Calyos NSG S0 2-Phase Cooling Solutions is Dead?

[matt-fr]

Update from 29 july 2020

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Dear Backers,

 

Here is a small update on our progress, hopefully you are all safe and well – even if COVID is gaining again traction in a lot of countries.

 

Partnership progress

 

Below is the “partnership progress” dashboard showing several updates. As you will see, we have closed down all the companies from which we could not receive any answer. So as such, we keep working with 3 companies and focus strongly on one of them.

 

 

 

Evaporator Redesign

 

In parallel to the heat-exchanger (condenser) redesign we are also busy to redesign the evaporator. You remember that we did 4 iteration of the design in the first phase of the project. We are now busy with a fifth iteration of the evaporator to further optimize mainly on the cost (performance stays roughly the same).

 

 

Evaporator Redesign

 

In parallel to the technical progress, we have also started to discuss with the possible partners how to best arrange for the financing of the production. Obviously, we are in a complex situation as each party has its own expectations:

• The backers expect to get a product; ideally with no added cost
• Calyos has already invested a lot in this project and needs to focus on its core B2B business to remain operating
• The Partners invest in a new product platform and wants returns on its investment

 

I know this part is a sensitive one due to the history of this project and it is important to be transparent on this topic. What we currently discuss with the partner is a mix of the following possibilities:

• Calyos will ship x units of free evaporators to the partner
• Calyos will finance x units of free products/vouchers to the community
• Partner will give x units of free products to the community
• Partner will give x vouchers of x EUR/USD to the community to purchase the product at a lower price

 

All in all, our target is to achieve a result that make sense for all parties. When we have more info on this topic, we will communicate back to the community.

 

Planning Review

 

We see some slight delay in the design phase but not yet dramatic. So we will keep the current planning for now and update next month if required.

• June-July: first version of new design elements
• August: Finalization of the product design
• September: Decision on who the best partner is & communicate to the community
• Sept-Oct-Nov: Prototype manufacturing and testing
• December: Product Release

 

This was the latest info to share. As usual, we will update you on a regular basis. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions/ideas/comments, please do not hesitate to e-mail me.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Antoine

 

[matt-fr]

Update from 04 september 2020

 

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Dear Backers,   Here is a small update on our progress. As you will see below, we are still progressing even if it is at a slightly slower pace than expected – but we will get there!     Partnership progress Below is the “partnership progress” dashboard with only 1 update: we stopped discussion with one of the potential partners (company and will continue discussing with the 2 final potential partners – with one of them getting close to the finish line.         Exchanger Redesign in final stage The heat-exchanger (condenser) design is getting finalized. Please see below a shot of the latest design we are now completing thermal simulations and making the final adjsutments. At first glance, it looks like a normal heat-exchanger BUT there are a number of details which make it actually pretty advanced. We will share more in due course. It is important to share that the partner is very positive regarding the cost and manufacturability – which was a key target for the design; combined of course with the thermal performance.           Business Talks As described last time, we continue with the business talks related to the financing of the tooling and production. No final deal yet but this is progressing. As you will see below, the target is to finalize this in October.     Planning Review As expected last month, the potential delays got confirmed. We also reviewed in details with the partners towards the clear steps to move to production. Two important remarks done by the partners are (a) that, as we manufacture in China, we need to take Chinese New Year into account; and (b) that we need to bear in mind that the partners as other projects & product launches planned (so their resources may be thin at certain time).   So based on these latest considerations, here an update of the original plan: Sept-Oct: Finalization of the product design & business talks Around Mid-October: Decision & Communication on who the best partner is (*) Nov-Dec: Product fully tested and developed December-January: Beta Testing & manufacturing line preparation After Chinese New Year: product launch (*) at that time, we will also communicate the final design, the terms of engagement & the final plan towards the product launch.   This was the latest info to share. As usual, we will update you on a regular basis. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions/ideas/comments, please do not hesitate to e-mail me.   Kind Regards, Antoine

 

[tridy]

 

Project Update - October 2020

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Dear Backers,

 

Here is an important update to the community as today we announce our partnership for the NSG-S0 project.

 

As a reminder, we announced in February of this year that CALYOS would change its strategy for the NSG-S0 project by looking for a partner to support us in transforming CALYOS’ concept design into a viable product that can be manufactured and shipped to consumers.

After 8 months of discussion with various partners, we are proud to announce that Streacom will be working with us to bring the NSG-S0 to the market. From today on, Streacom will become the product owner while Calyos will deliver the Loop Heat Pipe technology to Streacom.

Let’s further elaborate on this partnership.

 

Who is Streacom?

 

Streacom was founded in 2010 by an experienced team that shared a common vision of producing uniquely designed and engineered computer cases – with premium quality and compact design in mind. Streacom has established itself as a global player in the PC component market and earned a reputation for making stylish well-crafted products.

 

Streacom was one of the first companies to develop fan-less solutions with their FC5 product. This expertise from an engineering and manufacturing standpoint is obviously good for our project.

If you want more information, please visit their website: https://streacom.com/

 

Why Streacom?

 

As you know, we contacted around 16 possible partners for this project and ended-up in advanced talks with 3 of them. In the end, we selected to move forward with Streacom for 3 mains reasons:

 

First, Streacom has the expertise we were looking for to bring this project to reality – they bring market experience in delivering high-quality PC cases, engineering skills to further develop the concept, and the manufacturing competences to make it happen. Bottom line, a lot of gaps are filled.

 

Secondly, we really appreciated the detailed engineering discussions, consistently improving on the original NSG-S0 concept. Even though we will not share the full design today (see more below), there has been regular discussions and meetings between the two companies. Streacom heavily invested in engineering time to review the solution in detail and continue moving forward. This upfront man-power investment is much appreciated.

 

Last but by no means least, Streacom was the only potential partner to really show care regarding how best to handle the Kickstarter Community. From the start of our discussions (in March), Streacom stressed the importance of ensuring the community is taken care off appropriately. Streacom is also the only one that made a concrete offer to the community (see below).

 

This last point was paramount to our decision to move forward with Streacom.

 

What does Streacom bring to the project & the community?

 

Firstly, Streacom will invest in bringing this project to completion – with support of Calyos for the loop heat pipe technology. This investment is not to be underestimated as besides the engineering time, investment will be made for new tooling, prototypes, validation and manufacturing set-up.

 

On top of that, the following will be made available to the community:

• A Kickstarter community version with custom engraving to differentiate it from the standard production unit that will be made by Streacom
• 20 free units to the community – a draw will be organized among the interested backers (this will probably be in the form of a small contest/game)
• A discounted price to all campaign backers willing to complete the acquisition of the Kickstarter community version (exact details to be shared after prototyping stage – the objective being to be close to the cost of the product)

Lastly, product support for all backers that acquire the unit in the form of technical questions and defective part replacement.

We will communicate more details on this aspect as we move forward with the project.

 

Who will take care of the community?

 

Calyos will stay your contact going forward. We will work with Streacom to move on with the project but Calyos will coordinate the communications and actions to the community.

 

When the product is released, Streacom will become the point of contact for any technical assistance on the product.

 

So, no need to spam Streacom inbox right now with millions of questions or remarks! Just forward your questions to me as has been done over the last 8 months. In due time, we will communicate the right contact for future technical questions.

 

Streacom has also requested to share their own personal message with the community, they are preparing this and I will share once it’s available.

 

Design Update & Thermal Performance

 

The heat-exchanger (condenser) design has been finalized (picture below) and tooling has been ordered. In 5 weeks from now, Streacom will get samples and be able to start to test the real thermal performance.

We frequently get the question on what the approximate Thermal Performance will be. From engineering simulations, we estimate the following

• CPU – 195 W power dissipated @ 35 °C
• GPU – 420 W power dissipated @ 35 °C

This performance is good for a fan-less solution and now the objective is to replicate this performance with testing and validation of the condenser.

For your information, the final casing may have a space for optional fans. This would be to allow for higher CPU/GPU TDP components, the system to operate at lower temperatures, peak loads to run for extended periods of time or for use in varying environments and custom performance profiles. This is an aspect on which we will elaborate more in future posts.

 

Until the condenser is fabricated and tested, it is difficult to lock in any final design and for that reason, we decided not to share yet a full preliminary design. We will keep you updated as we move forward.

 

The question of a copper version is one that is frequently asked but at this stage, we are not able to confirm if this is going to be possible. Whilst the design and fins fabrication allow for this, there might be issues in the welding process that makes it non-viable due to the surface finish. There will be a more in-depth evaluation of this as the final product and manufacturing process for the condenser matures.

 

What are the next steps?

 

Now that we have the partnership in place, we will focus on the execution of the product development.

 

Some considerations on the project timeline are that (a) as we manufacture in China, we need to take Chinese New Year into account; and (b) we need to bear in mind that Streacom has other product launches, products in development and ongoing production planned (so their resources may be stretched at certain times).

 

So based on the latest info, here the current plan:

• Oct-Nov: Production and testing of the condenser (Air Heat Exchanger)
• Nov-Dec: Finalization of the product design and sharing of design elements
• Dec-Jan: Further evaluation of design and sub-component testing
• Jan-Feb: Prep for tooling, materials, components, supplier contracts (ready for post CNY)
• Feb-Mar: CNY shutdown (officially 2 weeks, but typically extends 1 week before and 1 week after)
• Mar-Apr: Final tooling, sample sub-component production and testing
• Apr-May: Prep production line, test pre-production units
• May: Begin production run

This was the latest info to share. As usual, we will update you on a regular basis. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions/ideas/comments, please do not hesitate to e-mail me.

 

Kind Regards,

Antoine

[matt-fr]

Update from 12 november 2020

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Dear Backers,

 

Following our announcement of the partnership, we sat down together with Streacom and reviewed the feedback received, either by direct e-mail or through the community page. We concluded that it was important to expand upon the solution offered, get feedback from the community on how best to move forward, but more importantly present the options that are available. Below are the important points we wanted to share and details on how to give your feedback through an online survey.

 

Understanding your Opinions

Following the announcement, the feedback from the community was rather mixed – which is understandable due to the history of this project and the fact that only 20 units would be available for free and awarded randomly. We have decided it would be best to conduct a survey (as many of you suggested) to lay out the possible options and understand how you want to move forward. The bottom line here is that if the community does or does not want the proposed solution with Streacom, or would rather prefer the remaining funds to be refunded, the choice should be yours and we better know now to act accordingly.

So, the link to the survey is: **edited**

You will need to fill in your Kickstarter ID and related e-mail address – Obviously, we will account 1 vote per backer. Please reply to the Survey by Sunday November 29 the latest. At that time we will close the Survey.

You will be able to vote for 3 options

1. Let’s go for Streacom

2. Let’s get a small refund

3. Let’s look for another partner for this project

 

1. As explained in the last update, partnering with Streacom will provide the community with 20 randomly allocated cases and a substantial discount on the final product. The discount will be around 30% on the retail price, whilst not finalized, is expected to be around 600 to 700USD. The lottery will be organized so that backers will receive one chance to win per USD invested. Therefore, those who pledged a higher amount have a higher proportional chance to win (i.e. they get more “lottery tickets”). Obviously, it is one case per backer maximum.

2. The refund will equate to ~25USD/~20EUR per backer depending on your tier and adjusted proportionally for any of the premium backers. As explained, a full refund is not possible as the project budget has already been exceeded (cfr. Update of February 2020). Full accounting for this has already been provided.

3. This means we restart the process that started 9 months ago from scratch with the target to identify a new partner with the hope they are able to provide some better conditions for the community. This option is not an easy one and unlikely to yield a better result but still open.

 

In the survey, there is also a comment box so that you can give any usual feedback to us. We will share back the results to the community and communicate the selected way forward.

 

Clarifying the Partnership and Product

An important point to stress is that Streacom has come on board, not to continue the development of the NSG S0 but rather offer an entirely new independently developed product as a substitute to the NSG S0 that failed to reach its completion.

It bears no connection to the original case developed by Calyos other than it incorporating our evaporator technology, but even the condenser is an entirely new design that Streacom has engineered. Whilst aesthetics is subjective, technically it will be a considerably better product to what was proposed, both in terms of thermal performance and quality.

In terms of performance, the product will accommodate the latest CPU & GPU cards on the market, a list will be compiled closer to release, but you can expect at least 3080 FE levels of support. As mentioned by many of you, in the last few years, there has been a substantial increase in CPU/GPU thermal demands, so without a new platform such as this, you would be limited to last-gen products. In the last communication, we specified a TDP of 195W for the CPU and 420W for the GPU @ an ambient room temperature of 35°C. If we take a room temperature @ 25°C this should push the limit to around 240W for the CPU and 480W for the GPU, effectively doubling what was expected for the NSG S0. Further to some comments, these are indeed based on thermal simulations but they are comprehensive and with our experience, we are confident they will correlate to real-world results. Once the fabricated prototype condenser is available, it will of course be tested/validated and the results shared with the community.

Streacom has great experience in designing products, specifically fanless cases and is renowned for their high-quality. Material selection, case design and user experience are all key elements taken into account by the team when designing the case. This expertise was totally lacking at Calyos when designing the first NSG versions.

We believe it is important to make these distinctions in the Kickstarter vs Streacom project and highlight the improvements because this concretely means that what will be offered is considerably better than what was originally planned, which in light of the additional cost if going with option (1), is important to factor in when deciding.

 

This was the latest info to share. As usual, we will update you on a regular basis. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions/ideas/comments, please do not hesitate to e-mail me.

 

Kind Regards,

Antoine

 

This really sucks ...

So, backers can (one of the three options below) :

*get a 25€ refund, on a kickerstater project that cost 580 to 650€ ...

*or be in the 20 lucky "winners" and get a free case; for the other backers pay again to get a case (600 to 700$).

*or say no to this partnership and push-back furthermore the project and release of a final product ...

[tridy]

It sucks big time. These three options are an insult.

 

A possible partner had to eat up producing 500 cases for free. Let's say 500 Euros for each. They get the technology for free from Calyos. My question is whether this technology is worth 250.000 Euros. If such a partner would exist,  and this technology is really good, this partner could gain a good name as a "savior of the project" and potentially get this tech that sounds to be really good. The question is if it is really good, why isn't anyone interested in it?

 

So far what I can see, Calyos does not want to carry (and they have an official right to do that) any financial responsibilities for the project, even though their name is involved.

 

It would be also interesting to know, how much would it cost if a different company would like to get a license from Calyos, again to know how much they are "sacrificing" in this situration.

 

 

[shark7760]

This is a really bad ending for a at first very nice fairy tale. I am so happy that I was lucky enough and got a refund, but I feel very sorry for everyone who wasn't as lucky as me.  At least the new CEO tried his best, but this was definitely way too late. 

 

Are there any news from the voting? The result should be there now.

[matt-fr]

22 hours ago, shark7760 said:

Are there any news from the voting? The result should be there now.

No info yet. I will keep you updated here.

[tridy]

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Project Update - December 2020

Calyos™Creator

December 16, 2020

Dear Backers,

Following the last update and the survey, we sat down together with Streacom and reviewed the results and feedback received. It was an interesting, necessary exercise to get your input and guide our future steps and decisions. We will repeat this in the future when we feel we need your opinion on important decisions.

Below we have outlined the Survey results including feedback on specific questions that came-up. Also, Streacom has provided more info on the SG10 platform under development (as it was frequently asked).

 

Survey Results

As a reminder, the survey was conducted to lay out the possible options and understand how you want to move forward as a community. There were 3 options for voting:

1. Proceed with Streacom.

2. Receive a small refund.

3. Look for an alternative partner.

Participation rate for the survey was 137 people which is a good number considering that the project is close to be 4 years old now - personally, I was expecting less backers to vote. Regarding the results, the vast majority (88%) of backers endorsed to continue with Streacom. It is worth noting that many submissions came with comments that we cover below. Generally speaking, it is a significant endorsement from the community and therefore we will continue the development with Streacom.

The main concerns expressed in the survey – to which we don’t have a definitive answer right now– are summarised below. We will take this into account as we move forward.

• General comments that 20 units is too low and that the number should be increased.
• Suggestions to provide a higher discount for everyone rather than the lottery of cases.
• Requests for a fair solution for the silver/gold/platinum/copper backers; and to account for early backers in the lottery.
• General comments that the 30% suggested discount on the retail price should be increased.

As we progress in the project, we will come back to you with another survey to clarify options related to the points above. There were also questions on transport costs, and the idea is indeed not to charge these costs for the lottery units nor the new units.

 

Product Specifications

A number of you requested more information and specifications on the final SG10 product. Here preliminary information from Streacom product design team:

• Design – ‘Traditional’ tower case design with some non-typical design features required for the fanless cooling. Mix of glass and aluminum
• Dimensions – 580 x 270 x 510mm (L x W x H), still subject to change
• CPU/GPU – CPU only limited by TDP, so all current desktop chips, GPU will aim to support all current gen reference cards from Nvidia, AMD and Intel
• PCI slot – Will use riser cable, 1 dedicated bay for GPU, 1 optional bay for additional PCI, both bays support 3 slot card thickness
• Storage – 6 drive bays, each can accommodate single 3.5 or 2 x 2.5. If using the second PCI bay, will sacrifice 3 drive bays.
• Motherboard & PSU – Full ATX for both
• Front I/O – 2 x USB A, 1 x USB C

There are also questions regarding the “Silver/Gold/Platinum/Copper cases”. This is under review and one option is to possibly make a limited edition with Copper. Main challenge here is really the manufacturing set-up as it is more complex to produce with quality. Streacom target is to take final decision on this version around February-march next year.

 

What are the next steps?

Now that we have the endorsement from the community as to the way forward, we will re-focus on the execution of the product development. We did put some investments on hold (e.g. condenser tooling) awaiting survey results, but all-in-all we did not lose too much time. From the latest information, here the current time plan:

• Dec-Jan: Production and testing of the condenser (Air Heat Exchanger)
• Jan-Feb: Finalization of the product design and sharing of design elements
• Feb-Mar: Further evaluation of design and sub-component testing
• Feb-Mar: CNY shutdown (officially 2 weeks, but typically extends 1 week before and 1 week after)
• Mar-Apr: Prep for tooling, materials, components, supplier contracts (ready for post CNY)
• Apr-May: Final tooling, sample sub-component production and testing
• May-June: Prep production line, test pre-production units
• June: Begin production run

We also wanted to note the frustration that some backers expressed with the outcome of the project. I had a choice to abandon the project or pursue this route to a resolution and I appreciate the support of the community as we look to bring this project to a close. A small part of the community continues to cite Calyos as a scam, theft, etc. This project was indeed badly managed in the past but let’s now put our energy in the right direction. Positive attitude will make it easier to support this project and hopefully come to a better outcome related to the concerns you expressed earlier in the survey.

 

This was the latest info to share. As usual, we will update you on a regular basis. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions/ideas/comments, please do not hesitate to e-mail me. 

 

Kind Regards,

Antoine

 

[matt-fr]

At least the new CEO wants to finalize the project.

Even if it isn't Calyos releasing the product.

[tridy]

Project Update - January 2021

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Dear Backers,

 

Firstly, happy new year to all of you – let’s hope 2021 brings good health to everyone (very important nowadays). Let us also target further progress on the SG10 platform, we will continue our regular updates this year.

 

Following the last update and the formal decision to continue the development with Streacom, we focussed back on the project and its execution. This update will be short, but we wanted to keep our monthly tempo going.

 

Progress on the Condenser

 

The prototype condenser (Air Convection Heat Exchanger) is ongoing with most of the tooling now complete and being tested/adjusted. The first sample is expected to be ready the last week of January, with testing to start once it is available to us. In the next update we hope to share pictures of the actual fabricated part and, if all runs smoothly, provide some real-world test results.

As explained earlier, this is an important step in the project as the condenser has significant impacts on performance. It also acts as the basis for the rest of the design and it one of the critical milestones in development. So in next month’s update will give a better overview of the next development steps.

 

Copper Version

 

The question of a copper version has come up many times, so to answer this question, Streacom has been evaluatingthe viability and whilst this has not been confirmed, they will at least attempt to produce a version of the case that features an all copper condenser. Hopefully the technical challenges can be overcome but more feedback on this topic will be given in the next update as well.

 

What are the next steps?

 

The expected next steps are the delivery and testing of the condenser. As explained above, this is an important step to enable further progress. Streacom is also working further on the product design. When possible, they will share key design elements.

This was the latest info to share with you. As usual, we will update you on a regular basis. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions/ideas/comments, please do not hesitate to e-mail me.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Antoine

 

 

[matt-fr]

Update from 24 February 2021

 

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Dear Backers,   Since the last update at the end of January, we received the condenser from Streacom and started the testing process. As explained earlier, this is an important step in the project as the condenser has a significant impact on performance. It also acts as the basis for the rest of the design and it is one of the critical milestones in the development process. Therefore, this update is important and will give a good overview of the performance and future development steps.   The Condenser – Design & Estimated Thermal Performance As a reminder, the image below shows the design which has been shared previously. From engineering simulations, its thermal performance was estimated to be 195W for the CPU and 420W for the GPU at a room temperature @ 35°C. This performance is for a fan-less solution and now our objective is to replicate this performance with testing and validation of the condenser prototype.     The Condenser – The first prototype The tooling of the condenser has been tested and adjusted by Streacom during the month of January. First prototypes have been manufactured and sent to Calyos. Below is a picture of the real unit! Please note that at this stage it has no finish applied and is just the raw material (Copper Tube + Aluminium Fins).     The Condenser – Lab Testing Once received at Calyos, the first step was to assemble the condenser with an evaporator and tubes, and then fille the loop heat pipe with the dielectric fluid. The second step was to set-up a rig for testing which can be seen below. Please excuse the aesthetics of the test set-up. This is a lab set-up which is obviously not made for marketing purposes, but I wanted to share with you. You can see the evaporator (latest version) and the lines. What you do not see is the heater (on the back of the evaporator) and the computer used to make the measurements.     Now, what is the thermal performance of this first test? We are happy to say that we are actually pretty close to our initial estimations. So, this is good news and the performance of the condenser is validated. For your information, Lab testing has been done on heaters (not on real components) and at room temperature (which was around 20°C at the time of the testing). In these conditions, the thermal performance went up to around 450W without a fan. Please keep in mind however that performance results will change in real conditions. Aspects like power density real components (CPU/GPU), the TIM (Thermal Interface Material) and the final tube layout in the SG10 product will impact the performance. It will be interesting to test and cross-check the thermal performance data in a SG10 prototype unit. This will be done and communicated in the coming months. Also, please remember that the final SG10 casing may have a space for optional fans. This would allow for: Considerably higher CPU/GPU TDP components. CPU/GPUs to operate at lower temperatures. Run for extended periods of time at peak or for use in varying environments. Other custom performance profiles. This is something we will do more testing on and elaborate more on the results in future posts. Obviously, thermal management is always a balance of considerations, so do not expect the system to be capable of everything at once.   Copper Version In the last post, we committed to give feedback on the Copper version. Until now, priority was given to fabricating and testing the aluminium version of the condenser and with the CNY shutdown, progress on the copper version has been on hold. With the end of the CNY holiday period, this process will resume and we will have a definitive and solid answer from Streacom in approximately 2 weeks.   What are the next steps? Now that the condenser has been successfully fabricated and tested, Streacom will be able to lock in a final design and step-by-step share some preliminary design elements of the SG10. We will keep you updated as we move forward.   This was the latest info to share with you. As usual, we will update you on a regular basis. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions/ideas/comments, please do not hesitate to e-mail me. Kind Regards, Antoine

 

[irajacobs]

I hadn't seen the updates in this topic, and independently contacted them asking about a fanless case.  Received this today:

"Thanks for reaching out, that project is being completed with our partner now and we intend to release the case later this year.

I can share that the partner is Streacom and I advise that you follow their social media channels to stay up to date with the release."

[matt-fr]

@irajacobs There was an update on the 24th of March. Here it is :

 

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Dear Backers,

I hope all of you are keeping well and remaining positive, even if the return to a normal life is extremely slow in some countries.

Here is a quick update on the project. This communication will be rather short this time as Streacom is currently finalizing the design of the platform. We plan on sharing renderings in next month’s communication.

SG10 Design

As a reminder, we received and tested the condenser (See communication No.13). Now that the condenser has been successfully fabricated and tested, Streacom has been able to work on the more traditional design elements involved in a pc case. This is an iterative design process and the target is to share some design pictures in the next communication released towards the end of April. The only comment I can make for now is that it looks good! We will need a couple more weeks of patience from the community before you get to see the real product.

I also want to note that once we have finalized the design, the next step will be to build a complete prototype to be tested in our lab, to validate thermal performances.

Copper Version Confirmed

In the last update, we committed to providing feedback regarding the Copper version. We had expected the validation sample to be ready but it has been delayed until further improvements to the welding jig have been implemented, so this will also have to wait until the next update.

Next Steps

As we finalize the full design we will share it with you. In the next update we will share the progress we have made, including pictures/renderings. Following this update, we will welcome any feedback from the community as to the design. As I am sure you can appreciate it may be difficult to accommodate everyone’s individual needs, but we still feel that this is an important step. The feedback will also be shared with Streacom and will be noted for any future design iterations.

This was the latest info to share with you. As usual, we will update you on a regular basis. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions/ideas/comments, please do not hesitate to e-mail me.

Kind Regards,

Antoine

 

[tridy]

Project Update - April 2021

 

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Dear Backers,

 

I hope all of you are safe, well and hopefully staying positive throughout the pandemic.

This update will cover multiple aspects. As we will detail below, the project moves ahead but there are some specific challenges that we want to highlight and be transparent about as these can have an impact on the progress of the project.

 

Case Design

Streacom is in the process of fabricating the first full prototype of the SG10 to evaluate its structural integrity and manufacturability. This should be ready in the next 2 weeks and once validated will allow them to commit to tooling and make further refinements to the design.

In the last update, we communicated our plan to share complete renderings of the SG10 product. As the physical prototype has not been tested yet, Streacom has suggested holding off on the full reveal until this has been done. They also understand that everyone is eager to see the new design, so as a compromise we have some ‘teaser’ images that give an idea of the design language without giving away all the details. These images focus on the condensers that are mounted at the top and have been at the heart of the new design. As mentioned during the condenser development, one side is for CPU cooling and the other for GPU, each with independent loops and evaporators.

Testing on Overclocked CPU

As a reminder, we received and tested the condenser (See communication No.13) in early April. We tested this first prototype on an Intel CPU we overclocked to 300W. As you will see in the picture below, it was a typically (messy) lab test setup, but the bottom line is that the thermal performance is good and is close to what we simulated. Whilst this setup is not an ideal representation of the final product because its in a fully open frame, the results are another positive milestone for the project.

Evaporator Redesign

One drawback identified during testing is our evaporator. It was designed during the NSG-0 first design iterations and it is too big to fit on all the processors/motherboard combinations. It seems the design work completed in 2017-2018 needs to be redone, this is a work we will start now. We will update you on the progress in the next communication. Obviously, this is not a quick aspect to resolve but we will try to limit the time impact of this design change.

 

FAQ on Fluid

I frequently received questions relating to our fluid of choice and I wanted to do a small recap on this topic:

1) We are using a dielectric fluid which is called RZ1233zdE. This is a green fluid with a very low GWP (Global Warming Potential) of 1.

2) The fluid is dielectric and therefore will not cause short-circuits if the loop is damaged. This is a big advantage when compared with traditional water-based systems.

3) The fluid will never need to be changed. Loop Heat Pipes are sealed (through soldering) and therefore does not require maintenance throughout many years of operation. Hopefully, this removes any worries on this front.

If you have any more questions like that do not hesitate to ask and I will communicate back to everyone.

 

FAQ on Cost

Another question I also get frequently is about the cost of the new platform. This will be shared once the final prototype is validated, and the exact costing is known. We will come back to this.

 

Copper Version Feasible

In the last update, we committed to providing feedback regarding the Copper version. The sample has been validated and a Copper version is technically feasible but we are still evaluating together with Streacom the best way to proceed with this version. Cost and volume are both issues so this will require some further evaluation.

 

Next Steps

We will finalize a full prototype and start the work on the new version of the evaporator. In the next update, we will share the progress we have made, including pictures/renderings/etc.

 

This was the latest info to share with you. As usual, we will update you on a regular basis. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions/ideas/comments, please do not hesitate to e-mail me.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Antoine

 

 

[matt-fr]

Update 28 May 2021

 

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Dear Backers, I hope all of you are safe, well and getting ready to hopefully enjoy a return to some level of normality soon. This update covers several aspects in relation to the progress we are continuing to make on the project. We also use this opportunity to ask for your opinions on some design features through a survey. We will use your input to guide us through some of the design steps. SG10 Case Prototype As explained last time, Streacom was in the process of fabricating the first full prototype of the SG10 to evaluate its structural integrity and manufacturability. Below are some pictures of the prototype unit in its unfinished raw material form. Dimensions of the case are 26.8 x 58.5 x 52 cm (W x D x H)     Streacom is now reviewing the design and will make some further refinements based on experience with the prototype. The condenser will also be updated to add a third tube to improve the coolant filling procedure. Once the revised condenser is ready, a fully assembled case will be sent to Calyos for evaporator integration and system testing. Feedback from the community During the design meetings with Streacom, some questions arose that we felt would be beneficial to put to the community and get feedback on. You can answer through the following link: LINK EDITED OUT For your information, the questions are: Which GPU location do you prefer? a) same side as motherboard (vanity) b) opposite side of the motherboard (performance) What is your preference for the Front I/O location? a) Bottom Left b) Bottom Right c) Top Left d) Top Right e) Other? (it can in principle be placed anywhere on the front) What port combination would you like on the front I/O? a) 2 x USB-A; 1 x USB-C b) 1 x USB-A; 2 x USB-C c) 1 x USB-A; 1 x USB-C; 1 x Audio d) Other? If support for both current and      next-gen CPUs is not possible, which is preferred? a) Current: Intel LGA1200 & AMD AM4 b) Next-Gen: Intel LGA1700 & AMD AM5 Do you have any other comments/suggestions in regards to the design? Regarding the first question, there is some renderings below to highlight the options for the GPU location. It has been labelled as “vanity” and “performance”. The key advantage of the performance location is the greatly reduced PCIe extension cable length (which is critical for stability on gen4). The tube routing will also be more optimized in the “performance version” which is a plus.     CPU and GPU supported Regarding CPU, our target with this platform is to support Desktop class CPUs i.e. Intel LGA 1200, AMD AM4 (potentially LGA 1700 and AMD AM4). Due to its very different form factor, the Intel Xeon and AMD Threadripper workstation processors won’t be supported in this product version. Regarding the GPU, our aim is to support standard/popular NVIDIA and AMD cards. The challenges we are currently evaluating is how to best cool down the VRMs/DRAMs whilst providing a wide range of compatibility. We understand that card availability is a real problem so having board compatibility is important. As we move forward, we will publish a list of supported CPUs and GPUs. Next Steps We are now working with Streacom on the following elements: Integration of a filling tube to insure filling & manufacturability Redesign of the evaporator for CPU + GPU incl. VRM/DRAM cooling The first one is easy and will be soon finalized. Once done, we can perform testing on the full platform with the current version of evaporators. This will give a very good indication of thermal performance of the final product. The second point is more complex. As explained last time, we noticed that the evaporator designed during the first NSG-0 iterations was too big to fit on all the processors/motherboard combinations. We are now reviewing its design to fit the CPU and, at the same time, offer a good solution for GPU cooling (for which VRM/DRAM also need to be cooled). This work is now ongoing with a first version soon ready for design review. In the next update, we will share the progress we have made, including pictures/renderings/etc. This was the latest info to share with you. As usual, we will update you on a regular basis. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions/ideas/comments, please do not hesitate to e-mail me. Kind Regards, Antoine

 

[tridy]

On 5/28/2021 at 1:44 PM, James Evens said:

 

Was this was the kickstarter backer got?

The option to buy a engraved case (potentially), some discount and a stupid game/contest?

I am not sure if you are saying it to make a point or if you are wondering what happened.

 

Just in case it is the second, the kickstarter did not work out due to the miscalculations, unrealistic expectations and way too much optimizm. [I think because of] Calyos name was at stake, so one of the guys there picked up the project and said, "Your money is gone," but lets try to actually make this project work but you will have to pay again. The rest is fluff.

[tridy]

21 hours ago, James Evens said:

How?

They where already in the (server) business and had a working porotype.

the QC, manufacturing problems, assembly difficulties, some aspects of the performance, former team dismissed because of the poor product design (from update #25)

[matt-fr]

Update 28 June 2021

 

Dear Backers, I hope all of you are doing well with the summer season approaching fast. This update covers the results of our most recent survey regarding design features of the SG10; and we will provide some more information on features which were not included in the last communication; lastly, we will provide a small update on the project.   Survey Results In the last communication, we asked for your input regarding few aspects of the design. Which GPU location do you prefer? What is your preference for the Front I/O location? What port combination would you like on the front I/O? If support for both current and next-gen CPUs is not possible, which is preferred? Do you have any other comments/suggestions in regards to the design? I have summarized the results here (some charts are in appendix for the ones interested): 75% prefer the ‘performance’ GPU location. We will choose this version for the final design. There is no clear outcome regarding the front I/O location and we received very mixed feedback, with ‘Top Left’ just taking the lead at 29.2%. We will continue to review this and base the location on what works best with cable management. There is no clear outcome regarding the port combination. We will go with the originally proposed 1 x USB-C, 2 x USB-A but as the front I/O is modular, there will be an option to produce alternative ones as an accessory. 77.5% prefer it if we support ‘next-gen’ CPUs. We will support Intel LGA1700 & AMD AM5. We do want to address several comments on Intel Xeon and AMD Threadripper CPUs, unfortunately, due to their considerably different form factor they will not be supported in this generation of the product. The key issue is the size differences of the IHS as there is no way to have the evaporator operate effectively with such different cooling surface areas. As the loop heat pipe is a sealed system, there would also be no way to offer customer replaceable evaporators.   SG10 Case – More info on some features With the reveal of the design, there have also been some common questions that we would like to address: Fans & Fan installation - Whilst the SG10 has been designed and is optimised to operate without the need for fans, the tracks built into the frame will allow for a number of 120mm fans to be fitted. These can be used to give increase the cooling performance and allow the system to run cooler     Additional PCI cards - With the decision to move the GPU location to the right side of the case, there will be an additional 2 locations available to support PCI cards. These will also require a flexible riser cable and will impact the total number of 3.5”/2.5” drives that can be fitted (as the mounting locations overlap)           Mounting points for 3.5"/2.5" drives, PSU support - There will be a total of 5 drive bays that use a drive tray. Each tray can support 2 drive, either 2 x 3.5” or 2 x 2.5” of 1 of each. Drive trays can be mounted to either side of the case depending on PCI card usage. If only using the GPU location, all 5 bays will be available, so a total of 10 drives can be fitted. If an additional PCI card is used, this will occupy 2-3 bays (depending on location), limiting the number of drives to 4-6. In vertical orientation, the PSU can be 180mm in length, if a longer PSU is required, the orientation can be made horizontal to accommodate virtually any length, but it will reduce the number of drive bays available.     Cable management guides/gutters/slots - This has always been a consideration and part of the design but with the recent change to the GPU location, we had decided to rethink this and are currently working on alternative ideas for how best to hide and manage cables. We will be able to share this in the next update.   Next Steps Based on your feedback, Streacom is now finalising the design. In parallel, we will receive soon a second version prototype for review and testing. The redesign of the evaporator for both CPU and GPU is ongoing. It is likely that we will share further information in the next communication. The GPU part is the most challenging and we have 4 designs that we are reviewing with Streacom. A lot of consideration is going it this with the aim of providing the widest range of compatibility for different cards and vendors.   In the next update, we will detail the progress we have made, including new pictures/renderings/etc. This was the latest info to share with you. As usual, we will update you on a regular basis. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions/ideas/comments, please do not hesitate to e-mail me.   Kind Regards, Antoine   Appendix – Survey Graphs Please note that some of the ‘other’ responses have been summarized for clarity of communication. Plus this ensures that everyone’s feedback is counted and included. All respondents have been verified that they were Kickstarter backers, with two results being excluded as the Backer ID nor Backer No. matched our records.

[TVwazhere]

@tridy @matt-fr You guys think this will actually launch as a product this year? Been quietly watching this thread for a while and seeing the latest progress is encouraging

[matt-fr]

23 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

@tridy @matt-fr You guys think this will actually launch as a product this year? Been quietly watching this thread for a while and seeing the latest progress is encouraging

Yes progress is encouraging, but I'm not expecting anything from Calyos. The kickstarter deposit is lost, and none of the backers will ever get a free case. If the actual project comes to life, backers will have to pay for the product.

[tridy]

4 hours ago, matt-fr said:

The kickstarter deposit is lost, and none of the backers will ever get a free case

Technically there was never a free case :), since backers have already paid for it. I think that they will make it happen this time, especially since Streacom is involved in that as well. What surprised me was that they needed to do the redesign of the case and improve the performance almost from the ground up and [from my personal feeling] cut some extra corners. I might revisit NSG again maybe after a couple of years if it actually performs well and does not leak the gas. Maybe other companies will jump on to the fanless train as well by that time.

 

 

For now however, I have invested into Monsterlabo's The Beast that is also fanless but without phase change cooling. I should get it within a couple of weeks, I hope. LTT has reviewed The First earlier but The Beast is sort of bigger and can handle more TDP from what I understand. I think it was mentioned somewhere that there some people from NSG project who work at Monsterlabo, which I hope is a good thing for the case :).

[Blue4130]

8 minutes ago, tridy said:

For now however, I have invested into Monsterlabo's The Beast that is also fanless but without phase change cooling. I should get it within a couple of weeks, I hope. LTT has reviewed The First earlier but The Beast is sort of bigger and can handle more TDP from what I understand. I think it was mentioned somewhere that there some people from NSG project who work at Monsterlabo, which I hope is a good thing for the case :).

Doesn't it worry you that they are well past their initial ship date and still don't have pictures of final product, only renders?

[tridy]

3 minutes ago, Blue4130 said:

Doesn't it worry you that they are well past their initial ship date and still don't have pictures of final product, only renders?

Do you mean Monsterlabo stuff? They have actually been doing live streams where they were assembling The Beasts.

 

two of them here:

 

 

 

[matt-fr]

Update 29 July 2021

 

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Dear Backers,

It is our summer holidays in Europe right now, I hope you can enjoy some welcomed time off too. Here is a quick update to keep everyone up to date with the latest info.

 

New condenser delivery

Streacom received the condenser last week (see pictures below). In comparison to the previous prototype (see Feb 2021 communication), this one uses aluminium for the fins and has been coated to give more accurate results in thermal testing. The tube layout and size has also been optimized further for both manufacture and our LHP technology.

 

We had hoped to already have testing underway but delivery of the condenser has been slow due to various COVID related lockdowns in Chinas Dongguan area which hampered both the tooling modifications and fabrication. Anyhow, with this new condenser complete, Streacom will assemble this into the original sample case and send it to us so that we can conduct further testing and analysis, the results of which should be very close to real-world scenarios. We will share more pictures once completed.

Meanwhile, tooling for the main case components is underway so the next prototype made will have the majority of the parts in their production-ready state.

Evaporator redesign for CPU & GPU

Another ongoing development action is to update our evaporators for the next-generation processors. On the CPU front, we are waiting for final info from one CPU vendor before freezing the design, this should be completed in two weeks. On the GPU front, we made an additional thermal simulation of the 4 target designs and Streacom is now in the process of review it for manufacturability. More information will be shared as soon as available.

This was the latest info to share with you for this communication. As usual, we will update you on a regular (monthly) basis. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions/ideas/comments, please do not hesitate to e-mail me.

Kind Regards,

Antoine

 

[matt-fr]

Update 26 August 2021

 

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Dear Backers,

 

It is our summer holidays in Europe right now, I hope you can enjoy some welcomed time off too. Here is a quick update to keep everyone up to date with the latest info.

 

New prototype in progress

As communicated in the last update, Streacom received the new condenser in July.

Due to continued COVID lockdowns in China, the assembly in a final prototype with the latest parts has not yet been completed in August. This is in the plan for September.

As soon as ready, Streacom will send it to us so that we can conduct further testing and analysis, the results of which should be very close to real-world scenarios.

We will share more pictures once completed.

 

Evaporator redesign for CPU & GPU completed

We received the final information on the CPU side and the new evaporator design has been completed. It will now go into sourcing and production. Just to manage your expectations, this is a 12 week process to produce the new evaporators. Consequently, the initial testing on the final prototype platform will be done with our current evaporators.

On the GPU front, we have made some additional thermal simulations of the 4 target designs and Streacom is now reviewing the manufacturability. As always, more information will be shared as soon as it is available.

 

Pricing update

A lot of backers are asking for a pricing update. To give a valid figure, we must wait for the sourcing discussions to be finalized and the raw material price to stabilize a little, as you may know there are a lot of challenges with sourcing at the moment. Streacom hopes to finish this part for the end of September.

This was the latest info to share – short one again during this holiday season – we will push in September to move on the different fronts and come back to you with more information. As usual, we will update you on a regular (monthly) basis. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions/ideas/comments, please do not hesitate to e-mail me.

 

Kind Regards,

Antoine

 

Edited October 29, 2021 by TVwazhere
Fixed for Dark theme users