Scratch Build – In Progress Project Little Rascal Mini-ITX Gaming PC *Update 24/04/08*

Nice design, very compact yet easy to navigate around.

 

Well rascal normally means sneaky and mischiveous. So little rascal is a tiny version, so its the little pc that causes the big towers headaches cause it can be just as good as them.

Thats a very good point, which i have seriously overlooked. Originally i was designing this case to be a desktop case instead of a tower, so it wouldnt of been a probem. Though i will have a look. Just have to think where to put a brace for it. Will mess with sketchup and see what i come up with.

Will get back to you soon with those designs. Also got some more panel designs aswell, so will post the aswell.

 

Nix, take a look at this. This gives you wi-fi as well, though it's lappy CPUs only...

http://www.avrio.co.uk/acatalog/BioStar_Mini-ITX__NEW_.html

 

Oh man!

i think this is gonna be SOO awesome, when you're done!

i love mini-itx mods! Mmm...

 

Well guys you know what time it is... yup its update time

Sadly this update has been a bit longer in the making, down to me being a bit busy and a bit lazy.

Thanks very much so far for all the comments everyone has left this project on the 9 forums that it is posted on. All the comments have been very favourable and a lot of people have said they will be keeping their eye on it That said, a few people have brought a few design ideas and a few faults to my design that i had either overlooked or just didnt notice.

Also with this update you will notice some more work on the theme and some additional ideas i have used. So without further ado, here are the pictures:


Not much has changed, though i am leaning towards the panel design that is on the side on this picture. Some of you will noticed something in the top left of the panel. I have decided to add a VFD/LCD display. I still might mount it top right though to hide away some of the cabling, but still have to do the mock up of it first.


On the back ive designed to allow for a 92mm Fan. I was going to scrap this but decided to add it back in to allow for increased airflow going through the case.

There was a worry about negative pressure due to the flow restriction caused by the GTS 240. Thankfully one of my friends has 2 240 radiators laying about, though not the same model but we strapped them together to take in account the flow restriction and placed a 92mm on the back, and it ran fine. No problems what so ever, so i am quite confident about this now. Though if i land up being wrong ill modify the side panel to allow some ventilation holes (which of course) will match the front to increase air intake into the case.


The PSU will have to be inserted into the case from the rear, where there will be a square cut hole which will allow for this. To fix the PSU to the case there will be a cut sheet of aluminium which will border the psu and will have screws going into the PSU and then into the case. This has been done before with a few mods, especially where the PSU sticks out a fair distance from the rear, and it looks and works fantastically. (Look at Project NLM by JegerJon to get some idea (fantastic mod))


Here is what the bare chassis will look like.


As you can see there will be a shroud that will fix the Radiator in place. This will be removable just as the HDD caddy will be. The Radiator shroud fixes to the right and bottom panels. This will also help brace the chassis to make it stronger.

You can see there are some modifications to the HDD Caddy. It has been made longer so that the case can be fixed to the right panel 2-4 times on each side. There are also struts that fix onto the PSU Caddy and the Radiator Shroud. This was to address a problem someone pointed out, that i overlooked. Originally the case was not going to be a tower, but a desktop, and the caddy was designed for that. Using it as a tower would change the change the positioning of the centre of gravity and could cause the right panel to bend/buckle. The struts were added in to help the load bearing of the Caddy so it could be distributed better over the entire case, whilst still being a removable caddy.


The PSU housing will be rivetted to the case as i will not need to remove this from the chassis. as mentioned with the Radiator Shroud and HDD Caddy, it will help brace the chassis to make it a stronger structure. There is a gap above the PSU. Im planning to put some ventilation holes up there as i dont want pockets of hot unventilated air within the case. Also it gives me the option later on to add a card readers or USB hub or anything quite thin in there. As i probably wont have the money to get a modular PSU straight away it will probably be used to put some of the cables i will not be using.

Regarding the overall theme im going to be having the internal metal components, so everything seen in the bare chassis pictures to be painted either Black or Silver. Im leaning towards black more as it will look better. Also from the front i dont want the v300b effect. With the v300b you have black case but silver internals which were visibile through the perforated grill (like i have at the front) I obviously dont want this to be the case in my case.... pun not intended

Anyway guys i hope you all like the pictures. Feel free to leave any comments or questions, as you all help me pickup on things i might of not noticed. Its always nice to have a 3rd opinion

Also some extra good news, ive just ordered my electric sander and jigsaw which cost me £13 for both brand new. Bargin if you ask me. I shall get a picture up of the tools when they and the bending brake arrive.

Until next time.

 

nice but do you think there's enough room between the psu and the VFD display ?

 

yes is there going to be enough space between the psu an the VFD or are you modding something in.

 

This is one thing im not to sure on. If thedisplay is as thick as they say and nothing comes out the back then yes. There will be something like 2mm gap between, so its a very snug fit. If not i could do it top right, but im not to sure if it will look right.

Though will do those designs and get back to see what you lot think

 

The design looks very nice but.


Rules of the Project Logs forum

Your first post must contain pics of the actual mod in progress. If all you have is an idea, you don't have a log. If all you have is some conceptual sketches, you don't have a log. If all you have to show is a heap of parts, you don't have a log. This forum is purely for concrete work in progress - the other modding forums are more appropriate for concepts and thoughts.


Sorry just had to point it out......

 

Yeah, I had been thinking of posting the same thing. I'm actually surprised that the moderators haven't moved this yet.

 

Thanks to bringing this to my attention. Tbh nobody really reads the rules they just pick it up along the way. Id understand if the mods moved it but hope it doesnt as it does seem to be getting to get a good response and i should be starting work on it within the next 2 weeks.

That said does anybody know of a good metal fabrication company within the UK where i can order the sheets of alumiunium from?

 

I'll offer you the same one that was offered to me http://www.hindleys.com/
They also sell lots of other useful things.

Getting full aluminium sheet is expensive, if i remember right an 8 foot one was ~£60 from a sheet metal company on the island.

 

If no one tells us, we don't know. There's always the report post feature

 

Interesting project. It should be fun.

I built my mini-ITX gaming rig 2 1/2 years ago and I still use it to play Half-Life2 and Doom3 now and then.

http://slipperyskip.com/page14.html

I'm curious about your graphics card orientation. Most mini-ITX boards don't support a "stand up" card because the slot interferes with the I/O plate. That is why most all (I'm betting all) mini-ITX-based graphics cards are "layed down" using riser cards.

Put a grahics card into it's slot and then attach the I/O plate and you will see what I mean.

Good luck!

 

really? most were built to the standered spec back panel, so cards were clear of the i/o panel. I know the M10K never had a problem with i/o ports and expansion slot mounts.

 

It's fixed now anyway but I'd feel like such a tattle-tale if I reported it for that. Then again it's not like the rules aren't posted at the top of the page and marked: Project Logs Rules - Please Read BEFORE Logging.



Back on topic:
I really like the idea of mini-ITX boards but if you add a full size PSU, 4 hard drives, & extra cooling elements isn't your case within a few cm of being able to hold a m-ATX board?

 

You're probably right. My experience is with Kontron boards and they have both full-sized PCI and PCIe(AGP) slots. I guess that is kinda unusual. My bad.

 

What with all those wood cases?
What's your secret?

 

Its just a bad habit.

 

I said something about this briefly in the starting post of this log. Yes it is based on a Mini-ITX board, but some people will argue that it isnt a Mini-ITX system due to its size.

The problem with the MATX boards is not the length, as the length is only like another cm or so longer, but its depth. Because theres a substanstancial increase in depth this would impact dramatacially in the case volume as i would need to make the case bigger to place the hard drives elsewhere and probably the same with the watercooling components aswell. This case will be much smaller then any MATX case which could house the same hardware.

Im not sure if im completely correct on this but i dont think there are many cases, if any that have the mounts for the hardware that i want anyway, which would of meant id have to build the case myself anyway. So if im making the case i might aswell try and make the smallest case i possibly can that can house the stuff i want and do the stuff i want.


Slipperykip: I found that project not to long ago and did like it. I think you are one of the only other people that have tried to make a Mini-ITX gaming rig. That said i think you can make a better system if you went with a custom case and this is why ive done this mod.... that and i am very much a SFF person at heart, but i still want power aswell. I think MATX has more than enough for what most people want, i think ATX is just too big and a bit over the top dimension wise.

Btw slippery, who did you have as your sponsors and was that your first mod?