Going back to around October last year I stumbled across the bit-tech forum posting regarding Zapwizard's Radioactive PC (found here here ) I was so taken by the idea of such a compact system combined with a unique cool look I had to give it a try. Please note that this project is inspired from Zapwizard's amazing job, and not a direct copy This is my first ever mod, and I've learnt alot about being a modder over the last 3 months (like how to make something from nothing). Project Name: BIO-HAZ Hardware: Motherboard: - Asus A8V-MX VIA K8M800 Micro ATX (Socket 939) CPU: - AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) RAM: - Corsair 1GB DDR2 PC4200 Dual Channel Graphics: - nvidia 6600GT(AGP) HDD: - 250GB SATA Power Supply: 500W Case: - Ammo box imported from the US estimated cost of setup £500 ish The ultimate goal of this project was to create a system that I can eaisly take away to a LAN (and get people talking about my rig ) I'm not the best when it comes to documenting what I have done, so here is a montarge of images through the build, and I'll try and answer any questions: -
Currently I have only a minor heat issue, under load: - CPU - 34'C MB - 32'C GPU - 60'C I need to fit another 60mm exit fan to assist the airflow, as when i remove the grill ove the 80mm fan in the top of the case it stops the system from frezzing. and the system ran for over 8hrs stright without issue
There's no way anyone could better Zap's, but that's looking pretty good! A few questions though: Where did you get the case from? Can it take full-height PCI/AGP cards? Can we have pictures of the inside please? Thanks and keep modding ch424
You are quite right, and to be honest being my first EVER mod I didn't even want to try. All I could think was "If i can't hide it, make it a feature, and keep it simple, as there will be less things to go wrong! To Answer your questions in order: - I got the case from Ebay. It cost me $10 to buy and $60 to ship to the UK you can find a link to the seller i used here . I had good communication and I would deal with them again! No the case has an internal height of aprox 5" I had to use a AGP riser board, an had to notch the box a little! Note the inside is not flat, the size reduces around 1cm top and bottom in the middle of the box. You can see this in the first set of shots i have posted. More pics I hear you cry. I'll do my best over the next few day to add some more of inside etc.
I believe youa are doing a fantastic job and are doing it not only as a tribute but also for a use. From what I've seen already i believe the turnout will be fantastic. Can't wait for more pics.
Thanks for all that... damn, it looks like I can't fit my system (see sig) in one Not without some serious notching anyway. Zap said the innards are 12"x11.5"x4.75", making that 120mm high. According to this, the max card height is ~108mm, plus ~7mm for the inside of the slot on the mobo, plus a few mm for the mobo itself so maybe there is hope? I'd have to be pretty precise or cut rails/notches in the sides (mobo) and top (PCI/AGP cards) of the case. Even if that were possible, there'd be no room for an ATX PSU Where's yours? It must be quite big for 500W... ch424
Ahhem.... yes the 500W psu "Was" big. it had a 120mm cooling fan and I had no way of getting that puppy in there. So...... i stripped it out of its case and made a custom monting plate. this in turn is fitted to the back door of the case. With the door closed there is about 3 or 4 mm between the heatsink and the parallel port I was worried about things shorting out etc but so far I've been lucky. I'll get some pics tonight when i get home from work so you can see what i'm talking about.
I have been asked for some images of inside the box so here they are: - This shot is of the 500W PSU. it has been stripped from it's cas and installed in the box on a solid back plate. This is the shot of inside of the case from the back. As you can see there isn't much room in here. If you look closly behind the yellow cable binder you can just make out a 50mm fan that keeps the PSU heatsink cool. This shot is of inside of the case. as you can see i have mounted the CD-Rom on a ply spacer: - The last shot is of the back of the faceplate. Ihad alot of trouble with the cables breaking off the solder joints. To solve this problem I installed a bracket that I ziptied the cables to: -
Good job! Looks very tidy in there considering how much of it there is... was that a Q-TEC PSU? I presume the HDD is velcro-ed? Have you considered a lightshow? ch424
I have just posted a pic of the lights I have installed. I was thinking o putting some current controlcircuit to make the case breath, but I'm not sure if I can get it in there !!
Tumbledown, I'm a bit worried about that power supply; who made it? Otherwise, very nice project; definitely reminiscent of Zap's ammo can, but with a nice spin
Be extremely careful with that PSU! Last time I had one mounted like you do it ended up frying a rare mobo! Basically, one of the heatsinks on the PSU touched a power line coming from an LED going to the mobo, which ended up shorting out something on the mobo. Really sucked and killed that entire project. Just cover up anything exposed on the mobo from any form of shorting caused by the PSU! Remember: the heatsinks are LIVE.
Thanks for the PSU advice. I don't know who made the psu (I threw out the box it came in, i guess i was too egear to start) However I'll dig out the box it was mounted in. I'm hopeing that it will say somthing about the manufacturer. P.S. is the manufacturer of the PSU important and if so why? Does anyone have any suggestions on how i can protect myself against shorting out the MB as Malfoleo suggeted? Not sure if you can see but the VGA cable and the NIC on the back door runs past the heatsink should i look to address the heatsink, cables or MB? my first impression is to make sure nothing touches the heatsink. Just had a thought of making a cage that fits around the PSU. This will inturn move the cables out of the way and "Hopefully" stop anything shorting out!! CH424 yes the cd-rom hdd and mobo are all velcroed to the case. when i first started the project i fabricated a chassie for all of the components to fit on. but i had issues with pressure on the graphics card etc. I then read a post from Zap's project log that described that this approach was futile, to I went down the velcro route! While taking some shots tonight i found that the hdd had completly come away from the box. I think the glue on the heavy duty velcro gave up the ghost. so I think i'll use some super glue to attach the "Hooks" section of the strip. I'll let you know how i get on!!
