New SFF gamers case: presentation and advices

I don't even need one of these and I may buy one anyway still... I love small computers, and this fits the bill for the perfect case that I always wanted. It completely pwns my Lian-Li PC-V350B for airflow.
 
Case looks amazing. Will probably be picking one up when it's released. Also the idea of having the limited edition is great and if there was a red/yellow I might have to get that one instead. Good luck with finishing everything up and great to see it can house a ATI HD5970.
 
PrkChpXprss said:
Very nice. Is it too late to ask for a carrying handle similar to the FragBox one? :cool:
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I think they come with a bag unless that got changed but if not just buy a carrying harness for it like the Geargrip models. :)
 
This looks real good. Yet, going mATX instead of a Shuttle means we all have to decide on a PSU and HSF to pick as well.

Someone had mentioned the Silverstone Strider Plus being the best PSU for this case. That settles that but there seem to be a bunch of HSF as options and I have no idea which one would be the best / most appropriate for this case (and Core i7-960).

Here are some that appear to be popular at the moment. I look forward to your feedback.

Swiftech
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366
Thermalright Ultima-90
Zalman Ultra Quiet CNPS9500, CNPS9900 LED
Nexus LOW-7000 Low-Profile Socket-1366 CPU Cooler
Enzotech Extreme-X
Scythe Zipang
Scythe MUGEN-2 SCMG-2000
Xigmatek
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2
COOLERMASTER V8

The Xigmatek with the 140mm fan pictured seems like a perfect fit. Is it safe to say that is the best choice?
 
When is being released? I'll be first in line to purchase. :cool:

My only suggestion is to change the name - it is unappealing and quite lame.
 
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INTOXiCATOR said:
This looks real good. Yet, going mATX instead of a Shuttle means we all have to decide on a PSU and HSF to pick as well.

Someone had mentioned the Silverstone Strider Plus being the best PSU for this case. That settles that but there seem to be a bunch of HSF as options and I have no idea which one would be the best / most appropriate for this case (and Core i7-960).

Here are some that appear to be popular at the moment. I look forward to your feedback.

Swiftech
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366
Thermalright Ultima-90
Zalman Ultra Quiet CNPS9500, CNPS9900 LED
Nexus LOW-7000 Low-Profile Socket-1366 CPU Cooler
Enzotech Extreme-X
Scythe Zipang
Scythe MUGEN-2 SCMG-2000
Xigmatek
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2
COOLERMASTER V8

The Xigmatek with the 140mm fan pictured seems like a perfect fit. Is it safe to say that is the best choice?
Click to expand...

Kind of depends on what you plan to do with it. Those that want crazy overclocks will want the biggest best performing hsf and those that won't overclock may get something tamer and less expensive. Also the manufacturer won't be able to test every type and size of hsf in existance. We'll have a much bigger and better picture of what will and won't work once it gets into the enthusiasts and the modders hands.
 
I don't plan to overclock but it seems that the stock cooler just doesn't cut it in an SFF. It's a good idea to have good (thermal) margin for extra stability on a hot day or for when you decide to overclock because you notice your system isn't keeping up. Moreover, I'm planning on getting a i7-960 which is OEM so a stock cooler isn't even included.

I did a little research and it seems that it basically boils down to three standard/popular coolers:
(ranked in terms of thermal performance)

Thermalright Ultra120 / Cogage TRUE Sprit
Scythe MUGEN-2 SCMG-2000
Xigmatek HDT-S1283V Dark Knight

I ruled out the likes of the Noctuas, Prolimatech Megahalems and Zalman CNPS10X all for being too special/expensive. Those are the ones that would only interest extreme overclockers or people who just want to be different.

Provided that neither of the three listed coolers block anything on the case/motherboard (ASUS Rampage Gene X58 mATX), they seem to be the optimal choice. The Mugen-2 is only $35 (heatsink w/ fan) and is a top performer.

I guess my question is two-fold:

1) Which of these three would you get? The Cogage is Thermalright's knockoff and obtained rave reviews. It is also smaller than the Mugen2 (which apparently fits from the pictures we've seen so far). I am tempted by the Xigmatek 1283 being the smallest of these three 'big' heatsinks. Volumetrically, it's just about half the size of the Mugen2.

2) If these fit perfectly, why would it make sense to consider the smaller ones (Nexus, Zipang)? They don't seem to be any cheaper. Perhaps, being smaller, they would provide better case airflow as a previous poster suggested? The articles I've read seem to indicate that big,dense heatsinks require powerful fans to be effective...

It seems that the only way we will find out is by seeing how effective different models are on this case.
 
Count me in for one of these cases. Any word on when they will be available and where I can order one?

:p
 
I like the case, though.. maybe the front bezel should have some mesh holes for the psu + 120mm fan in the front... too promote air flow and all.
 
INTOXiCATOR said:
I don't plan to overclock but it seems that the stock cooler just doesn't cut it in an SFF. It's a good idea to have good (thermal) margin for extra stability on a hot day or for when you decide to overclock because you notice your system isn't keeping up. Moreover, I'm planning on getting a i7-960 which is OEM so a stock cooler isn't even included.

I did a little research and it seems that it basically boils down to three standard/popular coolers:
(ranked in terms of thermal performance)

Thermalright Ultra120 / Cogage TRUE Sprit
Scythe MUGEN-2 SCMG-2000
Xigmatek HDT-S1283V Dark Knight

I ruled out the likes of the Noctuas, Prolimatech Megahalems and Zalman CNPS10X all for being too special/expensive. Those are the ones that would only interest extreme overclockers or people who just want to be different.

Provided that neither of the three listed coolers block anything on the case/motherboard (ASUS Rampage Gene X58 mATX), they seem to be the optimal choice. The Mugen-2 is only $35 (heatsink w/ fan) and is a top performer.

I guess my question is two-fold:

1) Which of these three would you get? The Cogage is Thermalright's knockoff and obtained rave reviews. It is also smaller than the Mugen2 (which apparently fits from the pictures we've seen so far). I am tempted by the Xigmatek 1283 being the smallest of these three 'big' heatsinks. Volumetrically, it's just about half the size of the Mugen2.

2) If these fit perfectly, why would it make sense to consider the smaller ones (Nexus, Zipang)? They don't seem to be any cheaper. Perhaps, being smaller, they would provide better case airflow as a previous poster suggested? The articles I've read seem to indicate that big,dense heatsinks require powerful fans to be effective...

It seems that the only way we will find out is by seeing how effective different models are on this case.
Click to expand...


The Thermalright Ultra120 / Cogage TRUE Sprit, Scythe MUGEN-2 SCMG-2000, Xigmatek HDT-S1283V Dark Knight will fit without any problems. After, it's a question of performance / price. Check Frostytech.com for heatsink performance. Going to a smaller one makes sense only if you are concern about weight.

When you pick a heatsink for any case, not for your config but for people in general, take into consideration that socket 1156 are closers to the GPU(s) than the 775 and 1366. For socket 1156 motherboards, I would recommend not opt for a Mugen 2 because it seats too close to the video card, and you might have difficulties setting it up the way you'd want it.

For the front bezel, we are going to offer some more options in the future for people interested. The airflow is sufficient at this point, but we could add a mesh later on. In the mean time, simple.

The exact release date has not been fixed yet but we are looking into setting up a pre order page on the website. Do you think it's a good idea? It would be a first come, first served due to the limited amount of case produced at first.
 
mattinv said:
The exact release date has not been fixed yet but we are looking into setting up a pre order page on the website. Do you think it's a good idea? It would be a first come, first served due to the limited amount of case produced at first.
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I would defiantly use it if your doing international shipping,
best of luck to you, case is looking better every new photo i see, brilliant work
cheers.
 
FatalCake said:
I would defiantly use it if your doing international shipping,
best of luck to you, case is looking better every new photo i see, brilliant work
cheers.
Click to expand...

Working hard to make it better every time. Although we are in the final revision now and production started. I'll keep improving based on your feedback. Same with the accessories. I'm looking at a 4-5 fans controller, large LCD screen, which could retail for around $45. Really nice looking, but still in the testing phase. I'll send you guys a picture and you can tell me what you think of it. I would integrate it to the face of DA BOX.
 
hey keep up the great work! bring this thing to market already!

also, do you have any temps from when you had the 5970 running in there?
 
Hi everybody,

I'm going to have a pre order page for people looking to get DA BOX for Christmas.:p
We will have 2 dedicated pages for pre orders. One for the USA/Canada/Australia/(rest of the world-EU) and one for EU only. It will be translated in French and Italian at first.
I don't have temperatures data for the 5970 set up, but it will be published in a review in December. I'm very optimistic considering what we got with a burn of the crossfire of 4870. It was toasty! Same for both cards under heavy loads.

So stay posted. I'm trying to have all that set up by Thanks Giving!
 
i'm still suggesting that the front bezel have the top half solid aluminum (for looks) while having the bottom half meshed or hole punctured to promote better air flow and cooling.. instead of just having very bottom have a vacum suck effect for air flow ... I mean this way you get away with decent looks while having an actual positive effects of airflow :confused:
 
mattinv said:
Hi everybody,

I'm going to have a pre order page for people looking to get DA BOX for Christmas.:p
We will have 2 dedicated pages for pre orders. One for the USA/Canada/Australia/(rest of the world-EU) and one for EU only. It will be translated in French and Italian at first.
I don't have temperatures data for the 5970 set up, but it will be published in a review in December. I'm very optimistic considering what we got with a burn of the crossfire of 4870. It was toasty! Same for both cards under heavy loads.

So stay posted. I'm trying to have all that set up by Thanks Giving!
Click to expand...

Hurry up.. I'll probably be preordering this just so I can get it and stare at while pondering what I'll be putting in it! :)
 
mattinv said:
Working hard to make it better every time. Although we are in the final revision now and production started. I'll keep improving based on your feedback. Same with the accessories. I'm looking at a 4-5 fans controller, large LCD screen, which could retail for around $45. Really nice looking, but still in the testing phase. I'll send you guys a picture and you can tell me what you think of it. I would integrate it to the face of DA BOX.
Click to expand...

Any chance of u guys bringing it over to South East Asia?
 
Count me in for one. When can I buy?

Also, what's this PSU talk? I thought it could take a standard PSU?
 
Dear Santa, I want the acclaimed mITX box that mattniv announced some time ago to be superior to everything (that i know of) for christmas.
Thanks.
 
dmw16 said:
Count me in for one. When can I buy?

Also, what's this PSU talk? I thought it could take a standard PSU?
Click to expand...

Well, if you haven't taken the time to read through all bazillion pages of this thread (I don't blame you), it looks like the largest you could fit PSU wise is a 6.5" long PSU.

Note, this is actually larger than a "standard" ATX PSU, but a lot of the 1000w units are just too long. Remember, this -is- a SFF case, haha. You might be able to go longer if you dropped the 92mm intake fan along the front, but that would also not allow you to put in a 5970, or most likely, even a 5870.
 
jarhead said:
Well, if you haven't taken the time to read through all bazillion pages of this thread (I don't blame you), it looks like the largest you could fit PSU wise is a 6.5" long PSU.

Note, this is actually larger than a "standard" ATX PSU, but a lot of the 1000w units are just too long. Remember, this -is- a SFF case, haha. You might be able to go longer if you dropped the 92mm intake fan along the front, but that would also not allow you to put in a 5970, or most likely, even a 5870.
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I've read a lot of it, but not everything. I was pretty sure my 520W Corsair would fit, so that post about PSU's about a page back threw me off. Sounds like it will be fine tho. :D

Sounds like pre-order plans are coming along as well.
 
I'll save you the hassle of looking back. He already said a Corsair HX520w will fit in it.
 
When the pre-orders go up, will there also be a shot at the black exterior with red inside?
 
Ok, please, everybody, Santa is going to post a pre-order page soon, and he doesn't want you to worry about the PSU debate.
One more time:
#1 you can fit a 6.3" PSU easily with the 92mm fan in front. This means most PSU under 900W that are correctly design and have at least a bronze/silver rating
#2 you can fit a 6.5" PSU fairly easily with the 92mm fan in front. This means most PSU under 1200W that are correctly design and have at least a bronze/silver rating
#3 you can fit up to a 6.7" PSU with some pain in the cable management area;) with a 80mm fan in front. This will fit your old PSU although you might want to stay modular and light = newer PSU.
So now, the question is: why am I even mentioning 1200W PSU? Are you guys going to carry around a 15kg DA BOX? (Please, if you do, send me some pictures :D)
Keep in mind that the biggest setup is a crossfire of 5970, which will be perfectly fine with a good 900W PSU.

For the pre -orders, we are doing a bit of a special: this is going to be the only time where you'll have up to 4 choices when it comes to the models available, including one without fans! I'll send a link here as soon as I have it posted.:p
 
Mattinv,
Trust me if they think they can get a 1200w psu in it someone will try it. :D
 
That's official. Pre orders are opened on lan-gear.com.

First come, first served. I'll do my best to have all the orders shipped as soon as possible:p. Everybody is going to work extra shift to make it happen, I hope you'll enjoy this product as much as the people who got their hands on it so far.

The Lan Gear adventure begins!:D

Happy Thanks Giving!
 
Damn tempting... if I had a use for an SFF rig yet, hopefully these will still be in production for a while, if not I'll snag one and keep it laying around until I build something.
 
Is the non window side panel the same style as the opposite side? i.e. 3 mesh panels/vents? I can't see a photo for that option, but maybe I missed it.
 
IanM said:
Is the non window side panel the same style as the opposite side? i.e. 3 mesh panels/vents? I can't see a photo for that option, but maybe I missed it.
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No, it's not exactly the same style. The window is not perforated at this point. The perforations are placed on the cover, next to the window. I'll try to post a picture today.
 
mattinv said:
I'll try to post a picture today.
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Thanks :) I was just thinking for the without window version, if it was perforated all the way along the length that may suit some of the aftermarket quiet/silent GPU coolers e.g. like the Accelero or Scythe Musashi. Though personally I'd really like to go for water cooling for quietness, so I may opt for the window version anyway.
 
I hit the preorder button once but the screen blinked and nothing happened. I won't retry it and I'll just wait for an email, but just to let you know in case something is up with your servers....
 
"For the pre -orders, we are doing a bit of a special: this is going to be the only time where you'll have up to 4 choices when it comes to the models available, including one without fans! I'll send a link here as soon as I have it posted."

Which models will you be getting rid of? Will the Full Black w/t window (but including fans) still be avaliable?
 
The models that might disappear are the ones without fans. The reasons for it is that the cost run up the roof when we have all these different versions. But we assume that all the enthusiast will have ordered their case by the end of the year.
After that, you'll have a version with and without window, both with fans (all black "black heart" and the "classic").
If a special version that we stopped is in high demand, we'll make an exception and try to get it out for the ones of you interested.;)

PRE ORDER DA BOX: here
 
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