Odyssey Case Reference Design: drivebayless-ATX

odyssey-2016.md

Odyssey Case Reference Design

• Codename: odyssey-2016
• Inspiration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolith_%28Space_Odyssey%29

Overview

• Forward-looking concept case
• Centered around a low profile monolithic PCB-based design
• No unnecessarily bulk
• No conventional drive bays, instead: m.2 slots and regular PCIe slots for storage

UPDATE: There is a more budget / cost-oriented version of this case possible. Without needing to resort to doing any watercooling. Conventional air blowers. It's not described / documented here, but may end up being slightly more compact too.

This version of the odyssey design falls under 'premium' category, due to:

• Water cooling and large fans
• PCIe SSDs as the preferred native storage
• PCIe risers on a speculative basis isn't cheap
• Requires certain other non-value components (e.g. SFX-L PSU)

However even with water cooling this design is NOT specifically targeted towards overclockering. But instead the main goal is for a compact minimum-sized case. Good enough for (at minimum) casual-to-mid gaming with best portability (least bulk), and largest fans possible (for lowest noise @ a medium level of system TDP). With full size ATX motherboard (non-gimped).

General Category: 'console style' case. External form factor looks most like eg ASUS ROG / Alienware / iBuyPower 'PC console' offerings. Possibly with a good 'luggability' factor for LAN parties / gaming events.

More Inspiration:

• http://www.tomshardware.com/news/deepcool-case-prototype-computex-nephrite,29345.html
• http://anandtech.com/show/9298/corsair-unleashes-the-bulldog-diy-4k-gaming-pc

Target Dimensions

• 360-400 mm height
• 250-280 mm width
• 60-100 mm depth
• 330-685 cubic inches

Reference:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX
• http://www.protocase.com/pdf/How_to_design_enclosures_for_motherboard_based_systems_092010.pdf

Design Details

So what's the basic layout / attributes?

• Goals

• Accommodate Full ATX footprint

• Monolithic design

• Vertically standing

• As thin as possible

• As many large fan as possible

• Mid-range TDP (150-350 watts)

• Minimum size/volume

• Design model reference board: ASRock Z10-Extreme7 (skylake)

• http://www.tomshardware.com/news/asrock-100-series-motherboards-computex,29281.html

• Photo: http://media.bestofmicro.com/G/O/502152/original/asrock_z170-extreme7-extreme6.jpg

• Risers

• Needs 2x Side-by-side PCIe 3.0 Risers.

• For space reasons it needs to be oriented parallel to the mobo

• 1st riser - Graphics card * Water cooling to reach from CPU area

• 2nd riser - Other cards (space permitting) * e.g. 2 single-height PCIe cards for other needs / expansion * Ideally the would be full width also (like the graphics bay)

• NOT SURE how feasible risers are for handling such a fast PCIe 3.0 bus

• It's a real sticking point, since without riser to rotate the GPU card, is not possible to meet depth target of 60-100 mm

• Cooling

• Preferably shared CPU & GPU cooling loop

• 2-3 120mm or 140mm Fans

• Example: 120mm low-profile

• http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cooling/82636-quiet-shadow-rock-lp/

• Example: GTX-970 water block

• https://www.ekwb.com/news/546/19/EK-introduces-short-type-GeForce-GTX-970-water-block/

• Power

• SFX-L PSU - Approx 500 watts

• http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/silverstone-sx500-lg-power-supply,4136.html

• Storage

• 3x m.2 slot (on ATX motherboard)

• 3 spare PCIe 3.0 slot(s) next to the graphics card (for SSD PCIe cards)  * Legacy 2.5" 9.5mm SATA III drives can be crammed into empty PCIe slot(s)

• CPU

• TDP

• Up to about 100 watts (but preferably 80-60 watts)

• Water cooling going to to the 2-3 shared 120-140mm fans, same as GPU

• Graphics card

• Conventional double-height

• TDP (28nm Maxwell Cards Examples)

• Low range: < 100 watts - such as GTX 750Ti @ 65 watts

• Med Range: 100-200 watts - such as GTX 970 @ 165 watts

• High End: 200-300 watts - such as GTX 980ti @ 250 watts

• Water cooling going to to the 2-3 shared 120-140mm fans, same as CPU

Development Plan

• Unfortunately due to high costs, cannot investigate this case design any further than planning / drawing board stages
• More of a concept/reference design, for a next generation form-factor "drivebayless-ATX"

Not sure about best way to go about making such a case. Perhaps start with the core components and see how they all fit together. To get an idea of the tolerances / clearances. Then on to:

• A v1 case prototype to test everything out on

• For gathering dimensional data, water pipes, specific components layout, etc.

• Then successive mockup: v2, v3 iterations

• Probably lots of component wastage / spare candidate parts lying around

• First prototype doesn't need to solve the Risers problems entirely, it can instead at least start being useful with Intel IGP graphics on the CPU. Until the graphics issues al get properly sorted out.

• PCIe Risers - candidates

• 2 best risers found so far:

• http://eshop.sintech.cn/pcie-express-x16-riser-card-1-slot-with-silver-flex-cable-p-97.html?zenid=d0rgl61kim38807pmo551v07s2

• http://www.mo-co-so.com/7cm-Flexible-16X-PCI-Express-Riser-Mini-ITX-Case-p/mcs-pcie-x16.htm

• Risers may cause PCIe bus issue at 3.0 speeds

• Testing is required with:

• Multiple graphics cards (GTX-750ti, GTX-970, GTX-980ti)

• Forced modes at slower PCIe 2.0 speeds

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