Designing a new small form factor, Mini-ITX case. We need your suggestions

[GoliathDesign]

Hey guys. I’m Max, the cofounder of Goliath Design.

For the past 12 months we’ve been brainstorming, designing, and engineering a small form factor mITX pc case perfect for any build, and it’s almost here. The Goliath MINI.

Here is what we have so far http://imgur.com/a/ylCSg


We are finishing up the final touches right now. But we want the community’s feedback. Let us know what you think of the MINI. If you can, fill out this survey to let us know what you want in a small form factor case. http://strawpoll.me/5820797




I have removed the redirects, the self promotion of personal websites, and the request for sponsorship "kick starter" from your original post. We have rules which were handed down by our bosses which prohibits these things unless explicit permission from advertisement department was given. We do encourage new companies to ask for feedback, however we ask you keep it on our forums, and do not try to generate traffic to your personal/company website.

The rules can be read here...
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=32596075&postcount=1

Since this is a first time thing, i will let it slide without a warning with just a slap on the wrist.
If you have any additional questions, you can make a post here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/forumdisplay.php?f=56

Cases and Cooling Moderator Aigo

 

[Yuriman]

I'm a fan of your layout; as far as I can tell, it's one of two basic designs that allow for full size components and leaves very little deadspace. It looks pretty similar to the Silverstone Raven, with the major differences being support for a greater number of 2.5" (and 3.5"? can't tell) devices, (presumably) the ability to use a normal ATX power supply, and the ability to use multiple 120mm fans.

However, your airflow design looks like it could use some work.

-You could potentially narrow the case by ~120mm by placing a row of 2.5" bays below or above the video card section, or perhaps vertically between the supply area and the video card. Maybe have this as a variant of the case?

-I would consider removing the metal shell around the power supply, allowing for slightly non-ATX sized units.

-How about an optional plastic or metal "cap" allowing for an internal 2x120mm radiator where the 2x120mm fans are?

-I understand this is concept art, but please go with a less restrictive and potentially removable grille design where the fans are. Restrictive grilles cause noise and reduce airflow.

-Consider closing some of the mesh, so as to create airflow paths that channel the air moved by your fans across useful areas. You can get away with fewer fans, or cool more effectively with the same number of fans, if the air is moving across the correct places. I would suggest trying eliminating the mesh directly above the motherboard, possibly all of it on that side panel, in a prototype, and see what happens. Possibly eliminate the mesh above the IO panel, but leave the side of the case opposite the two fans with the video card with mesh. Perhaps have a closed design, with two intake fans at the video card end, and a single exhaust next to the motherboard and existing 2.5" bays, providing positive pressure for a power supply exhausting out of the case? You'll have 2x 120mm in, and 2x 120mm out at this point.

Here are two awful 60-second MSpaint drawings illustrating what I have in mind:

^Or the reverse of the above, though you'd need to think of something clever to do with the power supply. As long as the air is moving sufficiently, it shouldn't be significantly warmer over the CPU when compared with outside air.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Do you have a list of motherboards that are compatible with the PCI-E expander/riser?

 

[paul878]

The case is too big for miniITX.
If I was going for a mini build I would not want a case that big.

 

[ClockHound]

The case is too big for miniITX.
If I was going for a mini build I would not want a case that big.

To be fair, they did name it Goliath. If they were planning to release one of those anorexic 8L itx cases with that name, then we could raise the false advertising flag.

I'm not a fan of what appears to be a fan blowing into the side of the PSU. And so many drive cages. Is it a micro desktop/media center/drive storage case?

My fav cases, especially the smaller ones, are more single focussed. Yet to discover any case that is 'perfect for any build'. Maybe a semi-modular, inflatable case might get close. My feedback is to narrow the focus and function.

 

[GoliathDesign]

I'm a fan of your layout; as far as I can tell, it's one of two basic designs that allow for full size components and leaves very little deadspace. It looks pretty similar to the Silverstone Raven, with the major differences being support for a greater number of 2.5" (and 3.5"? can't tell) devices, (presumably) the ability to use a normal ATX power supply, and the ability to use multiple 120mm fans.

However, your airflow design looks like it could use some work.

-You could potentially narrow the case by ~120mm by placing a row of 2.5" bays below or above the video card section, or perhaps vertically between the supply area and the video card. Maybe have this as a variant of the case?

-I would consider removing the metal shell around the power supply, allowing for slightly non-ATX sized units.

-How about an optional plastic or metal "cap" allowing for an internal 2x120mm radiator where the 2x120mm fans are?

-I understand this is concept art, but please go with a less restrictive and potentially removable grille design where the fans are. Restrictive grilles cause noise and reduce airflow.

-Consider closing some of the mesh, so as to create airflow paths that channel the air moved by your fans across useful areas. You can get away with fewer fans, or cool more effectively with the same number of fans, if the air is moving across the correct places. I would suggest trying eliminating the mesh directly above the motherboard, possibly all of it on that side panel, in a prototype, and see what happens. Possibly eliminate the mesh above the IO panel, but leave the side of the case opposite the two fans with the video card with mesh. Perhaps have a closed design, with two intake fans at the video card end, and a single exhaust next to the motherboard and existing 2.5" bays, providing positive pressure for a power supply exhausting out of the case? You'll have 2x 120mm in, and 2x 120mm out at this point.

Here are two awful 60-second MSpaint drawings illustrating what I have in mind:

^Or the reverse of the above, though you'd need to think of something clever to do with the power supply. As long as the air is moving sufficiently, it shouldn't be significantly warmer over the CPU when compared with outside air.

Wow thank you very much! I'm kind of new to designing PC hardware and your post really helped

Right now I'm working on updating the design to be more compact. As several people have mentioned, the case is a bit large.

I will definitely incorporate your feedback though.

Thanks again

 

[J3S73R]

Do you have a list of motherboards that are compatible with the PCI-E expander/riser?

Last I recall, most systems dont care if you use a riser and only becomes an issue when you try to go 1 to 2 and what not.

I actually did this with an AM1 board recently.

 

[CZroe]

Since around 2003 I've wanted to see a tiny chassis that incorporates a 1U PSU and a riser card for a super minimal footprint. Since then enthusiast/consumer PSUs have grown to be very different from 1U PSUs (a 1U PSU is not likely to have PCIe connectors, for example). Even so, many 1U PSUs have no wiring harness (they interface with a backplane). I would LOVE to see an enthusiast miniITX using one of these types of thin PSUs instead of oversized ATX PSUs or hard to find enthusiast FlexATX PSUs. 1U server PSUs are built for rack mounted servers and aren't always the quietest but they are usually much higher quality (many are built for redundancy).
I always wondered why Shuttle and other SFF makers didn't use them years ago because that would allow the user to replace or upgrade a PSU.