Mini-ITX Mac Pro like case

It looks beautiful but... The cooling options would be pretty poor, for both the CPU and GPU.

The trouble with PCs is that everything is square/rectangular so unless you can completely customise the entire thing (board etc), like the Mac Pro, a cylindrical case going to be pretty limited.
 
It has a custom IO with no HDMI 2.0 or DP. Kind of a deal breaker for lots of people, I'd imagine.
 
Being able to use PCIe bifurcation for GPUs will be quite the challenge, since only the Radeon Nano is short enough and can be fitted with a single-slot bracket. But there is no room for the watercooling. Maybe some limited workstation cards might work.

I have pledged this a while ago, until recently a lot of questions were unanswered (and many still are), while he hasn't been actively promoting it in most places that people would be interested in. Since it was featured on MacRumors, it has taken off at a much more reassuring tempo.

Personally I don't see this case as a gateway to do what the MacPro did, although getting an Asrock X99E-ITX/ac goes a long way. But Apple's custom work on basically everything, using very specifically developed PCBs and connectors, means that off-the-shelf is not going to be able to get the same performance per liter unless Apple doesn't update the hardware. Still, this is a nice workstation or desktop case if you consider the limitations.
 
There indeed has been a cheaper Chinese-made (I believe) MacPro look-a-like made much earlier, although it doesn't come close to the fit and finish that is being promised by the DuneCase.

About being not perfect: there is no one perfect case possible, that would imply everyone's needs would be exactly the same. What would make it perfect in your opinion ?
I for instance don't need dual-GPU and mITX can offer plenty for me. I also don't need HDMI 2.0 because if I go with 4K, I'd rather use DisplayPort.
So for me personally this case already offers more than enough for it's intended use case.
 
Except for not having DisplayPort either :D

Edit: As there now is DisplayPort supported and therefore proper 4K support, this case is very nice :)
 
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While it doesn't say it on the Kickstarter page, people have been asking him on other forums like smallformfactor.net about it and he commented that 2x HDMI or 2x DP are going to be an option.
 
Seems like an okay Mac Pro case knock-off to me, like other cases to can get. No more, no less, meh.
 
I have been planning a build around the Osmi case for a while now (…just waiting on sufficient funds for the build & accoutrements…), have been lamenting the 'extra' space in that chassis (I was not planning on using any drives excepting a 950 Pro NVMe M.2 SSD), and now I see the Dune Case…

(…run on sentence much…?)

I am intrigued, as my build, whether it be Osmi or Dune Case, would be a Hackintosh.

So you can see the allure; do I go Post Modern Mac Cube, or with the (slightly) larger than life Mac Pro 'clone'…?!?

At this point, I would really lean towards the Dune Case, mainly because of that custom I/O panel; REALLY speaks to my OCD…!

But if it does not come to fruition (pun TOTALLY intended), I will revert to the originally planned Osmi…

That is all…

;^p
 
Hi,

For information, the osmi case went from £115 to £170, or 220€, or 240$ ... :-(
I'd planned to buy it, but now it's too expensive ...
 
Ooops said:
Hi,

For information, the osmi case went from £115 to £170, or 220€, or 240$ ... :-(
I'd planned to buy it, but now it's too expensive ...
Click to expand...

240 bucks is a bit much, now I am really hoping the Dune Case makes it to market, and turns out to be a decent product.

But if it does not, I guess I will be stuck buying an overpriced chassis for the sake of style in making a Hackintosh…!
 
Boil said:
240 bucks is a bit much, now I am really hoping the Dune Case makes it to market, and turns out to be a decent product.

But if it does not, I guess I will be stuck buying an overpriced chassis for the sake of style in making a Hackintosh…!
Click to expand...


Apple Case Look alike

$175 shipped is a pretty good deal to me, seems like a waste of internal space to me but hey ascetics is key here.
 
fx9 said:
Apple Case Look alike

$175 shipped is a pretty good deal to me, seems like a waste of internal space to me but hey ascetics is key here.
Click to expand...

That one is not as ascetically pleasing as the Dune Case, there does not appear to be an 'outer sleeve' as on the actual Mac Pro & the Dune Case…
 
Boil said:
That one is not as ascetically pleasing as the Dune Case, there does not appear to be an 'outer sleeve' as on the actual Mac Pro & the Dune Case…
Click to expand...

they need to use a pcie riser cable to mount the graphics card parallel to the motherboard, allowing full height cards. I'd buy one if that were the case. (no pun intended)
 
I have not backed it yet. I dunno about the temps and noise. It's also obviously bigger than the Mac Pro.

They upgraded to HDMI 2.0 and DP1.2 in the updates.
 
CHANG3D said:
I have not backed it yet. I dunno about the temps and noise. It's also obviously bigger than the Mac Pro.

They upgraded to HDMI 2.0 and DP1.2 in the updates.
Click to expand...

8.52mm increase in height & 47.36mm increase in diameter…

So, just a bit taller & a good bit fatter…

But for a Hackintosh build, seems like a no-brainer…

Let's just hope it makes it to market & the thermals are good…!
 
Phuncz said:
Being able to use PCIe bifurcation for GPUs will be quite the challenge, since only the Radeon Nano is short enough and can be fitted with a single-slot bracket. But there is no room for the watercooling. Maybe some limited workstation cards might work.

I have pledged this a while ago, until recently a lot of questions were unanswered (and many still are), while he hasn't been actively promoting it in most places that people would be interested in. Since it was featured on MacRumors, it has taken off at a much more reassuring tempo.

Personally I don't see this case as a gateway to do what the MacPro did, although getting an Asrock X99E-ITX/ac goes a long way. But Apple's custom work on basically everything, using very specifically developed PCBs and connectors, means that off-the-shelf is not going to be able to get the same performance per liter unless Apple doesn't update the hardware. Still, this is a nice workstation or desktop case if you consider the limitations.
Click to expand...

Hey Phuncz .. I am sorry if we didn't get back to you. This is Alexander Gomez the founder of Dune Case. If you have some unanswered questions im here to answer them and want to give you my assurance that this will be a quality product. Yes the Dune case is limited to Mini ITX and to my knowledge the R9 Nano or 970gtx mini itx will fit in this case. There is no room in this for watercooling as it is only 9.7lt. I am sorry If you feel like im not promoting this properly. I am not a big team and need all the help I can get to get this out there. Do you have any suggestions where to promote this? Anyway bro .. thanks for you support and look forward to your comments .. Alex
 
Boil said:
I have been planning a build around the Osmi case for a while now (…just waiting on sufficient funds for the build & accoutrements…), have been lamenting the 'extra' space in that chassis (I was not planning on using any drives excepting a 950 Pro NVMe M.2 SSD), and now I see the Dune Case…

(…run on sentence much…?)

I am intrigued, as my build, whether it be Osmi or Dune Case, would be a Hackintosh.

So you can see the allure; do I go Post Modern Mac Cube, or with the (slightly) larger than life Mac Pro 'clone'…?!?

At this point, I would really lean towards the Dune Case, mainly because of that custom I/O panel; REALLY speaks to my OCD…!

But if it does not come to fruition (pun TOTALLY intended), I will revert to the originally planned Osmi…

That is all…

;^p
Click to expand...

Hey there Boil .. I do believe in the Dune Case and there has been so much interest. This only validates that the custom builder are looking for a high end, high quality build PC case. There is life after kickstarter and I assure that Dune Case will still move forward to create a case that is built with quality. Thanks for you support so far and please let me know if i can answer any questions...

Alex
 
mnewxcv said:
they need to use a pcie riser cable to mount the graphics card parallel to the motherboard, allowing full height cards. I'd buy one if that were the case. (no pun intended)
Click to expand...

Hi there .. The Dune case comes with a custom PCIe riser cable that goes routes to the mobo .. I hope you can support us :)
 
CHANG3D said:
I have not backed it yet. I dunno about the temps and noise. It's also obviously bigger than the Mac Pro.

They upgraded to HDMI 2.0 and DP1.2 in the updates.
Click to expand...

Hi there Chang3D .. The Dune case temps are very good. the dune case has been designed for optimal air flow. We simulated this in CAD to identify heat spots and redesign the prototype until we got good temps. Using Prime95 on CPU at 100% stress we got 57-59 degrees and Furmark on GPU was 65. It is actually very quiet and keep in mind it has a big 140 mm fan directly on top to help with the airflow. If you look at the design there is nothing in between the CPU and GPU like in a normal case. The cables are hidden and kept in the center behind the GPU door mount. This keeps the air flowing and uninterrupted. I hope that helps .. Its also not big and the volume is 9.7 lt.. I hope that helps..
 
Boil said:
8.52mm increase in height & 47.36mm increase in diameter…

So, just a bit taller & a good bit fatter…

But for a Hackintosh build, seems like a no-brainer…

Let's just hope it makes it to market & the thermals are good…!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comments mate ..

Here are some images to give you a better idea;

psu-unveil-1.png
 
alexandercgomez said:
Hey Phuncz .. I am sorry if we didn't get back to you. This is Alexander Gomez the founder of Dune Case. If you have some unanswered questions im here to answer them and want to give you my assurance that this will be a quality product.
...
I am sorry If you feel like im not promoting this properly. I am not a big team and need all the help I can get to get this out there. Do you have any suggestions where to promote this?
Click to expand...
You started a topic over on smallformfactor.net but you've been absent for a while. I've taken the liberty of posting some of your project updates over there. It's a forum and website dedicated to SFF and mITX cases like this with a passion for crowdsourced cases. You should certainly reach out to tech sites like HardOCP over here (on the site, not just forum), linustechtips.com, reddit.com/r/sffpc/, uncrate.com and especially the Hackintosh crowd over on tonymacx86.com and insanelymac.com.

I understand you are only two guys, but during this crucial time, like campaigning, the extra mile gets you there. In the end if you have achieved enough momentum, it will snowball anyway.

alexandercgomez said:
Yes the Dune case is limited to Mini ITX and to my knowledge the R9 Nano or 970gtx mini itx will fit in this case. There is no room in this for watercooling as it is only 9.7lt. Anyway bro .. thanks for you support and look forward to your comments .. Alex
Click to expand...
I personally think this is plenty, the Radeon Nano is still a 28nm GPU and with the 14nm GPUs promising much better performance or much better power consumption (or both!) this is only going to become less of a restriction. Watercooling is overrated for SFF cases, in the end it's still a heatsink/radiator with a fan or two needing to dissipate the heat. But with watercooling you need to place a pump, reservoir (debatable) and tubing to take into account.

alexandercgomez said:
We now support HDMI 2.0 and DP 1.2 :)
Click to expand...
Awesome news ! 4K support is important for 2016 and beyond.
 
Phuncz said:
You started a topic over on smallformfactor.net but you've been absent for a while. I've taken the liberty of posting some of your project updates over there. It's a forum and website dedicated to SFF and mITX cases like this with a passion for crowdsourced cases. You should certainly reach out to tech sites like HardOCP over here (on the site, not just forum), linustechtips.com, reddit.com/r/sffpc/, uncrate.com and especially the Hackintosh crowd over on tonymacx86.com and insanelymac.com.

I understand you are only two guys, but during this crucial time, like campaigning, the extra mile gets you there. In the end if you have achieved enough momentum, it will snowball anyway.


I personally think this is plenty, the Radeon Nano is still a 28nm GPU and with the 14nm GPUs promising much better performance or much better power consumption (or both!) this is only going to become less of a restriction. Watercooling is overrated for SFF cases, in the end it's still a heatsink/radiator with a fan or two needing to dissipate the heat. But with watercooling you need to place a pump, reservoir (debatable) and tubing to take into account.


Awesome news ! 4K support is important for 2016 and beyond.
Click to expand...

Thanks buddy for the tip .. There are so many unknowns in doing these campaigns and I appreciate the support and leads on where to go .. I'll be in contact with those site :) thanks for the tip ... If anyone has any other tips on how to get this out there or recommendation please let me know .. i could use a hand .. and once again Phuncz many thanks,...
 
alexandercgomez said:
Hey there Boil .. I do believe in the Dune Case and there has been so much interest. This only validates that the custom builder are looking for a high end, high quality build PC case. There is life after kickstarter and I assure that Dune Case will still move forward to create a case that is built with quality. Thanks for you support so far and please let me know if i can answer any questions...

Alex
Click to expand...

I would REALLY like to see a build-up with this chassis, the pics on the website & Kickstarter do not clearly show where everything goes & how it all fits together. They are also a bit dark.

A full build-up, from bare chassis to completed build would be awesome to look at. Clear/bright pics would be great, but a clear & well-lit video would be even better.

This would go a long way towards showing potential backers/buyers exactly how the Dune Case actually worked & how it all comes together.

Also, I would use the Cryorig C7 CPU heatsink/fan, rather than the stock Intel junker…

Thanks!
 
Send a unit to linustechtips & another to hardwarecanucks, that should get you some exposure. Both parties like small form factor chassis' and do good video reviews of same…
 
Hi Boil .. I would love to do that ASAP but my time is limited for the campaign .. what I can do is explain briefly how its all put together ... and how it works

frontpanel.png


This is the front panel. The display connectors is 2 x HDMI 2.0 or Display Port 1.2 This is all connected to a custom pcb and at the bottm of the PCB it has connectors that go into the PSU bracket

caselayout.png


Here we show exactly how the cables are piped into the PSU bracket. You can also see that the PSU bracket splits the airflow into 2 sections. GPU and CPU. The cables are then channeled to the mid section of the case.

cable-management.png


As you can see on from the PSU bracket the cables are piped in the mid section of the case. The mid section has the PCIe riser, HDD mounts, PSU cables that feed to the motherboard, front panel cables for mb, and cables for GPU. This section is closed off with a door that is also a GPU mount.

Anyway guys you are the first to see these drawings and I hope it has answered some of the questions you were looking for answers too.. please let me know if you have any more questions as I am happy to answer them .. thanks,

Alexander Gomez
 
Cool, reminds me of that new MSI Trashcan that they showed off at CES, just with more customizability.
 
AG - Thank you for the schematics, those help me understand how the pieces fit together a good bit more now!

Note on the second one, check the spelling on the "Cable management" label, missing that second "n".

I would love to see a picture of the front panel cabling that goes to the MB & GPU.

I would also like to see more of the PSU mounting & how the cabling is handled there as well.

I am just imagining the cabling needed and trying to envision how much cabling is going to be stuffed into the center section & the same for the PSU cables. Even the 'short' cables from Silverstone are longer than one would like in a SFF build.

I have seen the statements about thermal temps for CPU & GPU usage. They seem good, but were these separate tests, or run concurrently? I would be using this chassis for internet, gaming & media; so I might have both the CPU & the GPU running hard at times. I would like to get a better idea of temps under full load for all systems, and I am trying to imagine what kind of airflow the perimeter vents give to the chassis. The external vents look good, but the internal vents seem small.

All just constructive criticism & need for further clarification on my part; the Dune Case is still my new "Go To" chassis for a future Hackintosh build!
 
alexandercgomez said:
If anyone has any other tips on how to get this out there or recommendation please let me know
Click to expand...
PC Perspective has been throwing more coverage at crowdfunded SFF cases lately, including the M1, the A4, and the Cerberus. It might be a good idea to speak with them. I think much of the enthusiasm is coming from Sebastian Peak. If you could get some coverage on their site or podcast, that would give you some exposure. They are a respected and visible source.
 
alexandercgomez said:
Hi Boil .. I would love to do that ASAP but my time is limited for the campaign .. what I can do is explain briefly how its all put together ... and how it works

As you can see on from the PSU bracket the cables are piped in the mid section of the case. The mid section has the PCIe riser, HDD mounts, PSU cables that feed to the motherboard, front panel cables for mb, and cables for GPU. This section is closed off with a door that is also a GPU mount.

Anyway guys you are the first to see these drawings and I hope it has answered some of the questions you were looking for answers too.. please let me know if you have any more questions as I am happy to answer them .. thanks,

Alexander Gomez
Click to expand...

I now looked at the pictues for a while and it seems like it would help a lot if I would remove the chassis of the PSU for a build in this case (more airflow). Additionaly, one should probably make custom cables for the build.
Is that correct (have you thought about it already)?
 
Philfreeze said:
I now looked at the pictues for a while and it seems like it would help a lot if I would remove the chassis of the PSU for a build in this case (more airflow). Additionaly, one should probably make custom cables for the build.
Is that correct (have you thought about it already)?
Click to expand...

I would think removing the PSU chassis would introduce excessive EMF issues to the computer, as well as have dangerous amp/voltage/current carrying components unnecessarily exposed, in a dangerous way…

As for the cabling, that is one of the reasons I want to see a build-up video/pics of this chassis; to see exactly how the cabling is handled…
 
Okay, BIG question about this chassis…

Watch the video on Kickstarter, very early on in said video, they show some assembly of the chassis & components (not really a full build like I would like to see, but I will give that time), and I can not help but notice the PCI riser cable that is lying on the table. It definitely looks like one of the cheaper ones, not a high quality fully shielded part like the one from 3M that the Dan A4-SFX is using.

I REALLY hope Dune Case goes with the 3M part for a shipping chassis…

And another thing I have noticed and really wonder (worry) about; the PCI riser looks like it would need to either go thru the cabling chamber (crossing the width of the chassis) to reach the PCIe slot on the MB; OR!, it would have to transverse the same distance by running underneath the MB itself.

This leads me to worry about heat behind the MB, as I plan to use a M.2 form factor/PCIe 3.0 x4/NVMe Samsung 950 Pro for my system drive. I worry that the SSD might have thermal throttling issues if it is sandwiched between the MB & PCI riser cable…

Further testing of a fully built-up chassis, with temp probes placed throughout the unit (CPU, GPU, backside M.2 SSD, 2.5" SSDs, PSU, RAM, PCH, air intakes at all levels & chambers, air output, etc.) and readouts recorded during a thorough testing cycle (individual systems, combinations of systems & all systems running full blast) would really show what temps this chassis can expect and reveal any shortcomings of the same…

Especially since I am building a Hackintosh ; I really, Really, REALLY want this chassis to be a quality build with high quality parts (looking at you, PCI riser cable…!!!) and be capable of high performance usage without any compromises made regarding component selections due to excessive temperatures in restricted airflow areas.

Everything cannot be measured by CPU/GPU temps alone…!
 
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The 3M risers cost around $80, a little too much to expect these to come standard on a $160-180 case. There are other shielded riser cables that work 99,9% as good as the 3M's at a fraction of the price, so it might as well be one of those.
 
Phuncz said:
There are other shielded riser cables that work 99,9% as good as the 3M's at a fraction of the price
Click to expand...

I was looking for a decent riser cable a few weeks ago to move my GPU down in my Ncase M1 (give some clearance between the SX500-LG PSU and GPU). However, after searching I ended up more confused than when I started. The 3M one seems to be the highest quality, but definitely too expensive and too long for what I need.

Do you have some examples/links to other quality shielded riser cables? Do you need a "powered" riser cable? Is there a maximum length?
 
incredadamible said:
I was looking for a decent riser cable a few weeks ago to move my GPU down in my Ncase M1 (give some clearance between the SX500-LG PSU and GPU). However, after searching I ended up more confused than when I started. The 3M one seems to be the highest quality, but definitely too expensive and too long for what I need.

Do you have some examples/links to other quality shielded riser cables? Do you need a "powered" riser cable? Is there a maximum length?
Click to expand...
Look at Li Heat riser cables.
 
Looks like the Kickstarter is stagnating at just under 70k…

I REALLY hope this chassis makes it into regular production…!!!
 
Damn, this makes me regret getting 2 x 500gb ssd and 1 x 2.5" 2tb hdd, any info if you can fit those in the case with maybe using 2.5" stacking plates from ncase?
 
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