Custom Case ...

[BanditsHigh]

I've been playing about with designs for a PC case (MINI ITX), GPU vertical at front, MB/air cooler on top or behind GPU, and the PSU behind the GPU ... then I came across this ... https://xikii.com/products/xikii-industry-ff04

Verrry nice but at a price!!

I never even knew about the AUSU ProArt stuff until I saw this and I like it because of it's simplicity ... none of the over the top RGB and stupid flashy cover designs for the GPU.

I also quite like the idea of some RGB (but not in your face type) showing through the slot for the PSU intake in the sides of the case.

One thing I don't like about the FF04 is that the passthrough for the top fan in the GPU is blocked by the case ... so I thought I'd play about with my own design based around this case.

The central spine of the case will be a thick piece of acrylic, with the intake of the PSU one one side leading to the passthrough of the GPU on the other side. Therefore the GPU will draw air in and eject via the passthrough, which will then be drawn out by the PSU (heated air), which will in turn be ejected through the side of the case.

The acrylic would be lit by the RGB fan of the PSU (most likely ASUS LOKI 1000W) which will give a nice soft glow up both sides of the case or I could install some RGB strips (meaning the PSU wouldn't need an RGB fan).

My question is this, do you think that this will be handled by the PSU without issue or would it overheat?

All the best ... Barry

<EDIT> All ports are on the underside of the case and dimensions are (currently) the same as the FF04 ... 180mm wide, 145mm deep and 370mm tall

https://iili.io/2St7OHg.png

[Easy-X]

A quick browse of Scan show a few "heat tower" type case designs and I had a Silverstone Fortress Mini-ITX case for my previous system. I like the idea of cool air being drawn in from the bottom and exiting from the top as it exploits natural convection airflow in the event of fan failure. TBH fan failure isn't really much of a thing but it gives me an idea...

The current obsession is with water cooling. Yes, I have a rad system in my PC but I like it because I don't need to run the fans at high speed. How about pushing the heat tower and convection idea to the limit and designing an entirely fan-less, passive cooling system? CPUs, memory and power supplies are easy to passively cool. GPUs though Something like RTX 30xx you could get passive but the current generation seems to be semi-fanless* at best.

*A cop out term, "we only turn on the fan when needed" meet the new boss, same as the old boss
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[BanditsHigh]

My original system is still going strong and I built that in 2011, a 2600k with a Corsair H60 AIO ... but I fancy going the air cooled and SFF route this time.

I would rather build my own case this time as well, rather by buy the same widely available case as everyone else, and I'm still about a year and a half away from doing a build, so not in any hurry ... feck the 6090 might be out by the time I build it!

The CAD is great for creating a pretty detailed model but at some point I'll create a physical mock-up of it, to which end I've already bought a cheap old duff Mini ITX MB and the GPU/PSU I can make out of wood or cardboard.

The problem with a complete passive system is you'd (probably) need some pretty big heat exchangers ... I'm trying to go as small as possible

Anyway, thanks for the feedback, mucho appreciated.

All the best ... Barry

[P.]

1000W PSU? I'm not even using that. nor drawing higher than 730W on my 850W running almost top end kit

I have never found a small case to be useful, without water cooling significantly it will get hot as fuck.

I once built a watercooled mini with a R5 3600 and a 2070 in it, it was too hot. I, personaly, wouldn't do it again. But I also opt for an easy life.

[BanditsHigh]

Remember, just because it's 1000W doesn't mean it'll use 1000W, it just means that the PSU is never stressed if using in a system which is close to the limit. A 750W/850W would probably be enough, but the bigger one could be used in a later system with a greater power draw (so no need to buy another PSU).

I'm fed up with big massive cases, which is why I'm playing about with SFF, although this may be going to the opposite extreme

The heat is my main concern, I could make the case bigger and have say an AIO vertically mounted back to back with the GPU ... I could build a mock up of a case relatively quickly, base/central spine to bolt everything to and then wrap in cardboard to simulate the actual case ... so I can check the heat build up.

It'll be a while before I build anyway, so I've got plenty of time to come up with an ideal solution (for me)

All the best ... Barry

[Easy-X]

I like the idea of over-engineered, under-stressed. But also consider with your power supply choice the efficiency number. If a certain amount of your 240V Watts are coming in and only 80% of it ends up on your 12V/5V/3.3V rails it stands to reason the other 20% is exiting as heat. (Feel free to shoot me down if I have that assumption wrong!)

Have a think about dust ingress as well. I regularly have to hoover half a cat from my PC
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[BanditsHigh]

I know next to nothing, just a gut feeling ... however there is this ... https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/tech-talk/wh10_005

My i7-2600k / GTX 1070 system has a 1200W Corsair power supply, still going strong after 13 years

Don't talk about dust, it's as though I live in the Sahara, feck knows where it all comes from ... but a quick blast from a compressor once in a while takes care of that.

Might even look at buying a 3D printer at some point, would be useful for prototyping (cough, that's my excuse).

All the best ... Barry

[Easy-X]

[P.]

PSUs want to work (work most efficiently) around 75-80% of their maximum capacity, like your cars temp gauge has 0 - 90 - 120, 90 is premium perfection.

I would always spec for a size and go over 20% for that reason, which is why 1000W is not even something I consider but your money