Introducing the ST8

The ST8 is a “Slim Tower” case measuring 8 litres in volume, with a desktop footprint of 125mm x 195mm and a height of 325mm. The case is still in its early stages of development but we are hoping to release it before the end of this year.

The Lazer3D ST8 PC Case will support Mini-ITX motherboards, ITX length dual slot Graphics Cards, SFX-L power supplies and up to 102mm of CPU cooler height clearance – or 120/140mm AIO coolers.

The ST8 has a target price of $135 (ex VAT) including the riser cable. This is based on current exchange rates and a UK price of around £135 inc VAT (prices TBC).

DETAILED SPECIFICATION

• Size: 125 x 195 x 325mm
• Volume: 7.9 Litres
• Motherboard: Mini-ITX
• Power Supply: SFX and SFX-L
• GPU: Dual slot up to 182mm in length, extra tall compatible (150mm +)
• Case Cooling: 1x 140mm x 25mm Case Fan above motherboard
• CPU Cooler (without case fan): Up to 102mm in height
• CPU Cooler (with 25mm thick case fan): 72mm in height
• AIO Compatibility: 120mm AIO, may fit some 140mm AIO’s (will require testing)
• Storage: Minimum 1x 2.5″ drive, up to to 5x 2.5″ drives (depending on cooling configuration)

SLIM TOWER BENEFITS

The slim shape is achieved through a slightly different take on the popular sandwich style layout, by placing the GPU and PSU next to the motherboard on top of each other. There are 2 main benefits to this layout:

1. CPU COOLING
The motherboard compartment is given the full height of the case for 102mm of CPU cooler clearance – typical sandwich style layout cases will have anywhere from around 50mm – 70mm of CPU cooler clearance.

Alternatively the extra height can be used to install a 120mm AIO cooler, or even in some cases a 140mm AIO if you can find one that has a combined Radiator/Fan/Pump stacked height of under 102mm.

2. SINGLE SIDED INTAKE
With the GPU facing the same side panel as the CPU compartment it gives you a panoramic view of your whole system through a single windowed and ventilated panel. This also has an added airflow benefit if you would like to place the case horizontal as a HTPC for example, giving both the CPU and GPU unrestricted intake ventilation.

PROTOTYPE

The first draft prototype is complete and went together very well, a few minor tweaks have since been made to the design to improve panel fitments. The front panel aesthetics have also been updated as you can see from the CAD renders above.

You may notice the PSU vents were missed off this prototype, the design has since been updated to include them.

CUSTOMISATION

As with all Lazer3D cases customisation will be a central focus with many options to choose from. We are currently experimenting with layering the panels to give multi surface finish panels such as carbon fibre, concrete or wood textures for example.

Here are some examples of carbon fibre effect applied to the HT5 and LZ7 front panels, the base panel material is smoked gloss. The carbon fibre layer can be cut to reveal patterns for RGB lighting or windowed areas for example:

EXPANSION

We are also looking into a slightly deeper 12 Litre version of this case with the same form factor and layout, but can instead fit GPU’s up to 295mm in length and in theory will be compatible with dual 240mm AIO’s. Yes that’s right, 2 seperate 240mm radiators if you are that way inclined!