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Recycling the case from an old PC?
krick:
Tonight, I intended to make some progress on my MAME cabinet rewiring but, as usual, I got sidetracked into another project.
As I was lifting my computer out of my cabinet and I realized that it was big and awkward and most of the inside of the case was actually empty space. So the gears started turning and I thought about trying to cram my PC parts into a smaller case.
I know that I _could_ just bolt everything to a board like some people do but I think that it would be more convenient (and rugged) to have everything in a case.
I was inspired by the projects on Mini-ITX.com:
http://www.mini-itx.com/projects.asp
Though, I probably won't go so far as jamming it all into a Windows XP (cardboard) box like this guy did...
http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/windowsxpbox/
I briefly looked online to see if someone sells a really compact case that will fit the following:
[*]a standard ATX motherboard with a P4/Athlon and a "normal" heatsink/fan unit
[*]a standard ATX power supply
[*]an AGP card (requiring a low profile card is OK)
[*]a hard drive
[*]a CD-ROM drive (optional but desired)
[*]a floppy drive (completely optional)
[/list]
I really didn't find anything that would work. Every compact case I found required a micro-ATX, flex-ATX, or mini-ITX motherboard.
So I started thinking about some of the old hand-me-down computers that I had sitting around and I found a victim that I think will do nicely. It's an old Tandy MMPC Model 10 with a 486SX 25MHz CPU:
It's one of the old "pizza box" style desktop cases. It uses a flex-atx motherboard with a riser card and it uses a standard sized AT power supply. The motherboard dimensions are very close to a standard ATX motherboard except rotated 90 degrees.
Anyway, here's how the stats match up...
my current case dimensions: 8 x 17.75 x 16.25 = 2308 cubic inches
the new case dimensions: 4.125 x 15.5 x 15.5 = 991 cubic inches
It's less than half the size, volume-wise.
The power supply and the drives will just bolt into the stock locations with no modifications necessary. However, fitting in the motherboard will take some creative dremel work.
These are the issues I've identified so far:
1) I'll have to rotate my ATX motherboard 90 degrees to get it in the case. This will make the ports come out the side instead of the back.
2) Holes will need to be cut for the ports and an I/O shield will have to be attached somehow.
3) I'll have to tap some holes in the bottom of the case so I can screw in motherboard mounting studs.
4) I'll have to make (or purchase) a low-rise backet for my ArcadeVGA card. I believe the card itself is low enough to fit comfortably in the case height-wise.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure I'll discover more as I take everything apart. I'll take more pictures and post them as I make progress.
Tiger-Heli:
Ideas -
You can get a micro-atx case for around $30, and a micro-atx mobo for around $30 - much simpler.
I also found -
http://www.pcimicro.com/.sc/ms/dd/1076230412266759/9/nc/Case%2520%2526%2520Power%2520Supply--Slim%2520Case/829/CM-6985%2520ATX%2520%2520INTEL%5E2FAMD%2520SLIM%2520CASE%2520 (180W small PS, though)
http://www.cmicomputer.com/cgi-bin/quikstore.cgi?product=ipcpw1up0&detail=yes ($$$$)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-163-026&depa=1 (even more $$$$)
If you proceed with your idea, you will need to modify the Power Supply mounting also to support ATX instead of AT.
SoundDoc:
I've done a couple of mods like this before. The desktop cases were pretty nice, and easy to mod, as their usually pretty much all plastic.
The only things I'd suggest you look out for are if you plan on adding any cards to the machine. You'd need to get pci and AGP riser cards to be able to use standard cards. (You can find them just about everywhere, they let you rotate the card 90deg, but they will cover up most your pci slots. As well, will the power supply fit? The power supply in it most likely won't run a P4 board, and a standard atx power supply may take up too much real estate inside. (don't those cases have a long skinny psu mounted on the left side inside?)
The last one I did was for my home theater system. I used a asus P4 mb, w/onboard everything, a ati 8500 all-in-wonder on a riser turning it 90deg, and jammed it all into a old pioneer CD player chassis. Looks like a cd player, all the buttons work on it like a cd player, small lcd fed info from winamp, and we use it as a PVR.
You can cram a system into just about anything, the killer is the height if the cards.
Now you've got me thinking about my design again.... I was going to mount the pc, psu, and other "goodies" I've been working on to the jamma mounting board that was in the machine, having it all hook up on the bottom edge through a 100 pin edge connector. So I could hinge the cp up, and just slide the whole "heart" out to work on it if I wanted. But mounting the pc in a case like this might be a better idea... ;)
sd
krick:
I wasn't going to try to use the AT power supply. I just mentioned that it was full sized which happens to be exactly the same size as an ATX power supply. I tried my ATX power supply in the case and it fits perfectly, even the fan cutout is the same and the mounting holes are in the same spot.
After further research, it turns out that the form factor is actually NLX, not flex-ATX...
http://www.formfactors.org/search.asp?q1=NLX
The case is tall enough that I can use most "low rise" agp and pci cards so I don't need a riser. The ArcadeVGA card is low enough if I remove the full sized bracket and upper VGA connector (it's on a cable attached to the bracket).
I was going to try to jam my 12 x 9 ASUS ATX motherboard into it sideways, but now I'm thinking that I might be able to find a P4 micro-ATX or flex-ATX motherboard that will fit with the connectors going out the back like normal.
Chris:
Remember that these old cases were not designed for the thermal needs of modern processors! Keep an eye on temperatures if you cram a P4 into this case...