Looking For Case Design Feedback...

C

CustomModAddict

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 2, 2010
Messages
184
So now that "Blue Rising" is finished. Its on to my next project. This new build still in the design phase, will be a scratch build. I am going to build the frame and panels, a few other scratch custom parts. At this time its going to be a cube style case. I am aiming for some really nice machined material, with lots of acrylic material, which will be illuminated in some really crazy ways. I am also installing an overkill water cooling system, probably 2 360 rads, dual pumps, etc.

I was curious to hear what kind of design elements do members like to see in a build. I plan on doing everything from scratch including wiring, design and build. So let me hear what you guys and gals would like to see in a build. I would really like to do some things that haven't been done yet. For example, I was thinking about maybe some cool looking motorized gears that just move around in the case.

So any ideas or thoughts, I would really like to hear them.

:cool:
 
Hmmmm, I do like the idea of somehow making an external hard drive appear as a component of the PC but is completely removable.
 
Danny Bui said:
Hmmmm, I do like the idea of somehow making an external hard drive appear as a component of the PC but is completely removable.
Click to expand...

What like hot swappable HDD's, but inside external cases that would slide out?

Interesting....

Give me some more details Danny, maybe its something I can incorporate into this build.
 
CustomModAddict said:
What like hot swappable HDD's, but inside external cases that would slide out?

Interesting....

Give me some more details Danny, maybe its something I can incorporate into this build.
Click to expand...

That's a good idea as well. But I was thinking more along the lines of the xbox 360 and it's removable hard drive. It looks like it's suppose to be part of the 360 but the hard drive can be easily removed. Something like that for a PC would be nice: An external hard drive or even hot-swappable HDD's inside external cases that would slide out that's connected to the PC seemlessly. I.e without a messy cable stringing about.
 
Danny Bui said:
That's a good idea as well. But I was thinking more along the lines of the xbox 360 and it's removable hard drive. It looks like it's suppose to be part of the 360 but the hard drive can be easily removed. Something like that for a PC would be nice: An external hard drive or even hot-swappable HDD's inside external cases that would slide out that's connected to the PC seemlessly. I.e without a messy cable stringing about.
Click to expand...

Like the Portable media bay external harddrives that you get on some HP towers?

(I could only find a picture of the smaller 2.5" drives going into the smaller personal media bay. The full sized HDD based media bay is behind the panel on the bottom right.)
Seamless-Zune-Dock-HP-Pocket-Media-Drive-Bay.jpg


The smaller ones (personaly media drives) work off the USB power (the 2.5" personal media drives) and the larger full sized HDDs also use USB but have to be powered externally. It pretty much slots neatly into a bay at the front of the computer, and as you push it in it it connects at the back into 2 power prongs (connected to a 4pin molex) that supply power, and a USB B connector at the back of the drive that transfers the data. It then works like a normal USB drive, just without the cabling.

It is a good system, but running off USB 2.0 means its not as fast as it could be, but it is portable. Something similar working off eSATA or USB 3.0 would obviously have huge advantages.
 
That might work.

Though I really was thinking of an external hard drive that you can "clip" onto the case just like the way the Xbox 360 hard drive "clips" to the Xbox 360. Not hidden inside the case but actually as part of the external look of the case.
 
I see what you mean now....
images

images


It could be done. Not sure what if any this design could offer to the build, but I am gonna look into it. I was gonna run a raid 5 withh HDD's and then run two SSD's one for OS and the other for certain games and applications. I orginally wanted to set the HDD's in raid 5 with hot swappable drives. But making them external drives tht were swappable might be a nice feature of the design.

Any other ideas?
 
I am still trying to figure out a way to do this, any ideas let me know.

I was thinking I could install a few HDD docking stations just under the cover of the case, so that I could easily slide bare drives in a slot throught the case and into the docking station.

Something like 2 of these

hmmmm...
 
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Seagates externals have the sata power and data exposed once you take it off the dock. Very nice drives.
 
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