Scratch Build – In Progress Krikkit's Cheap cardboard box mod! - UPDATE 13/06/07! Now with added extras!

Right, I recently bought an Intel I815-E integrated board, in a tiny form-factor (credit to -H- ), and needed something to put it in.
Having looked at mini-itx.com and various other websites for a small case, I decided to make my own.

Not being G69T, I haven't decided to employ my multi-million pound computer CNC machine, and not being G-nome, I haven't decided to fashion things using aluminum and bent, treated and fiddled-with plexi. No no.

This is a ghetto mod. All I'm using are things I've got lying around my room in various boxes.

First, the components:



On the left, the mobo, equipped with a 1GHz P3 and 512MB PC133 SD-RAM, in Socket 370 form.
Then we've got an old 40GB Seagate HD (which will probably get replaced at some point for a more quiet one), a Samsung CD-RW, and an 430W Enermax, with braided cables (mega overkill for this, but it was the only one I had lying around).

So, down to work. I'll be using a 6-bottle wine box for this, as they're about a s wide as a PSU, and everything fits nicely.

After cutting out a hole for the backplate in the bottom;


I set to work attatching the mobo to its home in the bottom of the box.
No fancy mobo trays or anything here, just some nuts and bolts:



And here we have a couple of pics with the mobo mounted:
Top down:

View of back panel:

It looks like the mobo sticks out from the back, but rest assured that it's pretty flush.

Next came the tricky part - mounting everything else.
The idea is, if you look at this picture;

To have the PSU just above the mobo, with the exhaust fan a couple of inches above the mobo itself, the HD right behind all this (in the 1-inch or so space between the back of the mobo and the box edge) in a vertical position; and then, finally, the optical drive mounted on top of the PSU.

"But Krikkit!" I hear you cry, "Won't the PSU just bend the box where you screw it to the cardboard, because it only has holes at the front?"
Aha, this is why we have the Optical drive above the PSU.
The optical drive is almost exactly as wide as the box, meaning I can use all 8 screw-holes to suspend it into the 2 side-panels. Then all we need to do is attatch the PSU to the Optical drive with some kind of cradle to stop it falling down, and the job's a good 'un, so to speak.

Well, continuing in our theme of not using anything that isn't in the room already, I decided to use a PCI blanking plate, cunningly holed, to hold it up. Let me show you what I mean;




Once the hole was made (with a hammer and a screwdriver, no *****-whipped dremelling going on here), we had a perfect solution:



The next job is shortening the PSU cables, followed by mounting, then sealing the puppy up. More soon.

Thoughts? Comments?

 

Ha, brilliant!

My only suggestion would be that you consider getting duck tape involved somewhere

Edit: or coat it with tinfoil for that "aluminium" feel.

 

Hush, young padawan, the mighty tape will be coming soon, I promise. (I'm not known as "Mr Duct-tape" to my housemates for nothing )
I like the foil idea too - I'll have to get some in there.

 

you need some more fans around for some ventilaton...

otherwise its good!

 

omg i did this kind of thing with a 6800 and a pentium d 805. didnt last long, though. i didnt want my comp to fry so i took them out. gpu was nearing 80c!!!!!!!!

 

lol are you serious this is a, well......interesting mod

 

rofl mod... and so retro...

 

omg this might just beat the famous orc

 

Whoa, I want that motherboard, what brand of motherboard is that?

 

Noice

 

this is not even a project......


without duck tape!!!!!!



haha i've done one of these myself except inside a big speaker, worked pretty well it was a head turner!

nice ghetto work though, we all have the secret mcguyver skills inside us!


looks cool though lets see it finished!

 

Apparently it's an SBC "MicroPCI CompactPCI Embedded Board Industrial Motherboard".
There's a shedload of information here

 

Me likes it. I had a cardboard pc once, or twice... or twenty-eleven times.

Very well executed, in finding the right size box.

 

Cant wait to see this finished. Nice idea dude

 

Love the mod. My style in deed. Just as a question, what's it for?

 

Well it seems cheap, and looks like ass, so you're doing a great job.

Seriously though, we should have a cardboard mod contest

 

Great idea I must admit. Just to show all those people out there how multi-functional some of the boxes can really be!

I for one thing are excited and will start my own custom cardboard mod some time in the near future.

Lets get that contest on tracks!

 

You sir may be on your way to Mod of the Year '07!

 

A cardboard mod contest would rock.

On a more relevant note, this mod rocks too. Needs duct tape, though.

 

6 wine bottle box...dam, why didnt i think of this when i bought my new rig
It does look like its a mad mad mod, is this "Gaming rig" up to anything like lan parties? heh, looking good, waiting for the next update.

Sam