The Thing 3D Printed Case

AVCaseMods · 7 Feb 2021 at 09:17

Hello everyone,

This is my second 3D printed case.
I wanted to make small openair case that will have watercooling for cpu and air cooling for gpu.

I stole 3x80mm alphacool radiator from my old build and started to design new small case for it.
Now the case size is:
height = 315mm
width = 226mm
length = 315mm

I only have the watercooling parts for this build so i update the log when i know what i am going to put in it

Watercooling
Alphacool 3 X 80mm XT45 Radiator
Alphacool DC-LT Pump
Alphacool Eisblock XPX Cpu Block
Alphacool Cape Corp Res

Here is early pictures of the design:

Front panel is made from two pieces

AVCaseMods · 7 Feb 2021 at 09:18

Then i added little color for the case so here is colors that i will use

AVCaseMods · 7 Feb 2021 at 09:19

I have to take little more from the height because i wanted to print this case as a whole. I am using miniFactory Innovator so my limit is 310mm
So new height is 305mm

I added cut out for the MB so i can route all of the cables there

And cut out / grill on the gpu side for psu intake and rad exhaust

AVCaseMods · 7 Feb 2021 at 09:29

Here is more pictures of the case.

I was testing how i can run the watercooling loop.

AVCaseMods · 7 Feb 2021 at 09:32

i made holes for the front and back panel.
Radiator will be mounted on the inner front panel and inner front panel is be mounted on the case with 6 screws
Outer front panel is mounted on the case with 4 screw and this will sandwich the panels so i think this will be enough to hold it together.
Back panel is mounted to the case by 6 screws.

Also i made holes for the passthrough fittings and pump bracket

AVCaseMods · 7 Feb 2021 at 09:35

These are the new version of the front panel with spacer and magnet holes and it did clean the look.

AVCaseMods · 7 Feb 2021 at 09:41

I made changes to the back panel.

Psu goes to bottom of the case and grill pattern is bigger. Also i made one 80mm fan mount.

There is room for two 80mm fans but i fear it would cause an issue with cable management

AVCaseMods · 7 Feb 2021 at 09:54

I decided to print this first prototype in two parts so i added some lining tabs to help with the assembly.
Also i am going to use bolts and 3d printed sleeves as standoffs so i made holes for the MB

Two pieces ready.

And starting 36 hours print for the front part of the case

AVCaseMods · 7 Feb 2021 at 09:56

Front piece of the case is "ready". Filament broke and i did not finish so this piece is 12mm too short. I can test fit the watercooling and make some changes to the design.

AVCaseMods · 7 Feb 2021 at 09:58

Watercooling fits but its tight. i Have to do modifications to the pump mount but everything else looks nice.

Nitefly · 7 Feb 2021 at 09:58

Very cool!

AVCaseMods · 7 Feb 2021 at 09:59

Now i have all of the pieces to do proper test fit and little video about it.

New pump mount and test feet.

Front grill

AVCaseMods · 7 Feb 2021 at 10:00

Here is part 1 video:

Jay85 · 7 Feb 2021 at 12:28

Nice, great design work gone into this with a small footprint. Well done mate

jasonmorris · 7 Feb 2021 at 12:34

WOW!!!!!!!

orbitalwalsh · 7 Feb 2021 at 16:20

Lovely mate.

Hyburnate · 7 Feb 2021 at 16:25

This is epic, are you making the feet out of TPU?

Opisflap · 7 Feb 2021 at 18:27

Really like the design. Looks really sleek

Gunslinger · 7 Feb 2021 at 23:46

This looks amazing, and i bet time consuming, not only in the printing stages, looks like lot of thought has gone into what looks like a clean well thought out design

AVCaseMods · 8 Feb 2021 at 10:33

Thanks for the comments

I will use tpu to print the feet.

After test fitting parts i made some adjustments to the model.

I added six magnet holes because four isn't enough to hold front panel.

Also added nut inserts for the mid panel and a hole for the pump cable that i forgot :grin: