My New PC Case

[James]

I dug out an old PC from the garage a few weeks ago. I had taken the hard drive out to use in my current PC but now it is back in the old one with Linux on it.

• Pentium 4 2.53GHz
• Gigabyte GA-8SIML Motherboard
• 512MB RAM
• 80GB HDD
• Nvidia Geforce MX440

I've been turning it into a media centre for streaming standard definition movies and music into another room.

Completely on an impulse yesterday I decided to build a wooden case for it. So off I went to the DIY store where they had about the right amount of pine in one sheet. But for £19 I didn't want to risk not quite having enough or making a mess of the build, so I decided to leave it. On the way out I spotted some pine boxes which looked just the right size. I measured it up with a tape measure from the tools section and bought it for £8. It turned out to be just the right size.

[img width=700 height=489]http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/BrokenFlight/TheBox/Box1.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=629]http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/BrokenFlight/TheBox/Box2.jpg[/img]



I butchered the old case for the motherboard tray and backplate but the tray was too big to fit the way I wanted it to. I trimmed some off:

[img width=700 height=543]http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/BrokenFlight/TheBox/Box3-2.jpg[/img]


This picture shows the test to see if it would all fit.

[img width=700 height=471]http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/BrokenFlight/TheBox/Everything1.jpg[/img]

This is roughly where the CD drive is. The picture was taken yesterday but I've now fixed it in with a pair of shelf brackets.

[img width=700 height=431]http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/BrokenFlight/TheBox/Everything2.jpg[/img]


Today I cut holes in the back for the I/O and PSU then screwed everything into place.

Next up are a hole for the CD drive, a hole to cool the hard drive with a fan, and I need to sort out the power button. At the moment it's just the bare switch dangling out of the side. Maybe eventually I'll stain it a darker colour.



I've had it up and running on and off over the evening. The temperature monitors I've installed in Ubuntu seem a bit off. In a 19*C room, it says the CPU is 23*C, system temperature is 16*C, and the hard drive is 30*C (Which actually seems about right)

[Tan]

Since it's a media center, you should upholster the top with a covered cushion of leather or vinyl and use it as an ottoman in the room it's going in.

[James]

Shelf brackets holding the CD Drive:


[img width=500 height=750]http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/BrokenFlight/TheBox/CDMount.jpg[/img]




Today I was looking into powering my PSOne screen from the PC PSU. I found I needed either a 7808 or an LM317 voltage regulator. So off I merrily went to Maplin where I asked for an LM317, having picked it out in their catalogue.

[RANT]
Then I asked the guy if he could tell me how to connect it to change 12v to 7.5v. A simple yes or a no would have been fine. Instead he said it would say in the catalogue which one I need, then when I asked for basic instructions he said to search on Google for it. But being the kind man he was, he disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a printout of some random looking diagrams and specifications.

Me: "Ok, what am I looking at?"
Him: "If you read it, it will say how to connect it."
Me: "Sorry, I can't understand it..."
Him: "Read it and it says how to use it."

To me it just looked like specifications with a few performance graphs thrown in.

Me: "I don't know how to understand what you've given me"
Him: *HUFF* "It's not for you, then!"

So he took me to a shelf with some kits to build various basic circuits. He showed me a 1amp AC/DC power supply then said I don't need half of it because I'm only using DC/DC. So it was £10 for about four 50p components. Fuck that, fuck him, fuck Maplin!

I dumped what I had in my hands on the floor and just walked out.

[/RANT]


When I was home I remembered a box of electronic bits I was given years and years ago. I found a 7805 in it, but no 7808s. That means 5V instead of 8V. So I took the kind man's advice and looked on Google where I found a diagram of how to change a 7805 to output 8V. Tada! my PSOne screen is now powered by the PC's PSU.

I'm thinking of integrating it into the box lid somehow.



So that was the fun of my day...

[Ghost Soldier]

Awesome case the PC is sitting in.

[OatBob]

I hope it doesn't get termites!