A bare DE10-Nano is a dev board on a desk. The Ironclad Lite is what turns it into something that mounts in a standard Mini-ITX/Micro-ATX/DTX/ATX case and behaves like a finished PC.
What it is
The Ironclad Lite is an interface board that houses a real DE10-Nano (or a QMTECH Cyclone V KFB / MiSTer Pi) inside a standard PC case. It has a built-in PSU — just needs a 5V/2A+ power brick — with over-voltage, short-circuit, and over-current protection, 5-speed PWM smart fan control, a USB 3.0-shaped SNAC-compatible controller port among 6 USB ports total, Toslink digital plus noise-isolated analog audio, and standard RGB video out. The Lite tier specifically drops a real-time clock and the DB9 SNAC port that the Plus/DX models include — SNAC controllers connect via the USB3.0-shaped port instead.
My build
I bought mine from d3fmod in March 2024, along with the Massive Heatsink add-on, the Remote Control Kit (the Lite doesn’t bundle a remote by default), an I/O backplate cut for the case I was using, and a Mt32-Pi PRO internal HAT for authentic Roland MT-32 MIDI. It then sat unbuilt for over two years before I finally got around to assembling it.
Since the Ironclad Lite has no built-in RTC, I reused the RTC module from an earlier MiSTer accessories order rather than buying a new one, and carried over the 128MB SDRAM board from the same haul. Its IO Board and USB hub partly overlap with what the Ironclad Lite already provides on its own — its own TOSLINK audio, USB ports, and power/button wiring — so it’s worth deciding what actually still needs to be installed alongside it rather than fitting both.
