Project : Lots of Letters

This is my second build , so still lots to learn

Inspired by ( ok I was just going to copy it ) Subliminal Aura's build here I thought I'd have a go at a htpc to replace my WD media streamer .

I managed to pick up a ZOTAC IONITX-P-E mobo on a certain auction site and the same case as Subliminal Aura . I then realised that because I've got an old crt tv I couldn't connect to it using the hdmi , dvi or vga ports with out a convertor .

I had a graphics card from an old Dell with an s video out so I'm going to give that a go . Only thing ..... not really going to fit in the case .... solution make my own case using the fittings from the ebay one

So project : Lots of Letters ... an SFF HTPC running XMBC

Spec :

Case : Me
Mobo : ZOTAC IONITX-P-E
Ram : 2 by 1gb of Kingston value
PSU : Pico plus laptop brick
Hdd : WD Scorpio Blue 250gb
GPU : Not really sure

So I've made a start on the case and got all of the above stuff .

To do :

Finish the case , sort out some cooling and figure out the finer points of mounting the graphics card .

Get it built .

Sort out some sort of remote control , I've got an old one but the reciver is about the same size as the case . If I can get it to work I'll see if I can dismantle it and mount it internally .

Get it running with ubuntu and XMBC .... network it to my main pc ..... build a server .........




All the stuff :



Just the case , it's 340mm by 200mm by 60mm :



That it so far !

That thing is tiny!!! I'd be very interested in seeing how this one turns out, but also seeing a worklog of how you built the case .

I didn't take any pictures as I was going along , but I made extra parts and still have the jigs so I'm sure I can cobble something together

So , a quick summary of how I made the case . It's made from a material called Dibond , thats a trade name so other makes are available It's a composite of two layers of .3mm aluminium either side of a core of polythene . It comes in lots of finishes .... I had some brushed ali finish so thats what I used . It can be worked in the same way as acrylic with the same sort of tools .

Starting point , the bottom of the original case . I wanted to keep the little step at the corner that lines up with the corner stands so rather than starting from scratch I used the original to make a template .



I cut an undersized piece of mdf screwed the orginal to it and a bit of acrylic to the other side of the mdf and made a copy using a router with this sort of bit .



Here's the template with another bit of mdf attached that has been routed to match the template . The mdf is so that I can fix the next bit of acrylic to my orginal template .





I then marked out a piece of acrylic to the size of my finished case . I cut the full size template a corner at a time using the original , moving it from one corner to the another .

Full size template , the piece of mdf is just to space it out from the bench while it's being used . All the screw holes are from moving the original template about .



Final pieces cut from the full size template .



I cut the sides on a table saw .



The Dibond is thicker than the orginal acrylic so I cut a rebate on the back of the sides , again with the table saw , to allow them to fit into the corner stands .



Then it's just a case of putting it together with the orginal fittings .

It's not perfect but it's probably right to about .5mm so will do .

Yay nice post .

Is dibond less prone to cracking than acrylic? Nothing worse than carefully constructing an acrylic cage or bracket for something and getting a hairline crack at one of the screwholes which ends up shattering the whole thing.

EDIT: also, how similar is the finish to brushed aluminium sheet - can you tell that it's a composite and not pure aluminium?

It doesn't crack at all , you have to be careful drilling holes near the edge but only not to snag the material and distort the hole .

The surface looks just like the real thing .... mainly because it is . The edges are a bit of a problem because you can see the layers . I found that after you have sanded the edge you can colour it with a magic marker and a final sand brings out the ali leaving the polythene black .... good enough for now .

You can also bend it by routing a groove part way through the thickness . I've had a couple of experements and it works well . As this is my first case I thought I treat this one as a test and maybe have a go at a better one if this all works out well or to be more truthfull just works

So a bit more progress this afternoon

Mobo & gpu positioned in the case .



Standoffs fitted and the back panel marked out .



Back panel cut out and gpu bracket flattened out with mounting holes drilled .



Back panel fitted .



And the sides .





I'm going to fit a block of acrylic to take the weight of the back of the gpu so that it's not just hanging from the back panel .

Bit more progress today

Drive & support block for the graphic card fitted and some holes for cooling .



Everything back in the box and connected up .



Fitted the power switch .



Left to do .... wire up the power switch

I would have started it up but I discovered that both my laptop bricks have the wrong size plug so universal one ordered

If it was me building it, I'd cut a fan grille in the lid just above the fan - even if you just drill holes in the top like you've done with the bottom - just to give the cpu fan something to suck on rather than the lid of the case

May not make any difference - probably just me being paranoid lol but I thought I'd share my thoughts anyway

I don't think you're being paranoid .... I'm sort of expecting it to run a bit too warm I was going to get it up and running and see whats what .

I've a couple of plans , as you suggested a vent above the cpu fan and if that's not enough another vent above the gpu with a fan .... just enough room for a low profile fan .

Well it's up and running Unbuntu on the onboard graphics

Happy as I thought I'd killed the mobo this morning .

Next get the graphic card up and running and install some sort of temp monitor , add some cooling .

Good job I love the fact that you've built a PC into a box smaller than a PS2 LOL awesome stuff!

Back to the cooling aspect, if you DO just drill holes accross the top, the same as you've done the bottom, then you won't need two vents for cpu and gpu, it'll just be one big through-flow won't it might look cleaner than having two distinct 'fan holes'

Rather than cutting one big hole I was thinking of something like this :

Lots of little holes just above the cpu fan .



I had it running for 2 or 3 hours yesterday afternoon while installing unbuntu , trying to figure out how to install a cpu monitor etc . The top got warm but not that bad .... from my first linux terminal command 'sensors' it seems to be sitting at about 40 c .... I did have one of the sides off so I'm not sure that means much .

I've got a couple of spare tops so I can try out a few options see what works best . It would be nice to leave to top clean so I might try lifting the graphic card up a bit and installing the low profile fan below the card pulling air in from the bottom.

First thing though is to get the graphic card working which isn't turning out to be that simple .

Interesting, Love the plain look with this and im getting ideas!

What are the things you used for the corners btw?

I like the circular idea above, but you could try it like my lovely paint design below? (sorry, only photo style software at hand )



So you can keep the clean look at the top, and have 2 intake (blue) and then 2 exhaust(reddish) for a nice spot of airflow?

@ Evil - The corner things are from the original ebay case , they call them corner stands but inspite of a lot of time with google I can't find anything like them .... If you look and have any luck let me know

@ Ryan - I like that idea .... added to the list of things to try

I had a bit of free time so I thought I'd have a go a cooling solution number 1 . Decided to mount a fan under the graphic card , blowing out of the case .

A few more holes .



Fan fitted .



Everything back in the case , I'll have to bring the cable for the card over the top of it .



A bit tight .... but everything fits

nice idea with the fan under the gpu... You've probably thought about this already, but you'll need some feet on the case to raise it up a bit to actually let some air in otherwise you're just going to be gradually sucking your shelf into the case LOL

>edit<
Looking at it again, I don't think the fan under the GPU will work... when that pci-e ribbon cable is laid accross to the mobo slot it'll block the airflow completely!

A GPU that exhausts out the back of the case would be nice... but at quite an expense unfortunately!

I think you are right about the cable blocking the airflow and tbh Ryan's idea looks the one most likely to work without holes in the top to me. But I had this fan so thought I'd give it a go

The case does sit on some feet of a sort ... the same allen head bolts as the top , so a bit of room for the air to move . Anyway with the fan blowing out of the bottom of the case perhaps if it doesn't work for cooling maybe it has potential as a hovercraft ?

Well I think this is built

I went back to the original graphic card as it's passively cooled and noise from the fan on the other card was a bit much .

I had to give in and put an intake on the top face , strangely because of noise . I couldn't figure out why it was noisier with the top on until I realised that because the top is so close to the fan it was resonating in the airflow .

Temps with smartfan enabled in the BIOS , idle mid 30's seems to settle at about 42 c when in use .

Final lay out inside .



Top air intake .