Building a wooden case pc

[ithel]

Well tax season is done and my work is down to a nice easy flow. My business laptop is five years old and ailing (big old 20" HP HDX with a dedicated Nvidia 8800M GTS card, a 2.1ghz intel core2 duo cpu, and 4gb of memory). I think it's about to die, lots of frozen screens, seems to be quite hot, and I'm just grateful to have the tax stuff backed up elsewhere. My laptop is also my game computer.

 

Anyway, I am far from being a computer guru, but like probably everyone else on these boards, there is a bit more interest than the norm. So I've decided to build a new system to replace my laptop. I've decided that, for once in my life at least, I want to build something that will let me enjoy the games I enjoy at full settings. The games I do aren't typically all that demanding, but with my laptop, even with most graphics options way down, I enjoy them with stuttersteps (Dark Mod, Rift, Second Life, and GW2 when it finally comes out).

 

I'm going to build my own case. From wood. With a handle on the top so I can still transport it easily from home to my office and back every day for tax season. It's small-form factor, but I'm using a mATX board.

 

My plan is to mount the board such that the back panel comes out the top of the case. I want to do this for several reasons: (1) Easier connection every day, as the case sits on the floor next to my desk, (2) allows direct mount of a water cpu cooler to the right side of the case, (3) allows the case to be wider than it is deep...and I plan to go steampunk on this project, with a keyed-clock and analog temperature gauges built into the front face of the case.

 

I tried to get the most bang for the buck but retain as much future-proofing as possible. Here are the things already ordered and on the way:

 

Video card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 Ti Fermi 900MHZ 1GB 4.0GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI Mini HDMI DirectX11 PCI-E Video Card

Motherboard: MSI Z77MA-G45 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Memory: (32gb, 4X8gb) Patriot G2 Series Division 2 Edition 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PGD316G1600ELK

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K Quad Core Unlocked Processor LGA1155 3.3GHZ Sandy Bridge 6MB

Hard Drive: OCZ Vertex 3 120GB 2.5IN SATA3 6Gbps SandForce SF-2281 Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD (for OS and games...I'll probably mount an older sata drive I have as storage)

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition 64BIT DVD SP1 OEM (supports as much system memory as I can afford...was only $20 more than home edition)

Optical drive: ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer OEM Black

PSU: Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W Continuous @40°C,80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core i7,i5" Power Supply

Wireless: Rosewill RNX-N180UBE Wireless Adapter IEEE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 1T2R / 5 dBi External Antenna / Up to 300Mbp

 

I still have to get the cpu cooler and a large, quiet fan to mount in the floor of the case, pulling air in from beneath. The case floor will be about 2" off the surface on which it rests. The PSU will be mounted in the roof of the case and exhaust the case air. It's probably difficult to envision, and honestly I am just as likely to put the PSU on the floor as the intake and the 200mm fan as the ceiling exhaust fan. Much will depend on the dimensions of the pieces, once I get to see them up close.

 

If the finished project doesn't look cheesy, I'll post pictures for you. I should have all the parts in the next couple days. I'm not the world's most adept woodworker, but I enjoy a challenge. And there is a bit of urgency, as this laptop is performing worse every day. I can no longer play the Dark Mod on it. I'll have to see what I can do to make it safe to use after I finish the new computer, as my daughter is hoping to inherit the laptop.

[ithel]

Oh yeah, I did want some advice about this. If I do mount the motherboard so that the back is at the top, that means the memory sticks are horizontal. Do you think that could result in cooling issues? With this setup, the CPU will have it's own side cooling. And the video card can exhaust straight out the other side. So I think this would work, but what has your experience been? Thanks! I'm eager to get this done so I can use my new time to get this mission underway again.

[Mortem Desino]

I've never come across RAM Dimm cooling issues. (mine are arranged horizontally on my ASUS board)

 

How else are you going to arrange your expansion slots? I've had an excellent experience with Antec's setup where the motherboard is on top, and the PSU is on the bottom. My video card fan blows hot air near the PSU, and the PSU fan sucks it up and vents hot air out the rear.

 

I love little engineering projects like this. I used to do similar weird stuff with my dad.

[Baddcog]

Well, the whole steampunk/wood thing sounds cool. But the wood will most likely be heavier than a metal case. So for a portable, I dunno, might not be best.

 

And as far a water cooled, why? Are you planning serious OC? I've got about the same upgrade just recently (well, same new parts but not coming from laptop). I think you'll be running just fine stock clocks. And you could just go air cooled and people are getting the i52500k up to 5.0ghz just on air.

There are also newer, cheaper water cool sealed units that take only a little more room than a 120 mm fan on the back of the case.

Good rating, $65 (as opposed to $250 for a full water cool unit) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181015

(lighter, smaller, cheaper)

 

You are planning to put some good case fans in right? With good airflow I wouldn't think the arrangement really matters.

 

I have antec also with the psu at the bottom.

[jay pettitt]

Jay occasionally makes furniture out of bits of wood. Normally he wouldn't touch the stuff because he's a bit of a wood snob, but for a PC case he'd definitely consider plywood because it's stable - ie it doesn't grow and shrink several millimetres in the wrong direction depending on what time of year it is. If you go to a proper plywood shop you can get ply that's a cut above home depot stuff and you can choose species and find some attractive grain. If you're really keen you could veneer a really posh bit of bookmatched something onto a bit of ply - if it's good enough for Krenov...

 

He also thinks it's worth considering temperature and the fact that wood is quite warm and cosy - it's an insulator rather than a conductor of heat. Secretly he also has secret day dreams to make and market a case which is a combination of wood and metal (two sides wood, aluminium for t'others) and has thought about this a little bit. But for god's sake don't tell anyone, because they'll steal his idea.

Edited April 21, 2012 by jay pettitt

[ungoliant]

I'd watch out for EMI issues with a wooden case. There's a reason most cases are made of metal ya know. And as far as weird mobo placements and cooling issues, you could always try a BTX formfactor, but they never really caught on for some reason. They are out there, though, and considering your case is custom made, its somewhat feasible since you're going to be putting in the work to mount the mainboard regardless of formfactor of the mainboard.

The BTX layout establishes a straighter path of airflow with fewer obstacles, resulting in better overall cooling capabilities. A distinct feature of BTX is the vertical mounting of the motherboard on the left-hand side. This results in the graphics card heatsink or fan facing upwards, rather than in the direction of the adjacent expansion card.

[rich_is_bored]

You could just buy a regular PC case and adhere wood sheet to it. It sounds tacky but patience and craftsmanship could make all the difference.

[ithel]

I found this one: http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Steampunk-mini-PC/ as a base inspiration. My intention, though, is that the wide face on the left will have a key wound clock in it, and analog temperature gauges, heh.

 

Ungoliant, yeah, I was wondering about emi issues. I'm also wondering if aluminum foil glued to the interior would do the trick?

[Xarg]

Maybe, just seems safer to use a standard case and put a thin wooden exterior on it. Depending on what you did with the wood, you could end up creating one of the more interesting case mods I've seen online, though it's hard to top the Russian monster..

 

[jay pettitt]

If you want that vintage look, I'd suggest frame and panel construction. Mahogany of course.

 

That or coopering.

[Xarg]

Alternatively, you could be a crazy 16 year old German kid, and do something like this..

 

[ithel]

How do acrylic cases, commercially available, get away with EMI? Or aluminum/steel cases with huge cutouts for fans, windows, etc? I'm finding conflicting information. Some sources say don't worry about it at all. Others say it is required! Bleh!

[ithel]

Hahaha, wow, Xarg... that's crazy.

[Xarg]

Care to make a wish... S.T.A.L.K.E.R?

[ECHELON]

perhaps you are forgetting that a case made ​​with wood would have a very bad air circulation. why simply do not buy a case like this? http://www.totalmodd...roducts_id=8804

 

EDIT: the psu you choose is an atx model, not a micro atx.

Edited April 21, 2012 by ECHELON

[Baddcog]

Is that supposed to be portable?

 

Wood has nothing to do with circulation. You just need to make sure you vent it properly.

[ithel]

Echelon, that case looks like a gamer's case. While this will be a gaming computer, it will also need to double as my business pc, heh. I had looked at that case and at a Luan Li aluminum case with a handle on top. That one was miniATX only, and there are only two miniATX z68 motherboards out there, and neither well-reviewed. I think cooling is a function of design and circulation rather than materials, but I could be wrong on that.

 

Good catch on the PSU. I figured the difference was mostly about size of the PSU. Am I mistaken about that? Am I going to run into compatability issues with my board? (z77) I should get the PSU and just about all the remaining pieces Monday or Tuesday. I already have the MB, memory, and wireless.

[ithel]

Alright, did a rollback of my video driver and I don't seem to be crashing on the laptop. I'm glad this one won't need to be trashed, though I'll still replace it.

[ECHELON]

Is that supposed to be portable?

 

Wood has nothing to do with circulation. You just need to make sure you vent it properly.

 

Sorry, I mean "bad dissipation", not "bad circulation".

 

If you see this:

http://www.engineeri...vity-d_429.html

 

The aluminium has a thermal conductivity coefficent of 250.

 

The wood has a thermal conductivity coefficent of 0,17.

 

this means that aluminum is about 1470 times better in dissipating the heat.

 

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Good catch on the PSU. I figured the difference was mostly about size of the PSU. Am I mistaken about that? Am I going to run into compatability issues with my board? (z77) I should get the PSU and just about all the remaining pieces Monday or Tuesday. I already have the MB, memory, and wireless.

 

On the description of thermaltake a30, there's written it is compatibility with a ps 2 psu (which should stand for standard atx).

If it's true, i suggest this psu: corsair hx 650w. I suggest this psu for two reason: a very powerful psu for all configuration and because it is modular (http://en.wikipedia....wer_supply_unit).

In a small case like this, it's required a modular psu for fewer wires possible within.

 

http://www.amazon.co...35085497&sr=8-1

------------

Before you buy any psu, sure it's compatible with the case.

Edited April 22, 2012 by ECHELON

[jay pettitt]

Aluminium is one of the most conductiest things that there are. Most aluminium isn't aluminium though - it's a sandwich of aluminium and aluminium oxide; the latter being a very good insulator. Temps may still be an issue, but it will be a small issue rather than a big one.

 

I'm not sure that in the real world electrical interference is an issue either. PC components are individually shielded from EMI and if you find that your PC is messing with your AM radio or wireless door bell (it shouldn't happen, because PCs manage their EMI output) you can switch the EMI frequencies that your PC produces in the BIOS.

Edited April 22, 2012 by jay pettitt

[ithel]

Parts are all in, except the case fan, which I should get tomorrow. I spent the day making the case out of 1/2" birch ply and 1/4" oak ply. I also picked out an art-deco style trim. I've taken lots of pics of the process and will post it all soon. I am not much of a wood-worker, but so far I am very pleased with the progress. I cut out and stained the pieces today and they're drying in the garage. I have to wait for the case fan before proceeding much further, as I need it to make sure it can be mounted in the way I am hoping.

 

The case dimensions are 12" long, 10.5" high (plus another 1.5" under the case for airflow, so 12"), and 8" wide. I realized that mounting the motherboard in the way I described above wasn't very practical (such as less protection from elements when carted to and from the office), so I am mounting it on the left wall, video card on top. The card wasn't as long as I'd imagined, and it has two fans. The PSU draws and exhausts its own air supply from outside the case. A bottom-mounted fan draws cool air up into the case and it exhausts out the top. Depending on temperature readings once I get this thing all assembled and tested, I may put another fan at the top to help the draft along.

 

I'm also, for now, ditching the clock idea. I wasn't able to lay my hands on an inexpensive key-wound clock.

[ithel]

I'm close to finished and decided to do a little power-on test. Nothing.

 

Alright, I guess I am an idiot here, but must be I need a soft-on switch for the motherboard? (IE, the switch that normally comes with a case...but since I built my own case, I didn't think to get something like that.) Would the absence of this cause there to be dead-silence when flipping the power supply switch? I'm hoping it is something as simple as that. I'll be posting some pics in a bit here and you can see how things have turned out. I need to run down to Lowes tomorrow to pick up a few more brass washers.

[ithel]

[ithel]

I still have trimwork to apply and the front panel isn't yet in. Yes, the cd/dvd drive is on the back. I'm a lousy woodworker, but I'm still pretty satisfied with the look.

 

But, yeah, kinda disappointing to get ready to test the thing and realize that maybe I'm not done ordering parts.

[Baddcog]

Yeah, the power supply switch just lets power go through it, you still gotta kick the pc into action with a button, you could probably use just about any button fro ma hardware store, light switch, toggle, etc.... Interesting having all the hook-ups on the front for easy access.

 

You can do a test to see if your system runs by putting a screw driver across the two pwr prongs for the case power switch. Then you'll at least have it up and running.

From the looks of it those connectors are probably top back corner of the mobo..