SENTRY: Console-sized gaming PC case project

I can understand the problems associated with the issues you've raised, but I would hope that there would be an avenue for folks to buy the unsold units after the initial orders were filled. There are folks like myself who did not know of or were not in the market for a case during the time of the crowd funding. I'm sure some of us would be willing to pay 2-3x the original sale price for one of these units prior to the scheduled retail roll-out, particularly given the likelihood that the originally-planned schedule may be delayed ...

You will have to wait to the end of indiegogo orders shippment. After that, we will decide when we will start the retail sale. What is more there will be no individual sales before retail. We also wouldn't agree to sell any of cases for 2-3 or even 10 times higher than original price. This is a community project and it would be unfair against those people who also would like to get Sentry and who don't have so much money (Sentry is already very expensive). As we said many times before, this isn't our daytime job, so we can afford to keep to some unbreakable rules. Please wait until the retail sale begins.
 
Great progress, guys. Nice to see the white batches coming along. I'm sure things will get easier when they are finished and you can focus on the black orders.
 
Great progress, guys. Nice to see the white batches coming along.
Yeah I'm with you, the updates here should be used as a model for how crowdfunding should go.


I'm also feeling like
I'm sure things will get easier when they are finished and you can focus on the black orders.
I could make some sort of Michael Jackson reference here :LOL:
 
. Some of them are posting photos with their builds in our forums topics

Where exactly? I don't understand what do i have to do to find these forums posts with photos of builds other than the ones here in this thread?
 
I know AM4 cooler with good performance and low height. name is IS40-V3
This cooler have 100W TDP and 45MM height.
I already have this cooler, and I think this cooler is better than noctua cpu cooler :)
 

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I figured I'd post a photo of my Sentry in its natural habitat, the living room. I've got machined aluminum feet from Lian Li. Still haven't used my RGB switch. The black switch with red LED looks great though o I may keep it for a while. And as you all can probably see, I don't have the USB ports in. That's just a quirk of my motherboard having the header directly beneath the 2.5in drive and right where my 24 pin cable is tucked. I have a slim, 20pin usb 3.0 ribbon cable that should fix the issue, but I'll wait to put it in until I get my custom PSU cables which should free up some room.
DSC_0748s.jpg



I still have my Noctua fan tied down to the LP53 heatsink with rubber bands (y) I'll think of something better eventually.
DSC_0753s.jpg
 
I can understand the problems associated with the issues you've raised, but I would hope that there would be an avenue for folks to buy the unsold units after the initial orders were filled.

There's no such thing as "unsold units" here. Note the fact that we were prepared to launch with just 100 units. There wasn't any "2000 units requirement" to run the production, so there's no big reserve waiting for sales. We have ordered enough for those ~1000 orders to be safely processed. Components for retail units will be ordered and processed after we deliver perks to campaign backers and the volume will depend on involvement of the interested retailers.
 
I figured I'd post a photo of my Sentry in its natural habitat, the living room. I've got machined aluminum feet from Lian Li. Still haven't used my RGB switch. The black switch with red LED looks great though o I may keep it for a while. And as you all can probably see, I don't have the USB ports in. That's just a quirk of my motherboard having the header directly beneath the 2.5in drive and right where my 24 pin cable is tucked. I have a slim, 20pin usb 3.0 ribbon cable that should fix the issue, but I'll wait to put it in until I get my custom PSU cables which should free up some room.

I still have my Noctua fan tied down to the LP53 heatsink with rubber bands (y) I'll think of something better eventually.

Your 24pin is not fully plugged in :p
 
I figured I'd post a photo of my Sentry in its natural habitat, the living room. I've got machined aluminum feet from Lian Li. Still haven't used my RGB switch. The black switch with red LED looks great though o I may keep it for a while. And as you all can probably see, I don't have the USB ports in. That's just a quirk of my motherboard having the header directly beneath the 2.5in drive and right where my 24 pin cable is tucked. I have a slim, 20pin usb 3.0 ribbon cable that should fix the issue, but I'll wait to put it in until I get my custom PSU cables which should free up some room.
View attachment 24864


I still have my Noctua fan tied down to the LP53 heatsink with rubber bands (y) I'll think of something better eventually.
View attachment 24865

Those feet look great! Congrats!
 
I used to put stickers on my case, however, that was on the back. Out of sight and only visible when I wanted to see them.
 
Your 24pin is not fully plugged in :p

You have good eyes. I'm just now noticing that haha. Also now I see I forgot a screw on one of the 2.5in drives. I may have put it together too quickly haha.

Beautiful!

Feet: SD-01A/SD-02A?

Sd-02A. I loved them on my Lian li case and I thought they'd look good on sentry. I got the feet on Amazon for $12 for a set of 4. Way more expensive than plain rubber feet but totally worth it in my opinion. I had to cut a tiny plastic bit off so they'd fit smoothly against the case and I had to use a washer inside sentry as the fasteners for the Lian li feet we smaller than the holes in sentry. Really easy.

A boy advice, I have noctua and intel stickers, where do you prefer to put them? Front or side?

I will not put stickers on Sentry. However I have stickers on my other pc. I like the stickers to look professional and clean.
20161206_022334.jpg

Don't worry about what some people think about stickers. Stickers are a matter of opinion, so place them wherever you like them!
 
Stickers can be a stain on a case or a way of making it your own.. Or whatever logic you can come up with. Pick one.
 
There's no such thing as "unsold units" here ... We have ordered enough for ... ~1000 orders to be safely processed...

Okay, guys: I get it. If you want to buy a house you can build, buy a spec, or buy a re-sale. At this point the retailer path is the "build" option. It may work for some, but not for others. The "spec" and "re-sale" options will likely manifest before that time ...
 
So I've been experimenting with 40mm fans...
DSC_0759.jpg
DSC_0758.jpg
If I decide it's worth it, I'll make a more permanent mounting solution out of ABS or Kydex plastic, but for now, a ton of electrical tape will do! I decided to try on the GPU side, simply because there is a frame on the side to mount them to, but also because the 1080 Founders Edition has a vent on the top (side?) that ejects quite a bit of hot air, which I wanted to remove from the case as fast as possible.
Image_02S.jpg
I've noticed the max GPU temp went down a little bit (72C vs 75C), but, it takes for ever to go back down to idle (~37C). It lingers forever around 50C which didn't happen in an open air setup. I think that's because the fans are creating a region of low pressure, drawing CPU exhaust in that direction, filling the GPU side with warm CPU exhaust. Even when the GPU is doing nothing I feel very warm air being exhausted by the fans, most likely from the CPU. My GPU alone creates no net change in air pressure because it has a seal between it and the case, so it ejects all the air it draws in from the exterior of the case. If I can come up with a way to mount some 40mm fans on the CPU side I'll see if that helps even out the pressure and eject CPU heat out the CPU side of the case. However without a frame on that side it will be difficult. I'll probably need a powered fan hub if I add any more fans though.. We'll see.
 
So I've been experimenting with 40mm fans...
View attachment 24912
View attachment 24916
If I decide it's worth it, I'll make a more permanent mounting solution out of ABS or Kydex plastic, but for now, a ton of electrical tape will do! I decided to try on the GPU side, simply because there is a frame on the side to mount them to, but also because the 1080 Founders Edition has a vent on the top (side?) that ejects quite a bit of hot air, which I wanted to remove from the case as fast as possible.
View attachment 24913
I've noticed the max GPU temp went down a little bit (72C vs 75C), but, it takes for ever to go back down to idle (~37C). It lingers forever around 50C which didn't happen in an open air setup. I think that's because the fans are creating a region of low pressure, drawing CPU exhaust in that direction, filling the GPU side with warm CPU exhaust. Even when the GPU is doing nothing I feel very warm air being exhausted by the fans, most likely from the CPU. My GPU alone creates no net change in air pressure because it has a seal between it and the case, so it ejects all the air it draws in from the exterior of the case. If I can come up with a way to mount some 40mm fans on the CPU side I'll see if that helps even out the pressure and eject CPU heat out the CPU side of the case. However without a frame on that side it will be difficult. I'll probably need a powered fan hub if I add any more fans though.. We'll see.

I've been experimenting with that quite a lot and actually the best effects for a blower were when I have Installed one or two fans at the other end - in front of the case to push a bit of air to the inside. It creates a bit of positive pressure pushing out the hot air at the top of the card. My problem was the fact that this was a solution only for a blower card and a partial though.
 
I've been experimenting with that quite a lot and actually the best effects for a blower were when I have Installed one or two fans at the other end - in front of the case to push a bit of air to the inside. It creates a bit of positive pressure pushing out the hot air at the top of the card. My problem was the fact that this was a solution only for a blower card and a partial though.
How much did this affect temperatures?
 
Few degrees, something around 5, I think, in games that were running in vsync, without it the clocks matters more than temps and there was a slight difference as well.

Anyway we were trying to figure out a solution for high temperatures of the case cover in horizontal position for safety rather than the performance, and the fans weren't solving it for open-air cards, so we went in different direction developing that air pocket above the GPU.
 
So I've been experimenting with 40mm fans...
View attachment 24912
View attachment 24916
If I decide it's worth it, I'll make a more permanent mounting solution out of ABS or Kydex plastic, but for now, a ton of electrical tape will do! I decided to try on the GPU side, simply because there is a frame on the side to mount them to, but also because the 1080 Founders Edition has a vent on the top (side?) that ejects quite a bit of hot air, which I wanted to remove from the case as fast as possible.
View attachment 24913
I've noticed the max GPU temp went down a little bit (72C vs 75C), but, it takes for ever to go back down to idle (~37C). It lingers forever around 50C which didn't happen in an open air setup. I think that's because the fans are creating a region of low pressure, drawing CPU exhaust in that direction, filling the GPU side with warm CPU exhaust. Even when the GPU is doing nothing I feel very warm air being exhausted by the fans, most likely from the CPU. My GPU alone creates no net change in air pressure because it has a seal between it and the case, so it ejects all the air it draws in from the exterior of the case. If I can come up with a way to mount some 40mm fans on the CPU side I'll see if that helps even out the pressure and eject CPU heat out the CPU side of the case. However without a frame on that side it will be difficult. I'll probably need a powered fan hub if I add any more fans though.. We'll see.
Can you please run the same tests with the fans in the same location but with the case in the vertical position? It would be very helpful to see if it has a bigger or similar impact in the vertical position.
 
Few degrees, something around 5, I think, in games that were running in vsync, without it the clocks matters more than temps and there was a slight difference as well.

Anyway we were trying to figure out a solution for high temperatures of the case cover in horizontal position for safety rather than the performance, and the fans weren't solving it for open-air cards, so we went in different direction developing that air pocket above the GPU.

Can you guys recommend a tape or adhesive that adheres well to the powder coat that also doesn't damage it when it's removed? Electrical tape doesn't stick well.

Also, with all this handling of the case while tinkering it's starting to develop some greasy fingerprint spots. (I guess I have particularly greasy fingers :facepalm:) I assume ammonia base cleaners or isopropyl alcohol are safe for the powder coat? I suspect the key chemicals to avoid are things like acetone, ketone, xylene, etc?
 
Can you please run the same tests with the fans in the same location but with the case in the vertical position? It would be very helpful to see if it has a bigger or similar impact in the vertical position.

Personally I don't intend to run Sentry in the vertical position, but sure I don't see why not. I imagine that given heat rises, the fans will now be at the top. So they'll facilitate the air that's already rising to rise faster. That said, some of the hot air that would normally go out the side (now the bottom) will also rise up throughout the case possible raising gpu temps? We'll see.

Edit: ok so after about 20 minutes of running Unigine Valley at 1080p ultra, ~120fps, my gpu was slightly warmer at 76C. I think this is because the 40mm fans are drawing hot air up by the gpu. And cpu was actually cooler at 67C versus 72C in horizontal. Again hot air is being drawn up and out. But overall it's all within recommended max temps in either orientation. Everything stays below 80C unless I run something insane like Aida64.
 
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Can you guys recommend a tape or adhesive that adheres well to the powder coat that also doesn't damage it when it's removed? Electrical tape doesn't stick well.

We don't have much experience in this field, but i think you could try some car adhesive molding tape. Most of them are advertised as "premanent", so you should try a pice of it in some hidden spot (for example on one of your hdd brackets from accessory box).

Also, with all this handling of the case while tinkering it's starting to develop some greasy fingerprint spots. (I guess I have particularly greasy fingers :facepalm:) I assume ammonia base cleaners or isopropyl alcohol are safe for the powder coat? I suspect the key chemicals to avoid are things like acetone, ketone, xylene, etc?

During assembly process we are using a cleaning liquid based on alcohol (98%). It washes fingerprints very well and it leaves no signs of using it on the surface.
 
What is the mounting hole size in mm for the Sentry case feet ? is it a Rivet Feet like the photo attached ?
HTB1XgU.MpXXXXamXFXXq6xXFXXXb.jpg
 
yes, it's just the one like this. We've got 8 mm diameter (dimension A) holes for those feet.
Thanks, one more question please, what is the height of feet (dimension D) (for the supplied feet of the Sentry?) does it make difference for the GPU cooling to have more air space from beneath ? (specially when using the GPU air filter)
 
Yes it was mentioned earlier in this thread when they were testing the minimum height. I think it was like 7mm? Having trouble searching it

Edit: It might be 8mm going off the specs difference with and without stands.

-340 x 310 x 66mm main body - excluding stands, vertical stand and VGA bracket hold
-340 x 320 x 74mm total outline - including stands and VGA bracket hold
 
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Thanks, one more question please, what is the height of feet (dimension D) (for the supplied feet of the Sentry?) does it make difference for the GPU cooling to have more air space from beneath ? (specially when using the GPU air filter)

Yes it was mentioned earlier in this thread when they were testing the minimum height. I think it was like 7mm? Having trouble searching it

Edit: It might be 8mm going off the specs difference with and without stands.

-340 x 310 x 66mm main body - excluding stands, vertical stand and VGA bracket hold
-340 x 320 x 74mm total outline - including stands and VGA bracket hold

The feet are 6.5 mm tall by their spec. The total outline includes small details that are standing out like the screws that have 1.5mm tall heads :)
 
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The feet are 6.5 mm tall by their spec. The total outline includes small details that are standing out like the screws that have 1.5mm tall heads :)

So it seems similar to model FF-1 from the image below, do you think FF-13 will fit ? (despite from being tall and maybe ugly) :)
HTB1X.jpg
 
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