Scratch Build – In Progress [Project] Full ATX SFF Build

Hi all, long time reader / lurker but don't post much, I have been working on building a small form factor case that supports full ATX mobos, full length GFX cards, full size HSFs like the Thermalright IFX-14 and possibly a WC setup in the future. This is not a 100% scratch build, but its a hell of a lot more than a case mod so I think it deserves the scratch build tag

I started out by completely dismantling my old Lian Li PC7 Plus, I planned on using its I/O plate and mobo tray to save me some work and seen as its aluminium it will keep the weight down, I cut it down to size and folded some tabs too so I would have somewhere to attach the other structural pieces with rivets



That was about 3 months ago then I had exams and that through a spanner in the works I really only got the ball rolling on this project last weekend, I drew up some plans for a design I had in mind and it has gone through several iterations since last weekend



And here's a rough sketchup of what I was going for last weekend



Stainless steel shell with the whole front made out of perforated stainless steel

The new plan is to re-use some of the old Lian-Li to make a front panel like this:



I bought two nice Stainless Steel Bulgin buttons on ebay and there will be some switches to control lighting and fans too, I may leave more space at the top and install a card reader there, As you can see I'm not using an Optical drive at all

Heres a quick preview of the case so far, There is still a metric ass tonne of work to be done



I'm planning on spraying the inside of the "hood" black to match the front panel, I might polish the perforated stainless steel to add some bling also

The Psu is being mounted vertically in the front, I'm running a cable from the PSU to a "kettle" socket on the back so that wont be a problem, and I am going to mount 3 HDDs vertically along the side of the case

Specs:

Q6600 + Thermalright IFX-14 + 120*38mm Scythe
Abit IP35 Pro
Radeon 4870 512MB + Akasa Vortexx
Corsair HX620 modular PSU
4GB 1000mhz OCZ Platinium
WD Caviar 640GB 2 platter drive + OCZ Core SSD in a few weeks
Creative X-Fi

I'm open to any tips / suggestions from the pros Thanks

 

looks pretty good

 

cool,looks very xps styles

 

hehe, it looks like xps alright but not that much. this mod is interesting, looks clean at first stage. keep up the good work.

 

I had another few ideas

I could make an external box that houses an Optical drive and a card reader that connects with a single multicore cable, That would be pretty cool

Or make guides for the perforated sheet so that it can slide down a little to reveal the card reader?



What do you guys think?

 

looks very very nice i like it i should incorperate that slant at the front into me next mod thats just what its missing too is that ok?

 

Yes, I like it

 

omg patent pending! j/k It would be cool to see it in another build

Went on a bit of a shopping spree today, Bought perforated steel, New Dremel kit, Primer and Black spray paint, Stainless steel handle and sliders for the perforated sheet. Will post pics after some food!


@ Oreon_237: I had the XPS 720 case in mind when I designed the case, I loved the slight hood and the perforated front but I wanted more of a hood

 

Thanks mod

 

Looks good so far.
You might want to look at Embryo Zero
http://metku.net/index.html?path=mods/embryo_zero/index_eng7

As for the card reader, I would just make little slots in the perforated steel and just "Stealth" your card reader.

 

just a question: Wheres the power supply going to go?

 

Good question The PSU is being mounted vertically in the front of the case, With the ATX / molex connectors at the top and the 220v input at the bottom, I am re-routing the 220v input to the rear of the case so it will be like any other PC in that regard

Thanks for the link 500mph

new stuff \o/















Time to get back to work! The handle won't be mounted until the mod is almost finished cause I will need to find the centre of gravity of the case

*edit* I don't know what this crap is but it was cheap and i'm making the sliding rails for the perforated sheet from it





like so

 

Nice... Really looking forward to seeing more of this project...

 

I was going to use an original panel from the PC7 Plus as the front panel and I foolishly assumed it would "just fit" seen as i have not changed the width of the original case... But, The panel is the same size as the shell so it will not fit inside it :/ So i just wasted an hour or so cutting and folding it...









And after all that it doesn't fit and I cut my finger!



So I have two options now, Get an original side panel from the PC7 Plus professionally folded, Or just get the fabricator to fold a new piece of Aluminium or Stainless steel, I suppose it doesn't really matter as the front panel will be painted black...

 

Ok I decided to go back to the fabricator and get him to make me a piece for the front panel, Its going to be made from thick aluminium plate i think, It will be mounted to an internal frame i'm making from aluminium angle bar



Should look something like this when its done



If the finish isn't great or if it just doesn't look cool I might still paint it black

 

Uhm... think i didnt see it, but where are you going to put your PSU?

 

I answered that twice already!

This should clear up some confusion





The 120mm fan on the HX620 will face forwards and exhaust / intake air through the perforated sheet

 

ouch!! you need some first aid!! and some really heavy duty fitted gloves...jk.

looks interesting so far!

 

cool project. i built a case with almost exactly the same layout last summer, except that mine had a full-size optical drive in there too, mounted above the PSU vertically so it overlapped the ram slots, and mine was only 6.5" wide. my case never got finished though, i used it for a year with no side and top panel, and the angle iron frame was pretty ghetto. i don't think i ever took any pictures of it, but i'll have a look.

a suggestion from my experience: in the current configuration, the PSU will be intaking from the front and exhausting hot air into the case. if you move the psu to either the top or bottom and have the exhaust shooting directly out of the case you will have better temps.

airflow is very important in a case this size. here's a diagram of what i had, blue is intake fan, red is exhaust fan


1 is a pair of 80mm over my i/o ports
2 is a 92mm blowing over my hard drive and under my dvd drive, then hitting my ram and then my CPU
3 is my PSU intake
4 is an intake over my PCI cards that hits the intake of my graphics card (this was only planned, as i never got around to side panels
5 is my PSU exhaust
6 is the exhaust of my dual-slot cooler.

good luck! SFF is awesome.

 

Thanks for the tips Im trying to get away with using only 2 120mm case fans + the PSUs fan as an intake