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

bencho said:
@WiSK
Cool. I'll do a double take. My v3 should be just around the corner so I'm all in a tizzy about cramming in my ATX build into it. With your info, I'm now at:

4790k
VII Impact
SX600-G
EVGA 780SC
16GB RAM
(2) 4TB hard drives
(1) SSD

I'm most likely going to stick with the VII Impact and I'll need both 3.5" spaces so with regard to cooler, is the NH-C12P or NH-D9L better for cooling? Former will provide more air towards the mobo but recycle warm air (?), whereas the latter should be better at exhausting hot air out the rear. I plan on sticking with air cooling and am looking for the biggest or most efficient cooler that will still permit use of the hard drive cage. I am fanboy'd towards Noctua, though :)

How are the demcifilters? I saw a few posts here saying they are warped?
I'm most likely putting filters on all sides with two fans intaking upwards on the bottom. Any reasons not to?

Optical drive - any preferences from the [H] community? Never ever looked into slot loaders before~

Other than that, I think I'm pretty much set on parts. I'll be super sad to lose my Essence STX but a smaller build is the goal right now.

Thanks for the help so far guys!
Click to expand...

Beastly system man!!
 
bencho said:
@WiSKI'll need both 3.5" spaces so with regard to cooler, is the NH-C12P or NH-D9L better for cooling? Former will provide more air towards the mobo but recycle warm air (?), whereas the latter should be better at exhausting hot air out the rear. I plan on sticking with air cooling and am looking for the biggest or most efficient cooler that will still permit use of the hard drive cage. I am fanboy'd towards Noctua, though :)

How are the demcifilters? I saw a few posts here saying they are warped?
I'm most likely putting filters on all sides with two fans intaking upwards on the bottom. Any reasons not to?

Optical drive - any preferences from the [H] community? Never ever looked into slot loaders before~
Click to expand...

CPU cooler (Noctua): the NH-C12P is better. Some here have found the NH-D9L to be insufficient. The new NH-U9S is between these two in size and has gotten favourable reviews for a cooler its size. One post showed it with a vertical mounting to push air out the top panel. I'd get a second NF-A9 fan for it.

The Demciflex do a great job reducing dust build up on your components, but at a serious cost of reduced airflow. You will have to clean the filters regularly. I'd rather have better airflow for lower temps and just blow the dust out instead. I'm using the filters than came with the case as a compromise.

Optical drive: I have the Panasonic UJ-265, a 6X blu-ray burner.
 
bencho said:
is the NH-C12P or NH-D9L better for cooling? Former will provide more air towards the mobo but recycle warm air (?), whereas the latter should be better at exhausting hot air out the rear. I plan on sticking with air cooling and am looking for the biggest or most efficient cooler that will still permit use of the hard drive cage..
Click to expand...

The C12 works really well for the 4790k at stock clocks (not quite sure if it's enough for any crazy OC).. I get low to mid 70's during stress testing using a Noctua A15 (def recommend replacing the stock C12 fan with a PWM fan of some sort) and A9x14 slim exhaust at the rear. Also consider the Scythe Kabuto II that Cowsgomoo and Phuncz are using, as an alternative to the C12.

After a year or so of using the DEMCiflex filters, I'm pretty happy with them. Think I've only ever cleaned them a few times during that period, but my temps haven't seemed to suffer that much from the restriction (filters were visibly dirty each time, but interior of case was clean). Somehow I managed to get dust stuck to the inside of my filtered PSU fan, though... not sure what's up with that. No warping issues yet.

UJ-265 ODD here, as well.. works nicely, but very noisy during use.

And just a suggestion.. consider getting the shorter PP05-E cable set for your SX600-G, and use the shortest cables from both that and the stock set (PP05-E also includes a slim SATA for the ODD, that the stock doesn't have). You're gonna need every last bit of space-saving you can get for the amount of parts you're using.
 
@smc805 - thanks :) My computer died in December so I went a little nuts on parts at the time haha. Got the 780 SC used from a friend for cheaps!

I'll probably end up with the C12 and work from there for the rest of the cooling.
My room is pretty damn dusty all the time so I'd rather be cleaning filters often~

Thanks for the suggestion on the short cable set!
 
Im really enjoying my M1 version 1.0 and now a friend asked me to build him a system.

I thought I would suggest using a M1, is it still available to buy direct from stock or has that batch sold out by now?
 
bencho said:
@smc805 - thanks :) My computer died in December so I went a little nuts on parts at the time haha. Got the 780 SC used from a friend for cheaps!
Click to expand...

For sure! Bummer to hear about your old system. Not bad to go balls to the wall though.

I did sort of the same. Got super cheap components as a "challenge" to see what kind of performance I could squeeze out of every dollar, and I was just getting back into gaming.

Then I immediately realized that while it was okay for gaming, for any kind of multitasking it kind of sucked. So, what is one to do? Upgrade of course!
 
Reckie said:
Im really enjoying my M1 version 1.0 and now a friend asked me to build him a system.

I thought I would suggest using a M1, is it still available to buy direct from stock or has that batch sold out by now?
Click to expand...
Yes, they're still available to order through the website, though only black cases with ODD slot are left.
 
Hey guys need some advice.
So my current build is as follows
Asus Z97i-Plus
I5-4690K
Corsair 16GB LP
Silverstone SFX SX-600
Corsair H60 on CPU
512GB Samsung SSD PRO + 250GB Samsung 840 EVO
EVGA GTX 980 Reference Cooler (Love it!!)

So I'm Looking to get rid of the Corsair H60 and go custom watercooling on the CPU and GPU. Bought a crap load of stuff after doing tons of research on it. Now here's my dilemma, I ordered the following parts:

lGWsFEQ.jpg
[/IMG]

Now my issue is, of course I found out after "my tons of research" that the Pump must be higher than the reservoir at all times. Now I'm using the custom reservoir for the Ncase and the Apogee Drive II CPU waterblock and pump. How would i go about getting the coolant to the pump since the reservoir basically sits side to side with the pump and not really "above" it?? Sorry for the noob question but I'm liking this whole idea of custom cooling and really trying to move away from AIO coolers.
 
yoyo55 said:
Now my issue is, of course I found out after "my tons of research" that the Pump must be higher than the reservoir at all times. Now I'm using the custom reservoir for the Ncase and the Apogee Drive II CPU waterblock and pump. How would i go about getting the coolant to the pump since the reservoir basically sits side to side with the pump and not really "above" it??
Click to expand...

As for what i heard, that does not matter much as long as the res is feed directly into the inlet of the pump.
 
yoyo55 said:
Now my issue is, of course I found out after "my tons of research" that the Pump must be higher than the reservoir at all times. Now I'm using the custom reservoir for the Ncase and the Apogee Drive II CPU waterblock and pump. How would i go about getting the coolant to the pump since the reservoir basically sits side to side with the pump and not really "above" it?? Sorry for the noob question but I'm liking this whole idea of custom cooling and really trying to move away from AIO coolers.
Click to expand...

You probably mean it the other way around, the "the reservoir must be higher than the pump at all times". This is so that the pump can never run dry unless there's a leak. But that's not an absolute must, you'll just have to be clever about filling and bleeding the loop. Assuming you're going to be using a rear mounted external reservoir, you should be able to flip it around and orient the case with the front side down. Then your reservoir will become the highest point in your loop, where all the air will gather.
 
Oh I just remembered the other Noctua cooler I was considering - NH-L12

Is anyone using this with a VII Impact to confirm compatibility?
How difficult is it to plug/route cables with it?
Is there just enough space to use the 3.5" hard drive cage?
 
adudeinblue said:
Hey Phuncz, it's been a while. I think it was your build that encouraged me to put my 4770k/780 Ti under water with the H220. But Peter rejected my RMA because of the 450w PSU. Since then the H60 was a temporarily cooler and the 780 Ti is back on a reference cooler. I don't mind the H60, it's just that the reference cooling is always loud under heavy load. My GF is playing on a X-Star 1440p at only 60hz. I find myself setting the fan curve near 75-80% around 90 degrees already to reach that FPS.

I have been looking and waiting for the Kelvin S24. Trying to find a loop to import it to the states. But I'm getting impatient and am considering the Apogee Drive II. The NCase Reservoir is still being debated.

For kicks, I did find a German seller on Amazon.com that was importing a S24 for nearly $350.00+.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00T2PSCYU/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

Too silly for my liking. I also follow /r/buildapcsales a lot and had a discussion with NCIXAnthony regarding Canadian stocks and US sales of the H220 and Kelvin S24. He did mention that both US and Canadian sites share the same inventory, but I still haven't seen it been in their inventory yet.
Click to expand...

Im currently using the Kelvin S24 with an i5 4690K and 290X LCS, just to give you an idea of the challenges you might have. The fill port is inconveniently placed on the actual CPU block/pump which is quite the hassle when trying to fill the loop. The hole is really small and the pump internals kind of block the way for the liquid to run through fully. But after some fiddling I got it nearly topped off and it's been running great. Quiet enough for me with temperatures never going above 57°C for both the graphics card and processor under gaming load. I think having a reservoir in your loop would eliminate the filling problems entirely and make the S24 a good competitor.
 
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Axcell said:
Im currently using the Kelvin S24 with an i5 4690K and 290X LCS, just to give you an idea of the challenges you might have. The fill port is inconveniently placed on the actual CPU block/pump which is quite the hassle when trying to fill the loop. The hole is really small and the pump internals kind of block the way for the liquid to run through fully. But after some fiddling I got it nearly topped off and it's been running great. Quiet enough for me with temperatures never going above 57°C for both the graphics card and processor under gaming load. I think having a reservoir in your loop would eliminate the filling problems entirely and make the S24 a good competitor.
Click to expand...

I have a question about the kelvin and the apogee: When reading the thread it seems like the kelvin is prefered by some. Is it less noisy or what the pros and cons of both pumps?
 
I've got a v2 I think I'm finally ready to make a build with, but I've got some questions about heat flow. I'm sticking to air cooling, and I'm planning to use a regular ATX power supply instead of an SFX one. The problem is, I think I'm overreaching for what I want to fit in versus the cooling potential available.

Here's the relevant parts I'm looking at:
ASRock X99E-ITX/ac (LGA2011-v3)
Intel Xeon E5-1650 v3 (6-core, 3.5GHz- basically the server version of the i7-5930K)
Crucial 32GB (16GBx2) ECC DDR4 DIMMs
Asus GTX970-DCMOC-4GD5 (one of the short GTX970s in other words) or possibly waiting for the 970Ti
Power supply is undecided at the moment

The main issue is that heatsinks for the motherboard are very limited. It's using a Narrow ILM mount, so the only option I've really been able to look at is the Noctua NH-U9DX i4. From what I've read, it should be fine to handle the 140w Xeon, but it's not a top down cooler like what tends to be normally recommended for the Ncase. Height wise, it should just barely fit (125mm), but length wise, I have to mount it so that the fans are facing the back of the case, rather than the top, or else I'm pretty sure it'll interfere with the RAM.

So I guess my question is, what sort of cooling penalties will I be facing with this sort of setup? Am I simply asking for too much in such a small space with this heatsink configuration? Has anyone else tried to shove a six core processor and a 970 with a regular ATX PSU and air cooling into one of these before, and how did it turn out? I guess I'm just hoping to find some advice on whether this is going to be a very expensive failed experiment or not.
 
CHANG3D said:
Yeah, I'm using a H220 right now. I had a leak on the radiator where the elbow barb is. Luckily, the liquid didn't get on any hardware. Since there aren't any replacement radiators, I had two choices: repair the radiator or buy a new solution. I winded up repairing mine by stuffing the barb in, clamping it to make sure it won't come out easy, and using JB Weld. I tested my loop running for 3 days... (Overkill, I know).
Click to expand...

I just got my H220 back from Swiftech RMA, also due to the elbow barb leakage. The unit came back with a brand new pump that has the SATA power connector. Does anyone know if this is the MCP50X pump?

I noticed the replacement radiator's elbow barbs are fixed in place now. Swiftech must have done something similar to what you did by JB Welding the barb in place. Hopefully this decision by Swiftech will prevent the barb from leaking in the future due to excessive twisting or movement. The only downside is that I cannot reverse the orientation of the radiator anymore, and the filling port is now facing inward.
 
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mpeg4v3 said:
I've got a v2 I think I'm finally ready to make a build with, but I've got some questions about heat flow. I'm sticking to air cooling, and I'm planning to use a regular ATX power supply instead of an SFX one. The problem is, I think I'm overreaching for what I want to fit in versus the cooling potential available.

Here's the relevant parts I'm looking at:
ASRock X99E-ITX/ac (LGA2011-v3)
Intel Xeon E5-1650 v3 (6-core, 3.5GHz- basically the server version of the i7-5930K)
Crucial 32GB (16GBx2) ECC DDR4 DIMMs
Asus GTX970-DCMOC-4GD5 (one of the short GTX970s in other words) or possibly waiting for the 970Ti
Power supply is undecided at the moment

The main issue is that heatsinks for the motherboard are very limited. It's using a Narrow ILM mount, so the only option I've really been able to look at is the Noctua NH-U9DX i4. From what I've read, it should be fine to handle the 140w Xeon, but it's not a top down cooler like what tends to be normally recommended for the Ncase. Height wise, it should just barely fit (125mm), but length wise, I have to mount it so that the fans are facing the back of the case, rather than the top, or else I'm pretty sure it'll interfere with the RAM.

So I guess my question is, what sort of cooling penalties will I be facing with this sort of setup? Am I simply asking for too much in such a small space with this heatsink configuration? Has anyone else tried to shove a six core processor and a 970 with a regular ATX PSU and air cooling into one of these before, and how did it turn out? I guess I'm just hoping to find some advice on whether this is going to be a very expensive failed experiment or not.
Click to expand...

The older U9B has been used by some folks. The C12P performs better, but not drastically so.

The NH-U9DX i4 is the Narrow ILM mounting equivalent of the NH-U9S which is rated for 140w TDP. As you've said that's the TDP target you are hitting, however it's useful to note the NH-U9S only comes with one fan, albeit a newer model. I bring this up because if the only thing preventing mounting vertically is the fan hitting the ram, ditch one fan, mount it vertically, then mount a slim 92mm in the back as an intake. This will be crucial as your only other intake is potentially going to be in the floor of the case. I wouldn't consider buying the newer NF-A9 until you try this first.

Your alternative is to mount both fans with the heatsink in a horizontal position, and try them in exhaust position, then try them afterwards in an intake position. The intake seems counter-intuitive but you will be bringing in fresh air through the heatsink which will likely find itself exiting the top of the case if you have an intake fan at the bottom.

I think you've got some good options to make this work well. Those considering the 5820K/5930K/5960X (!) route would be best served using an AIO, as much as it pains me to recommend them.
 
bencho said:
How did this guy get a sound card in here???

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=5x1r9u&s=8#.VU1Tu4akqnM
Click to expand...

He either has a (rare) 3 slot microATX (also known as DTX) motherboard that has a PCIE x1 slot above the PCIE x16 slot, or he used a mPCIe to PCIe x1 adapter to provide a slot for the sound card. I thought the latter method usually resulted in mounting the sound card in the bottom position of the case.

Addendum: judging from the I/O panel ports, I'd say he has a 3 slot microATX motherboard. The GoogleDocs spreadheet (link on this thread's opening post) lists two possible ECS models, the B85H3-M9 or the H81H3-M4.
 
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bencho said:
Errrrr doesn't that mean I can use the mpcie on the VII Impact for my essence STX?
Click to expand...

Yes. At least one person posted photos in this thread of using an mPCIe to PCIE x1 adapter for their sound card.
 
EpicFruit said:
You probably mean it the other way around, the "the reservoir must be higher than the pump at all times". This is so that the pump can never run dry unless there's a leak. But that's not an absolute must, you'll just have to be clever about filling and bleeding the loop. Assuming you're going to be using a rear mounted external reservoir, you should be able to flip it around and orient the case with the front side down. Then your reservoir will become the highest point in your loop, where all the air will gather.
Click to expand...

LOL! Yup, thanks for the correction that is what i meant! As far as the reservoir it will be mounted externally on the rear so i'll definitely take your advice as far as turning the case front side down while filling it. Appreciate the help!
 
yoyo55 said:
Now my issue is, of course I found out after "my tons of research" that the Pump must be higher than the reservoir at all times. Now I'm using the custom reservoir for the Ncase and the Apogee Drive II CPU waterblock and pump. How would i go about getting the coolant to the pump since the reservoir basically sits side to side with the pump and not really "above" it?? Sorry for the noob question but I'm liking this whole idea of custom cooling and really trying to move away from AIO coolers.
Click to expand...


Humbly submitted for your consideration: Post 11361
 
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Phuncz said:
So yesterday I did this exact thing, two Noctua NF-F12 fans as intake (one over the Kabuto II) and two Noctua NF-F12 fans below the Accelero IV as exhaust. I also added VRM heatsinks to my R9 290X but I can now play GTA V full-bore without the entire setup ever hitting 70°C. Fans on the bottom reach 1100rpm but I'm still very OK with the noise.

So yeah, WOW. I'm impressed with the performance I'm getting with this setup. Thanks for the advice, cowsgomoo !
The Sharkoon SFX Gold (SFX-L 500W) is also still cold after playing GTA V for an hour. Also impressive.

Air cooling FTW !

Pics of the VRM cooler in combination with an Arctic Accelero Xtreme IV:

EPkodZQ.png


4u8tOAm.png


8Z8nyS3.png
Click to expand...

Today I ran a benchmark to quantify the results I got:

86F2n0r.png


These are three screenshots overlapped. The ambient temp is about 20°C. Using Unigine Valley benchmark I tested with no V-Sync after about an hour, the middle one shows with V-Sync after 5 minutes and the right one shows about a minute of idling afterwards. Much more quiet in all those stages than the previous watercooling with no meaningful differences in temperature. Mind you I don't care if my CPU is 50° or 70°C, as long as it's not close to it's maximum allowed temperature, it performs the same and it will last much longer than I'll intend to be using it.
 
Necere said:
Yes, they're still available to order through the website, though only black cases with ODD slot are left.
Click to expand...

Any idea if silver will be back, as a case option and perhaps as panel kit?


Qrash said:
He either has a (rare) 3 slot microATX (also known as DTX) motherboard that has a PCIE x1 slot above the PCIE x16 slot, or he used a mPCIe to PCIe x1 adapter to provide a slot for the sound card. I thought the latter method usually resulted in mounting the sound card in the bottom position of the case.

Addendum: judging from the I/O panel ports, I'd say he has a 3 slot microATX motherboard. The GoogleDocs spreadheet (link on this thread's opening post) lists two possible ECS models, the B85H3-M9 or the H81H3-M4.
Click to expand...

Thats my M1, and indeed its a ECS H81H3-M4 together with a X-Fi Titanium HD sound card, Manli GTX970 and a 4770K.
 
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Vittra said:
The older U9B has been used by some folks. The C12P performs better, but not drastically so.

The NH-U9DX i4 is the Narrow ILM mounting equivalent of the NH-U9S which is rated for 140w TDP. As you've said that's the TDP target you are hitting, however it's useful to note the NH-U9S only comes with one fan, albeit a newer model. I bring this up because if the only thing preventing mounting vertically is the fan hitting the ram, ditch one fan, mount it vertically, then mount a slim 92mm in the back as an intake. This will be crucial as your only other intake is potentially going to be in the floor of the case. I wouldn't consider buying the newer NF-A9 until you try this first.

Your alternative is to mount both fans with the heatsink in a horizontal position, and try them in exhaust position, then try them afterwards in an intake position. The intake seems counter-intuitive but you will be bringing in fresh air through the heatsink which will likely find itself exiting the top of the case if you have an intake fan at the bottom.

I think you've got some good options to make this work well. Those considering the 5820K/5930K/5960X (!) route would be best served using an AIO, as much as it pains me to recommend them.
Click to expand...

I'm actually starting to be curious about the NH-D9DX i4 3U instead; it seems to be identical to the NH-D9L, and has one more heatpipe compared to the regular NH-U9DX i4 (along with being a lot newer). I've been able to find a couple reviews of people running it on high wattage CPUs (including one guy running it on a 150W 8-core), and it seems to be able to keep load temps around ~60-65 C, which is totally fine with me. I'm not totally sure if it would fit though, both orientations would probably interfere with the RAM.

Or maybe I should just bite the bullet and go with a 120mm AIO watercooling solution, despite how much I'd rather use air. Decisions, decisions...
 
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Switched to water cooling MSI GTX 970 with Kraken G10 and Corsair H75. Two Nidec Gentle Typhoons set in push configuration for intake. One Noctua NF-F12 and Cougar fans cooling GPU's VRM.
Great temps

IMAG0269.jpg

IMAG0270.jpg

IMAG0271.jpg

2.jpg

1.gif
 
Necere said:
Yeah, at this point it's still yet to be determined.
Click to expand...

If my opinion would matter, I'd like to see the Ncase LRPC being realised first and maybe with the (potentially) new manufacturer and experience in design, design the Ncase M1 Evo (or whateves) with better support for SFX-L (they are much better in noise and heat regards) which wouldn't be possible without a redesign that will break compatibility with the original M1. I would expect there would be even more new ideas to incorporate for the hardware of 2015 and 2016.

Oh yes, I'd also like an Apple-style manufacturing video of Necere explaining the process of making the Ncase in a 5 minute long video showing slow motion footage of machinery cutting, chamfering and polishing the new Ncase. Go viral yo !
 
^^ Interesting thought, but it would really be a shame for the guys to have to entirely re-design the entire case only because Silverstone is unable to create an acceptable SFX with an unoffensive sounding fan. An entire re-working of the M1 just to accommodate one single component that only needs just a few more millimeters for better fitment when used with full-length GPU cards seems a little unreasonable. I'm thinking the current workarounds (dropping the GPU down one slot and using a riser; Aiboh's PSU bracket design; and cramming/cable mods) are a little more practical.

Dunno. I'd much rather see someone take up the task of crowdfunding a no-compromise SFX with top-tier components, while the M1 sticks to only minor revisions/improvements for another batch or two. Not sure if either will ever happen, but that's my pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking :)
 
The difference is that it seems much easier for Necere to do minor adjustments to the Ncase M1 to allow the easily available multi-brand SFX-L format. There's a world of difference in designing, manufacturing, selling and supporting a case opposed to an electrical device connected to the mains. Suddenly certifications and regulations come into play. Sure, the OEM might be able to help with that, but at what price ? Lets not forget Ncase is a 2-man project without massive budget and time.

This SFX-L OEM PSU that Silverstone, Scythe, Chieftec and many others are currently using is also a good performing PSU available in most parts of the world at a good price and supports 500W without sounding like a coffee grinder. Silverstone just ruined theirs with the semi-crappy feature. The "lesser" quality components is a non-issue since no one can provide any real researched evidence that the good quality Taiwanese or Chinese caps are worse in any regard. We're talking about very long lasting life on these components, but most that care will be replacing the PSU with anything better as soon as possible anyway.

The Sharkoon SFX-L PSU I have is the most quiet PSU I've ever had. I haven't even heard the slightest coil whine. Combined with the three years warranty I get with it, I'm not worried.

To be clear, I did not mean a complete redesign that changes every aspect. But to allow the cables on an SFX-L to sit comfortably with a long GPU, I'd guess about 10mm of extra space needs to be found. This can be achieved in more than one way ofcourse, but I can't think of one that won't require shifting the motherboard + slots down or the PSU area (and top of the case) up.

But I feel that the SFX-L has a strong future for SFF since so many brands went along with this model.
It seems unwise to ignore this as a case designer.
 
Just some silly thinking here, but what if, instead of making the M1 larger and/or shifting the mobo down or the PSU up.. only shift the PSU bracket higher to provide the needed clearance (removing the space needed for the low-profile internal power cable, therefore leaving the power cable sitting above the frame of the M1). And instead of having a flat top panel (which of course, wouldn't work any longer in this scenario), use a folded hollow box-shaped top panel (similar to the front panel) that would both hide the now higher power cable, and perhaps also allow for 120mm exhaust fan/s on the top.

Probably just a dumb idea, but the only thing that would change is the PSU bracket and the top panel (which could be purchased separately and retrofitted to older M1 case versions, if desired). Voila.. M1-L :D
 
LOL that might actually work :D But I'd hate to see the cable hang out from the top though. Maybe have a special top panel that extends the top all around by about 10mm so everything can be kept as-is but allows a top fan and a modified PSU bracket. I think atleast the PSU bracket would not be a problem, about 10mm higher (with the V3 bracket) would just hit the panel stud retainer thingies so it might just work.

But if the V3 bracket needs a large MOQ, I'd bet a top panel be just as crazy.

EDIT: something like this:

VJw2aU8.png


(added ridge simulated where the panels meet to mimize visual disruption)
 
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Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking.. nice!

Just not sure how feasible it would be to bend the front lip of the top panel down, so that it matches up with the angles of the front panel.

As far as MOQ, something like this would definitely have to be part of a larger M1 run. The new top panel could either be an option, or a standard M1-L part, with additional panels made for M1 v1, v2, etc.


It's a really neat solution, but I'm sure Necere's thinking "shut up you fools!" :D
 
it's not a terrible idea, unfortunately I can't see a realistic way of designing it that won't look terrible.
 
A more radical option would be to sacrifice DTX and triple-slot cooler support and shift the entire motherboard down by 20mm.
 
Could do a full panel replacement set that gives you an additional 10mm vertically on the sides, and use 10mm spacers for the mounting balls for the top panel top panel would be nice and floppy though without multiple support points. This would represent a minimum new parts list of;
- All Panels
- New PSU Bracket.


Alternatively, by dropping the innards down one slot, you need a minimum of.
- New Chassis.

Don't know which is cheaper… but at least they will look as neat as the case was intended to be.

A folded top simply won't look as neat as it should. Well not in any way that I can see it being done economically.
 
Necere said:
it's not a terrible idea, unfortunately I can't see a realistic way of designing it that won't look terrible.
Click to expand...

Delrin or Acetal ? It's machineable and looks an awful lot like aluminium (without brushed texture), we'd just need the ring, the piece sandwiched between the top-panel and chassis, with cutouts for the push pin clips and new push pins screwed in ?

I know it's not going to happen but it's nice to brainstorm about it. Keeps my grey matter from becoming sawdust :D
 
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