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I finished up my first prototype for an aluminum case and have done pricing analysis for both a stackable and a non-stackable version.  

These are the pictures of the prototype, but there will be a few slight changes as I made it just a little bit too tall.  They will be predrilled for Motherboard, PSU, and GPU mounting.  Both version will support up to 6 GPUs.

Dimensions for the unstackable version: 24x10x8
Dimensions for the stackable version: 24x10x8

Pricing is not set in stone, but will likely be $169 for the nonstackable, and $199 for the stackable.
(edited:  I miscalculated the cost of the aluminum company precutting the aluminum.  I may reduce costs by building a proper workshop and doing it myself.)

I'm in talks with the aluminum company about reducing the costs by getting a discount on a large order.  Not really looking to sell this as a pre-order, but if there is a large enough interest then I might change my mind on that to reduce costs further and hopefully lower the price.  The pictures below are just for the non-stackable prototype.  

These will be ready to ship within 7-10 days.  Have the aluminum for 1-2 units right now, with another order on the way.  

Out of aluminum.  Waiting for a large shipment this week.  Going to put up a site to take custom orders and post some more detailed pictures.

https://i.imgur.com/oJebIxz.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xgvKX84.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/vFWxJji.jpg

Looks great.  Seems to be a bit taller than others i've seen.  Maybe an issue for those with smaller 6-10 inch risers

Already addressed that in the OP.

I'll be building the stackable prototype tomorrow and it will be 4-6" shorter, but will have pegs on the bottom to stack with.  I'll probably not be lazy and use the drill press to pre-drill the holes, so that I can switch my current wooden behemoth into it for a photoshoot.

The weather sucked today so I did a quick job on this unstackable prototype.  I'll be ordering samples for the designs this week after I go over the specifications and prepare the parts for labeling and packaging.  Shipping should be pretty affordable as they don't weigh too much.  I also need to build a few more rigs so that i can test the stability of them when they are stacked so I can come up with a recommendation for how high they can go.

The final dimensions will be more specific and they will have well detailed pictures.

Will not have a chance to finish the stackable prototype until tomorrow but I did want to give an update that I will be changing the base of it so the motherboard will fit in the middle and there will be room for two PSUs (one on each side of the mobo)

Unfortunately the angled tubing is unavailable anywhere that I can find in the anodized black, so it will be just a silver rail that supports the PSUs so they stay firmly in place. 

I was also contacted by a forum member about a custom case for the vertical mounting of video cards with the USB risers.  Once I finish that design then I will post that as another option.  Currently, I am looking to offer 4 models - both unstackable and stackable solutions in clear anodized aluminum and black aluminum.  Once I perfect the vertical design then t hat will be offered in both flavors of aluminum as well.  The clear is slightly cheaper than the black.

Over the next weeks we will be working on a rack-mountable solution.  My dad is an IT guy and is hoping to secure a data rack that we can use for building the prototype.

If anyone has any questions or would like to submit their ideas for a custom solution, feel free to post here or send me a PM.

Look forward to helping you with your custom case solutions and should be getting my own designs into production in the next couple of weeks.   I will likely have one or two units for sale by Monday. 

Interested.

Designed my first vertical rig today for a custom order.  Had a lot of fun, but not sure exactly how to mass produce them as the height of the GPUs varies between cards so the support bar would need to be adjustable and all GPUs would need to be identical for them to be secure.  It was fun to make though.  Might try and come up with an adjustable support bar with 6 different sections so that it could be made universal but the costs would probably make that more of a "fun" project instead of a viable product.

Finished most of the cost analysis and came up with a solution for the PSU mount.  Unfortunately I can't find the angular aluminum in the anodized black, but I think it still looks pretty good.  Hopefully will have a chance to take some better quality pictures and post them this weekend.

The website is almost up and running, but I am waiting on my shipment of various cables from China before I launch it.  In the meantime I will be taking and filling orders for cases.


PM sent.

I'm really interested as well, and am looking forward to your website. I'm currently waiting for delivery of a similar product, so I think I'd prefer to wait for you to get an established distribution model in place.  But I think if you can get the design set, and the cost a bit lower (Does the prices listed include shipping?)  I know a few people who would be interested including myself.

Interested.
4-6 GPU

One suggestion/idea: the rear GPU supporting bar may be too far back for some shorter cards. Is it possible to have the support bar placed about an inch from the end of the PCI-e connector? That would provide universal support, regardless of the GPU card length...

I used a 5850 to measure the size and figured it was shorter than most of the newer cards. 

I also wanted to make the design a little bit different, but decided that the cost was not worth it.  However, I do make custom designs, so if someone has shorter cards and needs a case, it would be no issue at all.  Once I finish the stackable prototype this weekend, then I will have exact dimensions on how short the card will have to be for it to not work.

I am also looking into make the support bar adjustable.

I am working on getting the cost down as low as possible.  Shipping is not currently included in the price, but that price list is also not concrete yet.  Additionally, I am going to offer the clear aluminum as a cheaper alternative as the metal is about $0.60 less a foot for clear versus the anodized black. 

Nice and clean. 

Cheers!

If I might make a suggestion.  Put the MB posts in the middle of the rack and room for one PSU on each side of the MB.  If you look in your pic it would be hard to get the PCIE connections all the way across the rig to the GPUs on the opposing side.  With a 6 GPU build we are obviously going to use 2 PSU so with one on each side, it allows for greater access to get the rig powered up.  Other than that it looks clean.  A lot of us use the 1m USB risers so I like the distance you've put between the MB and the GPU's.  Allows for multi-angles of fans to keep the underneath and the top of the cards cool with properly placed Box/Stand fans.  I could see myself switching my rigs to these if the price was a little lower, and the design was tweaked just a bit as stated above.

Just my 2BTC

Way too expensive.

See here: https://openrigs.com/vitalia-standalone-gpu-frame

Ordered from them on 11/29/2013

Still have not received my order.

God luck!

Yeah, good luck with openrigs shipping...

BTW, if I were to order an open frame today from an US vendor, I'd be willing to pay US$129 for a 4-6GPU rig, including shipping to Canada, so roughly $99 for the frame itself.

I might be able to do that for you today.  Just depends on if you need 2 PSUs or 1... I was building a 1 PSU/5 GPU case for myself, but I am in no rush to get it done as I currently have it all in a wooden rig that I built.

About to go recreate the new base that I designed last week when I made a vertical mount for someone.  Here is a picture of what that looks like and this will be the new base for all of my future cases.  It supports 2 PSUs and is roughly 24x10 in size:

https://i.imgur.com/tqDzK5p.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2hlczEM.jpg

It's a toss up between supporting a little guy, using primochill's pre-made for $129 which is an EXCELLENT quality product, and making my own.

Materials cost around $44 shipped for what I want to build.

What are you wanting to build?  Seems really cheap!  I'd love to be able to get my costs that low...

PM sent

I'd be happy to share my materials supplier with you, but you'll have to ditch the fancy black anodized aluminum :)

cwiz

How much would it cost for a 4 GPU 1 PSU 1 Mobo stackable?

PM sent.

Out of aluminum for a few days.  In the meantime I am going to focus on assembly instructions for the base model.

I love the custom orders, though, they are a lot of fun! :)

Quick update on price:

I am not entirely done with cost analysis, still needing to consider packaging and how to redo the pricing to a model that has add-ons to lower the base price.  The total price right now for a stackable 4-8GPU, 2PSU model, with pre-drilled ATX specification holes for the Mobo, 2 PSU support brackets, HD mount, and pre-drilled holes for GPU front mounts is going to likely be $199.

Of course, all of those features are optional.  You can throw down a piece of cardboard and forgo the mobo standoff altogether, and the PSUs can just rest inside of the case without any brackets - they fit nicely between the motherboard support tubing.  Twist or zip-ties can be used instead of the GPU screws, and SSD's or thumb drives can be used instead of needing an HD mounting bracket.

Right now I am working out a solution with the add-ons so that I can get the base price closer to $100 and then you can add-on whatever you want. 

Aluminum order update:

The aluminum supplier is currently out of the black tubing, so I am only going to have silver tubing and black connectors in stock hopefully by the weekend.

In the future I think I might get some custom colored connectors so that you can pick your own color combo.  I plan to have both silver and black tubing and probably three or four colors of the connectors. 

Let me know if anyone would be interested in certain colors of connectors.  Maybe silver tubing with Bitcoin orange connectors? :)

Custom colors would be cool, but I think I'd just stick with a plain look, since it's just going to be stored away anyway.

Any future plans on having a 20" box fan mount for the back of the rig or something? Or like add-on parts for that? If not a box fan, what about 120mm, 140mm, or 200mm computer case fan mounting points?

Man, I was just discussing this with my dad yesterday and he said no one would want that.  About to text him a screen shot of this... but yes!  I plan on adding a box-fan mount as I think that is the best heat dissipation solution outside of an actual data-center cooling system. 

We are needing to get the next order of aluminum before finalizing everything.  The custom orders were great, and we will definitely enjoy working on them, but I'm reserving some of the aluminum for personal use so we can tinker our designs and finally get some quality pictures up.  I am also working on turning sketches into assembly instructions.

After I get the aluminum I will be working on making 5-10 stackable base units so I can conduct some tests on their umm... "stackability".  I will not sell any stackable units until I am sure they stack well and have a recommended stack limit.

Welp!  Looks like the aluminum won't get here until Monday.

Going to be a relaxing weekend for me then... :D

I'd be interested but $200 is not on my list...

Understandable.  I'm working on bringing the costs down to where $200 has all the bells and whistles but $100-140 is still a really solid design that most people will have no problem using.

Edit:  also thinking about doing pre-orders to see if I can reach the order threshold for a 10-30% discount from the aluminum supplier.

id be interested in a stackable one that can support 2 psus in the $140 range

how many do you need in preorders to get that discount? any ballpark? maybe get a group buy going here?

i'd be interested in stackable units that can support 2 PSU's and then a box fan if possible. the box fan mount isn't necessary but would be a nice touch for sure! how far apart are the GPU's mounted?

also, have you looked into creating the rig in a way that the cards are oriented in a vertical way to blow the air up out of the vents? i built my own angled aluminum rig this way(i did a very poor job LOL) and to me it seems like it would be just a tad more efficient in terms of dissipating the heat. just a thought...

I will be doing the anlaysis on that this weekend as well as coming up with some basic diagrams for assembly instructions, but likely they will be 30 units for a 10% discount, 60 units for a 20% discount, and 150 units for a 30% discount.


The current design is for allowing a minimum of 1" of space between GPUs and that is if you are using 8 cards.  Most GPUs are less than 2" wide, so the 24" base allows for 1" in between cards which, coupled with a box fan is sufficient head dissipation.

As of now the add-ons are going to be:
Stackable
PSU supports (one or two)
HDD/SDD bracket
pre-drilled ATX mobo holes
- plastic standoffs, if needed
- brass standoffs, if needed
pre-drilled GPU front screw holes
- screws, if needed
Box fan mount


I have custom-built a vertical rig, but have concerns about a mass-produced model as the size of the video cards must be identical or I don't feel the supports are substantial enough so all cards in a unit must be the same height or I must make the support bar seperated into adjustable parts which I don't find cost effective:

Edit:  In this picture, I simulated the size of the customers card with a block of wood that I cut down.  It is clamped onto the support because it was requested that I do not drill the GPU holes, so I had nothing to screw my Radeon 5850 Wood Edition into.

https://i.imgur.com/tqDzK5p.jpg

Hi Damnsammit,

Very interesting design! I like it.  I just had a little suggestion for you.  If you make one with a box fan mount also make a space to mount a furnace filter between the fan and the video cards.  Then you can just slide in furnace filters to keep the dust down!  There are lots of different size filters so you should be able to find one that fits nicely.  Then your miners will double as air filters.  I'll keep an eye out on this I may be interested in buying 2-4 of them when you get it all figured out.  My normal cases with cards hanging out all over the place are a bit of a problem... lol  I currently have a normal case laying on it's side open with a strip of cork flooring laying across it that the video cards rest on and a tower air-filter laying on it's side blowing air across the cards.  It works...  but is really a pain if I need to move anything.  The other case has a card hanging from the side opening with zip ties.   the risers I bought from you are working great though!


Korxax,


1NtV1q29FtRAYAkMJHMYbASZLiLur2FQe

Hahahah!  Oh man, some of the things that we do as miners to get our cards running.  I remember when I had a regular case that I opened up and had the cards rised using some old notebooks.  I should have taken a picture of that lol

Well I am just about done with all of the analysis, and am finishing up making about 5 units right now.  Likely going to be getting a very large shipment of aluminum next, and the price should be knocked down pretty low due to the bulk discount.  Hopefully in the $100-120 range.  PSU and HD supports will still be extra though. 

Base unit will include predrilled (and tapped) mobo standoff holes and GPU holes and will be stackable.  I scrapped the design for non-stackable as it doesn't really cost much extra to make it stackable and I like the feet on it.  Going to take some more pictures today, with them stacked up. 

Should be ready to take orders very soon.  Just got to finalize the pricing, and then update all of the info on the website, and get this damn shipping situation (with the shopping cart software) under control, then it will be good to go.

Alright back to work... I will post some pictures tonight.

Update: February 25th, 2014

Alright, I have finished mapping everything out.  Got the designs set in stone and took pictures of the stackable unit.  Also will post a picture of a custom rig I made for a local customer today.

Stackable unit dimensions:
Outside dimensions 25.5" x 9.5" x 15.5"
Inside dimensions 24" x 8" x 11"

There are going to be two main "types" of stackable units, basically.  One is going to be the base that has the end-caps on it, the other will be the top unit which has the caps on the top so you don't have anything sticking out.  In the middle there will just be the base units with no end-caps.

Alright, with that being said, I am likely going to start taking preorders within the next few days.  I am in discussion with a business partner and we are going to order a lot of aluminum to get a bulk discount and get the pricing down, so that leads me to pricing!

The base price will be $109 per unit.  This will include pre-drilled (and tapped) holes for the motherboard and the GPUs. 

Add-ons will be available but I have not set the price on them yet.  These add-ons will include PSU support bars (see picture below), HD support bar (no picture yet), and brass or plastic mobo standoffs.  There has been interest in a box fan mounting bracket, so I will likely be buying a box-fan tomorrow so that I can make an add-on for that as well.

I do not have the price of shipping but these will be coming from Dallas, TX (zip code 76017) if you want to calculate it.

I will be starting a new thread and closing this one when I start taking pre-orders.  I am still working on designing the assembly instructions, but will be taking pictures and probably video tomorrow to throw up on the website (launching soon!) for the time being.  Eventually I will have a printed instruction page to include with the packaging.

Any questions, feel free to ask! 

Here are the picures:


Base unit - has end caps on the feet for a cleaner look

https://i.imgur.com/jC12wUM.jpg

Closer look at the feet
https://i.imgur.com/Iv9rzcV.jpg

Shows the stacking connectors
https://i.imgur.com/WsZ4p9M.jpg



Top unit - has no stacking connectors on top
https://i.imgur.com/lTvz9Vd.jpg


The units stacked
https://i.imgur.com/D3yULne.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/b74E1au.jpg


Custom design for a local customer.  This sucker is big.  Lots of space between cards on this puppy!  Notice the PSU support rails on this rig.  Those will be the exact same design for the add-on, I just ran out of the angled tubing and didn't feel like running up to Home Depot.  I will be stacking it up to 4 or 5 units high tomorrow and take some more pictures.

https://i.imgur.com/L2hNkzS.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zNFwVE5.jpg

In stock and ready to ship!  Taking Pre-Orders now.  Please see the new thread here:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=494982.msg5453031#msg5453031