Case Mod - In Progress Project Squeeze Box - watercooled Shuttle

Hey guys,

After tinkering around a bit (and with the help of a certain Hungarian gent offloading all of his spare water-cooling gear), I've come up with a plan of attack for a Shuttle mod. Here's a stock photo of the case:



In here, I plan to cram:

A 240mm radiator loop for the CPU
A res/pump combo, mounted underneath the DVD drive
A custom-made mounting plate, made from the base of this:



Since the case isn't much longer than the radiator, I'm going to squeeze it in as best as possible. For those unfamiliar with Shuttle barebones machines, the shell of the case is constructed as one piece, that slides on and off with ease. Chances are, I'm going to have to split this into 2 (or possibly 3) pieces, so that I can mount the radiator on one side panel, while leaving the rest of the case open. This gives me the advantage of being able to see what I'm doing, although I'll have to make sure the graphics card is the last component I add (since with a graphics card installed, I'd block off the opposite side of the case anyway.

A rough (5 minutes, MS Paint) layout of the system from the top down:



You may have noticed there's no PSU at the moment. This is probably gonna be mounted on the back of the case, though quite how, I've no idea. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Pics will be added for the res/pump mounting I've started as soon as I get a chance (my phone's got them, and it's charging atm).

From here on in, it's rock time!

Thanks for looking!

Will

 

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OK, here's the res/pump mounting plans, in action!

Below, we have the HDD/ODD mount from the Shuttle. Essentially, a 3.5" drive fits in the bottom, covered by a 5.25" drive, and then another 3.5" drive can lay across the top, perpendicular to the bottom drive. I've taped some paper to the bottom of it:





The items you can see on top of it are the paper, and the case of the res/pump, to draw an outline on the paper, to be cut out with a Dremel!





Here's the outline:



Now, to cut!

 

Love watercooled SSF....I watch

 

Getting that PSU in there will be a major task. I can't wait to see how you do it.

 

sahweet! i was very close to building my own wc'd shuttle, but it wouldnt have had the power i needed. ill definitely be watching though! maybe ill jump back to the shuttle someday.

 

Thanks for the interest so far, guys! I promise I'll do you proud!

My plans are coming together on this. The PSU is gonna have to be external on this one, I reckon. Mounting it on the back, on hinges, means I can clear the 60mm fan positions to feed cables through and using hinges means I won't be blocking off the rear I/O ports. I'll put together a quick picture for everyone later (on my phone at the moment).

Keep it coming, guys, and I'll do the same!

 

if its any help, Lian Li makes a psu extender. youd have to dremel out where that psu backpanel is, but youd get a full size psu with only a couple inches sticking out the back. do you have another psu to compare this one to?

 

If I make the PSU internal, I'll lose most of the capacity in the case, as well as blocking off at least half of the radiator. Other options I'd considered involved mounting the radiator in the roof and the PSU in the side, but then I'd lose the DVD drive, and struggle with the HDD positioning. Having an external PSU seemed like the best compromise.

I thought about putting the PSU on the roof, and using the fan from it as an exhaust, but that gave me the nightmare task of mounting it to the roof. I may still opt for this if I can figure something out, as in theory, it should be easier to mount there than with hinges on the rear. It'd also allow me an extra 120mm fan on the rear of the case as an exhaust. If I mount the PSU on hinges, I'll only have the 120mm fan as an exhaust (since I plan on using the rad fans as intakes).

 

You could lose the DVD. To be honest, an external DVD drive looks much better that a great hefty external PSU. That's what I'd do anyway.

 

OK, back in uni, and I've had the Dremel out!



As far as the PSU goes, my first idea, on the back of the case, was like this:



With the idea of a shelf that folded behind the PSU, to make this.



Scrapped after I made the designs in Paint, truth be told. It looks bloody ridiculous.

I then looked at the top-mounted PSU idea:



Since the PSU does look a bit daft stuck on top, I thought about making an Antec-style top for it, with a power extension:



Ultimately, there was a flaw - this would block the PSU's vent, and potentially cause overheating.

The idea I've come up with is very simple. I will use PSU extension wires, in order to make a rear-mounted plugin point for a standard PSU, like so:



This means I'll be able to use a standard ATX PSU just like a laptop power brick, while keeping all the space inside the Shuttle, and not having to go without the DVD drive (as the drive holder has already been incorporated into the design).

More pics to follow soon, I promise! Just got to get on with my uni assignment for the mo.

 

OK, as promised, more pics, post-Dremel!

Here's the casing of the reservoir, along with the ODD holder from before. Notice anything?





Also, I managed to get hold of one of my hard drive cages, and drill out the rivets. After a couple of minutes of "WHIRRRRRRR *sparks* OMG!", I got a sheet from the bottom. I drilled in 2 holes (the ones in the middle, in the pics), and got something like this...



I've already checked the alignment - the holes on the hard drive cage from the rivets already lined up with the long side of the Shuttle mounting holes, so it was merely a case of measuring the short length, and then drilling the 2 holes. The fit is uncanny. Next up, some measuring for the CPU block, and more cutting! Huzzah!

 

Will, have you considered using a Pico PSU power supply? Don't know if you've seen/heard of them, but they're little bigger than the PSU socket on the mainboard.

Available here http://www.itx-warehouse.co.uk/Product.aspx?ProductID=533
as well as other online stores.

 

Unfortunately, mate, I'm cramming a full-scale rig into this. Thanks in part to a Foxconn Blackops mobo, my Q6600 is now no longer going in here, and an E5200 will be taking its place. On a better note, this should allow me to drop to a single rad, which will give me the flexibility to mount an ATX PSU INSIDE!!!

I hope... *gulp*

More updates coming when I'm not snowed in the house. Brr.

 

You'd be surprised how much power you can get from a Pico PSU, I think the one I linked to supplies 120W. Depending on number of harddrives etc though that *might* not be enough. Hope you can work it out anyway, good luck mate!

 

You need to have a real good 12v DC adapter with much amps. Thats the only way how you can squeeze much power out of it.

 

Indeed, you invariable need a brick type power supply with at least matching wattage. Most places will sell these along with the Pico PSUs. Other places may sell them separately.

 

Right, guys, sorry about the massive delay (and doubly sorry for the bump), but I'm back after my unplanned hiatus, and work is happening TODAY. I'm flushing the rad as we speak, measuring up cutting holes, and should have made substantial (potentially near-completion) progress by tonight, provided I can find a suitable workbench, of course. Keep your eyes on THIS post for the picture-filled update, as it happens!

Will xx