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Just built a Low Power Modular Rig.

V

Vzif

n00b
Joined
Mar 12, 2010
Messages
16
By "modular" I mean this:

I'm using an M350 case (yep..the little one) with:
i-3 dual core (tested with a quad i5-750, but wanted on-board video option)
4gb ram
320gb sata 7200 rpm hd / secondary
32 gb SSD (compact flash) OS primary
Zotac H55 (yep..that "buggy" one)
and a FULL SIZE Video card.

What? How? if you'd like to know what I did...ask and I shall explain.
(some of you crafty ones already figured it out I'm sure)
 
So you just cut a big slot in the case then?

Not to crafty there unless you used a PCI-E flex cable and laid the card down on it's side with custom back plate.

now thats crafty!
 
I cut the side of the case to fit dual PCIe risers from the x16 slot.

A right angle and an extender to get it out of the case. I then use L-Brackets bolted to the side that effectively "grip" the Vid-card.

It all looks very clean...

Powering an i3-530, 32gb CF to Sata, 4gb G-Skill ECO, with a 150w Pico Psu.

I keep bouncing back and forth from the 32gb and the 320gb SATA 7200rpm hdd.

Trying to decide which one to use.

Modded the i5-750 quad CPU stock cooler (cut off the fan) and replaced it with a 60mm x 60mm x 15mm AMD cooler fan.

40mm fan mounted under front panel.

The video card is externally mounted and powered by a 500w Antec modular PSU through a seconday extension cable running from the case.

I modded the PSU splitter from a 24pin ATX extension.

Unit mounts on the Monitor w/ the VESA screws.

When I want to play a game I pull put the external PSU, snap in the card and go.

Gad to "modify" the rear VESA mounting holes to mount on the monitor so the videocard is "facing" the user (so you can see the card design at last !)
 
Yeah sounds like some serious MacGruber stuff going on.

I did the same thing to a HTPC comp, added a big honking mpeg card to a mitx system lol
 
Well I apologize in advance for the quality. I couldn't find my camera so I emailed them to myself from my cruddy little phone camera ...lol.
 
l_da64d8a5636a4b1e8214c5a5fe6ff689.jpg


l_b7d00042b59c48fab1f782a2f0fc89d2.jpg


l_41dc7a6293f84f57ab13126927ff85f2.jpg


http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/135/l_cadf34def2c544eca723bf9132a0b3cb.jpg

http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/145/l_cc56b2d5cbc44f599ca2d66c2c7a2077.jpg
 
Nice! Was expecting Franken-ITX there for a second. That's pretty good add on.

Now you should make a box for the video card and have the two mate together like some sort of weapon add-on!
 
Well...that WAS the orginal idea and this is really just a "proof of concept" model to show that it would work. Ultimately (after a load of testing and stability trials) I will try and make a kind of "kit" that will take any ITX board w/ a PCI-ex16. as far as a box for the GPU though...The point of it is getting the card to be cooled ambiently and not get it smothered by a case. I will however make a panel attachment that will "lock down" the card onto the case and keep it from moving in addition to providing protection for the back of the board.
 
Last edited:
This is what it will look like when completed.
I borrowed some internet pics and phot shopped a lot, burt you get the idea.

l_e6cbbf8b80394683b372eb2a32f8818f.jpg
 
Vzif said:
This is what it will look like when completed.
I borrowed some internet pics and phot shopped a lot, burt you get the idea.

l_e6cbbf8b80394683b372eb2a32f8818f.jpg
Click to expand...

Brilliant.

Seriously though if I ever saw the OP's case with attached graphics card... I'd snap it off.
 
Dont leave your monitor-pc unattended at a Lan Party :(
or have this massive chain tying it all together

Also: have you considered how you're going to snake the power cables to the gpu?
 
power cables are easy...the trick was this:

I custom wired, pinned and sleeved my own version of a Lian Li Dual PSU cable.
Seen here:
cab-168.jpg

Their sleeved version is ridiculously expensive...the unsleeved is about $15, but both were too short for what I needed so I made my own.
I used this to start with:
directron_2098_401607666

and added a two foot home-made adapater to it. This allowed me clearance and placement options because I could split up the cables to wrap around stuff instead of trying to stretch it across them...like the cpu heatsink for example.

I essentially took an extra 6pin pcie power cable and clippe two cables out of it.
I then rewired two ends to a 24 pin ATX power connector and the other end to the extension cable for the PSU (internal 150w). That takes care of the "power" portion. The video card power cable just hooks up like normal except its on the outside. I'm using a 500w ANTEC modular PSU so there aren't a ton of extra cables laying aroun, but ANY power supply will do. THAT's the beauty of it...
I can use ANY size card with ANY PSU!! No more worrying about if they will fit my case because there is no case to put them "into"...hehe. best part is I don't have to stress my system out when I'm watching movies or surfing the net....saves life on my card and my components.
Does that answer your question?...I wasn't sure if I understood it correctly, but now that I'm looking at the pick..its a bit misleading. IN the pic there are no cables from PSU to pc and GPU. In actuality; there will be a power cable and a pcie cable going from PSU to GPU and PC.
 
I like your concept quite alot. I look forwardo to your final result

I have a little concern for the psu/gpu cables sorta dangling out. Are you going to bolt the psu to the back of the screen as well? This would make sense so that the psu/case can't be seperated too distantly.
also, if you're going to use a proper PSU, why do u still need your pico psu? is it mainly to reserve the full 500w for the gpu? - external cabling could get messy but it wont really matter.
 
Well...Finally modded out the Dual PSU cable and will be mounting soon. Ended up having to invert the fan after some Prime95 stress testing and it was getting hot, but flipping the fan appears to have resolved this issue. Loaded Win7 64but Ultimate and it runs great! On to the videocard testing!
Will post more pics soon.
 
Wel...Sort of. By "sort of" I mean....It works. I've mounted both a single slot 7800gtx and a dual slot card 8800gts and both fit great. Both power up and run video and both do everything the way they are supposed to. The now "External" GPU runs great and cool due to ambient temps..no more in the box heat. The External PSU (in this case a 500w modular ANTEC) worked flawlessly and powered on as expected. I even rigged a separate 120mm fan externally with a fan controller to test the heat on the case. THAT'S the "sort of" part.
I played Battlefield Heroes at 1280 x 1024 (old 19" monitor) and the case got a little bit hot at load...about 70Celcius hot. I'm not satisfied with THAT at all. So...its done, but needs better cooling. I'm going with THIS heatsink next:
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/image/10592/cpu-swi-20.jpg/cpu-swi-20/Swiftech_MCX-VCore_Intel_i5_i7_High_Performance_CPU_Heatsink_-_Socket_LGA_1156_LGA_1366.html?tl=g40c14s1037

and adding THIS fan.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/image/7902/fan-460.jpg/fan-486/Enermax_Magma_80mm_x_25mm_Fan_w_Twister_Bearing_Technology_-_BlackRed_UC-MA8.html?tl=g36c15s58


Here's the black box with the 8800gts attached and my hand holding it sideways to show how "snug" the card is held...It ain't goin' nowhere!
l_75dec01687134e8496dca873d3f41c77.jpg


l_f5ec2476d62b4efdb07026190f4d4ee3.jpg
 
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