DIY pc case/htpc unit buildage help/advice needed

jozi

I got spare mobo, cpu, gfx and psu lying around and a ps2 and home cinama amp that doesnt fit in my tv stand.
What i had tought of was to make a tv stand that will house the amp and ps2 and somehow fit mobo, dvd rom, hd and psu.
It will more than likelly be of wood as its easyest to work with and there's plenty of it in the garage.
The reciever needs 8 inches top and side of on obstucted space it gives of a good bit of heat so best not have pcu above it.
For cooling i had taught of using 4 (2 in 2 out) 92mm or 120mm fans and the psu in a seperated compartment than the mobo.
Have a amd 2500 mobile for cpu just need a cooler that cools very well and produces next to no noise. ThermalRight SI-97 with 92mm vantec fan good choise?
Have a 6600gt gfx card, was quiet enough but might stick an arctic cooler on it if they make one for this card (must check).

Many prob i prob will have will be noise, i take it wood will resonate with all the bits screwed on it.
And heat from the reciever and cpu/gfx.
What i cant figure out is where to have the mobo, on top/bottom/side???
I would het a htpc case but then i would still need a stand so this seems the most obvious. Be nice if it would house cd's and dvd's to obviously
Anyone any experience, done something like it them selves?

Jozi

dubdvd

wood is a good choice ...but you may need to make yourself an inner frame to hold the mobo and hardrive and psu and dvd-rom and maybe a removeable mobo tray ...they sell ALU -U rails and - W rails in B+Q that are easy eoungh to cut to size, they will hold the amp and so on in place plus they also sell some ALU mess which will look well for fan grills , if you get a gold coloured mess it looks well with any type grain of wood, if you wanted it to be very quiet maybe watercool the lot with some cheap watercooling set-up or even a homemade one with a moped rad "SECONDHAND 15 EURO ITS SAME AS A DOUBLE-RAD"and a queit garden pump and some cheap waterblocks seems it wont be getting overclocked and the noise would be zero ...

Any idea of what shape your going to go for ...A few outline pics would be good ???...best of luck with it ..ive seen some really nice wooden case around ..i had seen a type of tresure chest for sale in a shop a couple of weeks ago it would'nt look out of place in a sitting room ..it would fit in all the bits and bobs but will not even look as if its a media-center????

jozi

Was thinking of some thing all ong the lines of the tv stand but not as open and that it has the pc builth in and room for cd's dvd.

I was thinking of getting an old case somewhere and using the pci slot covers and rails etc and maybe if possible the part that the mobo sits on to use.

More than likelly it will be painted to be silver like the tv and its for my bedroom to.
Not so sure about water cooling (that would be for my main rig to) i might oc it, does 2.4ghz with dual ram and 2.5 with 1 stick no probs

I'm still looking for inspiration so nothing to go with as of now. I will try draw up some thing in cad tomorrow at work.
No b&q here im affraid but there's woodies a few other hardware stores and dads garage
Jozi

Jammer

Rosco has done something similar, im sure he'll share his experiences with you. check out the case mods sticky

jozi

Is that the desk?

unklerosco

Thats the one.. hope to have pics of it finished by the end of the week, if i remember to bring my camera to the gfs house..

jozi

Yeah pics would be nice.
How have you it ventilated and how quiet is it?

Jozi

unklerosco

I'll have pics tomorrow eve... Will show ventilation etc then.

jozi

Cool.
I'm not in the office today so wont be able to put up some sketches/drawings till tomorrow.
I might even wait and see what rosco has for more ideas

g5hn710m4xpdwy

yeah that sounds like a nice idea. i can picture it in my head good luck with the project.
Flunk

jozi

Finally got drawing something this evening

jozi

And another......

Let me know what you's think. Advice coments etc welcome