My Raijintek Metis Plus Mini-ITX Case Build 'Full Circle'

[Billy McMorran]

Hello there, I've signed up to this forum just to speak with Darren. I'm working on a Raijintek Metis case myself and have ordered in most of my parts. Mines is more elaborate with water cooling but I like what you've created here. Some questions:

1. I noticed the thumb screws you were using. Could you tell me what size these are and/or provide a link so I can purchase some myself? The screws in the Metis are very easily threaded and I've struggled to find replacement case screws.

2. In terms of the artwork, these are just vinyl stickers? I've seen a lot of case mods using stickers with paint on to acrylic. Your method of printing an image and just sticking it directly looks simple and effective. Are these stickers cheap to order (I'm also in the UK)? I heard one of these vinyl sticker printers were about £100 so maybe I'll just invest in one of those to print up my own stuff.

 

[Darren_uk]

Hello there, I've signed up to this forum just to speak with Darren. I'm working on a Raijintek Metis case myself and have ordered in most of my parts. Mines is more elaborate with water cooling but I like what you've created here. Some questions:

1. I noticed the thumb screws you were using. Could you tell me what size these are and/or provide a link so I can purchase some myself? The screws in the Metis are very easily threaded and I've struggled to find replacement case screws.

2. In terms of the artwork, these are just vinyl stickers? I've seen a lot of case mods using stickers with paint on to acrylic. Your method of printing an image and just sticking it directly looks simple and effective. Are these stickers cheap to order (I'm also in the UK)? I heard one of these vinyl sticker printers were about £100 so maybe I'll just invest in one of those to print up my own stuff.

Hello Billy Here is the manufacture Links to Screws & A4 Sheets
(1) https://www.startech.com/uk/Compute...mbscrews-6-32-x-516-long-Pkg-of-50~SCREWTHUMB
Thumb Screw Thread are Long but still fine for case panels

(2) Printer, all you need is an inkjet printer, I paid £30 on a special price for "Epson XP -325" 2 years ago, The A4 sheets come in packs of, 5, 10

Clear A4 Sheets on a White Case (Used for front Panel & top Side Artwork)
eBay item number:322018864853 from manufacturer

A4 Gloss white STICKER LABEL VINYL (Used to do the trim Artwork where the Full Acrylic window is to cover the holes) "
eBay item number: 322590745899 from manufacturer

to cut out, Scissors /Olfa SAC-1 Slimline Stainless Steel Graphics Knife



Spray Paint is fine For Quick patterns, For fine Artwork/Detail Then them Photo A4 Sheets are Great, easy to remove also.

 

[Billy McMorran]

Hello Billy, Here is the manufacture Links to Screws & A4 Sheets
(1) https://www.startech.com/uk/Compute...mbscrews-6-32-x-516-long-Pkg-of-50~SCREWTHUMB
or Startech on Amazon Asin: B00009XSYI , Thumb Screw Thread are Long but still fine for case panels

(2) Printer ,all you need is a ink jet printer , I paid £30 on a special price for "Epson XP -325" 2 years ago , The A4 sheets come in packs of , 5 ,10 ....

Clear A4 Sheets on a White Case (Used for front Panel & top Side Artwork)
eBay item number:322018864853 from manufacture

A4 Gloss white STICKER LABEL VINYL (Used to do the trim Artwork where the Full Acrylic window is to cover the holes) "
eBay item number: 322590745899 from manufacture

to cut out , Scissors /Olfa SAC-1 Slimline Stainless Steel Graphics Knife
Amazon Asin:B000BKA6IA


Spray Paint is fine For Quick patterns , For fine Art work/Detail Then them Photo A4 Sheets are Great , easy to remove also.

Thanks, I've taken a note of those items and will certainly be ordering the thumb screws at the very least.

I've built a few PCs in the past but never water cooled before so I'm giving it a go in the Metis. I've got a Ryzen 1700x with the new AB350N MOBO. I thought I'd use the Alphacool Eisbaer solo and a couple of copper 120mm radiators I ordered from EBay. It's taking a hell of a long time for the radiators to arrive and that's what's holding me back at this point. I do love this little case and the idea of having a small yet powerful rig in such a small a small case should be fantastic.

With new and powerful components just around the corner now is a great time to build an ITX. The fanless SFX NJ450-SXL PSU and Vega Nano are ones to look out for.

 

[Darren_uk]

Very Nice Billy, The Gigabyte GA-AB350N-Gaming WIFI Would be the one I would go for an ITX RYZEN AMD Build, Great onboard sound & Wifi.........

At the moment i got AB-370 Gigabyte gaming 5 Full ATX motherboard as seen in my Sig for other PC,
1700X is fine if you want to pay out Maybe a little more for the XFR part, Otherwise, 1700 Be fine, I OC my 1700 chip to 3.9ghz,
But really it comes down to the Chip some Overclock high or low, some will need more volts or less to O.C to say 3.9GHZ, That is if you are going to O.C the Chip or
Just leave it With XFR enabled.

Custom Water cooling I retired from it back in 2013. Shame that NZXT don't do a Kraken AIO
120mm Rad, Low they go at the moment is 140mm Rad.
Would have been great in this Metis Case with the RGB CPU Block

Fanless P.S.U, Make sure you got the watts to power the build.
Also, the older Silverstone Fan less P.S.U at to Be seated a certain way for the Heat,
May not apply to the new Fanless Models coming out

 

[Billy McMorran]

Very Nice Billy , The Gigabyte GA-AB350N-Gaming WIFI ..Would be the one i would go for a ITX RYZEN AMD Build , Great on board sound & Wifi.........

At the moment i got AB-370 Gigabyte gaming 5 Full atx motherboard as seen in my Sig for other PC,
1700X is fine if you want to pay out Maybe a little more for the XFR part , Otherwise a 1700 Be fine , I OC my 1700 chip to 3.9ghz,
But really it comes down to the Chip some Overclock high or low, some will need more volts or less to O.C to say 3.9GHZ, That is if you are going to O.C the Chip or
Just leave it With XFR enabled .

Custom Water cooling I retired from it back in 2013 . Shame that NZXT dont do a Kraken AIO
120mm Rad , Low they go at the moment is 140mm Rad.
would have been great in this Metis Case with the RGB CPU Block

Fanless P.S.U ,Make sure you got the watts to power the build .
Also the older Silverstone Fan less P.S.U at to Be seated a certain way for the Heat,
May not apply to the new Fan less Models coming out

I've been conflicted regarding the choice of PSU for quite some time. The Corsair SF600 seems like the obvious choice but I'm not convinced I'll need that much power. Every video I watch, and article I read, suggests modern PCs draw very little power. In the end I picked up a SF450 because the Ryzen chips have a 95w TDP, and the Vega Nano will have a reported 150w TDP. My main reservation regarding that PSU is having to cut around the adapter because of the incompatibility issue. Not a big problem but I hate the idea of it. The fanless PSUs are suppose to be placed 'facing up' but I'm hoping the smaller one due out next year will have more flexibility than that. The images show it to have heatsinks all around the sides and being for ITX cases they must know it'll be sitting on its side. So yeah, the SF450 will do for now but I've already got my eye on something else.

When the Ryzen CPUs first came out the 1700 seemed like the best bang for the buck. Recently it seems like the 1700x and 1800x can be pushed that bit further. I seen a good deal for the 1700x and took it but I doubt I'll even need to overclock it. These CPUs have more than enough power with the eight cores.

The water cooling parts for this have been expensive but I'm in too far to turn back now. I'll need to see it through. I think it'll be very cool looking with two separate 120mm rads top and bottom. There wont be a fan pulling air in unless I can somehow attach one to the bottom of the case. Again, I don't think modern PCs get that hot for it to be a concern. As long as the CPU and GPU heat is being taken out there's not much to worry about.

 

[Darren_uk]

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[Darren_uk]

Taken the Power cord out from inside of the Metis Plus Case, Saving room & cable tidy.

Custom case feet

Using the same screws from the original small black feet.

Added black Rubber ends for the Custom case feet.

The case is now at a nice height for the PSU/Power Switch.

 

[Darren_uk]

The Radeon 6800 Ref is 266mm Long,
This is the unofficial maximum length that fit in the Metis
with help taking the top panel off & making sure the front I/0 Cables are up.

The Motherboard Tray is not ideal, with a small hole behind the motherboard blocking M.2 slot & CPU Mounting Plate,
I am looking into making a Custom motherboard tray.

 

[Darren_uk]

With the case at a nice height I used a Kettle Power adapter 90 degree with a cable clip.

 

[Darren_uk]

The Clear Acrylic Sheet is from Displaypro Thickness 3mm, Height 203mm, Width 272mm, Custom Size order.
All you have to do is drill the 4 holes using a case side panel & mark off holes.

 

[Jupiter]

Fan of the graphic design in the OP

 

[Darren_uk]

Not happy with the Metis Motherboard tray, The CPU cut out is to small & also blocking the M.2 on back,
Looking into making my own Motherboard tray.

 

[hdpcgamer]

Great looking itx case and nice build