Nebula - System76's new case arriving at the end of June!

[RanceJustice]

System76 is a company that has done a lot of good for open computing in recent years. They maintain the Linux distro PopOS which has been one of the go-to desktop distros based on Debian/Ubuntu, they ship laptop and desktops alike made for Linux, contribute to Coreboot and custom daughterboards made with open ethos in mind, and have even gotten into building peripherals such as their enthusiast mech keyboard Launch. They started creating their own, made in the US, aluminum cases with the Thelio lineup of pre-built Linux desktops. Thelio desktops were fabbed and assembled in Denver, CO and had a unique aesthetic, but they were purpose built for S76's systems and you couldn't buy them a la carte. After much demand, that is changing.

https://fosstodon.org/@carlrichell/110471188200553497

On Mastodon (a libre, federated alternative to Twitter for microblogging. FOSSTodon is simply one of many federated instances.) one of their execs posted a pic and announcement of Nebula, there new a la carte PC case inspired by Thelio. He also confirmed that there will be varying sizes going from mITX up to E-ATX (No SSI-EEB to start though). debuting later this month. I have some concerns and really hope their design, modularity, features and more will be sufficient to carry the price of an ethically made in the US enclosure, but I'm very glad to see one of these and hope it has been worth the wait.

 

[RanceJustice]

S76 has kept their word on the launch date being the end of June, and they're now available on the website!

At the moment they have these three models available, based on the Thelio, Thelio Mira, and Thelio Mega respectively. The prices are surprisingly reasonable for designed and fabricated in the US. Clicking on each takes to a sale page with some additional specs and the ability to order

They offer pretty much everything included save for the custom SATA hotswap backplanes (you can select 1 or 2 by default, and buy more if need be) which are a very reasonable $20 each, and also some of their suggested CPU coolers (Noctua NH-U12S) and and GPU intake fans (BeQuiet). Also the link about "Thelio Accents" is regarding the decorative vertical strip on Thelio and Nebula cases (by default, its where the planets are pictured on Nebula above). Clicking that link takes you to a place to config and buy the accents for your particular case size; there's a nice assortment of solid colors, graphics (the Nebula planetary design + a circuitboard design), and the original wood (walnut, birch) designs from the Thelio launch; all of which seem to be $20.

While some basic specs and other info are present, its worth noting that if you want a a VERY detailed look at the case , components and more inside and out its worth clicking on the "specifications and assembly" link taking you to the System76 Docs repository for entries for each of their products - https://tech-docs.system76.com/models/nebula49-1/README.html - for example. NOTE: At this time the Nebula49 only has the basic info entry, but both the 36 and 19 have subsection links to the highly detailed "External Overview" and "Parts & Assembly" pages. I expect that the 49, of which is most interesting to me, should have its up soon.

An example from the Nebula36's Parts & Assembly, instructions for how to wire or replace the front panel connections and power buttons; its quite refreshing to see them intended for upgrade -

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Thoughts, pros and cons -

I'm very glad to see System76 taking this step. Overall they seem to be one of the companies that is helping to move Free/libre open source software, firmware and accessible, modular, right-to-repair hardware forward with modern features, power, and convenience. The Thelio lineup was one of the few designed-and-fabricated in the US cases since the unfortunate original closure of CaseLabs, but until the arrival of Nebula was only available purchasing a fully integrated system. Looking at Nebula and Thelio its obvious a lot of care is going into the design, materials, and features of these cases. Even the prices seem surprisingly reasonable, given the high quality materials and US fabrications; while they'll never be cases for those for whom budget is the first concern I've seen similar price ranges from mass-market brand cases manufactured in much lower cost countries, using less expensive materials, and the like. Nebula , like Thelio before it is absolutely "its own thing" - it does not chase trends or attempt to simply replicate whatever layout or design is popular with influencers today. How this suits you however, will depend on your appreciation for the design features but also your use case, for better or worse.

I admit there are some elements that seem a bit concerning to me, at least initially, in terms of the narrowness of said use cases. I am a bit concerned that perhaps it in some ways is still too close to what was expected with Thelio and does not give the latitude for hardware and components that those who value S76's ethos and are willing to spend Nebula money will wish. While the Nebula36 is a mid-tower capable of everything up to TX, the Nebula49 is a full tower with ATX and EATX support and as such I was most interested both for what it "fits" and my own personal interest - learning about Nebula's arrival I was considering purchasing one to serve as the home for my hopefully soon to be rebuilt home server/NAS rig. Now, I admit that since the Nebula49's technical documents are not up as yet I am using the 36's for example and maybe this may be incorrect in certain cases, but otherwise I only have the purchase page to go on.

For instance, it seems odd to me that both the 36 an 49 seem to only support a moderate sized air cooler ; while the Noctua U12S is certainly performant for its size and apparently the U12A also will fit, even on the largest case it cannot handle the beefier air coolers? The dimensions mention that heightwise you can fit just about anything if you take off the shroud , but it is the width and depth that seem to prevent the use of the larger D15 or even U14S series coolers, along with comparable models from Thermalright, Scythe and the like. Even of more concern is that it seems to only support a liquid cooler with a single 120mm radiator/fan; those who are purchasing $300+, full tower cases will often be seeking out 280mm or ideally 360mm radiator space for even many common AIO/CLC, so I am guessing this is a limitation left over from the experience of selling Thelio systems where other factors were given precedence. Likewise, I noticed that the Nebula49 mentions support for 4x 2.5" HDDs, which seemed a curious decision given the size of the case. While I am sure that this is a nice way for Thelio systems to have uniformity alongside the various laptops, exclusive used of 2.5" drives is somewhat limited especially in a full sized chassis. It would have seemed way more ideal to support 3.5" drives, given that they are much more common with HDDs made for high volume storage and that, with minor adapters, you can always fit 2.5" SATA HDD or SSDs into racks, mounts, or even hotswap backplanes made for 3.5". The exclusive focus on 2.5" drives for storage and, apparently only 4 of them even in the full tower, makes it hard for me to choose for my home server/NAS build. There are also some perhaps smaller issues of concern, such as a case that seems modular in so many ways not offering a removable motherboard tray (I think?). I am eager to see some of the other images and breakdown of the inside of the Nebula49 as I am curious how the space is used that may differ from the 36.

While some of these issues stay my hand from an immediate purchase, I am hoping that perhaps System76 will embrace modular and upgrade elements even further, offering customizations that can be swapped in to address some of my concerns above, keep up with changes in hardware/standards, as well as just allow users to expand Nebula in the way that fits them best; only time will tell. For the moment however, I am pleased to see System76 taking a first step into a la carte case sales. It is obvious they've put a lot of time and effort into its fabrication, as well as upholding FOSS and open ethos, as well as their own design style. I am just a bit concerned that some of the design decisions remain a little too close to what they were used to selling integrated systems, missing out on some of the features and options that would be expected by PC enthusiasts willing to invest in a case of Nebula's stature.

 

[Grebuloner]

They're pretty, but there's a ton of function missing from those forms.

Premium pricing for cases that can't really even support midrange hardware and are largely closed off from real cooling.

Top expansion slot missing from the midtower? Seriously?

 

[RanceJustice]

They're pretty, but there's a ton of function missing from those forms.

Premium pricing for cases that can't really even support midrange hardware and are largely closed off from real cooling.

Top expansion slot missing from the midtower? Seriously?

Looking at the comparable Thelio systems, it does seem they are being sold with even higher end Intel 13th gen / AMD 7000 series platform hardware like a 7950X + 4090, but they're so incredibly purpose built it seems that deviation from what they were used to do in Thelio and you may find something unsupported. I'm sure that a Noctua U12S will work to cool a 7950X, but I am guessing that it won''t let it reach the same clocks and keep within temp threshold of a more comprehensive AIO cooler etc. They seem to have the interior ducted and segmented off to isolate heat and move things the right direction; looking at some of the docs on Thelio (which admittedly Nebula seems a bit more open) they seem almost Mac Pro like inside in this regard, for better or worse? Works very well for a hardware company selling complete systems, but not so well for disparate hardware and usage needs in an a la carte case, I wonder.