Case Mod - In Progress Project : Penguin v4.0 - Closed! ALL ITEMS NOW FOR SALE!!! - 21/06/09

Yea this is just a rough fitting to see what it looks like, i need to shorten/rearrange the the tubing. Plus i have some anti kink coils going on at some point.

Cheers for the advise though keep it coming!

Yea I was thinking about running it that way, but for some reason i decided against it. i will try it out and have a look. Shouldn't affect the temps at all should it?

 

Loop order barely affects temps.
Water has a high enough specific heat capacity for the Delta-T to be negligible.

 

Yea after doing a bit of research into it, it seems that the blocks are efficient enough to not need a specific order.

I was also thinking a bit about the pressure of the system, but it should be the same pressure throughout the loop am I right?

 

Looking great so far!

 

I'm not sure, but it seems unlikely. The total pressure should remain constant, but the pressure at different point will vary. Not sure if that makes sense?

 

Just read through your log, and it's very nice work. I loved your solution for the rad (I assume that's radiator, not much experience with W/C systems). After seeing those pics I might go for one of those cases for my mod as well. Bookmarked so I can keep up with future updates!

 

Cheers buddy, you tend to pick up these words if you spend too long on the forums like me! you should its a great case, not too much room, but the room you do have you can use to maximum potential (plus I like a challenge)!

Update coming up soon.....

 

Pico-ITX mobo and PSU Sleeving

Hello bit-tech,
its been a while since my last update and progress has been steady but fairly slow, this is mainly due to work and real life commitments (I mean I have to pay for this somehow I Suppose!)

Anyway I have decided to focus on getting the Pico system up and running before I sell my iMac to fund the purchase of the i7 system because prices may or may not go down before I buy and i don't want hardware to be sitting around (potentially breaking or being DOA) while i mess about trying to mod the case.

I made a quick line drawing in illustrator to show the main concept thats rattling around in my head at the moment, i will add much better ones in the next update once i get some time...


I had something very special arrive on my doorstep the other day, it took two and a half weeks of waiting for USPS, H&M Customs, and Parcel Force to get their act together, but my Pico Motherboard is finally here!

Unboxing...







Loads of break out connectors for all the ports on the motherboard as it is sooo tiny!


Here it is






Soo small in my hand


With the 1GB DDR II 577mhz stick installed (came out of the iMac when I upgraded to 4GB)




Ready to be tested once my new 500GB Samsung Eco 5400rpm drive come on friday.







Anyway onto some actual modding maybe?

I decided I wanted to go for the murder mods look for the PSU main 24 pin ATX cable and most of the cables that you will see in the mod. I really like the look but I'm not gonna pay £50 odd on the official pack not including shipping. So a quick visit to Chilled PC got me some 4mm black cable braid.

Here is the PSU as it arrived on my doorstep.


I did initially try to use the staple method to get the pins out of the connector but it was just useless, so back onto the interwebs and the next day a Sunbeam PSU modding kit was sitting on my lap.

Its a great kit and i would recommend it to anyone, easy to use and seems solid enough to me!

Start off by ripping out all the pins and remembering to label them carefully unless you want your nice new Mobo to go bang!




All gone


On with the sleeving, first pin in...


Nearly there, but looking good!



This i how the PSU sits now on my desk, i have run out of cable braid and need to order some more, plus i may or may not redo all the sleeving, as i have learnt alot doing the 24 pin ATX connector and recon i could do it alot better the second time around!


Let me know what you guys think, more updates should be coming soon.....

 

I like this case, you put quite a lot of gear in a pretty small case. You are working very clean, there is a lot of attention for the details. It is looking great so far.
Nice sleeve job to, but why didn't you shorten your atx cable while it was bare? It probably would improve the looks.

I also love it u putting tape on every piece of ur pc

 

That Pico ITX sure is impressive, so plugging in a HDD, Optical Drive and powering it, and thats it? Wowzers.

 

Just found this log. Playing catchup. Looks very nice.

The only comment/tip/hint I can offer is to thread a nut onto the bolt before cutting. Whack it to length and SLOWLY unscrew the nut. It will help clean the threads (called chasing - I don't know why). After the nut is off it is a simple file job to make the bolt pretty.

john

 

I really love that sleeving look but I wanna try something a little different on my next mod .

 

Very clean work there!

 

Cheers badje, Im trying to fit in as much as possible, cooling and hardware so that hopefully, if I mod this case right, it should last a while.

I didn't shorten the ATX cable because I'm really not that good with the whole electronics thing, and I'm quite scared I will blow myself up. Although i agree it would look a whole lot better. I may look into it if space is tight though.

Thanks The boy 4rm oz, I found out about this look after stumbling onto murder mods in like January and fell in love. Look forward to what you have up your sleeve for the cabling though.

Cheers jhanlon303 hopefully there should be an update this weekend if I ever get round to taking a few photos and breaking out the dermel!

As soon as i read your post I could remember doing just that in my Design Classes at school when i was shortening some bolts. Can't believe I didn't remember, thanks for the advise!

Yea I was sold on the idea after looking through Langers, PrometheusCU project log. He had the great concept of removing all the miscellaneous strain on the main rig by building in a sub system to handle downloading, music files, ect... I really liked the idea of having 24/7 (legal) torrent downloads and constant access to my music files /slash/ video files.

Very simple system, all I need is a touch screen monitor, HDD, and Pico PSU and im sorted!

Cheers Zoon, almost took a few items off your for-sale thread the other day....

....unfortunately my bank balance didn't agree with me, sorry!

 

Eighth Post:- Pico-ITX Mounting and Cutting the Bottom Plate

Right on with today's bout of modding, I must say my lungs have defiantly decreased in capacity science this morning, too much nylon inhalation.

Anyway I have, as promised, made a Langer inspired concept drawing to show my plans for the hardware placement and how it should all look and fit in when finished. I do have quite a lot of room up top so I could, in theory, fit a 360 rad up there without touching the i/o ports up top.


Gives me a bit of an option if temps aren't up to spec!


First off I went over to the City-Link depot today to pick up a package from Scan...


My 500GB Samsung Spinpoint F2 Ecodrive and 2 right angled SATA cables, hopefully I should be able to sleeve these using the same type of sleeving as the PSU.

The placement of the pico board is vital, the i/o break outs are very short and i dont want to be making a load of extenders to reach things like the USB ports, ect...

Its going to be placed sideways in the bottom 5 1/2in bay on top of an deralin base.




I am using a cardboard template so i can cut once but measure about fourteen times! The board is just resting on where it should be mounted.


Due to the battery and RAM mounting on the underside of the board sticking out quite alot, the board will be mounted over a large hole to accommodate this...




Mounting holes drilled...


I used a couple of M3 nuts to extend the motherboard standoffs so that the battery can clear the tray...




Doesnt look it here but everything just clears, and should be fine...
... also those blots are just temporary




In the drive bays...




I should be able to draw out the final mobo tray tommorow and do the first rough cuts on the plastic. Lots of work still to be done on this though.



I have also managed to do the first of the rough cuts on the fake bottom to the case that should hide most of the wiring coming out of the PSU and pump.

This is what i started off with, if your remember the original plan was to have the plate alot higher and thus the the hole for the 120 Rad to be recessed in. I'm now gonna have the plate alot lower so there is no need to have the potentially weakening hole in the plate.


Final rough template to work off....


Note the slits to allow the pump brackets to come through, and the plate to sit lower in the case....




Sitting in the case...



And this is what I'm gonna be making this and the pico mobo tray from...


6mm thick, 500mm x 500mm Deralin sheet


And now all covered up in masking tape!


All drawn out to perfection, well hopefully...






And on with the cutting!!! Unfortunately I only have a Dremel to cut this with, which is far to crap to cut though 6mm thick plastic, but I have found a way!!
Warning its not pretty!


Pump hole cut out...


Very close to line!


Just to show you how thick this stuff is!


Power supply recess nearly there!


Just the longest cut to go!




Finished!!!


Only a **** load of filling, cutting and sanding to do! Cant help but feel im only a 1/4 of the way there with this!

Anyway until tomorrow this is it!

 

Looking Good. Any chance in hell this would play 1080p? Or am i dreaming and really need the Zotac Board on the main page (Sorry, hijacking as i have an idea.....)

 

It would struggle alot mate, doubt it would be any use, your best bet would be either the Zotac Ion board or the one Bit reviewed like a month ago, the Zotac Wifi or something.

 

Lookin at the Zotac ION, be used as a Media PC and Downloader and Kinda Server thing.

 

Nice work on the PICO mount, should look good. Good start on the floor of the case.

 

Great "start" so far.