Scratch Build Onkyo style HTPC

[Winkston]

Great job there
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[KoSoVaR^]

Great work dude, that looks like a great replica!

[coolamasta]

Awesome work, had to have a look at your build having Onkyo kit myself, looking forward to seeing the finished result

[_ferry_]

Thanks all! I'm looking forward to it as well I'm glad i started this project, but every project has a a point where you feel the need to get something to hold, feel and play with

[_ferry_]

It has been a while, due to other projects (modded 2 sidepanels, did some non-PC related projects as well). But now i'm back on the HTPC!

Cleaned the workshop today, so desk-space and tools are ready for it

Started with mounting a couple of things like the front panel, aligning the blu-ray, mounting the power button, etc. So it wasn't worth making a lot of pics, since you've seen al those parts before.


Starts to be "something", although there's enough work left to do.


Next thing to take care of is the watercooling setup. At first, the pump is too big for this small dimensioned casing The acrylic tube indicates the blu-ray player, so there's about 2,5cm/1inch left. So I have little space and many corners to take. Think I'll order something new. What about a Laing DDC-1 with acrylic top? It's one of the smallest pumps i'm aware of. And I can build a nice and small reservoir for it. The one in my workstation is running silent, which is important for a HTPC.

[S1KO85]

I use the small EK DCP 2.2 pump in my xbox running at 5v. Exceptionally quiet if you don't need much flow. The 2.5" Hard drive is way louder. (as is the power brick!)

[Editor22]

Looking awesome ferry

[_ferry_]

Got a short evening, so instead of modding I'd thought it would be better spend some time on a update for you all.



It's all about the details and small steps to get it together, like removing 1mm from the chassis to get the fan fit correctly.


So after some dremel action it fits.


Taped down the failed front for a better reference.


The HDD rack on the rear had no bracket to hang on, so i made it. Side 1...


And 2.


And with the motherboard tray removed you can see that there;s quite some space left. Especially because the HDD's and optical are placed above the motherboard. while other HTPC's usually put them on the front. Don't know if big VGA cards will fit, but I don't need one in a HTPC.


But the cable's should be well organized to keep the airflow going.


This way should be fine. 2 connectors on each cable, some mesh, and a thight fit. I left the end unmodded, since I'm not really planning on using this PSU, since it's not very efficient and somehow noisy due to a 80+92mm fan.


And after receiving the pump, hose and fittings I've made this mock-up.

By following the circuit, we start at the CPU. First heat is (hopefully) taken away at the passive radiator, which is cooled by out-taken air. Then it enters the reservoir, which I wanna make on top of the Laing top. Pumped through the normal radiator with a intake-fan it should get rid of the last heat and being ready to cool down the CPU.

[Waynio]

Can't believe I missed this one.

Fantastic modding ferry, diy anodising, super nice brush finishing, sweet metal work & that tiny polished logo wow, marvelous stuff mate.

stars & rep

And hell yes that's 5 stars from me, the only rating I ever give if I'm giving a rating.

[_ferry_]

Thanks for that, I appreciate it!

Yesterday evening I created the reservoir and prepared the pump. Although I have to finish him by filing down the edges and sanding+ polishing the whole thing. You're not going to see it, but whatever


The acrylic top is bigger then the pump itself. Should be fine for projects where space is not an issue. But this time it is.



So I did. I also did some port flowing on the outlet. Don’t know if its going to help, but it cant be worse either.


With the pump’s feet still remaining you can see that the actual size is reduced significantly.


But when I sliet in the motherbord tray I bumped against this fitting. Didn’t expect that!


But I knew i had a fixed corner somewhere, found it, and it fits perfectly. The tube has now the right height as well, I can fit in a PCI card without any problem, or maybe watercool the VGA


The pump will probbalby be placed over here. Not 100% sure, since some ATX motherboards have theyr S-ATA connectors over there. But I think the system will be charged with a m-ATX board and a CPU with low power consumption.


Gluing the reservoir.


And the glue dries under influence of light, which explains the unusual position.


Meanwhile I bend a piece of aluminium to hold the pump. I hope the shock absorbers work well. In my workstation the pump is mounted without them which causes some resonance.



But it looks and fits well.
Guess this weekend I will do some more modding on the reservoir, by finishing the edges and cleaning it up. And then I have to figure out what’s left to do.

First I want to create a working system, with everything working and mounted on the way it should be. Making some final adjustments or changes when necessary. And then I have to take it almost apart to paint the sides and top. But its getting colder by now, and I have no paint shop with heating and stuff like that. So the weather (and my speed) will decide whether I can paint it this year or in spring time.

[Paslis]

Look great ferry and maby you can get the parts powder coated.

[_ferry_]

Hmm, that would be cool, also more scratch resistance, and a nice matte look.

I've also been thinking about the hardware. Almost ordered some nice low-power hardware, but staring at the price-tag convinced me that buying it right now would be useless. Since I'm not going to use it as a HTPC for a year or so, because my house should be finished first before I can even have a decent Home Theatre

So for now I might will switch the hardware from my workstation (intel i7 system) to this casemod once i'm done modding. Giving me the oppotunity to test, play, and finalize the mod.

Then I can do some modifications at the Cosmos case as well, since a couple of LED's and the RGB controller are dead. He just needs some attention after +/- 3 years with hardly any modifications.

[_ferry_]

Had a extra-long weekend, but it was raining all day long today, so it was perfect for some modding action



As a alternative for the cables I've created this. They're more hidden this way, and only 1 connector on each cable will make them both easier to use and hide.


There's room to solder them together, and I can connect them to the modulair PSU


Same story for the other HDD bracket.




Looks good, no cables above the brackets, so the top panel should just fit without problems.



Pump is done as well. Did some sanding and polishing, and filled it up with some very unique smurf-blood. (JK, it's just airbrush paint)


1 of the parts which need more (re)work is the front.


Drawing the lines so i know where to cut.


Hopefully I'll have more success with front #3, and it will have that nice looking brushed aluminium look!

[Mosquito]

The wires running in and out of the hard drive areas looks really great! Nice work

[avolla]

great looking build so far. Love the cabling for the drives. Keep it up.

[HandMadeAndroid]

A wonderful mod, looking forward to seeing this finished.

[Editor22]

I always get excited when updates for this come around and it's never disappointing
Great work Ferry

[Meelobee]

Nice work on the res

[Shuttlemodder]

i've the same keyboard.. mighty handy for htpc!!

[_ferry_]

The front panel is done!

The only downside is that this picture was made before anodizing, because it looks awesome.
But without anodizing it´s very sensitive to scratches and fingerprints.
I skipped the part of cutting the holes, a floor filled with aluminium dust after a lot of filing, and matching the LCD and blu/ray openings with the ones at the other panel.


While anodizing, although the phonecam is missing some vibrance, you can still see a lot of colour variation on the panel, grey, dark, bright, brown etc. I stopped the process after the panel colour was smooth and grey.


And done. This time it´s much more brushed, like the panels on the inside but not the same as the onkyo. The light makes it even a bit more white-brighter on the photo.


Well Onkyo has fancy machines for their front panels, probably different aluminium types, and better techniques for anodising. But I'm satisfied with this result. The dimensions and brushed look are fine, it's just more white, but I can't change that Anodizing means a layer of oxide on the alumium, and the oxide is a transparent white layer. As long as the HTPC is not standing on top of the amplifier you'll hardly notice The final set-up will probably be something like HTPC on shelf at the left, CD boxes in the middle, Amplifier on the right.

Anyway, this week will be used for building audio/video furniture. bought 3 MDF panels today to build it. Probably i'll do some modding in the evenings when I have the energy to do so.