A from scratch Aluminium case... very different and meticulous quality.

M

Mitsimonsta

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 18, 2007
Messages
86
Greetings to the [H]orde modders.

We have an exciting from-scratch build nearing completion over at OCAU. It is rather different in looks, but is 100% constructed of Aluminium. It's all cut, bent, shaped and drilled by hand, no laser cutting or anything like that. I reckon it is pure, metallic sex.

One of our members, oldnewby, has built a very elegant, yet striking box. He really didn't have a plan either, it seems to be a very organic process thus far. I know you would all be interested to see the sorts of things that can be achieved, and maybe give you some ideas or inspiration to kick off your own mod or even a from-scratch build.

A very comprehensive log of the build along with great photos can be found over at OCAU (guests can view that forum, register to post). We would appreciate a Digg if you liked it too.

Just one pic to whet everyone's appetites:

013.jpg



Cheers
Mits
 
very sexy! I have often wondered about building a case from scratch, I always get keen until i think about making the motherboard and video card match up and also the grounding etc...
 
just read the whole thread over at OC

DAMN!
 
Love the case legs/feet. When I get the time will be reading the entire tread.
 
Yes, definitely worth an hour of your time to sit down and read the thread properly, and really look at the pics. I am consistently finding new touches on it that I never saw before.

As ir0nw0lf says, the legs and feet really set this one off well. Oldnewby is a fine craftsman.
 
Very impressive workmanship and design. My only question is... how does the motherboard keep cool? Neither your ram nor northbridge chip seem to have airflow access. Isn't this a cause for concern?
 
Logan321 said:
Very impressive workmanship and design. My only question is... how does the motherboard keep cool? Neither your ram nor northbridge chip seem to have airflow access. Isn't this a cause for concern?
Click to expand...

Had the same thought. RAM really doesn't get as hot as people believe. The Northbridge / Southbridge chipsets on the other hand are cause for some concern... but it's a P45, so they don't run especially hot either. Assuming he isn't going for a crazy OC, it'll probably be okay.
 
The fan behind the CPU cooler doesn't seem to serve any purpose at all, since the cooler is working in open air and the push from the front fan should be enough to maintain a front to back airflow.

Now change WC pipes and paint it copper and it would look steam punk and sexy.

Anyhow this things has STYLE stamped all over it.
 
Only two front USB 2.0 ports... bleh....



J/k. Very sexy work metal work indeed.
 
I think he intends to cover both sides and possibly the top with wood, from his worklog in OCAU linked from OP, which would make the exhaust fan serve a purpose.
 
Yes Logan, he has a stinking big lump of Jarrah that he is going to carve into a cover for the CPU/open side. He already has a Alu cover on the HDD/SSD side of proceedings.

Jarrah is one on Australia's most loved decorative woods, and it is very very dense. I think the lump he has would weigh a couple of ton, at the very least :D
 
Could we get some internal shots of your aluminum case? I want to see the insides =D.
 
lol i dont't think they are being combined.. i think the wooden case was just showing off some other work
 
Don't like the exposed fans. Just looks, unfinished. Rushed.

Good workmanship, though. Just not my cup of tea.
 
I like the first design. It's very futuristic and industrial. Very clean-looking as well.

The second design (wooden case) looks stunning as well. It all has a sense of minimalism to it, something I really appreciate :)
 
Looks like it would be a pain in the butt to upgrade this thing though. Not practical, but I don't think practicality was the objective in this build. Looks cool, but a bit goddy and star trek esque.
 
Both of these cases are awesome. The ONLY thing I dont like on either one is that the cables are going to look so bad compared to the case. The cases are sleek and uncluttered, then you have to add power/monitor/mouse/keyboard/speakers/usb/etc. and you have a beautiful case with a rats nest in the back :(

Oh well, nothing much you can do about the basic functions of a computers peripherals though, fantastic job on both cases.
 
Funny how people don't realize that it isn't your work even though it was stated in several places. The mod isn't exclusive to OCAU, as his work is also at bit-tech.

And it seems to be forgotten unless something has changed, that the aluminum frame you see is in fact that, a frame. He intends, or originally intended, to have all that covered. None of that would in fact be seen. Many people were trying to convince him otherwise, so perhaps he has changed and decided to let it be seen, but I haven't checked back to see if anything changed.

Great case, and great work nonetheless. Just hope he knows his work is being used as a spot to get increased traffic for your site/community. :p
 
Those pictures of the final product are absolutely phenomenal. It's so brutal and industrial looking yet the finish on the aluminum looks delicate. Thankfully he didn't add the wooden frames to the case, it looks perfect the way it is. I wonder how noisy that thing is.

Here's to wishful thinking that someday he decides to reproduce this case for resell. :eek:
 
JUST SO YOU ALL KNOW, IT IS NOT MY WORK. I just think you would all like to see it, it's another OCAU member's work of art.

Oldnewby has posted more pics at OCAU (and probably Bit-Tech as well), since you guys love it, I will pump them here.

Link to the post (and the nice comments about this awesome piece of aluminium engineering) is at: http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showpost.php?p=10154487&postcount=260

WOW! Thanks a lot everyone. :):):)

Some of you were concerned that perhaps the cooling solution was insufficient so
I've posted some temp results here.
Cygnus X1 has been running for a few days now and no problems have been evident.
All the fans have had their speed reduced so it's very quiet, the slot loader works well
but you have to be ready to catch the disc when ejecting. :LOL:
I've posted links to screenshots of the temp tests for those that are interested but the
details are thus; at stock speed (2.4Ghz) at idle CPU is ~30C, Running several programs
including transcoding an AVI file, extracting a large RAR file, watching a video, downloading
a torrent, firefox with several tabs open etc, the temp was around 40C and motherboard
temp varied between 25C~30C. There was no combination of ordinary programs that could
take the CPU to 100%. Bumping up the CPU to 3Ghz gave an idle temp slightly higher at
~34C and running the same combination of programs resulted in ~45C. So it will be left at
3Ghz. I wanted to see the temps for the CPU at 100%, so two instances of Orthos were run
and the result here is ~55C for the CPU. So all those temps are fine for everyday running.
Ambient temp during all this was 26C.
I never actually run that many programs at once so everyday running should see a CPU
temp of around 34C at 25C ambient, and that's fine. I also don't play games so the GPU
temp at 52C odd is OK as well. ;)

Here's some pic's because, well, just because. :D

015a.jpg

018a.jpg

017a.jpg


016a.jpg


I like this one the best. :D

019.jpg
Click to expand...
 
meatfestival said:
Very nice. Bet he could sell a few of those if there was a way of mass producing it.
Click to expand...

There are several cases at Newegg that cost 600-750 bucks that only have fancy paint jobs. If you could sell 1000 of these cases in a limited edition run for $1000 bucks each, you have 1 Million in sales. Even if it costs 500 each to make/market/distribute them you would have 1/2 a million in gross profit, and if your making a thousand, I doubt it would costs that much. You have the template already.... now just find an investor and a whole bunch of aluminum.
 
I can attest to the fact that you'd be wrong on the thoughts of mass producing such a thing.

The costs are astronomical, even in large quantities. Aluminum prices have skyrocketed in recent years, and raw material costs alone would be a hinderance to such a concept.

Could it be done, sure, would it be financially worth it. I can tell you that I found out the answer was no after much work and research. It just comes to the point where you're fighting your desires for something, against an economy that cannot produce such a thing at the price point you'd desire.

$1000 sounds accurate, and if you sold 10 at that price, I'd say you'd be happy. Throw in 3-5k for tooling, design, and absorb those costs, and you'd come out maybe $250 in profit if you're lucky.

And I'm talking about producing it here in the states, with american labor. Could you do it from a Taiwnese shop at a fraction of the cost, maybe so, but I don't speak foreign languages all that well ;)
 
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