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

Carisma said:
What colors are you considering for the case? Is there a possibility for a primer gray or bare case?
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Any color you like so long as it's black :p

We've gotten samples and have picked a few colors that look good but how many of those will be available to purchase depends on order volume.

A few people have requested bare cases but it'll depend on if there's enough interest.
 
Aibohphobia said:
Any color you like so long as it's black :p

We've gotten samples and have picked a few colors that look good but how many of those will be available to purchase depends on order volume.

A few people have requested bare cases but it'll depend on if there's enough interest.
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How about a color changing one based on temperature!??!:rolleyes: LOL....I'm in for two as of now.....so keep my options simple!
 
Aibohphobia, you have 2 weeks maximum for an update if not i'm coming to find you.....ok i'm joking...no i'm not....ok I am....but maybe I will! :D
 
yoyo55 said:
Hahaha! Mood case has a nice ring to it!
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I see what you did there. Heh... because, mood rings...

So, let's do a quick recap of the color options we want:
1) Beige (with old-timey Kimera logo sticker and turbo button)
2) Bare metal (to appease those with strange fetishes)
3) Mood case (changes color based on the computer's thermals)

Sounds perfect! SHIP IT!!
 
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superblockio said:
I see what you did there. Heh... because, mood rings...

So, let's do a quick recap of the color options we want:
1) Beige (with old-timey Kimera logo sticker and turbo button)
2) Bare metal (to appease those with strange fetishes)
3) Mood case (changes color based on the computer's thermals)

Sounds perfect! SHIP IT!!
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:D I'll take one of each and a black one!
 
Aibohphobia said:
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.
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I know this is from way back but would you consider making something like this but smaller and geared towards 2.5" inch drives?
Using ITX mobo and a TFX PSU or PICO PSU of course. I've completely sold, disposed or replaced all my 3.5" drives and strictly using 2.5" drives now.
Same concept as the one you have above but maybe less width and could accommodate something like 6,8, or maybe 10 2.5" drives?
Just an Idea as it would be something I'm absolutely interested in.
 
Aibohphobia said:
You may be interested in this then: http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1040436586&postcount=78

I don't see there much demand for a 2.5" version so it's probably not something we'll tackle. To me the whole point of a NAS is you just plug an ethernet cable in and then stuff it in a corner and forget about it.
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Thanks but that thread looks like it pretty much died out lol....I prefer something like the sketch you have made up rather than a tower looking case. As far as demand, probably not now but very soon with the increase in SSD sizes and "smaller is better" mentality as of late.

3.5" will die out, maybe not in a year or two, but they will definitely die out with the increase in SSD capacity.

Hopefully someone will build a 2.5" version...i guess i'll have to just wait :D
 
Heavily interested in this case, but I gotta ask...was there a reason why you didn't heighten the case another inch or inch and a half?

I would've loved the ability to have extra storage or dual fans on the bottom while being able to take advantage of the gap spacing for GPUs in SLI.

Apologies if someone asked this before.
 
Because with SFF case design at some point you just have to draw the line and quit adding features/volume.
 
primordialpouch said:
I gotta ask...was there a reason why you didn't heighten the case another inch or inch and a half?
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Aibohphobia said:
Because with SFF case design at some point you just have to draw the line and quit adding features/volume.
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Just to expand on this a bit - every addition that increases volume has to provide a lot of utility before we consider it worthwhile. With the "extra" (fifth) expansion slot that's currently in Nova, we're already providing the option to either space out SLI/CrossFire cards, or use the bottom space to mount hardware. This positively serves a significant quantity of people... Comparatively, offering even more space at the bottom will only really help those who want both bottom-mounted hardware and spaced PCI devices - at a cost of adding considerable volume for everyone else. So it's not worth it, in balance.

1-1.5 inches probably doesn't seem like much, but it would add multiple liters in volume all by itself - and we've spent a lot of time sweating changes that would add a fraction of that. Mostly because SFF requires a lot of diligence - which is frustrating, but it's also kind of the point :p

Anyway, today's illustrated update is below!

8/20 - Piercing: A laser penetrates through steel, cutting out openings from a metal sheet that will eventually be bent into individual internal frames.
 
After hearing about EKWB's new AIO cooler, the Predator, I opened up sketchup again to see if it might fit in the Nova. Unfortunately, the sketchup file for Nova is fairly out-of-date (still showing the top-fan mount, doesn't have the shifted motherboard position) so it's kinda hard to tell for sure if this it would work or not. Aiboh, is there a more recent version you could upload? Or are the recent designs made in something other than sketchup (e.g. solidworks)?
 
8/21 - The Mill:

1: At the beginning, an aluminum billet has screw mounting holes drilled through it, as they are also used to hold the part in place during the machining process.

2, 3: Next, an end mill bit cuts out the outside shape of the handle, over several passes.

4: After the larger cuts, a corner rounding bit is used to round off the edges of the part, for better ergonomics.

5: Next, the end mill cuts out the inside of the handle, and the interior edges are rounded.

6: Finally, the handle is flipped over, so that the opposing edges can be rounded as well.
 
Kaldskryke said:
After hearing about EKWB's new AIO cooler, the Predator, I opened up sketchup again to see if it might fit in the Nova. Unfortunately, the sketchup file for Nova is fairly out-of-date (still showing the top-fan mount, doesn't have the shifted motherboard position) so it's kinda hard to tell for sure if this it would work or not. Aiboh, is there a more recent version you could upload? Or are the recent designs made in something other than sketchup (e.g. solidworks)?
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It may fit on the bottom but it'll limit the build to a single video card. It may fit on the front but it'll be very close because the rad is so long.

I've switched away from SketchUp. I'm waiting to verify some of the new design changes with the prototype and then I may make a simplified version of the model in SketchUp for fitment checks.
 
Aibohphobia said:
It may fit on the bottom but it'll limit the build to a single video card. It may fit on the front but it'll be very close because the rad is so long.

I've switched away from SketchUp. I'm waiting to verify some of the new design changes with the prototype and then I may make a simplified version of the model in SketchUp for fitment checks.
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Okay, thanks for the response!
 
I think the mockup blue case is pretty sick looking TBH. Also could go for a red case with black handle or vice versa.
 
I don't think too many would go for a red case. Black is always safe. I like the blue prototype a lot as well. Look forward to see the new prototypes, and that new coating they were talking about.
 
Mackan said:
I don't think too many would go for a red case. Black is always safe. I like the blue prototype a lot as well. Look forward to see the new prototypes, and that new coating they were talking about.
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The coating is still a powder coat, but we've gone with a very high quality brand (pretty much considered the standard-bearer), and a finely textured finish that's really quite nice. I've only seen and held paint samples in-person (we'll see it on the whole case quite soon), but it's exceptionally vivid, very durable, and feels fantastic. It's very high quality, and you can tell right away :) The coating on Nova is probably one of the features that I'm most excited about, actually.

jssaylor2007 said:
heck if they just offered custom handle colors it would be pretty awesome
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We've mentioned that black will be an option (inside and out, through-and-through). We've also already picked out a shortlist of other colors that are possibilities, based on feedback and preferences of the market, but our ability to use those depends on demand, MOQ, and other things. So we're not quite yet going to elaborate on what will be available, or how that will look like. But I'm pretty sure most people will be happy with what they can get.

Anyway, today's update is a short video! A timelapse, in fact:

8/28 - Punch: A laser-punch machine makes the first cuts in a sheet of steel, eventually forming the basis of Nova's internal frame.
 
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I see that you're planning on crowdfunding soon - what's your timeline looking like to manufacture and ship? Are we going to see these before the end of the year or is it something that we'll have to run the crowdfunding through before we see them ship?

I'm anxious and curious - I've got an M1 on order but really want thunderbolt on an LGA2011v3 board and the only way to do that is mATX! Really incredible job, guys. Looks great.
 
fs454 said:
I see that you're planning on crowdfunding soon - what's your timeline looking like to manufacture and ship? Are we going to see these before the end of the year or is it something that we'll have to run the crowdfunding through before we see them ship?
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We very much would like to see these arrive at doorstops by the end of the year - and it's within the realm of possibility that we'll be able to do that. But we've been burned already by time estimates and schedules that were blown by dependancies on third parties, and that's still a possibility for us now. So we're remaining a bit noncommittal until we have assurances that when we do share dates, we aren't at risk of abandoning those. It wouldn't be right for us to claim something if we can't back it up, basically.

Once we enter crowdfunding, a lot of stuff will happen very quickly, however. We've got almost everything surrounding that "phase" prepared and ready to go, so make no mistake that we have a very aggressive schedule for everything that's coming up ;) We want to get our hands on these quickly as well!

fs454 said:
I'm anxious and curious - I've got an M1 on order but really want thunderbolt on an LGA2011v3 board and the only way to do that is mATX! Really incredible job, guys. Looks great.
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I think you're really going to like the final design! We've had to be selective about what photos to share, so as to not spoil any of the unannounced features. But the final form of the case is essentially a refined version of the original prototype that was made earlier in the year. Almost like a second generation of the case - except that it will be what we're shipping as the first.
 
So I have an idea of what to test fit, what kind of builds are you guys planning on doing in the case?
 
Dual titan class boards and as many cpu cores as possible. I've got some pretty strange workloads.
 
Aibohphobia said:
So I have an idea of what to test fit, what kind of builds are you guys planning on doing in the case?
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Dual GTX 980Ti's, quad or six core processor, 32gb of ram, Apogee Drive II CPU pump/waterblock, or EKWB waterblock, dual SSD's and a 600Watt SFX power supply. (Hoping the Silverstone 700watt will be release and I'll go with that over the 600 watt)

Dual 240mm radiators, if not possible then one 240mm rad and another 140mm radiator with Noctua IndustrialPPC fans.
 
Honestly no. It looks like it'll be around next October before I can solidify my parts list (my second daughter just arrived), but I'm willing to bet we'll have plenty of people wishing to build with six cores or more plus dual titan-level boards. Those builds might be uniquely demanding in their thermal profiles, so it might be a good idea to account for them. I know you're probably already anticipating this, so it's little more than thinking out loud on my part.
 
@yoyo55 I don't think the 600W is sufficient for SLI 980Ti's but with a rear-mounted ATX PSU the Apogee won't fit. With a rear-mounted SFX it may, but it'll be tight.

With the PSU at the rear, that should make room for dual 240mm rads, one on the bottom and the other at the front. You'll need to get fairly compact rads to get both in, something like the Alphacool ST30.

With the SFX/SFX-L PSU at the front, you'll be limited to 240mm on the bottom and 140mm on the side.

@DarkStar01 I will say that even with my reference GTX 980s spaced out, the top card runs pretty hot and loud under heavy load.

CPU cooling shouldn't be much of an issue.
 
ATX is definitely out of the question for me. I'm sticking to SFX and the hope that the 700W will be release in time and sufficient enough for dual 980TI's. As far as the Alphacool ST30's you mention, would they need slim fans or would the Noctua Industrials fit??
 
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