Stroke of luck....new project.

[zootfloot]

Hi Folks,

I am completely new to anythin that is small form factor so please gentle.

Basically the Father in law has just called in and left me with a new SFF case which i am really excited about, he picked it up at a car boot sale for £6.00

So now i have a new project on the horizon, and i can imagine that im going to be needing a fair bit of help/advice with it.

Please see the Images below.....

Dimensions and some Specs

Power Supply
AC adaptor input 110~240V, 50~60Hz universal

Dimensions(mm)
262 x 162 x 310mm

Case material
Aluminum

What i want to do....

Basically i want to make this into a little media centre PC for the wife, i do have some bits and pieces lying around such as the following motherboard ASROCK 775VM800 http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=775VM800&s= , Pentium 4 630 CPU, 1Gb RAM.

Now what im going to need to do is get a new PSU and make a custom enclosure for it (Due to their being no room in the case, and also i am going to do a fair bit of cutting and grinding to fit adequate cooling for case fans etc.

The graphics card could prove to be problematic....low profile AGP possibly?

Your thoughts/input into this build and if you think its worth bothering with would be much appreciated.

 

[zootfloot]

Thanks for the reply Guardsmon,

As far as i could tell the Asrock Mobo is Matx, it is smaller than the P35-DS3R that i am currently using.

With regards to the PSU, yes i was going to have it external, and build a custome enclosure for it...then feed in the cables through a vacant PCI slot.

The more i think about this build the more i am looking forward to the challenges that it brings.

 

[zootfloot]

That looks like a funky little case, should make a great HTPC. The only thing that worries me is that it doesnt look like it will fit a standard mAtx bobo, that one on your pic only has 2 expansion slots on the back. Have you measured it up at all? It has the look of a custom sized barebones package to me
PK!

Good thinking, i will check as soon as i can dig out the Mobo, then get back to you.

If all else fails i may even use it like a kind of HDD caddy and get rid of the annoying external hard drives that i am currently using.

 

[zootfloot]

Quick update:

The Asrock 775VM800 motherboard's dimensions are 210mm x 240mm, the motherboard designed for use in this case is the same size but a different orientation (238mm x 208mm).

Therefore this will not work/fit.

I have now decided that i am going to go for a Mini-ITX....more updates as and when i get hold of the gear.