fact that the great majority of dual-GPU setups use expensive, hot, power hungry cards that SFX supplies aren't sufficient for. If you really want to "support" the sorts of dual-card setups that people would want out of a mATX case, you need to do so holistically - with support for ATX power supplies, more options for mounting fans and radiators, a water cooling pass-through, and so forth. All of which introduce complexity, cost and volume.

  • If you, as was said earlier in the thread, really care mostly about supporting more memory, with the added bonus of additional PCI slots and more diverse CPU options, then you should do everything you can to make the case as small as possible, whilst providing enough ventilation, fan mounting and flexibility so as to support configurations that require <= 600W (the current high water mark for SFX power supplies).
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I had download the 360 version of the GT Stealth I was testing earlier and while playing around with it came up with the mini TJ11 layout. I'd like to come back to that idea but I'm sticking with the current design for this project.
 
Got a quote from a freelance engineer with lots of experience designing sheet metal enclosures for telecom equipment and other electronics to turn my SketchUp model into all the documents/CAD files necessary to get a prototype made and it was very reasonable. Now I just need to finalize the design :p
 
AFD, looks like 2 x 3.5 drives will fit on the rad bracket with about 66mm of space left for the CPU cooler. Should be enough for the stock cooler or maybe something like the Big Shuriken.

2014-05-23_hdd-cage-test1.png
 
Aibohphobia said:
AFD, looks like 2 x 3.5 drives will fit on the rad bracket with about 66mm of space left for the CPU cooler. Should be enough for the stock cooler or maybe something like the Big Shuriken.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/b1qmawttzfsn4vh/2014-05-23_hdd-cage-test1.png
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Hmm.. that's really cool that 2x 3.5" drives will fit there, but kinda sucks that it only leaves room for super-low profile coolers (that wouldn't be large enough to dissipate the heat from a CPU you'd actually want to stick on a micro-ATX board).

Heck, even with only 1x 3.5" in that location, you'd still only have enough space to install a C12-sized cooler.. but with no fan!

Question: with 2x 3.5" in the location you've shown, would there still be enough room for a small AIO like the H60 or H80 located on the rack right beside them?
 
No, there isn't room for both 3.5 drives and an AIO cooler on the bracket at the same time.

I'm playing around with some other options but it's looking like that location will be the only sure way to fit two desktop drives.
 
Not sure if you've locked down a place for production yet or not, but protocase would be a pretty easy route to go. They do the cases for blackblaze and specialize in low quantity runs.
 
Haven't done much with the main design, I'm hoping Asus will announce the X99 Gene at Computex next week so I can make any needed adjustments to fit it.

Instead I've been playing around with different variations of the case to see if any part commonality is possible.

An ITX version seems easily doable and could share the AC cord, handle, handle bracket, PSU bracket, SSD bracket, and ODD bracket:

2014-05-27_ITX-1.png

222mm (H) x 170mm (W) x 290mm (D) = 10.9L


I played around with the water-cooled design some more too. This more traditional layout allows for a thick 360 rad with push/pull up front and a thin 240mm rad with push or pull (possible both depending on mobo VRM heatsink height) up top. It also allows longer PSUs because while the mini TJ11 layout would physically fit the AX1500i, it uses a C19 power cord instead of a C13 and I don't think a low enough profile right-angle C19 plug is possible.

One cool feature of this design is that it should be able to fit two stock 295X2s.

The same handles should work here and the front panel and possibly parts of the frame can be shared with the mini TJ11 version (I still like that version since the heat doesn't get dumped inside the case).

2014-05-27_water-cooled-idea2.png

425mm (H) x 180mm (W) x 450mm (D) = 34.4L


Family photo

2014-05-27_family-photo.png



Part of the reason I'm able to trim the size down so much is by sacrificing 3.5 drive support though so I came up with a NAS design to match :p

2014-05-27_NAS.png

225mm (H) x 215mm (W) x 225mm (D) = 10.9L

Has 3 x 5.25 bays which will fit something like the Icy Dock 5 x 3.5 hot-swap cage. ITX mobo and TFX PSU.
 
theGryphon said:
Hey buddy, any developments? ;)
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Good timing, I was going to post an update today :p

Nothing exciting unfortunately, mostly boring detail work like where do all the screws need to go.

I was hoping we'd see more X99 stuff at Computex and while a few prototype boards have been shown off, I haven't seen any sign of the Rampage V Gene :(

2014-06-05_detail-work1.png


2014-06-05_detail-work2.png


Edit: I did find one cool thing at Computex, slim 120mm fan from Noctua! http://www.dvtests.com/computex-2014-noctua/

Noctua_120mm_slim_fan_prototype.jpg


Funny thing is, I had emailed them a month ago about if they had any plans for a slim 120mm and they said no, but here they are with a 3D printed prototype :p

Also, apparently a socket 2011 mini-ITX is technically feasible but is such a niche product that it will probably never see the light of day: http://youtu.be/W1IoyF1aFSY?t=37m26s
 
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Just about got the panel attachments tabs figured out:

2014-06-06_panel-detail-1.png


I have much greater respect for case designers now, there's a big difference between a rough arrangement of parts in SketchUp and all the details needed to actually manufacture something :p
 
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Thanks!

I'm easily distrac...hang on, just saw some interesting Computex news...anyway, now that the fun part is done it's been pretty slow progress cranking out all the little details.

I'm hoping to get the design mostly nailed down by mid July so I can send it off to the freelance engineer. I figure 1-2 weeks for him to make the necessary drawings/CAD files. Not sure how long it'll take to manufacture the prototype but I hope to have it so I can begin testing by mid/late August.

Also, looks like a optional lower bracket for 92mm fans will fit:

2014-06-07_lower-fan-bracket-1.png
 
theGryphon said:
^ that's what I'm talking about!! :D
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Yeah, that is nice, and even fixes the possible issue of someone running SLI.. but, wouldn't you need to have the entire side panel ventilated for the lower side fans??
 
AFD said:
Yeah, that is nice, and even fixes the possible issue of someone running SLI.. but, wouldn't you need to have the entire side panel ventilated for the lower side fans??
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That would be correct. I'm thinking the fully vented panel and lower bracket would be an optional extra.
 
Tested a virtual build and it's looking pretty good. I imagine a setup like this will be the typical build and cable management looks fairly straightforward. Plenty of space between the front of the case and the end of the video card to tie up the slack in the PSU cables.

2014-06-09_build-test-1.png
 
Looks like my tiny matx chassi plans
mse0pFU.png
CkTHppf.png

My plans was to use a 2x120 AIO cpu cooler so I can use the space above for a small PSU. I have no idea if it will work though :rolleyes:

My other option is to use the same chassi but shrink the motherboard to mITX size and place the PSU in the bottom.

EDIT: Would be nice if someone had the dimensons for the CPU block for the Hydro H100i AIO cooler.
 
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Great minds think alike :)

I had thought about a layout like that for mine but decided it would require too many changes.

From what little testing I did it seems feasible though, I didn't see any fundamental problems with that design. The CoolerMaster Elite 130 has the PSU right above the motherboard and is designed for an AIO cooler with the rad at the front.

It's hard to tell in your pics but it doesn't look the case is wide enough for video cards that have the power connectors on the side.
 
Aibohphobia said:
Great minds think alike :)

I had thought about a layout like that for mine but decided it would require too many changes.

From what little testing I did it seems feasible though, I didn't see any fundamental problems with that design. The CoolerMaster Elite 130 has the PSU right above the motherboard and is designed for an AIO cooler with the rad at the front.

It's hard to tell in your pics but it doesn't look the case is wide enough for video cards that have the power connectors on the side.
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it is probably not enough space because I forgot about the power connectors :p How much space do they take?
 
McZ said:
it is probably not enough space because I forgot about the power connectors :p How much space do they take?
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You'll want to allow about 10mm for the connector and 10mm for the cables to bend for 20mm total past the PCB.

Lots of cards have PCBs that are wider than the standard so you may want to allow for that too. The 160mm width of the M1 seems like a good starting point.
 
Mother of god, I just bought an Ncase and carry bag, but this would make an X99 rig possible. Dare I get both? Do I NEED both? Such hard choices! D:
 
Azaran said:
Mother of god, I just bought an Ncase and carry bag, but this would make an X99 rig possible. Dare I get both? Do I NEED both? Such hard choices! D:
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Here's some pics showing off the various features to help you decide :p

2014-06-21_v0_dimensions-interior.png


2014-06-21_v0_rad-bracket.png


2014-06-21_v0_backpanel-2.5.png


2014-06-21_v0_PSU.png


2014-06-21_v0_top.png


2014-06-21_v0_front.png


2014-06-21_v0_bottom.png


2014-06-21_v0_comparison-front-side.png


2014-06-21_v0_comparison.png
 
geostation said:
stunning work. This would be perfect for compact X99 workstation build.
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Thanks! That's what I designed it for, 8-cores and 64GB of RAM in something smaller than most ITX cases.

Funny thing is I won't actually be able to build that setup at first because the money I was going to spend on a X99 build is going toward the prototype case instead :rolleyes:
 
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