NCASE M1 version changelog and suggestions thread

Changing the vent holes to larger ones is likely unfeasible, since we're using Lian Li's standard tooling they use on all their cases. New tooling = $$$$. Slotted style vents would be possible using their existing tooling, though. I just can't say I'd prefer the aesthetics of that.

Out of curiosity, would a mesh in place of the holes (in the style of the SG05 front panel) be feasible?

fxbUCy8.png
 
Out of curiosity, would a mesh in place of the holes (in the style of the SG05 front panel) be feasible?
In principal it should be. The PC-V360 uses that style (see this review for pics). On the plus side it'd be less restrictive for airflow, and punch-induced panel warping would no longer be a possibility. On the downside, the panels would be that much weaker (particularly the top panel), and it's more like a mesh so more of the interior shows and it's not as clean looking.
 
In principal it should be. The PC-V360 uses that style (see this review for pics).

Think using 2x ~120mm square of the rounded mesh (like the top of the V360, but without visible screws) with a center divider would look really nice, and wouldn't weaken the panels as much as one larger rectangular one.

Though I'm not really sure what benefit there is to doing this (and the current perforations will still probably look nicer and a lot cleaner, overall).

The slotted vents you mentioned might look pretty badass, if you could get them done offset at a 45° angle, either rectangular or rounded rectangular w/each slot the length of 2 or 3 of the current perforations (my example below is kinda caddywhompus, lol)..

nC8TzLe.jpg
 
In principal it should be. The PC-V360 uses that style (see this review for pics). On the plus side it'd be less restrictive for airflow, and punch-induced panel warping would no longer be a possibility. On the downside, the panels would be that much weaker (particularly the top panel), and it's more like a mesh so more of the interior shows and it's not as clean looking.

If the punching were eliminated for the side panel, thicker materials could be used, so hopefully panel strength shouldn't be a concern. I'm not sure how well the current front panel design would handle increased material thickness, however, particularly where the 90 degree bends meet the top.

As for seeing through the mesh, there is always going to be a visibility/air-flow trade off and there is nothing stopping people from adding additional layers of mesh or filters.

You're most likely right it won't be as clean looking. I'm hopeful though that it will still look very good, and maybe there'll even be enough interest to warrant this as an option - there has to be people that would pay for thicker panels. Some people might even fancy replacing the mesh with acrylic :D

lKt9swC.jpg
 
Fan bracket in lower slot

My GPU has an extra backplate. Cooler is the H60i.
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Notch I made.
fxtK3SFl.jpg




Fan bracket in upper slot

Fih54Drl.jpg

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Top panel is jutting out.
vC0augol.jpg

Connectors pushing against top panel.
Gzvk80il.jpg
 
How are you going to handle the intl shipping for v2? UPS is complete garbage for many outside the US, I hope it's not a repeat of the last campaign (brokerage processing fees are totally ridiculous if you're unable to self-declare)
 
How are you going to handle the intl shipping for v2? UPS is complete garbage for many outside the US, I hope it's not a repeat of the last campaign (brokerage processing fees are totally ridiculous if you're unable to self-declare)

Did you have an issue with brokerage?

So far I haven't received any complaints about brokerage with USPS. I was expecting problems, particularly Canadian backers - but nothing so far.

The problem I did have with USPS was tracking, damages and insurance, which accounted for about 90% of the problems with M1 rev1 campaign.

I really wanted to deliver all packages and ship parts to those with damaged M1s before Feb 2014, but USPS screwed up that goal.

So I'm talking to DHL to avoid USPS if we can, it's pretty expensive, but in certain situations / countries, it might be the better call.
 
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I live in Rural Alaska and only USPS ships to my address. Would it be possible for us that require USPS to still have USPS ship our m1?
 
I can only speak for myself but the shipping time and the import duty was very well done for Belgium.
 
USPS will definitely be an option.

The only question is do we need to upgrade to DHL/FedEx/UPS/etc and which countries.
 
I know Ouya had a disastrous time trying to ship via DHL to their kickstarter backers. I thought I would mention that, however I have no international shipping experience.
 
I'll go for the cheapest option with insurance. I've never had an issue with any international orders I've made.

I was wondering, is it possible to sign up for a case now or do I have to wait for an official announcement? If I have to wait, will I get a notification if I sign up on ncases.com?
 
I was wondering, is it possible to sign up for a case now or do I have to wait for an official announcement? If I have to wait, will I get a notification if I sign up on ncases.com?
If you sign up on the site you will be notified when the M1 is available for ordering. There's no 'signing up' for a case prior to that.
 
Unpainted interior option? Why would anyone want that? Unless to match silver cases.
I have a lian li with raw aluminum interior, it is no good.
 
Would you elaborate further why a raw aluminum interior is no good? I never had a Lian-Li, but I did have an X-QPack which comes with that.

Personally I'm not a big fan of paint due to how easy it is to chip or scratch the finish - especially near screw holes - and how bad the chips/scratches look.
 
Would you elaborate further why a raw aluminum interior is no good? I never had a Lian-Li, but I did have an X-QPack which comes with that.

Personally I'm not a big fan of paint due to how easy it is to chip or scratch the finish - especially near screw holes - and how bad the chips/scratches look.

Poor choice of words. I don't mean its bad, rather it doesn't look as clean as an all black interior. I do understand your gripe about paint chipping near screw threads. Maybe the quality of the anodization can be improved for rev2.
 
The thing is, the current interior is only painted, not anodized. Anodizing would cost more, but I'm not sure how much more though.
 
Unpainted interior option? Why would anyone want that? Unless to match silver cases.
I have a lian li with raw aluminum interior, it is no good.
Yeah I know what you mean. Even a fan connector sliding over the surface results in scratches you can't remove without sanding. Horrible.

I like the painted interior but if it would be possible, I'd recommend going a few shades darker, as it seems to be dark gray instead of black.
 
The thing is, the current interior is only painted, not anodized. Anodizing would cost more, but I'm not sure how much more though.
I asked about it back when we were deciding the finishes. It's not cost effective to do.
 
Did you have an issue with brokerage?

So far I haven't received any complaints about brokerage with USPS. I was expecting problems, particularly Canadian backers - but nothing so far.

The problem I did have with USPS was tracking, damages and insurance, which accounted for about 90% of the problems with M1 rev1 campaign.

I really wanted to deliver all packages and ship parts to those with damaged M1s before Feb 2014, but USPS screwed up that goal.

So I'm talking to DHL to avoid USPS if we can, it's pretty expensive, but in certain situations / countries, it might be the better call.

Canadian here, no brokerage on my V1. I know you've already mentioned that USPS will stay viable for certain countries, but I will flatly state I'd never grab a V2 if DHL was the option presented for shipping.
 
This time around please provide an air delivery option for those who want it, and for US orders please ship to a west coast port rather than NY/NJ. The extra month+ of shipping time was unnecessary.
 
This time around please provide an air delivery option for those who want it, and for US orders please ship to a west coast port rather than NY/NJ. The extra month+ of shipping time was unnecessary.

Option for air delivery is a great idea. Not sure what something like that would cost, but I'm pretty sure I would've paid an extra $20 to $50 to have avoided the month-long boat cruise waiting period.
 
Is there a ballpark time frame for when the second run is going to happen? Are we even 100% sure it is going to happen? I'm trying to decide whether to wait for run #2 or try to score a case from the first run secondhand.
 
Hi Necere,

I'm not sure if this particular idea has been discussed or is feasible, but I'd like to offer a suggestion for the panel mounting method.

Many cases use the sliding clip method with a screw on the back to secure the panel. However, I think it would be possible to go screw-free by combining the sliding clips with the current pin/clip method. Just have the pin oriented towards the front, and put the plastic clip in the front frame section as a sort of friction fit to secure the panel in place.

If that isn't clear enough, I could try to provide some illustration that might be limited to MSPaint.
 
Looks like I've neglected to answer a few questions here.

Is there a ballpark time frame for when the second run is going to happen? Are we even 100% sure it is going to happen?
Ballpark timeframe is orders opening up late this month or early next, with production - when we have enough orders - happening probably in June.

Is there a possibility to source a flat USB 3.0 header? Similar to what the NZXT Source 210 Elite has?
Are you talking about the flattened cable? Is there much advantage over the normal one? Doesn't seem like it would justify the expense of new tooling for that part.

Hi Necere,

I'm not sure if this particular idea has been discussed or is feasible, but I'd like to offer a suggestion for the panel mounting method.

Many cases use the sliding clip method with a screw on the back to secure the panel. However, I think it would be possible to go screw-free by combining the sliding clips with the current pin/clip method. Just have the pin oriented towards the front, and put the plastic clip in the front frame section as a sort of friction fit to secure the panel in place.

If that isn't clear enough, I could try to provide some illustration that might be limited to MSPaint.
I know exactly what you're talking about - because I've had the same idea. There are some issues though: one, it would require folding the edges of the panel over, which makes for some inconsistency of the edge between the front and side panels; two, it would also mean redesigning parts of the motherboard tray, top rails, chassis, and both PSU brackets, in addition to the side panels. That means those latter parts won't be compatible with first run M1s. As I've stated, I don't want to create a situation where there are significant incompatibilities between different revisions of the case. It's something to consider for the next project, though (when/if that happens).
 
Are you talking about the flattened cable? Is there much advantage over the normal one? Doesn't seem like it would justify the expense of new tooling for that part.

Ahh, I think I misunderstood the scope of this second run. I understand now.

The only reason I thought to suggest it was I noticed the barrel cable design seemed to impart a bit of stress to the header. I thought having a flat cable would alleviate some of that.
 
The "barrel" designs suck on pretty much every case, as you've noted, because it's so rigid it routes horribly and puts stress on the header socket.
 
W360 jumped the gun a bit on posting these, since I haven't gotten feedback from LL on them regarding the impact of implementing them. But yeah, I'm exploring alternative vent patterns using LL's existing tooling, mainly to see if going with a different pattern will allow us to use 2mm for the panels, or if it will reduce the potential for warping during manufacture. Open area is also somewhat greater with these designs compared to the current 3mm holes, which should make for better airflow.

Have you played with a honeycomb pattern?
LL's existing tooling for hexagonal holes is too large to use for the side/top panels (6-7mm).
 

The 1st offset one looks really nice, but would look even better with the ends slots cut shorter to be flush, and would look even better still with my 45° idea (if it's possible)..

Have each side panel with 45° slots aiming up towards the ODD slot, then leave the top panel with 90° slots exactly as you have it in your 1st picture (but with ends done flush). Here's a (very poorly done) photoshop..

k106GQF.jpg


If 45° slots aren't possible, I'd vote for the offset horizontal slots in W360's 1st pic, but only if the outlier end slots can be done flush - otherwise, I think the original hole vents look nicer.
 
Any chance for a "bring your own mesh/acrylic" option where we get panels with large cutouts in place of patterned vents?
 
Hmm.. I also kinda like a mix of both pics W360 posted. Here's another (still poorly done) photoshop..

Qx1xJox.jpg


Some sort of series of graduated dot to slots would also look nice, I think (at least on the ends). From left to right, have each row a dot, to short slot, to longer slot, to a series of slightly longer slots, back to shorter slot, shortest slot, and back to dot. Could also stagger the length of the middle slots to work into the same offset pattern as W360's 1st pic.
 
The 1st offset one looks really nice, but would look even better with the ends slots cut shorter to be flush, and would look even better still with my 45° idea (if it's possible)..

Have each side panel with 45° slots aiming up towards the ODD slot, then leave the top panel with 90° slots exactly as you have it in your 1st picture (but with ends done flush). Here's a (very poorly done) photoshop..

k106GQF.jpg


If 45° slots aren't possible, I'd vote for the offset horizontal slots in W360's 1st pic, but only if the outlier end slots can be done flush - otherwise, I think the original hole vents look nicer.
45° slots won't really work well, because to do right it needs to have a lot of partial-length slots at the edges of the pattern. We're working with a limited set of fixed size and shape punches. For the same reason, we are limited in how we can finish the rows ("ends done flush," as you put it). Here are some patterns I made using the available tooling:


(click for full size)

IMO there are three traits for an aesthetically preferable pattern:
  • Finished rows
  • Uniform spacing between holes, both vertical and horizontal
  • Symmetrical columnar offset

The trouble is, with the available punch sizes, there are few combinations that allow all three. Rounded rect #1 has uniform spacing and symmetrical offset, but unfinished rows because we lack a hole punch of the correct size. Rounded rect #2 has finished rows and symmetrical offset, but non-uniform spacing. Rounded rect #3 has finished rows and uniform spacing, but the offset isn't symmetrical. And so on. The only one that has all three is rectangular #4, but it uses 2mm wide slots which reduces open area, hurting airflow. I'm also not as fond of the non-rounded slots, personally (at least in a staggered arrangement).

IMO, none of these are really an aesthetic improvement over the current 3mm holes; the only reason I'm entertaining them is because of the potential to address some functional issues.

Any chance for a "bring your own mesh/acrylic" option where we get panels with large cutouts in place of patterned vents?
Maybe, if there's enough interest. Gotta meet MOQ for every option, remember.
 
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