So, my original intentions for this mini-itx board were to make a carputer. Not happening now. So, for $25 I picked up a lockbox with "cash" tray. The board fits perfectly in the cash part of the tray along with a HD right next to it. The two optical drives or one optical drive and accessories are going under the tray. These are just ideas, I havn't played with the motherboard going under the tray and the opticals on top. I'll begin the photos after I list most of the stuff I have to use. Motherboard: VIA C3 Epia 800 Ram: 512MB (256x2) HD: 60GB Maxtor 3.5" Optional storage: 1gb Microdrive (may or may not use in this mod.) Optical drive(s): 24x HP CD-R/RW and optional DVD Rom (not decided on yet) PSU: Snap on 60 watt Other optional accessories: Microsoft wireless optical blue mouse; Netgear 4 port router or 5 port hub; no more yet. Plenty of assorted fans and the like. Everything I pulled out of my box of junk and the new stuff. Motherboard in tray Tray in lockbox with board in it Tray in lockbox with motherboard, PSU attached and HD Due to the optical drive's being about a 1/4" or 5mm too thick, the plastic tray sits up a bit. This causes a problem, the case won't shut all the way and can't be locked or securely closed. I can either cut the metal strip for the lock on the top of the case or I can cut the plastic. I'm leaning towards cutting the plastic tray, not sure yet. Optical drives. DVD Rom on left, CD-R/RW on right. Still not decided on using DVD Rom, might just go with the CD-R/RW, that will open up some space for additional accessories. Cardboard motherboard plate. Showing double sided adhesives I'm using to attach board to cardboard. In the box 1. In the box 2. Motherboard with cardboard plate from inside. First attempt at dremeling ever - be nice! Ok fit - not liking the cuts at all though. I wish I had a board I/O plate.
Nice parts laying around kind of project. You might consider tossing the plastic tray and building your own tray to hold to hold the motherboard, HDs and PS instead. Shouldn't be too hard to do.
Yeah, I think I'd like to have a slim combo drive. However, I don't have the cash. It's hard to find anyone who wants to trade two normal drives for a small combo drive. I think I might ditch an optical drive, unless I can trade for a slim line. I just don't want to cut a lot of holes in this case and end up not using the optical drive at all...I'm not that good of a dremeler... Oh well..Thanks for the comments guys.
you know what you could do to keep the outside of the case free from holes you could make it so the box will crack open about 1" and stay open like that then you could have the trays eject through that opening. if you do this then i would build a small wall of plexi all the way around the case so that people can not see past the drives in to your case. then i would put lights behind it to emit a cool glow. then when you close the lid you could have the lights turn off via a switch. eh just a suggestion. sweet mod though!!
I suggeset you move the mobo left about an inch, move the PSU down a level, and just mount an optical on an incline up top. throw both HDDs down below. It would be better if you also made your own custom mounts for most of the components (Safer and more secure if you're hauling it around.) I also suggest you cut out one of the coin slots completely and mount a fan and grill over the opening, to give it some ventilation. /back to ultra-lurking.
Another update. I dremeled the board ports. It looks terrible, I know. However, I don't have the right I/O plate so, this will have to do. Anyone have any suggestions for helping this poor thing out? The only files that I have are the ones you use on your fingernails. Should I just leave it like this? I did end up facing the board's I/O to the rear of the case. Please, any suggestions?
A File would be a good idea use a small flat one for the edges, and a small rounded file will get you some nice rounded corners Sweet mod btw.
So, yeah. I'm trying to sell the board and components, but I think I'll continue the mod anyways. I'll work on it a bit later on tonight.
