SENTRY: Console-sized gaming PC case project

[SaperPL]

subbed!

MUST

HAVE

THIS

WHEN

IM

RICH

 

Good to know. I think you don't need to be RICH to get this when its out

[Andrew Storlie]

Looks like a cheap knock off of the fractal design node 202?

[Noyu]

Good to know. I think you don't need to be RICH to get this when its out

rich-ness (is that even a word) is relative.

looking at the current 149$ price tag, I'd need to be rich bruh. ahahahaha

I'm not telling you to lower it down, I'm just saying I can't afford it.

#sad

[SaperPL]

Looks like a cheap knock off of the fractal design node 202?

 

Can You say why it looks like a knock off to You?

 

We've actually started the project a lot earlier than node 202 was presented. You can check it out in original thread on hardforum.

 

In comparison node 202 is full of plastic and almost 50% bigger in volume than our case (10.2L vs 6.9L).

 

The biggest difference is actually the thickness of the case and we're going for smallest possible case with full length card here.

 

rich-ness (is that even a word) is relative.

looking at the current 149$ price tag, I'd need to be rich bruh. ahahahaha

I'm not telling you to lower it down, I'm just saying I can't afford it.

#sad

 

Ah, that's ok. We actually know it's quite a lot compared to standard cases and even in comparison to mentioned above node 202 but we need to sell it at this price to be able to manufacture it in small quantities and handle whole process.

 

We initially thought about making it cheap but bare without any additional pieces but people on [H] were more prone to buy a complete product. Including parts like pci-e riser, properly sized USB 3.0 front audio and a lot other smaller parts made the cost jump a lot. Actually now the case consists of over 100 pieces put together so there's a lot of hidden costs you don't see yet.

 

Hopefully after we start selling some initial batches we can figure out mass/bigger scale production and drop down the price then. If we won't then it'll stay expensive for the ones who want this and can pay this much for well designed and unique product.

[Beeeyeee]

I like the vents all on one side. I also like the slight angle on the corners. I think you can come up with a better looking design though. it all just looks lopsided and odd. I vote the default if anything... but you should rotate the vent angles to that instead of them all angled parallel, the graphics card vents are perpendicular to the CPU vent angles. It will look better that way. maybe add some sort of stripe of color across the top to give it some context. some kind of thing other than the size that will let people remember it. because to the average person, my console is smaller than that. you know? its not too exciting otherwise.. yet.

[SaperPL]

I like the vents all on one side. I also like the slight angle on the corners. I think you can come up with a better looking design though. it all just looks lopsided and odd. I vote the default if anything... but you should rotate the vent angles to that instead of them all angled parallel, the graphics card vents are perpendicular to the CPU vent angles. It will look better that way. maybe add some sort of stripe of color across the top to give it some context. some kind of thing other than the size that will let people remember it. because to the average person, my console is smaller than that. you know? its not too exciting otherwise.. yet.

 

Those are not all one one side. The graphics card is still sucking it air from the bottom. This additional vent is for the air heated by the back of the card to escape as it would in vertical position on a stand through side vents. Changing our original design a bit is a price we must pay to stay silent and slim without installing additional fans.

 

As for the vent rotation - we've checked the opposite angle and it isn't really that appealing when on a vertical stand. Also making additional colour pattern would obviously increase the price.

 

We know that PS4 is smaller than this case. Other than PS4 volume-wise we're still close to XBO, X360 and PS3 (initial ones, not slim/super slim) and you simply can't have that small gaming PC with standard internal power supply. Except for clean and fresh design we don't want to add "interesting" and "standing out" details that would be depending on one's taste - rather than that we want to make something fitting every normal living room design as other tv appliances as sat sets and blu-ray players.

[Noyu]

Ah, that's ok. We actually know it's quite a lot compared to standard cases and even in comparison to mentioned above node 202 but we need to sell it at this price to be able to manufacture it in small quantities and handle whole process.

 

We initially thought about making it cheap but bare without any additional pieces but people on [H] were more prone to buy a complete product. Including parts like pci-e riser, properly sized USB 3.0 front audio and a lot other smaller parts made the cost jump a lot. Actually now the case consists of over 100 pieces put together so there's a lot of hidden costs you don't see yet.

 

Hopefully after we start selling some initial batches we can figure out mass/bigger scale production and drop down the price then. If we won't then it'll stay expensive for the ones who want this and can pay this much for well designed and unique product.

Yep, it is worth every penny of that 149$ hahaha

Actually, I'd be willing to stretch my budget to get a case like this, but it won't be just 149$ when it arrives in my country.

 

Customs tax and all.

[Dredgy]

If this hits the market at $150USD I will definitely be getting one. 

[SaperPL]

If this hits the market at $150USD I will definitely be getting one. 

 

Glad to hear that.

 

We'll definitely try our best to make the price not kill your wallets

[vXhanz]

I like the large Sentry on the side as the vent. 

[Dredgy]

Glad to hear that.

 

We'll definitely try our best to make the price not kill your wallets

That price is cheap for a capture PC I can travel internationally with.

Usually I'd complain about lack of an SD card slot, since you can never have bay devices in cases this small, but the case is stunningly well thought out in every other aspect.

[DaltonM]

I'll take six! This is exactly what I am looking for

[xXDeltaXx]

Looks really good

[Deli]

I just want to know when and where can I buy one.

[byalexandr]

I think the Sentry logo should be up front and the power button moved up to compensate for it. Very nice case, I would trade it for my beloved SG05 if I could.

[SaperPL]

I just want to know when and where can I buy one.

 

We want to start pre-orders for manufacturing before the end of this year. I think there's one last thing to be solved and we should be ready to go with final prototype for reviews.

 

I think the Sentry logo should be up front and the power button moved up to compensate for it. Very nice case, I would trade it for my beloved SG05 if I could.

 

I can understand that, but here the logo is to break busyness of such amount of same vents. Up front it wouldn't really matter for the thermals and would be just additional cost.

[byalexandr]

We want to start pre-orders for manufacturing before the end of this year. I think there's one last thing to be solved and we should be ready to go with final prototype for reviews.

 

 

I can understand that, but here the logo is to break busyness of such amount of same vents. Up front it wouldn't really matter for the thermals and would be just additional cost.

The vents give it a high performance look in my opinion. The front is too plain and un-proportional with a tiny power button and a large plain panel.

[Dabombinable]

The vents give it a high performance look in my opinion. The front is too plain and un-proportional with a tiny power button and a large plain panel.

But that ruins the Portal turret look if it gets changed (and I know that the design wasn't meant to look like one).

[Beeeyeee]

The vents give it a high performance look in my opinion. The front is too plain and un-proportional with a tiny power button and a large plain panel.

its called simplistic design my friend. minimal noise, colors, and logos, its quite desirable actually.

[s90011]

Will the cabinet there is space to put MSATA with reinforced back
I use a msi z97i ack
Motherboards put MSATA place with a lock on the back of the backplane is there space for placing incorrect?

[ThatGuyWithPaste]

Looks nice definitely a future build for me.

[SaperPL]

Will the cabinet there is space to put MSATA with reinforced back

I use a msi z97i ack

Motherboards put MSATA place with a lock on the back of the backplane is there space for placing incorrect?

We have 7mm stand-offs  so there's 7mm of space below the motherboard. ATX standard defines the required 6.35mm so it shouldn't be a problem if the port is within the standard and I think it should be. There's also rectangular area in center of the board where we have 1mm more of space.

[Guest]

Sorry, I'll stick with my matte-black 2U Chassises.

[SaperPL]

Minor update: last pieces got shipped.

 

I've made a quick test on how stuff fits in. Photos taken with my potato phone

 

 

Note that secondary drive support has been removed since it's obstructing a lot of things and it'll be moved further away from the power supply in final version. 

 

There's finally a USB3.0 cable and it fits. Whether it'll fit in your build will depend on if you're going to use the secondary drive slot and if it's going to collide with USB3.0 connector location. Otherwise you'll be able to use fallback USB3.0->USB2.0 adapter.

 

Both short types of risers came: cheap standard but shielded type with 55mm long ribbon and high quality shielded 50mm one:

 

 

Note the fact that the high quality one have welding points protected from mechanical damage when bending the ribbon. That's the solution of main problem we've had so far with all other risers. If the ribbon isn't held properly after the welding point the bending force is applied to the weld and they can easily break of after few bending attempts.

 

 

it's the only riser with such protection except for what LiHeat's been doing but they aren't manufacturing the type we need and we don't want custom manufactured piece because of the cost.

 

50mm riser might be perfect fit looking at the cad designs but you still have to bend it while plugging it into the motherboard pci-e slot.

 

The cheap riser idea was to give you short one and let you put there the standard long riser if the supplied one ever breaks but the long riser makes a mess in terms of putting other cables inside like the sata and power cables that are hidden under short one now.

 

Because of this we might need to increase the price tag slightly by something around $15 since that's probably what riser price delta would be for manufacturing run.

 

At this point we have all we need in the matter of critical supplies required for manufacturing in the BOM list. One last thing is to figure out the final metal parts design and this part is taking some more delays since we've got other stuff to do at work.

[VikingGaming]

 

Minor update: last pieces got shipped.

 

I've made a quick test on how stuff fits in. Photos taken with my potato phone

 

-snip-

Looks great, can't wait for the upcoming review from Linus