Project: Subwoofer PC

[MrScott]

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...

 

[MrScott]

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.

 

[MrScott]

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.

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):

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.

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.