GN Could Make a PC Case: We Need Your Input on This Opportunity

[@GamersNexus]

Edit: Thank you to everyone who has been posting the well thought-out comments! We have been reading all of them. At this point, there are too many to respond to every single one, but we are reading them. Thank you to everyone who has put time in to think about this. Please watch the *whole video* before leaving detailed or lengthy comments. Thank you for watching. It's important that, if you plan to leave a well-informed comment, you hear the points we made so that you don't just repeat things we already said or know/acknowledged. We'd appreciate it. We'd really like earnest feedback from the community and getting the best quality feedback requires that you hear what we said. Just watch it on 2x or something!

[@canaconn2388]

It's how it should be done!

[@eastcoastmodz5195]

It better have much more AIR FLOW than a Linus Case. Their idea of a case could snuff out a candle placed inside it. LOL ;)

[@iamdmc]

MODULAR MAKE. IT. MODULAR!

[@MafiaboysWorld]

Watching it now, will give a proper individual response after hearing what you say Steve. 😎👍

[@masonlove5931]

Hey! This would be awesome. I say act on it. I would undoubtably buy it ... if it didn't have labeling all over it. Even though I am sure the airflow and logistics of the case would be the absolute best in the game. I am not going to sacrifice the look of my PC just for a couple degrees of a cooler case. I totally expect a Gamers Nexus logo somewhere ... just don't put it everywhere. edit - What I mean by this is i expect a logo like Der Bauer on the PC 011 dynamic. Knowing you and this channel I expect it to be perfect.

[@Veerexx]

Make a case. Then show the optimal fan layouts as diagrams that are included as a simple image or QR code with a video link so that the PC builder knows the most optimal way to utilise it

[@Osprey1994]

Heck yes!

[@RndmAnvgr777]

Great idea!

[@GamersNexus]

Definitely really interesting idea on including more documentation and detailed testing with pre-built websites for optimized layout. I love it. Thanks for the feedback -- normally, with a review, we wouldn't be able to justify that level of testing, but I think it could be justified in a product that we're part of designing (the finances of a review wouldn't support that level of work, but a product presumably would). Will write this down.

[@JustTechGuyThings]

@@GamersNexus My problem with this thing is that you're going to end up making a kickass product that will end up not getting many sales so your volume discounts will be really light. Honestly, I think you should find your overall final cost first at each price point and see if pre-sales might be an option. I'd be fine dropping a decent cost for a case but the issue is mostly about finding the right balance between price and form factor.

[@supertaco22]

also with AIO hoses ports / radiator orientation

[@ActionPhilip]

Given what you've said in this video, it looks like you're going an extremely ethical route via transparency. If lian li + der bauer got us the 011D, I can't wait to see what a GN-supported case could be.

[@legacyfn]

Hmmmm judging of how he has harted this that makes me kinda sus that the company is lian li

[@guilhermebressan5689]

@@legacyfn Either that or CM, the second half of the video made me lean toward CM.

[@oggydrums]

@@legacyfn It's obviously CoolerMaster

[@i3ulletstorm16]

@@legacyfn It's very apparent to me that it's CoolerMaster. They've worked with a few youtubers in the past

[@SUSHI4lyf]

Sus 1. Cooler Master 2. Lian Li 3. Corsair

[@_land_lines_]

One thing you said in the video caught my ear- “the manufacturer could push back at us if we want them to do something unrealistic because we don’t have manufacturing experience” (roughly paraphrased). The experience you would gain going through this whole process could be invaluable. a) You would gain knowledge that you could use in reviews in the future, having a better understanding of the decisions case manufacturers make in designing a case. b) Perhaps more respect from manufacturers for the reviews you do, knowing that you have this added insight. (Not being a product reviewer myself I don’t know if that’s valuable currency to you or not)

[@Idontcarewhathandleihave]

Short answer: Yes you should design a case. The long answer I think this is best broken down into in more of a list than I giant paragraph: * Ethical concerns: You are right that you trade on your integrity and credibility. While there is inherent perceived risk (I say perceived because you know who you are and your values, but what others believe they know about your values can affect your business more), I believe that you have built up a very solid foundation as a thorough, principled person that can be trusted to act accordingly. Making this video as well as appropriately labeling subsequent videos that make it clear of your involvement and/or bias is not only a good idea but a necessity. Dancing around biases with fanciful language is something that I find off putting and creates distrust, however it’s clear you understand that. * Get out clause: This is something you absolutely should push for. If there comes a point in which you need to invoke such a clause, I personally feel that you should inform the community about it at the earliest appropriate opportunity. This build community trust and prevents people from accidentally continuing to associate you with a product that may now receive a true review, preventing confusion and misplace grievance down the road. * Positives: You have reviewed plenty of cases to know what works and what doesn’t and there are examples of when companies have seemingly taken a suggestion of yours and resulted in having a better product. I sincerely believe that you can and should take that knowledge to build a phenomenal case. I’ve just recently built my pc and the case I got was fine, however I believe you can make one that I could actively recommend to friends for building in and make me want to rebuild my own system in. Not to mention that I’m sure getting the opportunity to expand your knowledge on the design and building process will not only be enjoyable for you, but allow you to give even more in depth analysis during your other case reviews, which means that even if the case itself falls through, you will be gaining extremely valuable knowledge that will improve you your core as a reviewer. Thank you for asking the community for feedback, and no matter the choice you make I think you will have support from a community that will continue to appreciate the work you do.

[@GamersNexus]

Thank you for providing such a well-written comment. Your thoughts are great, and the phrasing of "perceived risk" makes a lot of sense regarding outsiders. Read every word and really appreciate the time you took to write them. Thank you!

[@northernleigonare]

Can't agree more. Especially if it ends up you criticizing some of your new case, people can recognise that even though you are the brand at the front of the case, you are still open to criticism, while also showing people if there are genuine problems that weren't addressed, you make people aware. Like reviewing the prototype models or showing the transition to the final product video which I think might be interesting for some people, myself included. Idk.. it's a new direction that we've only seen once before with Linus advertising noctuas LTT fans. Plus considering you and hardware Canucks both are the main case review channels and you are the more in depth (I'll piss them off if I want to, don't care if deepcool doesn't send me another case) kind of channel, (lol) then it just makes this all the more interesting.

[@SuperTort0ise]

This is the best comment I've ever seen.

[@darianslame]

@@GamersNexus in case you don't have it, you can ask Solid works for a free license. Our company got one without hitting 1/2 the requirements.

[@Alexlfm]

I agree but would add extra emphasis on the fact that it needs to be given either a strong endorsement (if it was to be reviewed) or no endorsement at all and not carry the GN name. An iron clad, any reason, get out clause with relatively open disclosure about the process is a must since transparency is IMO the only thing that negates the cons. Transparency also would, to me, help to ensure we get the highest quality product possible and not just a rebadge. If a company isn’t willing to take that risk then I don’t think GN should do it. Nothing against der8auer and his case partnerships but if GN did the same thing with that same level of transparency, I don’t feel that would be overall a positive for GN or worthy of the GN name.

[@LockGamer_]

I would really like to see this process from the beginning. GN is an example of ethics and professionalism in the community, literally a guide, so this is something that honestly does not concern the public of the product, which should be mostly enthusiastic. One suggestion would be to actually send it to other vehicles for analysis and to independent channels (something that could be dealt with in advance with the company). And preferably, that sells in Brazil, I would love to set up a setup and test the product. In short. Just do it!

[@labrat256]

Exactly! Whether or not I'd be interested in the case, I'd love to watch the content of the process.

[@ascrowok3941]

boa cara

[@GamersNexus]

Working with a manufacturer would definitely open up logistics channels that we wouldn't have if we tried to do something on our own. For instance, assuming GN had enough money to even make tooling, we still wouldn't have distribution means to reach out of the US. A manufacturing partner does, though, so as long as they're already in the South America region, it is presumably doable.

[@ascrowok3941]

@@GamersNexus if the manufacturer is CM, they already sell here in Brazil.

[@ptrck_]

Tentando garantir o produto pra Review a antes mesmo do produto lançar. 😂 Brincadeiras a parte acho essencial mesmo isso de disponibilizar pra outros veículos fazerem Review e gostaria de ver reviews por aí também.

[@Dealta]

I cannot think of a company I would trust to handle this process with more dignity and transparency.

[@Rem_NL]

agreed hardware unboxed and Gamers Nexus are 2 channels i trust the most.

[@renerodriguez7778]

@@Rem_NL preach

[@sunimod1895]

Lian li maybe?

[@samuelmagilocusts2870]

Agreed

[@omegapointsingularity6504]

why is there so much concern with transparency?

[@usefulidiot21]

As a mechanical engineer myself, I think it would be awesome if you made a case. I have over a dozen years of experience taking a concept or idea, doing the CAD (Solidworks) design, testing it and getting it into production, so I think it would be great if you could document that and show the masses how something is really made. I've realized over the years that most people have very little idea of how that all works and why things turn out the way they do (since there are always compromises along the way). From watching a lot of your videos, I can tell that you are more than qualified to do this. As long as the price-point is reasonable (something you may want to survey before you get started), I'd probably buy one once it's released because it will likely be easy to build in, have ample space and prioritize thermals (airflow).

[@zachboyd231]

You’re well informed enough to be concerned and talented enough to succeed. If the door opens walk through it.

[@noxious89123]

This is a great comment, and I support it.

[@ChadDidNothingWrong]

I prefer to go barreling through such doors

[@daveninjaneuro7089]

thanks coach

[@bradn44]

My two cents: The worst could happen in the end I could see is that the other YT creators in the space might be more critical of this case than any other case. So if they find one negative thing it might get overblown. Otherwise it is a great idea, and I would totally buy one. Keep us posted :D

[@drakkon44]

The several other tech youtubers I watch generally say good things about GN, so if one creator had something of a grudge against GN and produced a review with a drastically more negative outlook, I feel they'd get called out on it by the viewers :)

[@shadow7037932]

I think there will certainly be nit picks, but if it's actually a good case (design, performance, good value) it absolutely will get the praise it deserves.

[@carllinnaeus2149]

@@drakkon44 For Sure

[@rayneduff]

there probably wont be as much backlash if GN justifies or at least identifies their own problems with the case. hopefully they will be happy with everything though.

[@zpersonz]

The thing about nit picking something like this is that they would have to nit pick with statistical values. Its hard to fool numbers, especially when it would have to be consistently tested from other peers. If 1 person says its shitty and everyone else says its amazing then its going to call in question your integrity. But thats just my take on this comment and could very well be a thing as well.

[@nalgo]

James Hoffmann, a coffee guy, does coffee tutorials and reviews. He also owns his own roasting company and works with others with certain devices. He is completely transparent in all of this and I've never seen a hint of any kind of backlash for being involved in both sides of the business. Would probably be worth having a conversation with someone like him.

[@GamersNexus]

Thanks for the pointer!

[@goggleBOX_OG]

He also doesn't review coffee beans because of his involvement in roasting. But yes, tall to him because you will definitely get a good discussion about the ethical consideration he's gone through. He has made several videos discussing his ethical decisions around his youtube channel.

[@aashilr]

Yep can confirm, he's like the Gamers Nexus of the coffee world. I watched multiple of his reviews when trying to get into grinding my own coffee.

[@JBM12G]

James Hoffman might actually be a person you should give a call. I think his input would be really valuable.

[@purplegill10]

Another example that instantly comes to mind is JHS pedals. This is a dude that's been a youtuber for years in modding pedals and showing off his favorites. Now he owns his own company and _still_ shows off pretty much every other company on his channel EXCEPT his own. Of course he still loves showing off his pedals, but for him it's purely because of his enthusiasm rather than trying to sell you his products. It's almost like a kind of childhood dream scenario where he got to finally create something he's always wanted and show it off rather than just think about it from the business side of things.

[@_pnky]

That feeling when your favorite Tech reviewer / youtuber has more integrity than the Media people count on for the unbiased news.

[@knghtbrd]

I'd trust any one of the major TechTubers over mainstream tech press. They are effectively access journalists, and while TechTubers get a lot of early access too, the major ones have all demonstrated a willingness to call out BS when they see it and correct their mistakes in ways the legacy tech press just doesn't. Do the smaller channels shill for the companies? Probably some of them do. I watch a lot of smaller channels and the ones I watch seem not to. But a few … yeah, it was pretty obvious. And I suspect that's why those few are still small channels. 😉

[@JeffGraw]

The fact that you're so hesitant to do this, and are thinking of all of the ways it could go wrong, sort of proves you're exactly the right people to do this!

[@Zer0Log1c]

I 100% agree with this

[@hqlink]

I'll 3rd this. Please do!

[@LyK0sa]

Couldn't have put it better myself.

[@ballsrgrossnugly]

Exactly, this is the whole lesson of Dune: Give the power to the people who are very cautious to accept it, they will be just as cautious about how they use it!

[@tomasrosalesr]

You're right.

[@goosius_maximus]

First of all, I love that you and your team have struggled with your decision to even embark on this idea; that shows that you all truly care about the outcome. Your concerns on transparency and forthright communication about testing vs. benchmarking clearly show that you've made a point to cover all the bases. That being said, I would love to see you proceed with a GN design for a case. The knowledge and skillset from GN staff is unmatched and that will translate very well (hopefully) into a product release. Things I'd like to see: Airflow options - be it for an air-cooled system, or custom loop build. You all already know what is needed to keep the gear cool and clean, so I would hope that we'd see dust filters, mounts for pumps, lots of fans or rads in all typical positions that users could expect to need. Modular construction - removable top/front/side panels for easy working space. Removable rad/fan mounts that allow for assembly outside of the enclosure. No gimmicks - no vertically mounted GPU brackets unless testing at a mid-depth placement sees a decent result in cooling. Tech - latest I/O options for as much future-proofing as possible. A decent amount of I/O on the front/top panel. Aesthetics - finish the product in simple color choices, nothing more. Keep the logos tasteful and placed in locations that don't take away from the overall design. Hope that helps, but again, I love the fact that you're entertaining this idea and I hope it can work in GN's favour.

[@GamersNexus]

Thanks so much for your extremely well thought-out post. I think we're in agreement on these points. The fact that you added the "unless mid-depth placement" shows you really pay attention to the testing content, so we appreciate your thoughts!

[@mpcbsar]

Agree with this.

[@mina86]

Regarding modularity and airflow options: having options to choose fans. If I’m gonna buy a case with fans pre-installed, I’ll most likely end up ripping them out and replacing them with Noctua. Would be nice to customise order to not include fans or include fans of customer’s choice. Having said that, doesn’t look like I’ll be buying GN’s case if it ever comes out since I’m in the market for a case right now, not in a year, so my opinion might not be relevant.

[@Arctic_Strix]

In a recent interview Noctua mentioned that they too would like to partner with case manufacturers to help design a case. Honestly I would LOVE to see both GN and Noctua work together since they both are about function before form. Not only would you have an amazing case with the best possible airflow but it would be the only case that would come stock with Noctua fans (be it their standard, Redux or Chromax line).

[@MaaZeus]

Oh god, I can already imagine a case in brown and sand color scheme. It would probably function really well but holy shit would that be an eyesore on a desk. 😅

[@ultraorange1]

Brown, sand and blue.

[@zebarzebra]

I think FractalDesign or LianLI would be amazing for that. BeQuiet too, but they won't work with Noctua I suspect.

[@meenamjah]

ooh. perfect. a match made in heaven. pure power

[@Chuckiele]

tbf, his case should probs contain noctua fans either way, so including them in the design process could be epic.

[@donlindell1994]

Marketing professional here: Stay in your lane and launch a second vehicle The Gamers Nexus brand should not be mixed with a manufacturer, but the “Steve Burke” brand is a separate entity and can do what he likes… if he has time. Time is your most precious commodity, not cash and you must be more cautious about how you invest your time and mental energy than your cash

What part of Gamers Nexus do you ignore so that you have time to invest in case design? This is an important question. Can you backfill with other presenters so that GN doesn’t suffer? Speaking of GN…

You do not want to mix the Gamers Nexus BRAND with a case manufacturer because it will irreparably harm the GN brand value and promise of violent independence and data-driven insight

However, “Steve Burke” can lend his BRAND image to a case design as an INDIVIDUAL as long as you let the manufacturer bring it to market under their brand name similar to the Lian Li Dynamics case. These distinctions are important from a marketing perspective and offer the opportunity for moving forward

Steve can work on a case with the manufacturer who brings it to market as the “XX1 Super Case designed by Steve Burke.” In this situation, the case manufacturer licenses the rights to Steve’s name and likeness separately as well as Steve’s design ideas which come as a ‘work for hire’. IP is handled separately. There are at least three separate agreements and none of them involve GamersNexus

 Whatever you do, don’t involve the Gamers Nexus brand 

You have far too much goodwill invested in it Good luck tech Jesus

[@erraldstyler]

THIS

[@bookworm8415]

Oooo, i second this argument. Then sell a “custom” side panel that has the gn logo on it as an aftermarket purchase. Haha

[@falxonPSN]

Some very solid thinking here.

[@unowenwasholo]

I was initially pumped about the idea as I'm sure many are, but I think the above perspective is underrated. If "GN" is associated with a case, can it ever truly be objective about a case review ever again? The answer to the core audience is "of course so" but from a branding perspective I don't think it's that easy. Then what of the manufacturer creating other cases and whatnot in the future? Now that GN is receiving a paycheck for its joint work with that manufacturer, can GN protect itself from the "shill" scrutiny? It would almost have to come down to the exact contract that GN / Steve signed being made public to show to the audience that, beyond a shadow of a doubt ,there's no grounds for the manufacturer to influence reviews going into the future (i.e. they can't pull out of producing more cases thereby cutting off that portion of GN's income stream because they got slammed in a future review). The more I think about it, there's no way to navigate around people saying "you're making money from this venture with X, they have influence over part of your income and therefore a conflict of interest" other than not accepting any pay for it (which would be silly).

[@AstrolabCreations]

I'm on the same page with you there, although I would recommend the creation of a niche brand such as Builders Nexus in lieu of moving forward in an individual capacity.

[@802Garage]

My answer: Yes. My thoughts: 1. Credibility is not an issue as long as you follow the exact same guidelines as every other review you do. Honestly, it's fine to endorse your own product as long as you are clear it is your product and therefore your endorsement is entangled with that. Consumers still get to make their own decisions. Other people will review it, and potential buyers can look at an aggregate as always. Basically I agree with your assessment. 2. Watch a whole bunch of your own reviews and make a checklist of must haves, deal breakers, want to haves, and want to avoids. Keep that checklist at hand throughout the entire process. That will not only hopefully help you make a better case and avoid pitfalls, but it would be really cool for post production assessment. What goals did you hit and miss? How close to your vision did you come? Which boxes checked? 3. As long as it was sub $150 I would genuinely consider buying a GN case. I would of course still measure it against other cases available, probably using your reviews. I bought the Phanteks P400A based largely on your reviews because it made the most sense for my needs, style, and budget. My point here being, I do think there is a huge audience for such a project and go for it because it's new and exciting we want it!

[@dylreesYT]

Your second point is genius! I agree with everything. For the third point, I think aiming for a case to be sub $150 will be possibly hard to justify. To me, it'd make sense for a "do it all" case at a high price bracket. But they can't possibly know their plans yet, hence why I think your second point is so genius.

[@802Garage]

@@dylreesYT Yeah that's my other thought as well, but I feel like GN would prefer to serve the masses something they can use than create a boutique product everyone gets to stare at, but not use. Either way, I would be excited to see what they come up with!

[@dylreesYT]

@@802Garage same :)

[@control_the_pet_population]

@@802Garage I think it would almost have to be a boutique enthusiast case for it to make any sense.... maybe not some insanely expensive gold plated nonsense, but something along the lines of the O11. As you creep down from that $150 range, cases become highly competitive and the masses already have tons of legit options that require very few compromises. Especially for standard midrange gaming builds that will never really require massive airflow or water cooling flexibility. I love GN's testing and charts and graphs as much as the next guy, its why I've been following Tech Jesus since he was just a standard website... but in the grand scheme of things the masses dont care if their GPU maxes out at 68C vs 64C. I think the target audience has to be the enthusiasts who DO care about that few degrees of temp swing on any given component and will pay the premium required to get a solution that is optimized as possible.

[@802Garage]

@@control_the_pet_population I guess my thinking is that SOOO many of the mistakes made on ~$100 cases that GN reviews could be avoided with very simple design changes that don't necessarily add cost. Making an "ideal" case for a price range is to me more interesting than an untouchable low volume case. Anyone can build something great with no budget in mind. Building something near perfect for mass consumption is another task entirely, a greater challenge in many ways. Keep in mind the O11 Dynamic is a sub $150 case. I do get where you are coming from, I just don't honestly think GN would be super interested in making a low volume boutique case rather than a true wide consumer base product. Obviously GN watchers care about their temps, even if only 0.1% are hardcore over clockers. Meeting the needs of the many and the few is a worthy cause. Besides, most people shooting for the insane numbers are going to be on a test bench. :P

[@mini-_]

As long as the case is the same quality of the Modmat, I'd get it.

[@Deltium5683]

I do not recommend it. It will distract you from making good content at a deep level, potentially open you up to product liability risk (never underestimate the litigious society that we live in), and very frankly, you work hard enough as it is, and there is no need to add something more to your plate, when the income potential is probably not worth all of the risks. Stay focused on your current channel.

[@GamersNexus]

@@Deltium5683 The whole point of this is that we'd be leaving the manufacturing to the case company.

[@maestreiluminati87]

@@Deltium5683 they'd just provide the design and the branding, do you know how expensive the tools that are used to produce a case are?

[@daydreamer1312]

@@Deltium5683 God dammit Richard you were supposed to watch the whole video first

[@jammy01]

@@Deltium5683 did you even watch the video?

[@whitenoise509]

I'm a field engineer in an industry not directly related to this one. My daily operations routinely involve testing and deploying solutions developed in a board room somewhere thousands of miles away. I can't tell you how valuable it would be to have experienced field personnel directly involved in the design phase. Your first-hand knowledge and hardline reputation make you uniquely positioned to have both a positive impact on the field as a whole, and enough leverage to ensure compliance to a very high standard. You've earned a lot of trust. This is a logical way to spend it wisely.

[@FarmersAreCool]

Why can't it be sourced from local machinists? Does everything have to be made by yellow Men ? Hell right now, with gov imposed communism crushing small business, there is all sorts of talented guys sitting around with infrastructure sitting idle in there garages. Set up a supply chain.

[@Carcinogenic2]

@@FarmersAreCool Hey bigot, so why did *US* university 'brains' invent _outsourcing_ in first place? US set the bad example, half or more of the rest of the world followed like cattle. So stop whining here and enjoy while the barley of your beer is not supplied by chinese-owned companies. *Yet.* Because the beer itself is already supplied by someone else outside US after Budweiser was sold... 😂

[@FarmersAreCool]

@@Carcinogenic2 US University brains didn't force anyone to buy imports. Want to talk about market forces? OR consumer corruption? These guys are going with yellow Men undercutting their neighbours purely on convenience terms. We could talk about nafta forcing subsidized agri products into mexico and undercutting peasants, who then have travelled into america to be slaves. In the process of setting up to brew all my own beer, not only can I not afford to buy it, the local brewers here where I live are outsourcing like madmen. USed to brew it, have some carboys, but i need a better setup. CLothes made by slaves, electronics made by slaves, oil stolen from middle east, all the resources for the electronic gizmos stolen from the third world, and you eat it all. The internet is bathed in blood, we all log on, covid bullshit, convincing people that they care about other's and their health, what a joke. All sorts of options for home source supply chains, but fack it, save a nickel with a yellow man. Calling me a bigot, damn you got me, i said yellow man.

[@MrDrago1954]

@@Carcinogenic2 Outsourcing created because of Taxes and of course Yellow Men do it Cheaper. Divers do it deeper, and the Muff Diver Motto is "No Muff is too tough. We Dive at Five.

[@slowrider3066]

@@FarmersAreCool This is just how globalization works. We can be glad about the education we have, because this takes us in the position to develop products which we design to be able to be made by monkeys (Not calling this people monkeys, it is just a try to translate a German saying),which we then outsource to less fortunate countries. Don't be worried about the "yellow man", if they wanted to destroy the US or any other countries economics, they would have already done it. What I can tell you from working in North America and China: They already beaten the US. We started manufacturing in the US, so we can safe money on logistics and put "Made in USA" on the product. But unfortunately the Chinese were more accurate on a cheaper price level (including shipping to the US). Don't worry we still have a sales office with high salary people in NA. This things already happened within regions of countries (City - Landside) it just shifted to happening globally. 🤷‍♂️

[@CasualCarrot]

I may not have much technical input to put here, but as a viewer I will say that it means more than I can express in a comment to hear you talk of such intense effort, transparency, detail and overall goodwill related to a potential project like this. You've built an incredible audience and community because of those efforts and incredible values, and you've garnered a lot of trust from a lot of people. Knowing you actually care about that trust and don't want to break it deserves some praise. You deserve the opportunity to pursue a project like this especially if you enjoy it. Knowing your willingness to show the entire process and be completely transparent (something that would be a joy to follow) may even spur a new era in manufacturing ethics. From a viewer and hopefully soon to be 'GN case customer', thank you and I'll be following along as much as I can!

[@kingcars]

Three main thoughts: 1) It sounds like you've got a very good grasp on what the potential risks and rewards are, with some built-in failsafes in case things go awry. 2) I agree with what you mention in the video - it's an incredibly interesting and unique opportunity to show the community what goes into designing and developing a case. That would certainly be content I - and I assume many others - would be excited to check out. 3) This is probably the most important bit - I think it's a really good sign that the company that approached you has seen both the good and bad side of Gamer's Nexus. That tells me that they're not reaching out to you just so you can blow smoke up their asses. They're reaching out to you because they know you'll tell it to them straight, good or bad, with no bs. My conclusion? Assuming all the conditions you laid out in this video are agreed upon by the company you're talking with, go for it.

[@spamlucal]

This.

[@WarrenGarabrandt]

@@spamlucal That

[@albertotr1]

@@WarrenGarabrandt the other thing, but mostly what he said.

[@brianlayton685]

I think his thought 3 is a really good point

[@dougl3497]

If there was any channel out there that I would be confident in and excited for making a product like this, it would be GN.

[@LucificNight]

Short answer: Yes, go for it. Long answer: You've gone over most of the ethical concerns and conflicts of interest etc. in the video, but I wish you'd given more details as to what you wish to accomplish with the case. Not why you're building the case (to show off the entire process, design to delivery), but what sort of audience you're targeting for the case. Is it budget or premium? Are you going for maximum cooling, or will there be some trade-off for aesthetics? Fully-vented aluminum side-panels, or will there be tempered glass? GN's reviews have been very focused cooling on cooling performance: So will the case just be a open-air test bench? The behind-the-scenes look at the entire process is interesting, but once you're designing a product, the audience wants to know how the product itself will add value. What are you offering with the case, that your best-reviewed cases don't provide? I love the idea and believe GN will handle this professionally without endangering their reputation and credibility, but from a "vote-yes/no" perspective, we would really appreciate more details. Also, never ever bring up the case in your reviews: There's no way to go "This is a bad case, unacceptable, we could do better, in fact we actually did" without sounding really "sell-out".

[@gRocketOne]

+

[@Basomga]

Yeah, the no review thing is kinda awkward. Maybe there is a way to do it without sounding like a sell-out(?)

[@Basement-Science]

I agree, knowing more about the plans and goals of the product would be very helpful to give further opinions or advice. I think there are quite a few niches where not a lot of cases are competing, and tons of competition in other spaces. For example you wont be able to compete on price too well with the established companies, especially since you would be subcontracting almost everything. There also already are lots of good looking cases, ones with good airflow, etc etc. But if you went for a niche of feature combinations that are rare, but still have demand, you could be quite successful. For example there are almost no cases today that can house more than 2-3 3.5" hard drives and custom-loop water cooling and a long graphics card at the same time. There are also very few cases in a Cube-formfactor, which is an underrated type of case in my opinion. You could target people who need lots of storage (say, 8+ 3.5" slots) in a high-end system with good (water-) cooling. I think making a detailed showcase video about the product would be perfectly fine since it would be their own product, not some paid shill-"review". The focus would just be pointing out all the details and design decisions made, not comparing it against other cases. I'm sure other channels like LTT would be happy to do a traditional review of it to add to that. And if the product is somewhat successful, making money with it shouldnt be an issue since there would be plenty of publicity automatically.

[@gRocketOne]

@@Basement-Science For what you mentioned, the Fractal Define 7 is a great case (I have it right now for 7x 3.5" drives and room for expansion) and it looks like they recently released a mesh version.

[@iffy_too6465]

I personally think it should be in the budgetish range. I think the idea would be to have a great case, efficiently designed, well priced [4000D, Lancool2 mesh, Purebase 500DX pricepoint] that LOADS of people will buy. Also I feel it is possible to self promote the "yeah, we did it better" thing, as long as you are NOT doing 'LTT store dot com" thing afterwards. Let the viewer find it for themselves. "yeah we did it at this price point, go google it, you'll find it." sort of thing .Also DONT sell it on your own store front. Let the manufacturer distribute it themselves and get them to advertise it on other YT channels, Jay, Kyle, Paul, Harbour unboxed etc for shits n giggles.

[@fabienmesterial]

Previously: Lian-Li by Der8auer Tomorrow: Lian-Li by Der8auer by Gamernexus ^^

[@13n1304]

let's call it H500GN

[@vladimirljubopytnov5193]

@@13n1304 will be cheap because of lack of Xes :)

[@alexejfrohlich5869]

@@vladimirljubopytnov5193 actually, there is an "X" in "Gamers Nexus", soooo... $$$ for GN confirmed? :D

[@vladimirljubopytnov5193]

@@alexejfrohlich5869 But in H500GN there is no X

[@ilham7345]

@@13n1304 that GN label make it looks like it's a Gundam MS part

[@alexchesser5209]

My thoughts: 1. do it 2. run all the benchmarks and publish them with a "this is our case" disclaimer. Don't call it a review, call it a report. Tell us about the trade offs you had to make with noise vs. airflow, vs. whatever else. If you wind up designing "the ultimate case" then you've set a new industry standard that everyone else copies in the future. Everybody wins if you innovate. I hope you do well!

[@vollkerball1]

they can amke a mock up with a talented metal worker and it is not that hard to make a ground up costum case. expensive for a single unit? yeah!!! is it worth it? FUCK YEAH

[@TheKeyboardDemon]

I can't help thinking that a fan on the side of the case might also introduce turbulence, add to cable clutter, and make it so that we can't see into the case as well as we can with an unobstructed view inside the case, I think fans at the bottom, like in the Lian Li PC-011Dynamic would make more sense.

[@z-9693]

Word! Alex voiced some of my initial thoughts... Steve, clearly you've thought this through along many dimensions (ethics, positive potential, negative potential, production, human relationships, credibility, etc.) to a level that 99% of people would not have. Many would have sold out at a low entry price. Not you, my man!! Yes, there's a lot of pressure, but this is a TITANIUM opportunity. At this point, after relying on your methodology, attention to detail, depth of info, just down-to-earth, good-natured character in general, through what seems like 1000s of reviews & livestreams it would take A LOT for me to think you'd sold out & were being shady. I don't even expect perfection. I tend to think you'd be like "Welp. The struggle is real. The process is long & arduous. We made X & Y compromises for the following reasons and the 'InsertCaseName II Mesh' version will be much improved. There's a journalistic opportunity here to document the entire thought process, the relationship building, the team interactions, the prototyping & production process... the days you just can't win for losing, the miscommunications, the inevitable setbacks. But with that comes the victories, small & large, the human struggle, the story of people working together & against each other. Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat! Your GN team can bring life to the case by showing what it REALLY took to produce it. That's EQUAL to the case design opportunity. It's the Du-umverate! The Two-Headed Dragon to slay! The process is the end in itself! Documenting that can be compiled & edited for release as a series once you're close to releasing the case. Too much content for just a single feature-length production. Not even a Trilogy would do. Plus, when has a trilogy ever been good?! Never! EVER!! Can't think of a single one. Keep dreaming!! As far as product, you guys have that part covered. It's obvious to make cool, exclusive sets with numbered editions, etc. But think of how much people want to have a part of the story, be a part of the story. Include bits & pieces from the process, the experience as bonus items. GN fans will LOVE.LOVE.LOVE having part of the history of your FIRST case production run. Think of it as a gigantic IRL CapStone project. Hell, the distilled experience you'll gain may even cause some early grey hairs. Don't worry, man. Chicks dig it! All in all, you said it: You & Patrick (and Andrew) are ready to rise to this challenge. When the student is ready the teacher appears! You can do eeet!! Just whatever happens, don't pull a RomeroDiakatana. =\

[@spikegorman1650]

This is going to be the highest airflow and most efficient case ever.

[@Willem500]

Maybe just no case, ultimate airflow

[@dingbatdave9440]

is it? thats sort of what you would expect isn't it... but lets see if all his talking can actually transfer to the real world.

[@officepony6717]

Please by all that is holy, I have been hating recent cases with the tiny little front-side grills that just choke airflow with weak fans for intake. I get that people like a sleek look, but having better airflow for all these stronger hotter parts has always been an issue that seems to get ignored for aesthetics.

@Monochromatik-Vision actually, they lack static pressure compared to smaller fans and they lack standard mounting. With that said, Silversone makes some sick 180mm fans tho which would be a much better choice.

[@uzefulvideos3440]

Don't know, a closed with damping, that still has great airflow (unlike most closed cases) sounds like the optimal case to me.

[@sean2291]

I would buy a GN case, I trust this company more than any other and am certain it would be a phenomenal product.

[@deher9110]

Exactly this, after watching plenty of case reviews from this guy im certain he knows how to do it the right way

[@TySoVm]

Same.

[@jonathanstitt4368]

Lol I'm starting saving for it

[@imbanett0]

That's exactly the reason why GN declined offer like that previously. If GN recklessly work together with any company and the product do not meet expectation of whose actually trusted GN like you, you will no longer think that way, GN just don't want that to happen.

[@forgivenchildofGod]

I’m not the most educated on PC’s in general but I’m in the process of building one & this channel has been invaluable. If this is going to be a product y’all have control over then I think at the very least it would be a hell of a test run. I’m sure there’s going to be no lack of support for the process either. Good luck! I hope this really happens and I can’t wait to see this channel grow into whatever it becomes in the future.

[@vinaly]

Short answer: Yes, you have more to win in knowledge than to lose in reputation. Pretty sure the community will understand if this is a failure. Long answer: Absolutely yes. First, this is a great opportunity for you guys. Leaving aside the money benefits, you can come to understand why some companies do things the way they do and what are the complications in case design. We all say what we like or not in a case, but not everyone gets to understand the difficulties of the design and factoring process. Also if you show us or walks us through it I think we can all learn from it and it will be a very unique content no else has. Second, you can go beyond just the case typical design concerns on air intakes and airflow and show companies things that we users want or struggle with, that they don't normally see. Like better documentation, or even guidance of what kind of fans to use, where, and in what configurations. Better design for cable management!! This is something to many times barely touch by many companies. So many times i find myself thinking "if only there was another hole here or, to what am i suppose to stick this cables to". May be even have some kind of layout in the cable management back side with some guides to where to run what. Third, I think the community will not be mad with you if the project fail, as long as you walk us through the process. This channel community is one who likes to learn, to see experimentation and testings. So I think we are the particular kind of community that would support you in this kind of "experiment" as long as we see you tried and not that "you only did it for the money". tho in my particular case i wouldn't care either, you guys have worked hard and I don't see why is wrong for you to try to make some extra money. Finally i think this is the kind of things you will regret more not have tried to do it, than do it an fail. As a final suggestion may be instead of having different level of cases based on prices, something that is the same basic case but you can add extra parts than can be attached to specific parts to "improve it". In that way the user can buy the parts he needs to improve or adapt the case according to his needs, instead of having to pay 150-200 dlls for a case with a bunch of features that we won't use. Maybe a 50 dlls case that can go all the way to 200 with all the extra accessories. I don't know why companies haven't go this way with cases...

[@cineblazer]

I totally agree with basically everything in this comment.

[@cainc1673]

You weren't joking when you said long story damn

[@jeroen81]

I'd love your final suggestion to come true. I have a €150 Fractal Design case because I wanted quality and certain features, but at least €50 worth of parts are sitting in a drawer, unused. I'm a functional minimalist, so I would love to be able to deselect (or not select at all) stuff I will never use. (no TG side panels, RGB, drive cages, water cooling options, etc.) I want a simple case with lots of filtered, low rpm fans and extra sound deadening or mesh where needed and possible.

[@GaryDonosti]

You're definitely onto something there with making things scalable or maybe even modular .Less waste is always a good thing. My pet idea was to have a case with an optional radiator built in for water cooling. Like a replaceable top panel at extra cost.

[@yukimurabrify]

The one and only tip I can give you is: go easy on the branding. If possible, something less-gamery looking as well would be good.

[@NicheAsQuiche]

defo. sick of spaceships and MILITARY GRADE. give me waifu PC case and cute kitty graphics card

[@andrezunido]

Any color, as long as it's black and has no glass panels.

[@davidmartinek5257]

@@NicheAsQuiche Snowflake

[@NaterNorris]

I like glass panels but why couldn't you just have one that you can swap the metal or glass panels with either or. If you like glass put on glass, if you don't, put on 2 metal panels.

[@Veyron_fan]

RGB IS LIFE

[@AllanBorch]

No matter what you make, Jay will end up Dremeling it, and Linus will drop it.

[@meemadd6397]

and Paul will just put it down,like he did on the GN modmat lol

[@kiyanie]

Kyle will shatter the case window in the trunk of his car

[@juleklO]

"...no jokes and memes..." well there goes that request...

[@pixelpimpnz]

Steve & the GN team; Personally I think this is a no-brainer. You guys HAVE to push forward with this, your community would back you 100% - not least due to the openness and transparency, integrity, and honesty you guys have built your brand on, but also because of the high level of benchmarking expertise you have. This will enable you to have a greater understanding into just WHY some manufacturers make the decisions they do. I think you should make a list of properties you would like it to have, listing them in levels of importance, eg; cost, build customization, thermals, ease of use, ease of manufacture (because I guarantee youll end up in a 30-series situation!) as this will help influence which market you end up targeting. Always remember you will never be able to make the perfect case for every customer, as everybody has a different set up they want to achieve, but if you can get the basics right, by taking design elements that work exceptionally well, like CM's PSU bracket for ease of installation (a la Masterbox5) and Phanteks cable management etc, youll be on to a winner. Lastly, I look forward to seeing the content this creates, the design and manufacturing process is incredibly interesting, and seeing some of the behind the scenes stuff while you work with *it's definitely **-not-** Corsair.. **-wink-* will be awesome.

[@poipoi300]

"I hope people are watching this whole damn thing" made me chuckle a bit haha.

[@darkSorceror]

I must confess, I didn't watch the whole video. I skipped over the sponsor ;)

[@tgdhsuk3589]

@@darkSorceror i watch at 2x speed so i dont skip anything lol

[@ThadirPrime]

Yeah, and I wonder how many actually skipped and went gun-ho in the comment section :)

[@TheYami227]

If it is reasonable priced and the airflow is GN cerified, we gonna buy it.

[@shinokami007]

definitely

[@valkir293]

Same

[@accik]

And available outside US

[@Aleph-Noll]

it should be similarly priced to the O11 i would imagine

[@headbomb]

Oh man, the dilemma. On the one hand, impartial reviews is a core of the channel and super important. On the other hand, since you know what you're doing/what to optimize for/know what features are useful/which are useless, this could end up being an utterly *amazing* case all around.

[@Chukijay]

It's a simple solution. Don't review it beyond what can be objectively quantified. Make a video where it shows its numbers, how it stacks up to the usual suspects, then never again or with an asterisk, as GN said above.

[@EvanOfTheDarkness]

The solution that works for most youtubers it to just embrace the self promotion: "Yes it's our product, but we really do think its good and we do recommend it." Don't talk about it when reviewing competitor products, because that just would be fair, just treat it as its own separate thing. When other youtubers review it (and believe me, they will, after sooo many RIPJaj's stream), just link their review.

[@Talliebird]

You guys have done more than enough to prove that you are a transparent business that only provides the facts that they gather through rigorous testing and hard work. You guys have been extremely open about how the process would work and how you are concerned with what people will think when eventually a product like this would come out and be tested. Overall I think this venture would be good, so long as you strive to be, and only will keep your name on it if it is, a top 50% product at worst, and a top 10% product at best. So long as that is the range you guys shoot for, the number of people seeking out a case, both for your brand and also good performance/looks, will be in the thousands. Go for it!

[@hemalpatelDO]

I would definitely buy a GN designed case or would be much more inclined to buy a case officially endorsed by GN.

[@Nooboroshi]

I would blindly buy a GN endorsed case.

[@phenom8080]

Same considering the ethics that GamersNexus strives for and their expertise on case reviews. They will know the good and the bad and what compromises to make. I just hope that the Manufacturer will leave enough room for control and creative freedom. I also hope that the team won't burn them themselves out with this project, because we all know that GamersNexus works really hard.

[@Kepe]

If GN designs a case and gets a part of the sales revenue, they can't endorse it and remain ethical. That would be the same as if Asus made a deal with GN that GN gets a portion of the sales revenue of some GPU and then GN tells everyone it's the best GPU out there and everyone should buy one. It's not ethical and not going to happen. What GN can do is make a showcase video about the case and its features and then tell people to find 3rd party reviews of it.

[@phenom8080]

@@Kepe I disagree. It's not like the same as getting paid by Asus for putting out a positive review of their product. It's not like there isn't any effort put into designing a case and GamersNexus obviously has to get paid for their work. We have seen how highly self-critical GamersNexus really is, proven by this video and the track record they've established burning numerous bridges with manufacturers even if it means a financial loss for them. Obviously if they put out a review of their case you should take it with a healthy grain of skepticism and also look into other third-party reviews, like you should be doing anyway. You shouldn't just trust one source. I'm completely fine with them making a review of their partly made own product when third-party reviews similarly match up with the criticism in their own review.

[@JarrodsTech]

I didn't even consider the possible language barriers on this one, next level stuff that you're working on improving your Chinese to help with the project.

[@chaser-w6568]

Love your laptop reviews Jarrod!

[@siraff4461]

@APPLETHIEF20 Yeah so that $4000 case you're going to buy since its not made in China/Taiwan... Whats that? You're not? Shocking.

[@zpersonz]

@APPLETHIEF20 nice hate speech my man. Got you reported 👌👌. Hopefully you get a nice little ban for being a racist.

[@hollowbirdbones2960]

@APPLETHIEF20 wait until you hear about American prison labor

[@siraff4461]

@APPLETHIEF20 You have absolutely zero idea what you're talking about, do you? Have you been to China lately? Notice the massive cities, roads, cars and people with money? Where do you think that came from? Of course you think its much better to keep the money in your own country so lets have a think about places where there isn't massive industry on the back of foreign investment, shall we? That would be pretty much every third world country going then. Genius.

[@Mikktor]

Here's my thoughts: I would be interested given a few things 1. Availability I live in Europe, and it would be unfortunate if the case turned out to be what I wanted it to be, but I couldn't buy it, without paying exorbitant import fees and what not. 2. Design concerns There are some of the designs of your merch where I really like 50% and don't really like the rest. I like the look of the bar mat for example, but don't like how much of the space the text and logo takes up, but I love the detail of the electronics, being an electronics hobbyist/enthusiast in general. There has been several cases I've looked at, but decided on not buying because I didn't like the logos. I think its valuable to keep logo and brand name subtle for the sake of design, and let the case speak for itself. This definitely can be a matter of opinion. 3. Form factor What form factor are you looking to make this case? As I've understood it will only be one, and I can only imagine it being difficult to make several versions, and probably infeasible. Personally I've looked a lot at smaller cases, and they seem to be gaining a bit of popularity. That's the top 3 things from the top of my head. There's definitely more considerations like thermal performance, but I trust you on the more technical side of things. (copied this to a separate comment so replies can be made easily)

[@mikeschmidt91]

I'm living in Europe, too. So yes, it would be a pitty if you could only purchase it in the U.S. or Canada or if you are able to buy it in Europe, but only by paying a stupid amount of fees.

[@thatboringone7851]

Yeah, I'm all the way out in Australia, so it would suck if it's either unavailable or too expensive due to shipping fees.

[@bek0hmsford]

I wonder if perhaps they could only have one design, but offer several SKU's with/without fans, steel or aluminium, glass or closed side panel.. things like that. If not and they have to simply pick one version they think is the best that's fine too.

[@cs_May0]

I agree with you on the design concerns. I would like the color of the case be able to match any set up. For an example if I had a black theme set up I wouldn’t want a white case with the nexus blue everywhere. I want to buy this case but I want to be able to use the case for any theme I want my set up to be (I change my mind a lot).

[@doomh5056]

+1 for availability im in EU and would very much like to be able to get that case without paying shipment as high as the case prize

[@sayhello203]

late to the party on this, but so long as the case is independently reviewed by your peers I would have no issue from an ethical stand point. Transparency is key and you seem to have nailed that. Partnerships such as this succeed in many industries, some in more ethical ways than others. Tiger Woods name on the latest bridgestone golf ball comes to mind, admittedly he probably only had a hand in testing, but it is independently reviewed as a very good product. Totally get the hesitation around using your name but based on your abilities I feel you could guide a manufacturer to make more consumer focused design decisions. I work in design engineering, and good feedback from sources like yourselves would hold a lot of weight in these design decisions. Good luck, I hope this comes through for you guys

[@felixuribe8367]

The only things I’d like to see are a nice mesh front and enough space behind the motherboard to easily cable manage even for beginners

[@marcoguglielmi7573]

I think the case should represent the philosophy GN adopts when they review a case and that can be referred to as functionality. I think that all the design effort should be directed towards better thermal performance and broader compatibility. So I would like an extremely fine mesh front, at least a full inch for cable management behind the mobo tray, a perforated PSU shroud with the possibility to mount 120s/140s, some kind of modular design for the SSD trays in order to mount them in different locations, the entire case must be lifted by one-inch feet in order to give the PSU some space to breathe. Final and unpopular one: I would prefer a cheaper case without fans than a more expensive one with crappy 3-pin fans

[@zachdurocher1166]

Meshify C

[@marcoguglielmi7573]

@@zachdurocher1166 no, the Meshify C has a dust filter behind a pretty thick mesh layer, thermal performance is sub-par, it includes two low-quality fans (I think they are 3-pin but I'm not sure) and it costs around 110 euros where I live, which is far too much for such a case

[@zachdurocher1166]

@@marcoguglielmi7573 for that price it definitely isn't worth it. I picked mine up for around $90 US, and it's on sale at Newegg for $70 right now.

[@brenlouissurio2404]

So like a lot of the cases now? He needs to bring something new other than that. Because every case that performed well in his reviews are like that.

[@zachdurocher1166]

If it's cooler and quieter than other cases, and it looks like a professional box, I'll use it

[@paulocamacho3349]

And compact....

[@Aleph-Noll]

@@paulocamacho3349 compact isnt really a big deal breaker for most people, especially since it would reduce cooling capabilities

[@qkNorris]

This, please make it look like I'd find it in an office space - but with a optional glass side panel. Minimalism with high functionality is a fantastic vibe.

[@LuxmasterCZ]

I was in market for a case roughly year ago, and if I learned one thing: its a world of trade-offs, and thats even before money starts to play a role. It seems every case has something right and something wrong with it, and theres no silver bullet. Usually the wrongs arent necesarry by unique design, but feel like forgotten aspects. This could change it. You are so well educated, and your only commitment is to honor. There could, for what seems like a first time, be a case designed to best of its potential, where customer could actually be sure of the level of meticulousness that went into its design. I know there are probably many downsides that I, as a consumer only, dont even get to think about, but if you can pull your name off of it anytime, I need no other reassurance that it would either be the best case with GN logo on it, or just another generic case without it. As for me (and hopefully for others who dont even know you): ZOMGF YES PLEASE

[@ParisPanagiotopoulos]

I think it would be great idea to go forward and make a case with a manufacturer who is know for good quality cases. I trust you guys at being scientific/perfectionist/practical enough to get a good handle on things. I would not shy away from this. From other reviewers who have produced their own products I can say that it clearly comes down to how much true to themselves they are. For example unbox therapy made the "latercase" for phones, a minimalist carbon fiber case that is a case for people who do not like phone cases. It ended up being a great product, and they keep making new ones for new phones. The only thing that would concern me on a GN case would be excessive branding with GN logos etc. I care more about the charts and the methodology than the logos.

[@twoleftshoes6493]

There are thousands of cases out there with thousands of nuisances, and it is extremely difficult to find the right mesh of all of the features you would want. From watching your videos it is obvious that you have the critical mind required to make something truly wonderful. I have FULL trust in the fact that if you made a case I would never sit there and think, "Hey why in all hell would they have done that?" The amount of hesitance that you have is a telltale sign that you have THOUGHT THIS OUT, something that many billion dollar companies could not say for themselves. Some people call you over critical, but that is the most important trait someone could ever have when designing consumer hardware. I believe that you and your team could design the PC case of a generation.

[@FortuneSeek3rz]

I've built in 10 different cases and the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M SE is the best case mid tower on the market. Period. It would be extremely difficult to build a more versatile and more functional tower than that. It also looks good.

[@TheDrewker]

@@FortuneSeek3rz I've built in a lot of cases too, definitely agree that Phanteks knows how to make a highly functional case. I built my friend's first gaming PC for him in a Phanteks Eclipse (can't remember exactly which size), and it had SEVERAL features that my Thermaltake View71 TG Snow does not, and those features made it a pleasure to build in. I've had this V71 for a couple of years now, tired of having this huge bulky thing on my desk... so I'm gonna convert it _INTO_ the desk. My idea is take it apart, drill out rivets until I can flatten the whole thing like a cardboard box, build the mobo tray, etc. into the desk compartment, then embed the TG panels into the surface. After that, I want to do a mini-ITX build so I can have a teeny tiny desktop PC sitting on the top of my desk PC.

[@sparkymotive]

My first thoughts on a Gamer's Nexus case are sensible materials, clever engineering and thoughtful marketing. This channel is not for everybody, and a GN-designed case should reflect that. The impression I get is that GN doesn't care about sales volume as much as an established reputation for quality in service. What would really break my heart would be too much compromise. Like you say, publish the case and all the data involved and leave it at that.

[@MotoCat91]

Short answer: Yes Long answer: Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees. For the design itself I'd love to see a survey type thing set up to gather community feedback, to get an overall idea of what your subscriber community would go for. Things like whether it's dual chamber, how many HDD spaces are needed, whether it should favour radiators vs air cooling, what kind of cable management systems people prefer, what front panel connectors are preferred, overall size/footprint.. Basically just a general idea of what the GN community likes to help as a guide, but then use your own expertise on things like airflow, ease of use, quality of construction etc. The fact you put out a video talking about ethical concerns at all, shows you are one of the most ethical teams in this business. Given how you've described your own products in the past, how you work with manufacturers to improve things and make it your mission to avoid selling anything you're not happy with - I can only see this being a great end product. All of the testing methodology you use is shown in other videos totally transparently too, more bonus points to ethics for that, but the main thing is it shows direct back to back comparisons with other manufacturers.. No secret testing methods to get an advantage, no fake graphs pulled out of thin air, it's honest and trustworthy and I'm sure everyone here would agree with that too. I look forward to seeing your progress, and especially seeing the behind the scenes aspects of how it all gets done. We've seen different factory tours sure, but not for actual design and prototyping which is where it gets much more interesting in my opinion. One day soon I hope to design my own case too, not ambitious enough to make millions from it or take over market share, but it would be amazing to finally bring my ideas and prior experience into a real product that even just a few people would be excited to buy.

[@TemkaUwU]

Yes yes having the community help in the design would make it so that more of the gn viewers will buy it because it will fit most of their needs.

[@honeyloops]

The idea of GN getting involved in a case design is really exciting. So long as you guys maintain everything you mentioned throughout the video, Steve, i.e. ensuring you are listened to, that you have the kind of executive control that you guys deserve for all kinds of reasons (cite: your expansive content archive, to name just one). Assuming you guys get that, and that you can be a part of creating the case that you want to see release (and that you know the market needs), I'm confident that the end product will be something that could shake up the case market for years to come - at whatever budget band it came in at. The thought of a benchmark product that has been designed by its own target market is awesome, and something that GN fans and yet-to-be fans alike will appreciate. And you know what, if you guys got into it and realised that it's not possible, or that there are factors we don't know about that prevent the "perfect" case from being made - well, you'll create transparent content that exposes that fact and educates us which, again, we will appreciate. Hey, I'll also love seeing it come together from the ground up. From the drawing board to the assembly line. I love that stuff. #HowItsMade

[@extremegf]

Two questions to consider: 1. Would you ever openly recommend a different case over your own if it's objectively better? 2. How can you handle the cost-quality tradeoff? You can make the best case ever for $1100. No one will buy it. You have to make a ton of compromises to hit $120 - it won't be the best. Are you comfortable with that?

[@HAWX4]

Something tells me Steve will do a basic production and cost analysis

[@TheHalfGlassFullGuy]

I'm guessing it's going to be a middle upper range case, based on the standards with which they would hold their brand image, and knowing that producing a cheaper, potentially highly compromised case, may have a negative effect on their reputation.

[@barrrarrrum]

This comment deserves more upvotes because it seems 99% of the comments tell you what you should do or how you should do it, not *IF* you should do it, which I believe was the point of the whole video. Both questions are good and relevant, and I'd like to add to #1 - how would it affect every future case review ? Like imagine Lian Li making a review of a NZXT case (random picks)...

[@RemizZ]

Since the volume of the product (at least the branded versions) would be fairly "low" I'd assume, realistically, it would cost around $200-$250 and that would still be okay for an enthusiast case if it performs amazing.

[@NaterNorris]

I've seen a lot of 120 dollar cases that were quite nice. I don't see a quality price issue as long as it's not overkill

[@lorddwar]

The simple fact you are so concerned about how a partnership would be received/viewed mitigates most of the concern I would have. You have earned the trust and faith of your viewers. Go forth and build.

[@Muhsigbokz]

My thoughts about: > General: Yes please, do it! > Transparency: I am astonished by the grade of your concerns, in the most positiv way. You should be doing enough to make everything transparent to avoid any unwanted allegations - by those who listen to you. I can not estimate how much of a problem out of context quotes would be, or people bashing without listening to you. > The content it would generate: It would be a huge asset for the community. Not a lot more to say about it. Who knows when else someting like this could be done. > The pressure: I think that you would be able to deliver appropriatly to your name and brand if given to tools and options. You said which contractual ways of pulling out you would demand and it seems adequate for making sure that you can deleiver something that holds up. > The actual case: Iff you decide to do partner up do design a case, could you possibly make a community poll about the target price of the case? Or do you as GamersNexus think of a price point that you want to hold on to, like premium pricing for a premium case that holds your name? I PERSONALLY would like to see a mid-rangy, 100 bucks case, but I also think that you could be concerned about any compromise you have to take in the design of the case is it is would be an 'imperfection' that could shed bad light onto GamersNexus, no matter how sensible the compromise would be. Also, there are so many interesting ideas in the comments that i would have no idea how to handle it. I PERSONALLY would like to see you breaking some conventions and make a revolutionary (instead of an improved compared to default) case. Mabye to inspire something in the industry, maybe to stand out. > Availability: As an EU/Ger fan, I would beg you to make sure that the case would be available to as many regions as possible (w/o shipping costs exceeding the case cost). From time to time, you show some interesting production not available to me (to the best of my market search) excluding the option to import it myself which would often be a hastle exceeding settling for another product. On that note: do you have statistics you can and want to share about where your fans reside?

[@spadeykins9114]

I would instantly trust any product produced by you guys. Your videos show dedication and create trust with the public.

[@MafiaboysWorld]

Okay, here's my breakdown in the same order here: *Negatives:* 1. General Ethics - Do you want to deal with people who have shady pasts? (ie. MSI the past year) 2. Journalism Ethics - Remove yourself and allow all other reviewers from Jay to Joe to Roman to Aussie Steve to test it. 3. Get-out clause - Exactly as you said Steve, if it's junk, give them a Bye Felicia and move on. 😎👍 *Positives:* 1. Knowledge - Your experience and expertise in case reviews would help in the design. Maybe you guys can reinvent the wheel when it comes to case thermals. 2. Price - With this expertise, you can either market the case to a higher range of clientele, or the budget gamer. The choice is yours. 3. Specifications/Design - Working out your perfect number/location of I/O's, how much airflow, what form factors, how many fans come pre-installed, etc. Hopefully all this information is helpful Steve and the whole GN team. All I know is I'll line up for one at the end of the day. 😎👍

[@GamersNexus]

rofl at the "Bye Felicia" clause. Maybe that's what we'll title it. Thank you for your well thought-out input and feedback. We really appreciate the time you took to write that and will be considering each point!

[@Earthishome]

@@GamersNexus I am cool with this whole process as OP said here send to other reviewers let them review it.. show the whole process to get it all done as well as your benchmark testing with it.. As this is your name then I would also have the quick BAIL option in your contract.. I would by a case of design from you as would many others if you have it clear in the contract they cant use the name if it does not meet your standards ..

[@droppingpins6244]

The only issue I have with note 2 is that GN is the only one with access to the test bench. That test bench is a control, and for the testing to have any valid comparison value, it cannot be changed. I think Steve's peers should be more than welcome to witness GN's testing and verify it is done properly, but if they test it individually, those results would not make for an apples to apples comparison. Just my thoughts.

[@joaoascenso5798]

4. Consider change the idea from "We are making a case" to "we will learn how to make a case while making a case". 5. Consider not direct gain with sales, only with video content of all process, and them you can review it as a normal case.

[@Phoenix_Core]

​@@GamersNexus please, don't include fans. Let us choose the fans we want. DO IT! Make it useful for both custom loop but would be amazing for air cooled (outperform the competition Steve, we know you know how) and with EASY wire hiding. I use an 011 dynamic now. love it, but I still have complaints. If you can prove yours is better or as good as an 011, my next two builds will use your case. please for the love, make the branding optionally very subtle. I don't think most people want a giant MSI or whoever, logo on the front of their case, or even on the inside. I love the way how the 011 is branded, very subtle, this is NOT sarcasm.

[@awoo56]

I have two related questions: 1. What niche in the current space of cases available on the market would you plan to fill? I'm thinking that there are already some pretty good airflow ATX cases out there (e.g Lian Li and Phanteks have a couple), there are cases with heavy water cooling support (PC O11 Dynamic and others) and these are just two examples. What space would a GN design case fill in what appears to be a fairly crowded market? Second question is similar to the first: 2. Do you (all) at GN currently see a particular aspect of current case design that is clearly lacking and is yet to be addressed by case manufacturers and would you attempt to make a case which addresses this (or these) aspect(s)? You guys would almost certainly make a good case. I only worry that people will expect it to be the best at all aspects of what makes a case good, which may or may not be reasonable

[@angusmelville3157]

Yeah, the market somewhat wants a small case that can fit an rtx 3090 and 2 360mm radiators and ambient temperatures on all components, I guess it's all in the marketing cause the a lot of pc stuff screams snake oil. It's a good component but not what the marketing team thinks

[@munoobinater403]

I was thinking this too, you worded it perfectly!

[@thelegendaryklobb2879]

My thoughts exactly. It would be very sad that people overhype what would probably be a very good product but not perfect, and then feel disappointed

[@samhillebrand]

#2 is a valid point but people have to realize (and I think most true enthusiasts know this) that there is no case that is a 10 out of 10 in all aspects. It's impossible, both thermally and mechanically. That's why people have to decide what factors are most important to them, what target they are trying to hit, and buy a case that most closely fills that need. But it is possible to design a case that hit's a lot of the most common use cases and implements the features that it is designed with, really well. Personally, I would just be happy knowing that everything that is designed into the case was thought out really well which you know it would be in this scenario. That alone will make it better than MANY other competing products where it seems like the designers just completely missed the target on one or more features.

[@unclefisto6178]

Considering how throughly Steve reviews other people's cases regarding noise, thermals, and airflow, taking note of all of these points may help to avoid making the mistakes of other case manufacturers. I'd wager that a GN case would probably the closest thing to perfection because I doubt it'd get released until Steve is satisfied with it. Doesn't matter how long it takes to get to market, how long it takes to make the case that's worthy of GN, because it'd be worth every cent we the consumers could throw at it.

[@dragbag1616]

Star Citizen: the case? Being too perfectionist can also harm the product.

[@zeke7515]

@@dragbag1616 Other than the release date. What has been harmed?

[@joejoiner5077]

@@zeke7515 consumer trust and confidence.

[@espertalhao041]

The problem with a perfect case is that it costs more (for the end user) than an "OK" case.

[@zeke7515]

​@@espertalhao041 That's the point right? It's not gonna just be "OK". I would completely expect to pay more than average for a better than average case.

[@Neeyogames]

We desperately need a case in chocolate brown and beige Noctua colours so that we can make a build that doesn't ruin the colour scheme when we install their fans.

[@silentstrike123]

Rofl this actually a very good idea

[@Moon___man]

Just make sure you don't pull a Homer when he designed his car. Simple is good

[@HoneyBadgerVideos]

Highly doubt you have to tell him X)

[@fremenondesand3896]

I want fins on the case

[@ActionPhilip]

I fully support a case that keeps me in a separate bubble from my children.

[@WarrenGarabrandt]

I would buy the Homer car, if it were electric.

[@ThatLaloBoy]

Add a cupholder to the case! Those large ones that can fit a Super Double Gulp from 7-eleven.

[@IanSinclair77]

Thank you for being transparent with this and asking for feedback and thoughts. A few risks/benefits that came to mind (mostly risks, because the upside is an awesome case, happy customers and happy GN) 1. Purely from a business perspective - what is the best that could happen with this? If it goes well, would you be wanting to do it again (v2.0)? What then? or is this meant to be a once-off? 2. If the case does well and the relationship with the manufacturer is positive - as fair as you may be in the future, even to the point of possibly being overly critical to that manufacturer, this will have introduced another factor - even if purely in the minds of the competing brands and possibly some viewers. 3. As a conflict of interest matter: How likely will other brands be to send you their latest case if they think/know you are partnering with a competitor (now or in the future). What would the impact be on GN if case manufactures didn't want to work with you anymore? Would you fund everything yourself? Would you buy cases from the brand you previously had worked with as well just to keep it "fair"? 4. Opportunity Cost: what will you be giving up to be able to have the time/resources to do this? What will be de-prioritised and whats the impact of that? 5. Opportunity Risk: what might come up in the next 6-12 months that you would not be able to do or take advantage of? 6. Your Brand: if a case is on shelves with a GN logo on it - that's a lot of new exposure (potentially). There is an upside - but also the risk of your brand being tarnished if the case has issues, a last-minute change, QA issues, etc. 7. GN Bundle: If all goes well, and people are buying a GN case, it would be a heck of a good time to make sure they had a GN mod mat to work on for their build :) 8. SWOT/DAIR: Possibly put this through a SWOT analysis or a DAIR/RAID review. (Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats & Dependencies Assumptions Issues Risks) From where I sit, the biggest risk I would be worried about is the ethical/conflict of interest angle. By acknowledging that upfront, you've considerably reduced the initial perception element of it. People are more likely to accept and embrace changes when they feel their voices have been heard and that the process is fair. Genuinely don't think you could have approached this any better. You're off to a great start.

[@TechyBen]

Yeah, perhaps the best go between is for GN to make a single prototype, and leave it at that. Less risk, less pressure (as no requirement for end product) and hopefully the usual GN funding/return they get. I don't know if launching a full case product would be economically sensible for the company. They do make great products (their mats etc!) but this is an entire another level, and would need different focus, and possibly risk their exiting work too.

[@Kageoni]

Im so glad I read the comments before posting, you covered all points I was about to write! +1

[@michaellejman6410]

As an engineer I say you do it, you don't get to create the stuff you love very often and let other people enjoy it too. The openness and forthcoming you are already showing is enough for me to keep trusting your channel.

[@GonzaloLombardi]

Thank you very much for having the opinion of your viewers on such high regard. Based on the level of scrutiny shown on every video, I would personally trust a product of your approval. On another note, based on my experience in manufacturing, it would be nearly impossible (and probably not as profitable) to build cases on your own as these operations are huge and quite painful to work with (safety, quality, supplier quality, production, process, r&d). I personally gave up on manufacturing (it is a pain in the neck) and came back to the US to further my studies in technology. If you partner up with a company that is already doing it and you feel comfortable with putting your name on it, go for it! I think a lot of members in the community would trust it.

[@ugzz]

The simplest way to convey my opinion: If this were a kickstarter, i'd back it.

[@wyrmd1]

This is it. Make a Kickstarter, and gauge support based on its success!

[@ashakir85]

ditto, at least this way we know we are getting a good case that can be trusted inside and out.

[@boy638]

Even if they collected a million bucks, I doubt it's still sufficient. Because it requires constant stream of money to maintain such a huge endeavor.

[@jaygee8566]

@@boy638 And also a lot of time investment, contacts, intangibles, etc. I imagine if there's even a 1% chance of failure, Steve and crew wouldn't want to risk taking people's money and leaving them with nothing. And the odds of failure are probably somewhere in the range of high-single-to-low-double-digits for such a KS. (and if it were anyone else, it would probably be much higher!)

[@TheCollectiveGenius]

“Can we do what we ask everyone else to do?” This is the real spirit that I’d love to see. I’d love to see the business empathy growth that your future reviews might gain by going through this process, wherever it ends. With your experience I’d love to see you strike for the goal of “Can a perfectly performing case be made and at what (business) cost?”

[@tysonbrochu1]

I think the actual question that you were dancing around, is whether "fans" feel it ok for you to trade your reputational value on the line to sell us something. I believe your motivation is not on the financial sales side, but rather that it would be awesome to design your own case, and this project would give you the opportunity to do so. I think the latter answers your question. You want to design something because you believe you can do it, you know your stuff and would have fun doing it. Your fans also believe you can do it, believe you know your stuff, and would have fun watching you do it. So yes, go ahead and do this! Suggestions: 1. Have the case include fans and a controller. I am sure your designs will be highly focused on airflow and noise, so have it cost more and include the proper fans from the get go. Don't let people bugger the designs by putting in the incorrect fans in after. 2. Call the model number the " S. Burke Esq. " because case model numbers are almost as bad as monitors!

[@MP-ij8wo]

Upvoted for whole comment, but mostly for the model number:)

[@bosi9106]

I agree with pretty much every point here. My first though when clicking on this video was "Hell yes, please do it!". The risk of loosing that (deserved) reputation is definitelly there, but with things like the opportunity of backing out if this isnt working, as mentioned in the video, I believe that if this works out, the end product will be a case that will be a top performer in regards to airflow and also noise. The experience that GM brings to such a table is priceless. In regards to the Suggestions: 1. Im torn there between either going with no included fans at all or include the "perfect" fans from the get go. But in no way I would go with something in between. It kind of depends on what kind of fans they can get to be preinstalled. Also maybe make an rgb and a non rgb version if that is possible, becuase you know.. some people do love their bling. If there is only one variant, one group will be happy, while the other one will end up having paid extra for fans they dont need. If fans are included though, the controller is a must. 2. yes please XD My own suggestions: 3. Price shouldn't be too much of a limiting factor. I dont like wasting my hard earned money, of course, but if i know that i get sometthing better for paying more, i have no problem with that. I think the goal with this case shouldnt be making a case that is affordable but does its job pretty good but a case that does a great job, even though that makes it a bit more pricy. 4. Sidewindow for obv reasons 5. There should at least be a black and a white version. next priority should be something neutral like silver. If there are any not "grayscale" options, so anything like the PCIe slot covers having a GN blue colour or whatever, anything with colour should be optional/removable. I like a white/blue colour scheme, but others like black/red or whatever. if theres a green accent in the case for example, that messes with that. I know this is purely aesthetic but still, when im in the market for a case the looks are at least somewhat important to me.

[@theodorthiele]

@@bosi9106 I agree on all points except the fan stuff. At least I would prefer an option without fans. I wouldn't want to spend extra on a case because it already has decent fans. I have my own fans, and I have preferred fans, and in any scenario other than it having what I want, I'd want to replace them. I guess other people feel the same, but with different fans. Some people just want best temp/noise/price ratio (which is what I would guess GN would go for), some people want the Noctua brown, some people can't live without RGB fans, etc. Some want every single fan slot filled even if it doesn't ad much performance, some are gonna install radiators, other are not. I think it's really hard making a stock fan config that'll make everyone happy. But since GN have a lot of emphasis in their case reviews on out-of-the-box performance I would expect them to run with your suggestion ;) I'll just hand down the fans to someone else in that case.

[@metacob]

@@theodorthiele I agree. Personally I don't need RGB, I already have fans that I'd like to use again in my next case. Other people maybe want to have the same model of fan in their case and on their CPU. What may be tougher is the question of having enough space for 5.25" and 3.5" things in the front, or just make the case shorter and so on. Now that I think about it, I wonder if this project will end up drowning in bike shed discussions and people just arguing for their own use case.

[@theodorthiele]

@@metacob Well I don't think 5.25" bays are relevant anymore, or at least not something that's desired for the vast majority of people. But yes, of course there's a risk of a lot of weird specific wishes coming in. But from the comments I've seen, a lot of people are considering not just what would be ideal for themselves, but also general stuff that would make sense. Something like having a single or two 3.5" drive tray somewhere in the case for example I believe strikes a nice balance of not taking too much space compared to a cage, but also allowing people that's don't only do M.2s and 2.5" drives to put in some more storage. I would personally prefer not wasting the space, but I get that some people still like spinning rust for various reasons. I also think that logic can be applied to the general size, radiator compatibility, etc. Something that strikes a nice balance of e.g. allowing most hardware to fit, having enough space to do a custom loop, but not going so much over size that a "regular" air cooled build looks silly.

[@westleybezzant2292]

You are very pragmatic and, I dare say, overly cautious. I personally feel that, with your knowledge, influence, and personal goals, you have an opportunity to really benefit us. You review things to help us make educated decisions about what we purchase. You help us avoid pitfalls and learn along the way; now, you have a great opportunity to directly give us something great. I think, at this point, you have a responsibility to do what you believe is best for the community, even if it does have some risks associated with it. To answer your question at the end, I think I speak for the community when I say, we trust you - regardless of the backing company. We know that you will do what you feel is best and we support that. Go for it!

[@jacobszymczak9323]

This got super long without realizing it so here’s a Tl;Dr: This sounds like ti could be a great opportunity as long as you have a strong hand in the design and testing and deliver the product people would expect from a Gamers Nexus PC case, from the most thorough and tough case reviewers around. Get it right and it could be a huge opportunity to do more stuff like this in the future, get it wrong (the company does a more cut and paste job of a standard case with minor changes, slaps GN on it and raises the price) and you could be burned forever. Do what you want to do on it and make sure you have a legal way to “say goodbye” if the company tries to burn you or not listen to your input for whatever reason. Don't end up as another person/brand with a special edition product that is anything but a cash grab. You know what you want out of this, go for it, and the community will be here to support you. I think this opportunity sounds really interesting and could be a good opportunity to "help" the PC Case Market that you have reviewed so much and know so many strengths and weaknesses with actually learn something about blending aesthetics and functionality. I bet most people heavy in the review “industry” sometimes wish that they could just “fix” a continued issue. That said, here are a few personal observations about you and this project. 1 This seems like it would be a very hands on project to design the case your way. This is huge. Too many people that have had some type of product get their “brand” on it for a version is just a cut and paste of an existing product with minor changes and their named slapped on it. GN has built up such a reputation as extremely thorough testing and analysis, being able to keep this by being a large part of the design and testing to deliver the same quality of a product you expect based on your reviews and knowledge would be key to this and any future products like this. That “get out” clause would be huge as well because it will help with this as well. If the company tries to be “yes men” and just ignores your input for a cut and paste job being able to disassociate with them in an official way beyond just saying “they didn’t listen to us” and trusting people to just accept that (because we all know some won’t and they would probably be some of the loudest voices). 2 You sound very interested in doing something like this and it could be a huge “in” to the industry on the design and development side if done right. Based on the Modmat and other merch sales I wouldn’t worry too much about your fans not buying it (unless it’s a ludicrous price but still many would buy it) but somewhat back to point 1, too many might buy it and if your involvement was ignored or it ends up “like another bad case you already review” it could turn people off of any future GN collab products because people would think “they are just like everyone else and it’ll be the same thing” like with the AMD bike. Same bike, different name, different price. If they got it more “right” there would be a much higher likelihood of people buying another product “collab” outside of their main industry. 3 This could be a huge risk that only YOU can decide. It sounds like as mentioned in the video and my observations above, that you plan to do everything possible to get the product “right” and built how you want it done. As long as you think you would be able to do this, either on your side or the company you would be working with seems like they want to “play ball” with you on it, there should be no issue, with the fans at least, of the possibility of a second collab type deal in the same vain as this would be. Get it wrong somehow and it will take a lot for the diehard fans to “forgive” you and try your product again (assuming it would be marketed on how much personal involvement you do). I almost think you getting it “right” and proving it with your standard case review, even if you can’t call it a “review” since its yours, would be the most important factor, even over some of the transparency in manufacturing at least. Lest people know exactly what part you played in the whole, what you wanted done with it, and prove you delivered on what you said you wanted it to be. A case by GN is sure to be reviewed by the other tech KZbinrs probably whether they usually do case reviews or not simply because its from you and you are notorious for being thorough and tough on your case reviews so expect them to do the same (to the limit of their powers) back to it. So long as you are ready for that and deliver a quality product, no worries.

[@GamersNexus]

Thank you for writing all of this, Jacob. Really appreciate it -- this is exactly the type of thinking we were looking for. It's a lot to consider. I read all of your post -- thanks! ^SB

[@ACE112ACE112]

Definitely agree with the last part.

[@Fudge01010]

I think the fact that you're so worried about the ethics and transparency shows how much you truly care about the community, your integrity, and your image. It's enough to remove any qualms I had about honesty and integrity in relation to your brand, if you went and designed the case. I would absolutely jump on a case that GN had their hand in designing. To be honest, the incredible amount of BTS content that we'd be able to get (previously unavailable to the layman) is the thing I'd be most excited about. As a few others have said, my only worry would be how this endeavour (if it went ahead) affected your future reviews of the company's other products. If it went poorly or was poorly received, would you be neutral enough to not slam them on other products if they were genuinely good? If it went excellently, would you refrain from "going easy" on them because they'd made a great case with you in the past? (I believe the answers to both of these are without a doubt yes, but they are my only concerns in relation to the matter). This is a pretty rare opportunity, and as you said - gives you a chance to flex your knowledge and experience in the area, and demonstrate to other companies that you really do know what you're doing, and maybe as a whole the feedback you give on peoples products would be taken more seriously - resulting in better products across the board? Seems like a win win to me. Go for it!

[@howarc13]

Gamers Nexus is so trustworthy, I'd trust a review they would do of a product they personally manufacture lol

[@deadly_dave]

Me too.

[@Ollay245]

yeah same, cause you know if it's bad they're not gonna fudge the figures!

[@shadowpoetrk]

I thought the cat reviewed their products.

[@thewirv]

I agree

[@nicholashartmann4525]

Remove the lol then I agree with you!

[@thomasmeister8476]

Dear Steve and Team: First: Thank you for letting us participate in your thoughts and asking our opinion so early in the process! Personally I have no doubt whatsoever about your integrity, even reviewing (benchmarking/testing whatever you need to call it) your own product, because a) the amount of background and transparency on methodology you always provide b) the thoroughness of you testing methodology overall c) I just trust you and your work. Also, I know several (tech skilled) people personally that think alike For me, an ideal case has loads of airflow (like in I'm using Noctua NF-A14 iPPC-3000 PWM fans usually for all my builds, replacing all the crap that comes with case / AIO), mainly because there are no 200mm high rpm fans (or cases) in sight, also they can insanely throttle down to 700 rpm range or make a storm as needed), can mount at least 1 420mm heatsink (I'd do 4 * 140 or 3 * 200 fans if I had the opportunity) front with enough space to mount the sink AND the fans inside (pull) even with really a long graphics card, as this is ideal for acoustics IMHO (plus one top ideally) plus is versatile enough to mount at least 6 (better 8) 3 1/2" HDs (if not gaming PC but server-like build) as an option (looking at more than one Be!Q... 801 in my room, without the front panel) and at least big tower sized (maybe even longer front to back ). Not caring about RGB whatsoever, but then GN logo(s) that lights up would be cool as anything. What an awesome ride this will be! P.S: Sorry for any spelling, wording and such, non native speaker here PPS: If you do this PLEASE make sure I can buy it in E.U . PPPS: I personally would go with a down payment while you are still developing (kick-starter like) any time, if that's a feasible approach for you, dunno if you want that or how many people would go with that

[@noxious89123]

I dont see the need for a kickstarter style development if he's working with a large existing case manufacturer. It also has too much potential for disappointment; like Steve said, if the product doesn't go in the direction he wants he may have to completely pull out.

[@thomasmeister8476]

@@noxious89123 Good point, got a bit carried away, I guess

[@ryanwojda5185]

If I see a case with "Gamers Nexus" slapped on the label, I'm going to assume it has kick-ass airflow. I think that's the sort of expectation the majority of your viewers would have as well. I guess what I'm saying is, do you think your product can live up to that? If so, I say go for it.

[@Ravic]

Side panel intake fan directed towards the GPU, a forgotten feature from most case manufacturers that can easily improve thermals.

[@invertMASA]

Yes! I remember my original cooler master HAF 932 Advanced case with 4 120mm fans on the side and how awesome that was.

[@jeffjungers2034]

Forget a side panel. Make the whole side a fan.

[@bandario]

@@jeffjungers2034 Again, a HAF case. The HAF XB EVO is one ugly son of a bitch but with the 200mm fan on top and a 280mm rad on pull at the front...I've never had anything else come close for thermals. I'd pay big bucks for a slightly downsized and modernised version of the HAF XB. Literally perfect functionally but with a face and form factor only a mother could love.

[@shrekflies3773]

Hey ravic

[@Bangpath247]

using one right now, old antec thing. came in handy as when I bought the Gigabyte 5700xt I didnt realize it idles without its fans on. (freaked my out a bit while I was in bios the first time and it was just sitting there getting hot) so now with the side fan the GPU stays fans off most of the time during light use. the side case fan is much quieter than the 3 gpu fans.

[@anon7692]

RE: Conflicts of interest, my concerns wouldn't necessarily be with the coverage of the case itself, but moreso with GN coverage of other products released by that company in the development lifecycle of the GN case. As (presumably) you wouldn't be able to reveal the company name before the case launch, and you might subconciously give that company better reviews in order to keep your working relationship as friendly as possible and not step on any toes while you're trying to get your case developed. A couple of workarounds to this issue are: You just don't review any of that company's product before the case is launched (I think this is impractical). You manage to get the company's approval to share their name publicly, and add a disclosure section to your videos on their products (Ideal solution, but relies on company agreement).

[@KvotheLamora]

In my opinion GN would be at least somewhat insulated from this because their reviews are data driven.

[@LaserHuset]

@@KvotheLamora true but you can show the same data as either good or bad, and you can limit the amount of context that you give in relation to said data making it seem less bad than it actually is I do agree with you that it is unlikely that GN would change anything out right but I also agree with OP that we do a lot of shit subconsciously and sometimes we do trades with other people without their knowledge GN could for instance not mention the company they are working with in HN if it's bad and then use the lack off bad press as a bargaining chip in order to push through a piece of the case design, it happens weekly in the larger news world that people gets paid off and stories gets suppressed As mentioned I hold GN above the standards of the general media so I don't see it happening, but if it did we would never know and there would be little to no way to find out

[@lio1234234]

That’s probably why he hasn’t told his employees what company they are working with. I think he may have thought about this situation already!

[@anterogpsilva]

I think this is a great opportunity for you guys, I think I speak for most of the community when I say that we will believe your analysis of the product and will not consider that you are ‘selling’ the product. You guys have high credibility and we support you!

[@mattskousen8977]

If I saw that GN made a post and said “we made a case” and the design looked clean (no gaudy oversized logos,) fit an ATX mobo, I would add to cart on the spot. A review wouldn’t even be necessary, if you primarily designed it, and it stacks up to the GN standards. No one would question if it was a good performing case if it has the GN stamp of approval. I can understand concerns of QC. Price point would be a major factor as well. I personally would have a hard time spending more then 130$ on a case because there’s so many good cases out for well under that. Steve I can tell you’re hesitant and anxious trusting a company to fulfill your wishes but in the companies eyes that’s probably a daunting task! I would love a Gn case but you have set a high standard for yourself because of your other case reviews.

[@Pseudotaxus34]

+1 to the no gaudy logos. I associate GN with professional, accurate, mature reviews. Over the top "GAMER" aesthetics would not mesh well.

[@danw5476]

@@Pseudotaxus34 you know it’s going to ‘mesh’

[@Xamy-]

130 USD?

[@gheetza14]

@The Gooses Nooses +1, I've been looking for a case with 140s all over the place

[@4thKJU]

Steve: I've been a part of almost every single industry, currently residing in medical, and can say with conviction that you can never give a true review or have an educated opinion until you have actually been a part of every step of the process. If you remain true to form then I believe you could genuinely create exactly what you believe in. That will mean different things to the different buyers, but to me I would be firmly convinced that whatever you could true-to-form create would rival anything Ive ever considered. Design only what you love, and the passion will show - knowing you, I expect...no, I demand a case that rivals the quality of brand you have built. Knowing you, I'll look forward to my new case, but if you feel it's not right, we stand with you in a decision to back down. Good luck, and goodnight. Also my bar mat is kickass, thank you!

[@theodorthiele]

Really important point. Reviews of all other cases after the process will be better and more educated, you might be able to understand some of the compromises manufacturers have made, etc.

[@UncannyPally]

My first thought was, selfishly, "I'd love to have a case designed by GN." As you cited, the example of der8auer working with Lian Li produced the immaculate PC-O11 series, so I have good reason to believe anything that you were instrumental in designing would turn out similarly positive and provide a great product for the PC building community. I think the ethics concerns would be greater if it were anyone but GN, as you have repeatedly over the years demonstrated your dedication to transparency, independent proof-based verification, and calling out shady practices in the industry. Personally, I think you should do it, and prove that it's possible to make the case that you really want to see at scale.

[@luckysingh-lh4hf]

"u see yourself live long enough to be the villain"

[@officerminiwheats]

@lucky singh that's not the quote

[@JM-yd7rq]

The Lian Li PC-011 seems more about putting a PC on display rather than being the ideal case. I guess thats because "the ideal case" is different things to different people. Most want good airflow. Good ergonomics and ease of assembly are also valued by most. Case size is something that people may not agree on. Some want a big case with lots of drive mounting options, cooling options, etc. Others want a compact case (but still with good airflow).

[@luckysingh-lh4hf]

@@officerminiwheats okay mr. Uptight. Alison Tourville is this wat u wanted? ???????????

[@sabershadow587]

Hi Steve! I think this is a wonderful opportunity for you and the company you are in talks with. This allows you, and your brand, to "put your money where your mouth is" about what makes a great/"perfect" PC case. This also allows the company to show their desire to provide meaningful effort to give the community what they want. Naturally the ethical concern is important, and I think the fact you're making that the top priority to clarify/settle before you even consider moving forward with the partnership is in of itself a massive relief for those concerns, since your willingness to present that as the major dealmaker/breaker means you respect us. With that said, I think this opportunity is exactly what you and your colleagues need to show your desire to push the industry standard for PC cases to a new level, and open up more opportunity for critics of hardware to have direct lines of communication to make improvements for everyone's benefit. In regards to your review ethics, I think a demonstration and technical breakdown to show what your design decisions yielded in terms of benefits for your key benchmarks is a perfectly fine middle ground of 'unbiased review' and 'not touching it because I made it'. Additionally, sending the case to a handful of respected peers in the industry to do reviews in your stead seems like a no-brainer and a great PR move to show your appreciation for their efforts. In closing, I feel your ideas and expectations for PC cases over the years has been a wonderful voice for a majority of the enthusiast community, and your potential chance to create what you see as the ideal design could set a great tone for future design mentalities across the entire industry. Best of luck, we're all so excited and happy for you!

[@lukeirwin8899]

I'd still trust a GN review of a GN designed case.

[@Zyxion]

No joke. I feel like they'd be their own biggest critics.

[@Maxsupreme125]

So true

[@TheKazragore]

Definitely.

[@gustavokaski]

I'd trust a GN review of a GN review.

[@unvergebeneid]

I trust that they still would give their best effort to be objective but there are biases at work we aren't ourselves aware of, so they are wise not to want to do this.

[@humoudalhajeri6904]

Yes, absolutely. Best Timeline: We get an innovative/revolutionary case that’ll uplift the whole industry’s standards Worst Timeline: We get a highly functional case with great performance.

[@SparkY0]

Worster timeline: We get a GN sticker on a cheap generic case, from a company they suddenly refuse to criticize. So, like, the AMD bike.

[@TedNeeTed]

@@SparkY0 I know it's a joke, but lets be honest, GamersNexus wouldn't even consider selling a case if that's the only option.

[@EliteProductions3129]

@@SparkY0 GN not criticizing a company is outside of reality.

[@qzbnyv]

Or... a worst case... GN ends up in a legal battle over disputed contract terms against a company with orders of magnitude more financial resources than GN has. Steve is switched on and can preemptively identify potential pain points based on his industry expertise, but that’s nothing compared to what a well-resourced firm with lawyers experienced in disputes of this type can do. I think Steve could find himself between a rock and a hard place re: his desire to maintain GN’s transparency and what he is legally obliged to do.

[@triplerfx]

minimalism would be nice, just dont make your logo stand out too much: maybe a laser etching? or embossed like on the nr600

[@RaceboyYT]

TripleR make it a removable sticker

[@frankzhang4245]

how about a magnetic badge, you can choose to remove it

[@blendernoob8993]

@@frankzhang4245 Yessss

[@halcyon1981]

Or a sticker that is removable...

[@jacoavo7875]

Or the way cooler master has a "light up" logo, no text or anything. Could just unplug the led to not see the logo too ! :D

[@drunkestmunkey]

There is nothing wrong with making money on good principles. Creating a great product built on your own experiences and expertise is a fantastic idea so long as you stick to your principles and keep the quality up to the same standards you expect of yourselves. It helps out the PCMR community by bringing a great product to our doorsteps. I would happily give up one review for a great product with benchmarks. You should definitely keep stipulations in so you can pull out if things go south. As long as you stick to your guns, this is bringing a great product to market. Not "selling out". As someone who works behind the scenes in manufacturing the average individual can not easily know what goes into manufacturing even a simple product. I had no real clue until I began working in manufacturing. Partnering with an established manufacturer is really the only feasible way to do it. As long as it's on your terms DO IT FOR THE PCMR!

[@freek0ut935]

Regardless of the concerns or outcome, a documentary style behind the scenes on each step would be super interesting to watch. If you can really push hard on that transparency and get awesome videos out on the process, that would be very entertaining. Honestly, please do it just for the content.

[@GQSmooth00]

I work in an industry where often times the experts on a subject are rarely in the room when decisions are being made and those individuals making the decisions do so with limited knowledge as to the real world implication of their choices. I would recommend that Steve and the crew at Gamers Nexus move forward with a case; I would almost implore it, as regardless of the content that would be created as an added bonus to the community, the core result would be a case that would meet or exceed the needs of the general population and will have an impact on those downstream that utilize your case. As someone that is unable to afford the best and brightest I am often left looking for what will get me along the farthest within the budget I have. A quality case allows my other components to not be stressed any more than they need to be, a proper case leads to less stress on the system, less stress on the system equals less failures, less failures leads me to a place where I do not worry about my next component failure and then potentially to a situation that I can not fix as my budget will not allow it. The collective knowledge of the Gamers Nexus team is something that I would not be able to amass in what free time I have available, but having watched their methodology with an open sense of transparency makes me regard them as experts in their field, and I would hope they think the same. To confine that expertise wouldn't rise to any level of criminality but would be awfully close in my mind. I very much appreciate the internal struggle of Steve his position is sound and based in logic, I would ask that when considering this opportunity to place your mind into a bit of an abstract space, while a Gamers Nexus case will have immediate and positive effects in our space, the long term effects could be even greater. The industry should be challenged at this point, and I believe a GN case would be something that would challenge the industry to look at function as a matter of form and these will have positive real world improvements both immediately and over time.

[@rob_over_9000]

"I work in an industry where often times the experts on a subject are rarely in the room when decisions are being made and those individuals making the decisions do so with limited knowledge as to the real world implication of their choices." Sounds like you work on Earth 😂

[@bitsandbobs1766]

Well said Mathew, sometimes the bigger picture escapes us whilst we try to deal with moral and legal issues. There are finite number of artists and creators in this world and people with exceptional skills and abilities must exercise them for the greater good.

[@saratchandra1989]

Make 2 cases! -One with all the fans preinstalled for GN expert recommended airflow -A slightly cheaper one with no fans for people going AIO/ custom loop/ "I only buy Noctua fans"/ etc.

[@thesorrow312]

Yes. Im in the noctua camp

[@joshmiller7870]

This makes most sense. Statistics show a surprisingly large volume of folks on new egg and sights like that will buy cheaper cases. Then the enthusiasts buy the cool ones because they are not on a restricted budget.

[@Th3_Gael]

I'm in the affordability camp. Less bundled crap I don't need or want and tbh can't afford to waste money on

[@aegidaeon]

pre-installed fans without a pre-installed MB would just save you a few screws and you'd still have to figure out where and how to connect them to your MB - not sure how much that would actually save you. The additional logistics and manpower to offer that could be replaced by a simple diagram I guess...

[@gixxar6]

Have the cases standard with no fans, sell an optional 'recommended fan kit'

[@vencibushy]

You might have a look at what Dave from EEVblog did a while ago. At first he started rebranding a good class multimeters from Brymen(big OEM). People did buy them and they suported Dave. After that he managed to arrange a redesign and upgrade to an existing model with the same manufacturer (Brymen) and it did sell very well. I think this would be the logical path to proceed.

[@hertz6177]

GN possibly making a case, seems like 2020 isn’t all bad 🤷🏻‍♂️ I think either a mid or full sized tower with a mesh front would go down a treat. Got to look at how easy cable management, motherboard comparability, air cooling, fan support etc. 140mm fans are best imo

[@RiceCakeWtf]

Long as if it sucks, you have the balls to point out every way it sucks.

[@TheEchelon]

As an industrial designer here's my input: Before actually designing the product there's a lot of market research and preliminary work to be done: fuzzy front end. Basically find out if there are valid unmet needs. Look at the best cases you've reviewed and try to find out what could be improved and whether it's feasible to implement these improvements. Luckily you already have a lot of data and if there's anyone who'd know, it'd be you guys. Another tip is to make a list of requirements and wishes with all the (measurable) features. Furthermore, for who is the product going to be? etc. If you guys need any more help or input I'd be glad to help.

[@ApogeeSol]

A lot of developers use Kickstarter to determine if there's enough interest in a product, I don't think it's unreasonable, even if not everyone would like that idea.

[@naughtbutme1451]

You will need to market the case. I would say the buyers would be non-enthusiasts (no water cooling or over clocking)

[@chrisbrinzo]

Market research is to find out what the customer wants, not what the customer needs. Take Jeep for example: They sell cheap, "offroad" vehicles that no one ever takes off road. People get fanatical about Jeeps even though they're terribly unsafe, impractical vehicles.

[@eeefeefeffasdf]

@@Gandalf721 but GN is sticking their necks out on the ultimate form and impression this case has on the community. That's a really important distinction and good point that OP makes. Why risk your good will as a reviewer, who is objective, and ethical, if the ultimate reward (new case for community) doesnt live up to the risk? What if they cant do much better than the lancool215, or something like that? Or the case they make ends up being only marginally better, but more expensive because their sunk cost in thorough RnD they had no choice but engage in to protect their reputation? The research has to be done beforehand, to show that there is a need and potential void for them to fill, and that it can be done at their anticipated price point. Otherwise this becomes a very expensive lesson to them on just how hard it is to become a major manufacturer in this industry.

[@brianfox340]

I would watch SO MANY videos on your design process, and would buy the case in a heartbeat.

[@JaibirSethi]

One thing to consider: would the working relationship that develops with the manufacturer in making the case impact your objectivity in reviewing other products from that manufacturer? If yes, how would you deal with it and would the impact on the channel be meaningful?

[@faaaaq]

I dont think there is an issue there, unless you dont trust Steve. I think his reputation overrules that concern. Him shitting on their other products in future reviews won't make them not want to make the GN case anymore as long as it is selling, so he has no incentive to fluff up reviews of their other products.

[@Phreaksy]

Considering he's never shown favouritism or bias towards companies he's partnered with or been sponsored by I don't think there's an issue. GN would not have accepted this offer without that being obvious to them and the company that approached them.

[@TheGauges420]

I dont think that would be an issue. Steve is pretty adamant about how he feels, and I dont believe any amount of business between the 2 would affect his ability to identify problems in other products made by that company.

[@GamersNexus]

Fortunately, we're not worried about that. That was the significance of mentioning the relationship with this company already: We've been through hell and back with them, so they've seen all sides of things (and so have we). I don't see it impacting future relations. We make it a point not to get friendly with companies or reps outside of the YTer community. We do have some options to instill further confidence in that: One we were considering is a potential moratorium on reviews of their products for a time period before launching a product with them, for instance.

[@PabzRoz]

In my opinion build the case. The community that would buy this case know you would build a great case and this is exactly what consumers have been waiting for. I think the decision should come down to how you feel about the company you're working with and the procedures involved. If you feel like they would give you complete control (to an extent) in making the case to your standards and there won't be any issues partnering with the company then by all means I think this is a fantastic idea. In fact I really think this could be a game changer to the industry. If you feel in your gut that you can trust this company to bring your ideas to life then by all means please do it. You more then proved yourself to the community that you care about the products you review and care about the information you put out there. Regardless if I hated the company or not I know if your name was attached to it, I would trust it whole heartedly.

[@kyletaylor28]

If you had never made this video and spelled out all of your concerns and ethics, I would still have assumed all of it to be true because of your history and what you all have provided for us as a community. Thank you for all that you do. Very excited to see where this goes!

[@andrewrobinson3585]

Yes! Go for it! If anybody has input for case design it would be G.N. You're one of the most trusted names in the community for openness and honesty. Nobody has any reason to question your integrity and if you worry any more about it your hair will start falling out.

[@RangerCustom92]

It definitely seems like a "money where your mouth is" moment when it comes to creating an efficient case. I would be looking forward to a case "designed" by GN. Apart from interest in getting a GN case, I am really looking forward to seeing a video reflecting on the process in terms of idealistic v. realistic expectations for the GN PC case along with the justifications for the final version of the product.

[@kingxeiros1818]

Steve's review of the case: "It's not the worst case we've ever reviewed"

[@phantommaggotxxx]

wouldn't it be funny if it ended up under a case he didn't like though? lul

[@MMackey27]

@@phantommaggotxxx that's probably what keeps him up at night debating about whether to go down this rabbit hole. LoL

[@Aleph-Noll]

@@phantommaggotxxx it would be so ironic if it ends up being bad lol

[@jogoseph]

As the old adage goes "If you want something done right, do it yourself." If you have an opportunity to build something better than everything else currently available and you've thought about the transparency/ethical/ownership/branding considerations (which you clearly have), I would say go for it. It's a strong chance to shape the direction of the market (hopefully for the better), which IMO benefits all of us as consumers.

[@nauseous3925]

after GN completes their case and points out everything they done differently Every other case company: "WRITE THAT DOWN!, WRITE THAT DOWN!"

[@Aleph-Noll]

watch corsair do the exact opposite still haha

[@IceBlue2012]

Short answer: yes, go for it. I'd probably buy it and recommend it a lot. Not so short answer: . I've watched the whole video and you absolutely covered every single point I could think of. . Ethics is not just a set of moral rules. Is actually the process of thinking about the implications of what you're doing. Since you've covered it so well, I firmly believe that GN is ready for this. The conflict is acknowledged, accounted for, and minimized by the transparency. . Finally, with your attitude and expertise, you might be able to actually drive some change in the industry. You might influence other companies to put some more thought into their designs and show them that competence and thorough execution is more important than the marketing bs. I look forward to hearing more about it! Great work! The industry need more people like you.

[@shmoaeelshmoaeel8319]

Whatever criticism and deign flaws other cases had, try to perfect them in your case. and also make a instruction manual or a QR code for a video about best air flow layout and AIO placement.

[@GamersNexus]

Very much like the idea of an optimal placement guide. We could do that well.

[@shmoaeelshmoaeel8319]

@@GamersNexus yes your video about the AIO mounting orientation saved my water cooler

[@resn8r]

I feel like we could trust GN to roast themselves/their own case if it wasn't up to scratch, that'd be my opinion both before and after watching this video - yes, do eet!

[@Woody1072003]

Agreed! I trust the integrity of the GN name more then enough to know they won't fudge the numbers. I also would like to know after all these years how a GN designed case would stand up to the competition. If they are able to design a case that they are happy enough to tie their name to i don't see why they couldn't review it and tell us what they would do different. Maybe they had an idea that after it's all said and done they would want to change and for what reason. If the numbers are good and compare I'd buy it just to support GN and I don't even need another case. But GN has my support!!

[@volkswagenginetta]

i like the idea a lot. a lot of reviews you had were "this case would be great if..." now the ifs can be eliminated and the case can be as great as possible. i trust your judgement on how to make the best case possible. best part is people outside just your GN fans would benefit from this.