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Feedback on Case Design

J

jeffesonm

n00b
Joined
Apr 25, 2006
Messages
11
I was given a Dell Dimension 8100 by a friend and am turning it into a HTPC. Here are the specs:

P4 1.7 Ghz
256MB DDR RAM
40GB IDE HD for O/S
120GB IDE HD for data
GeForce MX 4400? video card
Some SoundBlaster card

I bought a video capture card, starting recording TV shows, and realized quicky I need more space, so I bought an el-cheapo 2-port SATA controller card and two 300GB SATA HDDs. I plan to do a RAID 0 setup and use the 120GB drive for offline backups of my music and important TV shows, plugging it in once a week/month/whenever and copying over critical data. Rounded IDE cables are on their way too.

I need to do something to accomodate the additional drives and I'd like to get some better cooling going too. While I'm not overly concerned with aesthetics (I sort of like the raw technology look) I would like to keep things on the quiet side... the PC might eventually make its way into the living room. Primary usage will be recording TV shows and acting as a file server for other computers on a home network... the TV card has a hardware tuner so CPU usage is generally pretty low, if that matters. I got the computer for free so I'm really trying to keep things on a tight budget too. This is what the case looks like:

side back 3/4 view

Here's what I'm thinking... turn the case on it's side (see unskilled artist's rendition, below). Re-mount the 5 1/4 drive bays. Remove the HDD cage and put in a bigger one mounted correctly. Cut away enough of the circular grating in the front to mount a 120mm intake fan, blowing directly on the HDD cage. Add a 92mm/120mm blowhole on top.

Any thoughts? My main goal here is to keep everything, HDDs in particular, running cool. At some point I'll probably ditch the case and Dell mobo for something better, but I'm really trying to keep things on a budget since I got the computer for free, and except for lack of space, it gets the job done.

after.jpg
 
Yeah it sure is... I just picked it up and haven't really tinkered with it much yet. The past few years I've been spoiled/lazy/disinterested in computer games and just used the Thinkpad my job provides me with. Now that I've gotten into the PVR thing I actually need a real PC at home.

So anyhow I finally began taking apart the Dell and the thing only has a 250W power supply... combine this with the expensive RDRAM, the crappy case setup and it looks like I really need to do something more drastic.... and I was really hoping to keep this low budget. :rolleyes: Back to the drawing board.
 
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