Presentaion suggestions, please?

D

DatHak512

Gawd
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Jan 8, 2004
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I already posted "Passive cooling. No fans, no motors, no nothing." in the Overclocking & Cooling sub-forum, but it occurs to me that y'all could probably make some good suggestions on how to improve on this project aesthetically. As noted, there's some work to be done with wire management, but i'd love to know what you think.

Thanks,
_nick
 
I would get a case for it. Then at least you could move it with out dropping the cd drive and yanking the cord out or something.

They have cheap cases now with lots of windows. These may be a little high (They are cheaper when they have rebates) but I have one and it's not too shabby. Windows on top and both sides. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/search.asp?keywords=Microfly

I think it is a rip off of another case design so look around for a microATX case with lots of windows. That would look nice in one. Oh, and the windows can come out so you can have a case with no windows if you'd like to easily remove those with the microFly case. The little silver dots on the picutres are actually plastic divet things that you can remove, they hold the window in place.
 
brokentilez said:
I think it is a rip off of another case design so look around for a microATX case with lots of windows.
Click to expand...

The case you're thinking of is the Apevia XQPack line of cases. Ultra's design is pretty similar to the XQpack. However, the Microfly is 1 inch longer and can be found without a power supply. The XQpack does come with a power supply but it's a pretty shitty power supply that WILL damage your PC. Since the XQPack 2 costs ~$95 with a shitty PSU with no option to get the case without one, the Microfly is the better deal since you can find it, sans PSU, for $40. Add in a decent $50 PSU like these:
Silverstone ST400 400W PSU - $45
Antec Earthwatts 430W PSU - $50
XClio Stablepower 460W PSU - $52

And the Microfly is the better of the two very similar cases.
 
brokentilez: I don't think a case would let me use passive cooling very well though: i'd probably have to have a fan or something to force air in and out of the case. Without a case, i can just rely on convection to keep my components cool for me. Plus, it's not like i plan on moving it around all the time.

I was thinking more along the lines of suggestions for how to make the whole think look a little nicer, like wire management and stuff like that. Any ideas?
 
If you don't want to put it in a case, perhaps you could get a big plate to mount everything to. This would allow you to use the motherboard standoffs to elevate the motherboard safely, and more importantly, give you something to organize your cables with. You could mount the psu/cdrom/hdd/etc to the plate at nice 90 degree angles. The cables could be routed in nice runs along the plate, or if you really want to work on cable management, you could have a few holes/slots in the plate to pass wires behind so they are only seens as they leave the psu and plug into components.

Now what is this plate made of? Could be thick plexi, or MDF board, or maybe aluminum. That would be up to you to decide. Good luck, hope this gets you thinking!
 
arnemetis said:
If you don't want to put it in a case, perhaps you could get a big plate to mount everything to. This would allow you to use the motherboard standoffs to elevate the motherboard safely, and more importantly, give you something to organize your cables with. You could mount the psu/cdrom/hdd/etc to the plate at nice 90 degree angles. The cables could be routed in nice runs along the plate, or if you really want to work on cable management, you could have a few holes/slots in the plate to pass wires behind so they are only seens as they leave the psu and plug into components.

Now what is this plate made of? Could be thick plexi, or MDF board, or maybe aluminum. That would be up to you to decide. Good luck, hope this gets you thinking!
Click to expand...
A plexiglass mounting plate. I like it.
allnighte.gif
Thanks!
 
FIDDYOWNZ said:
THis is interesting...I wonder how this could be implemented into today's consume pre-built computers....hmmm
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I think this works really well if you're careful, but for the general public, i don't know that it would be that good of an idea... i mean after all, if i (or someone else) spills a drink on the motherboard, or if someone comes into my dorm and puts down their books, or if they put their hand down for support, or if... then i'm out $500. So i dunno how well this would catch on in a pre-built way, unless you build a cool metal cage or something around it that would prevent people from putting books or whatnot on top of my machine and crushing the heatsinks.
The thing i was most worried about was my friends coming in and touching the heatsinks, and shocking them / the computer with static electricity. But it's getting to be summer now and more humid, so there isn't really a problem anymore.

So i'm thinking i could get a pane of maybe 1/4" or 1/2" Plexiglass (which would be expensive) and mount the motherboard, PSU, and ODD on that. I could then attach (with zipties or something) all the cabling so i could make it look purty. This seemes like a reasonable idea. Maybe *then* i could put that whole Plexiglass contraption on the wall so it would stay cooler and take up less desk space. Has anyone done something like this before?
 
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