SENTRY: Console-sized gaming PC case project

[ZombiPL]

Sentry manufacturing process - weekly update

7th and the last transport sent. It wasn't easy but we finally made it. Everyone should already received their tracking numbers from our shipping company, and for packages for non-european countries we sent additional email (just in case).
 

We just finished sending main transports to our backers, but it doesn't mean this is end of our work. Many people are still waiting for their cases from previous shipments, so we have to keep tracking those packages to check if everything ended well. What is more, some packages were damaged during the transport and some never reached their destination. We are still helping to solve such problems and we hope in few weeks everyone will get their Sentry.

This is almost the end of this campaign. We know that many of you still have a lot of questions about our next moves, so there will be one more weekly update (next weekend) in which we will try to give you some answers. 

[ZombiPL]

Sentry manufacturing process - weekly update
 

Yes This is the end of our campaign!

For the last few months we were manufacturing, assembling and sending you your Sentry cases. Most of you already have their units and some are still waiting for delivery. Even if it's the last weekly update, we will keep working hard to be sure every case will be delivered, so if you will have some issues with your order, please let us know.

With this update we would also like to address the questions raised by people who have followed the campaign updates, waiting for the case availability:

Q: When will you start retail sale?

A: We have planned to release case to retail IF everything went smooth with production, which obviously didn’t considering delays in fulfilling campaign orders. We want to solve the production issues and gather the feedback from all of our backers before proceeding with further orders, which may not happen before the end of this year.

Q: Will white cases be available in the future?

A: White powdercoating, like the one we want to have on our cases, is really challenging to achieve without full control over the paint quality and painting process, which is hard when outsourcing this job to an external paint shop. Because of that we have decided to put the white cases production on hold until we resolve the general issues with production.

Q: Are there going to be any improvements in the case design?

A: We plan on redesigning the packaging to be more fitting retail product as well as resolving production and user experience issues.

Q: Will Sentry have USB 3.1 type C / audio connectors on front panel in the future?

A: Most likely not unless there’s a mass produced front panel connector that would fit Sentry without ordering custom PCB.

Q: Will Sentry support bigger GPUs like aorus/strix/ftw series in the future?

A: Definitely not – there had to be a limit somewhere and reference sized cards still look like a proper reference point for a case of this size.

Like we wrote in the previous updates, we are posting some more great Sentry builds which we found/received in the last few weeks:

We are very grateful to all of you who helped us make this project a reality. We didn't expect it to become so popular and it's your merit. We hope that thanks to your support we will be able to make it even better in the future.

Thank You!

DR ZĄBER Sentry Team 

[knfa.28]

10 hours ago, ZombiPL said:

Sentry manufacturing process - weekly update
 

Yes This is the end of our campaign!

For the last few months we were manufacturing, assembling and sending you your Sentry cases. Most of you already have their units and some are still waiting for delivery. Even if it's the last weekly update, we will keep working hard to be sure every case will be delivered, so if you will have some issues with your order, please let us know.

With this update we would also like to address the questions raised by people who have followed the campaign updates, waiting for the case availability:

Q: When will you start retail sale?

A: We have planned to release case to retail IF everything went smooth with production, which obviously didn’t considering delays in fulfilling campaign orders. We want to solve the production issues and gather the feedback from all of our backers before proceeding with further orders, which may not happen before the end of this year.

Q: Will white cases be available in the future?

A: White powdercoating, like the one we want to have on our cases, is really challenging to achieve without full control over the paint quality and painting process, which is hard when outsourcing this job to an external paint shop. Because of that we have decided to put the white cases production on hold until we resolve the general issues with production.

Q: Are there going to be any improvements in the case design?

A: We plan on redesigning the packaging to be more fitting retail product as well as resolving production and user experience issues.

Q: Will Sentry have USB 3.1 type C / audio connectors on front panel in the future?

A: Most likely not unless there’s a mass produced front panel connector that would fit Sentry without ordering custom PCB.

Q: Will Sentry support bigger GPUs like aorus/strix/ftw series in the future?

A: Definitely not – there had to be a limit somewhere and reference sized cards still look like a proper reference point for a case of this size.

Like we wrote in the previous updates, we are posting some more great Sentry builds which we found/received in the last few weeks:

We are very grateful to all of you who helped us make this project a reality. We didn't expect it to become so popular and it's your merit. We hope that thanks to your support we will be able to make it even better in the future.

Thank You!

DR ZĄBER Sentry Team 

Regarding the fitting of bigger GPUs, like the Asus ROG Strix in particular, didn't one of the backers manage to fit one in the Sentry? It was shown in update #32 by BlkRazor.

 

EDIT:

Found BlkRazor's post about his build at HardForum: 

 

https://hardforum.com/threads/sentry-console-sized-gaming-pc-case-project.1832126/page-123

 

Turns out he had to buy an alternate  PCIe adapter as well as clip(?) some of the rivets inside the case in order to fit the Strix in.

Edited September 25, 2017 by knfa.28

[Ryvaeus]

Loving how easy it is to bring this around. It fits absolutely perfectly inside a Pelican 1495.

 

 

[Cody_53027]

Has anyone built one with a 1080ti open-cooler? I'm concerned it might be a little thermal limited in the sentry even though there there are a few that will fit. I.E. EVGA 1080ti SC2

[s90011]

Hello I have received a slight flaw in the PCIE extension cable I received
Using POWER COLOR RED DEVIL RX480 will not recognize and can not boot and crash
Directly through the PCIE extension cable directly on the motherboard is not the problem
Now replaced by MSI R9 290X PCIE extension line will occur driver has stopped responding
Useless PCIE extension cable directly into the motherboard and no problems

[ZombiPL]

3 hours ago, s90011 said:

Hello I have received a slight flaw in the PCIE extension cable I received
Using POWER COLOR RED DEVIL RX480 will not recognize and can not boot and crash
Directly through the PCIE extension cable directly on the motherboard is not the problem
Now replaced by MSI R9 290X PCIE extension line will occur driver has stopped responding
Useless PCIE extension cable directly into the motherboard and no problems

We do not know anything about it. I just checked our mailbox and in the last 2 weeks there were no emails about problems with riser. Please send us detailed information with photos about what you did and what you checked. 

[Masada02]

On 11/3/2017 at 3:00 PM, Cody_53027 said:

Has anyone built one with a 1080ti open-cooler? I'm concerned it might be a little thermal limited in the sentry even though there there are a few that will fit. I.E. EVGA 1080ti SC2

A little late responding to this, but I'm in the process of doing exactly this with a Zotac 1080 Ti Mini, along with the SSD stack in the GPU space. Aside from my 5960X not liking all the coolers I've tried, the GPU has been perfectly fine. I brought the power target down to 70% (which should put it at 175W) and the maximum temps have been 79C. In games the clocks have stayed around 1800mhz too. Once I figure out my CPU situation I'll post some pics here of the finished product. Should be neat.

[Cody_53027]

1 minute ago, Masada02 said:

A little late responding to this, but I'm in the process of doing exactly this with a Zotac 1080 Ti Mini, along with the SSD stack in the GPU space. Aside from my 5960X not liking all the coolers I've tried, the GPU has been perfectly fine. I brought the power target down to 70% (which should put it at 175W) and the maximum temps have been 79C. In games the clocks have stayed around 1800mhz too. Once I figure out my CPU situation I'll post some pics here of the finished product. Should be neat.

EVGA's SC2 actually fits, according to specification and isn't a "Tiny" cooler

[Masada02]

Just now, Cody_53027 said:

EVGA's SC2 actually fits, according to specification and isn't a "Tiny" cooler

It won't fit with the SSD stack behind the GPU though. The only 1080Ti that can do that is the Mini. And even then it's super tight.

 

If you aren't going to use the SSD's in that same space I wouldn't see any issue with a full size 1080Ti even with an open air cooler. There's enough venting around that chamber to get good airflow through. I don't think I'd set the case down horizontal though, leave it vertical and it should be fine.

[Cody_53027]

Amazingly, I have had my case since August and I still have built in it. I'm thinking it is going to be an HTPC. Like R5 1600 w/ 1050 TI. At this point I will wait for Zen+ in Q1

[ZeZke]

23 hours ago, Masada02 said:

A little late responding to this, but I'm in the process of doing exactly this with a Zotac 1080 Ti Mini, along with the SSD stack in the GPU space. Aside from my 5960X not liking all the coolers I've tried, the GPU has been perfectly fine. I brought the power target down to 70% (which should put it at 175W) and the maximum temps have been 79C. In games the clocks have stayed around 1800mhz too. Once I figure out my CPU situation I'll post some pics here of the finished product. Should be neat.

How did you make it fit? I've just received the Zotac 1080 Ti Mini (this one from Amazon.de) and I cannot make it fit. If I plug in the power connectors the case cannot close anymore...

[Masada02]

4 hours ago, ZeZke said:

How did you make it fit? I've just received the Zotac 1080 Ti Mini (this one from Amazon.de) and I cannot make it fit. If I plug in the power connectors the case cannot close anymore...

You have to buy special low profile PCIE connectors to get it to fit, but it will eventually.

[Masada02]

Well, it all fits. Temps are pretty ok too. I ended up ditching trying to fit my (extremely high bin) 5960x in there since there just wasn't a good cooling solution available. Went with an 8700k and a Cryorg C7 (now with a Noctua fan) and it's all good. No overclocks are possible, but it runs at stock just fine.

 

As mentioned earlier, for the Zotac 1080 To Mini, had to go with low profile PCIE connections as well as cutting one of the rivets for the serial number plate to clear the actual PCB of the card.

 

[ZombiPL]

3 minutes ago, Masada02 said:

Well, it all fits. Temps are pretty ok too. I ended up ditching trying to fit my (extremely high bin) 5960x in there since there just wasn't a good cooling solution available. Went with an 8700k and a Cryorg C7 (now with a Noctua fan) and it's all good. No overclocks are possible, but it runs at stock just fine.

 

As mentioned earlier, for the Zotac 1080 To Mini, had to go with low profile PCIE connections as well as cutting one of the rivets for the serial number plate to clear the actual PCB of the card.

 

How you screwed your SSD? You didn't use standard mounting points on the back of the case? I'm asking because your EVO doesn't look parallel with the front of the case. Only 2 screws and random vent holes, right? Or you installed it differently?

[Masada02]

1 minute ago, ZombiPL said:

How you screwed your SSD? You didn't use standard mounting points on the back of the case? I'm asking because your EVO doesn't look parallel with the front of the case. Only 2 screws and random vent holes, right? Or you installed it differently?

I've only got one screw through it right now. With all the long wires that I've had to hide back there I only have one of the threads in the SSD available. Once I get some shorter custom wires I should be able to improve the mounting of that assembly.

[ZeZke]

I just tried the Zotac GTX 1080 Ti Mini in the Zaber Sentry, with the case open in vertical position. I can't say I am convinced.

 

The heat seems to be blown inside the case, dissipated via the back, right on the spot where @Masada02 mounted his SSD's. The side with the ventilation holes seems only to be used as intake. Even with an open case the card seems to be throttling almost immediately.

[ej24]

7 hours ago, ZeZke said:

I just tried the Zotac GTX 1080 Ti Mini in the Zaber Sentry, with the case open in vertical position. I can't say I am convinced.

 

The heat seems to be blown inside the case, dissipated via the back, right on the spot where @Masada02 mounted his SSD's. The side with the ventilation holes seems only to be used as intake. Even with an open case the card seems to be throttling almost immediately.

This is why blower cards are preferred. What you described is exactly how the gpu cooler is designed to work. It's possible with Masada02's setup he has more positive pressure forcing some of the heat out. 

[ZeZke]

The website of Dr. Zaber Sentry does tell a slightly different story for vertical oriented units.

 

Quote

What type of cooling for the GPU should I use?

That depends on the orientation in which You want to use Sentry the most: For horizontal orientation we recommend using blower style cooled GPU’s because they will utilise both bottom and side vents as cold air inlets and blow out hot air at the back of the case. For vertical orientation we recommend using open air cooled units which two or three fans because they will be able to perform close to open-case configuration in this orientation.

 

[Narnash]

On 3.11.2017 at 9:00 PM, Cody_53027 said:

Has anyone built one with a 1080ti open-cooler? I'm concerned it might be a little thermal limited in the sentry even though there there are a few that will fit. I.E. EVGA 1080ti SC2

I have a Sentry Case with a EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC Black Edition, temperatures aren't a problem (even though not great temps of course). It runs fine so far, with temperatures which you would expect (higher 70s under synthetic stress). I didn't run in any temperature related prblems so far, but mind you that the EVGA GTX 1080 TI SC isn't very silent.

I may be able to take some photos in the case later at the day or in the next days (have to put in a new SSDanyway in the next days .. which unfortunately have to go on the bottom side of the motherboard) 

 

But I think that the EVGA SC is maybe the only open-cooler design card that may fit in the Sentry (I know for sure that the MSI Armor card won't fit, cause it's to tall).

[ej24]

13 hours ago, ZeZke said:

The website of Dr. Zaber Sentry does tell a slightly different story for vertical oriented units.

 

 

Right. But you're trying to cool 250W in an extra small form factor. Plus with the Zotac heatsink the fins run longitudinally and thus the hot air has two places to go, out the rear i/o or straight out the opposite end of the card and into the gpu chamber. If you want to keep the card I would recommend adding a rubber seal between the perimeter of the face (fan side) of the gpu and the case. That seal ensures no hot gpu exhaust is recycled into the gpu fans, and it also creates very high pressure inside the case, forcing hot air out. By doing this you basically turn your gpu into a case fan. I have done this with both a gtx 1060 and gtx 1080 in my two Sentry pc's and it works well. I can try to upload pictures later to clarify what I'm describing. 

 

[ZeZke]

18 hours ago, Narnash said:

I have a Sentry Case with a EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC Black Edition, temperatures aren't a problem (even though not great temps of course). It runs fine so far, with temperatures which you would expect (higher 70s under synthetic stress). I didn't run in any temperature related prblems so far, but mind you that the EVGA GTX 1080 TI SC isn't very silent.

I may be able to take some photos in the case later at the day or in the next days (have to put in a new SSDanyway in the next days .. which unfortunately have to go on the bottom side of the motherboard) 

 

But I think that the EVGA SC is maybe the only open-cooler design card that may fit in the Sentry (I know for sure that the MSI Armor card won't fit, cause it's to tall).

How does this card fit? Did you have to use low profile PCI-E connectors as well?

[Narnash]

1 hour ago, ZeZke said:

How does this card fit? Did you have to use low profile PCI-E connectors as well?

It does fit with normal PCI-E connectors ( SilverStone SFX Series SX500-LG ) but it tends to flex the top/side of the case a bit when the cables are bad arranged, so it fits but low profile prefered.

 

 

PS: can't upload photos right now since I have no internet at home atm (posting from work ) 

[Narnash]

 

 

On 13.12.2017 at 10:06 AM, Narnash said:

It does fit with normal PCI-E connectors ( SilverStone SFX Series SX500-LG ) but it tends to flex the top/side of the case a bit when the cables are bad arranged, so it fits but low profile prefered.

 

 

PS: can't upload photos right now since I have no internet at home atm (posting from work ) 

@ZeZke @ZombiPL

 

So as I said sióme pic'S from the EVGA GTX 1080TI SC (Black Edition) in teh Sentry. (Imgur gallery)

 

A bit of regular GPU sag in horizontal position. The clearance between the graphics card/fans and the side wall of the case are ~ 9 mm

 

The EVGA GTX 1080 TI SC (BE) has arround 36 mm total clearance at the end of the card (to the front of the case) .

 

Sorry for the bad picture. The hight or better the 6&8pin PCIe power plugs make a somewhat tight fit but they fit. These are the regular hight connectors of the SilverStone SFX Series SX500-LG PSU. Maybe 18 mm clearance in hight.

 

 

Total size conclusion of the graphics card itself are L: 270 mm ; H: 42 mm (it's Dual Slot only!) ; W: 105 mm (which should also be regular PCIe spec)

Spoiler

hight measured without the PCIe connector itself!

[ZombiPL]

we just added small clock to our website...