Project Sputnik by S.PiC

[SPiC]

Sputnik had its trailing aerial plumage already, which helps with the speedy look, but I wanted to make things more angular, to fit in with the triangular theme that was required to provide some flat surfaces for the components to fit on.

 

[SPiC]

There are no simple rectangular shapes or ninety-degree angles in the design of this case – every angle had to feel more interesting. Even the USB connectors on the front panel are installed asymmetrically and the ventilation holes are triangles of all sorts of different types and sizes

 

    

[SPiC]

I also wanted the project to be installed not only in one horizontal position, but vertically too. The case can sit on any of its three sides, the top/front panel or on its antennae legs. The length of the legs ensures the cables coming from the motherboard’s IO panel and the power supply are not squashed when in this configuration.

 

    

[SPiC]

I designed the front panel to be removable, which comes with a few benefits. For a start, it hides the rivets that were used to join the panels of the case. Secondly, it made installing the LED backlighting easier and thirdly it means I can design a replacement panel. I originally wanted to create a convex panel that would have been a closer match to the spherical shape of the real Sputnik but the bending machine available to me didn’t support this. By making the panel removable, though, I can always return to the project if new equipment becomes available.

 

[SPiC]

After laser cutting, all the parts had to be sanded down and tidied up then several had to be bent into shape too, which I did myself. The panels were then fitted together using rivets. Although these are a permanent fixing, it’s easy enough to drill them out again if I decide to change something.

 

[SPiC]

Cooling is crucial

An important factor in the design of this case was keeping it small. After all, Sputnik itself was very small and creating the triangular, rotationally-symmetrical and long-legged design I was hoping for would have made the case huge, with anything other than mini-ITX hardware inside.

As is ever the case, though, mini-ITX cases can be challenging when it comes to cooling, due to the limited internal air space. And this applied double as there’s no room for any extra case fans in this project. As such, I had to think carefully about where and how to position components.

 

 

 

[SPiC]

The ATX power supply, which was left over from a previous project, was installed across the case, taking cold air from the bottom and pushing hot air out through perforations on the side of the case. The mains power input is then redirected from the back of the PSU to the back of the case.

 

[SPiC]

The motherboard sits behind the PSU, with the graphics card mounted at an angle above it, using a PCI-E extension cable. This left a very limited space for a CPU cooler, which meant a water-cooling system was going to be required. However, I couldn’t use a fancy hard-line loop, and even conventional flexible tubing would have been a risk, as the panel with the radiator has to be removed to gain access to the inside of the case. Instead, an all-in-one liquid cooler was used.

 

[SPiC]

There was enough space inside for a 240mm cooler with two fans that would pull air from the outside of the case and blow it through the radiator and onto the graphics card's backplate, giving it a little additional cooling (the graphics card has two fans of its own that pull cool air through the holes in another side panel and vent it into the case). The extra airflow also helps cool the RAM and VRM area of the motherboard. The large cooler will also allow me to install a more powerful processor in the future. Being able to vertically mount the case also helps with cooling, as the hot air can easily flow up and out the perforations in the top/front of the case.

 

[SPiC]

A little help from some friends

When I was sure that the project was viable, I turned to some sponsors for help. ASRock Taiwan and TeamGroup responded to my request.