Scratch Build – In Progress Project: Frame Box Media Center - COMPLETE!

I've had this box with glass on the front for a couple of years now and I've always wanted to make a computer out of it. The problem is: I've never had a reason. That has changed. I would like to have a basic Media Center down in my modding area for when I'm modding and want to hear music or glance at TBCS inbetween cuts.



I also have this Intel Atom 330/Mini ITX combo that would be perfect for such a mudane task as playing music



I removed the shelves with a hammer



And put in the board



Then I cut the holes for the motherboard and PSU



I'll have 2GB of RAM and an 80GB Seagate hard drive too. I'm still not sure how I'm going to mount the drive though



I'm going to be adding this to my wall of motherboards



Like this

 

Oh man, that's a cool looking wall! And the build idea is great too!
+1

 

Gotta love the wall

I guess the only question I have is: Is 80GB going to be enough?

 

I like this idea. In a more modern style you could use 2-way glass and a couple CCFLs. It's a mirror until you feel like showing it off.

 

You are running out of wall, Sir.

 

You're right. I decided to go with 320GB instead.

I had this old hard drive cage laying around



So I cut it for this project



And then just drilled the hard drive into place



As you can see I removed the glass frame





I'll be using this instead. It was the cover to El Diablo that I did years ago



I got it all connected and booted into the BIOS



There's a single screw holding the box into place at the top



And two braces at the bottom



I temporarily connected a DVD drive to the board to install Windows. If I need to use one in the future I have an external one



I LOVE Vista, but went with XP because it's just going to be for Media. A dual Core Atom and 2GB of RAM should fly. It will not be on a network or connected to the internet. I won't need anti-virus or a firewall of any kind either. The less, the better, the faster



Next, I'll be working on lighting, exhausting, and mounting the LCD

 

Probably should've kept a shelf, you wouldn't have needed the HDD cage, but wutevs.

Looking cool so far, how are speakers going to be attached?

 

I think along the outside sides

 

O think the two way mirror idea was a great one, it would look sweeeeeettttttt



Still a cool looking case

 

I'm pretty ugly and have no desire to see my mug when modding

 

I added the power button today. I used Gorilla glue to lock it in, thus the white foam

I just went with something ghetto. It's going to be behind the top piece so it's not like it's going to be seen





I did the same thing with the top screw. I add Gorilla glue to the screw and as it dries it expands and makes a far superior hold



I got my old El Diablo cover cleaned up



And mounted it



There's still more to do

 

If you compare this pic and the last one you'll see that I removed some motherboards and pushed others closer together



The monitor is 19 inches (Regular, not Wide) and has a handy carry handle on the back



I added two hooks to my wall



Then mounted the LCD and ran the VGA cable down the side



Looks pretty cool



Since the IO area isn't the easiest to access, I ran a USB extension cord down and tied it into my wall of shame

Now it'll be easier to quickly plug in a flash drive



I'll be leaving the cut out exposed to allow for the best airflow

 

I thought it woulld be cool if I signed the panel before I clear coated it

 

Waiting for a new dual power cable to come to finish

 

I like it AND the wall. It seems to have grown more stuff.

 

I have more than a dozen more boards I need to add to it

 

Cue Pink Floyd instrumental

"All in all it's just ... another board on the wall"

You know I had to!

 

Wow you really are a Computer addict! I think you've got more hardware on that wall than I've ever owned, including going back to my Amstrad 286!

Nice mod

 

I've been following some of your other mods, or at least the final renditions. Pretty cool work.

 

I bought this cool power y-cable to finish off my mod.



And I accidently chipped the paint on the top of my face plate



And there we go



I am finished





It's not connected to the internet either so no Windows updates, No Service packs, no Anti-Virus or firewall. just a superfast PC.