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Project “Folder Holder” - Custom Open Air Bench for a 2P 24/

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 3:27 pm
by coolhand
Project “Folder Holder” - Custom Open Air Bench for a 2P 24/7 Folder (Fold-Tron 3.0? still working on the name)

I’ve got the folding Bug; I love the idea of contributing to finding the cure for a Disease like cancer. The big C has been a huge part of my life, My Mother and Father have both Battled cancer and for the time being (fingers Crossed) beat it, my mother has had Cervix Cancer and Breast Cancer, My father had Lung Cancer and half of his lung was removed. My Grandmother Recently passed away after battling cancer for the last 10 years. One of my really good child hood friends just passed away after battling cancer from his 20’s until a few days before his 30th. My best Friends Mom passed away a couple of years ago after a long battle with cancer (she was like a second mom to me)
My mom’s best friend passed away from cancer (super close family friend). I could go on and on, but you get the picture, it’s been a big part of my life and I’ve always wanted to do something to find a cure, I’ve fund raised (Michael Cuccione Foundation, Movember, Walk for Breast cancer etc...) Volunteered etc… then I found F@H, with every work unit returned I feel a huge amount of accomplishment, I feel like I’m really contributing. I have a passion for Building computers, and a passion to find the cure. F@H has given me an outlet to fuel both my passions.

So the reason for the “Folder Holder”; as I save up money ($161 and Counting) for a 24/7 dedicated folding rig, I will slowly put together an open air bench to house the computer.

My Idea is a 2 level/tier basic bench, using smoked Plexiglas and aluminium and some pvc parts. I’m looking at a custom SSD Bracket (like the one featured on MNPC Techs Fuzion Build “UN Designs X Bracket”) and Case feet like the MNPC Black Groove Billet Aluminium feet. An on/off switch built in to the Bench.

Pictures to come, this will be a slow build.

Things I need are in Red, lots of red down there

Parts for the Open Air Bench “Folder Holder”

2 x ¾” 14”x16” pieces of Smoked Plexiglas (thanks to Archer Plastics here in Vancouver)
4 x ½ inch Aluminium square/round tubes / PVC tubing (Still trying different methods)
4 x Black Aluminium Grooved Case Feet
1 x On/off Switch (Might pull from a chassis at work)

No slip mat for PSU (I have rubber sound dampening material left over from other Mods)
Mother Board Standoffs (rubber insulated rivet nuts 6-32)
Thumb Screws
3’ ½”x ½” Aluminium L for PCI slots (not sure I need this the KPGE has on board VGA)
120mm Fans



My Wish List for Hardware Parts:

CPU’s - AMD Opteron OS6128WKT8EGOWOF X8 6128
(Sure Id love the 12 core P’s but 8 is more in my budget, AMD has provided me with great GPU’s and CPU’s in the past hence the reason to go with them again)

Motherboard - ASUS KGPE-D16 Dual Socket G34 LGA1944 Motherboard
(Asus has always been reliable in my experience; all my motherboards (4) are Asus.)

RAM – 8GB I plan on using Kingston RAM, it has always been reliable, and all my current Machines have Kingston Ram.

PSU – Undecided, I want something Power Efficient (not to keep my power bill down, but in keeping with doing something good for the earth and for science, folding and
power conservation)

CPU Coolers – Noctua NH-U9DO ( I love Noctua stuff, All my CPU Coolers and Fans Are Noctua)


Hard Drive – Undecided, I do have some Western Digital Black Drives in my Home Server I could Use I know a SSD is Overkill but it would look sick using a custom SSD Bracket

Video Card - HD3450

Sponsors:
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Re: Project “Folder Holder” - Custom Open Air Bench for a 2P

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 10:32 pm
by cordis
Hey, sounds like a great project! If you need any folding tips, check the folding forum (viewforum.php?f=16), we're always happy to help! It looks like it'll be a great build, be sure to get pictures up when you can. One question, you have the cpu cooler as the Noctua NH-U9DO, any reason to go with such a small cooler? I know it would be impossible to get dual nh-d14's on a dual cpu board, but it seems like a pair of NH-U12P's should work. I suppose it would depend on the board geometry, but it may be something to look into. But otherwise, it looks like a good system, hope it all works out! :D

Re: Project “Folder Holder” - Custom Open Air Bench for a 2P

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 2:39 am
by frenchie
Nice !! Can't wait to see more !!

Re: Project “Folder Holder” - Custom Open Air Bench for a 2P

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 6:29 am
by coolhand
Hello the reason for the NH-U9DO is because they are compatible with the G34 socket, the other 2 are not, slightly limited on CPU coolers for server boards / Sockets.

Re: Project “Folder Holder” - Custom Open Air Bench for a 2P

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:52 pm
by coolhand
Just Some Scribbles, gonna go see the parents this weekend, grab a pop-rivet gun and some aluminum pieces. Might start saturday or monday, sunday is busy with thanksgiving

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Re: Project “Folder Holder” - Custom Open Air Bench for a 2P

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:53 pm
by cordis
Ah, I see. Well, hard to go wrong with Noctua, hopefully it'll go ok in the final build.

Re: Project “Folder Holder” - Custom Open Air Bench for a 2P

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:59 pm
by coolhand
I agree a bigger cooler would be better. just limited with what is compatible on a 2P g34 board

Re: Project “Folder Holder” - Custom Open Air Bench for a 2P

Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 11:23 am
by coolhand
Small Update, Set up my workshop in my office/spare bedroom. Happy Thanks Giving!!

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Re: Project “Folder Holder” - Custom Open Air Bench for a 2P

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 12:56 pm
by coolhand
Update 2011-10-10

I've started work on the aluminum frame.

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Test fitting the plexi

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Still Lots to Do, in no particular order:
Pick up some Chicago Screws to attach the plexiglass to the aluminum.
Connect the Cross Beam for PCI Cards
File and Polish my cuts
Attached Hard Drive Holder
Wire On off switch
Make / Buy End Caps for the Open Aluminum Tubes
Attach aluminum fan Holders.
Im sure there is more but im still reeling from my turkey hangover from last nights Canadian thanksgiving.

I hit a snag, My order from McMaster-Carr for Well Nuts/Rivet Nuts (motherboard Standoffs) was canceled by them:

"Aur Exports Distribution to me show details 8:43 AM (4 hours ago)

Due to the complexity of U.S. Export regulations, McMaster-Carr only accepts orders from our established customers in Canada. We’re sorry we can’t help you.
Lauren"

This is a Load of manure, I order products form the US all the time, I ship things to the US all the time, its not complex at all. So back to the Drawing board, there is one company here in Canada i can order form its just double the price.

Sponsors:

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Re: Project “Folder Holder” - Custom Open Air Bench for a 2P

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:34 am
by coolhand
Update 2011-10-11

Just a small Update, One step closer to completing the “Folder Holder” thanks to Dave at UN Designs for his Donation of a UN Designs SSD Bracket.

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I wanted to mention every CPU sitting idly by can make a difference if you get your “Fold” on ( http://folding.stanford.edu/ ) for those that don’t know about folding have a read.
Let’s make a difference together, you might not think your one Computer can make any difference but it will and that’s the beauty of Distributed Computing, your 1 + many = super computing. Help when you can, every work unit returned is one step closer to a Cure.

Sponsors:

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http://archer-plastics.com/

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http://www.undesignsbrackets.com/

Re: Project “Folder Holder” - Custom Open Air Bench for a 2P

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 12:23 pm
by coolhand
Small Update:

I've attached the Plexi Using Chicago Screws to the Aluminum Frame, the structure is pretty sound now.
A few pics (sorry they aren't great)
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Sponsors:

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http://archer-plastics.com/

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http://www.undesignsbrackets.com/

Re: Project “Folder Holder” - Custom Open Air Bench for a 2P

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 12:59 pm
by coolhand
Small Update, I received my first piece of Hardware today, A Corsair AX850 PSU (Thanks to Mike over at silentpcreview.com | Everything about Silent / Quiet Computers for the Great Price) , pretty sweet unit, Nice having an option to use 2 or 4 Sata Power cables.

The Bench is getting close to completion I have the Well Nuts on order (to make the mother board Stand Offs) Hard Drive / SSD Holder on its way from UNDesigns. Just Need some more Hardware

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Sponsors:

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http://www.archerplastics.com

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http://www.undesignsbrackets.com/

(UN)Designs Brackets*|*Custom Water Cooling Brackets

Re: Project “Folder Holder” - Custom Open Air Bench for a 2P

Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 4:15 pm
by coolhand
After months of saving and slowly building I now have my 2P rig parts together (a Big Thanks to 3.0 Charlie over at HWC for the Motherboard, Ram and CPUs) I'm installing the OS as we speak and will be folding like a mutha this evening. The Open Air Bench will get some more tweaks I just wanted to test the hardware.

A few crappy pics (more to come once i have finalized it all):

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Re: Project “Folder Holder” - Custom Open Air Bench for a 2P

Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 10:09 pm
by ces
Why would you even consider building this when you can get one of these:
http://www.highspeedpc.com/

Re: Project “Folder Holder” - Custom Open Air Bench for a 2P

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 6:59 am
by coolhand
Mine cost less to make and has higher quality materials, looks better and I get the satisfaction of building something. If you bothered to actually read the thread youd see I did it to kill time while saving for the parts. Take that partical board marketing shite somewhere else.