SeungU Lyu

Senior CS student at Olin College of Engineering with major interest in software engineering

2 minute read

Introduction

My hobby is to build desktop computers - not just computers, but Small Form Factor (SFF) computers that aim to hit maximum performance with the smallest size. There are a lot of cases made by either companies or users that aims for this format, but I’ve not been able to find a case that satisfies all the following:

  • Supports SFX power supply. A lot of cases waste their volume by putting a normal ATX power or decreasing the accessibility by putting flex power that is very thin but noisy and hard to get.

  • Do not waste space, so that it can easily fit into a common traveling backpack. A lot of cases waste their volume even after using the SFX power supply, for a better design or some design choice that I don’t understand.

  • Supports a decent GPU but has okay cooling. It is very greedy to want a perfect cooling solution for a small case with high performance. However, you definitely do not want to burn your PC.

The ultimate purpose was to make a case that will fit me the most - somebody who wants a high-performance PC, but at the same time wants to bring it everywhere with his backpack.

Progress

CAD models of case parts

Each part of the case was carefully designed using Onshape. All the dimensions are correctly measured so that they can fit well together with each other, as well as different computer parts such as the motherboard and power supply.

Assembly of complete case

Each part was assembled to check its compatibility.

Result

Rendering of the final case

The final design was completed with the following features:

  • Support SFX power supply, so that volume can be saved compared to using the ATX power supply and also people do not have to look for expensive flex power supply.

  • The case tried to push limitations on the amount of volume wasted. By using the riser cable, the case was able to move the GPU to a location that wastes the least volume possible. The dimension of the case is 181 * 132 * 246 (mm), which is only 5.87 L in volume.

  • The case supports the attachment of two 60 * 60 * 25 (mm) fans, which can rapidly exhaust hot airs from the inside of the case for better cooling. It will not be compared with bigger fans of course but will create a decent amount of airflow for such as small case.

The case design is nicely done, and I’m currently waiting for the time for me to manufacture the prototype. It will take a while since I’m busy working on other things right now but will definitely create a prototype in the future so that I can check the compatibility in the real world and improve the model in the future.