IEATFISH's Custom Tech Station - **Design Finalized** - Page 2 - Overclock.net

**IEATFISH** · 10-17-09

Okay, I think that general design should work rather well. The PSU is sideways in the right chamber with the fan aimed in. I have plenty of space behind the drives for cables.

I decided I think the back should have a removable panel where I've shown it in the picture. I'd also like a panel on the front to cover everything but the ODDs.

BUT, I don't like the look of hinges so I am considering using magnets inside at the corners to hold on the covers. I figure they shouldn't need to be amazingly strong and should not affect anything in the case. There would be four in the back and 4 or 5 in the front. I think that would make them easy to remove and put out of the way rather than having to hinge something one way to work on it.

**IEATFISH** · 10-17-09

Here is a pic showing how the front panel would attach:

*CyberDruid* · 10-17-09

Not to be Captain Obvious but how do you attach the drive screws that overlap between HDD and ODD bay? Or is it tool-less?

The up and over cabling is not to my liking...if you could orient the PSU and drives so the cabling for them is all "below decks" I think it would look cleaner. Or maybe I am not seeing your intended cabling pathes correctly.

I like the magnetic catches for the face plate: neat idea.

No much I can suggest to change in the layout as you have the puzzle pieces all arranged in a sensible manner.

Looking good.

I AM TEH LAW GIVAH · 10-17-09

no fans?

MrAMD_Fan · 10-17-09

Yes, i think we needs us some airflow.....

**IEATFISH** · 10-17-09

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberDruid

Not to be Captain Obvious but how do you attach the drive screws that overlap between HDD and ODD bay? Or is it tool-less?

The up and over cabling is not to my liking...if you could orient the PSU and drives so the cabling for them is all "below decks" I think it would look cleaner. Or maybe I am not seeing your intended cabling paths correctly.

I like the magnetic catches for the face plate: neat idea.

No much I can suggest to change in the layout as you have the puzzle pieces all arranged in a sensible manner.

Looking good.

For all the types of drives, my plan is to have a piece of material, maybe 1/2 inch. sticking out from one side of the wall. The drive would sit on that shelf and the other side would be held by a thumb screw. I was thinking of securing the ODD drives from the outside with a thumb screw each but I'm not so keen on ruining the flat plane of the side.

As for the cable management, I attached a shot of the back of the case. The panel that removes there give a good view of the inside. No cables should have to be run above except to specifically reach the hardware there. The cables for the drives can run from the PSU to the back of the case and then behind all the drives. The panel below and to the rear of the ODDs is to hide any extra cables I don't use. I just added a shelf above the HDD bays and some gaps in the vertical panels to route cables side to side above the lower hardware.

Quote:

Originally Posted by I AM TEH LAW GIVAH

no fans?

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrAMD_Fan

Yes, i think we needs us some airflow.....

As of right now, I don't think I need any fans. I am thinking of placing some of these on the lower section to allow air to come and go.

Here is a link to the SketchUp file so far. Maybe it will be easier to see what is happening in a fly by.

*CyberDruid* · 10-18-09

I missed the back shot: that shows me how you can run the cabling. I think the PSU fan will be enough to keep air wafting past the HDDs. HDD cooling is way overstated and not nearly as important as people think. As long as the HDD is within range and the temp is not cycling up and down dramatically it's fine.

You will need active cooling on the chipset and RAM though. Without it not much headroom for OC.

Thanks

**IEATFISH** · 10-18-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberDruid

I missed the back shot: that shows me how you can run the cabling. I think the PSU fan will be enough to keep air wafting past the HDDs. HDD cooling is way overstated and not nearly as important as people think. As long as the HDD is within range and the temp is not cycling up and down dramatically it's fine.

You will need active cooling on the chipset and RAM though. Without it not much headroom for OC.

Thanks

For cooling on the RAM, they sit right next to my Mugen 2 front fan and have the tall heatsinks. The chipset may need a small fan or two. I'm honestly not too worried about having to maybe run stock (

) and can always add a spot cool later.

I'm still trying to decide how to mount the HDD and ODD but I have some room to play with so we'll see. IF anyone has any ideas. feel free to let me know.

meticadpa · 10-18-09

If you can get some long screws with a 6-32 thread, they should be sufficient for hard drive mounting, but I'm sure the modding gurus on here will have a better suggestion.

Something like this would work, I think.

Please excuse me if I am way off, but for some reason, I think that I'm correct about it.

Syrillian · 10-18-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by IEATFISH

For cooling on the RAM, they sit right next to my Mugen 2 front fan and have the tall heatsinks. The chipset may need a small fan or two. I'm honestly not too worried about having to maybe run stock (

) and can always add a spot cool later.

I'm still trying to decide how to mount the HDD and ODD but I have some room to play with so we'll see. IF anyone has any ideas. feel free to let me know.

Perhaps a rail-system would work well.

You can get screw-in rails that attach to HDD's and optical drives that will sit nicely in grooves. This would allow the drives to slide in and out easily. A locking mechanism could also be implemented, but I have done this in the past using friction to hold them in place.... it's a techstation so I generally don't get overly worked about having everything locked down.

You have probably covered this, but just in case, you will need ample openings on the backside of the drive areas so that you can route power and data cables.

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IEATFISH's Custom Tech Station - Design Finalized

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