Case Mod - In Progress Il•lu•sion - Worlds Smallest Watercooled Pico Itx, Watercooled Shuttle & LCD Screen!

hell yeah

great start... you've got my interest...been thinking about putting a pico-itx together with a normal pc for a while now, and you'll watercool it. Very interesting wc gear... I'm watching !!!!

 

It does'nt help when i have sausage fingers!
its going to be a challenge both mentally and physically

Thank you mate!
I hope it meets upto your expectations!!

See previous comments

Liverpool is a big place

Cheers dude!

I think its not because its going to have a use but simply because im in a position to have a play!

I'd imagine with more components it could be made slightly smaller but you would be hard pushed! I'm going to be using a laptop hard drive so that takes up some space in its own right. There are smaller pumps but that one seemed to push a reasonable amount of force!

Perhaps you should give it a go too!!
Though it works out expensive!
i dread to think what i've spent so far!!

just an example;

170 pound for the pico.
120 for the pump and radiator
35 pound for the connecting components
40 pound for the power supply
plus whatever the hard drive is
materials etc..

 

Have ourselves a small update today; Boss went home early and office was quiet


Attacked the wobbly hole with a file



Without the sticker.. i'll hit this with some sandpaper and polish at some point



Test fitting of the power supply - which seems a much better fit as a result!
Its still not finished but its getting closer!



Took a bit out of the IO panel to account for the power socket.
The power socket is not finished yet and still needs finishing in fine sandpaper



Cut down a pci slot - helps to tidy the back!
It is polished like the rest!



How the back has been left for today.​

 

Before starting the Pico side of the project.. i want to get the bulk of the shuttle system in and to a point. I couldn't help myself though and started playing with housings/the front panel.

So to take some measurements i needed to disassemble the Aerocool controller.






The idea is to have the aerocool squeeze infront of the pico unit and act as an 'illusion' to the rest of the world.



For this to be possible we need some sort of enclosure... so to get my head around sizes and dimensions we attack another victim!






With any luck tomorrow i should be able to update the thread and mount the controller.
i also hope to get the chassis primed and painted, With the bulk of the fixtures and fixing in as well!

Have a good weekend people!
Will update when i get a chance!​

 

lovely work man!

 

VERY cool!

I <3 Itx build.

I just finished my own yesterday, and there is nothing cooler than desktop size performance in something small and unasuming!

 

Today sees only a small update!




The drive caddy has been cut down to size with nearly an inch being taken from the bottom. This is needed in order for the waterpump to be housed correctly.


Removed some material to allow for cable access - This will become clear later down the line!


More material removed - this time the other side.
This will allow cable access to the sata ports of the hard drives which will sit one on top of another in a (yet to be made) bracket


Drive caddy back in place for the time being which shows the cable access.
Also shows the original card reader in place which i plan to use as well!



Side access to the hard drives will allow better cable management and a tidy solution for fitment of 2 hard drives.
Still needs plenty of work & filing
This picture shows only a part of the wiring so i really do have my work cut out with regards to cable management!

The drive caddy, radiator bracket and bottom of the case will be either powder coated or painted in gloss/satin paint at some point.

Thats all for today folks! ​

 

This just gets cooler, 2 amazingly small systems in one! Awesome!

 

Thank you mate.. its not perfect and no way as impressive as some of the other talent here

Lets see some pictures mate!
i really enjoy reading others who have squashed stuff into these small cubes!

Cooler is the word!
I'm looking forward to putting the watercooling bits in!!

 

Very nice, like where this is going!

Would luv to get my hands on a pico-itx board to finish off my Blackbird project - gotta save up though, as moving into the new house takes priority

Will be keeping on eye on this one though, the makings of a very unique setup!

 

Subscribed, looking forward to seeing this finished - I looked into watercooling a Shuttle chassis a while back but it looked far beyond my abilities, yours however is looking great already!

 

Looks good. Keep up.

 

Thank you for the kind words fella!
Spec wise this pico is very underpowered so it'll be kept to small duties for this project.
More on that further down the line though

You can get some really good deals on ebay though!!

Thank you!
It wont be beyond your abilities, just take it slow. Paper and planning are a huge part of the project...2 months of planning and collecting of bits and peices... most of which was scribbles on peices of paper and doodles on the back of obscure items (my laptop lid) when i had an idea but no paper. I have no real tools for that matter; a drill, knock off dremel, soldering iron, screw drivers and files.. thats all you need!

Thank you mate!
Welcome to the forums too!

 

Nice work as always .

 

Cheers fella!

Should have another update tomorrow eve!

 

As promised a very small update - i have some spare time this evening to get some work done so this should pick up pace a little!

I made a massive mistake with the old one and cut the wrong lines...
This meant that nothing would match and it was easier to just start again!

So....


ripped another cdrom drive apart!


Cut the first line...


Started cutting the mountings for the fan controller which is not the tidiest at the moment as have yet to file it down. The over cuts were the only logical way with a dremel to make the brackets. I intend to see to this when it gets to the paint and finish stage.


Believe it or not... its reasonably straight as well!
I hope its the tape which is giving it an optical illusion on the camera pictures!
the bends arnt sharp as the previous brackets didn't either.

Tonight i will cut the second line (as to not mess up another cdrom bay) and will mount the fan controller on the 'pico bay'
This sets me up nicely to be able to work solely on the pico system over the coming weeks.​

 

Hurraaah we're getting somewhere.
A sneaky trip home and a lunch time fettling, cutting and drilling has paid off!


Mounted controller onto the pico tray - It's not the tidiest metal work i've ever done, ill admit that. But it does a job and it does it well!
When preparing for paint a lot of this will be tidied to make perfect in any case!
The cables are running to another power supply and are only temporary



Powered up and in place - double checking i hadn't assembled wrongly!


This pictures gives you an idea of how much space i have for wires (more than i thought!)
It's almost roomy at the moment!


May use this semi circle for some cable management as well!​

 

Subscribed I cant wait to see the watercooling that will be in this!

 

Looks really good Keep it up!

 

nice work on the mount for the fancontroller.

If you didn't have the pics of it, I would never believe how small the pico-itx is in the 5.25 caddy... there's so much room left!!!