Gaming chassis ideas

I haven’t decided on a name for this concept but the word ‘Flow’ keeps coming to mind because of the focus on airflow and cooling – maybe some of the forum members can suggest some names?
The exterior:
The exterior is meant to be understated shape with a lot of emphasis on the small details that make the case easy to open and deal with swapping out components. These details include:
Large positive latches that feel great to open, no small components to lose – no worries!
The exterior ports will feature E-Sata, USB, Audio in / out, power and firewire (firewire is favouried mostly with creative professionals which this case may also appeal to).
Removable motherboard tray – I found this to be a desirable feature and looking further into it, seems to make a lot of sense and provides the most space around this important part when doing upgrades.
All wiring will be concealed behind the motherboard tray, but easily accessed through ports situated all round the motherboard back plate.
I haven’t decided on HDD access, wether or not to provide some sort of quick-release system or bays that slide in or out. Personallly I prefere server type bays that HDD’s simply slide into and lock without the need for screwing a tray onto the HDD. I need to look into sound issues around this and also production feasability.
I must stress the exterior is unfinished and will look very different…

Internal:
The biggest aspect of this case is heat and sound insulation. The HDD’s are situated in their own chambers, they each have a seperate airflow, and are seprated in such a way that each hot component doesn’t heat up the other. Also inside this chamber design the sound should be very insulated from the outside.
The motherboard is also in it’s own chamber, so is the PSU. All heat generated by these parts is dealt with by their respective chambers. This allows less fans also. To help with insulation of heat and sound there will be seals the edges of the chambers so when the side panel (s) are on it creates the best seal possible. Of course there will be Chanels for cables so these chambers will not be completely airtight. This design also allows for an internal positive air pressure that prevents dust particles from moving around and into your nice GPU!

OK so far this is where this design is at right now. I will be focusing on the HDD next so I will post any progress and would appreciate some of your opinions about this case (chassis??).

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Also the white blocks where the components should be are just there to represent the space required for the components - they won't be in the final design.

Modular case

This concept is all about choice. During my research it became evident that there are a lot of different kinds of users out there, and everyone wants to have something specific to their needs. So I thought it would be great to have a case that gives a every user exactly what they need.
My solution is a sytem of modules. Basically if you need, for example, a Micro ATX motherboard, 2 HDD’s, A PSU and nothing else – you simply buy those parts and arrange them any way you like within this frame system.

Maybe you want a powerful computer for demanding games that need large GPU’s, so you get the full ATX module, combine it with a lot of HDD’s for your content, an optical drive and maybe some 3.5” bays for fan controlers or card readers or something – you simply get these parts and build them in the way you want to with no excess case space to worry about or problems with fitting anything you might need into a rigid case.
I will post more visualisations of this concept ilustrating the possible uses and parts that could be available, such as VESA mounts for monitors, handles for portability and small USB screens for secondary information. All of this is mountable on the rod and connection system you see holding the components together in the concept image.

Any feedback is welcomed, and I will consider every single suggestion.

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Thanks for your input - to address 2 things you mentioned about the modular system. The configuration in the image is just an example of how you can align and distribute the parts - using the connectors it's possible to have the components all in a tall thin tower for example, or even two seperate towers almost with a couple of monitors in-between. I should post some more visualisations to outline this though as you raised a good point that this particular configuration looks alot like a typical case just without the walls.

As for dust - I see your point, the more complex a shape is, it has a higher surface area and therefore more area to attract dust. The form that the parts have taken so far have been just a 'quick and dirty' mock-up to illustrate that they are seperate, the final shapes (if I have the time to develope this, and I DO want to!) will look different, smaller and alot easier to understand as parts of a larger system, but also be able to stand alone as a seperate module.

Visualisations of this concept will be up by middle of next week.

Thanks for your comments about the airflow - I'm in the process of finding an expert to consult about the exact science of this - I will post more visualisations of this once it's been refined.

Dan

I am trying a different colour with the modular design - sort of bare steel / aluminum. Personally I like the black but I realize it looks very 'aggressive' and for some that may be a perfect look but not everyone. Can you give me some feedback on the 2 colours you've seen so far?

Please ignore the fine details like the mounting system and lack of bolts, this is just a test

Thanks!

Dan

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Hello again - I have began making a series of visuals with the modular system in different situations. This is a situation with 2 monitors. The series will be based on keywords, for example: 'Play' or 'Create'. I guess this one is 'Create' because I try to use 2 monitors when I can so I can see more information at once when I'm working (designing this chassis )

The modular system has a monitor mount (VESA mount), a handle (similar to a rifle carrying handle / ironsights) and other modules that address specific needs like hardware volume control or fan controls. More will appear here.

The actual modules in the visuals need ALLOT of work - they're pretty unrefined but right now the emphasis is on the whole system and not the smaller components.

let me know what you think!

Dan

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The BMW case couldn't be more different from the modular one - there's some similarities I guess, i.e it's a chassis and it's black - and the BMW 'looks' modular but it's definitely isn't. Thanks for the input...

@ Fenix

Thanks!..I think....

Here's some more work on the Flow concept...

the images show basic aspects of how the interior will look, this is where my focus is right now. The exterior is still blank, however there will be a definite relationship between what's going on inside and the outside. I'm about to work on ports and buttons, their location and so on. Also logotypes and graphics so I'd like allot of input on those so please be as critical as you can be. if you hate it, say you hate it - if you like it then of course say you like it too

Thanks,

Dan

@typewriter - thanks, here's some more!

thanks to everyone else again for the feedback, please let me know what you think of these visuals.

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and another...

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@Ralleballe - I don't speak Swedish (yet) so I used Google translate, google isn't a great translator in swedish, but I think I got what you meant: I should consider bigger cable holes around the PSU because that's where most of them come from.

Yes - I will, and I realised this after I did the renders and compared my visual to an existing case also so it will be changed I'm trying to move away from the tiny details like that because they are not fixed in stone but at the same time I'm focusing on details so people know this design considers the practical side of a gaming chassis.

@RedFlip - Glad you like it, I'm an Apple user mostly but I do prefer non-macs for working in 3D design programs and gaming on (back in the days of Unreal Tournament 2004). But back when I was gaming on UT2k4 I just had an off the shelf and very low spec Compaq which did the job, no special hardware and then I went to Mac when I began my design education (and started console gaming when I had the time) because they seem to be biased towards designers in alot of respects, except frustratingly not for 3D work such as these models and renderings.

But I'm not here to start the Mac / PC debate - I use both major opertating systems and they each have their advantages.

My focus here is very much on gamers and not really mac orientated people, however I can see your comparison and would be happy for graphics profesionals to enjoy this chassis too. The simplicity here that you say you like is a functional one also - basically I want it to visually tell the user how nice it would be to get inside and open / close the case without the usual fuss and chaos of alot of chassis out there (there are some very nice ones though too).

Also the newer hardware out there looks very cool and visually striking so I'm trying to make a space that these things can look good in but not overshadowed by the case design. The other thing with regards to some of the more extreme sized components is that this case will fit very long GPU's, PSU's and tall CPU cooling fan blocks.

OK, thats all for now - thanks for your comments and keep 'em coming

@ typewriter

I know what you mean - I asked our I.T department if I could have a closer look at one because it's going to be an Alu case, the thickness or 'gauge' is a big deal for me, 1 or 2 mm thinner than a good weight / thickness and it feels bad so I understand what you're saying. As for the PSU - I re-built that area this morning so it holds pretty much anything you can throw at it. New renders will be up this evening to show what's new this evening. Webhallen are visiting the studio today also so we will have a chance to address some technical and production aspects, you will probably see allot of changes as a result - I think there's a voting poll somewhere (possibly on webhallen.se) for the each design so if you like this one go ahead an vote

Thanks!

Dan

just found the link to vote: http://www.webhallen.com/list_group.php?avd=3&group=1596