Scratch Build: Gaming HTPC

[McDangerous]

Ahoy guys!

Recently I decided to move to an ITX setup to facilitate the easy transportation of my rig between the study and the lounge. This has become a bit of a schlep, as I mostly just game on the PC, and mostly in the lounge. The wife isn't too impressed with a PC chassis standing in the living room the whole time (even though it is only an Elite 120) and I'm getting tired of carting the thing back and forth. So, to remedy our issue, I've decided to take on a project I've been looking at doing for a very long time.

Some limitations for the build:

• Has to be cost effective. By doing a couple of side-grades, trades, begging and scrounging I've got a limited budget which should see me completing the project breaking even financially.
• Has to fit into my current entertainment system (height restriction of 190mm is what got me thinking of building a scratch case rather than modding the 120).
• Has to look professional, i.e. smooth, clean, uncluttered, neat and sharp.
• Has to fit my current components plus some room to breathe and expand (CUD and all...)

To that end I've designed the preliminary version of the chassis I'm looking at building. I've gone with the following methodology:

• Basic steel sections for frame
  • Cheap
  • Dimensionally accurate (mostly)
  • Easily obtained
  • Easy to modify
• Laser or water jet cut steel plate sections for the shell
  • As above
  • I'm still seeing which process is going to be cheaper. If I find that neither is going to fit in my budget I may just have the plates milled at work.
• Off-the-shelf fasteners and fixings
  • I've found that standard PC stand-offs and screws are rather ****e, so I'm looking at keeping everything as easy as possible to assemble by using standard screws, washers and nuts.
• Silent cooling
  • I've tried to allow for as much cooling as possible, since this is a gaming build, while minimizing any external visual queues i.e. mesh/fans being visible

As I've said, I've completed the preliminary design. I'm not completely happy with the face plate yet, I feel there is some more I can add to it to make it a bit more professional and/or slick looking. The case should look like it just popped out of Tron: Legacy to give you an idea of the look I'm going for.

So, time for prelim pics! Please note that the colours are just to differentiate easily between components. I'm not Captain America or Superman.


ISO View by TyronLab, on Flickr

Just to get an overall picture of the case. I've left out the fasteners at this stage to simplify things. I'm going to be stealthing the DVD drive, which is the cut-out on the right hand side face. The blue plate is the face plate, which is going to cover the two 120mm intake fans. It'll be placed 15mm away from the front face of the chassis to allow the fans to still draw in enough air.


Front Face by TyronLab, on Flickr

The black parallelogram is going to be my custom power switch, hopefully, if I can get the right switching electronics. I'm thinking of scavenging off of an old Packard Bell PC I have laying around.


Top Plate Removed by TyronLab, on Flickr


Top Layout by TyronLab, on Flickr

Here you can see the internal layout I've gone for. I've left enough space for a larger PSU, a much longer video card, and extra hard drives, should the need arise. I've left out the 92mm fan I'm going to be using as exhaust at the back.


Face Plate Removed by TyronLab, on Flickr


Cooling Setup by TyronLab, on Flickr

The two images above explain my methodology for cooling. I have the two 120mm intake fans providing cool intake air. The left fan caters for the GPU mostly and the CPU, and as such I've left it unrestricted. The right fan caters for the HDDs and CPU, as well as some cool air for the PSU to extract. The 92mm fan at the back should provide enough exhaust to balance out the pressure. I'm looking for a slightly positive pressure in any event.






Angled Front View by TyronLab, on Flickr

I'm happy with my progress thus far. At the moment it's just tweaking left then I can proceed to getting quotes for cutting the metal sheets, along with powder coating. Those two aspects are going to be the main drivers of price, so they'll determine the feasibility of this build.

I'll be sure to update this thread with ongoing progress!

As always, any comments, questions, suggestions etc. are always appreciated.

Thanks for reading this far if you did!

 

[el3venth]

Awesome first build port!
Please note this subforum rules:

2. Your first post must contain pics of the actual mod in progress. If all you have is an idea, you don't have a log. If all you have is some conceptual sketches, you don't have a log. If all you have to show is a heap of parts, you don't have a log. This forum is purely for concrete work in progress - the other modding forums are more appropriate for concepts and thoughts.

Maybe we should release all the scetchup models so anybody can easily use it in the future?

 

[ian_stagib]

get some inspiration from cases that are already out there. May I point you to this: FC10 Fanless Chassis | Streacom

And seriously take note of the graphics card orientation. It's so much nicer to fit in with the other equipment if you don't have this thick flippen machine that can't fit into a plasma stands racks.

Also, how are you going to get it made so that it doesn't look like a diy project? Have you followed what the guys did with the Ncase M1? If you could build that I'd be first in line to buy one.

 

[McDangerous]

[MENTION=145]eleventh[/MENTION]

Sorry about that, neglected to read the rules. Would a mod mind moving it to the appropriate section for me please?

Mine isn't sketchup, I used SolidWorks, but I get what you're saying. I've considered going into part-time chassis design and manufacture, but professionally, not just for kicks. I'd love to be able to do these designs 24/7 and make a living off of it, but it's more a pipe-dream at this stage. So while I may release this model for freezies, I may not in the future.
[MENTION=766]ian_stagib[/MENTION]

Thanks for the link to the FC10 and Ncase M1. While both of those are gorgeous, I only have one issue, price. Since I'm building a one-off anything in that range is going to cost me a LOT. While I agree those are much better looking than mine is currently, the fasteners they're using are pretty expensive to try and source for a one-off. With this build I'm looking at spending a total of R850. I very much doubt I'd be able to design and make either of those for that kind of money.

Still, I've tinkered with the idea of using stud-welded bolts to get a super-clean look to the case, where no screws will be visible at all externally.

How much would you be willing to pay for an M1 replica, locally manufactured?

 

[ian_stagib]

Moved

How much would you be willing to pay for an M1 replica, locally manufactured?

I'd probably pay R2k if you got it to the same quality as they did and didn't leave anything out.

 

[McDangerous]

So, I've updated the models with some new designs inspired by the NCASE M1 (lovely chassis that). Had a prelim round of quotes for laser cutting and it's turning out to be relatively inexpensive.

Seems like going for a 1.2mm base plate and 0.8mm cover plates is going to work out in the region of R320, which isn't bad.

 

[McDangerous]

Can this post be moved to the PC Modding forum? Not Project Logs yet, that I know.

Some updated renders of v2.0:


ISO1 by TyronLab, on Flickr


Internal1 by TyronLab, on Flickr


Internal2 by TyronLab, on Flickr


Front1 by TyronLab, on Flickr

 

[Off-The-Chart]

switch?

how many drives will you be running?

 

[McDangerous]

I'll be running two drives for the moment, but I'm making the bracket to hold three.

The renders don't show it, but there's a hole behind the face plate, in the bottom right corner, which will hold the switch. It'll be just hidden from view.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

 

[McDangerous]

So I realized I never posted up how this PC turned out. I had some time today so took a quick couple of snaps to show how it ended up. Please bear in mind that its pretty dirty, but I still love it more than a year on. Its quiet, very subtle and has enough cooling and space for anything I want to add into it.

On to the images!

This is a shot of it barebones. Its pretty nice to work in and has quite a bit of space even though its a small chassis. The fact that its completely open on three sides makes it quite accessible. Now, I know that the cable management looks rough, but there is literally nowhere for them to go otherwise (trust me, I've tried), and its at least not invasive to cooling.

Just another angle. Its got four HDDs in it at the moment, much more than I had ever planned but hey, it still works!

Here it is closed up. I added a rubber u-channel to the front face where the lower shell and top shell meet to stop the plates from rattling and stop any wind noise.

This is the head-on view with it closed up. The power button is located just inside the face plate and is easily reachable.

Here it is in my living room cabinet, just to show its natural habitat. It worked out a treat I think, as most people don't realise that there's a PC in the living room at all (as per my wife's ultimatum when I started the project). Its so subtle Marmite doesn't even notice it.

Thoughts, comments?