Hey guys, This is my first mod evah! I'm buying everything new as I don't have a PC right now (only laptops for work)... I had the idea when I saw zapwizard ammo PC, not that it looks like it but it was the first mod that I've seen that was a complete build, not just some lighting in a standard PC case. The project is started, hardware is starting to arrive slowly, I have a fairly good budget for that so I ordered some stuff from the US (for exampel the power supply is EPS1U which is not really standard). I work with servers (rackmount) and when I had trouble fitting in the power supply, I decided to buy a 1U power supply and attach it to the cover of the case (see picture), I think you guys would really benefit looking at server stuff when you do yoour mods, they have wicked stuff and it's always top-quality (like 8X AGP riser cards, all 1U servers have riser cards).. As I'm not really far in the project and I don't have a digital camera, I'll post the model for now (SketchUp rules!) Hope this displays allright. As you see, it's suppose to look like a suitcase nuke, the case is a pelican 1500, The pressurized bottle is in fact a cover for the nvidia 6800 ultra that goes under there and is a bit too high to hide under the hood (unless you use a riser card). I think the bottle adds to the look and screams DANGER! I plan to have some kind of tubing coming out of it and under the hood. Also note the power switch cover which fits with the whole bomb look, I ordered it with a SPST OFF (ON) (off and momentarily on I think).. I hope it's the right kind of switch for ATX power supply (someone can confirm this?) The power supply is 300mm x 106mm x 40mm it's a 1U power supply normally used in rackmount servers, I think the form factor is great and fits nicely in this design, it's 460Watts which should be enough (barely) to power the nvidia 6800 ultra and the rest of the hardware. The models you see are incomplete, I still have to position all the connectors that are gonna be located on the connectors plate (near the power switch) I also need to work out some kind of air flow. Note that the case has to be left untouched, no holes, nothing, so the machine is to be operated open, the case is fairly small and to fit everything in there is not that easy... I'll try to get my hands on a digital camera and let you see this project as it is made... The main reason I posted this here is to have ideas/comments from you, I'm sure there are stuff I missed of good ideas I've never had about how to make this or completely new ideas, anyway, please comment and share your thoughts on how to improve this design... P.S.: As for the hardware, as I said, I'm buying everything new and I have a fairly good budget, I may wait for a socket 939 microATX M/B so I can fit a 4000+ athlon64 (if they come out by this fall).. or something like that, so eel free to suggest any hardware you think might fit in there... praefect
Here's a transparent display of the assembly, as you can see the pressurized bottle (gas cylinder) is only a cover for the nvidia card, I bought a fire extinguisher and cut it to get this half cylinder, I'm not really satisfied with the look of it though, the metal is pretty cheap, I may end up asking my friend to print it in 3D using a fast prototyping machine (more on that later) and have the resulting model chromed or something.. anyway, I'll be buying the motherboard pretty soon and will build from that as of now I think I'll buy a MSI microATX for Athlon64 (forgot model name) there isn't much choice for microAT mobos if you guys have been looking around.. The cdrom (top-left) is a slim type slot-load from panasonic, it's 12mm high and burns CD/DVD+-whatever 6 types... anyway I really like the slot load but this one seems hard to find I may end up with a standard laptop-style slim DVD... My main concern for this assembly is te connectors plate (with the big orange switch cover). I think I may have trouble finding all the connectors I need in a mountable form, I may end up hacking gender changer to fit as connector on the plate... any recommendations are welcome. praefect
grr, stupid computer (didn't post my last reply). anyway, to answer your question, yes, the off(on) momentary switch is the one you want to hook to the mobo header for the power switch. I really like the overall look of this case, especially the lack of external hacking (kinda goes in keeping with the theme really). Here is a site you can get slot-load laptop drives, both cd & dvd burners. you'll just pay through the a$$ for them, but you probably know that already. look forward to updates as this progresses. *edit* i can't tell about the depth, but do you have enough space to have the cd drive mounted so the cd would pop up out of the area in front or behind of where the switches are? it would look cool if you could just drop the cd down into the panel to load it. or if the case isn't deep enough, could you angle the cd drive? just a thought, hopefully you have an idea of what i'm thinking.
Dammit! I've been wanting to do this for a while (but have two other mods in queue)! Well, cross that one off the list now... Anyways, looks cool, but I was planning on going as realistic as possible. Might I suggest you look at some information on how nukes work and make the facade a bit more exciting/realistic/interesting? Can't wait to see it finished
wow! the site is really slow today, I guess the fact that the Orac^3 project is on slashdot is responsible for this... Thanks for the output guys, ZogTheTroll: thanks for the DVD site, I'll probably buy the panasonic UJ-815-B just can't understand why I can't find it in the US (I'm in Canada).. anyway I understand what you mean by having the DVD drive at an angle and being able to load it from the "main cover panel".. I'll try it and let you know. JavaDog: I'd like it to be as ralistic as possible, I did some research on the net about suitcase nuke (let's hope the FBI is not on my traces)... with what's happening in the US lately I could disappear for less than that !! Seriously, I'm planning to have some kind of 7-segment display, I'm thinking about something like this: three big dual-digit red 7-segment, each of them showing temperature (CPU, GPU, case), something along the line of compunurse but with red numbers (can't find it, tell me if you saw this before)... I even thought about sniffing the data from the SMBus until I realized that the SMBus interface is slave only so I would need to probe it with some software (MbM or something like that...) I would prefer a hardware-only solution (like thermocouple and display). Do you think this would add more realism? My first drawing had 2 keylock to control the ignition (power up), this is fairly easy to find and setup (keylocks acting as switches). I think I should bring this element back. so we have 2 keylocks that you have to turn in order to power the thing and some kind of display (7-segment). I'll look into that.
Awesome, I can't wait. I looked up the pelican case and it looks like they only come in a gunmetal black, are you painting it the same color as your sketchup's? Should turn out pretty cool. Can't wait. EDIT: I'm not saying what you have is bad, but if you havn't purchased your case yet, I would go with something with more rounded corners, when I think nuclear case I think rounded, thick plastic, like here http://www.hardigg.com/hardigg_cases/single_lid_cases.htm. Ofcourse what you have will work perfectly as well.
This is amazing, i have not seen anythign quite like this. I hope you cmplete this successfully. -Bob
pelican cases come in black, orange, yellow and silver for some models. I bought mine orange cause it's just the right color for a nuclear weapon. I don't have a digital camera (got stolen), I'll definitely get my hands on one to show progress, don't worry. As of now, I only have the case itself, I'm cutting plates to attach everything inside the case (not that easy, remember: no holes through the case, the case has to retain its waterproof/crushproof capacity). The power supply is coming (they sent me one already but the wrong model so they're sending me another one for free). As for the PC components, I need your advice, right now I'm going for a MSI "K8TM-ILSR" microatx w/ athlon 64 3800+ (or better) and nvidia 6800 ultra... as you can tell some of this stuff is pretty new so I may have to wait one month or two before being able to buy it (I know the nvidia is not yet available in Canada). My question is: Should I wait and get a 939 socket mobo and 4000+ athlon 64.. I know this is not exactly the right place to ask but anyway... I'm pretty sure 'm gonna stick with the nvidia as I bought the PSU to support this kind of load (and the card's fat!). cheers
This looks like it could be a really good project so im going to keep my eye on this. Have you thought about custom jacks, like on zapwizards ammo case? Not the same as his but to give it a more overpowering look not just a case with a computer in it, if you see what i mean.
I definitely agree with the angled DVD drive idea -- even if you have room to do it vertically, a recessed, angled slot would be really cool looking. Good luck, and I hope you get a camera soon!!
This exact same idea wandered into my brain just a couple days ago.... I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out!
lol as nexxo said trying to take it through an airport could be fun especially with the whole nuclear bomb theme and switches etc lol!!!
I love those Pelican cases, a bit expensive but then again not as expensive as a new alu case I hope you can fit everything so that it's still water/dust/etc proof and capable of dealing with rough handling (*wh00pz, I dropped my pc on the ground*) when it's done, do try to take it in an airplane with you, see how they look if you open the lid and show them pc parts
