SENTRY 3.0: Development and Suggestions

[ZombiPL]

Hello once again,

As you all know, Sentry 2.0 crowdfunding campaign ended almost 2 years ago. In the last few months we received many, many emails, pm’s and tweets from you guys asking if we will make another run of the case.
Because of the pandemic situation last year was very busy for us at our daytime jobs, so we really did not know if and when we would be able to move forward with this project.

Since the time we were designing Sentry 2.0, we have seen AMD’s Zen2 and Zen3 launch as well as 300W+ TDP GPUs becoming more mainstream, so we had to start thinking about catching up to the PC components evolution with our product design.

At this point we are considering making changes/improvements in the below fields:
- improving ventilation,
- analyzing adding support for thicker GPU cards,
- analyzing adding support for full height 120 AIO’s in GPU chamber,
- analyzing adding support for Founders Edition Nvidia GPU cards,
- making changes in the vertical stand, to simplify manufacturing of this component,
- analyzing possible changes in galvanization process of the Sentry,
- changing the manufacturing methods to use molds, which should allow us faster production and even better final quality, while keeping the last revision’s price (or even make it lower),
- redesigning shipping box to make it smaller, which will result in cheaper shipping cost,
- many smaller changes to improve manufacturing time and improving final quality of product.

The most time consuming part of the above changes is designing the molds, which not only improve the quality of the final product, but also will allow us to make it faster in bigger quantities. It also means we will need some time to prepare for it properly.

While we are still gathering your ideas on what we could or should improve, we would like to do so within the SFF community here, so if you have any ideas for the next version of Sentry, make sure to write them here on the forums and also discuss them with others.


With regards
DR ZĄBER Sentry Team

 

[Ryvaeus]

Hello again!

• Official support for specific bifurcation risers would be appreciated, so I don't have to do this again:
• 
  
• Maybe a side panel option with a cutout for the GPU chamber for ticket 2.75 slot graphics cards, so I don't have to do this again:
• 

I still use the V1 just as it is in that 2nd photo. If V3 had a way that I could keep the bifurcation as well as my thicc GPU, but with cleaner cuts or a less exposed method, I'd jump on it right away.

I know I made a similar comment before when you announced V2, however since there was no definitive bifurcation riser support without making similar cuts to the case as I made in the 1st photo, I couldn't justify buying it.

To be fair, my V1 is handling everything perfectly fine and it's still in very good shape. I do plan on keeping it like this for many more years, though I'd love to be able to handle a 105w TDP CPU like a 5900x without resorting to an AIO pump.

I am actually considering chopping out a vent above the CPU area so I can stick a Noctua NH-D15 on it and have it stick out like a hotrod engine.

 

[Ej24]

Wow guys, can't believe it's been 2 years since sentry 2.0 already. Really curious to see what you come up with for a v3. I could imagine one more pcie slot of thickness while keeping roughly the same x, y dimensions would be a good start. Though so many of these new gpu's aren't just thick, but tall too. It'll be cool if you can increase production numbers or do multiple manufacturing runs as Sentry doesn't get the attention it deserves from the general pc enthusiast audience. I think higher volume could help. Would this new manufacturing technique allow perhaps 2 versions? A slim sentry, basically same as V2.0 and a new thicker V3.0? I'm sure there are still tons of people who want something super slim like sentry 2.0 in addition to the people that want a new thick sentry.

 

[SaperPL]

It's not about the manufacturing process when it comes to to variants but the production scale and how the case is designed. With around 1000 units in a production run adding options makes it so you need to keep track of these options and make sure that each unit gets parts from the correct variant. With slight variations in some internal parts it poses risk that subcontractor will make a mistake and mixup some details between two etc. That's a thing of risk for one.

The second thing is that if we were to make like you said a thick 3.0 and slim 3.0, then we get to have different risers for each version and probably different USB headers to not make it look poor on the fron of thick version. This means from the get go we have to potentially lower order quantity and thus higher price for both versions if we can't precisely estimate which one will be more popular.

When we get to a point that we have continuous production, then introducing a variant should be easier, because we'll have suppliers that will see that at this price point we can sell big volume etc.

As for the case construction when considering variants, note that something like Ncase M1 can have easily a variant that differs by the type of front panel because that's a separate detachable piece and that's a thing that doesn't affect rest of the construction too much.

Consider situation where we want to sell cases off-shelf and we have to decide how much of those bigger versions of sentry we have to order, we make 500 of them and nothing of it sells because day 1 reviews show that it doesn't make sense price-wise in comparison to other competitors at 10L+ volume. And we are stuck with case bodies, packaging, risers and power cables that can't be reused in normal Sentry, so those will have to be stored until they sell off over longer period of time. And storage costs as well.


As for what we are aiming to do about the new cards - better ventilation and most likely support for 2.5 slot cards, nothing more. Note that for a 3-slot card it already means that you need a good airflow to handle it and you won't have it in a case like Sentry unless you perforate front and add fans or something like that. It's not magic and it simply won't handle a 350W TDP GPU and that's what the 3-slot cards are.

 

[AJSSno1]

Lighter, more portable, alu made

 

[Deacero]

Hi DR ZĄBER

● Add Anti-Dust panels please
● The the case colors should match, like: White case, White stand. Black case, Black stand.
● This new case should be equal or Slimmer as the previous one
     Resistant and Featherweight (made from aluminum or some lightweight materials alloy)
● In the front panel it could have the Headphone jack input and Mic input as well as the USB input
● If it will be launched at high price with lack of stock available it will be one more useless overpriced case in the market.

 

[ZenTex]

Hi.

while this thread isn't as active as the other one, I didn't feel like making yet another accounts.

I see you're making adjustments to the stand. How will it look?

On my sentry 2 the screw for the stand will rest on the usb front panel extension and is wobbly, but even when removing it it's still not very stable, so I've been using it horizontally instead, not optimal.

Also, will it be possible to mount the PSU a bit closer to the edge of the case? That'd make cable magagement so much easier if there were ever so slightly more space where the cables connect to the PSU.

3rd on my wish list... Mesh. With 3 cats and 2 dogs in the house and no mesh, the internals are hairier than my chest.

 

[SaperPL]

I see you're making adjustments to the stand. How will it look?

Will have to figure it out, but we're not there yet. We are considering the change in how the stand is attached - optimally it would be placing the case onto it/into it without a need to put the case down on something first to attach it. But it complicates the shape of it, so for now there's no definitive answer to that.

On my sentry 2 the screw for the stand will rest on the usb front panel extension and is wobbly, but even when removing it it's still not very stable, so I've been using it horizontally instead, not optimal.

Is the o-ring outside of the stand/underneath it on those screws? We've seen some people misinterpret how it's supposed to be attached. You're not supposed to unscrew it, but press against those o-rings to allow sliding of the screw head into the locks into locked position.

Also, will it be possible to mount the PSU a bit closer to the edge of the case? That'd make cable magagement so much easier if there were ever so slightly more space where the cables connect to the PSU.

That would depend on the PSU cable connector size and we are not sure if we are yet ready to make a decision to invest into custom plug manufacturing. Apart from making the plug itself there seems to be a lot of costs connected to ensuring its safety.

Ideally for cable management we could turn the PSU around so the modular connectors are on the USB panel side, which would for example allow for a custom very short 24-pin cable, but at the same time we'd have to handle collision of the C-13 plug with the power switch and potentially with 2.5" drives above, and then there's a venting of the PSU exhaust problem, so it's not a silver bullet, but changing one problem for another, maybe even bigger one.

3rd on my wish list... Mesh. With 3 cats and 2 dogs in the house and no mesh, the internals are hairier than my chest.

The case will get slightly thicker, so you should be able to put some mesh in it above the PSU and motherboard, but note that we're not planning to include those in the set as they really reduce the airflow in such construction. Airflow is good enough in big cases where there is a huge exchange area with three fans pulling the air through them, but in a case that doesn't have inlet/exhausts fans, if you put filters, you'll end up trapping a lot of hot air inside because recycling will be the path of least resistance.