iBUYPOWER Snowblind

[Darksaber]

iBUYPOWER is getting into the case market, and the Snowblind is in the middle of a trio of enclosures featuring a see-through LCD screen. You are free to display all kinds of nifty information or cool animations and have the benefit of building your own system instead of buying a full system straight from iBUYPOWER.

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[GlacierNine]

Literally the worst thermal *and* noise performance you've ever tested, by a substantial margin, and yet you're giving it "highly recommended"?

What the hell?

 

[W1zzard]

Literally the worst thermal *and* noise performance you've ever tested, by a substantial margin, and yet you're giving it "highly recommended"?

What the hell?

Because you have to make compromises if you want this?

 

[GlacierNine]

Because you have to make compromises if you want this?

You are nowhere near stupid enough to not realise the compromise being made here isn't the screen. Why are you trying to bullshit me as if I can't read that this case is an S340 with mods? Straight from Darksaber:

To those in the know, you will find plenty of similarities between the Snowblind and the NZXT Source 340 chassis.

I don't doubt the screen is making things worse, but the root of the problem is that the case can't take in fresh air and can't exhaust hot air.

We know this because this case is an old design well documented to have problematic cooling already.

NZXT’s S340 Elite has a clear disadvantage in cooling. It’s not necessarily the most important metric for an enclosure, but keeping the GPU clear of thermal limitations to better enable boost functionality is important. The user is obviously going to have either a tower cooler or a liquid cooler. With a liquid cooler, you’re not really worried about air intake as much. Just put the radiator against the back wall, then exhaust the hot air out of the radiator. No big deal. In fact, removing the top fan and positioning the radiator in the rear would allow it to naturally intake air from the outside (or setting the top up as an intake, though that’s completely unnecessary).
With a tower cooler, you’re assuming the cooler is going to evacuate its own air out of the back, and that it won’t need assistance in doing so.
In both of these configurations, there’s an obvious missing link: Intake. There’s no intake in this case.

We already know IBP have been showing this idea off for years at this point. We know the project almost certainly used the S340 as a base because when the project started it was NZXT's best selling case, and it was flying off shelves. But things have moved on while IBP have developed this product, and one of the ways things moved on was in case manufacturers addressing the cooling deficiencies they created when they pursued the blank-front-panel aesthetic trend.

As a result, this is a case with a killer feature, built on a platform that the market left behind 2-3 years ago, and it shows. Why defend that deficiency?

Let me re-write the conclusion for you.

This case is a great idea, and we're surprised given how long it's been floating around show floors, that none of the competition has beaten iBUYPOWER to the punch with some variant of this concept. Kudos to iBUYPOWER and NZXT for bringing an innovative new approach to show systems into being at a surprisingly affordable pricepoint for such a niche product.

Unfortunately, that aesthetic advancement has come at a cost - for the everyday user who really wants the best in aesthetics, the chassis as a whole suffers from being based on a long discontinued case that restricts airflow substantially. Systems built in this case are likely to be hotter, and louder, than they would be if a newer or more airflow focused design had been used - there are plenty of contenders that would make a superior base chassis for this product, and we really hope iBUYPOWER refines this idea in future, perhaps with a revision based on NZXT's own H510 series, offering some much needed additional intake to help combat the heat the LCD radiates into the case.

There. Done.

 

[Ferrum Master]

By the iconic name Snowblind I only imagine Ozzy shouting loud cocaine... not a PC case and name for it...

Maybe I am too specific about my tastes.

Other than that. That window... it must be operated from Raspberry PI and all the telemetries sent via network... no HDMI usage from the main PC... That would be my preferred way.

 

[EarthDog]

Innovation...the panel, indeed.

Wouldn't a case that is "still relevant" today actually have the things common to today's cases, like mounting to water cool...which has been in chassis for more than 5 years? If it doesn't have those things, would it actually be relevant today (I mean there are similar chassis, but...?

That said, this is a canned system, so, not sure who buys a PC in a box and then water cools it, but still...curious angle.

Because you have to make compromises if you want this?

Do you though? Why is this difficult to put on any case? Just need the LCD panel to fit on the panel for the chassis...

 

[GlacierNine]

Other than that. That window... it must be operated from Raspberry PI and all the telemetries sent via network... no HDMI usage from the main PC... That would be my preferred way.

I don't think you've thought this through - Think about what hardware and software would be required to make that rPi solution. - at minimum, rPi connected to PC, custom software on that, to turn it into essentially a graphics adapter, custom board on the LCD panel featuring a wireless receiver and the circuitry/chips to be able to handle the Wi-Fi input and turn it back into a digital video signal. That's a lot of extra cost and complexity, plus it puts the software side of things in iBUYPOWER/NZXT's hands, subject to whatever degree of support they're prepared to give it.

That's a lot of extra cost and complexity.

Or, you could be somewhat sane about this and just say "My GPU has outputs I'm not using and that the panel already has the ability to take input from, so that problem is already solved. Windows has the ability to handle extra displays already, so that problem is already solved. All I need to do is figure out how to get those things to communicate with my side panel".

You could do that with a cable easily. Pushpins might also be possible but you might find that they can't be made to meet HDMI spec (HDMI can be finicky about connector quality).

Ultimately, using a cable or a set of pushpins means only having to develop your connection, and Nvidia/AMD+Microsoft took care of the rest for you years ago.

 

[3125b]

Thats a pretty pathetic product in that it is really bad at what it is supposed to be doing.

 

[Ferrum Master]

I don't think you've thought this through

Prff. I did... I needs nothing, it uses Linux. VNC it, or SSH, whatever.

WIFI? RPI does have it. You live in a flat without router? You didn't get the idea how it works.

It is effortless.

 

[Dammeron]

To all those manufacturers, that think 2 USB ports up front are enough: Go "puck" Yourself!

 

[Ferrum Master]

To all those manufacturers, that think 2 USB ports up front are enough: Go "puck" Yourself!

Do you understand how USB3 becomes useless with each connector and extension with added signal loss? Attach a hub if you want to have 4 keyboards.

 

[GlacierNine]

Prff. I did... I needs nothing, it uses Linux. VNC it, or SSH, whatever.

WIFI? RPI does have it. You live in a flat without router? You didn't get the idea how it works.

It is effortless.

LCD screens don't come with WiFi Receivers or the hardware to decode video signals sent via wifi. You have to build a board that you build into the display, that does that.
rPi's aren't automatically detected as display devices by Windows unless you connect the two and have software written to show the Pi to windows as a display adapter.
LCD Screens still require *power* to work, so you still need a physical connection between Case and PSU/PC no matter what you do.

Hell, LCD screens don't, as they come from the factory, even come with HDMI sockets or the ability to decode HDMI signals. That's all done on the input board - the only reason this is as affordable as it already is, is because the input board NZXT/iBP can use doing things this way, is a generic part they can buy off the shelf. Your solution would require a bespoke board to be built.

 

[Ferrum Master]

LCD screens don't come with WiFi Receivers or the hardware to decode video signals sent via wifi. You have to build a board that you build into the display, that does that.
rPi's aren't automatically detected as display devices by Windows unless you connect the two and have software written to show the Pi to windows as a display adapter.
LCD Screens still require *power* to work, so you still need a physical connection between Case and PSU/PC no matter what you do.

Hell, LCD screens don't, as they come from the factory, even come with HDMI sockets or the ability to decode HDMI signals. That's all done on the input board - the only reason this is as affordable as it already is, is because the input board NZXT/iBP can use doing things this way, is a generic part they can buy off the shelf. Your solution would require a bespoke board to be built.

Are you reading? Or what? Why are you so retarded about the wifi?

RPI can reside inside the PC, let him be there, also power, but no connection to the main GPU. Multi monitor hassle.

 

[Kapone33]

If I buypower knew better they would just sell the LCD screen (and make it for as many cases as possible) that can run off the USB C header that is on most modern motherboards but only on maybe 2% of all cases available.

 

[IceShroom]

High temperature who cares, atleast it has minimalistic design.

 

[MercJ]

I'd like to hear more about this.

Do you understand how USB3 becomes useless with each connector and extension with added signal loss? Attach a hub if you want to have 4 keyboards.

 

[EarthDog]

High temperature who cares, atleast it has minimalistic design.

Those who want more than stock out of their system? I didn't read the testing methods thoroughly, but I assume this is stock and the CPU already was close to 90C... almost zero headroom. I hope their room temp isn't much warmer than whatever it was tested at here.

EDIT: I do not see what internals he put inside this case to test... no information on the test setup (did I miss it?) and minimal on the method.

 

[GlacierNine]

Are you reading? Or what? Why are you so retarded about the wifi?

RPI can reside inside the PC, let him be there, also power, but no connection to the main GPU. Multi monitor hassle.

OK, so let's go over this again.

You have 3 components here.

1x Rpi.
1x PC.
1x LCD Screen.

Note that THIS is an LCD screen:

and THIS is a display, which is what you get when you combine an LCD screen with a backlight, a chassis, an input board, and a power supply, at minimum:

Now please explain how, with no other components, you expect to use your 3 pieces to get a signal out of the PC, into the rPi, and displaying on the LCD.

You can't, because the rPi won't be seen by the PC as a display adapter, so you have to write a custom piece of software just to send the picture. Then you re-send it, except that the lcd on it's own can't decode the signal being sent to the screen, and the screen has no power.

 

[IceShroom]

Those who want more than stock out of their system?

Looks like i forgot to put '/s'.

 

[Dammeron]

I'd like to hear more about this.

Yeah, me too. First time hearing something like that...

 

[Ferrum Master]

Now please explain how, with no other components, you expect to use your 3 pieces to get a signal out of the PC, into the rPi, and displaying on the LCD.

A. This thing has HDMI. Attach RPI to to it, boot it. Enjoy wast possibilities. Your PC... VNC server. Boot up RPI. Enable install your preferred VNC. Connect your RPI to your local Wifi, seek up your PC and mirror the image you wish. Plain stupid. There are possibilities to set up virtual monitors. Using spacedesk and the on RPI open up in a browser...

B. There are alternative ways using browser...

C. And recently there is even a built in one.

Using Pi 3 for wireless display/miracast

I would like to connect my Pi 3 to a ceiling mounted projector, and send display content to it wirelessly from a Windows PC. Using something like Miracast. I have found Piracast on github, but that...

raspberrypi.stackexchange.com

Everything is written already, no need to stress. If you have lived under a rock that ain't our problem.

 

[GlacierNine]

A. This thing has HDMI. Attach RPI to to it, boot it. Enjoy wast possibilities. Your PC... VNC server. Boot up RPI. Enable install your preferred VNC. Connect your RPI to your local Wifi, seek up your PC and mirror the image you wish. Plain stupid. There are possibilities to set up virtual monitors. Using spacedesk and the on RPI open up in a browser...

B. There are alternative ways using browser...

C. And recently there is even a built in one.

View attachment 144544

Using Pi 3 for wireless display/miracast

I would like to connect my Pi 3 to a ceiling mounted projector, and send display content to it wirelessly from a Windows PC. Using something like Miracast. I have found Piracast on github, but that...

raspberrypi.stackexchange.com

Everything is written already, no need to stress. If you have lived under a rock that ain't our problem.

OK, so the first thing missing from your sequence of events is that you've failed to power your monitor.

The second thing you've missed is powering your Pi.

The third thing you've missed is that anyone making this into a product is required to turn this into a turnkey solution, not instruct their users to use VNC.

The fourth thing you've missed is that this won't show up as an extra display in windows, it will clone another display, meaning you have to worry about a virtual display.

On the other hand, the cable solution solves all of this and is way easier for users, making it a viable product.

 

[eidairaman1]

Needs ventilation

 

[Ferrum Master]

OK, so the first thing missing from your sequence of events is that you've failed to power your monitor.
The second thing you've missed is powering your Pi.

You seriously cant read? It may reside inside the case where power is not a problem. Why I must repeat myself?

The obvious reason for need. Many don't have spare DVI or HDMI ports! Actually most wise would be to use USB to display header. But it won't act as an independent entity as with RPI would be. RPI as an different device would offer more possibilities without influencing the main station.

 

[GlacierNine]

You seriously cant read? It may reside inside the case where power is not a problem. Why I must repeat myself?

The obvious reason for need. Many don't have spare DVI or HDMI ports! Actually most wise would be to use USB to display header. But it won't act as an independent entity as with RPI would be. RPI as an different device would offer more possibilities without influencing the main station.

You're welcome to quote to me any point where you addressed power in your post. I went back and checked. You didn't mention it whatsoever. Also how was power "not a problem"? Did you intend to use a ... cable?