Project: Subwoofer PC

MrScott · 20 Mar 2007 at 11:32

Hello all. Over the next few weeks a friend and I are setting out to build a media PC inside an old subwoofer. The idea is to have a cut down XP installation and run a customised media playing GUI based on car PC software.

This is what we're starting with:

Last night we stripped all the sub components out, and there isn't much space at all inside:

So, the plan at the moment:

Most of the case will be apinted metallic purple, with the front panel crhome
The hole where the speaker was will become a round window, possibly with some etching or something.
Internals of the case will probably be painted black, internal lighting probably white but not 100% sure on colour yet.

There are many things still up in the air, such as the exact cooling layout, what all the buttons on the front will do and other 'features' / lighting effects.

Hardware wise we'll be using an EPIA board and an enermax Micro ATX PSU, and a 120GB Deskstar 7K250. We don't have room for an optical drive so all copying of media etc will have to be done using an external HDD.

At the moment the main jobs are sorting out a custom back plate for the back of the case and choosing paint colours. We'll need to do some modification to the case but it's only MDF type stuff so it'll be nice & easy to work with.

So, any input & comments welcome, will provide updates as things go along...

overcl0cker · 20 Mar 2007 at 11:42

OH YAY! first post

this looks EXTREMELY interesting and I'll have to kepp watching!

GOOD LUCK!

oc.

bryanlaycock · 20 Mar 2007 at 12:13

what u gonna put in the giant hole on the side? just a window?

MrScott · 20 Mar 2007 at 12:18

bryanlaycock said:
what u gonna put in the giant hole on the side? just a window?

Yeh. We thought of putting a fan or something in the window but the hole isn't all that big (17cm diameter) and we thought it would be good to just have it as a window. Originally there was a plastic surround round the edge of the hole over which speaker cloth was stretched, the plan is to paint that chrome and have it as a window frame. Didn't have the surround when taking those pics unfortunately but i'll get some of it at some point.

MagicalTrevor · 20 Mar 2007 at 13:23

the wooden case might cause heat problems :|

james.miller · 20 Mar 2007 at 13:25

not if he get's the airflow right.

mishima · 20 Mar 2007 at 13:30

Could be a risk if it gets hot enough or a spark. Thing could go up in smoke! Interesting idea though.

gt_junkie · 20 Mar 2007 at 14:07

Seen a few wooden case pc's in the past - if the cooling's done right then you'll be fine!

You could ghetto mod a 140mm Aerocool fan over the hole (may look a little messy) or you could fit a 250mm fan there then you wouldn't see the edge of the fan just the centre cap and blades! :cool:

Also, if you're using mini-itx kit then your psu will be outside the case which will help reduce heat and the fire risk!

Gonna love watching this come together!

gt

Lethal` · 20 Mar 2007 at 14:39

Looks cool !

orderoftheflame · 20 Mar 2007 at 15:01

good project!! good luck.

lord_scott said:
Yeh. We thought of putting a fan or something in the window but the hole isn't all that big (17cm diameter) and we thought it would be good to just have it as a window. Originally there was a plastic surround round the edge of the hole over which speaker cloth was stretched, the plan is to paint that chrome and have it as a window frame. Didn't have the surround when taking those pics unfortunately but i'll get some of it at some point.

Are you planning to use the original buttons on the case?

krisboats · 20 Mar 2007 at 17:26

orderoftheflame said:
good project!! good luck.

Are you planning to use the original buttons on the case?

Yeah, do that! It'd look 10 times better. Have the dial as a fan controller, Top button as I/O, second button as restart, then third as... switching on cathodes behind your window?

Can you not fit the cd-drive under the front bass tube inside the case? Maybe use a laptop style one with smaller dimentions and build a small frame for it to sit in. All you'd need to do is slide it under and cut a section out of the bottom of the side panel for the drive to open from.

And as for airflow.... put an intake fan over the bass tube inside the case then stick two 120mm/80mm fans on the back panel of the box?

surfsquid · 20 Mar 2007 at 17:47

what would be really cool is a flat loading cd/dvd drive in the speaker hole with a clear lid so you can see the disk spin up. I understand this idea is entirely not-doable but it would look so good!

bryanlaycock · 20 Mar 2007 at 19:44

Have u thort about any external styling yet?

MrScott · 20 Mar 2007 at 20:05

Evening all, thanks for the interest & ideas, this should be a fun project

A little shopping trip and we now have this:

Sometime soon we'll have a test spray with them and see how the purple / chrome look. The plan is to have most of the body in 'Ford purple velvet', then the front panel & window surround will be done in the chrome. We also now have half a gig of Corsair Value select RAM to use.

Heat wise I don't think we'll have problems, we're going to have the PSU and at least one extra fan circulating air, and the tube in the front will be a clear air inlet. It's not as if it's going to generate a whole lot of heat anyway, it's only an EPIA board and a 270W power supply lol. My main worry at the moment is cooling the hard drive, as the only place we have to fit it is a corner which will be hard to get airflow to.

gt_junkie said:
Also, if you're using mini-itx kit then your psu will be outside the case which will help reduce heat and the fire risk!

The power supply will be internal, but is a smaller form factor than a standard ATX PSU. Here it is (on the right) compared to a generic ATX supply (left):

orderoftheflame said:
Are you planning to use the original buttons on the case?

Yup. We've yet to work out what we're going to do with them all though, probably light / fan controls mainly. We've got the big one at the bottom for power, one for reset then 5 more to find something to do with! Will be easier once we know exactly what lights etc will be going on.

krisboats said:
Can you not fit the cd-drive under the front bass tube inside the case?

If we can it will be tight. Good idea with the slot loading drive, but it wouldn't be that easy because of the thickness of the MDF and limited access, and since we won't need one that badly we'll probbaly stick with no optical drive.

Ventillation wise we'll probably have an 80mm or 120mm fan somewhere, hopefully in the back if there's room, to extract air, and either rely on negative pressure to draw air in through the tube at the front or stick a fan at the end of the tube (which, if we use an LED fan, could give a nice glow to it).

So, next jobs:

-Have a practise with the paints and see how they look
-Start thinking about new switches / wiring for the front panel
-Sand & prepare the exterior for painting.
-Sort out perspex & mounting for window.

Once we have the custom metal backplate we're getting made (at BAE!) we'll then crack on with mounting the hardware.