Project: Cubit 3

Associate
Joined
11 Mar 2009
Posts
1,061
Hi there,

Will be starting my first build very soon and am in the process of ordering bits and pieces.

I've recently caught the small form factor bug to a point where i consider the Shuttle form factor to be too big and even the SG05 to be on the largish side for me :P

As the title suggests, i have two main aims with the Cubit 3: put together the most powerful pc i can afford together with the smallest device footprint i can manage :)

Why the Cubit 3? Well, i personally think it's the best and 'true' small form factor case there is. Plus, it's no longer made anymore making it even more desirable :)

Hopefully lots of pictures will follow in the not too distant future but here is a list of what i'm hoping to put in and outside of the Cubit 3:

1. Intel i7 2600 (non k) - don't really know how to oc properly and it's probably just as well given how small the case is :P Plus, i think it's plenty fast :)
2. Asrock Z68 itx mobo
3. 2x4gb DDR3 ram
4. C300 SSD
5. 320gb 2.5" HDD (when 1tb prices come down i'll get one)
6. Slim ODD
7. Suitable low profile cooler with fan (aiming for efficiency and silence due to not needing to OC)
8. OCZ 500w psu (have this lying around doing nothing)
9. GTX 560 ti (Palit or Gainward branded... it's the only gfx card that's going to 'fit')

Need to source some modders mesh and a few other bits which i'll detail during my build... there are lots of things which i'm not sure about yet as i'm muddling my way around how best to do it.. so please be patient with me and my build :P

That's it for now folks. Hopefully some pics will follow soon :)
 
mnpctech do some lovely mesh.

Subbed.

ah thanks! been looking some that's sensibly priced...however i did just notice something on fleabay that could prove to be a useful substitute ;) Will see. Thanks v. much though.. most helpful :)

sounds like it's gonna be good :D:p

thanks mate, I hope it turns out well :) I'm not really a modder and i'm not really all that good with modding stuff as i have no special tools or experience (unlike most of the modders you read about). I'm going to have to make do with whatever i have :) I'm mainly relying on work-arounds and alternatives that will either reduce the work involved or time taken :P
 
More delays with all my bits which is probably just as well seeing i keep changing my mind about things as well as a few problems i have yet to solve :P Here's something that came today :) I really like it :)

20111014131213.jpg


20111014132640.jpg


20111014132704.jpg


20111014132721.jpg


Did a fair amount of research before settling on this one. Only low cpu cooler that would fit in my planned set up that's rated suitable for 130w use :) Direct contact with the heatpipes can't be a bad thing surely :P I also got some IC Diamond from ocuk (no pic though as it's not as exciting :P)
 
I've not had time to set up the case yet :) I'll post up pics of the case tomorrow with a little talk through of the mods i'm planning on doing :) (would be funny if I just modded the box to fit my bits in... million dollar pc in the making? i don't think so :P)

It can accomodate a gfx card of approximate length 200mm.

The most powerful card i can find ones made by Gainward and Palit. Their websites state 188mm.. which might mean i could probably fit a thin fan near the front to help with cooling and air flow.. not sure yet :P

I've got a wanted thread here and funds are already stretched so trying to get one second hand for a reasonable price:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18328412
 
silly me :P

It should be able to house a normal dual slot gfx card :)
(i gave up on my inital idea of trying to find a decent aftermarket single slot gfx cooler.. short answer is they don't exist)

Planning on adding a third 2.5" drive now... somewhere :P
 
I'm open to suggestions :) Providing the card length is <=200mm then please let me know! :)

I don't know of another gtx 560 ti that's around that card length you see... do you?

edit: palit and gainward re-arrange the whole reference pcb enabling them to produce versions that's considerably shorter... don't know anyone else that's done this.
 
yup, pretty long! so palit/gainward did a very good job in providing much shorter versions. Even the phantoms are 188mm :) I should be ok if i get one of the shorter versions and OC it to 570 levels... should handle BF3 ok methinks :)

Was planning on using longer gfx cards but that would mean having a few inches of gfx card sticking out at the back (bit like a PSU extender thingy from Lian Li :P). Decided against it as it's actually not feasible and would make it look less nice.
 
Thanks Mr. Gimp :)

Right, apologies for the pic quality as i don't have a fancy camera :)

Face plate :)
20111014155845.jpg


Case body with MB, HDD and ODD tray slotted in :)
20111014155938.jpg


With front plate screwed on (nice long thumb screws made of alu)
20111014160104.jpg


Lastly another one with a stick of ram to give it some sort of scale.. it's very small :)
20111014160144.jpg



The PSU will be fitted externally :P Was planning on an sfx psu but would have to compromise too much on the gfx so went with the more powerful gfx option instead. Each tray will be replaced with something that will house all the bits i need to put in there.. can you see the potential already?? :) Like i've already said, i'm not a big modder so the options i go for will involve the least amount of work (hopefully!). That's it for now :)
 
thanks, i've actually used thumb screws for the back panel for the front :P Other than the gfx card, my biggest problem at the moment is how best to mod the ODD and soon to be GFX tray ;) Also, i still have no idea how best to create a custom back panel. I've not seen anybody that offers this service? Probably really expensive if they did i'd imagine..

...anyway, i guess i've got a bit of time to think about it and to come up with a suitable solution :)
 
You're never getting a dual slot card in there either, not unless you have some serious modding skills!

hehe... that's what i thought :P But i think it can be done :) Like i've repeatedly said, i have zero modding skills (let alone the 'serious modding skills' you refer to :P) but i like 'problem solving' and see this as an 'optimisation' problem and i already know what the constraints are :) The biggest mistake i'm trying to avoid is to hastily bend or cut things only then to realise that if i had done it slightly differently then i could have accomodated for X or allowed for Y etc. It's times like these, some CAD skills would come in very very handy :P

Chances are, i could be wrong and it can't be done and this will be an unfinished project but if it works out then i'd be one very happy bunny.. serious gaming ability within a tiny case :)
 
No, that face plate is stock :)

I've hastily used the thumb screws for the back panel on the front just to take some quick pics :) The holes are recessed and there are separate hex screws that go in them. Once screwed in, it's flush and unobtrusive :) Will post better pics over the weekend. :)
 
Riser card sitting on my desk ;)

watercooling? hehe... out of my depth that's for sure.. i'll see how i do with this one first :P Did you ever attempt it yourself?

thanks! :)
 
ah yes, the internal psu, i gave that some serious thought and for me the only way was to use a psu externally as i still wanted to keep the ODD in place.. removing this of course would free up some nice space though now that i've done some thinking and some pencil sketching, i think i can fit everything in even with the ODD in place.. and it shouldn't be too much of a squeeze either. With the psu being external, a great deal of heat and complication is removed. Going to fab the trays myself with a little bit of luck ;)

As for air flow, i think i have the simplest mod for this, which i'll do over the weekend. I just hope it won't ruin the aesthetics... though there is a slim chance that it'll even improve it! :)

I think i've come to a decision about the back panel. Don't think i'm going to go the custom back panel as it's going to cost me an arm and a leg (for me anyway), plus i want to do it all myself :)

Going to have to mod the riser cable ever so slightly, so again will be doing that this weekend... all shown with piccies of course :)
 
right, here's my first mod:

New pcie x16 riser :)
20111014194015.jpg


One end bent at near enough right angles. Need to add something to the underside to provide even pressure/tension when i come to fix it in place:
20111014194221.jpg


Found some self adhesive pads.. the stuff you put on the bottom of chair legs to stop it scratching wooden flooring (the technical names escapes me!). Will be screwing this on to my custom shelf. Thankfully it has two holes on either side which looks perfect for me to make use of. Less mod work you see! :)
20111014204920.jpg
 
thanks :P Am still trying to find something that looks better.. will have to do for now :P

it's a logitech illuminated keyboard... best KB i've used to date (though admittedly, i've not used that many... but still :P)
 
Can't wait to get it going myself... bits keep getting delayed.. hopefully everything will arrive by Wednesday latest! :)

Here's some more pics for now. The last pic shows just how 'easy' my project has become ;)

First off, some better case pics :)
20111015142028.jpg

20111015142007.jpg

20111015140502.jpg

20111015133654.jpg

20111015133641.jpg


Motherboard tray. They did a nice job here and there's no need for any mods :)
20111015133407.jpg


Tray for holding the ODD. This will get replaced by my own fab version allowing for space for a 100mm fan, cable routing as well as maximum air flow.. so excited! :P
20111015132938.jpg


Stock tray that houses HDDs. Again, this will be replaced with my own fab that will house my GTX 560 ti with enough room to attach the pcie riser as well as room for cable routing from the ODD tray above ;) and also 2 power cables from the gfx card itself.

Also, it's going to double up as my HDD expansion area :P ...all cases have them, why not this one! :P

(doing these things needs a lot of thought!)
20111015132928.jpg


Last but not least, a pic of a sample i bought just to see if it was suitable :) This stuff will make my life soooooo much easier. More details to come :)
20111015092729.jpg



Hold on..what's this? Another pic? ;)
 
It's very nice, beneath that powder coated paint, is a single piece of aluminium. I would say, the average thickness of the case is around 5mm! Because the front and back comes off, it's very very easy to work with. I've owned a lian li v351 before and that was a nightmare to use... wasn't into modding then so was just a normal user and found it to be frustrating to use... dreaded changing parts! :P

Just to be clear, another objective of mine, is to try and fit bits made of aluminium if possible :) Also, to try and keep true to the spirit of SFF, all my bits will be 'SFF' styleeee :P
 
Back
Top Bottom