Rick Arter

WOW I like can't wait to see this one.

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Niko-Time

Looks good.

Could you give me the dimensions please cyber?

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By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

http://www.last.fm/user/niko-time/

prosser13

Wow, really nice case What model/make is it?

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CyberDruid

17 1/2" deep 14 /2" wide 5 1/2" high. The acrylic sides will add an inch in each dimension.

It's an X-Gene.

Nicely made with a pretty nice painted steel case with removable top and bottm. Room for two DVD and one HDD or an extra HDD in the ODD bay. I actually could mod it easily to fit an additonal HDD in the cardreader/FDD front bay. But for a rig like this I think a front panel I/O with a Card Reader etc would be very nice.

The footprint of this case is smaller than the best layout I could come up with fabricating from scratch. Due to the limitation of working with acrylic you have to go with heavy stock (1/4" minimum) for strength with makes everything a lot bulkier. My layout was at leat 22" wide 13" deep and 9" tall. And it was only for 1 DVD and 3 HDD with no front panel I/O or floppy/cardreader bay.

The time it would take me to handbuild such a compact and intricate design as the X-Gene is not in the budget. Hence the use of this case as a platform. In my design the PSU would be mounted with the plug coming out the side..which really bugged me more and more. One of the reasons I started looking at all sorts of HTPC cases until I found this one.

I'll be making use of the side mounted fans too. But I will cut out the grills to improve acoustics and flow and use very quiet non LED fans. They will not have to push much air either. Depending on how loud the rear fans are I might eliminate them altogether.

The top panel has a vent over the power supply which is probably a good idea. But I want to position a fan directly over the CPU because it will get a SilenX cooler and the extra fan will help force feed it.

I like the brushed aluminum face but the painted metal case is nothing special. That's the part I will focus on improving. The Side Panels I will be working on tomorrow are fairly involved for as simple as the final look will be. I'll be laminating a piece of UV blue to a piece of black. Drilling it for fasteners. Countersinking the black acrylic for nuts too secure the fasteners. Marking the case and drilling the case to mate with the side panels. Transferring the fans mount location from the case to the side panel. Routing out the fan holes in the panel. Countersinking and laminating a final piece of black over the UV to hide the fasteners then routing the edges and dressing them to a bevel. Then polishing the fan holes and edges to glass like finish.

The side panels once attached to the case will be slightly larger than the case to give it the look I am after...but not so large as to be "wings" just a 1/4" all around. I will allow an extra 1/8" on the top for the panel I have in mind there.

The top panel will be dressed with black acrylic with a beveled edge on the front and back that flushes up to the acrylic sides. I will route a 1/4" oversized diameter fan hole directly over the CPU and laminate a a piece of UV blue to the underside that will nest into a hole I cut in the steel top. Again the edges will be dressed to a glass finish. A fan will then mount there under a mesh grill. Same inset trim of UV will be replicated on the sides as well.

The resulting effect will be trace lines of UV blue around the perimeter of the gloss black side panels and same for the fan holes on each side and top. This I believe will be the transformation the case needs to give it some class and a bit of flair.

I'll be using a Silverstone controller stealthed into the case to control the fans. Niko Time wants to assemble his own hardware so I will be shipping him some gear he's been collecting here and the case. I feel much more confident about this case arriving intact.

The panels I will be fitting to the case will have some very nice fasteners I purchased specific to this build to hold the various bits in place--meaning that if I deem it necessary I will disassemble the fragile elements and pack them seperately--allowing me to use the rugged container the X-Gene ships in from China.

Niko Time's build is now on the operating table and I will be steady at it until complete.

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Current Project: CalligaCab: TV stand/bookshelf/PC-case

Fierceleaf

Whats the general use for this type of case form factor? What do most people use these for?

And NIko what are you using this for?

CyberDruid

Htpc

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Current Project: CalligaCab: TV stand/bookshelf/PC-case

Fierceleaf

Well I'm off to do some googling, time to learn about HTPC.

Your builds are always interesting Cyberdruid, keep up the good work. Cant wait to see the progress and final product.

Syrillian

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WIP: Scarab
Custom Cases:
Silentium, Halcyon, Indigo, Gemini, Prometheus, Anvil
Case Mods:
Liquid Chameleon, VF1000 LAN box

Semper Fidelis

CyberDruid

o..O

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Current Project: CalligaCab: TV stand/bookshelf/PC-case

Niko-Time

Sounds GREAT .

I shall be using it as my main case, I just wanted something a little different and I have no room by my feet so I am chucking it on top of my amp (speaker amp)

__________________
By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

http://www.last.fm/user/niko-time/