Project :Suitcase server

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DoNER90
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Project :Suitcase server

Post by DoNER90 »

Hey all , I am currently busy with my own little Suit Case mod while doing exams

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(and yes all the stuff is laying around randomly)

I am building a File/dedicated server into a suit case , the server will have a SCSI card , 147GB 10 000RPM SCSI HDD ,AMD Opteron 170 , Micro ATX mobo, DDR500 , 17" 8ms LCD all built into a Storm Case iM3200 ( Hardigg Storm Case, im2300, watertight, padlockable, airtight, integrated protection system )
and I will just like to share it with you guys as I finish building the case

as you can see from the pic I have finished mounted the LCD into the lid of the case , and the LCD PSU is in its final position

what do you guys think ?
Last edited by DoNER90 on 20 Nov 2007, 20:37, edited 1 time in total.
DoNER90
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Post by DoNER90 »

update time

I am getting my new Jetway MicroATX 939 mobo so I am happy but I am still waiting for my SCSI converter ( SC80 to 68 pin from Pk007)

ok I had a choice of 3 PSU's

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the left one is a 300w , the middle bottom is a Antec 430w , and the far right is a 250w so I had a choice between the 3

the Antec 430w did not have a output for the screen power so that was a auto no and I dont want to waist a nice PSU like this

the 250w has some interesting heat spreaders but these would interfere with my SCSI HDD's cooling

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so I picked the 300w , it was perfect and it had low enough heat spreaders to clear the HDD

so to the modding , I removed the the power connectors from the housing and cut the output down so it will fit like this ( and yes it was a stroke of genius )

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so down to testing

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in this test I was testing alot of things , 1.) the PSU ,2.) the modded power switch ,3.) the screen and the modded connections

But I was greeted by a little reminder that modding LCD's can have problems ohh and I did manage to shock my self by accidentally touching the power plug !!

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I have found a replacement for the panel from a ( gh437fg ) he is going to provide it when he gets his 22"

so now it all came down to final test fitting which I was extremely happy about

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DoNER90
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Post by DoNER90 »

update:

My motherboard did not arive so I will have to wait till monday but I used a Cardboard cut out of the Mirco ATX forum so I was playing around with the layout of the case and I found a better combination and it would look alot better

so I cut apart the 250w which is also the PSU I am going to use now , I cut the thing to size so I could still use the base as a mount for the PCB

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so After I was happy with the the final position of the PSU I started cutting a hole for the power plug to go in.

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dammit I must admit their is not alot of color in my pics

so after I finished cutting the hole and fitted the internals of the plug

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I was happy with the outcome of the plug

I am still deciding on which route I am going to go in in terms of cooling

this was my first idea

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and yes those are two OCZ ram coolers

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Thats is a Scythe 14cm fan , I was testing and I was also thinking of just using this one fan to cool the entire case down
DoNER90
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Post by DoNER90 »

Small updated , my motherboard came today and here she is

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this motherboard might be small but its packed with features like a onboard DVI outputs

here it is in the "final" position that I might put it in , all the stuff I need is here except the SC80 to 68pin converter - connector but alt least I got all the stuff I need to start making the mounts for the stuff and then the next down to clean it up

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sorry for photo Quality , taking the pics off my Cellphone
DoNER90
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Post by DoNER90 »

ok update time

ok I first off must mount all my hardware before I can start making my custom cooling

first on the checklist was putting in the motherboard mounts

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my Case is cleared of all the stuff so I can start drilling in hole for my mobo mounts , that strange thing laying their is my Custom Harddrive cooler that I will get Copper plated.

these are the stand off I will be using , but the problem is that they are to high and thus causing the motherboard to stand to high and thus intern my SCSI card so my LCD will hit it

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so I grabbed my Dremel and ground off the Screw in parts of the brass standoffs

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it was a quick job becuase the brass is such a soft metal.

once this was done I mounted the standoffs in the presunk holes I made I did not take a picture because I was to excited to mount the motherboard but here is a pic of what they look like

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think of the man as the brass stand off

and here is a picture of the motherboard totaly mounted

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now with the motherboard mounted I proceed to prep the PSU mount for mounting

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to make this I took the original housing and cut the button section apart from the rest of the case becuase I wanted a firm mount for the PSU

the first step was to spry paint the thing black

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I drilled two holes in the bottom but I OBVIOUSLY scratched the newly painted black plaint , once done I put two self taping screws in the case to keep it firmly mounted for portability. I coated them both with a glue gun to stop them from shorting the PSU in case they make contact with the PSU itself

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with the PSU mounted I put the motherboard back in and all the SCSI equipment for a quick test fit to make certain it still clears the LCD

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psYChowIt
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Post by psYChowIt »

Hey that's pretty cool! bad Luck about the LCD (done that before...) Good luck for the rest
DAE_JA_VOO
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Post by DAE_JA_VOO »

As said on the OTHER forum, nice work man :D
That guy that used to mod cases. Now I take photos. True story.
Scavenger
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Post by Scavenger »

Nice... Its looks like somebody's been overfeeding the laptop again... :lol:
ASUS P5K Delux Wifi || Intel Core 2 Duo 3ghz e6850 || 4gb Mushkin XP 1066mhz DDR2 CL4 || 2x Sapphire ATI HD3870 512mb Crossfire || OCZ StealthXstream 600w || 500gb WD || 2x120gb WD Raid 0 || Thermaltake Xaser III Lanfire || Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1 Speakers || Samsung Syncmaster 226BW 22" LCD "S" Panel ||
Samaya
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Post by Samaya »

Nice job there. It certainly is something different to the usual box building. :D
DoNER90
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Post by DoNER90 »

Scavenger wrote:Nice... Its looks like somebody's been overfeeding the laptop again... :lol:
I already got a Laptop I just want something in between a PC and a laptop :p


Thanks guys for the comments ill post a updated later on how I am going to do the cooling.
Skidd
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Post by Skidd »

This looks like fun, great work man :-)
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TheMartyr
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Post by TheMartyr »

i want to see this thing in real life
hell, id like one myself!!!
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Lithe_Joint
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Post by Lithe_Joint »

That's a cool design. What are you going to do about getting all the hot air out of the case? Will you just be leaving it open when in use?
the pen is mighter than the sword, but the word is always final
DoNER90
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Post by DoNER90 »

Lithe_Joint wrote:That's a cool design. What are you going to do about getting all the hot air out of the case? Will you just be leaving it open when in use?
ya the opty 170 @ stock does not make alot of heat but the 10k.7 drive will , Closing the box while running it will be foolish as the case is totally water tight.

I am having abit of trouble sourcing the right cable wrap and Perspex so just stay tunned as updates will be posted :)
DoNER90
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Post by DoNER90 »

ok update time :)

I have searched around alot for the perfect HDD mount , but it came when me and my friend rebuild his PC and remounted his HDD's in the other cages so I got a ThermalTake: HDD cage at my disposal

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its a perfect fit , but the cage is abit too high to fit under the perspex cover

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so here is what I got , a Cheap TT fan and just like Dea_ja_voo I found a new use for it which ill show later. I also cut a top HDD mount off to lower the overall high

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so say hello to my new fan grill :)

ok so back to the HDD cage....

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I have now removed the front part of the cage (which was the fan mounter) to fit the SCSI converter. But I found a new problem that the cage lost its strength and as Phill mentioned the PSU might emit EMI stuff, so I decided to kill 2 ducks with one stone.

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I grabbed a spare piece of Coper plate which I used for my water cooling shims too kill the EMI waves and to give back the firmness of the cage

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I drilled 4 holes and made 2 of them on a angle to accommodated for my HDD heat sink and I bent around all 4 sides to stop it from cutting my poor lil fingers

and here is the final product ready to be mounted and I am going to get a EMI tester and see if its harmful in anyway , rather safe then Cancer or something :p

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ps. I used the thum screws for easy accesses to the HDD
Vampyre_2099
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Post by Vampyre_2099 »

looking good
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DoNER90
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Post by DoNER90 »

ok update time

I have been busy with the small things that make the suit case PC more special.

but first on the log was to mount the mobo permanently....

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first came to clean out the case ( which I have not done in a while ) and make the mounting whole alittle bigger.

for the mounting of the pegs I used this crappy epoxy which doesnt even go hard if the mixture is wrong.... but I used it any :)

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I mounted the mobo again

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ok now with the mobo and all firmly mounted I could finally start installing the Windows for a quick test of performance , I managed to get a 3500+ free from a friend so I was happy.

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BUT after a 20 mins install , something became apparent to me..... a smell .... a smell all modders fear and hate........ the smell of burning PC stuff

so after a quick off , I began sniffing around and it became apparent that the PSU went wrong..... so I thought nothing of it because it was a crappy PSU to begin with , I am going to replace this soon. So with the next test fire I was yet again greeted with a new problem ... my SCSI drive broke so this day could not have gone anymore worse but yet it did. My Dremel started to break but not a big problem because it was still working :) but this was also a reminder of how difficult it is to continue with a project like this.

I emailed the seller of the HDD and he is looking into replace the HDD for me.. pk007 thanks.

ok so now with the PC atleast working and with the PSU nearly dead , I started working on the theme of the case and after looking around alot one theme was clear with my freinds... the bomb case so I went and started this , my first step was to wrap the Cables.

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I used Black and red heat shrink tubing on the two Yellow and black and the two red and black so it had that red and black cabling. And yes it took 30 mins just to do one molex cable as it takes for ever to get all the heat Shrink perfect. And her is the finished product

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ok now for the 20 pin. the other week I went for a motobike ride and I found this cool cooling tube or something and when I picked it up I said to my self I MUST use this in my mod so I did.

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and yes the tube is covered by a thing layer of Plastic so it wont conduct when it touches something.

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as you can see it easly fits the 20 pin and has enough room for abit of airflow, that black thing to the left is a old Pentium 2 CPU cooler fan shroud which will provide a firm mount for the tube and a decent finish.

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with the cables out of the way I started working on the Control panel.
I got this billet Aluminum plate and started punching out the spots for the various different stuff it will need

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I was so in my element and concentrating on not damaging this piece I forgot to take any further pics but her is the final product with one power LED , one USB and the red thing is the power button with a red ring on it.

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its not 100% as I might just add a 2nd USB slot. and some of the edges needs adjusting. the Panel is going to sit somthing like this:

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With the end of the year drawing near this project is going on hold till I get back and when I get my new stuff. I am getting a new 17" LCD and a 300w PSU from gh437fg and I am waiting for pk007 to give me the news on the HDD , so any further modding will be going to waste.

so guys enjoy your holiday , drive safe , and keep modding.
nazmo
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Post by nazmo »

Yo yo

so when you updating again? So far so good.

i actually saw the case when i donated my 3500+

try getting through customs with that :D
DoNER90
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Post by DoNER90 »

ok update time:

here is the low down, I am selling the AMD Opteron 170 and the Team Extreme DDR500 and Basically already sold the motherboard.

so what I was thinking of getting:

AMD Phenom 9100 ( 1.8 ghz , due to heat)
AMD AM2+ MicroATX 780G motherboard ( with Hybrid crossfire support )
DDR2 800
Antec MT350 ( micro ATX motherboard , THANS Tanka )
I am in the process of getting a new LCD , a new 17" LCD

now here comes the cool part , I have decided and after a LONG Positive and negative session , I am going to Water cool the CPU and GPU if I get one. I am going to get a Coolermaster Aquagate Viva Duo or Single depending if I am going to take the GPU route.

I am totaly going to redo the whole theme of the case. I have a dealership account at Sharkoon and I will soley use their Sharkoon Silent Eagle Fan with the black and white theme.

my dad is going to help me make some black fiber glass ( Carbon fiber looking ) and use that to cover the edges of the screen and abit of the inside of the case, I am going to do all the cables in white swrink tubing and the rest of the case in black.

ill post pics of when I get started again.

Thanks
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