• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Worklog: Apple Media Center Edition

C

CrimandEvil

Dick with a heart of gold
Joined
Oct 22, 2003
Messages
19,670
This is something I've wanted to do for a while now, start out with an old Performa Mac, gut it, and then do something with the case (I think I might frame and mount the hardware on my wall :D). I've had this 637CD Performa sitting around my room with the believe that there wasn't much I could do with it, so long story short I decided to use it for an HTPC.

Performa 637CD Fact Sheet - Most important was the case dimensions: 4.3" H x 12.6" W x 16.5" D, just big enough for a M-ATX board. :D

Hardware:
35w Mobile 2200+ XP
Biostar M7NCG 400
Gainward FX PowerPack! Pro/660 TV Lite(VGFX5200TL)
ATi E-Home Wonder w/ FM and Video in
Corsair Value Select Dual Kits 512MB(256MBx2) DDR PC-3200
NU Tech 8X DVD+RW/-RW Drive, Model DDW-082
Lite-On SK7551 Keyboard
Seagate ST3200822A 200gig HD

So that's pretty much most of the hardware, theres a few odds and ends to take care of but that's pretty much it.

I want to use a Mobile Barton for the CPU, they run cooler then the standard Athlon XP and they also overclock well (have to stay true to my roots, lol) and since I'm stuck with a M-ATX board that really limits me to just the Biostar. My only real problem with the Biostar is the lack of Soundstorm which would have been nice to have and no firewire. Maybe I can get my hands on a Shuttle FN41 board, that's the one they use in one of their XPCs and it has both Soundstorm and firewire as well as support for Mobile CPUs.


Next up is the video card, that's a 5200 FX but it's one of the lowerend 64-bit versions so I doubt it can do alittle VMR9 over svideo. The case is only 4.3" high so only a lowprofile card will work. The TV used is nothing special anyways, it's a SDTV so I believe this would be fine for just straight tv out quality, right? Just want to make sure. ;)

For the tuner I have ATi's E home Wonder listed but I might be able to use a full size card. What I'm doing is mounting the video card normally (straight up) but the PCI cards will need a riser card and be mounted horizontally. Ideally I would love to use a PVR 500 MCE in it but I'm worried about the length of the card, too bad I don't know anyone at Hauppauge so I could get my hands on two "Baldwin" 250MCEs. Although I will be going with dual tuners regardless.

On the up side going with the E Homes means that I can plug in my PS2, GC and a myriad of other console systems into it and use Dscaler.

The Nu Tech DVD burner was just $20 more then what I had decided on, a DVD/CDRW Combo drive. It got good marks from Anandtech and other sites that have reviewed it so it seems like a safe choice.

With the whole Samsung debacle I decided to go with Seagate, a 200 gig HD. I'm glad that this case can hold two 3.5 drives since I have a feeling that I'll have to add another soon, lol.

I haven't figured out all the software I'm going to use but I hope to have it build by the time Meedio TV is out. ;)

Two problems though, I need a quiet heatsink small enough for the case and I need to choose a PSU for it.

I can only use a 1U size PSU so I have some options:
FORTRON SOURCE FSP300-601U 300W
FORTRON SOURCE FSP350-601U 350W
SilenX 280w <14 dBA iXtrema Micro-ATX

The SilenX looks good but visually it looks alittle bigger then the other Fortons. Does anyone know the size of the SilenX? Any suggestions?

I'm not too sure what Heatsink I'm going to use, maybe a Thermalright with a Zalman's slim 80mm fan. I'm sure I'm going to use those fans for cooling the case down though. Any suggestions?

Suggestions, ramblings and questions are welcome.
 
Bezels.JPG

Here's all the Bezels and the old PSU in the background. I was experiementing with paint on the side panels.

Front01.JPG

Here's the front bezel, it's going to need some work.

Front02.JPG

Here's the back of it.

SidesBlack01.JPG

The afore mentioned paint "jobs." One is flat black paint with white Primer and the other is flat black vinyl dye.

SidesBlack02.JPG

You can see them alittle better here, the first is paint with primer and the second one is the vinyl dye. I like the Vinyl dye better since it isn't so glossy.

Top.JPG

A shot of the top, kind of nice that theres a vent right above the CPU area.
 
Here's some shots of the bare metal case
BareCase01.JPG

BareCase02.JPG

BareCase03.JPG

BareCase04.JPG

BareCase05.JPG

That open spot was lined up with the CPU and created something of a duct.

Height compared to a 80mm fan guard:
80mmGuard01.JPG

80mmGuard02.JPG

80mmGuard03.JPG
 
Some pics of the Drive cage:
CaseDrives1.JPG

CageandSleds.JPG


Everything removed:
CaseOpen.JPG


So a few notes:
Yeah the panels are little dusty, I'll clean them up next time. :D

The current Drive cages will hold one 5.25 drive and two 3.5 drives (one is hidden) but because of all the extra bits hanging out on it I might have to fab my own to fit the new PC parts. Sounds like fun. :D

The paint used was some Rustoleum type (not too sure right now) but the Vinyle Dye was from Duplicolor and I really like how it looks on the panels. The other paint was way to "deep" and glossy for my taste.

As I mentioned before I'll be using those thin Zalman fans for cooling, there isn't much room for full size fans. In one of the case pics you can see that one of the vent areas is right over where the HDs will go, if you look down on it there's 2.5 cm of room.

For the sake of simplicity I'm going to be using alot plexi for internel mounts since it's easy to work with for what I have in mind (I'll post some sketches later). I'll need to make a motherboard tray for it.

I'm going to have to redo the front bezel, I want something alittle less "PC" like with some stealthed ports.
 
DarkHacker recomended the following for the "Old School Mod":


I would go for the small solid copper (dont know how to attach it though) and since you probbably want a quitet PC i would try a ThermalTake Combo Cool DIY (Newegg). They are as quiet as Panaflos (so I hear) and it includes a short "funnel/spacer" that really helps with the airflow.
 
Looks interesting. I have an old (dead) LCII (Viewable here) that I was considering using for a similar project (movies, mame, etc). It's a little harder since the LC case is significantly shorter (only tall enough for a 40MM fan) and not quite as deep.... but still worth watching yours for ideas and tricks. Keep the updates coming.
 
Thanks, I would love to mod an LCII! When I worked as a System Admin for my local School District my schools had a few dead Macs laying around, if only I could have took some, lol.

I've been kind of lazy but I do have a little update (been too lazy to upload the pics, lol). I'm ordering some little parts for both of my projects so I'll either do the little update later today or when I get those parts.

On the upside I believe I've found a good cooler that should fit in it. :D Scythe Kamakaze2 which is already considered a very good cooler for an HTPC so I'm glad that I can finally play with one. :D
 
did you just get the camera or something?

haha... that's probably more pics than i've posted here yet:p though i don't have a real digital camera... just a camcorder and a tv cap card :/

anyway, looks like fun. i'd try for the shuttle board over the biostar because a) soundstorm and b) better overclocking. you'll probably still need some pinmod lovin, though.

have fun!
 
Rogue Jedi: Yeah I just got it, still getting use to using a digicam compared to an SLR, lol. I would perfer to get a Shuttle board but $150 is alittle too much, you know? I hope I can find someone selling one though but if I can't get the Biostar to work right (I've been reading that it has some issues) I'll springs for the Shuttle without a doubt. :D

I have to rename and upload the new pics so I'll do an update after that.
 
I've been planning out the layout:
Layout1.JPG

Layout3.JPG

Layout2.JPG

PSU1.JPG

Duct1.JPG


As you see theres alot of work to be done fitting everything together; I'm going to have to cut out the current PSU mounting, cut alot off of the CD mounting bracket and you can't see it but theres a tall stand off that is/will interfer so it'll have to go. Time for Mr.Dremel! :D
It also looks like I'll be able to use the original CPU duct too.

My plans now are to trim the excess off and then start building a new PSU mount and a removeable motherboard tray or not, I just might use the same style that Apple used to mount the mobo (those drive rails you see in pic two).

I'll be getting a 1U PSU to mod and work with soon and I'm thinking of adding a Bluetooth receiver somewhere in the front if I decide to use an Apple BT Keyboard. To keep the Apple look I might do that, wouldn't might playing around with one and it'll look nice with everything else IMO.
 
CrimandEvil said:
Big talk from someone build a Tachikoma, lol. :D
Click to expand...

Yeah !! But I've been delaying this project for too long, and since I can get most materials for free, and I got a MIG recently, I see no reason I shouldn't do it :D
 
oh, about that 1U PSU, I'd rather suggest you to think about getting a Shuttle compatible PSU instead. they are more or less the same size factor, only shorter, I got one on my firewall ( a P3 800 inside a SparcStation IPX lunchbox case ) it's really great :)
 
A Shuttle PSU is a 1U PSU. ;) I believe it's SilenX that makes their PSUs too, I'll be getting a cheap (under $40) Forton just to experiment with and I'll need a back on hand anyways just in case anything happens to my other full size PSU who is going to get modded for my other project. :D
 
actually, while being labeled as 1U PSU, shuttle ones are shorter in length, most 1U rack PSUs are longer by 5-10 cms :)
 
Yeah I notice that about them, in one of the pics theres a piece of cardboard that's suppose to be the size of the PSU. It's about 7" long but size isn't really in issue for it.
 
Pics have been re uploaded (finally). The project was sort of moved to the back burner with mostly alot of planning done. I have been experimenting with a few things that will at some point go into this project but I haven't done much work-wise.

I might be getting a Gigabyte GA-K8VT800M for it soon, I'll know how things are going to work out by tomorrow (it's either the mobo or a HSF for my Mobile XP).
 
yeah the image host when done awhile ago and I yet to reupload the pics to ImageShack, just not enough time. :(
 
CrimandEvil said:
yeah the image host when done awhile ago and I yet to reupload the pics to ImageShack, just not enough time. :(
Click to expand...

Any luck with ImageShack?
 
Going to upload them tomorrow night or so, going out tonight and won't be back until Sunday evening or Monday. ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top