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Thor Zone is back with a new SFF case reminiscent of Apple's slick industrial design. With a stainless-steel aluminum structure, a unibody-esque look, and wide component compatibility, the NANOQ looks to be a minimalist's dream case. The price tag may be high, but does Adam think it's worth it?
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CHAPTERS
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0:00 Adam loves tiny computers
0:22 Design impressions and who Thor Zone is
3:00 Sponsor - MotionGrey
3:34 Included and optional accessories
5:28 Case configurations
6:46 Mounting the RGB and installing parts
13:41 Problems while trying to put the cover back on
15:22 Different case orientations and forgetting the handles
16:36 Build thoughts, pricing, alternatives
18:23 Thoughts on thermals and an update from Thor Zone
19:41 Overall thoughts
20:05 Outro
Regarding the riser snag, we added a chamfer on the internal edge on the inside of the shell (located on the back just prior to the steel strips), since the original square edge was very sharp. This will reduce the riser issue significantly. Regarding GPU mount, the fix is actually a new aluminium bar that secures the top of the GPU bracket to the back panel, using 3 new screws in total. For the magnets, a stronger 3M tape will be used. The front column, as well as all other stainless steel parts will be nickel-plated, which will smooth out the rough surfaces (like for the Handles). Anyways, there are a lot of fixes, we will upload the whole pdf on our website tomorrow :)
Respect for this one guys!!!
Now add magnetic screws
I love this.
Epic design. More to come? 🤞
@@maegnificant Speaking to our fasteners supplier about it now. It seems that magnetic screws are made from Carbon Steel instead of Stainless Steel like we use. Magnetic screws are actually cheaper than what we have on there now…so if that’s something you guys want then sure 👍
That Finnish joke was the best one for LTT in years.
Torille!
Bearded Linus is back baby
That's not Li-
@@Aquaboom123 if he say, he is then obviously he is... /s #LetHimCook
And 200 pounds heavier!!!
@@idkanymore3382 yeah the beard adds a few pounds
If Linus Impregnated Luke... Adam would be their daughter. This comment was sponsored by Slaanesh
Wish there were more aluminium cases like this. Looks great!
I love that Adam has this combination of dad vibes with feral dog energy (in a good way)
Dudes great energy to watch. Fast becoming one of the favs
Stainless steel screws are not very magnetic, and are not as strong, when compared to regular steel. They are also a lot more expensive. The only upside is corrosion resistance, which doesn't matter at all in a pc case. It's quite annoying when electronics use stainless steel hardware, especially when it is done to be "high end."
Just like with "regular" steel, there are a lot of different types of stainless steel, some of them extremely strong, so I wouldn't be so sure that those screws are weaker than "normal" ones. However, I do agree that using stainless steel in this case is unnecessary, especially when they are coated/painted anyway.
@@Nandrith The most common grades for stainless hardware are 18-8 and 304/316. They are certainly better in terms of strength than low grade plain steel hardware, but not as good as high strength steel hardware. You really only want to use stainless for corrosion resistance, since similar strength and finish can be had much more cheaply otherwise.
Pretty sure regular PC screws are made out of the cheapest possible steel, not something like a tool steel. At least, the number of times I've had them strip suggests that... But I also don't buy premium cases. So the only things that really matter here are price and magnetism IMO.
God damn that joke at the end... *Chef's kiss*
I love Adam's sense of humor, it's very sarcastic which borders on the line of condescention but it's not malicious. As for the case, it's a unique case 🤷🏻♂️ definitely form over function
19:08 - Awesome Sleep T-shirt!
Very Apple indeed. Not great. Not terrible. Looks awesome. Very pricey.
[ Mediocre! ] Immortan Joe
Looks fantastic, but I just checked, and If I go for the smaller S-model in Moonstone with handles (white) (NANOQ-S), with the walnut front, and the Asetek AIO, it ends up at $540. But wait, we're not done yet. I've excluded taxes and customs duties (I'm in Northern Europe), which means 25% on top of the total price, which totales it to a ridiculous $675. NO.
Lol that's crazy. At this price, you could build a proper budget gaming computer
The design may be Apple-influenced but that build experience was anything but.
Since the only Apple that ever needed to be built was the Apple-1, respecfully, I'll have to disagree.
This is definitely form before function I saw Jay build in it and I was like nope.
It's hard to find a sub 20l case that can fit a 4090. People that want a SFF beast will be more than happy to overlook that.
@@muddystick at this price, you can buy multiple Dan A4s or C4s. Heck, at this price (+taxes and needed accessories), you can build yourself an entire budget gaming PC in a MFF. SFF community might be unreasonable sometimes, but they aren't dumb
@hundredfireify this can fit a bigger GPU (4 slot up to 378mm) than A4 or C4 (3 slot up to 339mm, and 3.9 slot up to 334mm, respectivly), this opens up the GPU choices beyond FE, Ventus or other "small" 4090 GPUs.
The case can hold the biggest 4090s and a 280mm aio that will be able to cool the best gaming cpus. With production only it also doesn’t matter that much. the GPU has got plenty of cooling due to the holes in the case and the cpu (especially when you get an AMD one) will also be able to be cooled properly
This is probably the best build case of this format, which was previously the FormD T1. This is 1 liter bigger but is easier to build in and fits more. They also made improvements based on that review. However Jay building something always makes me kinda cringe. When you see him complaining about it being wobbly by vertical standing, yet not having the rubber rings in the correct spot, or the gpu sagging while he has the case upside down.
2:05 Speaking of Mac. They clearly were "inspired" by Apple's website colors and general design. To put it mildly :D
lmao true... that shit looks like some apple clone
wow not wrong
just preordered the nonoq r today. I appreciate thorzone listening to all the reviewers and fixing a lot of the issues for the production units that will go out to customers. I think the final product will be great. It already looks amazing. Price is high but I dont mind spending extra for something I really like the look of and I plan on reusing the case for many future builds.
I enjoy seeing people manufacturing awesome cases like this!! These people are awesome!!
Jay and thorzone are getting this case in ship shape!
So your're telling me, you can spend 250€ for the open case version, which means 8 metal poles, you can screw your hardware in? I know, R&D is a factor, but jeeeezzzz!
The Thor Zone Nano does look like a sweet piece of tech and it's great to see small form factor PCs really stretch the boundaries of engineering. However, it's rather worrying that high-end pricey cases have quality control issues.
fwiw I got Thor Zone's original case, the Mjolnir, and I absolutely love it.
I've to a Thor Zone Mjolnir. It is a good case, I use it in vertical orientation with their Borg addon. Some of these QC issues also impacted their first case, especially the magnets. Most of my magets fell of and required regluing multiple times. I've still get a couple that don't stick. Come to think of it, I also have their front addon with RGB which never worked it had a faulty connector. Hopefully they can improve on their last round of cases with this production run.
Jay2Cents had the same issue with the riser cable it tears the cabler if ya not careful i would get this case but that issue scares me and they do have a revision 2 to fix the handles issue
2:58 nice segue. Got my like just because of that.
2:55 That segue is 🔥
JTC had the same issue with the PCIE adaptor and putting the case back together.
@17:01 ouch, outta my price range lol, although definitely worth it! glhf fam! also, freaking AMAZING they are already fixing some issues. keeping fingers crossed!
praising a company for releasing an overpriced faulty product because they are fixing the issues? its usually best to work out the flaws before releasing the product.
missed out on using a sapphire nitro + 7900 xtx would it fit the way its designed would go great with this case
Everything I’ve seen about this case makes me happy I’ll never own one lol. Cool design but I think another manufacturer will come and do this better in every way
I'll never understand cases too narrow to cool down a decent CPU but also long enough to land a military plane on it
As a heads up, with psu's getting CPU or GPU-hot air, they seem to not like it as much. I've had some system shutdowns and at times have had to rotate the fan around
Glad to see they are putting in the effort to update it, now i kind of want it despite the price tag, can i just have this one 😂😂😂
Lol I love building sff PCs watching someone else struggle is hilarious 🤣
The power cable is obstructed by the handle if you dont use a right angle one?
OMG Adam that is the SICKEST Sleep T-shirt of all time!!
MR. Matt Lee has a nice build using this case.
Very very entertaining review!!!
love how this came out 40 seconds ago and there's already a bunch of comments, none of us have seen it lol
it’s because Jayztwocents did a video on it a few days ago and ran into the same issues. and the video comes out earlier for members of the channel
Rockin the Sleep shirt. REPRESENT WEEDIANS
Sick "Sleep" shirt, Adam!
Not gonna lie, that extra post bit with addressing the issues, I couldnt stop looking at the gum in his mouth XD. Love the video though, I have been keeping tabs on these small form factor cases because I really want to do my next build in one.
Really cool Idea, but that price is insane, even for SFF.
formd t1 would be a good example since they are the first to make that ajustable spine
Love the intro into he sponcer
The classic SFF experience. I hate this, why did I do this, I'm an idiot, It won't fit, now disassemble it again, I broke something, this isn't worth it...WHYYYYYYYY! Oh this looks awesome, I love this.
Yeah PSU can withstand heat but ones like cooler master ones are faulty. They always trigger full load even if you are done gaming and just using desktop.
Wish I could ever justify this much on a case but it does look really really good.
The whole "lift & slide a single piece off to expose the whole inside" is a compelling selling point - *if* components fit safely inside when putting it all back together...
Quite retro in a way, go back 10+ years and that's how most cases were accessed, albeit just the top and sides rather than all four sides.
I am curious about this case maybe with my new upgrade I will go with that.
soooo, we coming back to full acrilic tower cases , so my 90's one with the P4 HT will feel back at home and not a UV reacting museum biblot anymore :3
Jay had the same issue with the riser cable.
2:57 they really had us in the first two second ngl
2:50 is so true 😂
Aww man. I wish you reviewed the smaller case with an air cooling setup.
This would be a great case if I were to build a Hackinthosh.
best sponsor segway yet!
I want an Adam plushie. Specifically in that dad shirt.
So the GPU just hangs on for dear life. No screws, just the slot. For _that_ price. Edit: Ah, so they just thought it's OK to send a pre-production unit with the sketchiest GPU mount ever to reviewers. Got it.
Expensive, form over function, Apple would be proud.
5:20 he forgot to promote his ltt screw driver
The way he rubs the case at the end
this is very good
So that's both LTT and Jayz2Cent that ended up cutting into the PCI riser cable, hopefully they fix this before shipping to backers, otherwise it's a Class action suit waiting to happen.
Power of the CPU compels you!
I like it a lot, but would only get it if it went on sale... like to the degree the Loque Ghost did (which I kinda regret not getting, sometimes, maybe). On one hand, it seems like it'd make a very cool loop. On the other, it definitely seems like such a loop would require some custom work for mounting components, or more realistically, components with built in pumps. Definitely the higher end of planning/time/sourcing niche parts.
Something like the Alphacool Rise Flat D5 should be able to fit in the front of the case, or any other fan-footprint flat pump/res combo plates though I'm not sure what all exists on the market. The main issue you'd run into is lack of options for radiators, as SFF would better benefit from maximizing radiator area and minimizing reservoir volume; but the execution of this case would otherwise force you to chase high reservoir volume to compensate for lack of radiator options to extend pre-saturation duration, except the components that would be ideal don't really exist on the market. A lot of problems would be fixed if the case was modular in any way, and given that it's parallel chassis rails with an outer sleeve I'm surprised the company tunnel-visioned on one build layout with mild adaptability for how large GPU coolers are getting; so much more could be done with minimal investment, and at the cost of this case I'm disappointed that more build options don't exist- it's just two plates and a handful of bars, it's not that complicated to find better solutions based on the design methodology here.
can you fit a 4080 aorus master in this?
God this looks like a pain in the butt to build in with the cable management. I wish the motherboard was rotated 90 degrees so that the IO faces the rear of the case like in the meshroom S. But looks goddamn sexy though.
I saw Jay build in it, and it does have problems, but this is still a sick case
Solid Steel Pipe = RGB BABY LET'S GO 💪🤩💪
I like the gray color over the black.
Shush'ing the falling fan is excellent content
the riser being sheered off should have been flagged hard in QC which makes me doubt they have had much of that. or if they only support a subset of ITX boards it should state so prominently on the outside packaging so you can match accordingly. also: if they milled the aluminium a little thinner they might not have that issue at all and save a ton of cost which would also make the case cheaper.
boy you really have to make Finnish-Swedish jokes in the end huh!! haha
That shirt is giving me a-couch-that-my-parents-bought-in-1992 vibes
adam with the sleep shirt i see you
honestly that price seems reasonable for the product
Do a review on MCPRUE
Very cool looking case, but yeah, it really does seem like building it was kind of an afterthought. Things like the GPU sag (even after their comment right now) and the riser cable's positioning are really deal-breakers to me, even after reading the comment they posted here yesterday. To me, the reality is that these computers go up and down in temperature every day, and having thermal wear on top of an infrastructural architecture that's already at or beyond it's limit just ain't a good feeling. I've had problems with very solid cases during transport to LAN party's back in the day, so this really is important to me over how it looks: first function, then form. Kind of a shame, as this could've been so good!
The bars is clearly bulged due to the AIO being mounted at 13:25. That is most likely why it wasn't as smooth of getting the outer shell back on, nor off again, due to the bars where clearly bulging and causing friction.
Non ferrous screws..... I mean the LTT driver tips could have been designed from the beginning to accommodate better grip on these types of screws. Maybe the gen 2 bits will improve grip on non ferrous fasteners?
The design of this case is sleek and modern, definitely a head-turner!
03:00 smoooooooooooth 😆
No idea what I'd do with it but I want one
great a new crush that'll never know i exist motion grey girl
I paused the video as soon as it started and without watching the video, I am going to guess the nuances of this case if it is like a case I think Apple would make. 1. proprietary screws - lots and lots of proprietary screws - screwdriver sold separately for $499 or you can get it in the upgraded packaging for only $300 more 2. Power supply taken out and replaced by a rechargeable battery that is glued inside and cannot be changed except by an apple authorized dealer and will expand within a year to push the side of the case out of alignment. 3. Includes no brackets to add any storage - (but they will sell you a drive bay for the low price of $699 more) 4 No fan mounts. Because who needs those? Just let those components throttle and/or melt. So now I will watch and see if their views of Apple products are the same as my view or if they try to make Apple out to be "premium".
That case is a shambles, nothing like anything Apple would build.
Apple would also charge way more.
This is a great little case, I think i might pick one up for a media-center since it looks like it might do decently with passive cooling. The title of this video is a bit off i think, If Apple made Pc cases, it would only ever fit One motherboard, machined to fit ONLY custom 2.1 slot thickness Gpu's that are no longer made, while requiring you to sign up for their web/cloud services just to make the power button work.
My fav LTT presenter
As cool as they look I’ll never buy a sfx case to avoid the rage from building in it.
Cool as hell, but the price made me laugh out loud. Nearly 400 bones for a case? Better make me breakfast for that price.
The best thing about that RGB is that it is optional.
Brother said "tiny case", LOL Look at Lenovo's ThinkCentre Tiny or Dell's Optiplex Micro if you want tiny.
the SAME EXACT CUT on the RISER happened to JayzTwoCents!!!! In the SAME EXACTY PLACE in the SAME EXACT WAY!!!! - As you were installing the riser and plugging it into the PCIe slot I was screaming at my screen "PUT IT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THER BAR!!!!! YOU GONNA SLICE YOUR RISER!!!!" ... and do ya know?! LOL - Now I'm not SURE it will fit at the angle required to go onto the OTHER SIDE OF THAT METAL BAR (right up against the MoBo PCB) but it REALLY SEEMS LIKE THAT WOULD FIX THE RISER SLICING ISSUE ... Guess we'll just have to wait and see if either you guys or JTC do a FOLLOW UP about a FIX FOR THIS 🤷♂🤷♂
@12:49 .... man that hurts to watch how you bend the that AIO bracket....
Thank you Linus from Temu
I think that if Apple made a PC case, it would have no screws, no wires, bladeless fans permanenetly welded in, a motherboard fastened by rivets, and a nonreplaceable PSU which accepts only 69 volts, with an external adapter sold separately for $299. It would be a marvel of engineering decorated with elegant RGB lights which shine only bright annoying white, with a strobing effect while standby. Of course there should be a subscription-based option to configure the lights, for just $9.99/mo. Oh, and I almost forgot about an option to add wheels for $699, which is the only thing I'm not making up, because it's crazy enough already.
Reminds me of a bigger raw s1
Hunch back of notre dame
Love the Sleep shirt Adam
14:20 Jayztwocents had the same thing happen to him, I think he mentioned he'd tell them about it, or that he hopes they were watching his video to see this and fix it.
This review has really put me off this case, I think the Fractal Terra is the safe bet