AluminiX - Aluminum Mini-ITX Case Build

Binge · Dec 4, 2008

subscribed!

Thrackan · Dec 4, 2008

I'm currently trying to decide whether I should use the PSone LCD on this case, or if I will hook it up to my main rig... To put it blunt, it sucks as a primary display, because the video chip doesn't handle it correctly on VGA/D-SUB and the picture quality on S-Video isn't that good.
The S-Video on my main rig gets a way better picture on the screen.

Though, realistically, I have no space to put it in my main rig at all...

Thrackan · Dec 8, 2008

Revised planning & ToDo post

Small change in plans, I'm going to make a standalone housing for the 5" LCD (which I'm already calling a "monitor"), based on a spare speaker stand for my Creative Inspire 6700 set I still had laying around (flawless, still in plastic!

)

Yes, I haven't worked bork crap on the case. I did do a lot of software stuff like installing and configuring, and getting that 5" LCD to display something readable

I'll work on the case again when I feel like it, so there :rockout:

It's still cold outside and I'm a pussy

But, a short sum up is in place of what to do on the system:
ToDo - Hardware
- Get them aluminum plates grinded and sanded
- Make a tape mockup to feed the drooling mouths here at TPU
- Cut holes in the plates:
>- Front: Power button, Character LCD, HDD LED
>- Left side: 120mm fanhole, USB port holes
>- Right side: 120mm fanhole, slimline CD hole
>- Rear: Cut enough off for the mobo tray to fit, hole for a Molex to feed the monitor
- Bend 'n fit a piece of alum to rest the PSU on
- Bend 'n fit a 2x HDD tray
- Find a spare place to stick the CF adapter (and I really mean to "stick" it on somewhere using Velcro)

ToDo - Software
- Further downtrim of the current Xubuntu install (going towards a terminal-based server instead of X)
- Get an FTP server going so I can fill those 2x500Gb HDD's with the music/movies that are currently filling my main rig
- Write the darn stuff I want to get up and running (fully customizable "web"radio interface, incorporating an intelligent request system and more)

ToDo - after that...
- Disassemble the current "monitor" setup (read: remove duct tape

)
- Make it nice!

Of course, this is just a list for me so I remember what to do

AsRock · Dec 8, 2008

Cool, Keep up the good work

. Good to see some one else making cases

.

Thrackan · Dec 8, 2008

AsRock said:
Cool, Keep up the good work . Good to see some one else making cases .

Bork! I think I killed the LCD's graphic signal by cutting off the VGA cable (even though it's running on s-video).
Now I really don't know if I'm gonna use it...:shadedshu

And of course, bad things never come alone. Coil whine is back, with a vengeance! I guess this means hardcore PSU mistreatment then

theJesus · Dec 8, 2008

Ouch! That sucks

I hope you get that all fixed up cuz I'm looking forward to seeing this finished :rockout:

Thrackan · Dec 9, 2008

It's probably a matter of stringing the original wires back together, but that's gonna take some effort. I'll try it, but probably only after the rest is done.
Gonna see if I can get a second hand 15 incher or something.

theJesus · Dec 9, 2008

I think I have a 15" CRT :laugh:

Thrackan · Dec 9, 2008

theJesus said:
I think I have a 15" CRT

I think my desk is crowded enough without a CRT

Thrackan · Jan 15, 2009

Short "update":

Got a nice second hand 15 inch lcd to use. Still have to find the courage to test the PSone screen
The PSU is not the cause of the coil whine! It's the motherboard. Which is good, because the motherboards coils are easily exposed. To be glued!
It's still cold outside, so no manual labor...
After Xubuntu and Debian I'm now running Ubuntu Server 8.10 out of the box. Wireless goes well, still some quirks to fix.

Thrackan · Jan 19, 2009

Coil whine fixed! Yay for me!
Now for the next experiment with this thing: Windows 7
Gotta see if I can fit it on CD's since I'm too lazy to unscrew my DVD player on my main rig

Exavier · Jan 19, 2009

nice work thrackan - I like it a lot so far

coil hum is a bitch, especially when your gfx does it...every time I move the mouse it whines..

Thrackan · Jan 19, 2009

Thanks, it's a lot of experimenting and not a lot of building at the moment... I'm thinking about redoing my ubuntu server install with really the minimum of minimals installed.

I'm getting a Master/Slave Double CF->IDE adapter this week, moar experimenting!

DaveK · Jan 19, 2009

Ooh, nice! I'm gonna keep my eye on this project. Can't wait to see the outcome. Keep up the good work

Exavier · Jan 19, 2009

do let me know where you got the double CF from...

Atom build is next.

Thrackan · Jan 19, 2009

http://www.cf2ide.nl/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=32

Dutch site though, if you're lucky they will ship to the UK

Exavier · Jan 19, 2009

haha I was hoping it was an international brand

also, lol "winklewagen" crazy..

Thrackan · Jan 19, 2009

You could try the good ol DealExtreme... That's where I got my first (single) one.

Thrackan · Jan 21, 2009

Busy installing Windows 7, thanks to:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=57299

I'm using 2 4GB CF cards on one adapter and a microdrive (from my MP3 player) as install media on the other CF adapter

Seriously thinking about ditching the CD-ROM drive and using the microdrive instead...

mudkip · Mar 26, 2009

Exavier said:
also, lol "winklewagen" crazy..

haha i had to laugh so hard

it's such a nice experience to laugh :roll:

btw Thrackan I'd like to see some new pictures !

Thrackan · Mar 27, 2009

mudkip said:
haha i had to laugh so hard

it's such a nice experience to laugh

btw Thrackan I'd like to see some new pictures !

Geez necropost. For new pictures, I need to actually do something on this project.

BumbleBee · Mar 27, 2009

hey Thrackan keep up the work. here is "Little Bee" a project i'm working on.

rocket733 · Apr 3, 2009

I want to see some more progress on this project.

Thrackan · Apr 3, 2009

I will get back to it in the next couple of months, thanks for being interested

alucasa · Apr 3, 2009

I don't think I read which mobo it was in the first post. What's the spec on the mobo ?

Well, the coloring looks like Jetways, and the 20pin power socket location seems like Via C7 platform ?

System Name	Molly
Processor	i5 3570K
Motherboard	Z77 ASRock
Cooling	CooliT Eco
Memory	2x4GB Mushkin Redline Ridgebacks
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte GTX 680
Case	Coolermaster CM690 II Advanced
Power Supply	Corsair HX-1000

System Name	Acer Aspire V3-771G-53218G75Maii
Processor	Core i5 3210M (2,5-3,1Ghz)
Memory	8GB DDR3 SODIMM
Video Card(s)	Geforce GT650M
Storage	Samsung 830 256GB - 750GB Toshiba drive
Software	Windows 7 x64 Home Premium (non-acer-bloatware)

System Name	Acer Aspire V3-771G-53218G75Maii
Processor	Core i5 3210M (2,5-3,1Ghz)
Memory	8GB DDR3 SODIMM
Video Card(s)	Geforce GT650M
Storage	Samsung 830 256GB - 750GB Toshiba drive
Software	Windows 7 x64 Home Premium (non-acer-bloatware)

Processor	AMD 3900X \ AMD 7700X
Motherboard	ASRock AM4 X570 Pro 4 \ ASUS X670Xe TUF
Cooling	D15
Memory	Patriot 2x16GB PVS432G320C6K \ G.Skill Flare X5 F5-6000J3238F 2x16GB
Video Card(s)	eVga GTX1060 SSC \ XFX RX 6950XT RX-695XATBD9
Storage	Sammy 860, MX500, Sabrent Rocket 4 Sammy Evo 980 \ 1xSabrent Rocket 4+, Sammy 2x990 Pro
Display(s)	Samsung 1080P \ LG 43UN700
Case	Fractal Design Pop Air 2x140mm fans from Torrent \ Fractal Design Torrent 2 SilverStone FHP141x2
Audio Device(s)	Yamaha RX-V677 \ Yamaha CX-830+Yamaha MX-630 Infinity RS4000\Paradigm P Studio 20, Blue Yeti
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime TX-750 \ Corsair RM1000X Shift
Mouse	Steelseries Sensei wireless \ Steelseries Sensei wireless
Keyboard	Logitech K120 \ Wooting Two HE
Benchmark Scores	Meh benchmarks.

System Name	Acer Aspire V3-771G-53218G75Maii
Processor	Core i5 3210M (2,5-3,1Ghz)
Memory	8GB DDR3 SODIMM
Video Card(s)	Geforce GT650M
Storage	Samsung 830 256GB - 750GB Toshiba drive
Software	Windows 7 x64 Home Premium (non-acer-bloatware)

AluminiX - Aluminum Mini-ITX Case Build

Binge

Overclocking Surrealism

Thrackan

Thrackan

AsRock

TPU addict

Thrackan

theJesus

Thrackan

theJesus

Thrackan

Thrackan

Thrackan

Exavier

New Member

Thrackan

DaveK

Exavier

New Member

Thrackan

Exavier

New Member

Thrackan

Thrackan

mudkip

Thrackan

BumbleBee

rocket733

Xtreme Refugee

Thrackan

alucasa

System Name	Desktop\|\| Virtual Host 0
Processor	Intel Core i5 2500-K @ 4.3ghz \|\| 2x Xeon L5630 (total 8 cores, 16 threads)
Motherboard	ASUS P8Z68-V \|\| Dell PowerEdge R710 (Intel 5520 chipset)
Cooling	Corsair Hydro H100 \|\| Stock hotplug fans and passive heatsinks
Memory	4x4gb Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 \|\| 12x4gb Hynix DDR3 1066 FB-DIMMs
Video Card(s)	MSI GTX 760 Gaming Twin Frozr 4GB OC \|\| Don't know, don't care
Storage	Hitachi 7K3000 2TB \|\| 6x300gb 15k rpm SAS internal hotswap, 12x3tb Seagate NAS drives in enclosure
Display(s)	ViewSonic VA2349S \|\| remote iDRAC KVM console
Case	Antec P280 \|\| Dell PowerEdge R710
Audio Device(s)	HRT MusicStreamer II+ and Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 \|\| Don't know, don't care
Power Supply	SeaSonic X650 Gold \|\| 2x870w hot-swappable
Mouse	Logitech G500 \|\| remote iDRAC KVM console
Keyboard	Logitech G510 \|\| remote iDRAC KVM console
Software	Win7 Ultimate x64 \|\| VMware vSphere 6.0 with vCenter Server 6.0
Benchmark Scores	Over 9000 on the scouter

Processor	Q6600 G0 Stepping @3.4
Motherboard	DFI LanParty DK P45 T2RS-PLUS
Cooling	Fitseries3 Edition Fuzion v1, XSPC Razor X2, XSPC RS320, Hydor L30
Memory	Crucial Ballistix @972mhz CL5
Video Card(s)	Sapphire 4870X2 2GB
Storage	Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB x2 (I need another OS drive LOL)
Display(s)	Sony Bravia 40L4000 40" HDTV :D
Case	Silverstone TJ07 (Mod is a WIP)
Power Supply	Corsair HX620w
Software	Windows Vista

System Name	The Beast
Processor	Intel Core i3-2100 @ 3.1GHz
Motherboard	Asus P8P67 LE
Cooling	Stock
Memory	4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 @ 1600MHz
Video Card(s)	1GB Sapphire Radeon HD4650 Ultimate Edition
Storage	60GB Corsair Force LE, 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F1, 500GB Seagate
Display(s)	22" Samsung T220HD & 19" Acer X193W
Case	Corsair Obsidian 750D
Power Supply	Corsair HX650W
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate x64

System Name	Silent allround
Processor	i5 750 @ 3,0Ghz 1.04v / 3.4Ghz 1.11v/ 3,6Ghz 1.15v
Motherboard	Gigabyte P55-USB3
Cooling	Thermalright IFX-14 + Scythe Slip Stream 140mm @ 600RPM
Memory	2 x 4GB Samsung M378B5273DH0-CH9 @ 2000 MHz 9-10-10-27 T1
Video Card(s)	Sapphire HD 5870 Vapor-X @ 940/1270
Storage	Intel Postville 80GB SSD & Western Digital Green 2TB
Display(s)	Dell Ultrasharp U2412M
Case	Bitfenix Merc Alpha
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar D2 with Unified Drivers
Power Supply	Nexus NX-5000 R3 530W
Software	Windows 7 Home Premium x64
Benchmark Scores	Super pi 1M : 8,549s @ 4,7Ghz (Core i7 920)

Processor	Intel Core i5-3570K
Motherboard	Asus P8Z77-V Pro
Cooling	Noctua NH-D14
Memory	8GB Mushkin Blackline DDR3-1600
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte GTX 670
Storage	Intel 520 60GB, Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB
Display(s)	BenQ 24" XL2420T
Case	Corsair 550D
Audio Device(s)	Sennheiser HD600, Audeze LCD-3F, Mytek Stereo 192 DSD, La Figaro 339, Burson HA-160, Geek Pulse X
Power Supply	Corsair AX650
Mouse	steelseries Sensei MLG edition
Keyboard	Cooler Master QuickFire Pro
Software	Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium