PROJECT - 3D printable 5L-class FlexATX/ITX GPU case

[Kilrah]

I currently have a Lazer3D LZ7 build (7700K, 1070 ITX, SF450 PSU) that I'm upgrading, and one of the major things I wanted was... to replace the case with something lighter than the acrylic, and more shatter-resistant since I already broke several pieces off of it during travelling, had to replace a whole panel and some other cosmetics fell apart.

 

I've seen the LTT review (on Floatplane only for now) of the Velka cases and fell in love particularly with the Velka 3... but after careful review I found some points that annoyed me, which would likely work with the Velka 5 but where it made no sense to go that "big"...

 

Top fans that are reportedly noisy, and I'd also like to be able to fit one, or better 2 15mm 2.5" HDDs in there, and even 1 looks like it's not going to happen with the Velka 3, too thick.

 

So I've started having a look and doing some preliminary CAD, and based on the same "style" and placement as expected it looks like I'd be able to make something between the Velka 3 and 5 (4.7-5L) which fits 2 nice and quiet Noctua 92x15mm fans on top, and my 2 15mm drives on the front plate. In essence it's about 10mm longer, probably 15 taller, and 3mm wider which for me is a more than acceptable compromise over "absolute smallest" given the benefits.

 

Given the size and with some tricks the plan is to make something that would be fully 3D printable on a standard 200x200mm print bed. Obviously it's not nice aluminium anymore, but alas... printed out of polycarbonate it should at least be more resistant than acrylic.

 

Still a lot to do, add support for some parts, reinforcement ribs etc but in principle it should be relatively sound. All the pieces will get "extensions" towards the sides, so that the side panels don't exceed the 200x200 dimensions. It likely will get a little taller becasue of the hard drive cables  Will try to slant them first to see if I can get them out of the way of each other.

 

Planned loadout is:

- Asrock Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/AC

- i9-9900K

- NH-L9i

- 32GB DDR4-2400

- MSI GTX1070 ITX Aero

- 2x 1TB ADATA SX8200 Pro NVMe SSDs, RAID0

- 2x 2.5" 5TB Seagate Barracuda HDDs, RAID0

- Athena Power 500W FlexATX PSU, fan replaced with Noctua 40x20mm

- 2x Noctua 92x15 fans

 

 

 

[TVwazhere]

-Moved to Case Modding and Other Mods-

 

You might find this ongoing case project interesting:

 

[Kilrah]

Pretty cool too! Bit too small for what I need to house though, and I don't like external power bricks 

[TheRandomness]

2 hours ago, Kilrah said:

Pretty cool too! Bit too small for what I need to house though, and I don't like external power bricks 

Oh don't worry, it's undergoing another revision that'll give it a full internal PSU.

[Kilrah]

Some progress, all the PC parts arrived and have been tested on the bench and in the old case.

 

Got mounting/assembly mostly figured out, and the first parts for checking/fitting are out of the printer. So far looking good, but there will still be some work since some stuff like precise GPU placement with the riser etc is really hard to do just in CAD.

The one thing I'm still not completely sure how to do yet is the side panels.

 

But in the meantime I also got "conned" into ordering a large format printer (300x300x400) so I might merge the whole thing into a single piece frame and 2 full size side panels in the end and have 2 versions available.

[Kilrah]

Starting to look like something...

 

 

And after some work shortening  PSU wires (thankfully could avoid having to do the mainboard cable, there's enough room to shove it under the GPU...) and fan wiring it even runs, so I didn't kill anything and my Chinese PCIe riser works

 

Can't pull too hard on it though, the fitting parts are PLA and would sure melt/deform. Once finished it's going to be printed in polycarbonate.

A couple more quirks to fix, then figure out the side panel situation and it's going to be a done deal  Not looking forward to assemble the stuff... the HDDs aren't in below but they fit, albeit VERY painfully...

 

It's funny, it's so dense it feels like it weighs a ton, but it's only 3.4kg so far - 1kg less than my previous LZ7 build yet it feels heavier

 

[zyadsh321]

Why not use velka 3 instead?

[Kilrah]

As mentioned in first post, loud strangely sized fans that there are no alternatives for and no way to fit my 2 HDDs. Very few ITX cases support a 15mm drive in the first place, let alone 2.

[Kilrah]

There we go.

It's not going to win beauty contests, but that was never the goal, it does its job of packing as much power and storage as possible in the smallest/lightest package, which it pretty much does with its 9900K/GTX1070/12TB storage in 4.8l and 3.5kg.

Seems sturdy, fastening worked out as hoped.

I will replace the power button though, only thing I found in my parts bin 

 

 

[TheFalcro]

NIce Work, this it the kind of things that I am starting to get into myself. I have not decided on a CAD program just yet but i am looking into them.  I will be nice to design and print a prototype part for a build. right now I am creating my own from spare ABS and metal parts from other projects. Seeing what you are doing here is fuel to my fire Thank you for sharing your amazing ides and your work.

[M3talGod2]

@Kilrah Do you have any CAD files for this? I would love to print this myself, or even mess around with it to fit my needs.

[Kilrah]

I might post them at some point but they need some cleanup first, finished a bit in a hurry before leaving for a trip abroad, coming back in a week...

[Glivmo]

Hi @Kilrah,

 

Did you happen to post the CAD files anywhere? The case looks great for my usage and I would like to try it out.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Kilrah]

Yep, here! https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/various/4-7l-sff-pc-case

[Senzelian]

Very cool little build and case!
Maybe you mentioned it, but how much did this cost you in terms of filament? I'm thinking of buying a 3D printer myself now!

[Kilrah]

I think it was about 350gr of PETG, so... $15ish? Maybe double that to cover for the titting tests/improvements along the way...