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

Necere, come up with a business plan and there would be no shortage of investors. Id imagine there are enough people on this board alone who would be willing passive investors.
 
Optik said:
Necere, come up with a business plan and there would be no shortage of investors. Id imagine there are enough people on this board alone who would be willing passive investors.
Click to expand...

Exactly. You guys have quite a following. Even if you did small runs like you did with the first M1, they would surely sell out quickly. Maybe even do a second version similar to this (from post #7898):

YEdQr9F.png
 
Last edited:
Optik said:
Necere, come up with a business plan and there would be no shortage of investors. Id imagine there are enough people on this board alone who would be willing passive investors.
Click to expand...

I can't imagine there are a lot of people here interested in investing in a venture for... plastic case panels? That just doesn't seem right.

Especially when you consider that aluminum is typically seen as the more upscale option.
 
Necere said:
Nice photoshop. The issue with using plastic is the substantial cost to set up the injection molds. Check out this post by CorsairGeorge, where he goes into the breakdown for what something like the M1 might cost to mass produce. He's talking about up-front tooling costs of a quarter of a million dollars. It's only possible to make that kind of investment if you're pretty sure you can sell a whole lot of them, over several years. And to do that, you need a real business: the engineers and product designers, the sales and marketing people, the distribution network, the support people. It's kind of amazing we've achieved what we have with this project, as just two people - amateurs, really, with hardly any experience or capital.

We're fortunate that a company like Lian Li exists. The way they manufacture cases is somewhat unique, in that much of the tooling is shared between many different models. This is what makes a project like ours possible. In effect, we're relying on their existing tooling and parts bin, as well as their case manufacturing experience to be able to deliver a high quality, unique, low volume case at a cost that, while not exactly cheap, is still in the ballpark of higher-end mass produced cases.

It'd be neat to design a case with plastic, since it allows a lot more flexibility than you get with sheet metal. But for the time being, at least, it's not something that's feasible for us.
Click to expand...

Thats a shame but completely understandable i hope in the future to see one a man can dream ;) .
 
I might have falsely inferred - what else is there that can't be taken care of with the same crowd funding method that gave us the M1?
 
For a second run I would suggest including a couple of spare plastic retainers, one of mine snapped right away. I guess the plastic is a bit fragile and brittle in colder climate. :)
 
Has anyone tried the Kraken G10 bracket to mount a CLC to their GPU?

I'm worried it'll scrape along the bottom of the case since it's a 3-slot cooling solution.

Also, has anyone tried 2x 120 CLCs? I'd like to have one for the GPU, and one for the CPU mounted to the side bracket.
 
mingqi53 said:
Has anyone tried the Kraken G10 bracket to mount a CLC to their GPU?

I'm worried it'll scrape along the bottom of the case since it's a 3-slot cooling solution.

Also, has anyone tried 2x 120 CLCs? I'd like to have one for the GPU, and one for the CPU mounted to the side bracket.
Click to expand...
Iirc the G10 is 2.5 slots wide since I know it fits the Corsair 250D that only has 2 slots. I'm not sure how wide the G10 is tho.
 
So NZXT is currently working on an itx case, I say damn all of them. NCASE >> all other itx cases. Although I am interested in what ideas they come up with.
 
I received my case today :D I forgot I bought during the reserve. Case Number 0337 xD Would have been awesome if it were case number 1337 xD But I 0337 is just as close :D. Thanks again and also looking forward to the revised case as well!!
 
For people that bought the ST45SF-G, did you find it easier to shorten the already short PP05-E kit cables or did you start from scratch with wires, connectors, housing, etc?

Also wondering if it's better to use individual wires compared to the connected/joined PP05-E wires. Seems like bending individual wires is more flexible and possibly better airflow.
 
Although, I would guess that it would be possible to separate the cables on the PP05-e kit anyway, as they appear to only be connected together by its insulation, as per usual for ribbon cables.
 
Hanakuso said:
For people that bought the ST45SF-G, did you find it easier to shorten the already short PP05-E kit cables or did you start from scratch with wires, connectors, housing, etc?
Click to expand...

I found it easiest to just bend the excess of the PP05-E cables out of the way (still seems to take up less space than the shorter stock cables).

In theory, shortening the PP05-E kit should be easier than building from scratch, since you'll only be adding half as many connectors.

Don't really see how individual wires would offer any better airflow than a combined PP05-E cable. Ideally, you'd want to tuck the cables out of the way as much as possible for better airflow (unless you're showing off custom sleeving or something).

Six of one, half a dozen of the other.. so do whichever makes you happy ;)
 
Maybe you already know this but the EK FC R9 290 block fits. Although if it was 3mm larger, it would have touched or pressed the sidepanel.
 
MikeTheTiger said:
Exactly. You guys have quite a following. Even if you did small runs like you did with the first M1, they would surely sell out quickly. Maybe even do a second version similar to this (from post #7898):

YEdQr9F.png
Click to expand...

The M1 was the aluminiumized SG05
The M2 could be the aluminiumize RVZ01

:D
 
okwchin said:
Although, I would guess that it would be possible to separate the cables on the PP05-e kit anyway, as they appear to only be connected together by its insulation, as per usual for ribbon cables.
Click to expand...
AFD said:
I found it easiest to just bend the excess of the PP05-E cables out of the way (still seems to take up less space than the shorter stock cables).

In theory, shortening the PP05-E kit should be easier than building from scratch, since you'll only be adding half as many connectors.

Don't really see how individual wires would offer any better airflow than a combined PP05-E cable. Ideally, you'd want to tuck the cables out of the way as much as possible for better airflow (unless you're showing off custom sleeving or something).

Six of one, half a dozen of the other.. so do whichever makes you happy ;)
Click to expand...
Thanks. I'll first give it a try on my PP05-E kit. It should technically be half of the work.
 
Now i'm just waiting to see someone insane stuff a Titan Z in one of these cases. XD

(may require that 600w SFX PSU though)
 
can someone tell me how many of these screws we are suppose to have?
ma5RpoA.jpg

today i went to install another 2.5in hard drive with those rubber grommets and discovered that i only have 5... 4 of which were already used for the first one.
or if we are only suppose to have 5, how does one install another 2.5in hard drive on the front of the case beneath the front-facing plate?
 
illli said:
can someone tell me how many of these screws we are suppose to have?
Click to expand...
Everyone got five. Yes, we're aware that it's not enough to use more than one 2.5" mount (well, you can, by using two per drive at opposing corners). It's one of the things on the improvement list for rev2. You can order them (or any other screws) directly from Lian Li. W360 also ordered a bunch not too long ago, so he should be able to hook you up as well.
 
oh ok, thanks. i missed the part about the screws, all i remember was talk about extra clips :p

i also found that picture of all the screws and how many are included http://i.imgur.com/wcUS9vcl.jpg

think i'll experiment more and see if i can somehow place it elsewhere and save the space for an optical drive.
 
Phuncz said:
Maybe you already know this but the EK FC R9 290 block fits. Although if it was 3mm larger, it would have touched or pressed the sidepanel.
Click to expand...

I know the EK one fits, the issue really is the EK one doesn't have published dimensions of the block for comparison with XSPC's. The XSPC one is also more readily available here.
 
Anyone who has an ASUS Impact MOBO:

Where do you plug the HDAudio cable from the front I/O panel of the ncase?
 
MiLk said:
Anyone who has an ASUS Impact MOBO:

Where do you plug the HDAudio cable from the front I/O panel of the ncase?
Click to expand...
In the "dedicated" sound card.

You could put the cable under the actual card and then run it along the GPU. I don't have a picture of it but I copied it from a guy on here that has a blog. If you are interested I'll take a picture of that or find his blog.
 
Hanakuso said:
In the "dedicated" sound card.

You could put the cable under the actual card and then run it along the GPU. I don't have a picture of it but I copied it from a guy on here that has a blog. If you are interested I'll take a picture of that or find his blog.
Click to expand...

What he said. Also, if you purchased the EK waterblock specifically for that board, it blocks it.
 
Can someone that has the Frozen Q reservoir installed on the M1 do me a favor and see how much space there is between the res and the PCI retaining tab? I'm lowering the rear fan mount and watercooling holes by 2mm and I need to see if it's going to cause problems for the res.
 
#186 arrived and got promptly unpacked. I dug out my very first mini-itx build (from ~2004) for this family photo;)

LKue3fX.jpg
 
Add me to the list of people that had a H220 pump die on him. CPU was overheating so I open up the case to see what was going on and almost got a face full of steam. Turned computer off immediately and then notice a slight burning smell.

On the plus I tested every component in the computer and everything is operational except the pump so no damage done, Now I got to figure out what to do. I not going the H220 route again. I could try a apogee drive ii and add a reservoir. Looking online it hard to tell what pump the apogee drive ii uses vs H220. Is it really more reliable or is it the same pump?

In case anyone curious the H220 pump lasted 3 months for me.
 
MertArm said:
Congrats, man. What're you going to stick in that thing?
Click to expand...

I'm partial to MSI so I'll probably build around the Gaming AC with Corsair AIO. Will wait for the new SFX PSU, though. No time to tinker the next two months, anyway.
 
guys, my M1 needs your help again:

my computer has started to randomly shutdown recently. most of the time, it's when i'm playing Battlefield 4, but it has also shutdown while i was just doing normal work and browsing the web, and i believe it once shutdown while it was in the BIOS too (because when i came back, it had booted into Windows!). tonight, it happened 4 times, and after the last time, it won't turn on again.

the fact that it doesn't turn on reminds me of the problems i had with it when i assembled it for the very first time; it basically never turned on no matter what i did. i had to disassemble it and try each component one by one. it only turned on when i had one RAM module in (the other RAM module was faulty and got RMA'd). before installing the new second module (and while running on a single 8GB module), it was working fine during all the benchmarks and stress tests, and when i installed the new RAM module, the computer didn't turn on again for the first time. i had to take both the RAM modules out and reinstall them and clear the CMOS, and then it turned on. if i can get the computer to turn on again, i will run memtest86+ overnight to check for errors, but i'm afraid the problem might be the motherboard since the probability of two RAM modules being faulty one after the other is fairly low, i guess.

the thing is, during my very first assembly, i installed the PSU bracket wrongly (the part that's supposed to go under the motherboard tray was over it and the screws were not able to hold it securely). then, when i put the PSU in and finished up everything and closed the panels, the weight of the PSU caused the bracket to rotate forward (i didn't notice that until i opened the case a week later), and i think it might have touched (and shorted) something on the motherboard (there are some minor scratches under the motherboard near where the RAM sockets are). but i don't understand why the computer was working perfectly fine with a single module no matter which of the two sockets i would put the RAM in. and i don't understand why it worked (semi-)fine until now.

oh, after i installed the second (RMA'd) module, i also did a BIOS update and installed Windows 8.1...that's when the problem started. before that, and running on a single 8GB module, i had the old factory BIOS and Windows 7, and during all benchmarks and stress tests, it was rock stable. i'm leaning towards the RAM, but it's a bit weird that two modules have been faulty. and everything is running stock (details in my signature)...no overclocks.

sorry if this is all over the place...i was trying to give as much information as possible. could it be the motherboard that's causing the second RAM module to fail?
 
Last edited:
Necere said:
Can someone that has the Frozen Q reservoir installed on the M1 do me a favor and see how much space there is between the res and the PCI retaining tab? I'm lowering the rear fan mount and watercooling holes by 2mm and I need to see if it's going to cause problems for the res.
Click to expand...
Necere, I recommend you put something in front of your question to make it stand out more, because this forum's default skin makes it harder to differentiate posts and users and many things get lost in the other comments.

Like this:

QUESTION:
Necere said:
Can someone that has the Frozen Q reservoir installed on the M1 do me a favor and see how much space there is between the res and the PCI retaining tab? I'm lowering the rear fan mount and watercooling holes by 2mm and I need to see if it's going to cause problems for the res.
Click to expand...
 
Necere said:
Can someone that has the Frozen Q reservoir installed on the M1 do me a favor and see how much space there is between the res and the PCI retaining tab? I'm lowering the rear fan mount and watercooling holes by 2mm and I need to see if it's going to cause problems for the res.
Click to expand...

Hey Necere, I apparently do not have a ruler but took these pics with my cell in hopes it gives you what you seek.

ih2p2x.jpg


r0qqsk.jpg


2sbsrkg.jpg
 
Neffy said:
Hey Necere, I apparently do not have a ruler but took these pics with my cell in hopes it gives you what you seek.
Click to expand...
Do you happen to have a US nickel? I need to know if one will fit between the res and the PCI retaining tab:



A stack of two dimes will also work, or a quarter if it fits easily.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top