Laptop Conundrum?

[Sosetsuken]

Hey guys,

I've been browsing the boards for a very long time, and have been talking to my brother (a Kitchenfitter/Cabinet Maker/Woodworker Extraordinaire) and i'm finally ready to build my own Arcade !

I'm looking to build a fairy standard 2*(Joystick+6button) with start and credit (later will be coin mechs).  I am using a fairly old, but good laptop for the cab:

Intel Pentium-M 1.7ghz (Donthan, Centrino)
ATi Radeon 9700 (64mb)
1gb DDR2-667 Ram
80gb HDD
Onboard sound

It wasn't working (I gave it to my brother to use in a job, but he ended up breaking the screen :/), so i took it apart, removed the screen and wireless card and some other useless parts and cleaned it.  It works fabulously now, with a fresh install of an nlited XP.

The problem i'm facing is that it currently looks like this (Sorry for crappy phone image quality):




Its the motherboard, screwed to a piece of partical board.  It seems to get insanely hot, like 90C+ so i hacked an old xbox fan to run from usb power an slapped that on the cpu which brought temps down a lot.

Now my question is, how could i mount this securely (and airflow efficient)? because at the moment its not very well screwed in, and i'm sure its still getting badly hot underneath the board next to the partical board.  (Raisers like in a pc case?  spacers?)

Also, should i remove the laptop cooler and try to custom fit a desktop cooler to the cpu?

Any ideas/suggestions are most welcome.  (My brothers coming down tommorow night, and i will probably look a little wierd with a naked laptop screwed to partical board 

Thanks guys (and gals)!

[HaRuMaN]

An easy way to make some cheap spacers would be to cut a Bic pen into pieces.  I would think that if you have the mobo up about an inch, it will help with the heat situation.

[Malenko]

bic pen spacers, maybe cut vent holes in the wood or even mount fans on the other side of the board to pull heat through the holes you cut in the wood?

[Sosetsuken]

Oh yeah HarumaN, i might try that thanks mate.  I'm going down to Dick Smith Electronics tomorrow, i might see if they have spacers like that.

Thats also a great idea Malenko cheers man, i might head down to the hardware store and grab a sheet of wood tommorow as well.  I've got a router and drills here.


Another question, does anyone know of plans for a Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat machine on the net?  

Something like:

(Minus the horrible spacing/layout on the controls)

or


Thanks

EDIT:  Oh Malenko, i've checked out your cab threads.  I noticed in this image the spaces would be perfect for what i was doing:



Are they common at hardware stores?

[ghettodish]

for cooling maybe build a box over it with fans on each end...

[Sosetsuken]

Thats also a great idea ghettodish, might make one similar to the mvs cover ~_^  thanks mate.

Keep the ideas coming guys, thanks!


EDIT:  Jesus, i just pulled apart the cpu/heatsink and the thermal paste was rock hard and hardly contacting!!  Carefully scraped it off with a plastic sleeve, then applied some artic silver, and my temps are really way down, around 50c now / 65c on load!!!

[cmoses]

Another question, does anyone know of plans for a Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat machine on the net?  

Go here for good cabinet plans, they have a Mortal Kombat plan.

http://www.jakobud.com/cabinetPlans.php

[HaRuMaN]

EDIT:  Jesus, i just pulled apart the cpu/heatsink and the thermal paste was rock hard and hardly contacting!!  Carefully scraped it off with a plastic sleeve, then applied some artic silver, and my temps are really way down, around 50c now / 65c on load!!!

That'll do it, too.  Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol is a good way to clean / remove thermal paste from a CPU.  The higher the concentration of alcohol, the better.

[SavannahLion]

EDIT:  Oh Malenko, i've checked out your cab threads.  I noticed in this image the spaces would be perfect for what i was doing:

Are they common at hardware stores?

Not that I'm aware of. The spacers at hardware stores might work, but I've never seen that type. They're pretty common though. Check in BnS, I think one of the vendors there offer them. I prefer that type over the bic pen style. The feet allow slight variation in the drill holes, allows you to remove and work on the board without having to find a scrap piece of con-conducting plastic or a grounding pad, and you don't have to screw around with them falling off as you reinstall.

That's just me though. 

[HaRuMaN]

If you want Malenko's style, just search for PCB FEET on eBay.

[Sosetsuken]

Thanks Guys

I think i've figured my out my config, will use a mix of spacers/pcb feet with fans underneath.  In the end i found i could undervolt/underclock my laptop to 1.2ghz on load with 1.1vcore, and it hits a maximum of 55C (800mhz offload, 1.0vcore, max of 40C).  When i do mount it properly and get the fans/spacers should bring it down a few degrees to compinsate for being inside the cab.  Runs CPS3 60fps so i'm happy.

Apart from CPS3, whats a high stress MAME game? (non-3d.)

Thanks for all the help, its much appreciated.