PC in a PC cheap case mod.

G

gdonovan

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Oct 7, 2004
Messages
1,818
case_mod_1.jpg


case_mod_2.jpg


This case mod is something I always wanted to do- Two PC systems in one case.

The ITX system I have had around for a year now but wanted to reduce clutter around my office by intergrating it into my main PC case. When the power supply for the ITX system crapped out now was the time to give it a go.

The main PC is a AMD 5000+ X2 with a 8800GT, it pulls 170 watts at idle, the ITX system pulls 24 watts with the Compaq ATX power supply you see in the pictures. The power supply just exhausts into the case, it doesn't get very warm since it is working at 25% of it's rated spec.

The wall plate is a spare with an attached a short CAT5e cable, it plugs right in as does everything else so the ITX board can be removed if needed with little fuss and bother. The mods to the main case were light so things can be reversed if need be. All I did was cut out the stamped fan grill opening in the case and drilled two holes to mount the wall plate.

After that it was a matter of grinding out the holes in the wall plate for the VGA, Power, USB and Keyboard. The power lead is actually a shortened cable so it plugs right in to the power supply too. The keyboard port wasn't really needed but sometimes a USB keyboard just won't do and I had the PS/2 lead kicking around. Sound is actually used, I just snaked the audio cable through one of the backplate slots to output through my monitor's unused crappy speakers.

Monitor supports dual inputs, if I have to access the ITX machine I just hit a button on the LCD and go in via remote desktop.

I still have to pop in a power button in the front of the case, I was going to drill a small hole where the case badge resides and mount it there.

Total cost? Nothing. All the cables and junk were kicking around my attic. The ITX machine works great for a low power home server / torrent downloader.

Gary

P.S. The PII fan tie wrapped on is just insurance, the VIA CPU runs fairly cool.

Edit- Just checked the temps after several hours of operation, the CPU is at room temp but the motherboard temp is at 145F. Not bad considering the main rig is running too, I'll have to check later after the main board has been shut down for awhile. Perhaps a fan blowing over the whole motherboard would be a better idea.
 
Do you have an actual worklog for this? I like this idea.
 
protias said:
Do you have an actual worklog for this? I like this idea.
Click to expand...

No work log, just winged it in about 4 hours time.

Pretty much I took the major pieces (motherboard and power supply) and juggled them around till I had the best fit in regards to wire access and airflow. Everything else followed from there... The motherboard tray (from an old Gateway) is secured to the power supply with one screw (off a tab on the PSU) and hotglue.

Any questions I'll be happy to answer.

Temp update- Looks like the main rig only has a minor impact on motherboard temps, currently floating around 130F while d/l a torrent and replying to your post. The power supply for the main must do a fair job of ventilating the case while it is running.
 
Do you have more pics of the project? You have one from above, but what about on the side?

I'll keep you in mind if I ever do this.
 
case_mod_3.jpg


So far so good- Have had an uptime for several days without a single hiccup.
 
I'm wondering if you will have any issues with the 2 power supplies and floating ground.. I ran my 2 machines (see sig) in a single custom built case for awhile, and had extreme issues with the hard drives and mobo's not liking each other due to the power supplies and grounds conflicting .. and it looks like you're touching everything metal. :)
 
So what do you do with the ITX system? I can understand the 'main' component... neat idea.

EDIT: re-read OP "The ITX machine works great for a low power home server / torrent downloader"

So then.. do you leave both systems on, or what?
 
lord_farfig said:
So then.. do you leave both systems on, or what?
Click to expand...

The ITX has been running for several days seeding & some minor e-mail use, the 5000+ has been fired up for only a few hours to do some DVD encoding and Photoshop work.

No sense having a brute that pulls in excess 170 watts at idle for seeding for days at a shot and saves wear and tear on the main rigs drives.

I might install a USB port in the front of the case for the ITX, that way I could get the hub off the desk too.
 
Finally mounted a $2 push button from Radio Shack under the bottom edge of the front cover and wired a green LED where a second IDE activity LED would be.

The button is 100% out sight and there is no way I can hit it by acident.

Now when the machine is running I can tell (the only clue before was the damn 80 gig Maxtor hard drive running which is loud as heck.) Next week it goes bye-bye and I'll swap in a quiet 160 gig Seagate.
 
flint338 said:
I'm wondering if you will have any issues with the 2 power supplies and floating ground.. I ran my 2 machines (see sig) in a single custom built case for awhile, and had extreme issues with the hard drives and mobo's not liking each other due to the power supplies and grounds conflicting .. and it looks like you're touching everything metal. :)
Click to expand...

The ground for your powersupply and therefore your case SHOULD be connected to the ground pin of the power supply cord, and through that to your house/apartment ground rod somewhere outside. Having two power supplies shouldn't matter unless you actually have a ground fault issue somewhere in your house wiring.
 
Just a quick update- This thing is still tooling along and working great!

I did end up adding a USB port to the front of the case which makes it very handy to plug in a keyboard or thumbdrive. I tend to leave the unit on now and my Western Digital TV Live device just streams media off it over the network.
 
It is a really good idea, I often wondered with the sizes of many cases how easy it would be to fit a couple pcs in there...

Apparently very easy :p
 
Logan321 said:
The ground for your powersupply and therefore your case SHOULD be connected to the ground pin of the power supply cord, and through that to your house/apartment ground rod somewhere outside. Having two power supplies shouldn't matter unless you actually have a ground fault issue somewhere in your house wiring.
Click to expand...

Yep. Power cord grounds the power supply. Power supply grounds everything else. Only way you're going to conflict is if you have an issue with the ground in a device.

Otherwise, the grounds from each receptacle in your house would conflict with each other, right? :eek:
 
Hahaha, I love the Intel slot style cooling fan. Also, that looks like an Inwin Q500 case?
 
PolygonGTC said:
Does it look like this?

case.JPG
Click to expand...

Yes, thats the one.

Unit has worked flawless since assembled, no problem at all.

I'm considering adding a free 2.0 USB card that came with a lot purchase, 1.0 is so slow. I don't use it often to transfer large files onto thumbdrives but when I do it is maddening.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top