Phobya reveals case designed by bit-tech modder
SnowyOwl's design concept 'Black Owl' can finally be seen in the flesh.
We had dozens of fantastic entries and any one of the final four would have made a superb case. However, in the end it was SnowyOwl's design called Black Owl that won, thanks to a combination of fantastic looks as well as awesome water-cooling potential.
It's taken a while to create something physical from the designs, though, as is usually the way with creating a new product. The images below aren't of the finished article either - instead they're the first 'alpha' build of the case.
As such the final product will have a different finish but we're sure you'll agree that the case looks absolutely stunning.
Phobya has had to deal with a few issues during its rigorous testing phase and is currently working to fix them. It has also needed to deal with making completely new tooling to construct the various sections of the case, with this taking up a significant amount of time. However it was keen to show that progress has been made and that the case now exists in physical form.
Phobya told us that the 'beta' version will be ready in about six to eight weeks time at which point they'll be sending out samples for testing.
You can check out the final voting round here and for now we'll leave you with the latest images that Phobya has sent us.
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What do you think of Phobya's new case? Let us know in the forum.
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318 Comments
Discuss in the forums ReplyThe amount of fans doesn't set the noise level. More fans allow lower speed, and thus help decreasing the noise level.
Same for me ;). They all have something that I like, and I would be happy with all of them. However, Gladio is the one that matches my taste and use the more (who said I like big case :D)
Except the handles that reminds of the G5, It's really not a G5 ! If I think the same way, all case from all brand are all plagiarism of the first tower case ever build !!!
The innards are very different from the one of a G5. Unless you try something really new, you'll always end up with a case that looks like another one.
+1
Absolutely stunning !
But it doesn't look like it's designed with watercooling in mind while the other two are too large so my vote has to got to II as it looks truly innovative as well as practical.
Gladio needs its own room its so big.
john
Decision came down to the one I'd actually buy and that is Proteus by mick64.
I love the Black Owl, but the lack of air flow coming into the case, and only three 5 1/4 drive bays slightly concerns me if I was paying £££.££ for a case.
The Proteus is for me because:
1) Has seperate chambers for the rads which is necessary as we all know we don't want that heat dumped into a poorly ventilated case.
2) It supports two large rads very easily without modding.
3) Has loads of 5 1/4 drive bays
4) Is too big for a thief to easily cart it away if I ever get robbed!
As long as Phobya sort out decent cable management in the thing (copy Corsair 800D) and price it appropriately (Looking at you Silverstone and your TJ11!!!!), I'm buying one as soon as it's launched.
The II and Blackowl seems to take less space and look more slick. I do like the red LCD displays on the II but it probably going to cost two arms if they are included. Remove all the LCD panels and you got a basically standard looking black case.
Leaves the Black owl (or white owl) little confused because I see two different case designs. I really love the triangle cut outs of the white one, but I do not like the big owl 'tattoo' on the top front and sides. I do like the minimalistic looks of the black version but I miss the triangle cut outs and side fan blowholes and cool looking phobia logo in bottom front that the white version has. I am also a little concerned about the HD rack, how are the HD's cooled in the top right position. I do not see any fan for cooling those.
Place the triangle front styling on the black one. But leave out the top owl logo and owl on the side panel. Make a white and black version of this, and place a little plate on the top front saying "Black Owl" or White Owl" and explanation/fix of cooling the HD's and it got my vote...
:)
Proteus: No real improvements in this one over the available premium-cases imho, just unnecesarily bigger.
Gladio: A little different, but overall not better then allready available premium-cases. Like the Proteus just unnecessarily big.
II: Just as big as the TJ07 and the placement of components somewhat wastes some space. Not a bad idea with the seperate compartment for the rads in the front, but again the TJ07 wins this one for me.
Black Owl: G5 design with no real options in placement of components. Too restrictive imho.
As this content was about to design the best case for watercooling Proteus should win, because it offers the most possibilities to watercool your hardware, but the cooling-power of Gladio and II aren't far behind.
So looking at it from a standpoint of design, size and options the II-design wins my vote, allthough I wouldn't consider buying it over a TJ07.
EDIT: Looking at the results of the voting, it's very clear again that the majority just went with the fanciest renders instead of really thinking about the idea of the contest alltogether.
I'd have to disagree on that one. Proteus has the advantage of having space for push-pull fan configurations but more importantly, both radiator chambers draw cool air in and expel warm air out of the case in a single motion. The TJ07 can only do this in the bottom chamber - any other radiator location will mean sandwiching the rads, exhausting air into the case or drawing warm air from it. You also don't have to remove the 3.5in bays to install the radiators in either section.
In addition, we've found the TJ07 to be sub-par as far as air cooling is concerned (ie cooling the hardware that isn't water-cooled), whereas all the designs feature modern air cooling setups with rear exhaust fans and roof fans in come cases, with Proteus sporting a 200mm intake fan and 140mm exhaust fan too.
So anything can happen until the real Winner is known
Good luck to everyone ;)
As the whole purpose of the Contest in my opinion is to finally get a Case to the Market that can fit a decent WC Setup without any Modding I can't vote for any other Case than Micks.
Good luck to everyone though.
Razer's case looks very well laid out & very straight forward to manufacture but I really don't like slimline drives (too slow) if this ever gets produced for sale it needs an option for full size optical.
Roboduck's case looks really really well laid out & very nice, if I was in the market for an awesomely laid out awesome looking case I'd buy this one, I still feel split about this & Razers case :?.
SnowyOwl's case looks like the basic form is based on a G5, does look very nice though but with a normalish layout like other cases, also looks like you need to be a master cable management type to make it look extra good like the renders, sweet case but I think it would need custom sata data cables, not sure just going off the renders.
Man I'm really split between Razer's & Roboduck's, very split, if razer included option for a normal optical I wouldn't have such a tough choice to make, I'll have to step away & think about it .
Voted Razer but I suggest if this one makes it to add an option for normal optical drive :).
Actually we have binned that idea due to the drop out - the community vote will be final and voting will be left open for 2 weeks to keep it fair.
For the community by the community.
If I build a case that's alot bigger then the TJ07, then it's not an improvement imho. And speaking about aircooling-flaws with the TJ07 allthough this contest is purely about watercooling, then you're missing the point there I guess.
the HDD cage ... u need to sell it apart from the case , thats all i need LOL
kinda looking at it again , it would be a better watercooling case if u could put more than one radiator lol , like a 360 rad on top to make it the first rad in the loop or the "Main Rad" for CPU GPU or CPU NB/SB/PWM
just sayin' at least a 360 rad on top , even the Stealth HWlabs
:)
Why doesn't anyone design a M-atx or Mini ITX case. Seriously...
'Cause the cases are for watercooling. Phobya makes watercooling equipment, so it makes sense. It'd be another whole story to design a "normal" small case, it'd be for a different market, these are for enthusiasts :)
Ok, after 8 posts you feel the right to rip into people who competed here?
The design brief was for a case that was ideal for watercooling. It's easier, and more common, to watercool full ATX rigs. Hence most of the designs were full sized rigs.
If you want m-atx designs search for the previous MNPCTech design contests, theres a m-atx one in there somewhere.
Honestly, show me ANY current or discontinued full towers on the market that look as awesome as these 4, even as awesome as the top 10 designs.
Personal tastes vary, I understand, but the market is still there.
I went for a m-ATX size case at first, but realized that it was only a niche market. The goal was to design a case that could fit everyone's need ... and some need more than 2 cards or a lot of HDDs, multiple rad or loop.
If you want, I'm working to reduce the design I made for this contest to fit mATX only instead of EATX.
But again, that's only because I only need mATX. It' very hard not to end with a "big" case when you target watercooling (with all the hardware and rad inside the case).
take a look at my post here : Monolith mATX
Feel free to make any inputs as it helps me to improve my design ;). But keep in mind that my goal is to keep a small footprint, I don't care about the height (but it'll be less than 600mm).
I'd go for Roboduck's, simply because their design features the best airflow through the rad, tho given the choice I'd buy Black Owl due to it looking so damn sexy ;)
As for the above debate, I agree that gaming worthy ITX cases are few and far between but when your talking about ultra-high end watercooling like Phobya is famous for, the price tag of the rest of the hardware would make a £300-£400 case like these would end up being just a drop in the bucket.
I totally agree with you, now that there are Sandy Bridge Boards, we need an epic case to join the mobo
I want mini itx rather than micro
I certainly hope Phobya make one of these cases as a display systems, but if they want a product to sell employ a professional industrial designers that actually understands how to mass produce and distribute.
Yep, that get's my vote too.
Because there are no Cases that allow to fit a decent Watercooling in it without modding, unless you turn to Mountain Mods, but outside America they are expensive, plus they are far worse looking that any of the Cases you can vote for here.
Sure there are some Cases like for example from Coolermaster or Corsair that have room for a 360 rad at the top, but thats only if you restrict performance as they don't offer enough room for a proper full thinkness Rad like the HWLabs GTX + Shrouds + 38mm fans, also the performance sucks as they all feed the Rad used Air.
Lian Li did try to do the same with Aftermarket Tops you could buy to add a Rad at the Top, but guess what? no shop ever sold them.
Silverstone? oh wait, they stopped making the TJ07.
On top of all that, being able to fit one 360 Rad is far from enough with the Heat Pcs produce these days, sure we have moved beyond the turns your Room into a Sauna I7 920, but have you recently looked at just how much heat High End Gpus produce?
So those Cases here are the closest we will ever get to a proper WC Case, sure they won't be for everyone, but thats far from the purpose of this Contest, if you want a generic Case that can fit low performance WC after wasting lots of time and money on modding it there are already a Billion and one Cases on the Market for you.
Agreed. It cost me an eye and a kidney to "import" an Extended Ascension + Pedestal a couple of years ago, and although it does what it says in the tin is huge and not very sightly, no matter how much "bling" you try to add...
XSPC has recently made an attempt too, but the end result is... crude. Again both models can host watercooling gear without modding, however they're in my opinion less than attractive.
In both cases proper cable management shines by it's absence too :p
There's nothing quite like the designs shortlisted on this competition in the market right now. Not even close.
Personally I prefer Mick's design, but I think I won't have a chance to cast a vote...
Due to the lack of "proper" WC cases, now that my rig is in the living room (making MM and XSPC a big no-no) I went down the road of using a Mo-Ra3 (nicely out of sight behind the AV cabinet) and first a LL PC-B10 and now a Cubitek Magic Cube.
Maybe my next build will be in the winner's case ;)
But in my opinion I've to give it to "Proteus" by mick64.
Best use of space imho with just one slight disadvantage.
So designwise I tend more to "Black Owl" by SnowyOwl
Good Luck Everybody.
Sorry for my English, i'm French.
I will however say I wanted Dominus to win! :D
Dominus was withdrawn by the contestant and therefore didn't enter the final voting -> http://forums.bit-tech.net/showpost.php?p=2623536&postcount=94
With the discussions we had during the contest-phases it became clear, that some designs aren't going to be manufactured the way the designers intended them to be and I'd say that the curved design of BlackOwl won't be manufactured this way, but get straightened to look like the G5 from Apple.
Curved surfaces like the front of BlackOwl and complex shapes like the front-grill Dominus had in mind require the capabilities to produce injection molded plastics, or to manufacture parts out of solid block using 5-axis-mills wasting alot of materials, etc. And I don't see this happening tbh.
The easier designs on the other side, the ones that are manufacturable with "basic" tools don't get voted for.
It's an unpleasuring situation for the contestants and for aquatuning/Phobya imho.
This case looks nice! ;)
:)
It'd look good with that front, a curved alu front.
Although I will say that I am a bit surprised that none of them really had any heavy support for large numbers of Hard Drives. I have found that every computer I have made for a main rig in the last 10 years has had more hdds than the one before it. Currently I have 10 drives and in another 5 years I will likely have 20. Luckily though my current setup has slots for over 20 drives lol.
Amazing how this thread has brought out all the n00bs - and they're overly opinionated.
Ugly?? I'd like to see you design better buddy.
Positive support or nothing!
Didn't your mother tell you that if you have nothing nice to say say nothing at all?
My wife always say : "Quand on est pas joli, on est poli !"
which can be translated into : "When you're not pretty, at least be polite"
I agree with you confusis, only constructive comments are welcomed, may they be positive or negative. Unless they are argued and lead to an improvement, better not say anything.
Goes to show that is impossible to make a single product to fit every single user (master of the obvious they call me :p )
What I'm hoping for out of this competition is a case that is not as big and bland as the monolith in 2001: A Space Odissey and can fit a decent WC loop with no modding whatsoever.
And my latest build has no hard drives. Or ODD. Boot drive is a RevoDrive x2 and all the bulk storage, backups etc rely on the NAS.
Not necessarily. If you have a lot of fans you can dial down the rpm with out increasing temps. I haven't been able to go through all the logs, but I believe most are 140mm or better, at the very least 120mm. The choice of fans also influence noise. Say, you use some thing like Gentle Typhoons and you will have very little issues with noise.
:( for chastising someone as a "noob" based on their post count, especially since he voted for the best water cooling case in the competition.
Welcome to the forum Luigi408!
A good concept is combining both: smallest amount of fans possible with lowest RPM... all at once.
Two 360-radiators is more then enough for very efficient watercooling with good overclocking. No more then 7x 120mm fans needed all humming along at 800RPM, + the PSU-fan.
The question is all about reasonable hardware-setups imho, as setups ment for chasing benchmark-records are never housed in a case anyways, but on a testbench instead.
Top marks to Snowy on the presentation but a reworked G5 with a single rad in the bottom is not a purpose built watercooling case, especially when the rad has restricted air flow from a plate shielding the psu.
Please read the page on Snowys entry and then post again.
Yes, it clearly used the G5 as a startpoint - but it's a completely different work now - and seems as though it would be phenomenal to work with and look at.
My only thought is whether it would be the white or black version that would be produced. The white is far more striking.
Ok so i read it again and what it says and what the case can deliver are two different things. Top mounted rad hmmm i don't see any ventilation holes to support this i thought these were finalised designs?
Great job Mick regardless of the outcome.
It does state a top mounted rad as a option, But going by pictures 3 and 4 the Hdd cage and the mobo clearence. may require the fans to be mounted on the outside off the lid.
Sorry but I'm sticking with my previous post.
@EddTheRed666 & Bullsete
I am happy to see you really took time to look and analyse before casting your vote. I wish you would have chosen my design but from your comments i see i should have shown more pics of the different possible layout. I wont post links or pics since it would be unfair but i will try to explain how it is possible.
Let me begin by saying that the black version is a trim down version to illustrate the possibilities of color changing and clean design.
For the top mount rad.. Like you can seeThe whithe one has fan mount and not the black one . The top mount set up i tested in 3D was a 2x140mm rad wich stops just short of the drive cage or a 3x120mm ultra slim (12mm thick fan + 30mmthickrad) arragements. Again i should have posted render of these.
In the lower part the power supply is really a std. size PSU even if it looks small. There is also a 30mm space between the sheet metal part that you see behind the 3x140mm in the bottom section
I hope it helps you see why this also a great water cooling case.
Thanks to all the voters;)
Thanks :)
Does Phobya sell a 30mm thick rad and 12mm thick fans?
If you lost the handles and raised the case hight to match then I could see it working. But not in its present configuration.
Your presentation is excellent and Im sorry I dont share your vision, but good luck with the competition.
So it up to us to decide. If only I can vote..
By the way, when will this voting ends and the winner is announce?
Sorry for my bad English. Thanks.
Voting ends on 2nd May 2011 at 08:48 (GMT)
+1 from me for Proteus and nothing else.
Functionality over "style."
If my memory serves me well you need at least two weeks of membership or >15 posts in order to vote in polls...
And spamming posts to get the quota may be a really quick path to the land of the ban (this is not exclusive to this forum, just something that is generally frowned upon pretty much everywhere).
The case will be made in very low numbers as it will likely be quite expensive to produce and to buy. It's not rolling off a huge production line like a Cooler Master or Antec case might - each one will likely have large elements that are hand made.
Something around the price tag of MM Pinnacle or XSPC H2 cases I presume?
I would still get Mick's Proteus over either of those any day of the week and twice on Sundays tho... ;)
Sorry still not a fair deal for the person who designs it.
I think you will find it quite fair as Combatus has mentioned we are not expecting to see large amount sold due to the cost and based on the fact its a small market in the grand scheme of things.
If we switched it to your idea based on even 50-100 cases selling the winner would still be better off with the case case and wc kit.
Not to mention that if you dont like this you just dont enter. Simples.
It is fair if you consider the fact that not everybody has the money or tools or craftmanship to make their design come to life and get one for free. It's a great opportunity to see your design reach production whitout the enormous amount of time it takes to get there. We all knew this right from the start and it's not like they are going to make lots of cash selling these.
If i had to charge for the work i did on this design (like a designer would) i would not be asking more than what the first prize is worth....wich is about a week full time at 50$/hrs.
You still have the right to beleive it's not fair...but i think mick64 and i would be happy men just to see our design for real after all the hard work that was done
Again I'm thankfull to Phobya & Bit-tech for this contest;)
by the way i went to see your work on your web site and i think it's awesome;)
Sorry, you are not talking to a n00b. If you make a low production run on cases you will charge a premium price. No designer worth anything will design a case for you for a couple grand (which is a generous estimate based on your prize pool). I actually WORK in this field so I guess my perspective is a little different ;) Hate to see people being taken advantage of but if they do it willingly I guess that is their option. At least I can try to point out they are not getting a great deal.
The Black Owl looks like a Zalman morphed with a NZXT. Not a diss just my observation.
Both Black Owl and Proteus need to look at their drive bays, theirs no airflow, I know Mick64 has several renders and different setups. If a manufacturer could create after market parts or throw them in to allow for maximum choice that would be bop on
I assume everyone entering will not be professional designers (or they would not be entering obviously) so from their perspective, as it was pointed out, just having a design they like put into production so they get their case built is a nice feeling for sure.
That said...it doesn't mean they are not being taken advantage of a little bit either. The argument that the case is "low volume but expensive" so there won't be much profit is almost comical. The price is higher because it is low volume so that they DO make a profit. They are not going through all that is involved with manufacturing a case for altruistic reasons I assure you. Using a forum based contest with voting also builds in focus group type research and allows them multiple designs that they get to pick from without having to pay the designers whose work is not selected.
You might argue the company is small and can not afford a paid designer and that they are just trying to be entrepreneurial and "boot strap it", (not sure if that is the situation in this instance) but if that was the case then a more equitable solution is to do as DB suggested and pay a smaller up front fee and "points" on sales. That gives the designer a vested interest in the design selling well.
In the end if the designers competing are happy with being paid in barter and risking zero payment if their design is not selected then it is on them. I actually competed in a case design contest like this many years ago for a $5,000 first prize and no angels lost their wings. As it turns out $5,000 is about the base fee I would normally charge for a case design if all I was required to submit was art work--meaning no 2D or 3D CAD and no production oversight etc.
And you never know, the people submitting designs may find out they really enjoy product design and this contest ends up being the catalyst for a career path. I took a look at the designs and all of them are winners in my book. Good luck to all the contestants.
Like Snowy said, some of us don't have the finances to build these and the contest provides a way to get a stocked case for a few hours of CAD work. Even given the increased price for the low production numbers these cases are going to cost a lot to make and really won't be making that much profit off of each one. If for some reason the product really takes off, then I could see the lack of royalties being an issue but I honestly don't see that happening at the targeted price points.
I do appreciate you looking out for the best interests of the designers. I think I speak for the rest of the participants when I say we know there are downsides to the contest rules but for us (not everyone) the effort is worth it. In the end it was a good opportunity to get feedback on our designs and I do plan to build mine in the future at some point.
Thanks,
-Scott
The intellectual property issue was already covered (I don't feel like searching through the hundreds of posts to find it) but all the designs belong to the designers unless chosen by Phobya to be produced. I can't speak for Phobya/Aquatuning but there may be some room for negotiation regarding sale/profit numbers if the cases end up selling well.
I would spell out the IP issues and such in writing. Things can get ugly when legal issues are not well-documented. google Aqua-tuning + trademark registration to see the hard time they had when legal issues and agreements where not well communicated or documented
The design looks far simpler and cleaner than the "Black Owl" design, and it seems to be far more advanced functionally, for a water cooling enthusiast.
The "Black Owl" looks like a very compromised design to me, in the same way the 7/800D was.
Aqua-tuning is pushing forward big time from what I have heard through the grapevine so I think designing for them might be an exciting venture for the right person.
now you have had your fun in this thread so here is where we draw the line.
If you would like to comment on the case's in question or express your choice in vote thats perfectly fine.
As for the rest of it you, have had your say - the designers were all aware what they were doing so drop it.
Thanks for at least allowing me to voice an opinion.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That is the good and bad of a public contest...you don't really get to "draw the line". If you do throw your weight around and deny people the right to express their opinion in a polite civilized manner just because you do not like that opinion then we enter the realm of oppression and cover up. You also make a mockery of the public forums here.
Roboduck, I do actually agree that it IS the designers right to choose to enter the contest. I also think there is merit in a contest format itself when handled fairly for both parties. The only point I would take exception with is the claim that the company manufacturing the cases will not be making money. That assertion tries to make the company look like some sort of patron of the arts and it is simply not true. They WILL be making money and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. They will also end up taking elements from the winning design and using them on future cases which also make money.
A more altruistic "patron of the arts" approach for future contests might be to add points based on sales as was suggested earlier, or to include some sort of class that helped the designer hone their design skills. An online SolidWorks class or similar. The company gets a design, improves the designers skill set, and maybe strengthens a relationship with the designer while at the same time making them a better designer. My point being that if the company has in house designers on staff already and has experience in product design and manufacturing then they can mentor the "armature" designer.
That is a much less predatory approach that enriches both parties...and before you "draw the line" on me I would remind you that these are only the opinions of one person--certainly nothing you need to be afraid of.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The main point here is you are dragging the thread off topic. This thread was created for the purpose of discussing the final cases and the voting on them.
If you wanted to discuss the contest details this should have been done during the contest and not in the final voting thread.
So please keep topics constructive on the cases or voting - tell us why you like X case maybe and any points you can tell us on the good or bad design of X case from your experienced position in design could be useful.
res·o·nate/ˈrezəˌnāt/Verb
1. Produce or be filled with a deep, full, reverberating sound.
Could the fan filled proteus drive you insane as the fans reverberate though floors and desks...yes this will occur even as low as 500rpm.
I feel the black owl will also suffer the same fate due to its bendy feet and physically small foot print, leading to a higher vibration.
Just another observation.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Tooling...can be nightmare. Bending metal... can be a nightmare, especailly when deciding whether to cut tiny triangles before or afterwards...before and the triangles will elongate, afterwards is a machinists ball ache.
Keep it simple, with functionality and longevity
http://www.pcsilent.de/ppic-MAXI-Verax-Fan-slicks-Fan-decoupling-Rubber-fan-holder-dampening-vgummi.jpg
that + rubber feet / rubber pad under the case ....
Consider me properly chastised.
Best of luck to all the contestants!
Proteus: I have seen this grow since he first put it out there, and his focus has always been water cooling capability, if you look closely you can see the detail. Will it take time to manufacture? of course! But it is well thought out, and allows a builder to do anything they want.
BlackOwl: This is pretty slick. And, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But now that I have had a chance to get my hands on a g5 case I am kind of disappointed. The layout is basically the same, with the exception of allowing for radiators. By trying to improve on the original winning design of the g5, it feels like more of a "mod" than a design.
1 cent more >
I can say with a fair amount of certainty that Phobya stands to make a "pretty penny" no matter how this turns out. I base my opinion only on the fact that I have now received almost 2000 requests for pricing from all around the world, and my design did not even make it to the final round (!)
The original goal was to make an attractive and curvy design with water cooling in it...trying to get out of the classic water cooling case wich look like a giant square box with lots of space in it.
Each case in this competion (exept yours i must admit...realy i'm not joking) has a feature that can remind you another case.
The G5 is an icon and my feet & the way i threated the front bezel remind it.
(First design lesson: don't touch an icon unless your ready for some real love/hate comments)
The only thing i don't get and i can't agree with you is the layout:? it does not have much in common:
power supply position = no
hard drive arragement = no
motherboard position = no
5.25 bay = no
my layout is not revolutionnary agreed but what is so similar to a G5:?
When exactly is the closing time?
Great work, pals
PS: || was a close second, IMHO
Rubber standoffs for fans will not completely remove fan vibration, they will only dampen it;
If a number of moving/rotating objects all suddenly hit the same frequency in extreme cases screws will rotate loose, welds will fail, brick work will shatter, obviously the extreme isn't going to happen in our situation, but... put 10-12 x 120,140,200mm fans in a case with rubber stand offs I'll bet my last penny if these fans all hit the right speeds your going to get that good old whirring vibration through the cases supporting furniture.
Rant over... apologies to Nitrix for moving off topic, but I had to explain where I was going in the older post.
Bed.
Before judging people, try to know who they are and what they learnt at school. And for your information I'm reading a book about resonance, sound frequency, etc.
I know what reosnance is, but truly .... what's the percentage of chance for it to happen ? And even if it happens, just adjust a little the fan speed to change the frequency of the vibrations.
But again, this is a design contest, vibration, resonance, is the job of engineers and the inner structure should be build according to the rest of the case, but this is out of the scope of this contest.
Resonance is always a question of right frequency. If you're afraid of it, then I hope you'll awoid all bridges, building, etc, because everything can resonate.
do you really think that this is a problem ? (the fan noise) who is gonna buy this case will not think at the same problem as you do.
if it where up to me i would'va put 8+6 delta 252 cfm just to be sure i have the best watercooling rig.for silent computing you have other choices and also radiators......
many of the entries look as through they have aimed to 'design their own build' rather than 'design a case'
black owl looks amazing!
Will be interesting to see what happens if they do tie.
what are the conditions to vote for proteus(in this poll)?
i want at least this,to know that i gave one vote to one of the most imressive cases from this contest.
Come on guys.. vote vote vote!
If they have to make all 4 of them, than there is no point of making this competition.
From the voting, we can see that Gladio and Roboduck is losing 2/3 of votes against Phobia and Black Owl. I just feel that since Phobia and Black Owl is such a close finished, they both deserve to be made.
Hope Proteus win coz I already saved my $$$ to buy it.
I wish to see all those design in the project log.
Well done to the top 4, and the person who takes the final spot! GOing to be VERY close!
And well done to Mick, Razer and Roboduck for make it this far :)
Pity we won't see Proteus built this time, it's been a long wait and it has been so close to seeing the light of day so many times...
Oh well, such is life :)
Thanks to all again
A very big thank you to all those who supported me!
Your case is great, I'm sure it will come to life in a way or another.
Couldn't have said it better myself. Congrats to Snowy and the rest of the competitors, and thanks to those who supported me. Can't wait to see the real deal!
Edit: Last place by one vote... thats depressing :(
your case would be perfect for me...it's a very pity...and just for 1 vote!!!
i hope that you will find a way to realize and sell it...i would surely buy one...
the Black Owl, is more eye-attractive at the first sight...but the inner solution are not revolutionary IMO, and the risk is that the real case (i think that to redure production costs, phobya will introduce some changes in the original design) would be no more than another case in the market...
we'll see...
i hope that they will consider the close result and decide to make both cases,because besides the old users on this forum which had the chance to vote,they are more of us which we wanted to vote,but couldn't.
Mick - my condolences... maybe someone else will pick it up?
Razer - hmmm, 3rd place..... +rep? LOL
Everyone who participated put in huge amounts of work and you all deserve recognition and respect for trying to give back to the community!
;):D
Mick, Razer and Roboduck yours are all great designs in there own rights in my opinion and any Manufacturers looking should start taking notes from all 4 of you IMHO :)
Lastly I will confess Robo got my vote :D
I'd like to personally thank every one of the designers, especially the final four. If any of you need further support from bit-tech, be it in building the case yourself, or finding someone who may be able to build it for you, just drop me a line.
GG Mick64!
And for all that took part in the contest, and the effort you made.
We will be in touch shortly to discuss the manufacture of the case.
Thank you to all contestant who were really respectfull of other designer. It's great to be part of a community that can share and discuss in a respectfull way.
I can tell everyone Phobya as already contacted me in order to make this design come to life.
I really hope mick gets it's case product by some company because he as put great effort in making is concept ready for production...i truly wish him to get the case to market.
Thank you all again this was a lot of fun. I hope we get a similar opportunity in the future.
Best regards,
David
to lose by one vote, Mick, unlucky. I voted for ya! Keep us posted if you get any other take-up. Would be a great end to the story.
If its any gauge, Combatus said in November that Phobya already had a case designed, and that one hasn't even hit stores yet.
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/modding/2010/11/01/phobya-case-design-competition/1
Where's my 50£?
You know... I could've sworn that it didn't start out as a "sponsorship voucher"... as I remember it, it was simply a gift certificate for that amount at Aquatuning. Changing it to a "sponsorship voucher" implies the prize is contingent on being used in a project build, giving AT sponsorship publicity. Nothing wrong with that per se, problem I would have with that is the change in terms sometime after the start of the contest. I don't recall anyone mentioning it. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong about any of this (or, conversely, remembers it like I do). Otherwise... shame on you guys.
It has always been called this - we have no way to edit a bit-tech article.
All it means is the £50/£100 has to be spent on Phobya products.
@ Razer / Mick you will receive the information shortly.
This is a quote from Nitrix in the first post of the Phobya water-cooled case design thread - FINAL STAGE :-
You will have 4 weeks to complete this stage. After that point the community will vote for the top 3 designs. Then these 3 designs will be forward to phobya to pick the winner.
If this changed, I must of missed it and I apologise, but it's been niggling me since no one has mentioned it.
IMO, it would maybe have made more sense to choose between the top two. Though at this point, it wouldn't be fair to SnowyOwl to change it, so meh. I know it sucks for you, man - you've been waiting a long time to see your case made. Hope it happens for you soon.
It has enough space for components and it is ready for water cooling.
If it should be on the market I would buy it immediately, because I'm stacking a new computer.
Proteus by mick64 is the best in my opinion. It has everything I need.
It has enough space for components and it is ready for water cooling.
If it should be on the market I would buy it immediately, because I'm stacking a new computer.
Is it ready for your computer, or is it just a case?
If it was a simple case, it would be better.;)
And subtec, it's OK. we all get confused sometimes.
Because it is just the right size, and undue delay efficient cooling.
If it should be on the market I would buy it immediately, because I'm building a new computer.
I've also noticed that there are very few decent water cooling computer case. Here it is.
Phobya, do the right thing, the SMART thing, the profitable thing, and choose Mick's Proteus.
THE GAMER'S CHOICE!
+1
Best design for future evolution.
Good case to install a big watercooling...
Its pretty easy i think for Mick to go to any manufacturing company and have his case produced, i dont see what the problem is.
Unless its a problem with the cash funds obviously, then i understand
Get a prototype made, then no probs, Or get Waynio to build it.
Should have realised earlyer i had to make post on this forum so i could vote ...
Voting ended a week ago at least. Seems Mick has managed to get a few people joining to vote!
shame mike didnt win
would of bought it right away
was looking for a case for watercooling, seems like i might have to wait it out abit and see if it goes into production or build my own =/
Tried posting, but I couldn't even post let alone vote on this thread...
btw I agree with urbansmooth.
where can I buy the "Proteus by mick64" Case? I saw the poll few days ago :/
BUT the Proteus Case is the most powerfull Case I ever seen !! I bought few days ago the Corsair Obsidian. Anyway, I WANT THAT Proteus by mick64 CASE !!!
WHERE CAN I BUY THIS ?!?!?
Phobya: How's the process of making this a production reality going? I'd love to see some pre-production sample pics!
Good work everybody.
Six months later and theirs not a pip from the big case manufacturers on who has picked this up.
I've said it before but I think Mick64 needs to appraoch LianLi and the big boys direct.
The winning case is still being worked on and you will see it shortly.
Along with Phobya's own case range.
I'm really interested in seeing the concept to reality, and how the engineers are approaching the work. at the moment the concept(s) have disappeared into a big black hole and I'm itching to see what comes out the other side... :)
If I really must to choose one of them it would be the smaller Black Owl. The Proteus is HUGE. I think the Black Owl takes just way less space in my room and looks more pleasing and it will fit on my table.
Just measure out the dimensions on your table and think again:
(W x D x H)
Proteus: 246 x 700 x 630mm
Black Owl: 230 x 585 x 545mm
Voting ended ages ago, and Phobya are the company making the case.
+1 :D
I would gladly buy the first or second place case today. I am looking forward to seeing one in production.
When do preorders start?:D
Sorry for all those, who put in even more work into their entries then I did.
I don't regret participating in the contest. It was a great opportunity to display our design skills and get our names out there. I'd participate in something like this again, althought it might make more sense to offer a one-off scratch built case as the prize instead of promising a production version.
Hopefully we still see Black Owl sometime in the future....
Nothing to say on the matter Combatus? :(
ETA is around 3-4 weeks as its shipping by sea.
and production has started! We should see the first sample for assessment in 3-4 weeks time
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt191/nitrix2009/pcase2.png
to show how detailed this sort of thing is this is the measurement for the mesh holes lol, can't give to much more away at this point.
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt191/nitrix2009/pcase1.png
You build this bad boy yet? I'm still looking forward to seeing it in all its IRL glory ;)
Happy new year!
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/modding/2013/01/03/phobya-reveals-new-water-cooling-case/1
J/K! I'd certainly consider one if I could spec a WCing kit to fit exactly (only thing that puts me off now is stuff might not fit properly), but needs more fan-filters though?
It'd be nice if they also offered a version with a plain front though, for some of us sleek types.. Just don't cut the holes and offer that straight up for the same price as the holed one..
Looks like a very modable case though.
I especially like the fact that they tried to stay close to Snowy's design.
No CPU cutout, no fan filters, HDD vibration dampening, power switch?
What do you mean with only one radiator? You can stick one in the top, hang on on the backside and a 360 in the bottom. How much options do you want? I have only one thing though. The 'pop' rivets on the drive cages and 360 cage should be replaced with screws. So people can strip te case with ease, if they want to. Looking at the images, it looks like a first prototype from factory. There are a lot of scratches on the metal. Some rivets or not completly through either.
The next stage will be the Beta addressing known issues with the case and looking at refining it with the anti vibration screws / filters etc. At this point reviewers like bit-tech will get the chance to review it and put forward improvements.
For a case with this size, the TJ07 is the state of the art currently when it comes to options.
I'm with mankz on this one. As much as I love the shape and WCing abilities, its a little too holey for my taste right now.
+1 on what Mankz said. A short run of "blank canvas" cases might not be very profitable, but i guarantee we would gobble them up. I know what I want next year for Christmas.
Grats Snowy... I had my doubts this would ever get produced, but here it is. Aside from all the exterior screws and some changes to the vents, it looks very close to your original design.
I'm with the dude above....awful reproduction of the original design, no curves, its like a wheel with no AA.
Looks like cheap....very cheap aluminium, with nasty edges and horrible to touch,
bent metal looks weak re. legs.
no laser etched owl, surely this is a major selling point re. the name
cheap production method used to create holes, no filters, no anti vibration, who uses just 3 hard disks these days, mobo tray looks small with limited cut outs and doesn't look removable.
Looks like a half ass cheap chucked out of a crappy manufacturing plant kinda case.
I think Phobya need to go back and start again and do the designer and his design some justice and actually put some effort into a good looking design.
Indeed. Please read the article properly before launching into scathing comments! :) It's a prototype mockup not the finished article by any means, and as such is devoid of many of the bells and whistles of a production case, including a decent finish, filters, anti vibration etc etc. It's purely so we can get an idea of what the case looks like and for Phobya to begin ironing out any issues.
And I hope we see your design in physical form at some point too ;)
My only wish is that they had actually built a system inside to see how all the parts fit inside. But I'm guessing since this is still at prototype stage, we won't get to see such a thing until they release a semi-final version.
You never know! This is the reaction that I had hoped for when I released my SketchUp files! ;)
There you have it. I'm sure we can add some details about the period between the competition being over and the physical case sitting in our lab. I'm excited to see it! :D
Any news?
http://www.theskyisnotyourlimit.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/meerkat.jpg
Although it is a fun challenge its is very hard to effectively reverse engineer a case design. Firstly we have to take that design and work with our design team to put it into a format for our machines. At this point we will meet with the first headaches if the machines struggle with a particular part. Then it has to go back to the designers to find away of altering it while staying true to the design.
From here is the prototyping where we make the case, ship it to our offices at great costs and review it here we have to go over making sure every thing fits, identify weaknesses and problems then send it back to the designers. We have done this process several times up until the beta case you saw recently.
The current problem we encountered was quality, sure we could knock this out rapidly from china and it would have been here months ago. Then you would have moaned that the quality was not fitting for this type of case. So we have moved production in to the EU to a company well know for producing high quality bespoke cases. Problem being is they now have to tool up there machines and plot a efficient build process for the case. This takes time.
Good things come to those who wait.
I have asked again for an update so if i hear anything i will post it here.