SENTRY: Console-sized gaming PC case project

Just a quick question for you GPU gurus.

Is there any difference between the EVGA 1080 'Blower' card and the EVGA 1080 Founders Ed?

I can get the Blower style card much cheaper than the Founders, but if thermals are better on the FE, I'll opt for that card.
 
Just a quick question for you GPU gurus.
Is there any difference between the EVGA 1080 'Blower' card and the EVGA 1080 Founders Ed?
I can get the Blower style card much cheaper than the Founders, but if thermals are better on the FE, I'll opt for that card.
EVGA's blower card doesn't have a backplate and a mostly plastic shroud. Performance and noise are pretty much the same.
EDIT: You could also buy the blower and a FE cooler off ebay. They're the same PCB and it might be the cheaper option.
 
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EVGA's blower card doesn't have a backplate and a mostly plastic shroud. Performance and noise are pretty much the same.
EDIT: You could also buy the blower and a FE cooler off ebay. They're the same PCB and it might be the cheaper option.

Thanks Fib, but if performance/noise and I expect thermals are pretty much the same, then there is absolutely no reason to opt for the more expensive card, no?

I have heard that the fan on the FE has a let annoying 'noise' though.
 
Just a quick question for you GPU gurus.

Is there any difference between the EVGA 1080 'Blower' card and the EVGA 1080 Founders Ed?

I can get the Blower style card much cheaper than the Founders, but if thermals are better on the FE, I'll opt for that card.
As far as I know only FE has a vapor chamber cooler. The other blowers are plain aluminum fins. The FE will be better. I say go for the FE. Unless you can find a cheaper blower model and FE cooler on ebay for less than the cost of a FE card alone.
 
As far as I know only FE has a vapor chamber cooler. The other blowers are plain aluminum fins. The FE will be better. I say go for the FE. Unless you can find a cheaper blower model and FE cooler on ebay for less than the cost of a FE card alone.

Thanks Ej24, I was leaning this way; there's not that much of a difference in price.
 
As far as I know only FE has a vapor chamber cooler. The other blowers are plain aluminum fins. The FE will be better. I say go for the FE. Unless you can find a cheaper blower model and FE cooler on ebay for less than the cost of a FE card alone.

I tend to agree with you, but the EVGA blower card does use a vapor chamber, but I doubt it is effective as the FE cooler
 
I tend to agree with you, but the EVGA blower card does use a vapor chamber, but I doubt it is effective as the FE cooler

I did not know that. It's hard to find any goodreviews of blower cards as even the big reviewers typically dismiss them as bad cards because they're blowers. Thanks for informing me that evga also uses a vapor chamber.
 
I received an email with shipping info this morning! :)

Anyone else?

:nailbiting: the anticipation is killing me. My original order number was 57. However the Ząber guys indicated a while ago that a few people backed out, potentially moving people up the list. At last count I think I was technically around 36th in line according to the listed backers on the Indiegogo page. That is, assuming the Indiegogo list of backers is accurate.

Oh yeah. The email came from [email protected].

Really?? I've been getting Indiegogo emails but occasionally Ząber emails don't show up. I feel like Gmail always blocks stuff and leaves it in some sort of pergatory for a few days before it shows up in either junk mail or inbox.
 
Really?? I've been getting Indiegogo emails but occasionally Ząber emails don't show up. I feel like Gmail always blocks stuff and leaves it in some sort of pergatory for a few days before it shows up in either junk mail or inbox.[/QUOTE]

The weird thing is that I originally signed up for the mailing list with Hotmail and it never seemed to work but that's where the shipping info went. I used my Gmail for the mailing list and indiegogo and got all of the updates, etc. Just checked Gmail and...nothing.
 
Really?? I've been getting Indiegogo emails but occasionally Ząber emails don't show up. I feel like Gmail always blocks stuff and leaves it in some sort of pergatory for a few days before it shows up in either junk mail or inbox.

The weird thing is that I originally signed up for the mailing list with Hotmail and it never seemed to work but that's where the shipping info went. I used my Gmail for the mailing list and indiegogo and got all of the updates, etc. Just checked Gmail and...nothing.

If you check your order status on the Indiegogo website (not the android/ios app) does it say its been shipped? I'm just curious if I should be waiting for Gmail or checking Indiegogo.
 
If you check your order status on the Indiegogo website (not the android/ios app) does it say its been shipped? I'm just curious if I should be waiting for Gmail or checking Indiegogo.

Just checked and Indiegogo still shows the status as "locked".

For anyone wondering, minus the tracking info, this what I got:

From: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, May 6, 2017 6:15:25 AM
To: **********
Subject: Sentry shipping information

Hello again,

As you probably remember from our last update, on 28th of April we started shipping procedure of your package. Finally this week, after long weekend in Poland, your Sentry was finally marked as "Posted". We do not know if you received your tracking number from our transport company, but to be sure we are sending it below:

**************

Link to package tracking website:
http://emonitoring.poczta-polska.pl/?lang=en


Have a nice weekend.

With regards
DR ZĄBER Sentry Team
 
#39 and no tracking info yet. I assume that they send it out as soon as the parcel company processes the individual packages, which is not necessarily by the order of indiegogo backing. So I'm not worried yet.
 
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10th week of Sentry manufacturing process



Just like we predicted, this week wasn't as productive as it could be, mostly because of the "long weekend" in Poland. We couldn't contact with our subcontractors, shipping companies or even customs services, but first things first:

Last week we started shipping process of first 150 orders with black cases. We divided the transport into 2 parts: transport inside and outside EU. Worldwide shipping was registered as "Posted" yesterday. Today we have found out that our transport company may not sent you tracking data for your packages, so just in case we sent you those numbers. Now is the time for EU shipment, which is a tricky part.

In EU we have planned faster and cheaper courier shipping than what we have from national post. We are processing those shipments through a single intermediary company that is giving us a batch order discount. We started the shipping process of this 2nd part of packages and yesterday it turned out it was stopped as a batch. The reason is quite simple: in this transport there were 6 people who didn't give us their phone numbers. It shouldn't be a problem, but... we are ordering a transport with insurance. In that case most courier companies require direct phone contact with the recipient of the package. We sent messages to those 6 people with missing phone numbers and when we will get them we will also get new tracking numbers for all of those packages. That is the main reason why some people from first black Sentry cases transport didn't receive their tracking numbers via email. We hope we will solve this problem on Monday. If not, on Tuesday we will send this transport without those 6 packages.

Next subject: white cases. On Friday we contacted our 2nd paint shop to ask if the metal parts are painted. Unfortunately this is one of the companies whose long weekend ends after this Sunday, so they will start painting first 150 white units on Monday. We have no influence on that :(

On Friday we received 2nd transport of black Sentry body parts.

Finally, we were asked to show some photos from last week how we prepared your packages. Here you are:


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We also have some bonus photos from yesterday. We didn't want to waste time on waiting and we started the production of stands for 2nd transport of Sentry cases:


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Nice.. I'm happy to know that the phone number issue won't completely stop the rest of the cases from being transported. Don't worry about the delays, you guys are doing great.
 
Hey Sentry Team,

First of all - great work on your case! Unfortunately I missed the kickstarter campaign, so I'm waiting eagerly for the case to be available commercially. I am from Poland so hopefully we will have the chance to get it sooner than some other, more distant markets ;)

I have a question regarding GPU compatibility - would it be possible to fit an EVGA 1080 FTW2 ICX card in there? It seems to be the same size as the FTW which is marked as incompatible, and judging from the Sentry layout pic it looks like there is a height problem there. Seems like there won't be enough room for the connectors - only 2mm clearance. Is it possible to increase this clearance to accommodate the connectors by using a mod, or is this basically a hard incompatibility dictated by the case's dimension? If it's possible to do somehow, then I guess it would make it possible to mount other 1080s marked as incompatible.

Would a 90 degree low-profile 8pin cable extension make it more plausible?
Wanted to post a link/image, but the forum detects both as spam/inappropriate content -.-



Another question would be whether it's possible to fit the additional 2.5" HDD cage with a 210mm card installed, like the 1080 mini that ZOTAC released. It's an option for a 200mm card as shown by the program on the Sentry page, but I wonder how much clearance there is inside and whether it's possible to get that extra centimeter in there.
 
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Like above, missed the kickstarter, primarily because at the time I didn't have a use for another small case like this... I changed my place of residence and my HTPC is too large/impractical (Silverstone ML03), and the Sentry would fix this problem. I apologise if it's been mentioned already, but what is the likely ETA for retail availability? (And ability to ship to Australia?)
 
I have a question regarding GPU compatibility - would it be possible to fit an EVGA 1080 FTW2 ICX card in there? It seems to be the same size as the FTW which is marked as incompatible, and judging from the Sentry layout pic it looks like there is a height problem there. Seems like there won't be enough room for the connectors - only 2mm clearance. Is it possible to increase this clearance to accommodate the connectors by using a mod, or is this basically a hard incompatibility dictated by the case's dimension? If it's possible to do somehow, then I guess it would make it possible to mount other 1080s marked as incompatible.

Would a 90 degree low-profile 8pin cable extension make it more plausible?
Wanted to post a link/image, but the forum detects both as spam/inappropriate content -.-

Like you said - if you make your own connection for the PEG that fits within ~1.5mm then it will fit, but it doesn't look doable with what you can buy online. Low profile angled PEG connectors have like 6~8mm, I think. You would need to make a PCB with pins and sockets to move the PEG connection to the back of the card where you can safely plug the PEG from the PSU. Loose cable connection is not advised especially for a card that takes so much power from the PEG - it would be really unstable.

Apart from that - we've made the specs/compatibility sheet for the GPU so you won't waste your money with oversized and overpowered card for this cramped little space that would throttle all the time. Such small case has to have some performance limits for the card IF it's supposed to be mobile - if we were to go and perforate the hell out of the GPU compartment to support 250W TDP GPUs, it simply wouldn't be rigid enough and flexing the case in transport could damage the PCB of the card.

Another question would be whether it's possible to fit the additional 2.5" HDD cage with a 210mm card installed, like the 1080 mini that ZOTAC released. It's an option for a 200mm card as shown by the program on the Sentry page, but I wonder how much clearance there is inside and whether it's possible to get that extra centimeter in there.

It's kind of possible if you mount the hard drive pack to a neighbouring holes that are not dedicated to mounting this, but you'll have to use washers because you'll use bigger holes made for venting. You'll also need to use countersunk screws at least on the side of GPU if it's radiator its at those 210mm.
 
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I apologise if it's been mentioned already, but what is the likely ETA for retail availability? (And ability to ship to Australia?)

We'll see how it goes after delivering this campaign batch. Up until some point when we were preparing for manufacturing, we thought we could do the retail in June or July. Now we're not so sure, because the talk about the money with retailers gets pretty hard, since they mostly treat us like the case is mass produced in China. They want more of a cut in the price than what there is possible to make with current manufacturing process. Feedback and satisfaction of the campaign backers will be deciding factor on that, I think.
 
We'll see how it goes after delivering this campaign batch. Up until some point when we were preparing for manufacturing, we thought we could do the retail in June or July. Now we're not so sure, because the talk about the money with retailers gets pretty hard, since they mostly treat us like the case is mass produced in China. They want more of a cut in the price than what there is possible to make with current manufacturing process. Feedback and satisfaction of the campaign backers will be deciding factor on that, I think.

Have you thought about cutting out the middle-man and selling them yourselves?
 
Yes, of course, but handling the sales and stocking the product at the market location are also important, it's not like retailers take the money for nothing.

Selling directly from Poland could work for EU, but for rest of the world it'd be either expensive to handle shipment or would take time to ship. And people buying in retail want the product delivered ASAP. For example fast courier shipping to US of such package would cost around $100 which is inappropriately huge amount of money in comparison to ~$200-ish retail price.

Also amazon or newegg come to mind, they have great deals for startups, but after half a year passes, the fees can bury you if you have such niche product.

We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now all that is important is delivering to the backers and hearing what they think about our product.
 
Apart from that - we've made the specs/compatibility sheet for the GPU so you won't waste your money with oversized and overpowered card for this cramped little space that would throttle all the time. Such small case has to have some performance limits for the card IF it's supposed to be mobile - if we were to go and perforate the hell out of the GPU compartment to support 250W TDP GPUs, it simply wouldn't be rigid enough and flexing the case in transport could damage the PCB of the card.

Well, to be fair, the FTW2 has a TDP of 215W and it's more or less comparable to other 1080s out there, including those which are compatible with the Sentry because the non-ref designs didn't go with such a crazy cooler height (i.e. Gigabyte models). I'm pretty sure all 1080 would probably be fine in a Sentry cooling wise, so it's a shame so many of them lack those few millimeters for the GPU connectors to fit :/
I'm currently using this FTW2 in a packed Sugo SG13 (10 liter shoe-box case) and I'm not going past the 60 degree C range during gaming. The only problem I have with this case that it's a box and thus impossible to easily pack & transport (not in a back-pack/laptop bag anyway).

Sentry will be a true savior when it comes to mobility, and if all things come down to it I'm probably gonna swap this FTW2 for another non-ref 1080 with a compatible cooler size. It's just a shame having to do that over half a centimeter, when thermal-wise the card would do fine. Are you planning to do a v2 for commercial manufacturing based on feedback you receive from recipients of the campaign batch? If yes, would this be something to be considered?

Thanks again for your great work, as well as fast responses to the community!
 
We've limited the design to reference size because oversized cards with huge cooling are made this way especially to have more power phases to draw more power.

There are two main differences between Sugo and Sentry:
1) Sugo has direct front-to-back airflow that also cools back of the card. It's impossible to do it this way with Sentry because of aesthetics and noise comming from of 60mm fans.
2) Sugo is frame based so it can have heavily perforated panels that are easy to bend, but the frame can sustain a lot on the edges a provides rigidity of the internal construction.
Sentry has self-supporting body that has to be really rigid to prevent flexing but that is what let us make it so small in the first place.

You can have 60 degrees in Sugo but I'm not 100% sure it'd be the same in Sentry. Also 60 degrees of a temperature might mean you're not putting a full load on such GPU that is oversized, like for example your CPU is bottlenecking the card. Unless of course you're hitting power limit on it. I'd have to know full config of the test to know whether it's really how it behaves or not :)

As for the future - we're not planning changes in size/shape for future versions because we've spent quite a lot of time perfecting those bends with our subcontractor. A bit more perforation maybe when we decide that we need to do a V2.
 
I really appreciate what you guys are doing. I can't imagine dealing with people in retail when they treat you like a Chinese manufacturing company.
 
We'll see how it goes after delivering this campaign batch. Up until some point when we were preparing for manufacturing, we thought we could do the retail in June or July. Now we're not so sure, because the talk about the money with retailers gets pretty hard, since they mostly treat us like the case is mass produced in China. They want more of a cut in the price than what there is possible to make with current manufacturing process. Feedback and satisfaction of the campaign backers will be deciding factor on that, I think.
How about selling it through amazon and becoming an amazon affiliate? I heard they have great international shipping offers through the AmazonGlobal Program.
 
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I received mine in an email from a Polish courier, not directly from the Ząber guys like it seems some people have. I checked with team Ząber just to be sure this is the legitimate email and they confirmed it is. So be sure to check your junk/spam folder for emails from a Polish courier too in case you don't see one from Ząber or Indiegogo.
 
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I really appreciate what you guys are doing. I can't imagine dealing with people in retail when they treat you like a Chinese manufacturing company.

In short, they assume we're doing designs and ordering whole manufacturing in China, but bumping up the price saying it's made in Poland. They just think there's more to cut and can't believe that there's someone wanting to manufacture chassis in EU. Or they would like us to operate this way to cut down the price for them.

While we understand that it could be done cheaper when ordering in China, for us it's a huge risk - if we don't order in thousands and quickly scale up to mass production, the factory will most likely go rogue making a counterfeit product and ruining our business. And while for current revision of the case it might be better for customer to have a cheaper alternative, killing our business this way will mean we stop bringing innovation to the market.

How about selling it through amazon and becoming an amazon affiliate? I heard they have great international shipping offers through the AmazonGlobal Program.

As I said - we'll investigate that after we deliver to the backers. Figuring out how their storage and fulfilment fees system works is quite complex task we do not have time for at this moment.
 
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