Titan ITX status. (placeholder)

[illli]

silverstone now has a product page up for the ST45SF-G http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=342&area=usa

 

[Lazzer408]

I'm still tied up with the new shop and it's been one mess after another. I guess that's to be expected of a building built in 1904 that's been nothing but retail since. Here's a couple pics of the progress. Check out that wood floor that was burried under 4 layers of carpet and tile. Part of that floor was damaged beyond reasonable repair costs so only the front half was refinished. I estimate it was laid down in the 40s or 50s then burried. The service shop is up and running so some money is coming in but I seem to be spending it just as fast as I make it. I'm at least a week behind schedule for the opening mainly due to electrical issues. There's 9 can lights and one of them had a short to "ground". Well, what was supposed to be ground wasn't. Everything was grounded together but no ground back to the panel so everything that should have been grounded was live. Yeh, we found that out the hard way when my partner lit himself up grabing a box while leaning on another box that WAS grounded. I spent a week+ pulling romex wiring and running everything new in conduit. I would appreciate all this work a lot more if I actually owned the building.

I hired on a tech part time to help catch up on things while I build the showroom. He used to be the lead tech for Tiger direct.

Here's the before and after pics. Take a look at the lighting in the first pic. There were 1760w worth of 8' fluorescent fixtures from the 60s lighting the place through 4x2 diffusers dropped in the ceiling tracks that are 3' below the fixtures. I now have 4' T8 fixtures totaling 240w and it's a lot brighter in here. Also notice the new wall to hide my messy shop from the customers. It's really not that messy. The 3rd pic is one of two L shaped work benches behind the wall. Eventually I'll have the monitors wall mounted but for now at least I can get something done. And the 4th is shot looking forward to the front of the store.

BEFORE

AFTER

THE SHOP

THE SHOWROOM

 

[illli]

thats a lot of modification! but those wood floors look pretty sweet

ps. if anyone is interested they are listing the psu on amazon so they should be hitting the market pretty soon elsewhere http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008VQ2Y4K/?tag=tec06d-20

edit: showing up on newegg now too SILVERSTONE ST45SF-G 450W SFX12V SLI Ready CrossFi...

wonder how loud the fan is

 

[TheRealEdwin]

Hey Lazzer408,

I registered here just to show you support on your mini ITX case that FNW seems to have copied. I am in the process of building speccing out a machine and would love to get a case that is similar to the Tiki, which apparently you designed first.

Have you considered doing a Kickstarter or IndieGoGo to raise funds? This may be a great way to capital for finishing the design, getting prototypes made and then actually getting them into production.

I wish you the best of luck in your new store and the case. I'll be keeping an eye out on the thread.

-Edwin

 

[Lordlegend]

I've been watching the progress of this project for a while and it looks very promising.
I was just wondering the status of this project and if there were any timelines.
Also, have the final specs/options been set? Pricing?

thx
LL

 

[MightyMouth]

Is there any progress on this?

I came across these forums while searching for exactly this type of case and would buy one today if it were available. Any news on when we can give you our money?

 

[Lazzer408]

Yes there is still progress on the project. Awhile back I had some incompatibility issues with the CAD file format I had it drawn in. There's 2 guys working on 3d models again to optimize costs and fix an issue with the bend radius on the sheetmetal. We had to reverse engineer the K factor based on the dies used in forming. The powersupply manufacture seems to have withdrawn from the project as he's no longer in contact with me since blowing 2 sample units at much less then rated load.

 

[ChronoDog]

Lazzer, please let us start throwing our money at you already!
I want that case of yours so badly, after trying a few different layouts myself, none of which proved to be efficient enough...
If the power supply is the only thing holding you back, then please, sell me one without a PSU - I'll manage

 

[illli]

yeah i dont understand that either. just let us use that silverstone psu that i've posted about above (unless that was actually the one that blew up lol)

 

[Lazzer408]

I would sell it without the PSU...once it's in production. I didn't have any problem with that. The project was stalled for awhile because my CAD guy bailed on me 95% into the project. I have a new guy solid modeling it now. He said he'd be working on it this weekend.

I'm a hardware guy, not software. With hardware, it's in my hands and I say what goes and we all get along. With software, if something doesnt work I know it's because some idiot designed it not to in the code.

 

[Lazzer408]

Anyone have a USB 3.0 slot cover?

EDIT - NVM. I just ordered 4 samples. Yes, you guys will get your 2.0 -or- 3.0 front ports.

 

[Lazzer408]

There are two ways to go with USB ports in front. I've doodled two locations A and B on the faceplate. The other pic is the USB 2.0 and 3.0 samples I recieved. They are easy to get and fairly inexpensive. The long one (blue) is a 3.0 cable that would reach from the mainboard to position A. The 2.0 cable will only reach position B. My opinion is that position A is a better location for the ports. I'll have to search around for a longer 2.0 cable to reach position A. I'd like to offer the faceplate with options of no ports, 2.0 ports, and 3.0 ports.

Opinions?

 

[ChronoDog]

Position B is awkward either way you put the case - both horizontally and vertically, since whatever you plug in it will sort of be "stuck in the middle".
I vote for position A, but perhaps closer to the middle of the panel (height-wise), that would make more sense imho.

 

[illli]

i'm more of a fan of 'clean' front. i know it was not an option, but what about placing them on the left or right panel, or even the top panel? or maybe vertically above the power button?

 

[Lazzer408]

i'm more of a fan of 'clean' front. i know it was not an option, but what about placing them on the left or right panel, or even the top panel? or maybe vertically above the power button?

Because if someone wants to use it in a home theater environment, they may not have access to the sides or top.

Chronodog - It will be centered. I drew B first to allow clearance for the optical drive. I drew (doodled?) A at approximately the same height.

Anyone know of a slim SD/USB all-in-one PCB that's small enough to fit on the left side in position A?

Something like this...

 

[illli]

i realize that, but if someone wanted a cleaner/unblemished front then they would not have access to -any- front usb ports at all

 

[Lazzer408]

i realize that, but if someone wanted a cleaner/unblemished front then they would not have access to -any- front usb ports at all

If I had the capitol, I'd put a door in the front. Care to donate? Thermaltake, for example, has a revenue of $3.1B. Companies like that can afford million unit runs that dilute those costs over many units (and many products). They can also afford to rip me off.

 

[Lazzer408]

Some good news...

We are now Titan Computers LLC.

 

[stupido]

Congrats!

As for the plates, I personally would like to be able to reroute all rear USB's to front...

so in short - front plate could have opening that by default could be closed, or if option requested, plate removed and other plate with 4 USB connectors placed...

just a stupid idea...

 

[Lazzer408]

No ideas are ever stupid. If someone has an idea, it's usually to solve a problem that makes their life easier.

Most it'll have are 2 ports in front. You could velcro a hub to the side if you need more?

 

[Lazzer408]

The other CAD designer bailed on me. He got tied up doing work projects. I'm back to searching for someone to finalize these drawings. >.<

 

[Diverge]

I like the looks of your prototype. I'd be interested in buying one without the display, or any card readers, ect. Just a power button, and 1/2 usb ports is all you need. IMO displays aren't practical. I bought like a $400 Oregon AE case to build a HTPC because I loved the idea of the display.... but in actual use it's useless, and most software for them just suck.

So my suggestion to you would be to go without one. Keep it minimalistic looking, and save some $$$.

I actually have some new PC components laid out on my desk, hooked up and working, in the same configuration as your case. Next week I have some Openbeam parts coming, and I was going to see what I could make. If I could buy the prototype of yours I saw some pages back w/o the display I would. I like it alot. Nice and clean looking.

edit: Here's a picture of how I envision the layout:

Ideally the case would be as think as the Seasonic X750 PSU there, or a little thicker to accommodate the AXP-140 heatsink and fan I plan to use. motherboard CPU would pull in air from one side, and GPU and ATX supply from the otherside. With the PSU oriented as show, you have just enough clearance for the modular cables to pass out over the backside of the GPU, and for the AC cord use a right angle to a rear mounted socket, with the exhaust out that side.

 

[Lazzer408]

They keep trying... but god does it look like crap. That's exactly the reason I'm not having some sheetmetal job shop bang out powder-coated garbage.

http://www.digitalstormonline.com/comploadbolt.asp?id=771127&price=$1,599

"cool and quiet" Not with a 1U supply. Ben there done that. It was ruled out very early in the development stage.

 

[Sean.Crees]

Love the layout, sent you a PM with some questions because I hadn't read this whole thread yet and thought you might have thrown in the towel after seeing FNW steal your idea.

One problem I keep seeing with all these other boutique sellers make is the cases only work vertically.

There are only 2 issues I have with your design.

First, the optical drive. People still use those? I suppose I can just try to ignore the unused slot on the front panel and just not put an optical drive in it, but a clean front would be preferable.

Second is the lack of space for three slot GPU cooling solutions. I asked in the PM if you could flip the GPU with a pci-e flexible cable, then read in this thread why you don't want to do that. Could you instead do a normal riser card but raise the graphics card up one more slot? You would lose the optical drive.

I come from a silencing PC perspective. 70mm fans are NOT quiet. How about 120mm fans on the top and bottom for CPU and GPU cooling? I'd probably use the scythe big shuriken CPU cooler, and for the GPU I'd want to use something like the Arctic Cooling Twin Turbo II without the fans and use a Nexus 120mm fan on the bottom of the chassis blowing cool air onto the heatsink. Three expansion slots would allow for that. Also people could use that third expansion slot for other things, like fan control, light control, extra USB connectors etc.

Have you thought about doing a crowd sourcing project like these guys? http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ncase-m1-prototype-a-mini-itx-case?c=home

 

[Lazzer408]

One problem I keep seeing with all these other boutique sellers make is the cases only work vertically.

70mm fans are NOT quiet. How about 120mm fans on the top and bottom for CPU and GPU cooling?

The chassis can sit horizontally or vertically. The two 70mm fans are thermally controlled and when the GPU isn't under load (and blowing hot air on them) they are very quiet. When under load, the GPU fan made more noise. I haven't had a chance to test axial fan cooled cards. The chassis was intended to use GPUs with a "reference-style" blower but many manufactures have started using the cheaper axial fan coolers. The 70mm fans can be controlled from a 4-pin mobo fan header if you wanted. A suitable PWM controller will be in the accessories section. The controllers, fans, and 3pin splitters are in stock.

Many people still have large DVD collections or enjoy copying collections to the hard drive. A bluray drive could also be used. The slot itself, if I remember correctly, is a 0.160" high 5" wide oval with a radiused edge around it's opening. Once anodized, it's not much of an eye sore. I chose slot-load drives over tray-load to keep the face aesthetically pleasing.

120mm fans won't fit and are not needed.

Crowd sourcing or pre-sale group buys was considered but there's always the risk of something going wrong and I'd hate to be a letdown to my customers if a deadline wasn't met, the required amount of funds wasn't reached, or manufacturing delays interfered with a proper release.