How Would You Design Your Case?

[ares1214]

You can't effectively do cost of CF by doing it per weight. It won't give you a realistic estimate.

If it costs $200-250 in carbon fiber alone

It's the CF + the epoxy/resin. Not just the CF.

Also, the whole case cant really be carbon fiber

Sure it can. Considering there is a (very small) market for the Thermal Take Level 10, I'm pretty sure there will be a market for full CF cases .

While CF isnt really bought on a per weight basis, its the easiest way to eastimate it and keep things balanced. It still is valid. And like i said, $200-250 cant be possible considering a CF Ultra case is retailing for $200 and its not even that bad. And it doesnt really make sense to use CF for at the least the mobo tray. Just about everything else can, but the mobo tray would have to be aluminum or steel. And yeah, the Level 10 is interesting to say the least :lol:

 

[Shadow703793]

^ I think part of the problem with calculating CF cost of a scratch build vs prefabbed case is that there are few places that sell CF directly to consumers without ordering in bulk,etc. I'm basing my prices on what one (as in I) can buy at, meaning no bulk,etc.

And it doesnt really make sense to use CF for at the least the mobo tray. Just about everything else can, but the mobo tray would have to be aluminum or steel.

Debatable. I'v seen some cr@ppy MB trays (read: very thin Al) getting bent by heavy coolers (ie Mega) an full cover WBs. :lol:

 

[ares1214]

I agree, but you also have to take in consideration this wouldnt be a build ID do. This is just a speculative of what enthusiasts want for say SS or NZXT to do, not that they would, but i have friends :lol: But the advantages of CF are overwhelming. In cars, its been shown to technically take less work and skill to put together. No welding basically. It can be customized to fit cases best, maybe less of this strength, more of this, and so on. Considering most computers arent going to crash into something, they can also cheapen it up a bit. Also, depending on the weave and such, it looks quite nice, maybe no paint required, and it looks nice and professional IMO. Not even taking into account the 25-30x strenght to weight ratio. So while it does cost 10-30x more than steel, it can cancel out. And that link... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Shadow703793]

Lol @ Link. It was suppose to go here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/page-26101_41_150.html#t93065
:lol:

 

[ares1214]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: I have no clue how thats relevant but :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[medjohnson77]

You forgot to put into the vote "all ready have"

Here is my case I built and designed last year from scratch.... Made it out of aluminum and lined it with Granite.

http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii230/medjohnson77/?action=view&current=2009-08-2520-58-58282.flv

 

[hell_storm2004]

I would like to make own modded case. But somehow never manage to get the time and money to do it.

Most of the time... my case lies open with side panels not put in. A bit too lazy on my part.

 

[ares1214]

Why was it lined with granite? Sound absorbing properties? And thats how most of us are. But if you could, and had the time, what would it be like?

 

[Shadow703793]

Granite??!?!?!? How heavy is that!?!?

 

[AMW1011]

Granite??!?!?!? How heavy is that!?!?

It looks great, but your right. He wont be taking it ANYWHERE anytime soon.

 

[ares1214]

It actually does look really nice. I wouldnt do it, i dont know what it will do to cooling, sound, or stability of the case, but atleast it looks nice :lol:

 

[AMW1011]

It actually does look really nice. I wouldnt do it, i dont know what it will do to cooling, sound, or stability of the case, but atleast it looks nice :lol:

It won't do anything to cooling, the material of the case has absolutely no effect on cooling. As for sound, the weight should help sound in theory. And the stability will be completely up to whoever built it.

 

[ares1214]

It does, just extremely little. Although watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfswixhCTMM

Im not sure what to make out of it :lol: And i figured the sound would be better with granite, but i wouldnt want a granite slab landing on my motherboard and turning it into a pancake! :lol:

 

[AMW1011]

That video doesn't show us anything. In a case without airflow, then we might see something like that. The problem is that with airflow, like most cases, the material of the case doesn't come into play because it is not the medium that the heat is being dissipated through.

 

[ares1214]

While i do understand that, but what do you make of that? Is it just showing carbon fiber heats up a lot slower than aluminum? And i doubt it makes much of a difference, but if the case is hot, well i guess its better it isnt. NOT that it would make a real world difference though.

 

[AMW1011]

Carbon fiber dissipates heat better than aluminum, its not very surprising. since there was no airflow inside the cases, they acted like heatsinks.

 

[medjohnson77]

wow guys.... This case is very well built, by hand. I am no monstermod, and I have a lot of respect for his skills.... I am sure you all catch his mods all the time on here.

As for the weight of the case, I am only 160 pounds and I can easily by myself take this case downstairs every month to blow it out. The product is not slab granite, it is 3/8 inch thick vs. slab granite at 1 3/8" thick. with building this case out of Aluminum and then lining the top and front with granite and a insert piece for the bottom, granite also, which I can change out, I designed it that way if I wanted a different color then blue. I made the mother board tray removable.

Cooling in this case if wonderful, even in the summer months. My Phenom II 940 b.e. never hits above 41C and Idles at around 28C- 30C However it is water cooled. I have one 240 mm fan in the front that is hepa filtered, lol. And a 240 mm fan on the top of the case. 5 120 mm fans two that exit, and 2 that blow on my 4870's in crossfire. I have a 90 mm fan on the hardrives pulling out hot air out the back of the case also. I have a tripple rad. and three 120's on it.

I have had alot of case's I build custom systems, and I have never seen temps this good in a case yet. I could get rid of the water cooling system and put a air cooler on the CPU and would still be able to O.C the 940 B.E to 3.8ghz as I have it at now full time.

I have a two year old and he loves computers, and tries to play with it all the time, and has never done anything to it or broke anything, so I would think that goes to show how well built it is.

I am thinking of designing and building another case with Aluminum and lining it with Granite, just been busy trying to finish our house I built. Next one is really going to be interesting. I got my Idea from Mountain mods ufo case's if anyone know what they look like.

 

[Shadow703793]

I got my Idea from Mountain mods ufo case's if anyone know what they look like.

Yup. I think I know where your trying to go with that...

, I am only 160 pounds and I can easily by myself take this case downstairs every month to blow it out. The product is not slab granite, it is 3/8 inch thick vs. slab granite at 1 3/8" thick.

Oh! lol. Here I thought you have a 1" block of granite that could probably stop a .22 from a fair distance.

 

[medjohnson77]

no I work for a company called Granite Transformations. We use real Granite, but its not slab, there is noway I would build a case using slab Granite, that would be crazy! LOL

Were am I trying to go with that?

 

[medjohnson77]

I liked Mountains UFO's case's but really didn't want to give them $600 for one, so I built my own and make it the way I wanted it. Pretty happy with it so far, built it around a year ago.

 

[medjohnson77]

It actually does look really nice. I wouldnt do it, i dont know what it will do to cooling, sound, or stability of the case, but atleast it looks nice :lol:

I think the Granite helps take heat out of the case, the aluminum draws it out and the Granite helps keep it out instead of trapping it. Temps are great in this case, I have several probes and hard drives, graphics cards all stay very little over room temps.

 

[ares1214]

But question is if the granite and aluminum are really affecting that, or if its just the fan setup and case design.

 

[medjohnson77]

well think of it this way, if you place a cast Iron pan on a surface that has heat, the heat will transfer to that surface and stay there, since the aluminum is on the inside of the top and front and back of case, then wrapped in Granite stone, It is my belief that this helps any hot air in the case that air flow doesn't get rid of inside the case. all of my other case's I have bought have had great air flow, but none kept parts this cool.

So to answer your question, I would have to say both.

 

[ares1214]

Thats interesting, as if it is the case, carbon fiber has a large advantage over steel and aluminum in heat disappation. Im still skeptical it makes a big difference though...

 

[medjohnson77]

I am not claiming it makes a big difference, however it does make a big enough differnece from what I have seen regarding temps in my case.... I have had a NZxt Tempest, a cool master 590, a antec 300, for my own builds, and many other cases for other peoples builds I have done. Never worked with carbon fiber yet, that is a Idea, and very interesting.