Do you really even need a 2 piece bracket? The metal seems pretty sturdy, and mounting the drives just on one side should be fine - still much better than the flimsy plastic sleds used in lots of computers nowadays. I'm thinking a little tab of metal with the appropriate holes should be fine.

Don't think I'm having any issues if I am to believe the monitoring software (it shows the vcore moving around). I stay above 11.95v. As you mentioned earlier I think the main issue is that I only have 6 amps on the 12v line, since the crashing immediately goes away once I limit the TDP.

Impressively, my mushkin ram undervolts to 1.35v and counting. I will see how low they will go.

My i5 2400 sips power undervolted to 1.04v at stock settings (at most ~40W) so if Gigabyte ever adds vcore to the Z77N, I'll be in good shape with the i7 3770.

No, but I don't think I could live with myself. Originally I wasn't going to have a bracket, and only support a single 2.5 inch drive. One of reasons why you can mount a single drive without the bracket, if you like.

Another question: I'm revisiting doing the finishing myself (powder coating most likely). Would anyone pay more for custom colours, or are people pretty content with black or white?!

That'd be cool - how much extra would it be?

Not sure yet, but hopefully no more than $20.

Cool, not sure why another color other than white or black would cost so much more (not your fault, your powdercoater's I'm sure). My vote would be for bright blood red.

I've dropped a link to this thread, and to your site, in a thread on HWC.

I really like what you are doing, and figured you wouldn't mind a little extra word of mouth.

Thank you! I could use more Canadians customers.

Unfortunately, I'm nearly out of stock, and need to look at producing more. I ended up with a 5 blemished cases, mostly for powder coat reasons, so that didn't help.

...

I have new revised cases in stock, unfortunately I'm dealing with some manufacturing, and powder coating issues. Quite discouraging.

I also got some transparent acrylic side panels made for the 2013 L1 cases, which turned out nicely I think:



Here's a few initial photos of the 2014 L1. Hopefully I'll be ready sometime in February:

sorry to hear your having coating issues. are the 2014 cases the same dimensions, -but with bigger bottom grill area? or were there other changes made?

im contemplating getting a second case to house an ATX PSU and maybe a 3.5 hdd.

did you ever consider a modular line? im thinking stack-able units with different back-plates... one for a PSU, one with a 5.25 drive bay where back-pane would be for opti or hot swap HDD (witch only would require a little bracket and trim to work with current back-pane cut out.), maybe a back-pane for cooling tubes, so it could house a radiator/pump assembly.

P.S. has anyone that you know of put a gtx 640 in one of these yet?

sorry to hear about the manufacturing problems, really sucks that you're at the mercy of the shop... but what can you do?

that acrylic side panel is crazy nice.

Hi Jamese,
I discovered your topic, few months ago. Great project, great realization!
I like the bigger opening.


A small suggestion for your webpage: maybe you could get some pictures from your customers rigs, and add a Gallery section.

I'm sure your customers already know what they want, when they order through you, but for new comers, it can be usefull to see how it looks, with different configurations, different fans, etc.

The pictures with empty case, doesn't show all the potential of this little box.

@xan_user, Thanks. The 2014 cases are basically the same size, but not exactly the same:

L1 (2013) dimensions: 220x93x222 mm
L1 (2014) dimensions: 220x94x220 mm

I haven't thought about a modular case in the past, but it's not something I'm considering doing. A NAS case... perhaps.

I'm not aware of anyone using a GTX 640, or of any GTX 640's that actually follow the low profile specification (in terms of cooler height). The Sapphire HD 7750 Low Profile seems to be the go to card for this case for those looking to do some gaming.

@porkchop, Thank you, luckily they stand behind their work, but still a challenge and time sink. I did try a new powder coater this time because I wasn't totally happy with the last one. They did an excellent job with the coating, but they failed to keep the parts properly protected from touching each other. Really sad, considering it was so close to being a success!

@thierry., Thank you, glad you like the bigger openings! I appreciate your suggestion. It's a good idea, and I'll try to implement it at some point. Just need to find/make the time to do it!

Some updated photos. These are finally available.

Also, for anyone with an original L1 who would like some larger case feet, check out the 3M SJ-5009. These are what I'm including with the new L1.

UPDATE MARCH 31, 2014: Planning to produce a batch of 20, and will be priced at $120 CAD. Taking pre-orders. Orders will be charged once the item is ready to ship, and will be processed in the order received.

Within about 1-2 weeks I'm planning to produce a slightly larger version of the L1, dubbed the L2. The main difference between the L1 is that the L2 will have two expansion slots. I've been getting a count of people seriously interested on another forum, but thought I'd post here also. I'm only producing enough for those who want one (and maybe a few extra). If you're interested, please let me know via PM or email:

Interest level:
Serious (I'll pre-order if necessary), or Maybe?

Colour:
Matte Black, Gloss Black, Gloss White, or Unfinished?

I'm still waiting on some pricing, but I expect price to be around $110-145 CAD.

New cases look sweet.


Update on the delorean...
I put a full sized passive GPU in mine AND a tower heatsink. It runs fine totally fanless, but I added a scythe slim 120mm @ 500rpm just for insurance.

@ xan_user

i love it!

thx.
kinda bummed i drilled the holes in the bottom now.... oh well. Id like to come up with a cleaner e-sata port.

one thing im very happy about is i used hot glue to glued a red (hdd) and a green LED (power), right next to one another, just inside the back cutout for the wifi antenna. it makes a nice soft glow, instead of the usual disotek/rave light show.

Originally I made a shroud out of clear plastic, to channel fan 'exhaust' over the gpu heatsink, but it wasnt needed for my under-powered card. With a shroud or duct (-or if you could have the GPU heat sink on the top of the card), I believe any card, that a pico or similar PSU can handle, could be used.

Glad to see you're still having some fun with the case! I'm quite impressed with how well you did those round holes in the bottom piece.

This looks an amazing case, well done for taking your idea and making it reality! It's possibly slightly too small for me (a phrase I never thought I'd use about a case) as I'd miss having front mounted USB ports (I'd end up with a USB hub next to it, which kinda defeats the point), but still very tempted...

How quiet is the case when set-up with an i5/i7 inside? Does it meet with SPCR forum members' approval, or does 'very quiet-ness' need to be sacrificed for the case being so small?

How much difference to noise & temperature did the vented side-panel make?

Hey UK_Peter, thank you!

The L1/L2 (L2 is basically L1 Dual Slot) isn't a so-called "silent case". Meaning, it isn't designed to block noise created by noisy components. I'm personally very sensitive to noise, and I designed the L1 primarily for myself. The L1 is designed to use silent/quiet components. I currently use a Intel i3 3225, Noctua NH-L9i, Noctua NF-R8 redux-1800 PWM, and one SSD. There are people putting i7's, and gaming GPUs into the L1 and L2 (L1 Dual Slot), but they're probably sacrificing some silence.

The vented side panel should drop CPU temps a degree or two.

Well, summer is basically over, and it looks like I'm finally going to take the plunge and start trying out anodizing on my parts. I may even go with a Type III Hard Coat anodized finish, but have to confirm the brown-grey color it produces. Anodizing has a lower minimum fee per color, so I may be able to offer 3-4 color options per batch.

YES YES YES. This is awesome. Type III is duller, but I've seen some nice dark black colors without issue.

I remember you thinking there would be issues with the standoffs being a different material. Will you be getting these anodized before installing the standoffs?

P.S. Still hoping you'll make a SFX version

Yes, that's what I'm hoping to do. That way I can retain the durable steel fasteners instead of switching to aluminum. The risk is that the parts could get scratched or damaged though.

The actual surface finish is still a little up in the air. Bead blasting would be nice, but it's very expensive/time consuming, so I'm looking at other options.

Would it be possible to move to a traditional "screw in" standoff? They have them in all different heights. That way you'd be able to save an operation - simply get the things anodized, then have the end user install the standoffs.

Surface finish for type III may not matter - it is pretty forgiving. Is the aluminum pretty scratch/mark free when its done being folded? If it's in fairly good condition, you could do bright dipping. If it does have tooling marks, your other option other than blasting would be polishing, which is even more expensive.

Screw-in standoffs aren't an option, as the threads would protrude into the side panel. They would also require threads. In addition to the standoffs, there are 13 (14 for L2) steel nuts used for threads.

Ya, I'm hoping with the right anodized finish, it'll be durable enough to make it through the standoffs/nuts installation unscathed! I'd like to use aluminum with a protective coating. Otherwise there's a good chance there would be scratches.

I'm curious, how do your steel fasteners work as standoffs? The need for screw-in standoffs has done my head in over a couple of tiny case sketches, because those threads have to go somewhere!

I use PEM self-clinching standoffs and nuts, which are pressed into the metal: http://pemnet.com/fastening_products/standoffs.html

wrong thread....