PROJECT: TheBrick by ggdh

OK guys and gals, my turn to start building custom case. A little inspired by work of LittleDevil :)


15 November 2010

I'll post some SketchUp drawings soon but when designing I stopped on an obstacle (as probably most of people trying to build something from scratches): MOTHERBOARD TRAY.

I was looking on Internet for trays (like LianLi) but it seems to be difficult to find something in stock in EU (I'll not bother getting it from US, so no MountainMods please). I found something looking decent on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Motherboard-tr...item41544f906f but i'm a bit worried geting that from someone with zero feedback.
Any other ideas where to get motherboard tray at reasonably price in EU?

THE BRICK

The idea is nothing innovative: frame will be made of aluminium profiles. Luckily, my brother's buddy owns a company doing constructions made of aluminium and cutting/welding should be done for a 6-pack ;) The case will be rather big: 700mm x 700mm x 260mm. By default without any additional modification it will house: (480mm + 360mm) on the bottom + 360mm (pa120.3 with 25mm spacing) on top. I've already drawn another top for 480mm. Actually, case will be some kind of modular with interchangeable panels (like tops for 360 or 480, side panel with window and without, front panel with 5.25 bays and without ready for 560mm with middle frame part removed etc.)

The side panels will be made of aluminium sheets, most likely 1.5mm thick. Fan grills made of perforated aluminium sheet. Panels/grills will be attached via Allen screws or thumbnails.


As you all can see it's early (very early) stage of design. What I know is that the frame may be ready in the next two weeks if I'll get lucky. I plan to finish the whole thing (with many incoming modification - suggested by you) in middle 2011 when i'll be back in my country ;) For now i'll focus on designing and gathering parts.

This what I have till now (mostly learning SketchUp, I've some experience with AutoCad so it wasn't that difficult)
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_40L7h_SFpEw/TO...s400/frame.pnghttp://lh6.ggpht.com/_40L7h_SFpEw/TO...components.png
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_40L7h_SFpEw/TO...ts_cooling.pnghttp://lh3.ggpht.com/_40L7h_SFpEw/TO...ing_panels.png

Few comments:
- probably i'll end up with ATX motherboard tray only,
- HDD cage shown is only to visualize the size of the case,

find a cheap case that has one. Ditch the case and use the tray. I got one for 30 Euro that way. still a lot cheaper than ebay or mountainmods could do. Heck I got the case stored which I could always use in the future :P

Reserved.

I got a quotation for alu profiles and sheets: darn cheap! Nett prices.

1m of 30x30x1.5mm profile is 1.6 euro
1m^2 of 1.5mm alu sheet is ~13 euro
1m^2 of 1.5mm perforated sheet is ~23 euro.

I will need roughly 9m of profiles, 2m^2 of alu sheets and 1m^2 for fan grills.

18 November 2010

One man thread :) (almost)

After virtually fitting all radiators i decided to reduce the size of the case to 700x610x260. Middle front link is gone just in case if I would want to put 560 rad in there.
My brother is trying to sort the materials out. It should be ~80 euro total for alu profiles and sheets. His mate agreed on welding it but i will have to go with 30x30x2mm profiles instead 1.5mm. It will be a little heavier but hey - it's not a lanparty case! Will post sketchups soon.

UPDATE:

I had to re-think the possibilities. I decided to use what I already have, meaning pa120.3 with 25mm spacing and XSPC RX240. And I came with an idea of that:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_40L7h_SFpEw/TO...s400/frame.pnghttp://lh4.ggpht.com/_40L7h_SFpEw/TO...components.png
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_40L7h_SFpEw/TO...ents%2B560.pnghttp://lh6.ggpht.com/_40L7h_SFpEw/TO...0%2Bpanels.png

At the beginning there will be 2 radiators in: pa120.3 on top and RX240 at the bottom of the side panel. It may be replaced with 3x120 in a future. The biggest investment will be to get 560 rad - a space at the front is waiting :cool:

I may finally end up with very NICE motherboard tray and very NICE drive cages from sargatanas. Thanks mate for your time :up:

Next update will be with fan grills and side panel window. And maybe with something else.

Stay tuned.

For heavy bit you can consider adding wheels and handles.

Wheels yes. Handles/rails no.

i might have some spare black anodized mountainmods trays if you are still looking for one

Interested. PM sent.

21 November 2010

Small update on design. New fan grills, nothing fancy. New hdd cage just to visualize general approach. I may end up with something similar.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_40L7h_SFpEw/TO...s%2Bpanels.pnghttp://lh3.ggpht.com/_40L7h_SFpEw/TO...nels%2B560.png

It seems that brushing aluminium id dead easy and most likely i'll do that. Have not decided on colour yet. All black is definitely appealing to me.

Interesting Project. How do you plan on attaching aluminum profiles together? Are you going to weld them?

I've mentioned few times about welding the profiles. What concerns me now is how to attach sidepanels to the frame. I'm afraid that threads in an aluminium profile will wear out quickly. Maybe some kind of steel inserts like in bicycle's cranks?

Maybe try use rivet nuts like this or similar?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Blind-rivet-nuts...item45f6ef4e4b

Exactly what i was looking for. And pretty cheap though.

How do you plan airflow in case after last small update on design?
Front of case in this solution is always full of dust,works like vacuum cleaner.
I've seen it many times in Lian Li PC-A77FB or my bro NZXT TEMPEST.

I've an intake in my cosmos 1000 and it's not that bad. In case of 4x 140mm it'll be different. Fan grill will be removable so placing a fan filters should do the trick.

I am curious about where to place the cdrom.
I do not see it on the project.

You don't cause there is no plan of placing one. What for? The last time I burned a dvd was maybe in 2007. I've an external dvd burner, usb, excellent for gaming.

Right.
As you see...my Asus external dvd burner, usb, excellent for gaming;)
Handy...

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/8438/dsc04243h.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elder

Right.
As you see...my Asus external dvd burner, usb, excellent for gaming;)
Handy...

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/8438/dsc04243h. jpg

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If that was built in to the case like that , that would be funky :)

Small update:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_40L7h_SFpEw/TP...%2Bcooling.png
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_40L7h_SFpEw/TP...U/s800/all.png

560 is not connected as don't know when I'll buy it.

:wasntme::slobber:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_40L7h_SFpEw/TP...0/IMG_6879.JPG

sargatanas:up:

wow mate this is gonna look sweet, You intend on making a few to sell, Id be quite interested as this is a ULTIMATE wc case!??

To be honest i wasn't thinking about making more than one. It will be DAMN heavy and i'm afraid that shipping cost would double the price. One the other hand i don't mind sharing a final sketchup file where you will find all dimensions...

Def, need wheels, else will be a pain to tinker with. Need massive fan filters and easily removable fan design. Power button, usb and all that crap? Hotswap Sata back plane?

Hotswap NO. But i was thinking about integrating SATA dock on top. USB + power + reset on top as well.

glad that everything arrived :)

It seems that the frame is done. And done for free from scratches found in the warehouse of the company. Coincident that the scratches were 30x30x2mm profiles :D As far I understood my brother crossbars are made of something smaller but it doesn't really matters. Photos soon.

Stay tuned.

Frame is indeed done - for free. But the attention to details exceptional (corners are razor sharp):
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_40L7h_SFpEw/TT...rick_frame.jpg

There was a communication breakdown between me, brother and his buddy. Frame is of a size as planned at the very beginning: 700x700x300. I could move in and forget about rent :up:

Cool project you've got going on there ggdh - that frame looks ultra beefy - how much does it weigh? (Just the frame, out of curiosity)

I'll be staying tuned, looking forward to the finished project!

Don't know exactly but <10kg.

Any changes?
MM mobotray is installed, everything fits?

Case -> Poland
Myself -> Ireland (on a last straight to my PhD...)

Project postponed for a little while... But i've few new ideas ;)

Stay tuned.