This project was completed with zero fore-planning. This is probably why; the cd drives ended up on the wrong side of the case, the main power cord doesn't reach the motherboard properly, the harddrives approached double their recommended running temps when first tested and the PSU exhaust fan sucks from the bottom of the case and not the top. Though that said, it did only take around 6 hours to build, including testing and food time.



System used:

800MHz/s AMD Duron
526MB SDRAM
ABIT KT7A Motherboard
ATI Radeon 9000, 64MB, RV25L-TV
Hercules 3D Prophet Kyro, 32MB, 4000XT
SoundBlaster AudioPCI 128
Freecom CD-RW, 4x4x32x
Noname CD-ROM, 8x
Noname ISDN Modem
US Robotics 10/100BASE NIC

AOC 17" LCD Monitor
AOC 17" LCD Monitor
Thompson 15" Portable TV

Logitech iTouch Flat Keyboard
Logitech InfraRed Wheel Mouse

The cardboard I used was from a variety of places. The main box is from something I ordered from Amazon.co.uk, other bits and bobs were scavenged from computer game boxes and the like.



The first thing I built was something to hold the two hard drives. The first version of this contraption looked like so-



It was built with some thought of heat dissipation; spacers were added above and below the drives and holes were cut larger than they needed to be. It didn't work though and after two hours of running temp's were in the low 70Cs. I thought the temps would be a little on the high side but never expected them to be that high.

After quickly shutting down and literally burning myself taking the contraption apart, I knocked up the following gem.



I have used thumb-screws which is sort of against my rules so I'll be creating something else to house the HDDs in the future. While downloading (ie, with pretty much constant disk read/write) this setup is running 14 degrees cooler than the above one.



This is the lower layer of the box. It is comprised of the two hard drives and two cd drives.


huge


  1. The cd drives are held steady with a butchered Alpha Centauri box. The lower drive is surrounded by the cardboard inner casing, the upper is surrounded by the outer packaging.
  2. The two hard drives are in the tower as shown above.
  3. The PSU spans both levels
  4. There are some spacers in there stopping things from sliding around. Theres a block behind the HDDs, cardboard either side of the cd drives and cardboard behind the PSU.


A thick piece of card is supported by the drives and cardboard, on top of which is the upper layer.


huge


  1. The motherboard has spacers screwed underneath to keep it off the cardboard.
  2. The fan attached to the back blows inwards. The flap that was cut out folds down around the back of the fan directing air onto the heatsink. It's also attached to a thingy so its speed can be altered.
  3. The expansion cards aren't very secure when the box is open but once closed the upper bend of the cards sticks through the box providing some stability.
  4. The triangles of card in three of the corners provide some extra stability to help the box cope with the weight put ontop of it.


Once the box is closed up the back looks like so-



Cutouts are provided for motherboard, expansion cards, inbound fan (secured with twist-sticks), PSU and power/reset switches (top right).

All closed up it looks quite plain (for now)



  1. The cd drives open under the shelf on the right.
  2. The power/HDD LEDs are on the right side and reflect off the inside of the desk.
  3. The box ontop of it is a, perhaps needless, PS2/PC-server combo with its own keyboard. I'll be posting details/pics in the near future.


The main box powers this desktop


huge


  1. The TV mirrors the right monitor but it's mainly used for dvds/gaming on the PS2 or sky.
  2. The gel wrist-rest is from an old mousemat I had years ago. The actual mat has been obseleted by the optical mouse.




I'll be decorating the case in the future, probably a collage of magazine cutouts, though suggestions are very welcome.

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