Dimitrios Kallivroussis' Stackable 3D-Printable Mini-ITX PC Case Runs "Exceptionally Cool"
Built to house spare hardware to provide a homelab with more compute, this clever case includes an optional status display.
Maker Dimitrios Kallivroussis has released print files for a 3D-printable, stackable mini-ITX PC case along with a Seeed Studio WT32-SC01 Plus smart display for system monitoring — inspired by a desire to reuse parts that were otherwise gathering dust.
"I've always liked small form factor builds. Most small cases however are not very flexible and tend to run hot," Kallivroussis explains. "When I needed more computing power for a recent project, I decided to cobble together whatever parts I had sitting around to build as many systems as possible while buying as little additional hardware as possible. My design was constrained by the size of my printbed (220×220mm), which makes it compatible with many printers. Additionally this 'limitation' resulted in excellent thermals as the exhausts and intakes are placed very close to ventilation openings."
The case is designed for mini-ITX motherboards, supporting CPU coolers of up to 135mm in height — expandable by adding optional risers — and dual-slot graphics cards of up to 200mm in length. Despite having no fan mounts of its own and relying entirely on the CPU and power supply fans, Kallivroussis says it runs "exceptionally cool" thanks to plenty of ventilation.
For those who need multiple systems, the case is designed to be stacked — while a Seeed Studio WT32-SC01 or newer WT32-SC01 Plus all-in-one development board can be magnetically mounted on the front to provide live status reporting on its color display. "As I run quite a few headless systems in my homelab," Kallivroussis explains, "it is convenient to see the status of a machine, as well as its hostname and IP address."
Kallivroussis has already designed a front-panel module that provides easy access to USB ports, and has teased additional modules to come — "an RGB strip [module] [and] a NAS [Network Attached Storage] module with four drive bays," he writes, "as well as additional designs for the top cover and more PSU options and variations: with or without display, with or without air intake at the bottom."
The case print files are available on Printables under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 license, with the housing for the status display available on a separate page under the same license.