[214324]

This was painful to make. Spent the entire afternoon on it. (TT-TT)

 

[214324]

 
Finished! Now to trim down the front to make a half-length card.

 

[bowei006]

 
This was painful to make. Spent the entire afternoon on it. (TT-TT)

Where are you getting dimensions for stuff like this?

 

[214324]

  Where are you getting dimensions for stuff like this?

PCI Express Card Electromechanical Specification Rev. 2.0. I can't find the 3.0 revision anywhere though.
 
General dimensions should still be the same so for people making cases it shouldn't be too big an issue.
 
Meanwhile I'll need to make a PCIe x16 connector and place it accordingly on the mITX board I've already drawn up.

 

[bowei006]

  PCI Express Card Electromechanical Specification Rev. 2.0. I can't find the 3.0 revision anywhere though.
 
General dimensions should still be the same so for people making cases it shouldn't be too big an issue.

I would expect many 'parts' files to be readilly availble online...but hey, I guess that would mess up the fun

 

[214324]

  I would expect many 'parts' files to be readilly availble online...but hey, I guess that would mess up the fun

I've looked at case design a few years ago (back in middle school) and none of the parts I can find out there for SketchUp have dimensions that actually work with each other since they didn't use the spec sheet which was quite frustrating. You need the parts to line up all because of the backplates and I/O cutouts at the back of the case. Its mostly the PCIe and other expansion card form factors that are an absolute pain to deal with.
 
Too many pins on the PCIe x16 connector. Not going to bother at all anymore. I'll just make a block and have the models end up inside each other. Not like there's object collision in sketchup anyway.
 
Meanwhile, this boring piece of garbage...

I'm not exactly sure how tall of a heatsink I want to support. This is originally meant for an i3 + 750Ti styled setup with a PicoPSU. I'm hesitant on adding any mounting hardware for PicoPSUs that don't have the PCB attached to the 24-pin because they all have different mounting plates. The only one company that I thought had a nice solution was Pico Box since their mounting brackets are sized at 86x150mm which is the size of your regular ATX PSU (not including depth). I would add some extra space so people can drill in holes to mount a PicoPSU but on second thought I went against it since this is supposed to be as small as possible. PicoPSUs can go up to 400W (external power bricks only go up to a rated 330W or so but can take on 400W at most) which can power most GPUs out there but the heatsink limitation sort of stops you at an i3 (we're talking 40-55mm top-down coolers which can't handle much heat) and I don't think anybody is going to pair an i3 with a card any faster than a 750 Ti or 760 (only one really short 760 card and that's MSI's ITX edition which only uses a single 8-pin connector).

 

[bowei006]

  I've looked at case design a few years ago (back in middle school) and none of the parts I can find out there for SketchUp have dimensions that actually work with each other since they didn't use the spec sheet which was quite frustrating. You need the parts to line up all because of the backplates and I/O cutouts at the back of the case. Its mostly the PCIe and other expansion card form factors that are an absolute pain to deal with.
 
Too many pins on the PCIe x16 connector. Not going to bother at all anymore. I'll just make a block and have the models end up inside each other. Not like there's object collision in sketchup anyway.

Lol
 
Most Graphics card docks are blocks. I guess most people are saying what you are saying. 'Screw it'

 

[214324]

Motherboard spec sheets have quite the annoying tolerance range and some odd numbers. Distance from the edge of the PCB to the back of the case is quite an odd number (0.483 inches give or take 0.10 inches). WHY CAN'T YOU JUST GIVE ME A WHOLE NUMBER?!
 
MiniITX is quite the mess. The boards dimensions are in metric (170x170mm) but PCB thickness is 1/16" (that's standard PCB thickness at least) and mounting hole placement, in order to fit ATX and mATX's hole mounts, are all in inches. This is quite annoying.
 
Space efficiency in this case is also quite annoying. If the heatsink or PSU passes a certain height, efficiency drops like a rock. Still, quite interesting to work with.

 

[214324]

MiniITX spec sheet is a failure. None of the holes match up with mATX (because the reference dimensions are in millimeters while hole placement dimensions are in inches). Going to have to remodel a mITX board.
 
Meanwhile:

The most basic PCIe x16 connector.
 
Half of the dimensions for slot thickness and such I had to take from the actual dimensions for the PCB connector since the connector diagram didn't include any.

 

[214324]

Finished. Went with 0.156" diameter holes instead of the 0.16" in the mITX spec sheet (mATX has 0.156").
 

 
Need to remake the I/O cutout area and such so I can start working on the rest of the case. Not sure how I should deal with the PCIe x16 ribbon extension cable.

 

[214324]

Just adorable.

 

[214324]

Alright, the start of project "Bento" or "Bian Dang" (both are basically the same, one being Japanese and the other Chinese). The idea is to make the smallest, most space efficient setup for something that runs off a PicoPSU, although I already have one involving a SFX and/or ATX PSU in mind (probably SFX because ATX...meh. We have 600W-650W SFX 80 Plus Gold PSUs already so small and efficient). My minimalist nature makes me want to avoid using PCIe x16 extension cables/riser cables BUT if I did that I would just end up with an NCASE M1 clone (go check it out. Beautiful case). Originally I was thinking about going with a layout like the Silverstone RVZ01/ML07/etc. but that layout becomes space inefficient as you get PCIe cards longer than the mITX motherboard.
 
Anyways, a quick mockup using a PCIe x16 card at the PCIe x1 Half Length spec (around 170mm). For reference, I've thrown in two 2.5" HDD/SSDs. The top one is 15mm tall and the bottom one is your normal 9.5mm tall drive.
 

 

 

 

 

Okay, so first problem with this layout (that I don't intend to fix) - you cannot fit a 3.5" HDD. That's not really the point of this built. This is supposed to be a light build, so SSDs are the go to, or 2.5" HDDs if you want. If you want a 3.5" HDD go get a NCASE M1 or another case. There are plenty of small enough cases out there that can hold 3.5" drives.
 
As for the construction I'm going to do something like the Murderbox MKII where I use a 8mm thick or so motherboard tray. I want to do this because I can get the midplate CNCed to get some modular attachments on it such as a HDD cage or to hide longer PCIe extension cables (its thick enough so you could hollow out a thin compartment in the middle to fold the cable over itself).
 
And if I were to get this sent out to a manufacturer, Silverstone is my first choice because construction would be similar to the TJ07. Also, they've had to experience making riser cards for their SFF cases like the RVZ01 so they shouldn't be too hard pressed to make a nice length PCIe x16 ribbon cable.
 
As for powered vs unpowered, PCIe x16 slots support up to 75W of power from the connector itself and the 750 Ti doesn't hit that limit (its 10W+ below stock).
 
I'm thinking about making a single slot version because 1. Galaxy GTX 750 Ti Razor Edition and 2. for those who want to put in smaller, weaker cards. Is it really worth it? Probably not. I think just a short version (PicoPSU based) and a longer version (SFX based) is good enough.
 
Next big dilemma to get over is maximum CPU cooler height. By mITX specification I need to allow 58mm over the motherboard around the general CPU area socket in order for it to fall into specification (not that motherboard manufacturers usually put in anything that tall on their mobos). Top-down coolers are in sort of a weird spot. You have coolers like the Cryorig C1 and Thermalright AXP-200 which are 60mm tall, 85mm with a fan and then there's the Noctua NH-L12 which is 66mm tall without a top fan (91mm with fan) and then a pretty big gap until you arrive at the NH-C14 and then the Phanteks PH-TC14CS which are both above 100mm tall since they're basically copies of their dual-tower monsters except with one tower and turned into a top-down.
 
Edit: btw the most powerful card that can fit into that mockup is the MSi GTX 760 ITX Edition which is around 170mm long but requires an 8-pin power connector. I don't know if I should leave space for people so they can drill in holes for standoffs for PicoPSUs like the HDPlex 250W DC-ATX PSU or the Pico-Box X3-ATX-300. Pico-Box includes a PSU mounting kit that matches up to the normal 86x150mm profile of ATX  PSUs but that adds 86mm in length to the entire case which is way too much for my liking. Also, with a 400W peak PSU (400W is the peak for DC-ATX/DC-DC boards because external power bricks only go up to 400W peak as far as I remember. These boards also have a 400W peak) you can power basically any single-card GPU or most (more powerful ones at least) which gives the need to extend the length of the case even more. The short version of this case (PicoPSU based) isn't designed for that purpose but rather for low powered rigs instead.

 

[linglingjr]

Wow that looks like an awesome project.  Can't wait to see final renders? 
 
After not shutting down my my PC for several days and just leaving it on "sleep" windows is now reporting that I only have local access (no internet) with my usb adapter even though I do.  lol.  
 
I'm starting to notice how much louder the fan is in the 750w corsair psu I threw in months ago compared to my old OCZ 550w.  At idle the psu's fan is the loudest noise my pc makes >____>

 

[bowei006]

 
 
I'm starting to notice how much louder the fan is in the 750w corsair psu I threw in months ago compared to my old OCZ 550w.  At idle the psu's fan is the loudest noise my pc makes >____>

CX class?

 

[linglingjr]

  CX class?

it's an old "TX" one.  not modular at all.  I really don't need to be using it - 550w is more than enough for my set up.