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Thread: Custom-built mini-ITX case

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    Custom-built mini-ITX case

    Hi all,

    As I mentioned in my Welcome posting, I've got a mini-ITX media server machine. It's run off an Epia TC10000 board, with a Hitachi 120GB for boot and music, 2x 300GB Seagates for TV and a 400GB Seagate for movies (all legal backups of DVDs I own of course).

    I looked into pre-made case options for it, but there isn't seemingly anything on the market that suits a mini-ITX board with 4 drives yet is compact. My first thought was to try a Maplin 1U equipment case, but when it got here it turned out to be under 1U height by a few mm so my PSU wouldn't fit. Sent it back and got a refund, and decided to go down the custom build route.

    I sourced some aluminium offcuts from a local metal merchant for £10, and here's the result in its current state. I should add that all I did was come up with the design for this and help out where possible, all the credit for construction goes to my dad, who's done an amazing job.



    It's not quite finished yet, so all the alu still has its plastic covering on it, but you get the idea. The curve on the top front was a complete nightmare to make, but it seems to have worked out OK.



    That vent design was Dad's idea too - all the vents are backed with aluminium mesh (it's actually car body repair mesh, but it works pretty well as a coarse fan filter too!).



    Those are a pair of 120mm fans, and you can also see the 200W Shuttle PSU and the backplate of the TC.



    The innards with 3 of the drives in - the 400GB is currently on its way back to Seagate for a warranty replacement as one of the inductors underneath disintegrated and a bit of the plastic went in the breather hole



    The pair of 300GB drives are in the vertical stack closest to the camera, with the 120GB in the background on the top deck.



    Removing the deck gives a view of the motherboard - note the slightly ghetto power feed soldered to the 12V jack input on the board - turned out to be the easiest way to get 12V to the board from the power supply when I realised the 60W onboard power and an external brick really weren't up to running 4 full-size hard drives!



    A slightly further back view of the case with the deck out shows how tightly packed it is in there - we reckon we could cut a bit out of the dimensions if we really tried, but it would be a complete pain to work with.

    So, what do you think? And what do you reckon I should do regarding painting, polishing or anything else?

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    Hexus.net Troll Dougal's Avatar
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    Not sure about those vents. Can't tell for sure with the protective sheet still on it. Maybe some kind of trim?

    Also a trim between the sides and the top would also be nice I think, but untill the protection is off again, we can't tell
    Quote Originally Posted by Errr...me
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    The top will be getting a trim as soon as I can find something I like - probably slim blowhole trim or something similar.

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    Looks like it could turn out really nice! Are you going to polish the aluminium?

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    Thanks! I'm not sure yet, I may well polish it and see what it comes up like. The surface is pretty good under the plastic so it should polish up well if I do try that.

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    Gordy Gordy's Avatar
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    Nice work

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    Tak
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    Very nice. What HD temps are you getting with that?

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    Well, according to Speedfan it's currently pulling 47 degrees on the CPU, board temp is 35 (though I'm sure it's lying, it's always crazy high), 26 on each of the pair of Seagates and 29 on the Hitachi.

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    i think it would look great with a little etching, maybe something tribal? or what ever floats your boat.

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    Finally finished details today, I ended up polishing the alu for the time being - I may yet change my mind again, but I'm happy for now!

    Here's some more pics...





    So what do you think?

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    • Wyoming's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus A8N SLI Deluxe
      • CPU:
      • AMD 64 Athlon 3700+
      • Memory:
      • 2x 1GB DDR PC3200 OCZ Performance Series
      • Storage:
      • 500GB Western Digital
      • Graphics card(s):
      • HIS HD3850 pro 256MB
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX520
      • Case:
      • Cooler Master Ammo 533
      • Monitor(s):
      • Asus PW191 19" @ 1440x900
    Liking that, very nice design. Good job

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    Quote Originally Posted by seanblee
    Finally finished details today, I ended up polishing the alu for the time being - I may yet change my mind again, but I'm happy for now!

    Here's some more pics...

    So what do you think?
    corrr... I like the look of that!

    EDIT: How about a close-up of the buttons?

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    • unreal's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Intel iMac 20" & Macbook
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 2.0Ghz
      • Memory:
      • 4gb DDR667
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      • Monitor(s):
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    Wow thats seriously nice.... those fans must be pulling out heat constantly too, since its so tightly packed in there

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    Agent of the System ikonia's Avatar
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    I have to admit I couldn't see where you where going or what it was going to look like while you where building, however the finished photos showed you had a good plan in your mind and it turned out looking great.

    Some blue fans in the big fan holes /may/ look good
    It is Inevitable.....


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    Very nice.

    One thing tho, on the right hand side (bottom pic) is that top metal sheet slighst after it goees straight?
    Quote Originally Posted by Errr...me
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    Quote Originally Posted by bobbyzero
    corrr... I like the look of that!

    EDIT: How about a close-up of the buttons?
    Thanks! How's this?




    It probably doesn't look like it, but the buttons are central in the holes from directly in front, and the glow from the offset LED is fairly even around the entire aperture.

    EDIT: guess the camera (EXIF is cheating!)

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