SENTRY: Console-sized gaming PC case project

I really want onnnne :/. Ive now looked so intensly at the DAN and yours, the Node and some which are slightly bigger. I want the damn Sentry NOOOW.
 
Just got my 30x30x1.2mm copper shim.

After install of the Dynatron R15 with that shim, noctua af-92x14mm fan, thermal grizzly kryonaut paste, and zip ties the temps on my 7700K (stock) went from ~85C with the copper core stock cooler during gaming to ~70C during gaming.

My guess is a proper mounting solution would help by another 5-10C
 
My build:

- Intel i7 7700k
- CPU Cooler (Not sure yet. )
- MSI Gaming PRO Carbon ITX
- 2x16GB G.Skill NT CAS 15 2400MHz 1.2v
-NVIDIA GTX 1080Ti FE
- 1TB PNY SSD
- Corsair SF-600 PSU

It felt really nice when I got 60FPS at 4k in an HDR tv on the free copy of wildlands that comes with the 1080ti's promotion.

So we should expect the first Sentry cases to ship by mid April?
 
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SaperPL said:
7700K should be okay without OC, but louder/hotter, but I believe with Titan X Pascal/1080TI you'll have to use the case only in vertical position on a stand and you might still need to ramp up the fan curve like Linus did to get the full performance out of the card.

I'm also not sure if getting 1080TI won't be unnecessary overpaying for the GPU since in Ryzen 1700 vs 7700K benchmarks overclocked i7 was pretty much balanced in full load with GTX1080 on Battlefield 1 (both GPU and CPU had 95~98% loads). This means that without OC you're definitely going to bottleneck 1080TI with your CPU if you're not going for 4K.
Click to expand...

It depends on what you are using it for. I can tell you the 1080TI makes a huge difference when it comes to working with real time graphic data if the that data is not GPU bounded. For example GPU-Accelerated image/shader processing or other uses like VR where super-sampling can give you much better graphics and it is only GPU bound.
 
Hardware is here, the case not (yet)...

Next step: Testting what temperature difference deliding and aplying of liquid metal will make !

CPU: Intel i7 7700 (non K)
Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i

Stay tuned ;-)
 

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Another interesting piece of info on Ryzen performance.



TL DW: It might be possible that DX12 benchmarks were affected by nvidia API not distributing work properly for the CPU threads.
 
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5th week of Sentry manufacturing process​



This probably won't surprise you, but we are still waiting for some key elements like risers, rubber feet or even carton boxes of every kind (some of them are currently kept by customs services, who are waiting for some documents from our suppliers). We also wanted to start moving into our newly rented premises from the 1st of April, but since it is weekend, we will have to wait until Monday.

This time we received some bigger packages:
-new transport foams (our current warehouse is almost full :))

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-internal power cables,

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- laser engraved aluminium labels (nameplates),

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- samples of Sentry simplified quick start manual,

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We are almost at the finish-line with the most of the ordered elements. We hope next week we will have all of the needed parts so we will be able to start the assembling process.


As a bonus to this update, below you can find some photos showing Demciflex filters installed in/on Sentry:​

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This might sound like a silly question but would I be able to mount these magnetic filters inside my white sentry?

EDIT: nvm i saw the last two pics
 
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Sad news all. The results of my Dynatron R15 mounted with zip ties and a copper shim with paste on both sides is less than ideal. I wasn't sure how well it would perform with limited mounting pressure and grease on both sides of this shim...

~80C during CPU-z stress was satisfactory, but that's when the GPU is idle. I get ~90C in a heavy gaming load in Crysis 3 (ultra with 1440p rez) with my 7700k (stock) with a Zotac Amp Extreme GTX 1080. Now that both CPU and GPU are stressed, the hot air the GPU spews into this open style case I currently have which represents the best scenario for an open style 1080Ti in Sentry is too hot.

So, my question to all of you now is... Have you tested the Thermolab LP53 against the Dynatron K129? Do you think those will get better performance than my current setup? I will mount the same Noctua NF-A9x14 fan I have on there now. If this is the current best that I can get it looks like I'll be forced to get a founders edition 1080Ti.

http://www.cooltek.de/en/cpu-cooler/powered-by-thermolab/128/lp53
http://www.dynatron-corp.com/?product=k129
 
defrow said:
This might sound like a silly question but would I be able to mount these magnetic filters inside my white sentry?
Click to expand...
Actually I'm curious about this too. The last two pictures show the internal GPU filters, and that they'll fit that way. I'm assuming that won't be the case for the vents over the motherboard, especially since the low clearance over the PSU? It's only a slight bummer, that adding the filter externally over the motherboard will slightly take away from the plain white aesthetics of my case.
 
defrow said:
This might sound like a silly question but would I be able to mount these magnetic filters inside my white sentry?

EDIT: nvm i saw the last two pics
Click to expand...

Sam-I-Am said:
Actually I'm curious about this too. The last two pictures show the internal GPU filters, and that they'll fit that way. I'm assuming that won't be the case for the vents over the motherboard, especially since the low clearance over the PSU? It's only a slight bummer, that adding the filter externally over the motherboard will slightly take away from the plain white aesthetics of my case.
Click to expand...

I think I have explained this already

SaperPL said:
I can see you haven't been paying attention to our twitter :p

In vertical position you can mount all four filters externally. Note the fact that one of the exhaust filters has cutouts for the vertical stand locking bolts.

In horizontal position the GPU filter should be mounted on the inside because the magnetic frame is thick enough to cut the gap between the case and the surface it's standing on on the bottom of the case by almost half limiting the fresh air access to the GPU.
When only using case horizontally you could be also using the rectangular filter without cutouts for vertical stand bolts on the CPU/PSU side.

Also, since I believe those filters are directional meaning they are optimised for the airflow in one direction, you might want to install the exhaust filter in opposite way, internally inside the GPU bracket when using blower style GPU because it will suck air from the side as well. I think there should be no problem in ordering the set with this filter optimised for opposite direction since they are taking custom orders as well.

You won't have to buy all 5 filters because DEMCifilter sells their filters either as a package or piece by piece.
Click to expand...
 
SaperPL said:
I think I have explained this already
Click to expand...
I understand you explained it before, but I'd prefer to keep the filters inside to keep the cleaner exterior look. I was saying I'm imagining you simply can't install the filter over the motherboard internally due to clearance. You mentioned you can install the GPU filters internally, I get why that is. I only brought it up because I remember I believe it was Linus saying he had to remove the fan grille on his PSU to get clearance which is why I am guessing there isn't clearance internally for the filter. No biggie though.
 
Ok, so no, you cannot install the filter internally on the PSU/CPU side - case cover is lying directly on the PSU and there's not enough space for the filter with magnet frame to be mounted on the side.

Also the target for the filters was to be mounted externally because people that asked about filters mostly wanted them easily removable without opening the case. The only problem was with thick frame in desktop position where case feet are pretty short so we designed additional filter for internal mounting under the GPU.

If you want to use the filters internally on the psu side, then you should pick a generic 0.5mm filter without magnetic frame to lay directly on the PSU and pick some fitting magnetic frame for the motherboard area, but remember not to put magnets near hard drives. As for the side/exhaust, I have no solution for mounting a filter on that side properly as this side slides directly on the edge of motherboard tray and this edge is directly around the edge of the vents. This means if you were to put a magnet frame there, you would block off significant part of the exhaust.
 
Steve0Kinev0 said:
Sad news all. The results of my Dynatron R15 mounted with zip ties and a copper shim with paste on both sides is less than ideal. I wasn't sure how well it would perform with limited mounting pressure and grease on both sides of this shim...

~80C during CPU-z stress was satisfactory, but that's when the GPU is idle. I get ~90C in a heavy gaming load in Crysis 3 (ultra with 1440p rez) with my 7700k (stock) with a Zotac Amp Extreme GTX 1080. Now that both CPU and GPU are stressed, the hot air the GPU spews into this open style case I currently have which represents the best scenario for an open style 1080Ti in Sentry is too hot.

So, my question to all of you now is... Have you tested the Thermolab LP53 against the Dynatron K129? Do you think those will get better performance than my current setup? I will mount the same Noctua NF-A9x14 fan I have on there now. If this is the current best that I can get it looks like I'll be forced to get a founders edition 1080Ti.

http://www.cooltek.de/en/cpu-cooler/powered-by-thermolab/128/lp53
http://www.dynatron-corp.com/?product=k129
Click to expand...

1) You know that this card, the Zotac Amp Extreme GTX 1080 won't fit inside Sentry? And there's a good reason for that - this card takes up to 270W while the reference TDP of 1080 is 180W. Linus tested 250W Titan X Pascal and it didn't have perfect temps.

2) What case are you using now? How do you decide if your tests are relevant for Sentry?

3) We haven't tested those coolers. With your current setup ~80C during stress test is a proper temperature for 95W TDP CPU on a low profile cooler. Changing this to a different low profile cooler won't do anything if motherboard area is filled with air heated by the back of the card or simply exhausted by it.
 
SaperPL said:
Ok, so no, you cannot install the filter internally on the PSU/CPU side - case cover is lying directly on the PSU and there's not enough space for the filter with magnet frame to be mounted on the side.

Also the target for the filters was to be mounted externally because people that asked about filters mostly wanted them easily removable without opening the case. The only problem was with thick frame in desktop position where case feet are pretty short so we designed additional filter for internal mounting under the GPU.

If you want to use the filters internally on the psu side, then you should pick a generic 0.5mm filter without magnetic frame to lay directly on the PSU and pick some fitting magnetic frame for the motherboard area, but remember not to put magnets near hard drives. As for the side/exhaust, I have no solution for mounting a filter on that side properly as this side slides directly on the edge of motherboard tray and this edge is directly around the edge of the vents. This means if you were to put a magnet frame there, you would block off significant part of the exhaust.
Click to expand...
Thanks! That's what I was looking for! And also what I figured would be the case. I'll probably just try filter-less for the most part.
 
OK...

I realy hope this is understandable and my crappy english was enough for this...

CPU: Intel i7 7700 (non K)
Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i

Open air test

10 Minutes Aida 64 Extreme
CPU / FPU / Cache - Stresstest

Ambient-Temp : 25°

Packedge-Temp´s

BaseLine : 75°

UnderVolting:
- 0,050V : 74°
- 0,100V : 69°
- 0,125V : 67°

Delid / with std. Noctua TP : 71°
Delid / with std. Noctua TP / UnderVolting (- 0,125V) : 64°

Delid / LiquidMetal : 64°
Delid / LiquidMetal / UnderVolting : 59°

Powerdraw Std. V : 90W
Powerdraw UV (- 0,125V) : 78W

(My) Conclusions:

- Delidding and applying LM under the Heatspreader deosn´t help much if you
use standard TP on top of it !

- UnderVolting is the simple way to save a few degrees (and power!), BUT like overclocking
it is a "silicon" lottery how much uv your specific CPU can handle (in my case -0,125V).

Any more questions ?
 

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SaperPL said:
1) You know that this card, the Zotac Amp Extreme GTX 1080 won't fit inside Sentry? And there's a good reason for that - this card takes up to 270W while the reference TDP of 1080 is 180W. Linus tested 250W Titan X Pascal and it didn't have perfect temps.

2) What case are you using now? How do you decide if your tests are relevant for Sentry?

3) We haven't tested those coolers. With your current setup ~80C during stress test is a proper temperature for 95W TDP CPU on a low profile cooler. Changing this to a different low profile cooler won't do anything if motherboard area is filled with air heated by the back of the card or simply exhausted by it.
Click to expand...

1) I'm aware of the size and TDP. I'm currently using this as a 30 day upgrade until I return it to microcenter and get a founders edition 1080 Ti when they're back in stock.

2) I was considering the EVGA icx superclocked 1080Ti which is 250W open air, close to this zotac 1080. The case I have now is an NZXT Vulcan with the side panels removed and no case fans. If I get 90C in crysis 3 now then that should be the best scenario of what I'll get in the Sentry with an open air 1080 Ti.

3) I figured as much. I just wanted to make sure I had the best CPU cooler setup possible to see if the founder edition 1080 Ti was the smartest option with the 7700K. Was surprised at how much the overkill 1080 spews heat and ruins CPU temps. I knew it was going to be hotter but not by this much.

I'm going with a founders edition 1080 Ti for sure now.
 
The main reason I got my founders edition 1080ti is because you can't trust any of the other manufacturers cards until they have been used by a lot of people and have lots of reviews. The founder edition in the other hand is the same as every other fe card so we already know what to expect.
 
blaight said:
I think Ill go for a cheap system: G4560, RX470, 8 GB RAM, 250 or 500 GB m.2 SSD. I go more by silence as for maximum specs, it will do for my current needs.
Click to expand...

Makes good sense to me.

Pentiums are shockingly strong gamers, nowadays. Are they going to be able to run triple A games? Not well. But how many of us really spend most of our time playing AAA games?

My time sinks are Civilization, Rocket League, and an ancient, dual threaded MMO. 90% of the time, I'd be perfectly set using my HTPC. :p

(But then, I do enjoy my flashy games too. I just hope we get a super popular fps on the pc soonish - everything seems to be empty.)


Edit: personally, I'm probably putting an i3-7350k in my Sentry to start out with. It's an unlocked 60w part, so heat is less of an issue and with a good enough cooler, some overclocking is possible.

I'm heavily into emulation, so a lower TDP part that I can make have better single core performance is highly appealing... Plus it's way, way cheaper than an i7 and I haven't saved enough for a full system overhaul yet.
 
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darksable said:
Makes good sense to me.

Pentiums are shockingly strong gamers, nowadays. Are they going to be able to run triple A games? Not well. But how many of us really spend most of our time playing AAA games?

My time sinks are Civilization, Rocket League, and an ancient, dual threaded MMO. 90% of the time, I'd be perfectly set using my HTPC. :p

(But then, I do enjoy my flashy games too. I just hope we get a super popular fps on the pc soonish - everything seems to be empty.)


Edit: personally, I'm probably putting an i3-7350k in my Sentry to start out with. It's an unlocked 60w part, so heat is less of an issue and with a good enough cooler, some overclocking is possible.

I'm heavily into emulation, so a lower TDP part that I can make have better single core performance is highly appealing... Plus it's way, way cheaper than an i7 and I haven't saved enough for a full system overhaul yet.
Click to expand...

I think that going with i3-7350K is really bad choice since for the additional cash you have to spend on cooling you could just go with an i5.

Also if you want unlocked cpu that is price competitive then I suggest waiting a week from now for Ryzen 5 launch (11 April was it?) since I think that quad core, 8 threaded Ryzen 5 can be potentially something quite matching the performance of an i7. It may be possible if quad core Ryzen 5 units will be all made with single, but fully functional CCX meaning there won't be any problems made by switching context between them. If that's the case, then Ryzen 3 would be made of the worst silicon with 3+1 and 2+2 configurations and it seems possible since there's no significant step down on TDP between Ryzen 5 and 3.
 
I'll be waiting for quite a while anyways, don't worry. :)

As for the i3 vs i5, you are absolutely correct. There's only a $50 difference between the 7350k and 7600k. However, both of them come without a stock cooler, and the i5 is a 91W chip rather than a 60W chip.

I've made the same argument as you a lot, over on Tom's Hardware back when I was active there. The difference is the weird use-case I'm looking at.

Since my projected use has absolutely nothing to do with video editing or other heavily multithreaded tasks, and everything to do with single threaded performance, I'll take the i3. It overclocks quite well, and when it is overclocked, it performs on-par with the lower TDP i5s in most multithreaded circumstances... But for single or double threaded tasks, it's nearly a full GHz faster than if I had the 90W part and insufficient cooling.

When Dan's cooler comes out, or another company sees fit to fill this niche and produce a strong cooler, I'll probably upgrade to an i7 and that cooler. For now, this is the best option in my eyes.

Don't get me wrong, I love ryzen and have been avidly supporting their use in any case which makes sense, but for this computer, single-core performance is basically the only thing that matters. Mundane tasks don't require much grunt at all, and until I can upgrade my GPU and monitor, I'm not worried about AAA gaming. :)
 
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Will there be any other way to purchase one of these cases in the future? I got wind of this too late to reserve one on Indiegogo.
 
Jotunn said:
Will there be any other way to purchase one of these cases in the future? I got wind of this too late to reserve one on Indiegogo.
Click to expand...

We will try to get into retail after delivering case to the backers. Availability will depend on retailers orders - we're not taking so big of a cut to fund proper stock for retail after the campaign on our own. We'll see how satisfied the backers are about the product they've got and hopefully that will be an incentive for retailers to place proper orders.

Also note this:

khhqcsrcuw6fp6lsbjwq.png

We were planning on making up to 5000 units in total for the backers but since we've got a bit above 1000 we should start figuring out retail to be sooner than September, hopefully June or July.
 
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SaperPL said:
We were planning on making up to 5000 units in total for the backers but since we've got a bit above 1000 we should start figuring out retail to be sooner than September, hopefully June or July.
Click to expand...

I think a lot of the reason you didn't fly past that 5000 unit mark is because of marketing. I've talked to a lot of people who aren't into SFF, see the Sentry / Dan A4 and what they can hold, and instantly go, "that's awesome, I want one."

Honestly, it kind of baffles me. There are a TON of posts on articles about huge, crappy new "SFF" cases, and about every fifth one is bemoaning the offerings out there and wishing their was a better solution. (Cough. Cough.)


Now, YouTube makes a ton of sense when you're in the preliminary stages, and crowdfunding, and so forth, because you only have one or two prototypes, and so forth and so on. But on YouTube, people are strange -
most of them who follow a channel don't watch every video. In fact, they seem to skip everything that doesn't have flashy titles and graphics. However, I'm guessing most people who read tech news websites tend to read most of the articles, or at least the intros.

When you guys make it to retail, I would highly consider (edit: that's poor wording. I'm sure you guys have thought about this already, you aren't dumb. I highly suggest) sending review units (or even just press releases) to places like Tom's Hardware, Smallformfactor.net, or Bit-tech. At this point you don't need more reviews of how stinking amazing the Sentry is, you just need more people who know it exists. :)
 
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Yeah, we know there are few things that didn't go perfectly with our marketing. But what you're talking about was virtually impossible for us before the campaign and until we deliver the product, such sites are not treating us seriously.

Obviously in the heat of campaign there was some interest, but except for that limited time we weren't able to reach out to them.

We also know we have to ship more review samples to media, production quality this time when coming into retail.
 
any idea on cooler that fits am4 and sentry guys ? BTW: has biostar released their mini itx am4 board yet ?
 
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SaperPL said:
Yeah, we know there are few things that didn't go perfectly with our marketing. But what you're talking about was virtually impossible for us before the campaign and until we deliver the product, such sites are not treating us seriously.

Obviously in the heat of campaign there was some interest, but except for that limited time we weren't able to reach out to them.

We also know we have to ship more review samples to media, production quality this time when coming into retail.
Click to expand...

Oh, of course. I just was saying that it seems like it's a much more feasible option once backers' cases are shipped and you're heading to retail. You guys made the most of what you had, I wasn't meaning to criticize in any way, shape, or form. :)

Out of curiosity, what do you mean they weren't treating you seriously? Just not returning emails, or...?

Do you figure it has to do with not having a "finished" product, or simply with not having the money and volume that, say, NZXT has?
 
tripheo2410 said:
any idea on cooler that fits am4 and sentry guys ? BTW: has biostar released there mini itx am4 board yet ?
Click to expand...

I think that Noctua is going to release something new for AM4, something like new version of NH-L9. I don't remember where I've seen it. Apart from that I would try to get wraith stealth when available.

As for the boards, since biostar has released publicly info about the board and there was that mail about asrock releasing something in mid April + info from Gigabyte, I'd put my bet that we'll see mITX boards launched together with or shortly following the Ryzen 5 launch that is supposed to happen 11 April, I believe

darksable said:
Out of curiosity, what do you mean they weren't treating you seriously? Just not returning emails, or...?
Click to expand...

In general not responding to e-mails, but also in some situation responding with requests for review samples at the point when we didn't had time to ship them before the campaign etc.

darksable said:
Do you figure it has to do with not having a "finished" product, or simply with not having the money and volume that, say, NZXT has?
Click to expand...

Prototypes shipped to Linus and HardwareCanucks had it's quirks and few rough edges that were later fixed. That was first 25 unit batch of prototypes where we could test repeatability of our design and some problems could finally be seen. Also packaging wasn't perfect and there were some issues with manual back then.

It's also volume that counts and we so far had only 3 reviews.
 
SaperPL said:
Yeah, we know there are few things that didn't go perfectly with our marketing. But what you're talking about was virtually impossible for us before the campaign and until we deliver the product, such sites are not treating us seriously.

Obviously in the heat of campaign there was some interest, but except for that limited time we weren't able to reach out to them.

We also know we have to ship more review samples to media, production quality this time when coming into retail.
Click to expand...

Well, I do hope it works out. Would be a damn shame for a case like this to not go retail at all.
 
darksable said:
I think a lot of the reason you didn't fly past that 5000 unit mark is because of marketing. I've talked to a lot of people who aren't into SFF, see the Sentry / Dan A4 and what they can hold, and instantly go, "that's awesome, I want one."

Honestly, it kind of baffles me. There are a TON of posts on articles about huge, crappy new "SFF" cases, and about every fifth one is bemoaning the offerings out there and wishing their was a better solution. (Cough. Cough.)

When you guys make it to retail, I would highly consider sending review units (or even just press releases) to places like Tom's Hardware, Smallformfactor.net, or Bit-tech. At this point you don't need more reviews of how stinking amazing the Sentry is, you just need more people who know it exists. :)
Click to expand...


I used to read Tom's religiously. Now their ads outnumber the content (I just checked a few minutes ago... ads took up a solid 50% of the frontpage). SFF and Bit-Tech I see occasionally but those are still pretty niche (most of the folks there who want an SFF case probably have one already). You're going to want to hit sites where there's a large variety of content daily, then you can get lots of people interested in throwing down money for something they didn't know they needed. Take Arstechnica or Anandtech, that's where you hit the folks with disposable income and very wide ranging interest in technology. If I had two cases to spare... that's definitely where I'd send them. Just my 2 cents
 
SniperCzar said:
SFF and Bit-Tech I see occasionally but those are still pretty niche (most of the folks there who want an SFF case probably have one already). Take Arstechnica or Anandtech, that's where you hit the folks with disposable income and very wide ranging interest in technology.
Click to expand...


Hmm, that whole argument makes a fair bit of sense to me. I do, however, question the logic behind the quoted portion.

Surely, most anybody who reads articles on websites such as any of these already has a computer case of some sort, yes?

The ones on the niche sites already have a SFF case, most likely, but that also means they're more likely to be interested in this one, in my mind. Perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems to me like those with a SFF interest are where the "whales" are, if you will, who aren't going to think much about dropping $250 on a new sff case because it's a bit smaller and sleeker and fancier.
 
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I'll add myself in as one of those who missed the crowdfunding, but would actually be really excited to get one of these cases. I've been looking, off and on, for a case smaller than the SG-05BB. The Dan was always interesting, but something about the $300 price tag vs. $200 turned me off, and this seems much easier to have a clean build in. I'd be disappointed if it turns out there's no way to ultimately get one.
 
A lot of people from the Linus Tech Tips community also are avid buyers. Before they put cases for retail I would ask Linus to do one more review for this case once its available. The biggest problem with Linus tech tips videos is that people want to buy the product right after they have seen the videos, and I think that's the biggest problem with the last video. The case was not available so only a few people who were willing to wait actually got it.
 
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