Project PS3PC

-Mike-

-Mike-

-Mike-

Soldato
Joined
22 Dec 2002
Posts
10,165
Location
Minehead
Hey all,

I've seen a few people attempt this and fail it, so if I do fail don't put me down too much!

I've so far got the following -

PS3 60GB shell,
Zotac 9300 ITX motherboard
4gb DDR2 Memory
E6600 Core2Duo





As you can see space is somewhat limited and I've come to the following points :

1) What sort of psu will run this? All of the pico style psu's have very low ratings on the 12v rail. Looking at the flex psu's one of those may well fit but it will take up pretty much every last bit of space.

2) If I went for a pico style psu it would mean that I could fit a standard 3.5" drive in there instead of a 2.5" laptop drive which I'd have to take out of an external drive I have here.

Any suggestions or advice welcome :)
 
Years ago before the htpc became common we tried it with a vcr and an old HP motherboard - it failed and we almost electrocuted ourselves stripping the psu down to save space ;)

I am trying to fathom what sort of psu will be able to provide appropriate power. The pico // itx style psu would save me so much space but they seem somewhat gutless :confused:

Am going to make a mock sized flex psu out of paper and try it for size, will report back in a mo :)
 
-Mike- said:
Years ago before the htpc became common we tried it with a vcr and an old HP motherboard - it failed and we almost electrocuted ourselves stripping the psu down to save space ;)

I am trying to fathom what sort of psu will be able to provide appropriate power. The pico // itx style psu would save me so much space but they seem somewhat gutless :confused:

Am going to make a mock sized flex psu out of paper and try it for size, will report back in a mo :)
Click to expand...

I managed to fit a micro atx psu in mine.
 
A 150w Pico and laptop drives should do for that lot. A friend of mine runs an Athlon II X4, AM3 motherboard with HD4250 built in video, BluRay drive and a 1TB 3.5" on one. Can't say I'd be running Prime95 on it though
 
Thanks for the replies guys :)

The 1u psu looks like it'd be an extremely tight fit, so pico style psu it is. The only thing that concerns me here is that the 160w has 8a on the 12v rail :eek:

Perhaps I should chop the e6600 in for one of their 45nm cpu's instead?
 
-Mike- said:
Thanks for the replies guys :)

The 1u psu looks like it'd be an extremely tight fit, so pico style psu it is. The only thing that concerns me here is that the 160w has 8a on the 12v rail :eek:

Perhaps I should chop the e6600 in for one of their 45nm cpu's instead?
Click to expand...

You should be OK as it is thats still 96Watts.

The CPU is unlikely to draw more than 45Watts at load.

You could try under volting it to save a bit more power
 
The boards under volting options appear to be very limited. Literally to -0.1v which isn't a great deal.

I had thought about creating a console hifi type system with a RROD xbox 360 I have. I could use the xbox to house a psu, desktop hard drive etc. This however seems a little bit of a cheat to me!

Final option is to sleeve a psu so all cables are bundled into a thick cable and running it externally. I figure if I extended every single cable on the psu I could have it as a more capable external power brick.
 
I'm thinking of making my own external power brick for this. The reasons are as follows -

With a pciex ribbon I can install a freesat/freeview hd card inside should the need arise. The lack of lost space to a psu would mean there is space for this.

If I went for an external supply I could get a decent branded one and mount it inside a plastic case or even to the back of our current tv unit.


With regards to extending all the cables, I assume I won't cause any problem by soldering and heatshrinking each individual cable and then braiding them?
 
Update :

Cut away back plate of the ps3 hoping to retain some of the rear whilst allowing space for the io shield



The plan here is to put a bead of black silicon or tiger seal around it to both neaten it up and provide a tight but slightly flexible seal around the io shield.





Test fitting of the motherboard before making holes for the stand offs.







Motherboard standoffs screwed in and motherboard mounted.






Tested placement of a fan, I think its going to need some sort of forced airflow to keep it cool. I'm thinking of either cutting the left hand side of the ps3 where the hdd bay is to allow for an 80mm hole, or possibly making some ducting up and just allowing the fan to breathe through the hdd bay cover hole. (suggestions welcomed)







Ready for some crude testing, current psu is an old p4 unit which provides only 10amps on the 12v rail. I'm just wanting to see if this is capable of powering the system without too much heat. If it does, then a pico psu may well fit the bill.

I read a review on the 9300itx and its power draw doesn't exceed 65watt with an e7400 playing a blu-ray, which is about as taxed as this sytem will be.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom