Xigmatek Announces "Out of This World" Nebula Enclosure

By Niels Broekhuijsen
published

Xigmatek has built something that's been styled by a hut full of martians.

Xigmatek has announced a new enclosure, which it describes as being 'Out of this World.' The case, which will be known as the Nebula, is a Mini-ITX enclosure with a very unique design that has been created by some Martians in a hut. Okay, we made that last one up.

The Nebula can fit Mini-ITX motherboards, graphics cards up to 200 mm long (meaning that it will fit the Asus DirectCU Mini graphics cards), full-size ATX power supplies, and CPU coolers up to 80 mm tall. As for storage, it'll be able to hold two 3.5/2.5" drives, though there is no room for optical drives. 

Cooling is handled by a single 120 mm exhaust fan, which can draw its air from the bottom of the enclosure. The fan is a Xigmatek 120 mm XOF PWM controlled unit.

Front I/O connectivity is handled by the usual pair of USB 3.0 ports and HD audio jacks.

Niels Broekhuijsen
Niels Broekhuijsen

Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.

8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • DarkSable
    Oooh, I like it. I'm going to wait for some reviews, but that's a very attractive case, especially if it's as small as it should be.
    Reply
  • rolli59
    Would not look out of place in the living room.
    Reply
  • rwinches
    1 additional 2.5” SSD mounting holes inside chassis
    All 3 side panels are tool-less and designed with quick release mechanism.
    Web Site:
    http://www.xigmatek.com/product.php?productid=219&type=overview

    user guide:
    http://www.xigmatek.com/console/uploadfiles/Image/product/Nebula/Nebula-UserGuide.pdf

    Not the way to do the install:
    http://www.cowcotland.com/images/news/2013/06/computex-2013-xigmatek-lance-dans-mini-itx-nebula-3.JPG
    Reply
  • codyleemanofaction
    It's black, and squarish. Other than the monolith of 2001, what's so "Out of this world" about it? Pretty sure I can think of some other VERY similar cases. That said... I want it.
    Reply
  • ninjustin
    This has potential for a Steam Box. I've found very few mini ITX cases I like.
    Reply
  • jtd871
    Fantastic aesthetics. However, seems a bit wasteful of space inside. The airflow path seems like it could be a bit problematic for cooling the PSU with no side vent on that side. Note the grommets on the rear presumably for a watercooling setup. I'd probably at least try to watercool the GPU or go with a blower as long as the wattage wasn't too crazy. I would also have tried hard to put a slot on top for a slim ODD, since this thing is obviously designed for the entertainment unit.
    Reply
  • xero141
    oh look! a black metallic box! out of this world!
    Reply
  • Haravikk
    It's an attractive case, though I'm waiting to see what prices will be like.

    That said, since it's drawing air up from the bottom of the case, why not slap a truly massive fan on the top, why the relatively dinky little 120mm on the back? I can understand it as an optional mounting point, but that case looks like you could easily get a 200mm fan in the top, maybe even up to four 120mm fans if you want to go completely overboard.

    Can't really tell from the available pictures if you could do this, but considering the design it seems like a wasted opportunity. I've been heavily favouring top mounted exhaust fans on recent builds, and found them very effective if you can keep them clean.
    Reply