PC Design Labs earned it’s solid reputation a few years back with it’s innovative and hardware friendly Qmicra case, which has been constantly refined to it’s current state. A lot of that refinement has come from user input, as founder Dave LaLopa is constantly listening to the community. After all, there’s no better quality control accounting, than from a person who’s spent their own hard earned money on one of your products.

With a solid and successful case design in the Qmicra, and a newly developing market, Hive Logix has introduced a new mini-ITX case. That new case is the product I’ll be reviewing today.

This case is designed with a variety of possible applications. Home/business computing, HTPC/NAS, and commercial/industrial settings would all provide a great use for this little box. Before I get into the case unboxing itself, let’s take a look at the case specs.

Designed and produced by PC Design Lab, this versatile Hive Logix mini-ITX case has two external 3.5″ bays to install any combination of desktop/laptop hard drives, hot swappable bays and multi-function bay devices. Its dual 60×25mm fans, front to back airflow and support for stock Intel heatsinks means it can cool the latest high performance hardware so you can build the smallest most powerful mini-systems with this one of a kind enclosure!

Specifications

• Mainboard: mini-ITX w/ Standard I/O Panel
• Power Supply: Pico PSU (Sold Separately)
• Drive Bays: (2) 3.5″ External Bays
• Storage: Up to (2) 3.5″ or (4) 2.5″ HDD
• Cooling: (2) 60×25mm Fans (Not Incl’d), Stock 1.875″ [48] Intel Heatsink/Fan Supported
• *Heatsink compatibility list can be found here in our forums.
• Mounting: Adhesive Rubber Feet and Removable L-Brackets for Attachment to Most Surfaces Provided
• Construction: 0.040″ Aluminum w/ Durable Powder Coated Finish
• Dimensions: 12.50″ [318] W x 2.75″ [70] H x 8.75″ [222] D
• Weight: 2 lb [0.91 kg]

Up next, the unboxing…

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Project OSIDIAS video walkthrough from Craig Brugger on Vimeo.

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zAAm didn’t step into this project without a little prior proper planning. What you see here is a Solidworks representation of the cube before a single cut is made. All the hardware placements were planned out in advance. This allowed him to maximize the available space, and make the cube as compact as possible.

Once parts and materials were ordered, zAAm starting making a few cuts…

Not content with just a completely custom case, zAAm decided to build custom controllers for the lighting. This allowed him to use a combination of purple and red LED’s to make the pink needed for the cube.

With the electronics figured out, a test fit of all the cases parts was needed.

After a successful fitting of the exterior pieces, zAAm turned his attention the hardware inside. As you can see, everything is nice and compact.

After all the work that has been done so far, here is where it pays off. The finished cube! You can also see the finished mod next to it’s inspiration. I don’t think he could have done any better!

Read the full project log in the forums!

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So why the rambling intro? Well, I’ve got another idea. This one is slightly more costly, slightly more unique, and way more insane. In fact, this sort of thing wouldn’t even have been very economically feasible even a year or two ago. What sort of thing am I referring to? UMPC’s… Yes, why stop at 2 systems in a single machine, when you can have 3. Do I have your attention now?

Here’s what I’m thinking… As OSIDIAS stands right now, I’ve already got a 7″ touchscreen on the front. This screen was to act as the control interface for the pico-itx system, which in turn monitors and controls almost every aspect of the main system. If I replace that touchscreen with a UMPC linked via a wireless connection to the pico, I can retain the same functionality through software. The biggest advantage then, is the ability to remove the UMPC and control the system remotely. On top of that, I’ve got still got all the original functions of the UMPC itself. Overkill? Nah, there’s no such thing! So, stay tuned for updates as the plan gets revised and implemented. Insanity has reached a new level…

I suppose you want to see the UMPC I plan on using, huh?

Viliv X70EX

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His case is a complete scratch build made from aluminum and MDF. However, that alone isn’t enough to set this case apart. The material elGafas chose to cover the case is… imitation leather!

Here is a picture of the case frame.

The unique case covering isn’t the only thing that makes this project unique. elGafas has really paid attention to the small details. This ultra clean wiring is another example.

Just when you think it couldn’t get any better, there’s another great touch. A custom waterblock! He fabbed this from scratch, and did a great job in the process. Here it is sitting next to the stock heatsink for comparison.

Finally, here is a peek at the case assembled. You can clearly see the attention to detail put into this project.

After all this work, elGafas still considers this a beta version of the case. There are more additions and changes to come. So, to see the full worklog in detail, as well as his future plans, hop in to the forums and take a look!

View the full worklog in the forums

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So, I marked out the pattern I needed in a piece of aluminum, and I was ready to cut.

A little quick Dremel work, and then some time on the metal brake resulted in this…

A quick test fit indicated I could move on to the next step. It fit exactly as it should.

Next I had to mark out the switch locations.

Once drilled and Dremeled, I was left with dropping the switch and an USB port in place. Like a glove!

With a high strength epoxy applied, the bracket was clamped in place.

One day later, and the epoxy was cured. The clamps were removed, and believe me when I say, that bracket won’t be coming off anytime soon… okay, ever…

So, what’s next at this point? Well, good question. All major pieces are now in place. I’ve got no real fabrication left. Hutch and I are still contemplating a good reservoir idea, but other than that, it’s all down to details now. I’ve got wire sleeving to do, as well as hose routing. Also, who could forget the paint? Colors aren’t definite, but the interior will be black, while the outside will be a complementing color. Sure, we’ll also likely slip in some other small details here and there, but this is really the bulk of it. Of course I’ll continue to post as work progresses, but for now, we’ve got the clean and solid foundation we were looking for. There’s no bling, or extraneous fluff here. So, for anyone expecting Project: Rogue type insanity, stick around for the official start of OSIDIAS soon!

Discuss in the forums!

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With all the newly found glow, I needed a way to tone things down a bit, so I put in a dimmer switch.

Since the lighting was taken care of, it was time to get back to finishing the center shroud. The first task at hand was to modify the OEM hard drive mounts. There isn’t room in the case to use the mounts as they were. While they could originally hold two drives apiece, I only needed them to hold one. So, they were marked for a date with the Dremel.

After they were cut and sanded…

I thought now as a good time for a test fit.

With the left side looking good, I thought I should check things out on the right side as well. First I need to get the fans mounted to the side radiator.

Now I drop the radiator on it’s mount, and put it in place. All looks well!

Almost there! I just need to find a way to secure the side hard drive mounts in place. These bolts will do nicely…

Done!

Up next is the switch plate, stay tuned!

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||H4VOK|| set out to create a SFF mod with the maximum allowable cooling potential for a case it size. He’s managed to find room for a pair of 120.2 radiators, and even garnered a Danger Den sponsorship in the progress. Although this mod is still in the early stages, the work done so far shows his commitment to execution, and I can’t wait to see how this progresses.

Here is a picture of the side radiator and some hardware in place.

Here is where the second radiator is going to be placed.

With an inspirational nod to the Voodoo Omen chassis, ||H4VOK|| designed the following for the case front. Note the innovative use of a slot load drive.

Read the full worklog in the forums!

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With the completion of the first two hard drive mounts, it was time to move on to the second pair. In order to mount them, I needed to have something to mount them to… This came in the form of a new shroud for the center of the case. This shroud will cover all components there, and provide for a streamlined look.

Here I’ve got the panel marked out and ready to cut.

The panel all cut…

After cutting, it was time to bring out my trusty brake. It hasn’t really had a good workout since the completion of the Rogue. That’s about to change though…

Now, before I can give the shroud a test mount, I’ve got to get these studs gone.

Let’s see how it fits…

Like a glove!

Okay, now that we know it fits, I need to get the holes cut for the hard drive mounts. I’ll be modifying and reusing the original mounts. Their modification is soon to come, but it won’t change the way that they mount. I’ll be duplicating PCDL’s original method, as it’s so simple and elegant.

Here I’ve got the holes marked out.

The first two holes cut…

One down, one to go!

The second one is done!

Now all the drives have a home. I just need to add new mounting studs like the ones I cut off earlier. A also have some other detail work to finish up on the shroud, and that will be in the next update.

Before I wrap up this post, I’ve got one more additional thing to show you. For anyone that may have clicked on the ‘Losias Live’ tab on my site, you’ll see that I’m working on doing some live modding broadcasts. I’ve done a few test runs, and came to the conclusion early on that the picture was a little dark. As of today, I took care of that little issue. Needless to say my worktable is no longer dark…

Discuss in the forums!

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