Three 60mm Noctua fans keep it cool while keeping it quiet.
TKL for scale
Yes, I actually used this PC on the train! Using an iPad Pro as the main display (via Duet) I was able to work during long commutes.
This is where the B35 feels most at home
This is where the B35 lives during its many travels
Just enough space for the power brick and peripherals
Makes for a clean professional-looking setup
Just enough room for all the parts to work nicely together
Upgrading to the Quadro P2000
An early design of the B35
Boreal B35
This is the Boreal B35- a 3.5-liter compact workstation designed to be compact while achieving the performance of a professional grade workstation, all while looking like the display piece that it is. I built this when I was an engineering student in college and needed a powerful PC that I could commute with on a regular basis.
The case is the main focus of this build- the Boreal B35 is a unique one-off case made of powdercoated steel, with pressed threaded nuts. The front/top panel is a single piece of brushed aluminum. The case was designed from scratch and manufactured with the help of Protocase. The side panels allow for good air flow throughout the case and show off the RGB G-Skill RAM modules. There are three 60mm intake case fans on the bottom of the case, providing additional cooling to the GPU, VRMs, and custom G-Unique power supply. The fans also create positive air pressure inside the case, which prevents air stagnation and provides better air circulation. The only feature at the front of the case is a single custom power button with RGB which is synced with the lighting on the RAM and motherboard via Aura.
This case features a vertically-mounted GPU using a custom PCI-e riser. This build originally featured a Quadro K2200 but has been upgraded to a Quadro P2000. The total storage was also upgraded from 1TB to 2TB using the NVMe slot on the back of the motherboard. The CPU is at this point fairly modest but still has more than enough performance to do heavy CAD work without skipping a beat. There is very little in the way of cable management in this build simply because there aren't very many cables (and not much room for any). The custom power supply meant that all of the cable runs were just long enough to reach all of their respective interfaces.
Very little compromise was made with this build and I feel like it paid off in a big way. This machine got me through college and continues to serve me well. I am currently working on a design iteration of the B35 which will make it easier to manufacture/assemble, but in the meantime, the design is open source, and can be found https://cad.onshape.com/documents/8c55099d51e8366c5820f6f5/w/da7d3afac31dfb5435efe98b/e/ead461a7180fde3ae7e6c85f!
And the entire design build log can be found https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/ocelot-boreal-b35-3-5l.2474/!