Project Tomoyo-chan! Updated 24/10 PSU modded + pics

Bonus points for guessing the reference

Got this beasty off eBay:





Check out the gheto dual power supplies!




There were just wired together, each line of the ATX mobo connector spliced together... seemed to work but I wasn't going to trust it so first thing I did was remove them. Might salvage them, not sure yet as I'm thinking a single 550W with a big fan would be better...

I have decided to do the case white. Everyone else does black, so I'll do the opposide I'm going for an iMac style gloss finish, preferably mirror finish if I can sand it down that much. I'll even do the plastic bits, which are off-white cream like that.

The two top covers will hide the drives. I am going to put some darkened plexi windows in them so I can see the LEDs working even when they are closed. I plan to have a CDRW, DVD ROM, DVD-RW, Zip drive, 4/8GB tape drive and a floppy drive in there.

Gotta put some CCFLs in of course, but I'm thinking I'll go for white ones again, just to be different. The inside parts of the case will also be a mixture of white and probably red. This case is going to be all fun an shiny

There is room on the front for some dials, which will control PWM fan controllers. I am using switched pots, so I can completely turn the fans off if I want to. Each will have an LED bargraph to slow how fast it's going. I was thinking about making a little arc of LEDs around the pots themselves, but that might be tricky to get right (I'm a perfectionist) so I'm not sure yet.

The front slats are interesting. Right behind them is where the drive bays are. I was thinking that maybe I could put drive LEDs behind them, make them sort of backlit. There were some cases that used that technique years ago, most commonly used in Amiga tower conversion kits. Alternatively (since there are already loads of drive LEDs) I might make the into a running light system or something (Maplin do nice kits or I could use a PIC).

Speaking of PICs, I am going to try and use a 16F86 to control four 7 segment displays. Interface to the computer will be via RS232. Think fruit machine type stuff, plus CPU temp monitoring etc. There will load loads of extra IO left over, so I'm looking at what else I can connect. One idea is to connect the CCFLs and other case lighting, so it can be turned off when the screen saver comes on (just like the monitor can be).

I also have an 8 channel IDE RAID comming so I'll stick loads of HDs inside. I also have a couple of SCSI RAID cards (3 channel Ultra/Wide and 1 channel Ultra2) which will probably go on eBay unless I suddenly find loads of cheap SCSI drives. They would give slightly better seek times than the IDE RAID, but I'm more interested in sustained transfer speed and as the 3ware 8 channel can manager over 100MB/sec (PCI is only 133/sec) I'm happy

Other ideas include building an ethernet switch into the case, or even two computers. I'll almost certainly go for some water cooling at some point. This case has massive cooling potential, there are loads of places to mount 120mm fans, but I'm concerned about noise. Actually, I might pad in the inside of the case to try and keep noise down.

Work so far:

Stripped the machine down and cleaned it up (check out the dirt balls in the pics!) Anyone know how to get the top pannel off this thing? There is a plastic "lock", but it won't turn or move up/down

Cut a window into one of the side pannels. I'm going to have a window on either side of the case. Looks good so far, I sanded it down and am painting it now. More piccies to come for that...

If I can find somewhere that will do perfect cuts in plexi I might put the window on the outside... like a kind of cover. Maybe I could spray it with clear acrylic or sealer to protect it from scratching.

Give me ideas

 

Coorrr, you got a nice piece of kit for modding right there. So much potential but I can't help wanting to see it on go kart wheels with motors powering it to 22mph .

A nice paint job is needed but don't go for black or silver, thats boring, do something dareing.

 

nihongo shabere masuka?

nice case btw it looks to have increadable potential

 

Could you post a pic of the back of the case? I cant seem to find where's the lock is at... Anyway, this case would be great for a watercooling project indeed. Besides that, you should keep in mind that it's quite a large case, so it would look best if you made it a very clean mod. (Which doesn't mean that nothing can be modded anymore of course )

 

Thanks for the comments guys!

RAMeLaiR:




Sorry, but that's the best I can do. As you can see, there is a key lock, but it's open and not obstructing anything. The little round disc of plastic is the only thing keeping the entire panel in place. If it comes to it, I'll just mask everything off and spary. I emailed the manufacturers but they were no help...

Oh, and BTW, check out the space for three (count 'em) reundand PSUs! I'm looking at doing a new enclosure for my PSU, so it can have massive heatsinks for better cooling.

thorilan:

Nan desu ka? Wakarimsen...

Hint no. 1: "snow rabbit"

Gambatte!

Jackel & Walibe:

Thanks guys. I personally like old-skool ten-tonne metal fortress cases, preferably bullet proof Another advantage is that there is loads of room for drives, water cooling and other hardware. Full length PCI cards are no problem, and cooling is a breeze (sorry)...

MoJo

MoJo

 

lol, big fat case watercooling sounds good. Hows abouts double mobo's? lol.
thorilan: What's that you said...um...lemme see...Is it "Can you speak japanese?" hmmmm, masuka is "can it be..." i think...well, i think it's can you speak japanese ^_^

hai, wateshi sukushi (is that right?) um...shabere (?!?!) lol. Ok, maybe not as good as -_-

 

oi...i see plenty of potential to make the thing float with just fans

 

lots an lots of potential there make it silver

 

shabere is a diferent word for speak. most of the time people learn shimasu ( to do) then hanashimasu to speak but not till later do they learn the shabere masuka form of speak because if you say it wrong like camaron diaz did in the first charlies angle movie you will say a really bad sentance.

the word suck is shaburu ( what she said ) instead of speak shaberu . mr abc

watAshi and sukOshi

as for he case. will you use paint for the plastic parts or will you use vynal dye.

also are you gonna drill some of the rivets out and replace them with bolts so you can work on some of the case in sections

 

No and maybe

I can't find white vynal dye anywhere, so I'll probably just paint with matte, or myabe gloss. I have not decided what will look better yet.

The rivet idea is interesting. I was going to spray some of the internal parts, but only the removable ones like the HD bays. I might put loads of sound deadening material in though, which would make spraying the rest a bit pointless. I've not decided yet so keep giving me ideas

BTW, internal parts colours. My mobo and graphics cards are both MSI, and so are red. Should I do other parts of the inside of the case red, or perhaps yellow, or even just white again? I kinda want the case to make you feel genki

MoJo

 

Okay, been doing some painting... it's taking ages because I need to put on multiple coats, sanding them down each time:



I started with some standard white paint, then for the last few coats moved on to gloss. It's looking quite good now, but needs more sanding with 1500 grit and then some rubbing compound. Having trouble finding rubbing compound...



Been thinking about the electrics in this case too. Could use a power-bus to carry it all around. Looking into doing some copper waterblocks too.

Hint no. 2: "RELEASE!"

MoJo

 

I dont know if you would like this idea, or even if you have what you'd need but here goes...

Since there is so much room, if you have an X-Box, you could mount it in the other side of it, and custom wire it to a mod on the PSU. Then you can have some kind of RCA-VGA conveter and a monitor switch and send the signal to your Monitor. Then, wire the controler plugs in to a cut up 5.25" bay cover. Also mount the switches and buttons on it. Then, (if you dont already have this get a mod chip and a 120 gig+ HDD for the X-Box so that u dont need CDs for games (you save em on the HDD) and put the HDD with the others and the CD drive with those.

 

Dude.... Correct me if I'm wrong, but you want to paint your cube white? And than I mean REALLY white? Like snow?

 

i think he will do white with bright red so it looks like the group
" the stripes"
or maybe a hosital symbol .

 

nahh just a big red + in the window

You know white makes things look bigger, black makes them look smaller. I think that qualifies for objects as well as rooms, but I don't remember that much from the interior decorating class @ college. It sucks when you can't get the class you want (CNC machining) and have to take something like "interior decorating" for your last (art) credit!

 

You should do something with incredibly bright lurid colors



BTW:
lu·rid ( P ) Pronunciation Key (lrd)

adj.

Causing shock or horror

 

hehe, that's quite a good paint job!! even if it is white, hehe. I still think a watercooling setup is best here me thinx. Overclock that cpu up and use fast memory to boot ^_^

 

That's a really interesting idea... personally, I'm a Dreamcast fan but the xBox has a normal DVD ROM so would be much easier to do. Rumors are that it will get cut in price to £99 soon, so it could be an option.

I was also wondering about building in a small audio amp, either just for phonostatic headphones or maybe enough to power some speakers directly. I'll probably stick a Smartmedia reader in too.

MoJo

 

Well, yeah, like really high gloss white. As I say, I was going to do it all black but everyone does that, so...

I think it will look really nice a modern. Maybe a bit like some of the Apple or Sony stuff.

Anyone know where I can get white vynal dye?

MoJo