Cerberus: The 18L, mATX, USA-made enclosure

[Blackie Sheen]

I think that a combination of neutral colors like white or black with flashy colors like blue, red, orange,purple, etc would be nice. The flashy colors would be best on the front panel and white or black for the rest of the panels.

The front power button for this kind of setup should be the same color as the color of the side panels.

Also, I thibk the color of the prototype is really nice.

My personal choice would be to have white side, top and back panel with purple for the front panel

[Tearass]

It's so cute!

[willemdoom1]

I think that bright colors would only be suited for a few people and that most, including me, would just like to see black or silver like the NCASE.

[willemdoom1]

by the way: how is the testing coming along?

[Aibohphobia]

My personal choice would be to have white side, top and back panel with purple for the front panel

Purple seems to be a popular choice 

 

 

I think that bright colors would only be suited for a few people and that most, including me, would just like to see black or silver like the NCASE.

Black will be the default option and other colors as demand permits.

 

 

by the way: how is the testing coming along?

 

I haven't had time this week, I'm hoping to finish up this weekend.

[PlayfulPhoenix]

by the way: how is the testing coming along?

 

Check back in this weekend - Aiboh will be knocking out a bunch of this going into tomorrow 

 

I think there will be some some interesting discussion once we have that data, though - we've been pretty diligent about capturing a lot of information, so I'm really excited to start prospecting through a pile of the stuff once testing is done. No doubt, certain changes to the design will be inspired from those results - though we can't say for sure until we've completed most of the testing.

[Aibohphobia]

What do you guys think of different colors for the frame?

 

[Blackie Sheen]

What do you guys think of different colors for the frame?

That might really interesting. Little punchy accent would definitely look pretty nice

[try2topdat]

Nice colors ! But purple and green would be amazing ! Red ans black is to common these day.

[NerdNinja]

Personally I LOVE the blue one. But the red one looks sleek.

[JarJarBanksy]

I think that the red and black version is done very, very tastefully.

[Neemil]

I would love to see a grey mixed with a little grey version

[Neemil]

Blue...sorry douple post

[PlayfulPhoenix]

Quick update: Aiboh has completed most of the testing we set out to have done, and we're consequently beginning to look at the results and conduct some analysis! As a total statistics and data nerd, I'm more than a little excited about this

 

Here's a taste of the information we're working with (in this case, a screenshot of a comparison I'm doing across configs that do/don't have a top fan):

 

 

As we learn from all of this data, we'll share updates with you guys, and get your input. I'll also be writing an in-depth piece on our blog, with regards to how we're leveraging this testing to improve Nova's design.

[_Flare]

Wow, you guys are putting more effort into this than same well known case manufacturers. It's great to see so much effort put into a scratch build! Beautiful chassis BTW, really diggin' the "Spiderman" colour scheme as my 5-year-old cousin pointed out! 

[willemdoom1]

 

Quick update: Aiboh has completed most of the testing we set out to have done, and we're consequently beginning to look at the results and conduct some analysis! As a total statistics and data nerd, I'm more than a little excited about this

 

Here's a taste of the information we're working with (in this case, a screenshot of a comparison I'm doing across configs that do/don't have a top fan):

 

 

As we learn from all of this data, we'll share updates with you guys, and get your input. I'll also be writing an in-depth piece on our blog, with regards to how we're leveraging this testing to improve Nova's design.

 

those temps look amazing, especially in such a small case. What fans did you guys use?

[PlayfulPhoenix]

Wow, you guys are putting more effort into this than same well known case manufacturers. It's great to see so much effort put into a scratch build! Beautiful chassis BTW, really diggin' the "Spiderman" colour scheme as my 5-year-old cousin pointed out! 

 

Heh, well I can't speak to what larger manufacturers do, but we at least wanted to be as thorough and informed as possible, when it came to Nova's internal design. A lot of the early layout decisions came down to matters of convenience and flexibility, of course, but thermal performance is something that outright requires precise and repeated measurement. Aiboh actually did similar testing with a mockup case, even, before the prototype itself was manufactured, which should demonstrate how important it was (and is) to do! (You can see images of that, and read more about it, on Kimera Industries' blog.)

 

Anyway, as we begin to really take a look at the test results, we have no doubts that design changes will be made as a direct result of those. Probably nothing too drastic, but almost certainly the sort of adaptations that will make for a tangibly better-performing case.

 

 

those temps look amazing, especially in such a small case. What fans did you guys use?

 

Pretty much all the fans used were Noctuas, though Aiboh would know the specifics of each one. What you don't see in that screenshot are what arrangement of fans (and components!) are used in each test, but for all of them you have the hexa-core i7 and a non-reference open-cooler GTX 780, which collectively dump a fair amount of heat into the case.

 

Right now, the biggest source of concern for us are the PSU temperatures and fan speeds, actually since they are higher than we would have liked. But again, we'll elaborate on results once we have a clear picture of things.

[Aibohphobia]

Beautiful chassis BTW, really diggin' the "Spiderman" colour scheme as my 5-year-old cousin pointed out! 

 

Good guess, actually the color scheme is based off Eva-00 

 

 

those temps look amazing, especially in such a small case. What fans did you guys use?

 

Case fans: Noctua P12s for the front and bottom, Prolimatech Ultra Sleek Vortex 12 for the top, and the slim 92mm Noctua for the rear.

 

NZXT X41: Noctua 140mm industrial

 

Noctua C12 heatsink: Noctua A15

 

Bet you can't guess what my preferred brand of fans is 

[willemdoom1]

I was reading back the discussion on [H] and its funny to see how much critique Playfulphoenix had on the case and now he is one of the biggest fans!

[Aibohphobia]

I was reading back the discussion on [H] and its funny to see how much critique Playfulphoenix had on the case and now he is one of the biggest fans!

 

Yes, I used to get annoyed at him for criticizing every little change 

 

But I see now that he just didn't want to see the design slide into mediocrity by trying to be a jack of all trades.

[Blackie Sheen]

 Do you think 2 120 mm rad would fit in your case with one on the hinge bracket and the other one in the top of the case?

[MrTiC]

My heart just skipped a beat!

[PlayfulPhoenix]

I was reading back the discussion on [H] and its funny to see how much critique Playfulphoenix had on the case and now he is one of the biggest fans!

 

Yes, I used to get annoyed at him for criticizing every little change  

 

But I see now that he just didn't want to see the design slide into mediocrity by trying to be a jack of all trades.

 

What can I say - I'm most critical of what I most appreciate 

 

 Do you think 2 120 mm rad would fit in your case with one on the hinge bracket and the other one in the top of the case?

 

There's only just enough room at the top for a slim 120mm fan, so a 120mm radiator is a no-go there.

 

With the current design, you can fit a 120mm or 140mm radiator on the side bracket, and a 120mm or 240mm radiator on the bottom, so if you're looking to use several AIO's, or string a custom loop together, that's what I would recommend doing. However, we're also considering a change that would provide just enough vertical room for certain 120mm AIO's to be installed on the front of the case. Which would be a nice additional option to have, though it would require use of a SFX PSU (not SFX-L), and limit graphics card length to "ITX" size.

 

My heart just skipped a beat!

 

Hopefully in a good way! Otherwise, call a doctor! 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

Hey all, Aiboh wrote about Nova on the buildapc subreddit, and I think his post acts as a really great summary of the story of Nova, and of everything that's transpired on the forums. It's a fun read, chock-full of photos and nice anecdotal details that can easily get lost. Certainly worth a perusal for anyone that's been following the work on Nova, I think

[Aibohphobia]

Preliminary analysis of the thermal testing has been done and it appears the top fan is actually not that helpful, it only makes a few degrees difference in CPU and PSU exhaust temp at most. There are possibly a few configurations where it would make sense but I think those are edge cases.

 

So if we eliminate it we could shave a bit of space off the top of the case and redistribute it at the bottom and to the width for better 3.5" HDD and 240mm radiator clearance without increasing the overall volume.

 

Which brings me to my question, how important is the carry handle to you all?

 

Vote here

 

I personally love it but machining something like that is relatively expensive. Before it made sense since the mounting bracket doubled as a fan mount but with the top fan gone it is harder to justify.

 

Doing away with it entirely would reduce the cost of the case and simplify logistics since there would only need to be one top panel design instead of two (one panel with the mounting holes and one without).