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

I think it is VERY important that when this case goes into production. is have the length of the wires for IO's ports to be the exact length. maybe 1-2" slack.
 
kensic said:
I think it is VERY important that when this case goes into production. is have the length of the wires for IO's ports to be the exact length. maybe 1-2" slack.
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Problem is that different mobos have the sockets in different locations, and everyone may do their wire routing a little differently.
 
Necere:

IMG_3321.jpg.jpeg


IMG_3295.jpg.jpeg


With these pictures in mind, can you predict if the card could possibly still fit, concerning the 8-pin connector ?
 
crABtoad said:
Do you have any testimonials? I can't seem to find any information for this site. Seems sketchy to me, but I'm not on the design crew end.
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https://www.trycelery.com/testimonials

It's a relatively new company, but easy approach to pre-order and info-processing since they don't personally handle payment details.

Also, their focus is indie projects so it just seemed to jive will with this project and IndieGoGo.
 
Yes, the prototype was delivered today :)

First impressions:

  • It's amazingly light. You can easily hold it up in the palm of your hand with little effort. Of course, with actual components installed it's a different story.
  • Crisp. Both the cut of the panels and the way they snap firmly into place.
  • Both the interior matte black paint and exterior brushed+anodized finished are quite nice. The painted parts almost feel like they're made of plastic, with how light they are in your hand - until you run your fingers on them or tap them, and they give a metallic ring.
  • The aluminum has a bit of flex to it, and you could bend the panels and brackets pretty easily with your hands, but the chassis itself feels sturdy (though I wouldn't want to stand on it or anything).
  • Cables are too long. Will have to see about changing that for production.
  • Power button blends perfectly with the painted aluminum IO module cover. It has a very shallow push-in and positive clicking action.

So far I've test fit the PSU (ST45SF-G), motherboard (ECS mDTX), slim optical, 2.5" drives, 2 x 3.5" HDDs and Corsair H60 CLC on the fan bracket. Everything fits more or less as it should, so far. Have yet to connect the cables and power on though.

I'll try to post some pictures later, though they'll just be crappy cellphone pics. It needs a proper camera/lighting setup to really do it justice. This is primarily for mechanical evaluation, though, so. Glamour shots will come later.


Phuncz said:
Necere:

With these pictures in mind, can you predict if the card could possibly still fit, concerning the 8-pin connector ?
Click to expand...
I'm about 90% sure it will fit fine. The dimensions on the card that I can find state that it's 4.8" tall, or 122mm. We have a total of 140mm to work with, so the GTX670 Mini leaves about 18mm for the PCIe power connectors.
 
Sounds great, looking forward to hearing about what tweaks you want to make after using it for a bit.

Necere said:
Yes, the prototype was delivered today :)

First impressions:

  • It's amazingly light. You can easily hold it up in the palm of your hand with little effort. Of course, with actual components installed it's a different story.
  • Crisp. Both the cut of the panels and the way they snap firmly into place.
  • Both the interior matte black paint and exterior brushed+anodized finished are quite nice. The painted parts almost feel like they're made of plastic, with how light they are in your hand - until you run your fingers on them or tap them, and they give a metallic ring.
  • The aluminum has a bit of flex to it, and you could bend the panels and brackets pretty easily with your hands, but the chassis itself feels sturdy (though I wouldn't want to stand on it or anything).
  • Cables are too long. Will have to see about changing that for production.
  • Power button blends perfectly with the painted aluminum IO module cover. It has a very shallow push-in and positive clicking action.

So far I've test fit the PSU (ST45SF-G), motherboard (ECS mDTX), slim optical, 2.5" drives, 2 x 3.5" HDDs and Corsair H60 CLC on the fan bracket. Everything fits more or less as it should, so far. Have yet to connect the cables and power on though.

I'll try to post some pictures later, though they'll just be crappy cellphone pics. It needs a proper camera/lighting setup to really do it justice. This is primarily for mechanical evaluation, though, so. Glamour shots will come later.



I'm about 90% sure it will fit fine. The dimensions on the card that I can find state that it's 4.8" tall, or 122mm. We have a total of 140mm to work with, so the GTX670 Mini leaves about 18mm for the PCIe power connectors.
Click to expand...
 
Shorter USB3.0 cable, please. :) Maybe just enough to route along the edge of the case and reach the furthest edge of the mobo with reasonable slack.
Is it possible for you to measure the exact weight of the case? I'm interested.
 
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Necere said:
So far I've test fit the PSU (ST45SF-G), motherboard (ECS mDTX), slim optical, 2.5" drives, 2 x 3.5" HDDs and Corsair H60 CLC on the fan bracket. Everything fits more or less as it should, so far. Have yet to connect the cables and power on though.
Click to expand...

ECS B75H2-D? Any opinions on the board? It caught my eye awhile back, and I kinda wanted to buy one just to show support for DTX but ECS spooks me as a company a bit...

Waiting patiently for PICS! :D
 
Necere said:
I'm about 90% sure it will fit fine. The dimensions on the card that I can find state that it's 4.8" tall, or 122mm. We have a total of 140mm to work with, so the GTX670 Mini leaves about 18mm for the PCIe power connectors.
Click to expand...

I've got a similar card (2x 6-pin connectors in the same location) in my PC-Q02 (149mm total width, so, approximately 134mm between the mobo surface and the side panel) and it is very tight, but it works.
 
crABtoad said:
ECS B75H2-D? Any opinions on the board? It caught my eye awhile back, and I kinda wanted to buy one just to show support for DTX but ECS spooks me as a company a bit...

Waiting patiently for PICS! :D
Click to expand...

It's actually the H61H2-MV, which is Mini-DTX. It's a lower end board and lacks USB 3, but unfortunately it's the only socket 1155 mDTX board thus far released. The one you're talking about is regular DTX, which is as deep as a mATX board and won't fit in the M1.

Okay, a couple pics to tide you guys over. These were edited slightly*:

*a lot

ZzHpVmr.jpg


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Zwr5IzU.jpg
 
Very nice. In particular I like how the I/O turned out. Are those feet final? I was hoping for silver Fractal style feet from the renders (not like they're not easily replaceable for anyone after the fact, but I just figured I'd ask).

Have you got it powered on yet? I'm interested in any panel vibrations you guys may / may not have noticed.
 
excellent :)

those are some seriously long cables (especially for the I/O)!
 
Machupo said:
excellent :)

those are some seriously long cables (especially for the I/O)!
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i know right, ill say it again...IO wire length is crucial for this case. I know different boards may have different location ports and people may wire it differently.

but they can predict how people can arrange wiring OR even dictate how you should arrange them, and the different location ports from different boards aren't like 12" difference, probably 2" difference at most.

wiring length will be the death of this beautiful case, i can see people modding/cutting wires and making them shorter, especially wires from the PSU.

and look at the slack on the power cable, short that thing by 3 inches and it will be perfect
 
i am concerned that this might be a problem area http://i.imgur.com/lgmTVf2.jpg
b/c the panel is recessed and the usb port is so close to the metal edge, i'm kind of thinking it would be difficult to insert something with thicker/fatter usb plug.
 
It should be fine. Usually USB devices don't have to be inserted fully into the port before they're detected. Try it with a USB stick and regular port; odds are it'll go 2/3 of the way in and show up.
 
My body is ready, my camera is primed for the inevitable NCASE tech porno film. ;)
 
kensic said:
i know right, ill say it again...IO wire length is crucial for this case. I know different boards may have different location ports and people may wire it differently.

but they can predict how people can arrange wiring OR even dictate how you should arrange them, and the different location ports from different boards aren't like 12" difference, probably 2" difference at most.

wiring length will be the death of this beautiful case, i can see people modding/cutting wires and making them shorter, especially wires from the PSU.

and look at the slack on the power cable, short that thing by 3 inches and it will be perfect
Click to expand...
I bought a boatload of sleeving from MDPC-X for this case, because I KNOW I'll be cutting these cables down to within inches of the minimum length.
 
Necere said:
It's actually the H61H2-MV, which is Mini-DTX. It's a lower end board and lacks USB 3, but unfortunately it's the only socket 1155 mDTX board thus far released. The one you're talking about is regular DTX, which is as deep as a mATX board and won't fit in the M1.
Click to expand...

Wow... How'd I miss that. :rolleyes:

I remember them putting out a Mini-DTX awhile back, and the one you've got in the M1 atm is listed as mATX on their website.

The case looks great with some components in it, seriously crushing on the PSU clearance over the mobo too.

I'm inclined to agree about the front USB ports possibly having some clearance issues... This is form vs function though. A "properly" made USB thingy would stick in there np, but I can think of a couple that would maybe not.

Thanks for the pics!! :D
 
If anyone is moving on from a Silverstone SG03 I'd like to see some pictures of the case side-by-side.

I know it's still early days but do you plan to revise case and include revision number on box?
 
Sweet pics Necere. What we need are pics next to an actual coke zero can now :)

Nothing better than seeing renders become reality!
 
illli said:
i am concerned that this might be a problem area http://i.imgur.com/lgmTVf2.jpg
b/c the panel is recessed and the usb port is so close to the metal edge, i'm kind of thinking it would be difficult to insert something with thicker/fatter usb plug.
Click to expand...
Most cases have this problem, one way or another. I don't mind it that I can't use a certain very large USB plug on the right port.

If you have a USB-stick that's so large it won't fit, you should have thought of the lack of compatibility with other cases and computers, especially laptops.
 
people use usb ports for more than just usb sticks.

anyway, that is what the testing phase of the prototype is for.
 
illli said:
people use usb ports for more than just usb sticks.
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I can't think of any useful and popular add-on that's something else than a USB-stick but is too large to fit. Most USB devices just have cables.
 
Maybe WiFi dongles, but I can't imagine those being plugged into the front I/O. Anything else I can think of would have a cable.

Besides, if it's something you desperately need to plug into the front, there's always short USB extension cables.
 
I've been following this thread and watching it for a while. I've also been on the fence about wanting to buy it, but with those pics I'm 300% sold. Great job guys!
 
Phuncz said:
I can't think of any useful and popular add-on that's something else than a USB-stick but is too large to fit. Most USB devices just have cables.
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I have a USB to headphone audio that I used for testing on my various NUC permutations ;) (obviously not an issue with this case, lol)
 
kensic said:
Ok now make the m-atx version
Click to expand...

Honestly I agree on this, I'd kill for a Matx version for my current steambox.

When I saw that picture I got all giddy because I'm using a H61H2-M2 in my steambox but I after I read it was a H61H2-MV I had a sad.

Either way though my H61H2-M2 only cost me $20 so it wouldn't kill me to grab a different board. :D
 
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