# A Revolutionary Mid-Tower case - the Defcon One



## NicolaZanarini (Jun 7, 2015)

Hello guys! 

I proudly present to you, with the hope that it can get featured in one of *techPowerUp!* news,  the result of month of design and engineering, resulting in a compact *Micro-ATX chassis* which allows you to showcase your graphic cards as well as the motherboard.

The project started from the desire to give graphic cards the visibility they deserve, instead of keeping them confined in a horizontal position.
We looked at the various solutions around, but could find no *Dual-GPU* one, so started designing our own.
In addition to keeping the GPUs much cooler than in any regular case (they always take in fresh air from the cut-out plexiglass panel), the GPU and Motherboard airflow are fully divided, further lowering the system temperature. All this *without the need for any additional fans.*
For CPU cooling we chose *120mm liquid cooling *or LP air coolers with an additional 120mm fan where the liquid cooler rad would go.
The case is fully made out of aluminum, asides from the 4mm plexi panels of course.

*The result is the Defcon One Mark III.*

Here are it's *tech specs:*

- *Dimensions*: 340x380x173mm (22 liter volume, comparable to the U3)
- *Motherboard compatibility* - Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX
- *GPU compatibility* - 2 side-mounted GPUs up to 300mm (310 in the power pins allows it), max height 112mm in dual GPU config and no height limit in single config.
- *Storage*: 2x 3.5" drives ; 2x 2.5" drives
- *Power supplies*: Modular and non modular ATX power supplies up to 150mm, can be rotated up or down.
- *Cooling*: 120mm liquid cooler or LP air cooler with additional 120mm fan on top, optional 80mm fan in the back.
- *Connectivity* 2x 3.0 USBs

*Manufacturing and price*

The case will be fully manufactured in Italy, from laser cutting to painting; for these two operations we'll rely on external companies, and for bending and assembly we'll do it ourselves.

We have already gotten a lot of feedback on the project and the campaign on the Toms Hardware articles, social networks and forums, but there is always room for improvement.

Here is the crowdfunding campaign link, feel free to leave feedback, and if you like the project and the idea behind it, help get it funded!

http://igg.me/at/defcon-one

And now some *renders *of what the prototypes will look like.


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## Devon68 (Jun 7, 2015)

It looks nice. Really good job.


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## NicolaZanarini (Jun 7, 2015)

Devon68 said:


> It looks nice. Really good job.


Thank you man! Took quite a few month to get to this point - now hopefully it will get funded


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## Toothless (Jun 7, 2015)

Yummy.


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## NicolaZanarini (Jun 7, 2015)

Toothless said:


> Yummy.


Thank you! if you like it give us a hand by sharing the project and helping it get funded


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## Toothless (Jun 7, 2015)

NicolaZanarini said:


> Thank you! if you like it give us a hand by sharing the project and helping it get funded


I would but I'm in the middle of switching jobs. I'll get this case as a future build though.


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## NicolaZanarini (Jun 7, 2015)

Toothless said:


> I would but I'm in the middle of switching jobs. I'll get this case as a future build though.


No sweat  and thank you for the support!  Hopefully the campaign will be successful an we can move to the production stage


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## R-T-B (Jun 7, 2015)

Looks like a fun concept.  I'd help out as well but like many here I'm broke at the moment...  doesn't mean I won't keep an eye on this though, and if money eventually allows, chip in. 

Good luck!


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## NicolaZanarini (Jun 7, 2015)

R-T-B said:


> Looks like a fun concept.  I'd help out as well but like many here I'm broke at the moment...  doesn't mean I won't keep an eye on this though, and if money eventually allows, chip in.
> 
> Good luck!


Thanks a lot for the support! you can still help by getting the word out about the project  visibility is crucial in these things


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## Tatty_One (Jun 7, 2015)

Moved to cases.


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## NicolaZanarini (Jun 7, 2015)

Tatty_One said:


> Moved to cases.


Thank you! wasn't sure where to post it 

Hard to describe how happy I was to see Linus have a small segment about the project in his latest video 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




https://youtu.be/ZWl...FJ4VA5dax&t=102


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## IBMer (Jun 7, 2015)

Really interesting indeed!


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## NicolaZanarini (Jun 7, 2015)

IBMer said:


> Really interesting indeed!


Thank you! If you like the project feel free to share is or help fund it if you can!


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## Easy Rhino (Jun 8, 2015)

wow, the first chassis with a window that doesn't look like it was made for children. i like it.


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## OneMoar (Jun 8, 2015)

WOOOOoOOOo AHHHH PRETTYZ


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## bubbleawsome (Jun 8, 2015)

This is an amazing case. I'll pass it around, but not sure how much money I'll be able to put into it. Fact that my current case cost $30 says something about my current budget situation.


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## NicolaZanarini (Jun 8, 2015)

Easy Rhino said:


> wow, the first chassis with a window that doesn't look like it was made for children. i like it.


Thank you! glad you like it!  be sure to spread the word to help us fund it! 



OneMoar said:


> WOOOOoOOOo AHHHH PRETTYZ



Hahaha, thanks for the enthusiasm 



bubbleawsome said:


> This is an amazing case. I'll pass it around, but not sure how much money I'll be able to put into it. Fact that my current case cost $30 says something about my current budget situation.


Thank you for wanting to help anyways!  
while every small donation still counts, visibility is key for these things, so even just sharing helps


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## Caring1 (Jun 8, 2015)

A couple of questions.
Is the Plexiglass slotted to allow air to flow in on both windows?
If an AIO is used on the Motherboard, what cools all the other components on the board if there are no other fans?
I can see this design working for a low power system based on iTX, but not a m-ATX, particularly an AMD Processor with a 220W power draw.
One more question, there are no details on how the dual graphics set up is connected to the board, nor renders of any cable routing, will this be hidden?


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## ST.o.CH (Jun 8, 2015)

This is a very interesting prototype,
I saw your web page and the primal hardware configuration says two GTX 960, and here things get really interesting, 
How do you manage to sli connect these two GTX 960, I mean, how long is going to be the sli bridge,
As for Radeon R9 290 series this issue doesn´t happen.


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## NicolaZanarini (Jun 8, 2015)

Caring1 said:


> A couple of questions.
> Is the Plexiglass slotted to allow air to flow in on both windows?
> If an AIO is used on the Motherboard, what cools all the other components on the board if there are no other fans?
> I can see this design working for a low power system based on iTX, but not a m-ATX, particularly an AMD Processor with a 220W power draw.
> One more question, there are no details on how the dual graphics set up is connected to the board, nor renders of any cable routing, will this be hidden?



Thank you! 
Indeed the plexiglass has cuts specifically designed to let the air in for a flow equivalent to 3x80mm fan per GPU;
The thing to keep in mind is that the motherboard itself actually dissipates very little power, and with and AiO almost all of the thermal load from the CPU is pushed outside;
With our thermal design, a system that would normally dissipate 400W into the case (and therefore would need fans) actually dissipates about 60/70 inside of it, and therefore needs very little to no ventilation to stay cool 
The GPUs are connected with shielded PCI-E x16 rizers which we will provide with the case 
All the rest of the wires are perfectly hidden/routed between the GPU and motherboard plates.



ST.o.CH said:


> This is a very interesting prototype,
> I saw your web page and the primal hardware configuration says two GTX 960, and here things get really interesting,
> How do you manage to sli connect these two GTX 960, I mean, how long is going to be the sli bridge,
> As for Radeon R9 290 series this issue doesn´t happen.



Thanks man!

The SLI bridge will be about 16cm long, we will provide it along with the case - it is OEM manufactured and has the same quality as the 12cm ones


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## Countryside (Jun 8, 2015)

You got skill don't stop


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## NicolaZanarini (Jun 8, 2015)

Countryside said:


> You got skill don't stop


Thank you! if you wanna help reach the goal and allows the project to go on, share and contribute to the funding


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## BiggieShady (Jun 8, 2015)

NicolaZanarini said:


> The GPUs are connected with shielded PCI-E x16 rizers which we will provide with the case
> All the rest of the wires are perfectly hidden/routed between the GPU and motherboard plates.


That's really nice if the risers are going to be already in place with PCI-E connectors hanging loose on the mobo side?


NicolaZanarini said:


> The SLI bridge will be about 16cm long, we will provide it along with the case - it is OEM manufactured and has the same quality as the 12cm ones


I suppose sli bridge will have to be pulled through and tucked behind by user?


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## NicolaZanarini (Jun 8, 2015)

BiggieShady said:


> That's really nice if the risers are going to be already in place with PCI-E connectors hanging loose on the mobo side?
> 
> I suppose sli bridge will have to be pulled through and tucked behind by user?



We'll provided them with the case and the user will be able to install all of them when assembling the system;

The SLi bridges pass behind the GPU plate, installation should be real simple (we'll still test that once we have the prototypes.


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