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

If the length on that page is right - 11.8" - then no. The front I/O module eats up the last inch and half or so of the bottom slot, limiting cards to about 11" (though we won't know for sure because this part depends on what Lian Li can do with the front I/O).

I'll tell you what might work though is if you removed the shroud and fans from the card and then installed fans on the bottom 120mm fan mounts to blow across the heatsink instead. Might even be quieter/cooler than stock.

you can also just take out the front ports if you dont need them. i dont have any front ports on my scratch case because i never use any and i like the clean look of the front as it is. :)
 
For overclocked 2500K and GTX680 2 dual-rads would be better, but maybe there's something like Corsair H60 possible for CPU.

€: Slim-Rad
 
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Not sure if this has been mentioned before or considered in the design...but I will just throw this out there:

Has the case design considered the fit into a standard airline carry-on bag? (i.e. rollerboard)

I have not compared the dimensions yet, but I plan to. If a mini-ITX case cannot comfortably fit into a standard airline carry-on bag, it is a huge minus to me, and perhaps others as well.
 
For overclocked 2500K and GTX680 2 dual-rads would be better, but maybe there's something like Corsair H60 possible for CPU.

€: Slim-Rad


I am actually using that radiator plus the single version of it to cool my 3770k and gtx560ti 448. Neither are overclocked normally, but I have pushed it to 4.5GHZ and about 950 core on the gpu without too much issues. Its not silent, but its no louder than my 360 (bad comparison, lol), or my zotac zbox nano htpc when in use.

Definitely capable little radiators.
 
Not sure if this has been mentioned before or considered in the design...but I will just throw this out there:

Has the case design considered the fit into a standard airline carry-on bag? (i.e. rollerboard)

I have not compared the dimensions yet, but I plan to. If a mini-ITX case cannot comfortably fit into a standard airline carry-on bag, it is a huge minus to me, and perhaps others as well.

This is the very reason I've been following this build, and by its current dimensions, yes it will. Roll-aboards are hit-and-miss, however, since they're the most likely to get gate checked. Checking a desktop doesn't sound too pretty.

Not to turn [H] into Flyertalk, but for a standard 9x14x22 bag, this fits with room to spare, even when you consider the handle takes up a good chunk of the interior space.

In comparison, I bought a Q08 for that purpose, and it's really, really not going to work in a roll-aboard. I might have to resort to using a duffel with a big open top. That's probably your best bet too.
 
Not sure if this has been mentioned before or considered in the design...but I will just throw this out there:

Has the case design considered the fit into a standard airline carry-on bag? (i.e. rollerboard)

I have not compared the dimensions yet, but I plan to. If a mini-ITX case cannot comfortably fit into a standard airline carry-on bag, it is a huge minus to me, and perhaps others as well.

This is the very reason I've been following this build, and by its current dimensions, yes it will. Roll-aboards are hit-and-miss, however, since they're the most likely to get gate checked. Checking a desktop doesn't sound too pretty.

Not to turn [H] into Flyertalk, but for a standard 9x14x22 bag, this fits with room to spare, even when you consider the handle takes up a good chunk of the interior space.

In comparison, I bought a Q08 for that purpose, and it's really, really not going to work in a roll-aboard. I might have to resort to using a duffel with a big open top. That's probably your best bet too.

Just out of curiosity, why do you need to bring a desktop on a flight? I'm not flaming, I'm really serious. Wouldn't a WS laptop be just as good performance wise plus the fact that it's 100x more portable?
 
Just out of curiosity, why do you need to bring a desktop on a flight? I'm not flaming, I'm really serious. Wouldn't a WS laptop be just as good performance wise plus the fact that it's 100x more portable?

I'm in college, and I have a netbook for portability. It does portability and battery-life better than any laptop could.

Also, "any good WS laptop" isn't going to be as cheap as upgrading an already existing desktop for me (Well, downsizing moreso than upgrading).

If I don't travel for maybe 2 or 3 months at a time, I find the desktop option to be more appealing in every respect. This case is all that I really need to call it perfect, because it can fit within carry-on limits perfectly and with plenty of room to spare.

Oh, and if it doesn't come across, I'm in college, therefore I'm cheap.
 
final case looks fantastic. Great job guys. Count me in for a purchase as well, I'm very impressed!
 
I'm in college, and I have a netbook for portability. It does portability and battery-life better than any laptop could.

Also, "any good WS laptop" isn't going to be as cheap as upgrading an already existing desktop for me (Well, downsizing moreso than upgrading).

If I don't travel for maybe 2 or 3 months at a time, I find the desktop option to be more appealing in every respect. This case is all that I really need to call it perfect, because it can fit within carry-on limits perfectly and with plenty of room to spare.

Oh, and if it doesn't come across, I'm in college, therefore I'm cheap.

just keep in mind that if you are taking it as a carry-on then you will not be able to have any water cooling as any lop would require more than 3 ounces of fluid. this case's appeal IMO is it's potential for WCing in a small box. there are other similar sized cases that can fit air cooling ok.
 
just keep in mind that if you are taking it as a carry-on then you will not be able to have any water cooling as any lop would require more than 3 ounces of fluid. this case's appeal IMO is it's potential for WCing in a small box. there are other similar sized cases that can fit air cooling ok.

TSA hadn't any trouble with a closed loop H60 in it's box. What will the difference be when it's in a functioning PC?

If I ever do have a custom loop (which I doubt I will, but maybe), then I'll just drain it.
 
TSA hadn't any trouble with a closed loop H60 in it's box. What will the difference be when it's in a functioning PC?

If I ever do have a custom loop (which I doubt I will, but maybe), then I'll just drain it.

really? they should. any liquid container over 3.4 ounces is not allowed to be carried on per TSA regulations. when did you do this? have you seen more than one account of it? was the box sealed in plastic still?
 
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I doubt a closed-loop cooler/radiator counts as an accessible liquid container. It was still sealed, but they gave it nary a strange look because of the packaging. They might ask me about it in the future, but it's a computer, I'm sure they'll recognize it. Even if I don't use an H60 in this case, it should still fit a decent air cooler.

I prefer the H60, however, since the weight of the cooler is attached to the case rather than the motherboard, something critical in travelling.
 
A case this tiny sitting on the floor seems a bit counterintuitive, but otherwise you have a good point. Turning around the PSU and having spots for some filters (magnetic or clip on filters for the underside, perhaps?) would basically finalize this concept.

I'm really looking forward to seeing production of this already!
+1 !

This case looks great. I came to this thread searching for a good mini tower and was really pelased to see this design and ready to buy.
 
I doubt a closed-loop cooler/radiator counts as an accessible liquid container. It was still sealed, but they gave it nary a strange look because of the packaging. They might ask me about it in the future, but it's a computer, I'm sure they'll recognize it. Even if I don't use an H60 in this case, it should still fit a decent air cooler.

I prefer the H60, however, since the weight of the cooler is attached to the case rather than the motherboard, something critical in travelling.

i could see them maybe allowing it because it was sealed so it was clear you hadnt tampered with it, but technically they shouldnt be allowing that much of any liquid through. i mean my bottle of orange juice is pretty clearly orange juice, but that wouldnt fly. same with toothpaste, bug spray, etc. even sealed they wont allow those things on. if someone can put a bomb in their shoe, they can figure out a way to fill an H60 with accelerant. the TSA people i have encountered have never made an exception for anyone that i've seen, so i wouldnt bank on getting this through regularly.
for heatsink though, any low profile heat sink like an axp-140 would be pretty solid. towers are definitely a bit iffy.
 
i could see them maybe allowing it because it was sealed so it was clear you hadnt tampered with it, but technically they shouldnt be allowing that much of any liquid through. i mean my bottle of orange juice is pretty clearly orange juice, but that wouldnt fly. same with toothpaste, bug spray, etc. even sealed they wont allow those things on. if someone can put a bomb in their shoe, they can figure out a way to fill an H60 with accelerant. the TSA people i have encountered have never made an exception for anyone that i've seen, so i wouldnt bank on getting this through regularly.
for heatsink though, any low profile heat sink like an axp-140 would be pretty solid. towers are definitely a bit iffy.

Anything that will fit an Asrock Z77e, fits this case, and will let me push a 3570k to 4.5GHz with good thermals will do. As far as I know, only the H60 will do that.

Usually the TSA are very computer-inept, so this also depends if they even see the liquid or not inside of an aluminum/copper radiator inside an aluminum case. At best I imagine they'd tell me to open it like other desktops I've flown with, but nothing more. This is the first time I'd be flying with an AIO, so I'm apprehensive nonetheless, past experience or not.
 
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Anything that will fit an Asrock Z77e, fits this case, and usually they're very inept

FIFY :D

If it's a closed loop cooler, I'd just tell them it's a computer. No need to complicate things. If you have a window on the case and clear tubing, they could (& should) totally freak out and not allow it on the plane.
 
Hope the TSA won't throw a fit about a closed loop because I look forward to putting my PC in a carry on :D
 
well, they may or may not throw a fit (based upon the mood/knowledge of the agent, I guess), but if they do, they're backed up by the regulations (liquids, etc).
 
Curiosity, and low post count brought me here, but I am completely astonished to see what you guys are after! The case looks great! And I very jealous of you SolidWorks skills! I wish you best of luck.
 
Thanks for all the support.

This is what we are sending for quotes (more pictures):





 
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Awesome job! Can't wait to hear what lili says
 
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^ That's all wahaha's work btw. I'm designing in Sketchup, he's manually translating it into Solidworks. I don't envy him the job - it's undoubtedly a lot more tedious than mine!
 
Oh jeebus, I thought you were doing this directly in Solidworks! Must have been fun getting all the mates right in that assembly.

Nice job, both of you! I see some late night work in those pictures, too :)
 
This is awesome, really love the 3rd slot, perhaps fitting a nice sound card by using a m-pcie to pci-e converter is now possible. (or wait for m-dtx motherboards to become popular)
 
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Is the ssd mount on the case floor supposed to be symmetrical like that, i thought the idea for those was to have the slot go one direction so its a semi-slide mount.
 
It's supposed to be like that - if all the holes go the same direction, the drive can just slide out. If they're opposing, then the drive must be unscrewed to install or remove the grommets.
 
It's supposed to be like that - if all the holes go the same direction, the drive can just slide out. If they're opposing, then the drive must be unscrewed to install or remove the grommets.

Correct. Also, that's a 3.5" HDD mount, not SSD. I did have holes for SSDs on the case floor but deleted them because they were messy and redundant given the other drive mounts. I should get wahaha to update the first post reflecting that.
 
i can't believe how much industrial talent you guys have.
there are so much itx cases out there but almost every one lacks either proper thought put into it or design simplicity. i just got the sg08 and, well, there's room for improvements.

respect. would like to see something real (available in europe ;) )
 
Yes, most itx boards only have room for half height m-pcie so its still tricky. As others posted, mini-DTX in z77 would be nice.

Yeah, but it looks like that second one can be cut-down to half size, it has the screw holes there.

I am pretty stoked about this case, I can totally see it being a pretty big deal in the next while... :)
 
I was just thinking about this, but any way you could sell this as an update/replacement to the PC-Q08? They look to be about the same size (at first glance) -- significantly different, of course, but similar market segment.
 
I was just thinking about this, but any way you could sell this as an update/replacement to the PC-Q08? They look to be about the same size (at first glance) -- significantly different, of course, but similar market segment.

The Q08 is much, much larger.

I own the case. It's not a Prodigy, but it's huge for ITX.
 
The Q08 is much, much larger.

I own the case. It's not a Prodigy, but it's huge for ITX.

lol, guess I should've looked at the dimensions before I posted that. How about: This is what the PC-Q08 should have been :p
 
Necere, case width question? Have you tested if the case is wide enough for 3 slot GPU coolers? The Arctic twin turbo and Asus 3 slot coolers are extra wide, can this case accommodate them?
 
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