NFC - S3 Chassis (100% aluminum, ITX, and made in America)

Hey guys and gals. I have been working on this project a while and am nearing completion. Wanted to put my chassis out here in the open for comments, questions, and criticism. It is still in development but nearing completion and availability. I'm interested especially about comments in the looks category, as the physical engineering has been pushed very hard already to accommodate the hardware in such a small chassis.

http://i.imgur.com/z0PzMl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/k3rTil.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/RZXLDl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/P2czWl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/1BOgXl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/3SKuzl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/HLH2pl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/uIWcml.jpg


System is 2.4" x 13" x 9". AKA as small as possible while cramming in a HD7770, SSD, SDVD, itx Motherboard, (Asus P8Z77-1) and the goodies needed to fit it all together. Chassis is 100% 6061 T6 Aluminum. Can't think of anything else important...:-/ If you have any questions though I will try to answer as best I can. If not, thanks for looking! :)



The high res versions can be downloaded here, if interested. Have a good day, wherever you might be. :wave:

We demand pictures of its guts! (I wanna see where you stuffed the PSU.)

is the stand optional?

BTW its looks awsome man!

Pictures of guts coming soon. :)

The whole thing runs off a 180w power brick, though it has never peaked anywhere close to that. It boots at 114 and during heavy gaming it never gets over 55w. Heck, Ivy Bridge is so efficient that superpi doesn't make the system hit 55w draw.

Thanks for the comments!

Dude! That's awesome! I want it for my future HTPC. Simple and elegant, love it.

You thinking about selling those? If you do at what cost?

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Originally Posted by fr0wn3r

Dude! That's awesome! I want it for my future HTPC. Simple and elegant, love it.

You thinking about selling those? If you do at what cost?

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Thank you so much for the compliments.

This isn't an official press release of sorts, more like a sneak preview to the community whom I trust and respect. With that said I do indeed intend to sell them. Because they are manufacturered using slow, precise, and expensive methods in small quantities (for as close to a perfect finish as I can get) they are not affordable as a stand-alone chassis. My plan is to try and sell the systems as boutique PC to pay for a large run so I can offer them at a realistic price.

If anyone is still interested in one now at current costs- they are available, just PM me.

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Originally Posted by \/icious

is the stand optional?

BTW its looks awsome man!

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Thank you! The stand will come with the system (and barebones chassis). The system is detachable, however, if that is what you are asking. It locks on the stand and can be removed without any tools--so you can use it in your media center setup or on your desk. =) I'll have more pictures of this feature soon.

Awesome itx case:up:

WOW! I just love the design. I want to throw my current ITX case out of the window! It's just stunning. I'm in love.


Now we just need more powerful PSUs. I'd love to see something like this w/ a GTX 670 & i5 3570k (OC'd a bit). Make the case the heatsink. ;)


Any plans to make some other cases? I'm following this! :up:

That is just sooooooo purdy :yepp:

Looks gorgeous.

^^ That's one sexy mother-bitzz :D

would have loved usb 3 port on the front.. and a wider matx version :)

Awesome, thumbs up!

Any plan on dust filters, or maybe have to be used directly over the HSF and video card?
(so they are internal and wont mess the looks)

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Originally Posted by geo

would have loved usb 3 port on the front.. and a wider matx version :)

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Duly noted, thanks.

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Originally Posted by Holy_COW

Awesome, thumbs up!

Any plan on dust filters, or maybe have to be used directly over the HSF and video card?
(so they are internal and wont mess the looks)

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Brainstormed, protoyped, tested, and at this point-rejected. I would love to visit this at a later release, just had to cut a bunch out for my first launch in order to make it happen. I hate dust and would love to have my systems totally void of them. The GOOD news is the fans on the GPU and CPU run at a low RPM even under gaming loads, and there are no induction fans...so the system doesn't get as dusty as my X51 (which I love, and came out toward the end of my development.)

Here is a side by side comparison I mocked up for fun:
(X51 has similar hardware potential)

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/3435/s3vsx51side.jpg

It looks great. The only small problem is dust getting in from the side vents.

can't use use the actual case as the CPU heatsink??? I mean it is made of aluminum after all

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Originally Posted by kuroikenshi

can't use use the actual case as the CPU heatsink??? I mean it is made of aluminum after all

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I wonder what the increase in cost would be for the consumer. I remember zalman doing this for a silent PC and wow, it was basically unaffordable!

any update on this? i just love he horizontal profile of the case.

now that is a pretty stunning case! well done on the design and execution of it

I was going to ask the price but after "they are not affordable as a stand-alone chassis." i decided not too :P

I am a fan of itx with riser. But the problems for me in this case are dust and power. Because it isn't high power, it won't have much of a dust problem. You can use modest but fast hardware that is also quiet under load if you pick carefully. But if I want a 4.2ghz ivy bridge and a gtx 670, I'm not sure that is possible in a case pushed so small.

What is the highest power picopsu? 160w? Did you research a custom psu board with more power? There have been 200w+ ones out there.

So this case is definitely good. But I have a hard time with a premium cost case that can't take premium cost hardware. You can get by with stock ivy bridge and no hard drive space and no dust filters (as long as you can get in easily with canned air), but the idea of downgrading to a lower res monitor, games and running a gtx 660 or 7770 doesn't get me so hot and bothered.

I personally don't like the 'NFC' cut-out logo; the the honeycomb is nice.. overall.. haaaawt! want! :D

Every comment is taken to heart. I am taking the case around and getting feedback and opinions. ITX will not be the only formfactor for this lineup...but it is the one I want to start with. :)

I am working toward a final revision, and trying to see what interest is in it as well as manufacturing options. I would love to make this unit accessible in price (my dream) and it looks like it is a real possibility with some recent events--now I just need to verify demand.

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Originally Posted by bamtan2

I am a fan of itx with riser. But the problems for me in this case are dust and power. Because it isn't high power, it won't have much of a dust problem. You can use modest but fast hardware that is also quiet under load if you pick carefully. But if I want a 4.2ghz ivy bridge and a gtx 670, I'm not sure that is possible in a case pushed so small.

What is the highest power picopsu? 160w? Did you research a custom psu board with more power? There have been 200w+ ones out there.

So this case is definitely good. But I have a hard time with a premium cost case that can't take premium cost hardware. You can get by with stock ivy bridge and no hard drive space and no dust filters (as long as you can get in easily with canned air), but the idea of downgrading to a lower res monitor, games and running a gtx 660 or 7770 doesn't get me so hot and bothered.

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Bamtan, I wanted to address your comments in particular because it is good to get in the mindset of a user like yourself. The S3 is honest to goodness a new case category...I don't have a name for it yet but ultra mini-itx kinda works for now. It is a size smaller than mini-itx, which in my opinion one of the best examples is the SG05.

Part of the challenge in determining a market will be seeing if users are interested in something even smaller than the SG05, but with the same capability for 1080p. Dell thinks it can be done (when their X51 launched as the same time I was showing off the beta version of this at CES) and now Falcon NW (although their Tiki is more of a mini-itx). The X51 and S3's hardware loadout potential is identical, but as one can see from the comparison pictures the X51 is much larger.

Many of my friends and acquaintances do not use their big daddy rigs every day--we use smaller 1080p "HTPC" PCs hooked up to our TVs to play our games and engorge ourselves on media. This is not everyone, just one market. There are several PCs available for this today--high quality (high dollar as well) aluminum htpcs...but they do not allow for 8" double slot graphics. I created the S3 to fill this role since I couldn't find something off the shelf for myself. :)

This is just some of the thinking behind it. Your opinion helps me verify it and weigh it so I appreciate it. :)

--Power (This section is for INFORMATION only. :) )

I do indeed have a special Pico PSU. It starts off its life as a 160XT variant, and goes through some changes. What not everyone knows is these puppies can have more than 160W pushed through them...it just becomes a manner of how you dissipate heat. What is more important, in my testing (tested about 3,000 dollars in PSU variants) for getting more power to your components and remaining stable is a good power brick. Finding ones that can deliver enough Amperage and remain stable and cool is the real challenge and I went through many to find some that would be acceptable. Since the goal, again, is to have a box that can max out one's television, insane hardware is not needed inside the box, but if it were my powersupply combo could keep up surprisingly well. For instance, one of my test rigs was running a Sapphire 6970 OC and an i7 2700k, which eat up more power than their modern variants. By the time 2k TVs are mainstream I hope the hardware has progressed enough to keep up. :) I will constantly be working toward improvement...this final S3 is the ninth complete physical redesign (and who knows how many virtual ones). This is simply the one I thought was ready to show you all. :)

Again, this is just for fun information...it is not science, a warranty, bragging, or anything else...just information. ;)

--Dust

I hate dust...a lot. I was surprised at the comments (gotten several) mentioning lack of dust filters. I am assuming these comments were made knowing the tradeoff (in size, looks, price etc) so I will be thinking about this in a next revision. I love them in big ATX cases, but for smaller cases it becomes more of a pain to remove and clean them than it is to take the lid off and spray (in my opinion). Since the S3 is so open air, one doesn't even need to take the lid off to clean. Some information: The S3 positions hardware so it can do most of its cooling passively...it has plenty of venting and all the heatsinks are pointed up. Even with a stock i3 cooler (without a copper core) the three test units I have running i5 3450s remain under 16db under load in 75(F) room.

Note that I am NOT arguing ANYONES point or criticism. Simply stating where I was coming from and some of my observations. ALL criticism and comments are not met with a closed mind or challenging disposition. Thank you for any and all replies!!!

I feel like this design has some conflicting design cues. What's the purpose of the angled design of the side panel cutouts? What's it trying to convey? Speed? Motion? Where is it drawing your eyes? It seems, to me, to evoke architecture or structural supports, but ones that feel superfluous to the design.

What about the logo? The font choice and stylized wing graphic don't seem to fit with any of the other design elements. Or eachother, for that matter.

I think you have the basis for a nice minimalist design here, but I think you've taken a wrong turn by trying to add "design." It seems like so many designers feel like they need to justify their existence in a company and end up overdesigning things. Not that that applies in your case. Dieter Rams said, "good design is as little design as possible." That's worth keeping in mind. Check out more of his design philosophy and designs.

If it were me, I might change the cutouts to three equal-sized horizontal rectangles. Or replace the side panel with a single piece of perforated aluminum that wraps around the top and bottom. That might hurt airflow too much though. For the logo, I'd work on the font and either simplify and move the graphic, or ditch it altogether. I'd like to see the screws on the back-side panel/stand moved out to the corners (or hidden entirely), if possible. The shiny power button clashes with the matte/satin finish of the rest of the case. Would be nice if it were flush and the same material/finish as the rest. I'd like to see more alignment between the elements on the front panel, though I'd probably ditch the optical slot and logo depression anyway (silkscreened or lasered logo instead).

My $0.02.

1. link: http://www.tomshardware.com/pictures...-mini-itx.html -- flip through this whole story, it is amazing. I really enjoy how the falcon northwest guy told his story in such detail.

2. one can always combine two power supplies, two power bricks, and two holes in the back. cumbersome but not to the people who want it. just an option. it is possible that this would work well. have one power supply configuration as default, with a supplementary one for extra cost, allowing extra video power. people like having options, and options can extract more value for you. example: a space in the case for a 200W psu board, but it only comes with a 100W board by default. upgrade to the 200W psu and adapter for extra money. further upgrade to a psu2psu adapter and a 160W picopsu with adapter for extra-extra money and high end power.

3. in a case with little air flow, dust is definitely not much of a concern. I'm just sensitive to it because almost every case ever has dealt with dust poorly, making you choose between your stuff getting caked, and you being hassled constantly to get in and clean it. P180 was one of the first cases to make me really happy -- a dense door on the front for sound proofing, and big removable filters behind it. even though you did need to remove plastic and metal to make it work best.

4. I want to play with a falcon northwest tiki so very much. but now I am also curious about what is inside your case. you said "my powersupply combo"....... :-)

This is my first post here and the only reason is simply to support this project.

I like the design of X51 but none of the chassis manufacturers (such as silverstone, lian-li...etc) are making cases in form factor that is comparable of S3.

I hope S3 will be ready for ordering soon and I have no doubt to get one when it comes out :-)