Clear Cube Case

[CubedPC]

Hello everyone,

I recently finished building a new case for my computer. My goal is to make this a marketable product and sell them in the next couple months. What I am looking for is some feedback about how you like the design, what you would like changed and whether anyone would be interested in purchasing one. I personlly think it is a great looking case, but I was wondering if there is enough interest to make selling these work out (I'm having them laser cut and need to do it in large runs, and don't want to have dozens of these sitting around not selling).

Here are some pictures of the case:
Front:

Oblique view:

Back:

If you are interested, please visit
http://www.cubedpc.com

Thanks a lot,
Steve Shamp

 

[RealBlackStuff]

You have done a lot of hard work.

In my opinion "modding" is a very individual thing. Seeing the "innards" does dot please me personally, I'd rather have a snazzy case like the Lian-Li (which I happen to have).
Also, with the life-span of hardware being so short, you may get stuck with out-dated hardware rather than unselleable cases.

I would not invest in an idea like that, until you have enough guaranteed orders to make it worth your wile.

my 0.05 c

 

[CubedPC]

Thanks for the input.
I personally am not worried as much about the life span of the hardware, everything in the case is standadrized, and will probably be around for a while. I already have sold computers from 1999 till last year with my own computer comapny and realize how hard that market is because of quick devaluation of inventory and low system prices, and do not want to do that again. The cases on the other hand I believe can hold their value, so I am not too worried about that. Thanks, -Steve

 

[DLx/P]

I think its a good idea. I also think that maybe a little bit bigger case would look better. The insides just look to crowded to me. I think the DVD/CD drives would look much better horizontal.

 

[Soap]

i agree it looks crowded and i prefer my drives horizontal.

will the lack of space create heat prblems with getting air through the case???

 

[CubedPC]

I think that it will look less crowded and flow air better once i get some wire management in place over break. As for airflow, the case does pretty well. It has enough fans to overcome the added restriction. My 2.4ghz p4 is overclocked to 2.7, and since I run the united devices cancer grid, my CPU is at full load 24/7. With that setup i currently get 44* CPU temp and 35* system temps on average. The case can be oriented to that the drives are in the possition shown, or you can put the rubber feet on the cd drive side and have the drives horizontal and the mobo vertical. you would have to rotate the case back to mobo facing down to open up the case however. HTH -Steve

 

[NoisySilence]

What's the noise like ? It looks a bit like a Small Form factor case & often people are interested in those for the lower noise operations.

 

[XtR-X]

As for internals, maybe using a color theme with nice colors, but not all the colors of the rainbow (the parts inside).

All I can say is use clear fan filters, yeah, it sounds weird, but I think I've seen them before. Also, as for the PSU, change the casing to a clear one, or put clear ones in there. That "metal" look kills the effectiveness of the clear case.

Gold-colored hard drive cooler? Well sorry but that doesnt match either.

Sleeve all the wires so you dont have a rainbow.

If you can get the drive bays to have a "glossy" look as like the plastic, that would look really really nice.

Only my two cents.

Though, props for making something like that.

 

[CubedPC]

NoisySilence: the case is pretty silent, the plastic works as a pretty good insulator of sound, better than thin metal. I personally have an AOpen mobo with fan control built in so it automaticly controls the fan speed depending on temurature.
XtR-X: I'm sleeving the cables and making it look a lot better with some other impovements (lights, lcd) over break, ill get some more pictures of it after :-D
We are working on a new design, which will be the one released and that adresses people's concerns with the case, this case will open slighly differently to allow better access to components, and easy removal of heatsinks on AMD processors, what I was wondering for this design is if we should get rid of the external 3.5" bay. In the current design this bay is above the PSU and faces backwards. Removing it would allow for better airflow in the case, and allow more air to flow over the video card. However, you could not install a floppy. I want to know if this would be an issue to too many people? I personally haven't used a floppy in years, and was wondering if many people still do.
-Steve

 

[NoisySilence]

The floppy can be necessary for example if you have SATA drives on which you wish to install the OS. If SATA isn't integrated in the mobo & needs an extra chip like Silicone Images or Highpoint, etc, you will need to load the driver from the floppy for Windows to find the HDDs.

 

[Frag-o]

I don't know much about ESD, but wouldn't all the dust flying through the case cause static build up? I would hate to think about putting hundreds of dollars into a case and have spark to death.

On a side note I like I thought about building one myself a few years ago.

 

[CubedPC]

Frag-o: I have filters on my case, so there is very little dust. However, I have seen practicly no other computers that have filters on them outside of the modding world. If dust caused ESD, I'm sure we would hear about computers blowing up by the thousands, especially considering how dusty most computers are inside that aren't windowed or opened often (aka. the average computer)
NoisySilence: Thanks, I didn't think about that, however, I guess if it was a one time thing you could have the floppy hanging out with the case open, especially because you would have just had the case open to build it. I am more worried about floppies in everyday use.
-Steve

 

[agissi]

I would defently get one, depending on price however. A cold cathode light in there would be very cool. I go to LANs all the time so I think a case like that would be pimp

 

[wicka_wicka]

Whoa, you need a little cable-fu in there dude...

 

[Frag-o]

Dust can cause ESD. But the point I was asking since it is a plastic case can it be grounded like a metal case. Since a metal case is grounded the dust wouldn't be a problem.

I am not knocking your case, in fact I like it a lot. I considered building one like it a few years back. I would buy one if the price is right, but I don't need a new case at the moment either.

 

[XtR-X]

Originally posted by Frag-o
Dust can cause ESD. But the point I was asking since it is a plastic case can it be grounded like a metal case. Since a metal case is grounded the dust wouldn't be a problem.

I'm sorry, but I've never heard of dust causing ESD. What causes it is a dry environment (with oh so little humidity), and contact.

Effectively, if you buy an air dust bottle to blow off the dust inside your case, your computer will fry????? Or if you touch the dust inside your case your computer will fry??????

Dryness is the problem.

 

[CubedPC]

Well said XtR-X, dry air makes a better dielectric, thus making any parts that build up electricity have a better capacitence to any grounded parts that they could short to. This means that instead of dielectric breakdown occuring and electricity leaking across slowly like in humid air, in dry air it will only breakdown at high volages causing a catostrophic shock and failure.
Either way, it is an acrylic case, so you would want filters, thus making it have very little dust.
-Steve

 

[Frag-o]

Changed mind about post.

 

[CubedPC]

Ok, a new design is done, what do y goys think about it? Do you have any other suggestions to improve it? Improvements in this one include having it open to the side so that it flips open equally well when either the CD drives mounted horizontally or vertically, the floppy removed so that the PSU could be moved up for better airflow over the video card and better visibility in the case, and a simpler overall design for better looks. All of the feedback so far has been a great help, and I just wanted to hear if there is anything else that could be improved. Here are some "pictures" of the new case (none exist yet so it is just a rendering) and a couple videos of how it opens (bandwidth warning: 3mb each for videos)

Pictures:
Front:

Front w/ case on side:

Back:

Videos:
Case Opening w/ Drives Vertical
Case Opening w/ CD Drives Horizontal

Thanks,
Steve

 

[XtR-X]

I just don't see that. Next to the two fans, on video two, wouldn't it hit where it goes diagonal? I'm not too sure but it looks like it would.

 

[vassil3427]

Well I think the case is pretty cool. But as others have stated, get a clear PSU and clear fan filters...

BTW, I love how the case opens in those videos.. What are the approx. dimensions of the case?(I dont think they've been stated yet..)

 

[CubedPC]

XtR-X: The geometry is such that it is very close to the minimum angle to not hit. If it were about 3 degrees less there would be minimal interference. Aside from the geometry, I double checked by doing interference checking at every hudredth of a degree.
vassil3427: The case is approximatly 10.25" on each side. I think the new way it opens is awesome and can't wait to put my computer in the new case. A bunch of other goodies are going in when I change cases, so stay tuned. The following is going in: 2 blue cold cathodes, 2 blue cold cathode fans, 2 uv old cathodes, 6 uv led's, uv reatcive clear psu cover, MatrixOrbital LCD, 8 yellow led's, blue sleving for psu and wires, blue uv reactive wiring, and lastly I am getting rid of the HDD cooler.

 

[Vehementi]

Since it's a small case, I would say find a way to get rid of the second 5.25" and rotate the CD drive so it's facing the right way (up). And also you might want to check out one of those mini-ATX power supplies. Might help save some room and offer a better look inside.

 

[agissi]

The revision looks sweet when are you gonna make these, how much money, and will it work with all ATX mobos?

 

[CubedPC]

Vehementi: I think If I were to make those modifications it would make this case too much like many already offered, I hope that the ability to have a full sized PSU and 2 CD roms in a small form factor case would be a selling point.
---agissi---: These will be avalible the second week of Janunary (the week of the 4th-10th) for $189. If you would like to be notified when they are released, please visit our site and join the mailing list or send me an email at: steve at cubedpc.com

edit: oh, the form factor is micro ATX. All of the current and upcomming processors are supoorted including the 800 MHz bus ones. The only limitation is 3 PCI slots, which for most people isn't an issue.