I agree it does look a bit tame. I’m not sure if that’s inherent to the shape or due to the fact that this is a first draft. I do plan on creating a surface that’s a bit more sculptural. Some of the details like indication lights, buttons will add some depth as well. The black on black on black theme might be a bit too slick…
This case is designed around an ITX motherboard. The dimensions and overall layout of the components is actually quite similar to the Silverstone SG13 case. Just that it’s flipped with the IO at the bottom.
As it’s quite similar to that case, I don’t think thermals will be an issue. I do plan on modeling the air flow and thermal behavior of the case as I move along. The top plate is for ventilation and will feature a 120 or 140mm fan right behind it. The issue with small cases getting hot is not inherent to size but is rather that a lot of them have a hard time cycling all the air in the case and end up with hot spots. This case will act as a bit of a duct and chimney. All of the air that gets cycled in the case will need to start from the outside, run passed the components and be exhausted up top.
Cable routing will no doubt be an issue in this small case as with most small cases. The cables for most components are designed for much larger computers so a lot of loose needs to be tied together - short of getting custom cable runs. Though now that you mention it, I’m curious to see if I could use the pipes as a clean way to route some of the cables. Hopefully, working on this machine and closing it will be a refreshingly easy. While building you’ll only have a very simple and adjustable frame and then you just slide the cover over top. I’m looking at ways to latch the plastic shell to the pipes right now. A sturdy but tool-less design would be really neat.