SENTRY: Console-sized gaming PC case project

Someone on Reddit had posted this online a while back. Looks like he took your idea to the extreme. :)
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Nice that's kind of the idea but that heatsink is too big. I was thinking something that comes out just a bit.

You could just mod that yourself. XD

Mod?? You mean cut the steel?? We are not talking about a thin aluminum plate on the sentry, we are talking about steel which would be a nightmare to mod.
 
Mod?? You mean cut the steel?? We are not talking about a thin aluminum plate on the sentry, we are talking about steel which would be a nightmare to mod.
that's not the proper [H]ard attitude! :)
 
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It's here! I picked it up from my post office today at lunch and took it back to my work. I unfortunately can't take my phone with me to my desk at work but I can definitely say it arrived in VERY good condition! One very small ding in the outer box, the inner box was pristine.

Here's my slightly comical way to take my package with me back to work:
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Migrating everything over to my Sentry tonight!!!
 
It's here! I picked it up from my post office today at lunch and took it back to my work. I unfortunately can't take my phone with me to my desk at work but I can definitely say it arrived in VERY good condition! One very small ding in the outer box, the inner box was pristine.

Here's my slightly comical way to take my package with me back to work:

Migrating everything over to my Sentry tonight!!!
...AAAAaaaand my 24 pin Cablemod power cable is too short :arghh:

Looks like 250mm is just a hair too short for my setup. Darn. I'm not about to shell out another $59.90 for another one shipped, so I'll be stuffing my stock cable back in (bummer).

That said, it's all assembled!
 
Small correction: 3rd transport.

It's still the 1st batch, because there are no other batches. From our point of view there is no 2nd batch, 3rd batch, 5th batch. Also "Long Run" is still a 1st batch, because we didn't get like 2000-5000 orders. Word "batch" was connected with the number of parts which we could order from our subcontractors "in one order". For example if we would get 2345 orders, then there would be 1000 cases in 1st batch and 1345 cases in Long Run. I know i explained it before, but I'm writing it again, because every time someone is writing he received 2nd or 3rd batch Sentry we are being spammed by people asking "why everyone else got their cases while I was in 1st batch"?

So once again... there is a difference between 1st batch and 1st transport. 1st batch is divided into 7 transports, and in which transport you are depends only from your order number and the colour of your case (we are receiving elements painted in white and black alternately).

Yeah sorry meant third transport of black cases so fifth transport overall.
 
On the topic of building other cases! I would be curious if you guys at DR ZĄBER have any other ideas!

New guy here. How about Sentry VR; i.e. backpack style? Might be TOO niche, but just throwing it out there...

I can imagine cooling and ergonomics as challenges.
 
New guy here. How about Sentry VR; i.e. backpack style? Might be TOO niche, but just throwing it out there...

We've had inquires about this, but first of all Sentry in a backpack would heat up or blow hot air on the back of the user. Secondly there's the weight and finally the power - you'd either have to have huge battery carried around or power cord which would be counterproductive.

At this point intel is implementing new wireless standard specifically for the use with VR and there are pre-built VR backpacks being made by big hardware vendors like MSI and Gigabyte.
 
Thanks a lot SaperPL.

You're completely right... I only realised those points after making the post; silly me :)

Maybe in a few years, thanks to upcoming standards as you've mentioned, building custom VR backpacks would be simpler or outright unnecessary.

Just for the record, I find VR interesting but not enough to get into it at this generation.
 
I've had a chance to test out each revision of Oculus and retail version of Vive.

There are quite few issues with VR that still need refining so I wouldn't hurry to buy the headset just yet.

PSVR is, I think, the only major VR headset that is properly ergonomically designed, but it's for PS4. Both Vive and Oculus have poorly designed headset "mounting" and they are not perfect in performance either. Both headsets have still to low resolution or the display is not properly made for VR because you see a black grid between pixels. Obviously cables are a problem for movement as there has to be that second person making sure you won't crash the IRL location and it's not really fun if the game is supposed to be taking long like normal AAA titles.

Both HTC and Samsung and trying to resolve the problem of the the screen grid by increasing the resolution on upcoming OLED panels. Intel and few smaller companies are trying to solve the cable problem.

It looks like the hardware is somehow progressing, but the games for VR have problems with locomotion and they are implementing tricks and gimmicks like teleportation and jumps instead of perfecting a sitting experience from the start. Realistically speaking, most of the players want the couch potato experience because it's really rare for someone to have the proper space and equipment for moving around in VR. The fact that you can put the PC in the backpack or send the signal without cables doesn't solve the problem of games not being there for you to play for enough time to be platform sellers.
 
that sucks! how did you measure it or was it a pre-made?
I measured it in my RVZ02 and didn't take well enough in account that the PSU is further "up" in the Sentry case than the RVZ02 case. Ordered before I got my Sentry of course. Such is life though, I'll survive.
 
One last update on mine for the night, it's alive!!!
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I have noticed that with this case I notice a bit more noise from the PSU fan than I did in the RVZ02. It was dead silent before. Not a big deal and I figure it's due to the fan being right against the side of the case. I don't mind the slight noise though, I only notice it within 3 feet or so.

I will say, the Cablemod cables definitely helped (I wish my 24 pin worked out for me, oh well). So far so good, and I'm LOVING the difference in how much smaller it is than the RVZ02 it replaced, not to mention how much more solid it is!

Recap on my setup:
MSI Z270i Pro Carbon
Intel Core i5 7500T 35W TDP CPU with copper core Intel cooler off a 95W TDP CPU
Corsair Vengeance 16GB RAM
500 GB M.2 SATA plus 250 GB 2.5" SSD
Silverstone SX500LG SFX-L PSU
GIGABYTE GTX 1060 G1 GAMING-6GD

I "may" have gone a little on the LED side of things, though I'm pleased with the results!
I ran an adhesive RGB LED strip around the case just for fun, goes well with the MSI motherboard. Gigabyte GPU also has RGB lighting on top, so it is nicely coordinated.

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Bad quality iPhone pic:
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One last bonus: It's tight but the Sentry fits in my choice of bag, the eBags Professional Slim Laptop Backpack.
Plenty of vertical room here, where it's tight is in the lateral room.

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Zips snugly
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Even room in the front compartment for stand and small keyboard! (cords fit below in AC adapter garage).
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I'm very pleased with this and ready to take my Sentry on travel!

Thanks again to the Sentry team for making this possible!
 
One last update on mine for the night, it's alive!!!

I have noticed that with this case I notice a bit more noise from the PSU fan than I did in the RVZ02. It was dead silent before. Not a big deal and I figure it's due to the fan being right against the side of the case. I don't mind the slight noise though, I only notice it within 3 feet or so.

I will say, the Cablemod cables definitely helped (I wish my 24 pin worked out for me, oh well). So far so good, and I'm LOVING the difference in how much smaller it is than the RVZ02 it replaced, not to mention how much more solid it is!

Recap on my setup:
MSI Z270i Pro Carbon
Intel Core i5 7500T 35W TDP CPU with copper core Intel cooler off a 95W TDP CPU
Corsair Vengeance 16GB RAM
500 GB M.2 SATA plus 250 GB 2.5" SSD
Silverstone SX500LG SFX-L PSU
GIGABYTE GTX 1060 G1 GAMING-6GD

I "may" have gone a little on the LED side of things, though I'm pleased with the results!
I ran an adhesive RGB LED strip around the case just for fun, goes well with the MSI motherboard. Gigabyte GPU also has RGB lighting on top, so it is nicely coordinated.

View attachment 27853 View attachment 27855 View attachment 27856 View attachment 27857
Bad quality iPhone pic:
View attachment 27858

One last bonus: It's tight but the Sentry fits in my choice of bag, the eBags Professional Slim Laptop Backpack.
Plenty of vertical room here, where it's tight is in the lateral room.

View attachment 27859

Zips snugly
View attachment 27860
Even room in the front compartment for stand and small keyboard! (cords fit below in AC adapter garage).
View attachment 27861

I'm very pleased with this and ready to take my Sentry on travel!

Thanks again to the Sentry team for making this possible!

That's quite elegant setup you've got there. And the backpack is also neat. Can we use those nice photos ? :)
 
My sys tem is all built and I am really pleased with it. Looks so much nicer and smaller than my old RZ02, build quality is miles better too.

Here is my system:

i5 6500 65w Cpu
Noctua NH L9i Cooler
Asus 1060 Turbo 6GB
16GB Corsair Vengeance LP
Samsung 850 Evo + Crucial BX200 SSD
Gigabyte H170N Wifi MB
Corsair SF450 PSU

I don't think you could make the inside of a case smaller and have everything fit. The only real issue I had (apart from getting the cables in tidy) is with my motherboard sata connectors. A warning for anyone with this motherboard, you will need some thin sata cables, luckily I had some. The sata connectors are on the left of the board right next to the PSU and there is no way it will fit with the standard cables. Thumbs up for the instructions, very easy to follow.

My temps:

Idle - CPU 26
Idle - GPU 37

Load - CPU 54
Load - GPU 81

Similar to the temps I was getting in my RZ02, which I suppose is no surprise considering the layout of both cases is the same.

Pics:

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...AAAAaaaand my 24 pin Cablemod power cable is too short :arghh:

Looks like 250mm is just a hair too short for my setup. Darn. I'm not about to shell out another $59.90 for another one shipped, so I'll be stuffing my stock cable back in (bummer).

That said, it's all assembled!
If you had a SFX and not sfx-l, your 24 pin may reach.
 
Hey guys, me again. My order is now changed to locked for a white sentry case, I'm looking to sell it as I no longer consider it to be a responsible purchase for myself. I'm not looking to make a load of money on the sale. Just to cover my costs. I live in the UK so take that into account when considering shipping costs.
 
I have to ask this question at the risk of being bludgeoned by gamers, but has anyone built a system using an external power adapter? If I can ever get one of these cases it would be to house a high-res-capable HTPC, so power requirements would be greatly reduced. Has anyone gone this route?
 
Case #141 arrived yesterday afternoon! (SoCal)

Black bag on outside had some small tears, but exterior box underneath black bag was perfect. No dents or holes.
Interior/retail box is beautiful. Never thought I'd say that about a brown cardboard box lol. You can tell the attention to detail just from looking at the box/packaging. Great job guys!

Nice touch on the plastic bag with your company name on it. The paint on the case itself is gorgeous.

Now i have 2 things to do this weekend - watch 24hr Lemans, and shop for components on Amazon.
 
I have to ask this question at the risk of being bludgeoned by gamers, but has anyone built a system using an external power adapter? If I can ever get one of these cases it would be to house a high-res-capable HTPC, so power requirements would be greatly reduced. Has anyone gone this route?

Sounds like the NFC S4 Mini would be a better case for you. It's similar to Sentry, but is made for external power supplies. Or you could go even smaller cases, as modern igpu is good enough for 4k decode. You don't even need a gpu like GTX 1050 for just watching 4k.
 
Sounds like the NFC S4 Mini would be a better case for you. It's similar to Sentry, but is made for external power supplies. Or you could go even smaller cases, as modern igpu is good enough for 4k decode. You don't even need a gpu like GTX 1050 for just watching 4k.

I'm not a fan of the looks of that S4, and I am currently using one of the Realan SFF cases, which don't accommodate external graphics cards. The issue is that onboard graphics chips will handle h264 4K, 60hz output (albeit, via DisplayPort, in some cases), but hardware decoding is not available for hevc or VP9 at 4K/60hz. A low-priced, low-powered Pascal-enabled graphics card overcomes these limitations, but requires a slightly larger case, such as the Sentry ...
 
I have to ask this question at the risk of being bludgeoned by gamers, but has anyone built a system using an external power adapter? If I can ever get one of these cases it would be to house a high-res-capable HTPC, so power requirements would be greatly reduced. Has anyone gone this route?

I'm not a fan of the looks of that S4, and I am currently using one of the Realan SFF cases, which don't accommodate external graphics cards. The issue is that onboard graphics chips will handle h264 4K, 60hz output (albeit, via DisplayPort, in some cases), but hardware decoding is not available for hevc or VP9 at 4K/60hz. A low-priced, low-powered Pascal-enabled graphics card overcomes these limitations, but requires a slightly larger case, such as the Sentry ...

Is there a specific reason why you don't want to use SFX power supply and you are focused on external brick? If you are going for silence, then with semi-passive PSUs low powered system should be pretty quiet. Higher-end PSU with lots of headroom might be comparable in price to HD-PLEX + proper brick, i think.
 
Hey guys, me again. My order is now changed to locked for a white sentry case, I'm looking to sell it as I no longer consider it to be a responsible purchase for myself. I'm not looking to make a load of money on the sale. Just to cover my costs. I live in the UK so take that into account when considering shipping costs.

Please check your PM.
 
Adata has just released an industrial grade M.2 NVME ssd that can handle Industrial-grade extended temperature range of -40°C to 90°C
Do you think it is a good idea to try it in the Sentry ? since it can handle that much heat (in the back if the motherboard)
IMG_2310.JPG
http://industrial.adata.com/en/product/477
 
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Is there a specific reason why you don't want to use SFX power supply and you are focused on external brick? If you are going for silence, then with semi-passive PSUs low powered system should be pretty quiet ...

It's not that I'm opposed to an internal power supply, but I don't want to have to buy one if I don't need to. Moreover, I've noted how almost everyone who's completed a build with an internal power supply has made mention of the challenges of cable management. Given that I would not need a separate power connector for a GT 1030 or even GTX 1050, the external brick would suffice ...
 
It's not that I'm opposed to an internal power supply, but I don't want to have to buy one if I don't need to. Moreover, I've noted how almost everyone who's completed a build with an internal power supply has made mention of the challenges of cable management. Given that I would not need a separate power connector for a GT 1030 or even GTX 1050, the external brick would suffice ...

But you have to have the internal power adapter like HD-PLEX if you want to power the dedicated GPU unless you want to use thin mini-itx and somehow supply the required power through the molex connector to the riser. I'm not entirely sure if pci-e x4 supplies enough power to the slot for such cards however.
 
Virginia checking in: no Sentry yet, and no update to tracking info (first batch black, first shipment). Anyone else on the east coast still missing first-ship?
 
Hey guys, me again. My order is now changed to locked for a white sentry case, I'm looking to sell it as I no longer consider it to be a responsible purchase for myself. I'm not looking to make a load of money on the sale. Just to cover my costs. I live in the UK so take that into account when considering shipping costs.
please check today's PM.
 
Adata has just released an industrial grade M.2 NVME ssd that can handle Industrial-grade extended temperature range of -40°C to 90°C
Do you think it is a good idea to try it in the Sentry ? since it can handle that much heat (in the back if the motherboard)
View attachment 27899
http://industrial.adata.com/en/product/477
This is really interesting. I like Guru3D's overview and it sounds like the increased temperature range and shock resistance are built for use-cases like the Sentry: http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/adata-adss-industrial-grade-im2p3388-pcie-m-2-nvme-ssd.html

Nice find! Now to have them finish so we can figure out the price!
 
Nice find! Now to have them finish so we can figure out the price!
We need to send an email to adata to check the price and the availability

Note that in the data sheet you have 2 part numbers:

Commercial: -10°C to 80°C
Industrial: -40°C to 90°C
 
But you have to have the internal power adapter like HD-PLEX if you want to power the dedicated GPU unless you want to use thin mini-itx and somehow supply the required power through the molex connector to the riser. I'm not entirely sure if pci-e x4 supplies enough power to the slot for such cards however.
The pci-e slot provides enough power for the graphics card. I've used some combination of three cards in two different mini-itx motherboards and have not had any problems. Well, at least not with Windows 7 or 8. Ubuntu Linux works, but at this time does not provide hardware decoding for 4K hevc or VP9 ...
 
I received my Sentry in the mail on Tuesday!! It is amazing! I'm in New Hampshire in the US. I don't have all of the parts for the build though. The only things I'm need now are the ASRock Mini ITX Ryzen Motherboard, an NVME SSD, and a GPU. I'm going to be gaming in 4K playing Desstiny 2, ultra modded Bethesda games, and Assassin's Creed Origins. Will a GTX 1080 be enough for that, our should I get a 1080 Ti? I am aware that the 1080 Ti is not recommended based on TDP for the Sentry, but am curious on the opinion of others.
 
I received my Sentry in the mail on Tuesday!! It is amazing! I'm in New Hampshire in the US. I don't have all of the parts for the build though. The only things I'm need now are the ASRock Mini ITX Ryzen Motherboard, an NVME SSD, and a GPU. I'm going to be gaming in 4K playing Desstiny 2, ultra modded Bethesda games, and Assassin's Creed Origins. Will a GTX 1080 be enough for that, our should I get a 1080 Ti? I am aware that the 1080 Ti is not recommended based on TDP for the Sentry, but am curious on the opinion of others.

I would probably go with the Ti for that lineup at 4k, honestly. Especially with the mods, it's going to be punishing.
 
I don't recall if it has been confirmed to fit in the Sentry, but the EVGA FTW3 1080ti seemed to have nearly the best thermals.
 
Unfortunately it won't fit, it's far too tall.- almost 143mm and the connectors are not receded into the PCB so there's no leeway. It would leave less than 2mm of space where you wouldn't be able to squeeze in a connector (even low profile/angled).
 
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