This case is outta this world! - System76 Nebula49

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System76 is known for their Linux-based laptops and desktops, but today we're checking out their new Nebula49 case! Featuring a sleek, black design with a space-themed front accent, built-in ducting, and a great power button, will Plouffe be impressed or should you get something a bit more down-to-Earth?
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CHAPTERS
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0:00 Who's System76?
0:50 Design impressions
3:40 Checking out the insides + wind tunnel
5:59 Sponsor - MSI
6:18 Building in the case
12:33 Overall thoughts and pricing
13:08 Outro

[@Matt-fo4gg]

That anti-fingerprint finish is amazing, I wish that was on everything, especially Razer laptops or any dark/metallic laptops really.

[@NameName-ll2yx]

😂it’s just moisture evaporating. When the temperature difference is enough between metal and hand, moisture condenses on metal. And for that on aluminium, room temp is enough.

[@scruffy3121]

@@NameName-ll2yx you got it, the surface is probably just not as prone to show the fingerprints (they are still there).

[@GangnamStyle33]

*Screams in Lamborghini*

[@trevorauton2676]

The deposits in the fingerprint solution go somewhere... Soaking it up

[@nathantron]

Props to the company for actually putting proper GPU support on that thing. Now all the sag that scares me is saved.

[@MindstabThrull]

T H I S times some number over nine thousand.

[@CianMcsweeney]

The wind tunnel idea is pretty cool, would be interesting to see how effective it is at reducing temps?

[@Novskyy621]

maybe 1-2°C

[@jonjohnson2844]

They had something very similar on Dell desktops 20 years ago

[@Novskyy621]

@@jonjohnson2844 They still should have it on the most expensive workstations

[@Pr0toPoTaT0]

I'm pissed they didnt include Temps of this compared with a similar build or something.

[@Pr0toPoTaT0]

​@@jonjohnson2844They still do it with some servers.

[@thejobbercrowley7212]

I always appreciate when you all show System 76 products.

[@Aegor1998]

I love it when you guys do videos on Open Source Stuff. Especially open source hardware.

[@soro_pureiya]

Would've been nice to see some temperature reviews. I doubt this will ever be covered on the main channel and this is such a niche case from a small manufactuerer, it'd be difficult to find any reviews of this thing.

[@jimcabezola3051]

What a welcome change from the Las Vegas-style blinky LED cases we normally see on here. Kudos to you and System 76.

[@timvanrooyen]

i miss Emily

[@Segevgab]

Emily who? Those hands were of a man I think 🤔

[@mz1929]

For real I think all the time where they at? Camera shy now?

[@mamaharumi]

​​wtf are you even on about ​@@Segevgab

[@UlyssesM]

​@@mamaharumithe truth

[@UlyssesM]

I miss Anthony

[@parthkapgate]

I think they were trying to separate the airflow for the CPU and GPU to increase the cooling performance.

[@Oscar_Myk]

I think it's a case of wanting to mitigate any airflow issues caused by the design; it's clearly a form-over-function case (nothing wrong with that when there are plenty of other options)

[@nanaki-seto]

ducts in cases especially for workstations were quite common as they act to isolate components so that you could have a full sized 120 mm fan providing air just for the cpu. Then you would have another in a graphics workstation that cooled just the graphics card then 1 more fan would provide airflow for the chipset normally smaller and drawing air in from the remaining case volume provided by the 3rd 120 mm (sometimes 92 mm fan) These cases could be very quiet in some instances. I had a few of them over the years dell made some fantastic air cooled ducted cases for some of their old workstations only issue were you could not install non dell mother boards in them but their cooling was exceptional

[@gags730]

OEM Desktop PCs in the late 90s all had fan ducts for Intel CPUs. It was really common for a few years. I have seen hundreds of them. I used to pick up PCs people threw out and strip them for parts and make working PCs for families that did not have a computer. In the 90s and early 2000s, a lot of people needed a PC and didn't have one or a second one for a teenager.

[@U1TR4F0RCE]

Quite a few elements really show the nature of the case being a diy version of their prebuilt workstation desktops

[@MindfulMusic]

01:19 "Recommanded" made me chuckle.

[@cheesemonkey9638]

Love to see temps on this

[@pahnazd]

This case looks very function focused with little to no frills. Me likey. Me likey a lot.

[@RealGengarTV]

Finally a case review for a case i might actually buy

[@rfitzgerald2004]

I really appreciate a premium aluminium case, this is the best I've seen in several years, really like the look of it!

[@Tsofuable]

That case is ginormous!

[@Queefy]

I love the ability to take the outer shell off.

[@MartinHiggs84]

Doing your own stand offs brings back some memories 😊

[@FLUPHQ-]

I settled on an O11 Mini Air a year ago, but this case looks so clean I might have changed my mind if I were building it now

[@FLUPHQ-]

Never mind... saw the price

[@linuxnext]

awesome that their still showing and supporting linux companies :)

[@FharishAhmedPortfolio]

Merry Christmas everyone!

[@DelticEngine]

The first thing that got me was that you have to lift the entire cover off the case. It's like a case from the 1990's or even earlier! And even then, that way of things did not last long. Maybe that's the idea, though, a kind of old school or retro style case.

[@jayplay8140]

Now *this* is my kind of case

[@johndough1695]

Regarding the observation on the lack of PSU screws, look at the top of the case. There seems to be a full row of screws that are for that purpose.

[@Collin_J]

Yup, HP does (did? I haven't looked at a new one in a long time) the same thing on their workstations

[@skipbreakfast]

Exactly! I was wondering why he's just ignoring the screws that are right in his face.

[@NearCry91]

No. Those are for 2.5 inch drives.

[@jebusw903]

0:18 A big case fan eh? Heh. I see what you might have done there.

[@zed625]

For those wondering, the case is space themed because it's built in Denver, which has a substantial aerospace/rocket industry there. I'm kind of surprised he didn't mention the fact it was made in the US, there's only one other case I know of made in the US and this is by far the best

[@MR-vg7yn]

I like the idea, the wind tunnel is a bit of a throwback, especially BTX, IIRC. One thing you didn't mention (or perhaps I just missed it): The air intake filter on the bottom is screwed in from inside the case. In order to take it out to clean it, you will have to remove the PSU and then unscrew the filter. For that price they could have found a more convenient solution for that. Same goes for the power button: It may have a nice click, but that just looks like a generic off-the-shelf button. At a premium price I would expect a nice button properly integrated into the top. Pricing in general seems a bit weird: Considering the ITX version of this case has all the same base components (air duct for the CPU area, side bracket for intake fans etc, all there) I also don't really see why the ITX version is $199 and the big one shown here is $329. $130 for a size increase just seems hard to justify. Lastly, they charge a $20 premium for a Noctua NH-U12S, if you choose to get it with the case: 95 instead of 75 on Newegg. Same goes for 2 additional BeQuiet 120mm Silent Wings 4: $60 instead of $40. If you want a different "accent strip" for the front, that's another $20. That is pretty harsh overall, IMO. I really like the case, but if you're gonna charge premium for the case itself, at least have the decency to price the accessories fairly.

[@araaraavery]

nice to see more cases that forego rgb and glass panels. I just want a black box with good airflow and decent building fixings/features

[@gs-gsc]

Beautiful

[@Sellstedt]

Damn that looks nice

[@RandarTheBarbarian]

It looks really slick, I like it. The glass panel on my machine right now just kinda exposes the green PCB ram, supermicro workstation board (with forever blinking heartbeat LED), dell GPU, and silver noctua cooler with the standard brown and tan fan, not exactly *A E S T H E T I C*. The rounded corners of this case with the full wrap around panel and accent piece definitely give it a vibe.

[@UrSoMeanBoss]

I really hope GamersNexus tests this case; I'm curious to see what the cooling is like with this atypical design

[@ReaperUnreal]

As someone who has the bad habit of resting my feet on the top of a case, I appreciate the solid top.

[@MisterSixty]

A case that doesn't require everyone in the near vicinity to wear sunglasses. I love it. *Thanks for the video!*

[@deepenigma]

~8:45 Power supply screws usually come with the power supply, IME. Or you can substitute generic case screws, because they're (usually) the same threading. (Or, to put it another way, there is no such thing as dedicated actual "power supply screws".)

[@AdamProws]

Also it looks like there's a whole row of extra screws on the top of the opened case

[@DuyLeNguyen]

Every case I've owned has also come with extra screws for the PSU (they're just standard #6-32 UNC threads anyway so a lot of the time they're labeled as 'PSU & HDD screws' but some manufacturers such as Fractal Design has separate PSU screws that are slightly longer than HDD mounting screws and has a different screw head shape)

[@NearCry91]

@@AdamProws Those are for 2.5 inch drives. They should have mentioned those in the video.

[@fleksimir]

Had a case with a CPU air tunnel 20 years ago, not exactly a new idea, but surely a great idea. Sharkoon Silvation was the case.

[@TrevorJNagy]

interesting case, glad to see it, interested in it for sure. Though not sure it's for me either

[@bobwarpath2395]

This case really feels like an old school design (Circa 90-2005) pc case just with support for modern components.

[@sushionroad4859]

I have to admit that glass side panels have gotten boring in my opinion. I would love a Industry change to mesh or something like that.

[@PantyDropper69]

What about semi see through screens

[@halomika4973]

I'd be down for some industrial grating

[@netherza]

I have a NR200p Max case. I prefer the 'mesh' panel to the glass, besides the obvious cooling benefits.

[@dornvud7564]

The best upgrade that I saw, was see through display as a side panel....

[@luispacheco9936]

i vote chainmail

[@unattributed1641]

This reminds me of what HP used to do with their Unix workstations. They would specifically use shrouds for directing airflow to specific hotspots. But the System 76 case isn't quite as over-engineered as the HP cases.

[@sadmanh0]

What are the odds LTT can do custom System76 deskpads? I quite like their general themes and graphics they do like on their keyboards and PopOS wallpapers.

[@thanhlengoc3805]

I have just thought of a keyboard video that Plouffe could do in collaboration with Riley or Colton (who has experienced with playing piano) I am quite curious if you guys can bring a lot of linear switches together and test for which resembles the weighted feel of a piano key the most. And then blind testing which one is the closest to a piano and which one feel the best to type on. I would love to see it :D

[@DigitalJedi]

I love cases with cooling shrouds like that. When I built my previous system it had one for the CPU heatsink (6900K) and I made one for the GPUs (2x Titan V) so the top card in the SLi pair could get fresh air from the side panel. With my old case I didn't even have a CPU fan. There was just an intake and an exhaust fan at either end of the duct.

[@lucasrem]

6900k, SLi, you run Windows 7 on it ?

[@DigitalJedi]

@lucasrem 7 and later 10 were on the secondary drive, but it was mostly an Arch Linux machine.

[@jolness1]

A 4090FE would fit fine. I think my case has 330mm of clearance and it fits. Snug but fits and thermals are good (mid 60s peak) due to the bottom to top airflow design. Would be curious how this would handle that thermal load with the single exhaust fan

[@notmyfaultthisishappening3795]

I have the nebula36 with 4090 FE and 13600k with a U12A running a single A12x25 fan, and a single A12x25 fan with the noctua spacer mounted to the rear. No intake fan or side fan. GPU stays below 80C at 450W and CPU runs toasty but within spec, ~600W of heat total through 1 exhaust fan. I removed the wind tunnel as well after finding that the CPU fan mounted directly to the heatsink works in conjunction with the GPU flow-through design.

[@aquaventus]

I assume its because this was a first look/impression type of video. But hopefully there will be actual testings done with the case for a review.

[@Collin_J]

Maybe I'm crazy but I appreciate front panel connectors being separate. I usually skip the LEDs

[@def5100]

it would be a very good case if it was made for mass storage, like the fractal define 7 xl, and then it should have a fan tunnel for the HDDs, that would be nice :)

[@kevinhamlett1400]

"Would you look at that, just look at it would ya, would you look at it? "

[@drewmares145]

Missed opportunity with the big case fan comment! I was really expecting an edit of a fan over their face

[@AngryApple]

A nicer Power Button integrated in the top an no text and maybe a silver aluminium option would have made it so much better, this looks like a nice idea that never got over the first prototype state

[@ZenMuff1n]

9:55 When did glass panels and pretty cabling become "old school thinking"? If anything this case reminds me of my old Pentium PC back in the day only in modern standards and materials: the one piece panels, no glass, no cable channels with cables routed through the components, no rgb, the absence of watercooling capability, and even the wind tunnel(we had a shroud, but the idea is the same). I like the case and they clearly put a lot of thought into it, but this is old school, my guy.

[@theeverything_bagel2215]

Cool looking case but would need to see some thermal testing.

[@admiralbosch2851]

if you had the gamers Nexus mod mat you would be able to keep track of all of your screws. 👍

[@Struck0FF]

Finally, great case without useless window

[@AdalbertSchneider_]

4:55 - I love it, lookslike some race car engineer was working on this aswell. Cause I was wondering until today, why nobody did this yet. So yeah, finaly ! 😎👍

[@mattjax16]

I LOVE System_76 for making pop os

[@First-Last_name]

Reminds me of my old Tsunami dream case.

[@MarkSerenadesYou]

Looks a lot like a mac pro tower in terms of design! I imagine this will be popular for workstations.

[@SRG-Learn]

Windows on cases was a mistake. I dig the shroud and the "structure comes from the panels". I'm thinking of a flat open build area that screws to a rigid carcass.

[@blaket5346]

Outta this world! so is the price

[@GugsGunny]

I remember a time when Intel recommended a ducted air intake in the side panel for the CPU to get air from outside case.

[@nathantaylor118]

"Old school thinking, that I have to worry about what it looks like through my side panel." We've come full circle.

[@badebias]

Would you be able to do some more Case reviews? It's rare to see any of these on SC and LTT

[@allenellisdewitt]

I hate glass side panels, this is amazing.

[@e21big]

Love it, I always hate the glass panel fish tank case. I cover my with a matte sticker myself, so I can see the RGB when I want but can also say screw it to the cable management or any dust in the system

[@MindstabThrull]

That case is cool AF. I just wish it supported an internal optical drive because I still have optical media and still occasionally use it (to be fair, it took forever for me to phase out having a floppy drive - 2014 maybe? Yes, I'm old.). Also, if memory serves me right, PSU screws sometimes don't come with cases but do come with the PSU.

[@cedrickcooke3574]

Had the Thelio Major (non-standalone) version of this case. CPU cooling is fantastic, but not even close to enough ventilation for sustained heavy GPU loads.

[@BigMetalDaddy1301]

Interesting case, but imo even for a short circuit video, you definitely should have included a maxed out gaming settings test. :/ The wind tunnel sounds really interesting, but also physics almost require it to be pretty loud I suppose.

[@Synergy465]

I was sold on this design but the price god damn, for minimal front I/O and no glass adding to the cost its seems rather expensive but does have some good attention to detail tbf…. Going to have to wait to see temperatures etc and different build configuration/layouts eg the small vertical vent on the side, could you get some nice bolts for rad mounting and throw a 240 there either from a cpu AIO if you left the shroud out…. And other liquid cooling options.

[@Freelancer4tehwin]

That's the difference between American and Chinese made goods. They're made from scratch in Colorado.

[@leonro]

Oh, this looks like a really nice case if you don't want to have your components exposed, and the cooling is also interesting. But it feels a bit barebones for the price, with a relatively lacking front IO and not too many external gimmicks, like having a handle, a headphone-hanger, wireless charging, wheels, or other shticks to make you excited about the product. Even just simpler things like dust filters or a PSU cage would have completed the package somewhat. The design reminds me of my Lenovo Booststation, which I got for relatively cheap (£100) for my TB3 laptop in university. It's got a relatively neutral look that can fit anywhere, so I can see design-oriented people wanting this one. As for myself, I wouldn't mind buying it if they had an SD card reader with at least USB 3.0 speeds. But as it is, I'll probably keep my current case that is good enough.

[@tohur]

The wind tunnel Idea has been a thing since the 90s LOL.. Glad to see we are cycling back around to more functional cases instead of the RGB puke

[@danmar007]

I had to mortgage my house to have it delivered to Earth.

[@penfold1992]

I'm shocked at the comments section with regards to Emily / Anthony (she was known as Anthony when the video mentioned went out). Regardless of their gender / pronouns / orientation, it's hard to deny how knowledgeable and talented they are. Emily started out shy in front of the camera but turned out to be an incredible host with lots of knowledge on products, history of IT and the technical computer science stuff too. I don't blame Emily for not wanting to appear on camera anymore. This comments section is disgusting. Emily if you read this, I miss you, you are amazing and that has nothing to do with your gender identity or orientation, you are just simply a huge asset to LTT.

[@greyareaRK1]

Very much appreciate good design over LED lighting. Ducted fan cooling for workstations was (is?) the standard, but it can be very noisy. Who else was staring as the wet fingerprints slowly faded on the case after he turned it on?

[@nonamenosurname8516]

cable management is not just for esthetic, less cables you have in your case the better airflow you have, better airflow means lower temps which means more performance

[@NearCry91]

I think LTT tested this and it really didn't matter.

[@EvilGenius.]

I would feel better if the case had an air filter in take to help keep dust and dirt out of the case from getting stuck within the fans and other parts! More so if you have a lot of pets.

[@joz534]

It's refreshing to see a case that doesn't keep fingerprints. It's really embarasing how many products fail that.

[@kz.irudimen]

Ah yes, the "old school" thinking of having a glass panel.

[@Mr.Morden]

0:50 Hey buddy. G'day mate. Guvna!

[@AerinRavage]

With all that space theming, I'm surprised they didn't call that a Lift-Off Panel...

[@Indrodev]

Nice product and review

[@kanadkalasur]

Take a shot every time Nicholas says “one thing” 😅

[@eldukedrino]

without a glass panel this looks like it's from the dark ages haha but daaamn it does look super clean!

[@itsdeonlol]

Cool!

[@AndrewTyler]

This case reminds me a LOT of my Raijintek Thetis [in looks only]

[@LeminskiTankscor]

That case was designed by a mad man. But it crams an ATX board in there. Somehow.

[@AndrewTyler]

@@LeminskiTankscor how do you go about finding that kinda information out? I went to look up the case and its not even on their "Discontinued" section of the site.

[@Dan-Simms]

I couldnt care less about RGB, so i really like this case, the windtunnel for the CPU im sure works amazing too.

[@CarlosKTCosta]

A CPU wind tunnel like the MacPro from 2006? I mean, props to system 76 for bringing to market a cool case with differentiating features from other manufacturers, I actually did like the case a lot

[@lumi_arcs]

lol, "mac Pro" Dell, Alienware and whatnot did this Duct Fan CPU Bullshit before Apple i guess you are just to young to know. :D

[@HXRDWIREDGaming]

Dell did it in like 2000, most MFR's did, wild it's coming back.

[@CarlosKTCosta]

@@HXRDWIREDGaming I did not know that. The only “ready made” computers I had were from a local system integrator so they were basically assembled using the same parts anyone could buy and assemble themselves

[@CarlosKTCosta]

@@lumi_arcs probably not too young, maybe more like too poor. Never had a “name brand” desktop, they were always too expensive when I could just buy the parts and make one. I never opened an Alienware or Dell or HP from before 2000.

[@DogsBAwesome]

Power supplies usually come with screws.

[@teeborg1519]

Send this to gamer's nexus I think it will end up close to the bottom of casetests.

[@HELIX010]

enough oxygen wow this is alive

[@Technocrat.]

There's a row of spare screws at the top. Perhaps power suply?

[@jbloodwo]

This would have been fun if it was Emily and Ploof

[@grdprojekt]

The CPU wind tunnel thing was a thing for my 2011 Lenovo slim desktop prebuild. Trouble is, the CPU fan would then blow the heat off of the CPU on to everything else in the case, and there's no exhaust fan.

[@alexanderolsson6632]

*recommended (recommanded)

[@jarretta2656]

“Fingies” kill me already please

[@dividead100]

I don't like rgb or glass side panels but I need more top USB ports and I really don't like it if they don't have intake filters.

[@Nutrafin-3D]

Our old, old, old dell had a similar wind tunnel type thing for the cpu, Similar to the alienwares that are entirely over engineered with levers and switches. Other than that, as I get older the windowless, zero RGB, monolith lookin cases are really growing on me. I likey

[@insainllama]

Agreed. It’s a bit refreshing to see a case that’s not all blinged out with rgb.

[@halomika4973]

RGB is the most overrated, ugliest and downright use of electricity I have ever seen. It's useless in its entirety and shouldn't be on the pedestal it is on. Imho we should return to RGB-less stuff.

[@-B.H.]

This just seems like they saw the mac tower and went like we want that for a pc with less airflow and more steps while being a hotbox. This seems better suited for a home NAS/home server styled case rather than anything gaming related.

[@kavzz918]

I want to really see the temps on this case.