WWII Online theme case

saxxon · Post by **saxxon** » Sat May 05, 2007 10:16 pm

The frame is grade 6062 aluminum and will be covered with dark blue acrylic. The monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers will be internally wired.

For air cooling I will use much of the physics of a wind tunnel, like a wide angle diffuser, contraction cone and settling chamber.

Incoming air enters through a wide angle diffuser like this one at NASA Ames research facility.

120mm Wide angle diffuser will force air from 80mm to 120mm efficiently.

Then the air enters a settling chamber, a blank 120mm builds kinetic energy, then enters this 120mm aluminum honeycomb airflow straightener
Fan is modeled after this 15,000 HP fan at Ames facility.

More photos avaliable on my worklog at
http://www.saxxon.net/WWIIOnline2.html
I will update as the cooling system takes shape.

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ishi · Post by **ishi** » Thu May 10, 2007 7:34 am

Woow

nice project. Bravo!!!!

jbw · Post by **jbw** » Thu May 10, 2007 9:27 am

So you're bolting the monitor onto the side of the case?

saxxon · Post by **saxxon** » Sun May 27, 2007 10:43 pm

The monitor will be inside the plexiglass, with buttons on the outside to control it. A 22 inch widescreen Viewsonic.
It is starting to look like a PC.

Another shot of the side with holes in it.

The diffuser and honeycomb sure make a different look. Aimed directly at the components you can see the exit fan on the other side. Along with the PSU fan there should be plenty of air going into this opening.

I got a piece of aluminum for the keyboard door. I didn't want the door to be plexiglass.

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Mon May 28, 2007 7:59 am

just one thing...when you finally mount the motherboard, keep grounding as a main concern. unlike a regular tower, this is not solely metal, where everything is indirectly touching the power supply, and constantly grounded. you'll want a way to make sure the motherboard is completely grounded, more than just from the 24pin ATX supply.

simple "eyes" with wires under the mounts for the motherboard leading to another screwed to the power supple will do a fine job. i'm unsure of the correct name for them though...plexiglas can build up a static charge if moved around a lot too, so thats a main concern. i've tried building a plexiglass case before, and never finished it because i had too many grounding issues, and no way to replace the motherboard. always better safe than sorry.

JazzJackRabbit · Post by **JazzJackRabbit** » Mon May 28, 2007 8:15 am

Uhmmm... Did you paint your hard drive pink, or am I seeing things?

Sylph-DS · Post by **Sylph-DS** » Mon May 28, 2007 10:56 pm

JazzJackRabbit wrote:Uhmmm... Did you paint your hard drive pink, or am I seeing things?

Nope, that's definitely a pink hard drive, I'm seeing it to

Chris Chan · Post by **Chris Chan** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:49 pm

Look at the top though - skull and crossbones, and 'DEAD' notification.

crispyfish · Post by **crispyfish** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 4:03 pm

I don't know if saxxon is still around... my most recent PMs to him are still in my "Outbox"...

RaptorZX3 · Post by **RaptorZX3** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 7:47 pm

you painted the HDD pink yourself?

if not, it must be some Japanese imported Limited Edition hardware

jbw · Post by **jbw** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:16 am

Chris Chan wrote:Look at the top though - skull and crossbones, and 'DEAD' notification.

Guys... Chris already pointed out why the drive is pink.

Sylph-DS · Post by **Sylph-DS** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 12:34 pm

jbw wrote:
Chris Chan wrote:Look at the top though - skull and crossbones, and 'DEAD' notification.
Guys... Chris already pointed out why the drive is pink.

Actually he hasn't. I mean, even if the drive's dead, why paint it? I'd see more reason to paint it if it was still alive.

Chris Chan · Post by **Chris Chan** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:41 pm

Sylph - colour coding dead hardware?

saxxon · Post by **saxxon** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 7:41 pm

I have not made an update in a while due to a funeral and some good weather in Oregon. I have replaced the jig pink HDD with Western Digital windowed HDD. I really like this product. I will mount it close to edge so spindle can be seen.

And I really like the OCZ memory

The passthrough to the keyboard/cd will be through this desk type button. This will allow for a good air seal

I had to add a mount to this 8800 because it will not have the slot of a normal case.

It has been a nice break but this is on track for running Windows this week. Then to finish a few pieces of plexi and the photos will start looking alot better with the paper removed.

saxxon · Post by **saxxon** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:29 pm

The passthrough to the keyboard/cd will be through this desk type button. This will allow for a good air seal.

I got the windowed HD from Western Digital, this unit is so nice

I have the entire table full of parts to assemble this thing. I have only a few more brackets and one very detailed plexi piece to get it running.
I will run the foot stack of drivers this week and start on the LCD mounts.
The specs are:
Saxon Computers Hemmed LCD Case with Keyboard Slide
GIGABYTE GA-965QM-DS2 LGA Q965 Express Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
eVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB Superclocked PCI Express Video Card
Western Digital Raptor X WD150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
HIPER HPU-4B580 12V v2.2 580W Power Supply
OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 (loaner chip employee benefit)
ViewSonic's 20.1" VX2025wm widescreen LCD
HIPER HCK-1S18- Silver Slim Clavier Keyboard
Sony NEC Optiarc 18X DVDSATA Model AWG170S-B2
AeroCool TURBINE 1000 120mm Fan
LINKSYS WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router
HAWKING HWUG1 USB 2.0 Wireless-G Adapter with Removable Antenna
ALTEC LANSING Speakers
Logitech 931379-0403 Cordless Notebook Mouse
Fieon Digital HYN104-BLU 4-Port Hub

I wanted to get away from the IDE CD drive so I got a SATA Sony drive. Then I had to give it the paint job I did the IDE drive, no such luck the 2 CD drives housings match.

And more stickers, arhhhh if you leave every sticker it would look like a stock car with all the sponsors.
This was sanded down to metal and painted with metalcast blue. It will be hard to see through the dark blue plexi, but looks nice.

Here is the stack o' software that had to be run to get windows running. I also bought this case because it was chaper then buying the few buttons I needed and I could get Windows & WWII Online running while I do other things. This USB port will be internal to run the keyboard and mouse.

You can see the fan controller running, that is the first time I powered it up, makes me want to get done to see this part running.

The part that was causing me to really drag me feet on this project was the front bezel. It took a few hours to mock up and measure everything out. Then a few hours to cut and clean up. By far the most complicated piece in the project. I still have to cut a door into it but so far one try is less then I thought I would have to make.
[/img]http://www.saxxon.net/frontbzl.JPG

The scroll saw does not seem to track perfectly straight, so there is alot of clean up with files and sandpaper.
[/img]http://www.saxxon.net/bzl2.JPG

The CD drive door will be this 1/8 inch aluminum. Matches the thickness of the plexi so should mount flush. I will drive the screws right into the CD plate
[/img]http://www.saxxon.net/cdslot.JPG

The clock is working out well. I bought two of them so I will now drill out and tap the clock case to mount onto the acrylic. And replace the whole display with a new one with no scratches. And put in fresh batteries.

[/img]http://www.saxxon.net/clock.JPG

Here is the hardware running WWII Online for the first time, with no adjustments it got 122 FPS off the bat.
I installed all the hardware from many vendors, hooked up so many wires. Got everything running USB and pulled out all but the power and monitor. The monitor will also be interally wired, so this shall only need AC to run
[/img]http://www.saxxon.net/boot.JPG

The compass looks good and fits snug. I also decided to go with dual drawer slides. This will allow the keyboard to go 8 inches from the monitor, the average distance of the 3 PC's I measured. So more drilling drawer slides. I though measuring and mouting one set of slides was tough.

I want a 1/8 inch piece of aluminum for the keyboard door, this piece is 1 1-/4 inch wide, giving plently of clearance above and below for keyboard and CD mounting.

[/img]http://www.saxxon.net/hinge.JPG

The hinges are for a jewlery box I think, It was tough to find small enough hinges. And I had to grind a bunch of screws for the door and hinges.
Now the door works perfect. Swings open very easy like I wanted. Then the keyboard slides out 8 inches.

[/img]http://www.saxxon.net/open.JPG

Then I drilled in 24 additional holes for looks, these won't do anything but look freaking SWEET!!! Really gives it a military look and matches the CD drive.
[/img]http://www.saxxon.net/tap.JPG

saxxon · Post by **saxxon** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 11:31 am

Here is the final assembly stages which took a few days:

It is getting really busy in here:

not easy to get the monitor in there but it fits great:

the left side:

this view really looks sweet:

the back side, I have Nanboshi connectors instead of C13 and USB:

the left side showing wide angle diffuser air intake, speaker and lifting handle:

Lots of info avaliable on the front bezel:

time to get this thing to breath some fire:

the gauges from the game look great with the front panel

compared to the concept drawing it turned out quite well:

The specs are:
Saxon Computers Hemmed LCD Case with Keyboard Slide
GIGABYTE GA-965QM-DS2 LGA Q965 Express Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
eVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB Superclocked PCI Express Video Card
Western Digital Raptor X WD150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
HIPER HPU-4B580 12V v2.2 580W Power Supply
OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 (loaner chip employee benefit)
ViewSonic's 20.1" VX2025wm widescreen LCD
HIPER HCK-1S18- Silver Slim Clavier Keyboard
Sony NEC Optiarc 18X DVDSATA Model AWG170S-B2
AeroCool TURBINE 1000 120mm Fan
LINKSYS WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router
HAWKING HWUG1 USB 2.0 Wireless-G Adapter with Removable Antenna
ALTEC LANSING Speakers
Logitech 931379-0403 Cordless Notebook Mouse
Fieon Digital HYN104-BLU 4-Port Hub

Work is dedicated to Lyn Hofhine, my mother, who lost her hard drive to breast cancer June 18th

Thanks to:
Barry Sharp &
Shawn Erickson for endless questions and listening to verbal updates
Slaymate and Hardware Hell for sporting my worklog and questions
Logan Goodenough for sacrificing dad playtime for PC building time.
Charlie FM 97.1
Donna Essenburg for her great customer service

tgdrums1990 · Post by **tgdrums1990** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 12:42 pm

First off, amazing work. I love it. Makes me wanna build something.

Second of all I condolences to you for the loss of your mother.

But all in all, amazing work. I had been watching this post since you first posted your idea. Glad to see it turn out so well...

Keep it up, im pulling for you...

RaptorZX3 · Post by **RaptorZX3** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 9:32 pm

it's great work!

did you tried to manage the cables better inside so the airflow would be much better? on pictures the cables inside look like a bit of a mess, but maybe i'm wrong, it's like taking pictures of macaroni with cheese on it, it looks like a real mess but it's not.

saxxon · Post by **saxxon** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 9:51 pm

The lighting cables are not my favorite as they are just for looks. If I took the entire wire assembly out now I could clean it up and make it like an automobile wire loom. I chopped plenty of wires allready though.
This is running wireless mouse, wireless network, internally wired keyboard and monitor. Considering I took every wire in the PC and every wire that is usually behind the desk consolidated into one box I think it looks pretty good, or as good as I wanted it to look after 2 days of soldering

It just plugs into AC now and it ready to roll anywhere in the house, almost like a laptop, but a bit over 8 pounds.

I got around to getting some lighted shots.

You can see alot of what is going on with the lights on:

I like the lights on those fans, for one I could not get thtem to be switchable, and they glow very faint diffused LED's, not bright like some fans.

I was a little worried the diffuser would make noise as it does it's work, but it is dead quiet and you can tell it is drawing air very even.

Here is a 1/2 dark shot so you can see the body too.

I may go back in and add a regular 2.0 amp, oh man that will be sweet to have this baby crank some good tunes too. It goes plenty loud for gaming and youtube, but not for a party PC 7.2 surround

saxxon · Post by **saxxon** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 10:26 pm

Here is how the wiring ended up looking. Not as bad as some previous photos, this is a photo to use for the desktop to show its insides:

ronrem · Post by **ronrem** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 6:52 pm

I gotta give a tip of the hat for the whole look and theme...a compass? Very quirky. Probably could have focused a bit more on the low noise,a "from scratch build gives a LOT of possibilities.

I'd have probably tried to have some sort of B-17 nose art,a 40's pin up girl....might have even done the sides in brown leather and sheepskin like a bomber jacket.

WWII bomber instruments had red lights.

Find some WWII wallpaper to replace that XP meadow and sky....and that ought to do

Strange..but nifty build.

saxxon · Post by **saxxon** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 7:42 pm

Appreciate the input. The compass was the plan for making the cockpit look. I toyed with some other real and mock aircraft gauge ideas too. (ammeter, artifical horizon, slip gauge, ect) but they were either too big, too costly or just not going to work out.

jbw · Post by **jbw** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 6:50 pm

I think the compass is an awesome detail--but does it still work with all of the metal and magnetic stuff nearby?

saxxon · Post by **saxxon** » Fri Nov 02, 2007 8:03 pm

The compass does not seem to be affected by anything, the frame is aluminum and the keyboard door lock magnets are far enough away. It would of looked beter if I could of pulled off an artificial horizon or a slip gauge also, but they were too difficult to reproduce or too much money.

WWII Online theme case

WWII Online theme case

update

Project Update

Completed WWII Online case

DUDE

thanks

wiring

thanks