Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: Dazz on January 28, 2008, 11:14:44 am
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I see all of these beautiful cabs from the outside, but what about the insides? In particular, how do you guys go about mounting your PC hardware inside the cabinet?
I currently have my mobo mounted to an old mobo slide-out tray that I rummaged from an old tower. The drive bays and everything were rummaged from old cases and then simply mounted to a wooden shelf inside my cabinet that sits horizontally just above the top of the coin door. If you open the coin door you can't see the shelf or PC. This works fine, but if something is accidentally spilled on the control panel it will more then likely end up right on top of the mobo.
I would like to use the shelf for other items such as consoles (spare 360, PS2, Dreamcast). At one time I had a stripped chassis sitting on the bottom of the cabinet with the mobo and components and this worked fine, but the chassis was crushed on accident when re-building the PC. Currently debating on finding another chassis or other suggestions on hardware mounting.
How do you guys have your computer hardware (including video cards) mounted inside your cabinets? Show 'em if you got 'em.
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If it's an upright, just keep everything in a computer case. There's really no compelling reason to take everything out. For what it's worth though I used the little plastic feet when mounting the motherboard in my cocktail cab since space was a concern and I just used velcro for everything else in there.
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Yeah, I figured keeping the computer in a chassis is probably the normal way since it's probably the easiest way as well. I just want to see what other ideas are flying around regarding this.
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This was discussed a couple of years ago and lots of people posted pictures of the inside of their cabinets. One guy used plywood stops to keep PCI cards in place. I can't find the thread now, but I found this other related one from December (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=74699.0).
I put mine in a case because I'm a clod and I'll likely break something while fiddling / upgrading.
-pmc
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The benefits of putting it inside a case are:
1): If something metallic inside your cabinet falls down, it won't potentially short out your computer and thus ruin your cabinet.
2): Computer fans and whatnot were designed to be in place inside of a computer case. By taking out of the case, you basically nullify the cooling that was designed into the parts themselves.
3): Cases don't cost a ton of money, and a cheap $20 case will work just fine. Plus, it will tidy everything up inside of your cabinet and tidyness is always a positive.
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FWIW, I mount everything on a wood panel so I can pull the entire unit, almost as if it were a PCB boardset.
The caveat there, however, is that I typically build my MAME machines wired JAMMA so I can swap the PC components out for a JAMMA board (or vice versa) I recently did this with my Vertical Classic MAME, replacing the PC with a vertical JAMMA classics board and am going to drop the PC rig into a JAMMA-wired cabinet for a Vertical Trackball MAME.
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FWIW, I mount everything on a wood panel so I can pull the entire unit, almost as if it were a PCB boardset.
I would do the same. Cooling fans aren't an issue - sure, they were designed to run inside a case. Remove the case, remove the heated enclosure. All you have to worry about then is the chip mounted fans and they'll work even better outside the case.
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How do you guys have your computer hardware (including video cards) mounted inside your cabinets?
I was just looking at the wood-mounted PC that I need to drop into that new MAME project and realized that nobody had really spoken to this.
I leave my boards hanging free when I mount the MoBo to the wood (as opposed to somehow securing the video card, etc. outside of the case). May be a good argument for using a PC case in a MAME cabinet.
I haven't had a problem yet, but I am an old timer and do silly and redundant things like check the innards anytime I move a cab, even if it's only a few feet. (ALWAYS good advice)
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My next project might be a bartop which will make me take everything out of the computer case....
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I think I might just order this:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=21886
Mount everything to that and then to a piece of wood vertically.
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I leave it in the case, unless I have no room.
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I left mine in the case and strapped it and the sub woofer to the base of the cabinet. I found some bulk nylon straps and snaps at my local hardware store. I put a couple screws with a fender washers through the strap and cut them to length. Put the male and female snaps on and tightened them down. I can move my cabinet around without worrying if the pc is going to fall over.
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I have a white plastic filing cabinet in the back (which I need to secure to the arcade cabinet with some screws or bolts) and the PC just sits on top of that.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v399/Krystovar/Arcade/Back1.jpg)
I had originally planned to just mount the loose components to the inside wall of the arcade cab, but when a friend donated this Dell PC to me I decided to leave it in there because it wasn't a standard-configuration motherboard and would have required much disassembling to get it apart from the case.
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Since the power supply came mounted in the case, thats where everything else goes. Plus it has a built in handle to make for easy carrying.
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Either way is fine really.
I have mine outside the case attached to the side wood and I've had no problems. Honestly, there are times I'm glad it's out of the case (easier to plug certain things in) while other times I wish I cased it.
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I took the metal base plate from my case and mounted that to the side of my cab - clean install, and great cooling. I also only run the cpu fan, and it still is super cool. Plus, that looks more like a real arcade pcb, so it "feels" right to me to do it that way...
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BradC, Dunno if you have a back panel or not, but from the looks of it you might want to cut a few notches in the "shelf" that the monitor sits on to give space for the cords. If someone were to bump into your cab too hard (thus forcing it to be flush with the wall) some of your cords may get squished. Squished cords equal bad cords, and a possible fire hazard... I had thought about how to route the wires in my cab, and will prolly do the "2 or 3 three inch diameter holes drilled into the screen shelf" thingy...
As per how to I will be "mounting" the motherboard in the cab, I have an oldish PC in its case with both side panels removed. I figure that should work well enough for my purposes.
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FWIW, I mount everything on a wood panel so I can pull the entire unit, almost as if it were a PCB boardset.
I did something like this, I can unplug everything from the PC board relatively easily and pull the whole board out. There are a few reasons I did this:
1) PC cases generally look horrible. OK you can't see it, but a board looks nicer when you open the cabinet IMO.
2) If you have the front of the PC case at the front of the cabinet, it is a PITA to get to the sockets on the rear (+ vice versa).
3) This is BYOAC, going the obvious route is not an option ;)
FWIW cooling is no problem (for me). I have a 'silent' PSU (fan only comes on if neccessary), 1 'chassis' fan and a CPU fan which I can adjust the speed of. I agree that the fact that everything is not in a small (hot) enclosed space negates the point that PC fans are usually intended for use in enclosed spaces.
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I made a shelf in the back of my cab, and mounted my case to the shelf with bolts through the foot holes in the case (took the feet off). Works well for me and allows for moving of the cab without worrying about it falling over or something.