A Mini-ITX Case for Enthusiasts, by Enthusiasts, Crowdfunded

[N.Broekhuijsen]

The NCASE M1 Prototype is a bona-fide enthusiast mini-ITX case. Yes, you read that correctly

A Mini-ITX Case for Enthusiasts, by Enthusiasts, Crowdfunded : Read more

 

[master_chen]

Whoah...that looks even more interesting than BitFenix's Prodigy...can't wait to get my hands on this baby.

 

[freggo]

With Lian Li behind it this could be a sweet little quality case.
Not sure if $160 is a bit on the high side, will have to see the details when it is actually available.

 

[foxmulder_ms]

Like it.

 

[back_by_demand]

I like the idea, the only issue that I can see is that exhausting lots of heat outside the case is not as good as not producing lots of heat to begin with
...
If this was to be used as a HTPC, for example, it could potentially be placed in an enclosed cupboard with a glass front so IR remotes can be used, but heat exhausted from the case would just build up in the cupboard and the ambient temperature would overwhelm whatever cooling solution you used
...
Sat on a desk, fine, sat in a cupboard, not fine

 

[truprecht]

This is clearly intended for high-performance graphics (3-slot cards) and overclocking (240mm radiator), not an HTPC. There are already plenty of similar HTPC-appropriate cases, for example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112339

That said, I don't know why Lian-Li wouldn't just make the case without the kickstarter rigmarole. There don't appear to be any radical new features that aren't already included in some existing Lian Li case.

 

[Non-Euclidean]

I really wonder why it needs watercooling. Arent we getting away from CPUs that produce prodigious amounts of heat? If so, then wouldnt fans be sufficient for the graphics card? Or is the driving force behind this to have a small case for you to burn up overclocked AMD CPUs in?

 

[truprecht]

[citation][nom]Non-Euclidean[/nom]Or is the driving force behind this to have a small case for you to burn up overclocked AMD CPUs in?[/citation]

The intent is to sell them in colder climates with AMD CPU's as combination gaming computers / space heaters.

 

[Cazalan]

The airflow doesn't look very good.

3 - 120mm in, 1 80mm out.

 

[Onus]

Too expensive. If one can buy a modest, but decent, ATX or mATX case for $60-$70, why not mini-ITX at that price? Is engineering and construction that much more difficult?

 

[MrSlavw]

160 - 200$ ... ? I think the main concept of "mini " is lost.

 

[RedundantInk]

[citation][nom]onus[/nom]Too expensive. If one can buy a modest, but decent, ATX or mATX case for $60-$70, why not mini-ITX at that price? Is engineering and construction that much more difficult?[/citation]

Severe lack of competition combined with mini-ITX being a niche form factor is what keeps the prices high. I'm really hoping this case does well and hopefully we'll see more companies releasing these types of cases

 

[mrmotion]

[citation][nom]Non-Euclidean[/nom]I really wonder why it needs watercooling. Arent we getting away from CPUs that produce prodigious amounts of heat? [/citation]

If you have to ask, your not the market it is geared for. I love the idea. Good job guys, looking forward to having one!

 

[bigdragon]

I love that compact design, but I hate the asking price. I'm shocked no one has made a case like this yet. I've gotten really into shrinking the size of my desktop PC. Smaller Micro ATX and Mini ITX machines are so much more appealing than the old ATX behemoths.

 

[pguerrerox]

nice case,
would like to have it (now that im completing my Mini-ITX build )

but the price at 160 is expensive, maybe after the launch another brands copy some of the features and make some good ITX cases.

 

[biggestinsect]

This looks good. Case Labs also has an ITX case in the oven. It will be, of course, of outstanding build quality but probably cost even more. If price is the thing the BitFenix is the way to go. For ultimate quality and flexibility - Case Labs but this should be no slouch.

 

[wunderlich86]

Dislaimer: I'm involved with this project

The designer of this case has a Reddit post for inquiries.
www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/18m5qm/ncase_m1_a_crowdfunded_miniitx_case/?sort=new

 

[ta152h]

I'm going to sue the company. Their design style clearly was stolen by a brick I have in the front of my yard.

Probably Google photographed it, and they saw it and decided to make a case with the same "sexy" styling.

 

[wunderlich86]

......

 

[spidey81]

As nice as that case is, I'd rather put my money towards a true community driven case. Check out the overclock.net mod of the month from November. There are a couple members there that are making this into a limited production case. Also, here's the h web page for anyone that's curious.

 

[spidey81]

Don't know why the link didn't show up in my post...

 

[Guest]

$160-200? Yeah, no thanks.

 

[dalethepcman]

For anyone thinking the price is outrageous, "these are not the cases you're looking for."

Personally I think this is an awesome idea. So many mini ITX cases have made accommodations for a full 5.25" drive bay that the designs were overly large and had wasted space. Building a design for a slim 5.25" drive and placing the power supply in the space traditionally used for a full drive should have been done forever ago.

As this is in the prototype stage, i'm not keen to fund it yet though. I will check back once the production campaign launches.

 

[Hando567]

Personally I would like to see the full size 5.25 bay for the 2.5" hot swap backplane I like to run.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817994142

This keeps all of my storage nice and tidy, with 1 power connector in 1 5.25 bay. Since I run 2x 1TB raptors and 2x 256GB Samsung 830s something like that is perfect for me, not ideal for everyone though. Then I can remove the HDD cages to get some extra space since they are not needed.

That said I do really like the looks of this case, seems like it has the potential to fit some good hardware in it with styling that is a bit different from the Bitfenix Prodigy.

 

[palladin9479]

[citation][nom]dalethepcman[/nom]For anyone thinking the price is outrageous, "these are not the cases you're looking for." Personally I think this is an awesome idea. So many mini ITX cases have made accommodations for a full 5.25" drive bay that the designs were overly large and had wasted space. Building a design for a slim 5.25" drive and placing the power supply in the space traditionally used for a full drive should have been done forever ago.As this is in the prototype stage, i'm not keen to fund it yet though. I will check back once the production campaign launches.[/citation]

There are tons of mini-ITX cases on the market for various sizes. The one common issue everyone has is their lack of expandability. Mini-ITX is really small, people often don't realize how tiny a form factor it is until they've tried to build a system. It's also very low power with PSU's typically in the 60~90W range with 160 being the upper end. Often the PSU's are split into two sections, an internal DC-DC converter board and an external AC-DC power brick.

I see what their trying to do but I do believe ultimately its incredibly limited in function. By adding all that you end up with something that could be done better and cheaper at the micro-ATX form factor which actually has support for regular PSU's. That case isn't much smaller then the standard Micro-ATX you can buy for $30~60 USD.