PC in an xbox 360 case, retro gaming

SBD · 9 Jan 2009 at 15:43

The idea is to house an itx motherboard in the xbox 360 case with all the other bits and pieces a pc needs.

At the moment i have the xbox 360 case, EPIA 5000 (Fanless) Mini-ITX Motherboard and ram. I will be needing to source a small PSU such as the ones that have a power brick, an IDE hard drive and an IDE DVD rom drive.

Could use some input on which PSU to buy as i don't have a clue about these itx ones :confused:

The only problem I will be facing is mounting the itx board in the case, has anyone tried this before? I have seen some youtube videos but they never show you how to mount the board or anything inside the case.

I want the case standing vertically so the motherboard needs to be firmly in place. I was thinking about using epoxy to glue the mounting screws (don't know the name of the screws but the ones you would screw into a case before placing the motherboard inside). Then I should be able to screw the motherboard straight in.

After than i want to install Linux because it's free and i have never used linux before :eek:

Once everything is set-up working I will be using emulators to run loads of classic retro games :cool:

so far I've only spent £20 and i will be trying to keep costs down as much as possible due to being a student :rolleyes:

cpatain-chaos · 9 Jan 2009 at 15:59

looking forward to this looks like a promising mod project

SBD · 9 Jan 2009 at 16:07

Should be a lot of fun I'm moving back to uni this weekend but i hope to start this soon. When i get the psu sorted i will be able to see how much space i have to play with

EvilOne · 9 Jan 2009 at 16:08

Use a NES box

SBD · 9 Jan 2009 at 16:14

Hehe i could ( i have loads of retro consoles ) but i think using the xbox will make it look a lot smarter. I will need to brush up on my soldering skills, i have a soldering iron which is a start. I want to use the on/off button that the xbox has and also use a blue LED for when it's powered up.

The dvd drive is going to be a bit tricky but i will have more of an insight when the case arrives which could be monday i hope.

jozza800 · 9 Feb 2009 at 11:13

Im also looking into doing this. I have a spare knackered 360 just sitting around so i thought this would be a cool idea.

Where to start though. It is quite a daunting project.

I will keep my eye on this therad for sure.

Good luck

freddie64 · 9 Feb 2009 at 14:19

Probably need something like a Pico PUS, don't know what power output you need but they are tiny (about the size of an ATX plug).
Good luck with the build.

Mr.Nick · 9 Feb 2009 at 17:33

Sounds like fun!
Don't forget to post some pics when your done!

lynchy6789 · 9 Feb 2009 at 17:58

I cant wait too see this when its finished. Best of luck mate.

SBD · 9 Feb 2009 at 19:28

Hey all i havn't forgot about this project

Found out i need a slim laptop drive and not a standard DVD drive :rolleyes:

(standard Dvd drive doesn't allow the motherboard to fit in lol)

Uni work has been taking up a lot of my time recently

I'm looking at the atom, nano and what ever nvidia or AMD have to offer

So i hope to get this project done by easter lol

VARDY · 9 Feb 2009 at 19:58

i suppose what you could do to get the mounting screws right is to buy some cheap £15 case, cut out the back that has the holes then glue it onto the xbox case.

Audigex · 9 Feb 2009 at 22:35

Finding an atom might not be too easy, but they do run bloody cool - I rarely even hear my Eee901's fan spin up. Or just underclock whatever it is you use.

It's not the biggest space to work in, so I'm guessing you'll end up with a lot of laptop parts. An iPod 1.8" might be a good solution for any hard drive needs if you're finding space is short.

With old school games you should be fine with onboard graphics too.

Hmm, final thought - PCI coolers might be handy too, being quite flat.

Be interesting to see how it goes :-)

misterPK · 10 Feb 2009 at 09:17

It might be worth asking around and looking for an old broken laptop you can salvage the hard drive and slimline DVD drive from, maybe even the CPU. You will need to buy an adaptor for the DVD drive, but thats just a tiny bit of circuitry that screws onto the back that you can then plug a regular IDE cable into. They can be found on other sites for £5-£10.

PK!

freddie64 · 16 Feb 2009 at 07:42

Could you not use the external 360 HD dvd drive?
you can get them cheap and if it doesn't work, you could use the case and put a PC drive in.

richyb_safc · 16 Feb 2009 at 09:55

+1 for as many laptop parts as you can use.

I'd definately use a laptop style optical drive and HDD, that should save you plenty of space. If you cant get hold of an atom or similar I'd also look at underclocking your CPU, that should save on plenty of heat!

Good look with this mate, sounds like a quality little project! and make sure you keep us up to date with pics, I'll be checking!

Mr.Nick · 21 Feb 2009 at 15:52

Hey, just checking to see how far you've got. Any updates?

daniel_bourton · 23 Feb 2009 at 21:51

on the motherboard note it you glued in a motherboard wudnt u have issues with not having a groung aint that the idea of metal touching metal thing?
:S

Pinter75 · 23 Feb 2009 at 22:51

I have a mini 12v Pico PSU for my ITX, works fine.

Details on this thread http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17932999