Steeps' Trashed, but almost silent shuttle

Steeps

Steeps

Steeps

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Joined
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ok, this project has been going on forever! and as it is my gaming/working rig i kinda still need it, so permanently dismantling it has not been an option.

i'll edit this text and add more pics later, aswell as adding pics to the thread as i go along.

things that i have done:

salvaged a sb75g2 case to work with (spare backup one incase i kill it)
replaced northbridge cooler with a zalman
replaced ICE cooler with an xp120 and akasa amber
mutilated ice cooler to fit on graphics card
didn't like the fitting of it to my graphics card so bought a new bracket
re-mutilated ice cooler to fit
mutilated PSU to take a single 80mm fan

still need to do:
mutilate psu further for cabling
fix psu in place
fix hard disk in place
do something about venting, or find a new lid

total cost:
xp120 and fan: 35
zalman nb: 7
new bracket for gfxcard: 17
new fan for psu: 5

total cost £54
total hours on thought and doing: too many

to show that i treat shuttles cruelly this is how it used to look like :D

P1010038a.jpg
 
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ok i seem to have lost some of my images, so i will start off with as far as i got in the summer

here we see in full action how BIG the xp120 is inside a shuttle
Picture81.jpg


closeup of the zalman heatsink on the NB, had to dismantle the clip system from the old one to fit it, works great!
Picture80.jpg


this is a pic of what i am hoping to do with the ICE, use it to cool the gfxcard
Picture(51).jpg
 
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another view of what i'm doing to the ICE, but the base needs to be flipped round
Picture(52).jpg


taking apart the PSU's to see which would be easier to work with, as both are just as messy i decided to stay with the 250w
Picture(155).jpg


after having issues with the ICE cooler, including breaking 2 drill pieces and a few other parts, also i didn't want to play with an angle grinder, i managed to source a new block that would mount heatpipes to the card
 
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ICE's are the most FUN things to take apart! (not)
P1010034.JPG


old iceberq4 off, new ICE on! not pasted yet as i'm still testing its strength etc
P1010030.JPG


heatpipes bent by hand... felt like i was going to snap them
P1010031.JPG
 
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graphics card in the shuttle, seeing how it fits
P1010032.JPG


top down view
P1010033.JPG


showing where the PSU will go, fan pulls air from the NB/RAM and pushes it out of the sides
P1010035.JPG
 
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topdown view, yes the psu looks off center, but thats because my wireless unit is in the way, will have to move it elsewhere
P1010036.JPG


hard disk sitting on top of the psu, i am aware of where the power connector is, and i will need to change its location, will be doing that when i am ready to finish off the project
P1010037.JPG


side view looking at the ICE and PSU, can just see the northbridge in there
P1010038.jpg
 
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other side view, need to get a 12v extender cable, and hack up the psu more to move wires around
P1010039.JPG


case lid fits on!
P1010041.JPG


almost. just have to sort out the cables and it will be fine.
P1010040.JPG
 
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that's all i've got for now, i'm still testing layouts but as this is my main rig i've had to reassemble it to use it. any comments and suggestions are welcome, and i will try to answer any questions. hoping to get it done by easter.

when it is finished the case will have 1x 120mm amber fan running at 5 volts and one papst 80mm fan running at 7 volts (i want the psu to stay cooler) the only real noise i can hear now is the hard disk spinning, which is a samsung spinpoint. once its all enclosed it should be next to silent :)
 
geez, how are you so confident opening PSU's and all that? i'd freak 0_0.

what were the temps before you started the modding process? how much of a reduction do you expect to get , or what is the PuRpose of this project 0_O?
 
i always leave my psu's unpowered for 24hr before taking lids off, they're not dangerous as long as you don't touch anything ;)

temps were often around 40's for the cpu (when clocked) but sitting on a 5v fan in a warm toom i'm getting about 30'c according to bios (not clocked). having the lowest temperature is not my priority, the target is to get the whole shuttle as close to silent as i can without losing performance and able to have the casing on. all i have lost from the design is the cd rom drive, however i do have space for a slimline one if i really wanted.
 
that temp u mentioned after the m0d is what i get in my shuttle with specs below unmodded theres sumthing you must be doing wrong sumwhere.
 
ahhh, ive been wonderin how your project has been gettin on from last time you posted about it lol

looks great so far.

i have an idea for your psu problem. after recently modding my shuttle again i found i had to move the psu closer to the front of the chassis so i could fit a 120mm fan in with a pci card in (by cutting a chunk out the chassis where the psu was to fit the fan in). the 250watt psu's are quite long as you know and i couldnt quite bend the cables round enough to get them to fit so i could plug it into the mobo. but i remembered how short the stock 200watt psu's were from my SN45G. they are only 150mm long and would fit nicley where you got yours now with room to spare for the cables.

they are also v.high quality as all shuttle psu's are. this tiny 200watt psu is good enough to power my whole rig (3400+ clawhammer, 1gb ram, 1 raptor, 1 160gb maxtor, x800pro vivo, x-mystique sound card, couple of fans and LED's (even powered all this but with a 120mm delta 190cfm jobby nicely))

admittedly the 12v rail went down to 11.3v from 11.7v but to me, thats still in an acceptable range and has been running like this for the past 3-4 months at least

if you do this, then try and get an achme 200watt psu as they are quite abit better than the enhance 200watt ones, always a couple on egay. (my friend has an enhance one and it wouldnt turn on with a 9800XT connected!!)

last thing, they do get a bit hotter than the 250watt ones cos they only have 1 piddly 40mm fan and practically no airflow, but my temps have been pretty good with this in

dsc001205ng.jpg
 
i found the 250w psu just about powerful for my system, the 200w unit looks nice but i don't know how well it would perform with my P4. suppose i am only using a 9600xt when its finished.

i'm not worried about the single fan, i'd probably take it out and cut another 80mm hole in it if it fits
 
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