Lone Industries L2: Dual slot version of L1 anyone?

Got my L3 a week ago, put it together this weekend. Thoughts:

The case: is great! Exactly what I was looking for. Intel + GPU seems to make the most sense right now, but I figure if AMD actually gets their act together with Zen I might switch to an APU build a few years down the road and use the extra space for a pciE drive / case fan / whatever. Ended up with the following for hardware:

ASRock H81M-itx motherboard
Pentium G3258
Raijintek Pallas heatsink
Crucial Ballistix Sport 2x4GB DDR3 1600 kit
Crucial BX100 250GB SSD
MSI GTX 750 TI low profile card
Pico PSU 160xt
FSP150-AHB 150W adapter

Useful info for others:
-At least for this motherboard, the Raijintek Pallas fits the case quite well, albeit with extremely tight clearances. It's not quite as tall as the Cryorig R1, so it doesn't have the problem of being too close to the side of the case. You can only really mount it in one direction, though - facing down towards the graphics card. Could possibly mount facing towards the ram slots, but you'd have to modify the clip attaching the fan to the heatsink, as it will interfere with the edge of the case. Clearance as is: extremely close to the graphics card, barely clears the pico PSU. Clears RAM slots fine, so long as you have low profile memory. No real way to do any case work without taking off the heatsink first, though - ram, pico psu and graphics card are all stuck until you remove the obstruction. I don't see it mentioned much, but for those who want a reasonably powerful cooler without the clearance issues (and can afford it) the Noctua NH-L9x65 looks pretty solid. Making a cooler the same height as low profile cards is very smart.

-Haven't tweaked everything out yet, but the system is currently idling at about 26 watts at the wall. Could do 6-7 watts better without the graphics card, of course, but not too shabby all in all. I'd love to get my hands on an HDPlex and compare the efficiency with the pico PSU.

-The "4 pin mini DIN" connection as described by mini box is the same thing as what other sites describe as a "4 pin DIN" connection - just marketing confusion. Useful if you decide to splurge on getting a really nice adapter like the Meanwell GS220.

-The MSI card fans are quite obnoxious. Especially annoying because the Pallas is very quiet at lowish fan speeds. The rubbing noise others have mentioned seems to be present for me as well, but it doesn't ever go away. Tweaking the fan speed doesn't help - it's set to not go below 1/3 speed, and raising the speed makes it even more obnoxious. I got the refurb MSI from Amazon, for what it's worth. Debating whether to return the card, but it might be easier to just take off the fan and replace it with something like a Noctua. Any thoughts on whether I could just mount it to the edge of the case there, or would the old "zip tie to the heatsink" method work better? Might just have to try it out.
 
Hey LucklessCebu, welcome to the forum!

I'm happy you like the case! Thanks for posting your L3 build. There's some great info in there. If you have some time it would be great to see some photos. :)
 
klatox said:
I'd love a case just like this, but that included front audio/usb, no hdd mount (for those using only m.2/msata), and no top fan mounts. :DI'm looking for something that can house a dual slot, low profile GPU in the smallest case possible. I'm using a dell optiplex 760 sff right now :eek:

edit: nevermind, i see that the L3 has no top fan mounts
Click to expand...

Wish I could meet your front ports requirement, but I don't see it happening anytime soon unless I do a new HTPC specific model or something that's intended to be used in a tight cabinet. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly.
 
klatox said:
I'd love a case just like this, but that included front audio/usb, no hdd mount (for those using only m.2/msata), and no top fan mounts. :DI'm looking for something that can house a dual slot, low profile GPU in the smallest case possible. I'm using a dell optiplex 760 sff right now :eek:

edit: nevermind, i see that the L3 has no top fan mounts
Click to expand...

If you want something done, you've often gotta do it yourself. Get yourself a dremel and make that front I/O happen!
 
loneindustries said:
Wish I could meet your front ports requirement, but I don't see it happening anytime soon unless I do a new HTPC specific model or something that's intended to be used in a tight cabinet. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly.
Click to expand...

I've decided I can live without front ports...the only port I use often is the audio, and I rarely unplug it anyway ;)

So it seems like black is the most popular color. I haven't been able to pull up very many photos of the silver or gray boxes.
 
klatox said:
I've decided I can live without front ports...the only port I use often is the audio, and I rarely unplug it anyway ;)

So it seems like black is the most popular color. I haven't been able to pull up very many photos of the silver or gray boxes.
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Glad to hear!

Yes, black is easily the most popular (I only have two left). The silver and grey are equally nice looking, but don't match everything like black does. The silver (clear) matches Apple clear anodized hardware. The grey matches current Dell Ultra Sharp monitor bases fairly well. The grey can look darker or lighter depending on the lighting. I think this is due to the translucent nature of anodized finishes.
 
Here's a photo I took back in April that shows the silver L3, with a grey L3 in the background. The silver (clear) can look almost white in some lighting.

 
looking good, i got a refund for the dye i ordered now i need to get from other place... the 750ti will arrive at the end of the week
 
loneindustries said:
Here's a photo I took back in April that shows the silver L3, with a grey L3 in the background. The silver (clear) can look almost white in some lighting.

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Do you think in future releases you can do other anodized colors? such as red, blue ect? ie like the jonsbo cases? I own a jonsbo v3+ in anodized red as well and it is beautiful, pictures online don't do it justice you gotta see it in person.
 
chaego said:
Do you think in future releases you can do other anodized colors? such as red, blue ect? ie like the jonsbo cases? I own a jonsbo v3+ in anodized red as well and it is beautiful, pictures online don't do it justice you gotta see it in person.
Click to expand...

Yes, for sure. I would like to try different colours with each new batch. Not sure about red or blue though. The more people that request a certain colour, the more likely I'd give it a try. I personally would like to try dark bronze, but it's a lot more expensive because of the process. I'd also like to try hard anodizing.

One of the nice things about anodizing is that you can re-anodize parts in whatever colour you like. Also I've found the minimum fees for anodizing are less than powder coating.
 
Hey guys, I have a LITEON PA-1221-03 power adapter sitting around, was wondering if this would be suitable for the Pico PSU 160. Its output is 20V 11A 220W...would this be safe to use?

edit: upon further investigation is seems like this would from my psu :)
 
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as far as im aware picopsu's are usually 12V power input only - where yours is 20V - you may need a wide range psu like the hd plex 160w
 
more or less done
1Rojh3Ul.jpg
 
Wow, looks like a perfect fit, that CPU is sure to stay cool. Any idea how close the top of the cooler is to the top panel?
 
klatox said:
Hey guys, I have a LITEON PA-1221-03 power adapter sitting around, was wondering if this would be suitable for the Pico PSU 160. Its output is 20V 11A 220W...would this be safe to use?

edit: upon further investigation is seems like this would from my psu :)
Click to expand...

callumbolch said:
as far as im aware picopsu's are usually 12V power input only - where yours is 20V - you may need a wide range psu like the hd plex 160w
Click to expand...

Right, the PicoPSU-160-XT is 12V only. Mini-box.com does have some wide range PicoPSU, but they're lower wattage. There's also the wide range Pico-Box Z3-ATX-200, but they're taller than the PicoPSU-160-XT, and possibly violate Mini-box's patents. The Mini-box.com PicoPSU+AC adapter combos offer some savings.

remixedMind said:
more or less done
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Looks good, thanks for posting here also!

iFreilicht said:
Wow, looks like a perfect fit, that CPU is sure to stay cool. Any idea how close the top of the cooler is to the top panel?
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8 mm - 74 mm clearance, minus 66 mm NH-L12 height without fan.
 
Finished my build last night. Case is tiny but awesome. Very minimal cabling.

ASRock H97i-Plus motherboard
Intel i3-4160
Noctua NH-L9x65
Crucial Ballistix Sport Very Low Profile 2x4GB DDR3 1600
Samsung 850 EVO 120 GB M.2 3.5-Inch SSD (MZ-N5E120BW)
MSI GTX 750 Ti Low Profile
Pico PSU 160xt w/ 192W power adapter
Edimax AC600 USB wifi

I can confirm that the msi gpu does have a bit of a crackling noise at idle, which is a shame as silence was one of my primary goals. My last msi card was their itx 760 and it did the same thing. Their fans suck. I know it's not an orientation issue since the fans were facing up in my last build and now they're facing downwards.

Anyway, case is awesome. Thanks Lone!
 
klatox said:
Finished my build last night. Case is tiny but awesome. Very minimal cabling.

ASRock H97i-Plus motherboard
Intel i3-4160
Noctua NH-L9x65
Crucial Ballistix Sport Very Low Profile 2x4GB DDR3 1600
Samsung 850 EVO 120 GB M.2 3.5-Inch SSD (MZ-N5E120BW)
MSI GTX 750 Ti Low Profile
Pico PSU 160xt w/ 192W power adapter
Edimax AC600 USB wifi

I can confirm that the msi gpu does have a bit of a crackling noise at idle, which is a shame as silence was one of my primary goals. My last msi card was their itx 760 and it did the same thing. Their fans suck. I know it's not an orientation issue since the fans were facing up in my last build and now they're facing downwards.

Anyway, case is awesome. Thanks Lone!
Click to expand...

Thank you, I'm really glad you like it! :)
 
Too bad AMD didn't announce anything to rival the GTX 750 Ti yesterday. The closest thing seems to be the R7 360, but it requires a 6-pin connector so I'm not counting it.
 
Initially liked the case cos it's small(5.28lt) then I found out that it doesn't support SFX PSU and you have to use pico with power adapter. :(

Personally I prefer Antec ISK-110(3.7lt, but can't use GPU) or Silverstone ML06-E(7.01lt, but can use SFX-L PSU).
 
If you like the ISK 110, which uses a brick, what's wrong with the pico in use here? Not including the brick it's just 1.5L bigger, but can fit a low profile 750ti... pretty awesome if you ask me! (I say this as a happy ISK-110 user...who switched out the Antec PSU for a pico :D)
 
It ~1.73lt smaller than ML06-E but require power adapter which should added to the overall dimension.
ISK110 comes with the 90W PSU and power adapter, which saves money and hassle, I'm gonna build ISK110 system if I can trade my 4690K to 4590T but otherwise I rather go for ML06-E, cos it's not worth the hassle/money to use it with pico power adapter on ISK110 imo.
 
For the ISK 110 you also need to have an external brick and you'd still have no option for a low profile GPU so I don't really see your point.
L2 is an independently built case, not by a multimillion dollar company but still with far more options to go compared to the ISK 110.
 
My point is that its not technically 1.73lt smaller than ML06-E since you don't need external power adapter on ML06-E. Personally I would pick ML06-E over this despite the larger size(1.xxlt?) since I can get ML06-E and SFX PSU easily from local shops.

Size different between this case and ISK110 is comparable cos they both use external power adapter(unless pico power adapter is larger). Again I can get ISK110 easily from local shops and don't have to go through the hassle/wait to get this case + pico power adapter.
 
If you actually calculated the volume properly, the Lone Industries L3 is 4.5L, making the Silverstone case over 2.5L larger. That is more than 50% larger than the L3.

Think about that. The Silverstone case takes more than 50% more volume to achieve what is essentially the same purpose as the L3. What does the ML06-E offer over the L3? What, just the option to use SFX PSUs and a couple of more hard drives?

The L3 is made out of full aluminum, whereas the Silverstone case only has a aluminum front plate. The Silverstone case's steel construction also makes it weigh nearly four times as much as the L3. Even with its larger size, it actually accepts a smaller limit on CPU coolers! Oh, and let's hope you don't use the multipurpose bracket, in which case you cripple yourself to two or three options.

Finally, the shape of the case is incredibly inconvenient, when comparing it to the same use case as the L3. It's incredibly long (due to the integration of the PSU), which renders it unusable in a vertical position. So now you have to use it in a horizontal position, which inevitably will have a very large footprint. It's just very awkward to have your desk, unless you do something weird, like have your monitor on top of it.

Finally, personal preference here, but I think the Silverstone case (and the Antec) is very unattractive, whereas the L3 has a very neutral and pleasantly attractive style. You pay for what you get.
 
I'm a current user of both the L3 and Antec ISK-110

The Antec is good for a budget machine

The L3 is a much, much nicer case in general with support for half height half length cards

If you have the extra budget to spare, the L3 is the way to go for sure. The isk110 is more of something you would hide away in a cabinet or under a desk or behind a monitor.
 
When I initially saw this project I thought a good comparison of a case fitting in the "niche" of the L2/L3 would be the ISK-310-150, which accepts low profile cards like the 750ti, has an internal PSU, has an ODD slot (bleh) and is 8.14 liters.

The L3 is about half the size and does the same thing, and doesn't waste space with an ODD, and although it does require the external brick, even if you factor that additional volume in it's smaller (and better looking) than the ISK-310. I understand many are power brick averse, but if I was in the market for the smallest case that could still fit a low profile GPU the L3 would be it.
 
rawrr said:
If you actually calculated the volume properly, the Lone Industries L3 is 4.5L, making the Silverstone case over 2.5L larger. That is more than 50% larger than the L3.

Think about that. The Silverstone case takes more than 50% more volume to achieve what is essentially the same purpose as the L3. What does the ML06-E offer over the L3? What, just the option to use SFX PSUs and a couple of more hard drives?

The L3 is made out of full aluminum, whereas the Silverstone case only has a aluminum front plate. The Silverstone case's steel construction also makes it weigh nearly four times as much as the L3. Even with its larger size, it actually accepts a smaller limit on CPU coolers! Oh, and let's hope you don't use the multipurpose bracket, in which case you cripple yourself to two or three options.

Finally, the shape of the case is incredibly inconvenient, when comparing it to the same use case as the L3. It's incredibly long (due to the integration of the PSU), which renders it unusable in a vertical position. So now you have to use it in a horizontal position, which inevitably will have a very large footprint. It's just very awkward to have your desk, unless you do something weird, like have your monitor on top of it.

Finally, personal preference here, but I think the Silverstone case (and the Antec) is very unattractive, whereas the L3 has a very neutral and pleasantly attractive style. You pay for what you get.
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I can second this, I initially purchased the ML06 which is pretty much the same as the ML06-E all they did was moved the location of the GPU to fit in a dual slot LP GPU.

First off ML06 has very poor ventilation especially for the CPU cooler and you can't use anything like a cryorig C1 in it at all, so you are very limited to low profile CPU coolers, the fact that it takes a SFX PSU is cool BUT it's so cramp that you can't really do much cable management and the cables will block airflow, that HD cage also takes up a huge amount of space cramping your cables so don't even think about using non modular SFX PSU. Lastly that multipurpose bracket is just plain stupid, because of placement here's why:

You can choose a slot cd rom BUT if you do it, blocks CPU airflow

You can put a fan in place BUT if you do it decreases CPU cooler height even more!

you can put 2 hard drives there BUT if you do again blocks airflow

Overall it's a terrible case, although i do think it looks nice the L3 is the better choice
 
rawrr said:
If you actually calculated the volume properly, the Lone Industries L3 is 4.5L, making the Silverstone case over 2.5L larger. That is more than 50% larger than the L3.
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lol how did you come up with the 4.5lt???
220 x 100 x 240 mm = 5.28lt, did you subtract the size of pico PSU from the overall volume? :p (fyi it should be otherway around)
p.s. why isn't volume written on the first page btw :confused:

rawrr said:
What does the ML06-E offer over the L3? What, just the option to use SFX PSUs and a couple of more hard drives?
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Proper branding, better r&d, build quality, warranty, website, convenience to buy the case and PSU from local shop, etc.
I'm a Lian Li fan(owned ~5 diff models in past ~5 years), don't really like Silverstone cos their cases are bit flimsy(SG05/SG13 etc) and also cos they priorities extra long GPU support on all their gaming ITX cases, making them larger in the process(i.e. boo at 13" GPU support on RVZ02/ML08 etc).

I just don't see anything special about this case, sure its smaller than ML06-E but require power adapter, and best GPU for the case is low profile GTX750Ti(which is meh) and that's why would I rather pick ISK110 or ML06-E etc over this.

I can possibly see myself going through extra hassle/wait to order Dan A4 but def not this case.
 
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ignore this guy - he has been trolling all the SFF custom case threads - the Dondan A4 thread is full of his guffle.

let him keep his terrible steel mass produced POS. he clearly cant appreciate the finer things in life.
 
Been away for a while and didn't even know about the L3. I'm not in the market for another case atm, but lone, you've done a great job!!! It looks awesome!!
 
So, I'm thinking of putting together a build with this case and thought of using the AMD Athlon X4 860K. It's TDP is 95W and I was concerned with cooling it properly in this case. Has anyone used the 860K in this case? I thought of using the Raijintek Pallas to cool it.

Also wanted to use the 750ti for graphics and ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ with an M.2 drive along with the HD Plex 250W as the PSU.

Am I crazy to try this? Think it's possible?
 
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reactor451 said:
So, I'm thinking of putting together a build with this case and thought of using the AMD Athlon X4 860K. It's TDP is 95W and I was concerned with cooling it properly in this case. Has anyone used the 860K in this case? I thought of using the Raijintek Pallas to cool it.

Also wanted to use the 750ti for graphics and ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ with an M.2 drive along with the HD Plex 250W as the PSU.

Am I crazy to try this? Think it's possible?
Click to expand...

It can be done with the perforated side panel, I have an i7 3770K plus 750ti in my L2 which has a bit more room. But if you're going to use a GPU anyway just ditch the high TDP CPU and make it easier to cool plus use a smaller PSU. The 250W HD plex takes up a fair amount of room. Not sure how tall the Pallas is but probably don't want something much taller than 60mm or so to leave some space to the side. Another benefit of the lower TDP is using a less tall cooler.
 
reactor451 said:
So, I'm thinking of putting together a build with this case and thought of using the AMD Athlon X4 860K. It's TDP is 95W and I was concerned with cooling it properly in this case. Has anyone used the 860K in this case? I thought of using the Raijintek Pallas to cool it.

Also wanted to use the 750ti for graphics and ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ with an M.2 drive along with the HD Plex 250W as the PSU.

Am I crazy to try this? Think it's possible?
Click to expand...

I'm using a A-10 7850K with that motherboard (also a 95w CPU) and a mSATA drive for boot. I've got a shuriken big 2 rev.b CPU cooler with a 25mm PWM fan on top. Powered by a HD Plex 160w PSU.

Its certainly possible, I dont have experience with a GPU though. My temps are pretty solid, never pass 65C even under heavy gaming, while still staying only barely audible
 
Stevo_ said:
It can be done with the perforated side panel, I have an i7 3770K plus 750ti in my L2 which has a bit more room. But if you're going to use a GPU anyway just ditch the high TDP CPU and make it easier to cool plus use a smaller PSU. The 250W HD plex takes up a fair amount of room. Not sure how tall the Pallas is but probably don't want something much taller than 60mm or so to leave some space to the side. Another benefit of the lower TDP is using a less tall cooler.
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i7 3770K? nice! Looks like that processor only puts out 18W less than the X4. Seems very doable to use the X4 then. I like your suggestion of using a lower TDP, but I can't find the X4 840 to buy online in Canada. I'd go Intel but I'd have to spend more to get a quad core. Plus I kinda want to support AMD ;)

What PSU are you using for your L2?
 
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