Shuttle mod to fit mini itx, I5, HD7870, atx power

[SilentDeath]

My pc is in a tower case, but want something smaller that can fit on motorbike. I have an old shuttle case (athlon xp1700) that looked about the right size for:

Asrock Z77E-ITX
I5 ivy bridge and standard cooler.
800w atx power supply
VTX HD7870 graphics

Power supply fits in great. Drilled a couple holes to mount it above mb. MB fits great, its smaller than the shuttle board. Shuttle board does not have ATX mounting holes, so I made new ones. Case has two expansion slots so I thought graphics would fit - next time I will test mb and graphics for fit at the same time! I tried anyway, Moved mb over 3.5mm to the left = new holes, again. I cut out the expansion slot brackets and will fabricate new ones. However it still wont fit, about 5mm out - gfx card back plate and plastic shroud over cooler.





Id say its a great idea if you dont have dual graphics, or have one of the more recent shuttle cases that are designed to fit a mini-itx board. I think I will buy a Cooler Master Elite 120 as it has tool-less HDD bays, any other suggestions?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Here is my effort:

http://forums.hexus.net/motherboards...x-rebuild.html









The case was the one used in the SN41G2.

I used one of these PSUs:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SHUTTLE-PC...item23276b9741

[SilentDeath]

Interesting, looks good, but I dont like the fan Mine was a SN45G, so guessing same case before we started. Seeing yours has given me an idea how to get the graphics card under the lid, so I might keep it.

Recommend a nibbler tool for cutting up cases/fan holes. I done mine with a hand nibbler, but want an electric drill attachment. Original PSU makes a tick noise and I remember the fan being noisey, so Im fitting my 800w ATX. It fits so well Im suprised they didnt use one as standard, has a 120 fan exhaust. Only problem is the back of my case is weak as I cut out all the support around graphics card. I made a bracket to attach the front left support to front of PSU so its not as weak as it looks.






Would like to get a tool-less anti-vibration hdd bay to fit at the front, any ideas? I dont like the standard CD/HDD bays, take far too much space.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What PSU are you using??

[Pob255]

Looks like you've fallen foul of one of the basic modder's, don't cut, measure twice, then measure again, once more to be sure, think about cutting, measure once more for luck, then cut.

Nibblers are great on aluminium, not so for steel, it'll work but it requires far more effort, if the steel is thick prepare to suffer.

With the amount you've cut out of the back it might be worth looking at putting some material back, Aluminium L section it good to create supports to add back strength, drill holes and pop rivet it in place.

What are you going to do for drives? that psu is going to take up a lot of the front space with cables and it's size.
The shuttle cases are a good bit shorter than a cooler master 120 and that's mainly down to the space need to fit in an ATX psu and all it's wires.
An 800w psu is really total and wasteful overkill, 350w bequiet SFX psu would of been a better choice http://www.ebuyer.com/173801-be-quie...100x63mm-bn134 smaller and still enough to power an i5 and 7770

Heat could become an issue for you, the psu and stock cooler are very close and will be pulling air against each other which could well leave one starved.

I don't want to put you off modding, modding is the way forward in most high demand small form factor builds just think before you cut.
I've been keeping an eye on ebay atm looking for a cheap shuttle so I can have a go at modding it for small form factor.

@CAT, I see you've still not made that top fan hole bigger

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

BTW,Pob I got one of these coolers on my CPU now:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006FOND7...SIN=B006FOND7W

It is a bit on the noisy side under full pelt,but the CPU under gaming load is usually under 60C now,instead of the 70C+ it used to be with the stock cooler.










Edit!!

I have this Noctua fan in my old SD37P2:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/92mm-...quiet-case-fan

I wonder if it would do the trick??

There is this new low profile fan they do too:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/92mm-...e-fan-case-fan

Its the one they use on their new low profile CPU cooler.

[Pob255]

Well if you want to go the whole hog http://www.scan.co.uk/products/92mm-...e-fan-case-fan that's the on they use on the NH-L9 series low profile coolers, the blade design allows for higher static pressure

But I didn't think you had any cpu clearance issues as you're still using a flex psu, aren't you?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Well if you want to go the whole hog http://www.scan.co.uk/products/92mm-...e-fan-case-fan that's the on they use on the NH-L9 series low profile coolers, the blade design allows for higher static pressure

But I didn't think you had any cpu clearance issues as you're still using a flex psu, aren't you?

The HDD slightly overhangs the cooler,as the socket is too near the front. I might attach a fan controller to see if I can turn the fan down a bit,. However,for £12.99 that is really good for a LP CPU IMHO. The one that replaced it actually has a quieter fan and slightly worse cooling.

[SilentDeath]

haha, note my join date. You a bit late if you want to put me off modding Im tempted to get that CM case but I prefer alu.

800w psu is not that bad, You realise it will only take power in proportion to what is demanded and possibly more efficient than cheap small psu. Has plenty of reserve and will power anything I can throw at it, quietely. It can also run 12v tools. I had it from my previous PC, so about 10 years old

This case is not physically wide enough to fit a dual slot without cutting the lid. Cooling is no problem, Ive tested with the psu mounted and lid on. Works quite well now that I cleaned the dust out

Ive got 95mm spare width at the front for a sideways HDD bay if anyone has ideas what will fit? (new or parts from ebay) preferably tool-less. Otherwise I will fabricate one. Should be *possible* to fit 3 drives and a SSD, but one or two is plenty. Needs to be cheap, though.

[Pob255]

Umm not quite right below 20% load psu efficiency tends to drop off very fast, idle you'll be pulling under 100w full load around 250-300w

What psu is it btw?

HDD bay, personally I'd make one if you can, it's what I currently planing to do for my haf912, a hard drive bay really isn't complex to make, you could buy something and adapt it though.

[SilentDeath]

Then it looks like Im making one

Rails attach to HDD, 1/4" by 5mm thick, countersunk screws.
HDD 15.5, s60, s41.5, 28.5mm
Cage. disk width + 12mm. with 6mm rubber sheet between rails.
Top side threaded hole to put pin through rails, locking them in place

Material for rails? Ive got lots of scrap alu bar, no suitable plastics... but 7mm thick ebony from a scrap fret board. I like the idea of that.

[Domestic_Ginger]

@Mooseman. I thin kI read somewhere that if you flip the fan over it works better. pointing down it keeps pumping the same air round and round.

[SilentDeath]

Made support bracket, but need case empty to fit

[SilentDeath]

Its done, mostly. Got to make lid fit round graphics card, as it sticks out 5mm. Then HDD bays, and sort cables. The 6 power cables sitting on my HDD are unused - plan to chop about 4" from psu, fit mini-amp-and-lock connectors to them, one to mount on front panel for powering external drives. I might also chop the sata connectors for 90 degree ones, they annoy me.

I cant recommend this motherboard enough, even for a full size pc. Its so easy to fit and I cant find any flaws with it. I can name hundred flaws in previous DFI ultra 4, abit nf7-s.
















Even with everything in case I have 110mm of CD bay empty, that can fit 2 HDD's. With the right cables I could fit 5 HDD's and an SSD in the front of this case ! not that Im going to as access would get difficult. If I did not need 2 hdd's I could have shortened the case by 2 inches.

[Pob255]

nice I'd consider cutting a hole in the side of the cover, over the gpu fan, then cover it up with a wire grill or a filter eg http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/...pid-15055.html (i'm pretty sure that's an 80mm fan on the gpu)

[SilentDeath]

Yeah i was intending to do that. I had a few minutes spare so cut a few holes today. tape is temporary. Cover will be made stronger, so that its ok strapped onto bike.