PC IN A CAB WITHOUT THE CASE

[dskillz1]

Can anyone point me in the right direction as to how to properly install a bare PC in a Mame Cabinet?  I have looked and looked but the only place I found any info on this was in the PROJECT ARCADE book at it touched on it only briefly. Does anyone know any sites that have tips for this?  Thanks!

[pointdablame]

Just mount the mother board to a piece of wood with some motherboard standoffs.  Or cut the side panel of a computer case and mount it that way.

You can also use drive bays from an old case to hold hard drives and optical drives.  It's very simple... just go and mount it up

[nostrebor]

PC mounting for a short cabinet with no room for a case...

Note: used the brass MB standoffs ann HD cages from the case. As noted above.

[Wulfster]

I have a Dynamo cab, and the sliding shelf was perfect for the computer. 

I took the mother board out of the case and mounted it to the shelf with a sheet of tin underneeth (for a common ground).  I took out the power supply, attached shelf brackets to it with JB Weld, and attached it to the shelf on top of the tin.  For the drives, I had some old 5 1/4" to 3 1/2" drive adapters, so I screwed these to the shelf.

When I hooked it all up and powered it on, there were some annoying vibrations; these were easily fixed with a few dabs of hotmelt glue.  The only problem is that the video card and network card aren't supported.  It hasn't been a problem so far.

Here's a picture:


This was taken before I finished the cabinet, but it should give you a rough idea.    The main thing is to make sure you have a common ground between the parts.

[dskillz1]

Thanks for the examples guys, I have a good idea of what to do.  By eliminating the case will I still need some fans to blow over the components?  Will there be alot less heat without the case?  Also is the TIN necassary?  What happens if I simple screw the motherboard and compenents to some wood?  Please elaborate, thanks again!

[Kook]

I mounted mine on a piece of wood, and attached the piece of wood to an inside wall in the cabinet. There are vents at the bottom and top of my cabinet. I didn't add any case fans; the only fans are on the CPU heatsink and in the computer power supply. The components are mounted from top to bottom as follows (so the PS fan draws air up across the mobo, through the hard drive cage, through the power supply, and exhausts toward the top):

Power Supply
Hard Drive cage
Mobo

Hope that helps.

Kook

[Stingray]

Mine had two brackets inside that were made for the original board to slide into. I just moved them a little closer together and my mobo fit into them perfectly.

-S

[brained]

I have a Dynamo cab, and the sliding shelf was perfect for the computer. 

I took the mother board out of the case and mounted it to the shelf with a sheet of tin underneeth (for a common ground).  I took out the power supply, attached shelf brackets to it with JB Weld, and attached it to the shelf on top of the tin.  For the drives, I had some old 5 1/4" to 3 1/2" drive adapters, so I screwed these to the shelf.

When I hooked it all up and powered it on, there were some annoying vibrations; these were easily fixed with a few dabs of hotmelt glue.  The only problem is that the video card and network card aren't supported.  It hasn't been a problem so far.

Here's a picture:


This was taken before I finished the cabinet, but it should give you a rough idea.    The main thing is to make sure you have a common ground between the parts.

I own a Dynamo cab too!!, sliding shelf rocks!!

Do I really need to do the common ground thing??, I haven't installed the computer in the cab yet.

[nostrebor]

Thanks for the examples guys, I have a good idea of what to do.  By eliminating the case will I still need some fans to blow over the components?  Will there be alot less heat without the case?  Also is the TIN necassary?  What happens if I simple screw the motherboard and compenents to some wood?  Please elaborate, thanks again!

My mother board and some components are simply screwed to some wood. Drill hole in wood, screw in brass standoffs (typical to Mobo install in case) and mount Mobo as usual.

As far as heat is concerned, I have taken no real precautions to insure that fans blow across the HD. Just cpu fan. My cabinet has 2 case fans in the back, and a vent panel at the top. The case fans are overkill (and LOUD). My pc stays nice and cool without them running, even playing the newer games. I am going to vent the power supply air out the back.

 If you are sensitive about heat, use some fans. Otherwise just make sure that your cabinet is vented well.

[dskillz1]

Im using a SlikStik Cab so the back is completly open so I shouldnt have any problems with ventilation.  My last concern is how do you keep the cards (Video, Audio, etc..) secured to the Mobo?  Thanks again for all the replies!

[IntruderAlert]

I don't see any reason why you need to worry about the common ground thing
I know guys that run their home PCs with no case and the components just strung out on a shelf

somebody here mentioned they just velcro their components to the inside of their MAME cab

and if your screwing them into wood
wood isn't really going to conduct electricity unless it was wet or something
you wouldn't really HAVE to use standoffs unless you just wanted a little more air flow
or paranoid

...that reminds me.. i'd better go buy some standoffs 

[daywane]

I have yet to put a open MOBO in a case. But I have ran many MOBO on a piece of wood for a very long time.
Just placed it on the bare wood. ran a burn in test like a month with out touching it. ( this particular time I am thinking of, I was trying to over heat the CPU.
You will hear many people scream the CASE IS A MUST!!! it is designed for air flow. Yada yada yada, they might be right. the case might be designed for air flow. don't mean you really need it.

[Fat_Trucker]

Agree with everything else posted here.

If you are mounting on wood I would advocate using standoff feet if for no better reason than it makes good sense thermally to allow a little airflow behind your mobo and you don't have any issues with plug in cards (sound/GPU) mounting brackets overhanging the mobo.

If you have the space mount it vertically against one of your cab sides and try to locate it so you can make the cabling (to your controls, USB devices etc) as neat and unobtrusive as possible. If you are going to need to access things like CD/DVD drives, USB ports etc then factor that in when deciding where to place it.

Use L brackets to mount things like the PSU and Drives again leaving a little airflow all around.

So long as your cab is properly ventilated then you shouldn't have any heat issues as long as you are still using a CPU fan.

Lastly bear in mind that you want to keep it away from things like speakers or subwoofers you might have in the cab or any other devices that might cause damage or interference for that matter.

[Flack]

On the first MAME Cabinet I built, I just used the plastic feet that were already there for the old PCB, duck taped the hard drive to the side and ran a power button to the top of the cab. It's been turned on and running for the past year or so. I've kicked around the thought of installing a fan or something in there for the heat but, eh. Mine also has a network hub stuck in the back for networking, but eventually I plan on moving to wireless.

[dskillz1]

Thanks for the tips guys they have been really helpful!!!

[nostrebor]

You asked about securing the PCI cards. On my post above, if you look closely, you can see where I "bumped" out a bit more plywood at the expansion slots. The I carefully bent the tab on the base of the card to sit flat against the plywood. then I drill a hole at each corner of the tab iinto the wood, but not through the tab. This allows a screw to be driven into the wood, and the screw head traps the corner of the metal tab between the wood and the screw. This made my video card very stable, and it cannot come out of the slot. It was also very cheap and easy

[Quarters]

You will hear many people scream the CASE IS A MUST!!! it is designed for air flow. Yada yada yada,

A computer case is not designed for air flow. Quite the opposite. They tend to be deigned to fit all the components into the smallest possible space making fans very necessary. The larger area in an upright cab combined with a few vent holes will keep your components cooler than most computer cases.If You're building a bartop fans are a good idea. The one thing you will have to watch for is dust. At least once a year it's a good idea to blow dust out of the power supply and the heat sink under the cpu fan.