Future Homemade Case - First stage

marc512

marc512

marc512

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After seeing a lot of amazing work by people making there own pc cases, im deciding to give it ago!

Iv made a few basic shapes and sizes and this one i find the best. It took me 10minutes to make, Remember still early stages, need peoples opinion and ideas on what i could do/loose :)

Please dont be to rude. this is just a 10minute prototype, i plan on going into detail later on when i get the right design :)

case12.jpg




case1.jpg


Few things about this case. The 4 USB ports on top with microphone and headphone jack, with on and reset button above them so you dont accidentally press when plugging things in. Large 140mm fan on top, Small 120mm Fan at an angle to point straight up to the CPU and out the back fan which i forgot to add. There will be 2 140mm fans on the bottom of the case, and there are 2 spaces for 140mm fans on top.
Remember its just a basic shape, it wont look like it at the end product :)

I need to ask a few questions, are all of the motherboard sheild plates same size? and what sizes are the PCI expansion slots and how far do they have to be appart?

Any ideas,comments are appreciated :)
 
Motherboard shield plates are all the same size, just measure your old case for the Pci expansion slots as they are standard as well.
 
Should be good for cooling in theory. looks interesting, will keep an eye on this one :)

good luck with it.
 
Form factors.

I'm more concerned about things like how to attach side panels to framework and choice of material than with overall shape at the moment. What ideas do you have on how to fabricate this?

You might find this thread helpful for ideas, I have roughly the same thing in mind.
 
jonj678, i was planning on useing my sheet metal work skills i learnt in college, i was hopeing on making everything all 0.8mm aluminium, or even 1mm because we have tonnes of that laying around in the garage.
I dont think what i have in mind will be hard to make, its making the motherboard tray removable. Sidepanel will be like any other side panel but will have 2 thumbscrews under the bezel at the top, which will be removable i hope, everything will be riveted in.




EdGey, thats my plan anyway :)
 
Do you have a specific system spec you intend to place in the case when finnished or will the case be one you will use for a few differrent builds.
One idea i would definetly suggest is a 15-20mm gap between the Motherboard tray and the right hand side panel,
this will help in conealing all your cables behind the mobo tray making the system look cleaner when fully built.
Cooling wise have you thought about watercooling your system if not this would be the perfect time as you could design the position of radiators pumps and resiviours into your desgin.
 
I was planning for it to only fit M-ATX and ATX. There is already a 20mm gap,
Nope, im planning on making it full air case, i want to fit as many fans on it as possible and not leave any room for any water cooling kits.
 
case14.png



quick update, did this in the morning, will take another screenshot when iv finished the front bezel, having abit of trouble with it.
 
Iv given up on the idea previously. It will be to hard to make with the bezels and stuff. Iv now just started a new thing, a small box what will only hold a standard ATX powersupply and a micro atx motherboard. Perfect for the build i have atm.

The coloured parts are removeable. The blue thing is the hard drive cage, 2 Hds will sit above each other and will be screwed in, yes its abit big for 2 but if there in a small box crammed up wouldnt they both get hot even with a 90mm fan? so iv spaced them out abit for some air. Also it can be removed from the front! To add a fan iv made it so you pull it out so far then take the fan off, then pull the cage right out. Good for people who dont like taking covers off :)
The red thing is the motherboard tray! if you can see there are 2 notchs on the side of the case where the tray slides along and comes out, the 2 handles dont get in the way of the MB, iv measured it correctly, theres about 30mm gap around the motherboard tray for wires to come out, the MB tray is sitting about 30mm from the base of the case. Plenty of room for wires!
There are 4 140mm fan holes, 2 intake and 2 exhaust. I added a 120mm exhaust directly behind the CPU area for the cooler to blast out air unless i can get a cooler to turn around and blast the other way.
Heres the real complicated part. The PSU is mounted inside a small compartment. You cant see but theres a hole in the inside where the power lead comes out and goes around the case or w/e to reach a power point. All the wires will come straight out and under the tray then pop out where they need to. simples :) I dont think iv ever seen a PSU area like that, My psu blows out air so i made a 120mm hole on the bottom so it blows the air outside. This will have a dustfilter.

There will be a roof with ventilation around the side and on the top. No fans because it will get annoying removing the connections every time i add a new component.
I kind of like this idea tbh. Whats your thoughts?

boxcase1.jpg




boxcase2.png








£"$KO:£"$ just realised i didnt think about making it fit a 5870 D: if i can make it fit that ( i doubt ill have it tho ) it could go into production ;)
 
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Worth taking a look at the internals of various htpc cases as they follow approximately this design.

The nxzt rogue has a similar fan arrangement, this might also be worth a look though I don't recommend buying one.

Not at all tempted by water?
 
nope not tempted by water :) i know nothing atol about watercooling and what it needs, therefore ill make a case big enough to fit the biggest cards and cpu cooler and have no room to spare, basicly all neat and tidy.
Ill have a look at them :)
 
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