Computer Case Project finished!

[Zedric]

I've mensioned a few times that me and my brother have been building acase for his computer. Well now it's finished and I've put up some infoand pictures about the build on the web.

You can find it on http://zedric.no-ip.com/site/. Enjoy!

Sorry for spamming everyone. 😉

 

[Tittles]

Awsome job 🙂. How much did it cost to make?

 

[Kush]

jood job dude, props

 

[ming]

awesome. :thumbsup:

how's the cooling on the box?

 

[Zedric]

Awsome job 🙂. How much did it cost to make?

I honestly don't know. 😀 I'll ask my brother, maybe he knows...

how's the cooling on the box?

Wicked effective. Setting the fans on a very low setting (about 3-4V)is enough. I don't know the temps, but I think cpu is in mid 40s (C)when idle. Taking the side panel off increases the temperature...

 

[Krux]

nice job with the design but wood?..... wood doesn't conduct heat very well seems like it would get hot pretty quick.

 

[X-Istence]

Hrm, really nice.

Krux: that is moot point, the heat should be moved outside with proper airflow, and thus there should be no heat dispersion through the case.

The only thing i would be worried about is static electricity not being grounded, especially for the HD's.

 

[American Zombie]

Is that case very heavy?

 

[LeeJend]

Here I go the heavy again...

You built it out of wood?
-Electromagnetic Emissions restriction for residential use will be violated causing interference to neighboring equipment.
-Since the chassis is not grounded you have probably violated your national electrical code.
-Wood is more flammable than metal or plastic. It will not contain any electrical fires or overheating. Probable fire code violation.

On the up side:
-The thick walls will reduce audible noise.
-It looks beautiful.
-Since the fans provide most of the cooling for a PC the loss of heat radiating surface (wood is an insulator) is probably negligible impact on cooling.

Wood?

 

[Tuffgong4]

Good job with the case...it's looks awesome.

The only thing bothering me is the way the psu is mounted...all that money in there if one day the psu decides to come loose all that hardware might get damaged.

Other than that awesome job

 

[NetRyder]

Looks like you guys put a lot of effort into it. It's beautiful. Well done! 🙂 :up:

 

[tom9042]

Your computer case project really came out beautifully.

 

[Grandmaster]

It looks nice.

 

[Mainframeguy]

nice job with the design but wood?..... wood doesn't conduct heat very well seems like it would get hot pretty quick.

looks to me it is big enough to be NP - plus if your case is conducting buddy - you just screwed up IMHO (should be venting except if PSU is in contact with case - then maybe)

 

[jimi_81]

looks very nice.

i hope the wood doesnt warp.

 

[Zedric]

Is that case very heavy?

I think it's heavier than a normal case would be, but not much. The handles was a good idea though. 😉

-Electromagnetic Emissions restriction for residentialuse will be violated causing interference to neighboringequipment.

Quite likely.

-Since the chassis is not grounded you have probably violated your national electrical code.

Hmm, really? I thought the ground wires in the cables could take careof the ground plane, even it there was no extra case ground. Or ischassis ground different from electrical ground?

-Wood is more flammable than metal or plastic. It willnot contain any electrical fires or overheating. Probable fire codeviolation.

Hmm perhaps. I don't really know how easy it is to set fire to MDF, butI don't think it burns very easily, like normal fibre board used inwalls and furniture (what's it called in english?).

The only thing bothering me is the way the psu ismounted...all that money in there if one day the psu decides to comeloose all that hardware might get damaged.

Yeah, we did think about that, but when we mounted it it was reallyalot sturdier than it looks. We could probably lift the case holdingjust the PSU (we didn't try that of course).

i hope the wood doesnt warp.

Well it's not wood per se, it's MDF (Medium Density Fibre board). And as far as I know, MDF doesn't warp (no long wood fibres).


The building cost was very roughly $150-$200. Many parts are scarp parts found in the garage, so that helped keep it down.

The temps are as follows.
Idle: cpu 46ºC, mobo 31ºC
Load: cpu 57ºC, mobo 35ºC

Comparing that to the same hardware (but with just two hdds instead offour) in my Cooler Master Cavalier 3 case I have cpu 61ºC, mobo 41ºCunder load. So I'd say the cooling in the built case it pretty good,yes.

 

[FishBoy]

aweseome job man 🙂

 

[Mainframeguy]

I posted on your guestbook Zedric - get back to me here or by email hey! 😉

Anyone wants to know what I said? Then hit the guestbook - I dont like to duplicate the same info - copy/poaste is the work of the devil when it comes to data redundancy! hehe

 

[LeeJend]

Chassis ground is a safety requirement to prevent you from getting fried if say a 115V wire rubs through or gets pinched and shorts to a metal part (drive case, etc). The breaker won't trip because there is no return path to ground. The alternative is a double insulation system (absolutely no metal accessible on outside of case) like they use on hand held power tools.

MDF is flammable and before it catches fire the glue will gas off from heat producing toxic fumes (but then so does plastic). Most deaths in house fires result from fumes or carbon monoxide rather than from the flames.

You could help the EMI issue by using a metal foil on the insude of the case. They make an aluminum heating duct foil tape. It's what I use for my windsurfer antennas. It is shiny so it might make for an interesting reflector backgound for the case lighting too.

How much did the thick wood case help out with the noise level? I'm using 1/8 inch cork insulation on the side panels of my metal case and it helps a lot but cutting the noise out of the front air grill has defeated me. I'm thinking about a case mod to put the fans in the case bottom with 1/2 inch high feet.

 

[Zedric]

First off, we use 230V here (so that's worse I guess 😉).But the PSU is still grounded (but the power cable) and that's the onlyplace in the case where there are 230V wires. If the PSU groundingfails it doesn't really matter if the case is metal or not. Wellacctually, it's probably better if it isn't since you won't get killedwhen touching it and ground at the same time.

As for noise, it's pretty silent. The problem is the fans turned out tobe low quality so the "tick" a bit when spinning. But the design itselfis good from that point of view. Large fans at low speed push a lot ofair at low noise. Using Papst or other low noise fans would probablymake the case very quiet. As I said the currect fans run at about 3-4 V(barely spinning really) which is enough. The PSU we used has a manualfan controller which can successfully be run on quite low setting. Withinsulation (and there would be enough space for that in the case), itcan probably be even quieter. The disk cage could easily be rubbermounted or otherwise silenced (larger cage or shroud).