Onwards and upwards by Parvum Systems

parvumsystems · 7 Mar 2013 at 10:27

Onwards and upwards by Parvum Systems : 9th May Finished Video

Project:
Onwards and upwards
by: Parvum Systems

This will be written by Justin but will also feature Shaun. We are the two that make up Parvum Systems. We would love to expand the company but for now you are stuck with just the two of us!

This thread will be a close look at the Parvum Systems team building a fully W/C rig into one of our own S1.0 Cases. There will be some big changes and a lot of custom work done to the case. Hopefully enough to keep your attention. This is just one of the number of cases that we will be taking to the iSeries LAN even at the end of March in the UK. We plan to head out to other EU LANs later in the year. Including Dream Hack.

We would first like to briefly introduce ourselves. Say a little bit about us and how we started Parvum Systems. If you wish to skip this part and get to the photographs then do so by all means!

Parvum Systems was started approximately one year ago after a discussion about SFF cases. I myself have been working with SFF systems for my last 3 builds. One a full custom Acrylic build. The other two Lian Li cases. However I was always frustrated at how hard it was to put so much water cooling equipment into a case while showing it off at the same time. So with the power of Shaun's architecture degree & CAD knowledge and my case modding/water cooling skills we figured we would start something of our own.
We have come a long way in this year. I would approximate we have easily used thousands of Euros on Acrylic in the testing and building stages of the S1.0 . It has had its ups and downs and has been extremely frustrating at times but I would say we are finally happy with our first of many products.
We have every intention to start to involve far more people in expanding Parvum Systems and when we develop the S2.0. We would love nothing more than to involve more people. Get opinions and even meet up with other case modders and builders to help provide the market with exactly what they want.

This project log will feature an adapted version of the S1.0. It will be a reverse ATX version of the case. We will also be milling a custom reservoir for the roof of the case and a few other surprises along the way. The beauty of this project is anything that we create will defiantly be something we will look to sell as an extra or a future product on the Parvum Store.

Our S1.0 case can currently be purchased on the OCUK store here!

Here are a few photos of our warehouse space and what runs Parvum Systems:

In the next update (a few days time) we will show you the CAD designs & the initial CNC cutting of the panels.

Thanks for reading, see you on the next one!

fiveub · 7 Mar 2013 at 11:46

Very nice, you say you have been doing mainly SFF, is this your main focus and this is what you will always stick with, or are you considering maybe in the future to do larger cases?

parvumsystems · 7 Mar 2013 at 12:20

5UB said:
Very nice, you say you have been doing mainly SFF, is this your main focus and this is what you will always stick with, or are you considering maybe in the future to do larger cases?

Yeah we are mainly focusing on SFF. The plan is to put more W/C into the SFF cases than the competitors while displaying the internals as well as possible. We have some initial designs for an ITX case that is about half the size of most but will sport a minimum of 1 x 240mm & 1 x 120mm rads. We have also been milling some custom reservoirs and you'll see some of that here.

This being said we are getting an SR-2 rig back as I miss the thing at it would be very useful for the CAD & rendering. So I suppose a larger case will of course follow.

nick.lidgett · 7 Mar 2013 at 13:00

I must admit when OcUK first introduced us to your product i may have been overly critical however I'm slowly coming round and i think this project will convince me youre onto a winner.
I look forward to seeing this project completed and wish you all the best in you endeavors.

parvumsystems · 7 Mar 2013 at 14:59

nick.lidgett said:
I must admit when OcUK first introduced us to your product i may have been overly critical however I'm slowly coming round and i think this project will convince me youre onto a winner.
I look forward to seeing this project completed and wish you all the best in you endeavors.

Thanks mate, We really look forward to showing off what we can do outside of the standard S1.0 case. This should give a much clearer view of what can be achieved as far as water loops and part placement.

Thanks again for the kind words, we will do our best to perform (Y)!

Ace Modder · 8 Mar 2013 at 08:34

Well as the person who has bought Parvum Systems chassis' to OcUK I thought I would add my input.

Firstly I believe that these products are very unique. Show me another MicroATX case which has house loads of watercooling. You will struggle, secondly all cases on the market are made from Steel or Aluminium, these however are not, they are made from acrylic. These are the main 2 key points that attracted me towards the products. I love thing that can also be made custom, Parvum offer this service and eventually this is something I feel OcUK and Parvum will be able to offer together.

We are Parvums only UK partner and as a result we do offer the two standard case choices.

The is one main frustration which is quite a thorn for me; the images of the products really do not do the product justice, this is the reason that I have put 2 of them on display in our store;come and check them out

Free haribo if you do too.

I was priviledged enough to be involved with a build in one of the Parvum Systems cases over the past couple of days, and WOW! they are good especially for the size; the watercooling potential is amazing. I suggest you keep an eye on the forum today/tomorrow. You may see some of what I'm talking about right here on the forum

3t3P · 8 Mar 2013 at 12:46

I like your thinking with small mighty water cooled cases.

fiveub · 8 Mar 2013 at 12:51

3t3P said:
I like your thinking with small mighty water cooled cases.

Me too. I have a small case with watercooling inside, and I was limited to what I could buy. So a manufacturer that specialises in SFF cases which can hold vast amount of watercooling is great, cannot wait to see other range of designs from you guys.

Jay85 · 8 Mar 2013 at 13:09

Do all your cases have a portion that is made by hand?

I really do like your cases and i feel they have a massive potential to be something great, especially for us mAtx builders and smaller. Been looking at moving my build (see sig) to a smaller platform with more watercooling potential but the only thing that is holding me back from purchasing yours is the price.

I reckon if they were sub £100 or around that mark it would have many more potential buyers.

BUT of course i know quality speaks for itself and i can see the craftsmanship and worksmanship gone into these cases are top notch which reflects the price that they are set at. Just my hopeful thinking lol

parvumsystems · 8 Mar 2013 at 16:58

Huge thanks goes out to Lee, such kind words and we really appreciate it. We would love nothing more than to get some of the customization & color options eventually available. The custom reservoir that this build will show off will drop right into the top of the standard case. So we have lots of treats coming that could ultimately become available as an add-on to the case!

3t3P said:
I like your thinking with small mighty water cooled cases.

Thank you! We can't wait to do something similar with ITX. The best place to show off a fully W/C rig is at LAN, so why not keep it small. The biggest thing here is the case is designed to compliment the internals more so than be an all singing fancy this that and the other case. We hope to bring much more to the market.

5UB said:
Me too. I have a small case with watercooling inside, and I was limited to what I could buy. So a manufacturer that specialises in SFF cases which can hold vast amount of watercooling is great, cannot wait to see other range of designs from you guys.

Thanks 5UB, we will do our best!

Jay85 said:
Do all your cases have a portion that is made by hand?

I reckon if they were sub £100 or around that mark it would have many more potential buyers.

BUT of course i know quality speaks for itself and i can see the craftsmanship and worksmanship gone into these cases are top notch which reflects the price that they are set at. Just my hopeful thinking lol

The process for each case is almost what you will see in this project log.
First the panels are each cut by CNC. Which requires a fair amount of setting up and prep work.
We then bend the mid-wall panel by hand using a line bender, jigs and clamps. You will see this very soon.
Smaller parts such as a feet are CNC cut but require bonding and hand finishing.

Thanks for the kind words, we'd love nothing more than to bring the price to a better point. We are missing a huge chunk of the market due to this and it is down to man hours. We are looking to move towards flat pack as the standard case can be completely dissembled.

3t3P said:
I like your thinking with small mighty water cooled cases.

Thank you! I can't think of anything I wanted more which is how this all begun!

parvumsystems · 8 Mar 2013 at 17:04

So here is a simple update for today with another to shortly follow!

We started by drawing a 4 panel selection for the case. Somewhat close to the S1.0 but with a couple of changes.

All the panels have been flipped/mirrored in certain ways to accommodate for reverse ATX
Additional holes have been cut to mount a bottom and top chamber
One of the rear 80mm fans has been removed and replaced with the Parvum Logo

Tool paths exported to the CNC PC. She is a mighty fine build in one very old case...

Drawing ready we moved onto tool set up and to start cutting. For these two panels we will be using a 3mm and a 1.5mm single flute cutter:

Tool change to a lovely Belin series 1.5mm single flute to get into the tight edges of the Parvum logo:

A quick look at the four panels once the backing had been removed:

Finally for today we started to bend the mid wall. This mid wall is just for testing purposes at this stage. I want to mark up all the holes for pass through connectors/cables etc to make them exact rather than the pre-spaced ones we offer in the S1.0

Mid wall spacing measured and marked up:

Then continued to make the first bend using the line bender & bending jig:

Tester mid wall successfully bent and ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow we will be cutting the two frosted red panels to accompany the white & start the initial assembly.

Sorry for the poor lighting towards the end of the photos. The day light ran out fast here and we don't use a flash.

See you soon!

Jay85 · 8 Mar 2013 at 17:52

I would like one of these

, thanks!

3t3P · 8 Mar 2013 at 21:23

did you guys build your own CNC?

whats the origin of your company name?

Sayso · 8 Mar 2013 at 21:26

I like it a lot and im sold, juts need to figure out a few bits ie usb ports on front panel and what switches in going to use then i will purchase.

8 Pack · 8 Mar 2013 at 23:09

Keep up the good work mate. You build me the cases I will put the best hardware in em!!!

Abz Hussain · 9 Mar 2013 at 11:05

Can you put an xspc rx 240 in the top with one set of fans and still be clear of the mobo?

parvumsystems · 9 Mar 2013 at 17:01

Jay85 said:
I would like one of these , thanks!

You should defintly get one. On sale with OCUK themselves. Exclusive in the UK.

3t3P said:
did you guys build your own CNC?

whats the origin of your company name?

We had an acquaintance who builds and sells CNC machines in the UK so we purchased it from him.

The name is the Latin for 'small/little'; we went with this as we wanted to use an unusual word and felt it represents the company well (not our manhood's). We are a very small operation and are primarily focusing on small form factor cases!

Sayso said:
I like it a lot and im sold, juts need to figure out a few bits ie usb ports on front panel and what switches in going to use then i will purchase.

Thanks mate, if you plan on purchasing a case do so from OCUK. We could always cut an extra panel for you that would fit the I/O section under the power switch at an extra cost. Each panel can be removed separately so this won't be much work at your end.

8 Pack said:
Keep up the good work mate. You build me the cases I will put the best hardware in em!!!

We will mate! I'm sure you'll see some other ideas here that you like for are future plans.

Abz Hussain said:
Can you put an xspc rx 240 in the top with one set of fans and still be clear of the mobo?

Hello mate, I'm afraid you can only fir the thinner rads in the top. 30-35mm for example. You can however fir the rx 240 or any 60mm rads in the front of the case with a set of fans.

parvumsystems · 9 Mar 2013 at 17:05

Hello guys, back again. Sorry most updates will be short but posted more regularly. We try to get a little bit done each day outside of cutting customer items/cases.

iSeries event is coming in fast so expect to see lots of updates!

So first for the day we attached the 6 x nickle cubes to the base of the case with 6mm hex bolts. These are black but we will change them to white for this build at a later point:

Next we put down the frosted red sheet to cut the inside accent panels. For this we used our work horse tool the 3mm single flute. There is a little bit more to this panel so we thought we would show you the cutting process step by step.

First we did the inside profiling. Nothing too uncommon here:

We have a large amount of these shape off cuts. Defiantly use them in another project at some point:

Next we have to countersink a section. This allows a piece of 1.5mm aluminium to be sandwiched between two panels. We will come back to this later:

and finally the outside cut:

We then moved on to cut the front accent panel. We wont show you any more cutting because you get the idea now. Here are the two red panels:

We now start the assembly with more of the nickle corner blocks. We use 12mm hex screws to pass through both 5mm panels and safely into the block. Again we will change these to white bolts if possible:

A close up of the Parvum logo. We will be lighting this from behind the frosted red with a red LED pad:

To finish today's work we placed the middle wall in for a quick look. We used this old middle wall to mark up the exact point we want holes for cable management and watercooling pass-through connectors. We will then recut the panel with the perfect spacing:

Thanks for reading guys! In the next update you may expect to see fitting the mobo, cutting cable management holes and fitting the new bottom and top chambers.

See you then!

Something Else · 9 Mar 2013 at 18:04

lovely looking cases and its nice to see the build process

judging by the pictures you could easily fit 140mm fans to the front if you drilled the holes? or is it a bit tight?

parvumsystems · 9 Mar 2013 at 18:07

Somthing Else said:
lovely looking cases and its nice to see the build process

judging by the pictures you could easily fit 140mm fans to the front if you drilled the holes? or is it a bit tight?

Pretty sure you could fit the fans but the case front is designed around a 240mm rad, once you have the fittings end of the round to contend with you wouldn't be able to fit the 280mm rad.

Making the case a tiny bit bigger would combat this but we are fighting to keep it as small as we could with this amount of cooling power.