I wanted a smallish system I could have in my bedroom. My main PC is in an Evolv X and weighs and absolute ton, and moving it around frequently from office to bedroom (to play on the TV) is a pain (first world problems). So I thought I would make a smallish system that was pretty capable by itself.
I chose one of the old/new stock retro cases that are on a well known auction site but took my dremmel to it.
Originally they come with a single 80mm intake fan which is no good to anyone these days. Having measured it up the biggest I can get in the front was a 140mm, so out came the dremmel and cut a ton of metal out. I also cut out the rear fan guard to give better airflow and below the PSU to open up the airways for the fan. As well as drilling some holes in the front lower fascia to help with airflow. In the end it has a 140mm intake, a 80mm rear out and a 80mm side out, as well as the 120mm out via the PSU. I could cut some holes in the side panel to make a large exit fan. That’s still an option but I’m not sure I want to cut anymore. Will see how temps fare.
Ideally you probably would want a SFX power supply in this case but a 140mm atx fits just perfect if you are prepared to modify some room for the fans. One of the big limitations is cable room - or the total lack of it. That’s one of the reasons I chose this power supply, although it isn’t modular, it’s small and it has flat cables. The remaining cables hide just fine in the lower optical drive bay.
It’s not quite finished yet, I want a better cooler for the CPU (something less than 125mm in height?) and I might cut some more metal out of the rear to create a free flowing outlet that I can put a dust guard over. Eventually I will put a 5000 CPU in there. I also need another SSD/nvme for greater storage.
Apologies for the poor lighting in the first set of pictures. By the time I had finished it was dark!
I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out, from the outside there isn’t much of a giveaway except for the faint red glow you can see coming from it.
Specs:
CPU : 1600AF
MB: B450 Mortar Max mATX
Ram: 3200MHz 32GB
GPU: 2060 Super FE
Storage: WD Blue 500GB nvme /1TB HDD housed in the top optical bay
PSU: Coolermaster MWE Bronze V2 230v 750w
I chose one of the old/new stock retro cases that are on a well known auction site but took my dremmel to it.
Originally they come with a single 80mm intake fan which is no good to anyone these days. Having measured it up the biggest I can get in the front was a 140mm, so out came the dremmel and cut a ton of metal out. I also cut out the rear fan guard to give better airflow and below the PSU to open up the airways for the fan. As well as drilling some holes in the front lower fascia to help with airflow. In the end it has a 140mm intake, a 80mm rear out and a 80mm side out, as well as the 120mm out via the PSU. I could cut some holes in the side panel to make a large exit fan. That’s still an option but I’m not sure I want to cut anymore. Will see how temps fare.
Ideally you probably would want a SFX power supply in this case but a 140mm atx fits just perfect if you are prepared to modify some room for the fans. One of the big limitations is cable room - or the total lack of it. That’s one of the reasons I chose this power supply, although it isn’t modular, it’s small and it has flat cables. The remaining cables hide just fine in the lower optical drive bay.
It’s not quite finished yet, I want a better cooler for the CPU (something less than 125mm in height?) and I might cut some more metal out of the rear to create a free flowing outlet that I can put a dust guard over. Eventually I will put a 5000 CPU in there. I also need another SSD/nvme for greater storage.
Apologies for the poor lighting in the first set of pictures. By the time I had finished it was dark!
I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out, from the outside there isn’t much of a giveaway except for the faint red glow you can see coming from it.
Specs:
CPU : 1600AF
MB: B450 Mortar Max mATX
Ram: 3200MHz 32GB
GPU: 2060 Super FE
Storage: WD Blue 500GB nvme /1TB HDD housed in the top optical bay
PSU: Coolermaster MWE Bronze V2 230v 750w
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