Need advice on making Dell Poweredge 2900 into Gaming rig

[SteveMcDerp]

I've been gaming forever now and I recently decided on throwing a lot of caps into making a gaming rig. At my job I found me a Dell Poweredge 2900 Server and I know its an 08 model and it will take a lot of work to make it a nice rig, but that's with every computer am I right?
Anyways I only want this Poweredge for the chassis or case (whatever you like calling it) because this mofo is massive, and I've been thinking about putting this kinda build in it.

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K $325
CPU cooler:Corsair Hydro Series H115i $110.04
Graphics Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 AMP! Extreme $684
Motherboard: ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero $198.99
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB $159.99
SSD: 500GB Samsung 960 EVO $249
HDD: Toshiba X300 HDWE140XZSTA $136.99
Case: Phanteks Evolv ATX $168.99
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 850 P2 $133.99

Now this should be a 4k capable build, if any of you have any suggestions or advice on where to start I'd greatly appreciate it also I think I may need 2 Psu's xD but again I've never built a gamer rig so..

 

[cdawall]

Looks good a 650w PSU could easily power that rig, with room to spare.

I'm also confused about the poweredge thing you have a case listed in your build?

 

[alucasa]

If I were you, the first thing to do would be look at its butt and see whether the I/O shield is even changeable.

Dell or any other OEM server cases have often I/O shield built in.

 

[silentbogo]

Problem #1: there is no hole for motherboard backplate. If you want to put a consumer MoBo in it - you have to dremel the shit out of it.
Problem #2: there are no provisions for liquid cooling. I am not sure if you could stick a 240mm rad on the back, but you may have to dremel the shit out of the front side to provide space for AIO.
Problem #3: The power supply. It is not a standard ATX/EPS model, and even the motherboard does not have an ATX/EPS12V connector, so hooking anything up to this PSU will require some custom cabling and lots of soldering. I am not sure, but from pictures it looks like it does not even have a 5V line going from backplane PCB to the motherboard (just a single 5VSB).

So, since you've decided to invest over $2000 in a new rig, might as well throw in another $100-150 for a proper case.

 

[SteveMcDerp]

Looks good a 650w PSU could easily power that rig, with room to spare.

I'm also confused about the poweredge thing you have a case listed in your build?

Thanks and yes the Poweredge 2900 is the case

 

[SteveMcDerp]

Problem #1: there is no hole for motherboard backplate. If you want to put a consumer MoBo in it - you have to dremel the shit out of it.
Problem #2: there are no provisions for liquid cooling. I am not sure if you could stick a 240mm rad on the back, but you may have to dremel the shit out of the front side to provide space for AIO.
Problem #3: The power supply. It is not a standard ATX/EPS model, and even the motherboard does not have an ATX/EPS12V connector, so hooking anything up to this PSU will require some custom cabling and lots of soldering. I am not sure, but from pictures it looks like it does not even have a 5V line going from backplane PCB to the motherboard (just a single 5VSB).

So, since you've decided to invest over $2000 in a new rig, might as well throw in another $100-150 for a proper case.

Right well I know ima have to make it work, but do you think I could gut it and make it all compatible with each other? and if i can't put in a liquid cooler is there an air cooler that would work just as well thats rather quiet?

 

[SteveMcDerp]

If I were you, the first thing to do would be look at its butt and see whether the I/O shield is even changeable.

Dell or any other OEM server cases have often I/O shield built in.

Ok so you're saying if I can't put a proper I/O shield for the motherboard then it may be a bust?

 

[alucasa]

No, I/O shield will be your first challenge. Your second challenge will be PSU. @silentbogo laid out the issues for you. Listen to the dude. (or creature)

Basically, you will put in a lot of work for really nothing too impressive. OEM cases don't have cable management feature, either.

 

[silentbogo]

Right well I know ima have to make it work, but do you think I could gut it and make it all compatible with each other? and if i can't put in a liquid cooler is there an air cooler that would work just as well thats rather quiet?

You can cut a hole for I/O shield, but you'll definitely cut yourself short on a good spot for your Corsair AIO.
Air cooler? Only a low-profile horizontal ones (like Noctua L9i). But the case is made for blow-through airflow w/ small vertical heatsinks.

Just give up the idea and get a decent case. I've seen numerous people fail at similar projects.
I have a friend, who spent 2 years and lots of cash and labor on custom parts to make a modern PC inside an old 2008 Mac Pro.
Ended up selling the poor, mutilated, half-made thing with custom detachable motherboard rack for just under $30.

Listen to the dude. (or creature)

A robot

 

[SteveMcDerp]

No, I/O shield will be your first challenge. Your second challenge will be PSU. @silentbogo laid out the issues for you. Listen to the dude. (or creature)

Basically, you will put in a lot of work for really nothing too impressive. OEM cases don't have cable management feature, either.

The work doesn't bother me, I just wanna gut this thing and make it something I could always upgrade on in a way you know. Its pretty big so space really isn't the issue its just making sure i do it correctly. And it has two psu's in it already so that issue doesn't seem to big either, its just having to machine in holes for shit to go through xD

 

[SteveMcDerp]

You can cut a hole for I/O shield, but you'll definitely cut yourself short on a good spot for your Corsair AIO.
Air cooler? Only a low-profile horizontal ones (like Noctua L9i). But the case is made for blow-through airflow w/ small vertical heatsinks.

Just give up the idea and get a decent case. I've seen numerous people fail at similar projects.
I have a friend, who spent 2 years and lots of cash and labor on custom parts to make a modern PC inside an old 2008 Mac Pro.
Ended up selling the poor, mutilated, half-made thing with custom detachable motherboard rack for just under $30.


A robot

Well thanks for the input If i get lucky maybe ill find me a nice case pretty cheap or find one for free xD have any case suggestions for the said build?

 

[alucasa]

The work doesn't bother me, I just wanna gut this thing and make it something I could always upgrade on in a way you know. Its pretty big so space really isn't the issue its just making sure i do it correctly. And it has two psu's in it already so that issue doesn't seem to big either, its just having to machine in holes for shit to go through xD

Servers have, in general, redundant PSUs. They don't follow ATX format. You will have to do some carving to make it fit since you did list an ATX PSU of your own choice.

If I were you, I'd just use the redundant PSUs and use a convertor cable for molex for GPU. Redundant PSU are damn good ones. Not quiet tho.

3rd major issue would be the header cables which would be unique to Dell and won't fit on a normal consumer motherboard.

Well, good luck.

 

[SteveMcDerp]

Servers have, in general, redundant PSUs. They don't follow ATX format. You will have to do some carving to make it fit since you did list an ATX PSU of your own choice.

If I were you, I'd just use the redundant PSUs and use a convertor cable for molex for GPU. Redundant PSU are damn good ones. Not quiet tho.

3rd major issue would be the header cables which would be unique to Dell and won't fit on a normal consumer motherboard.

Well, good luck.

Right I forgot about the Redundancy of those damn things, thanks for that advice there i'll find a converter cable somewhere for that. and the header cables...do you think there may be an easier way to overcome that obstacle? or will i have to solder some shizz to make that work?

 

[alucasa]

If you can figure out which wire goes where and which one's + or - or ground, you can pretty much cut the wires and install your own connectors. You'd have to find those little buggers though. I guess you could find those black connectors on Ebay. Or go to a garbage site, find an abandoned case somewhere and savage the connectors that way.

I don't know about headers at this point. You'd have to take a look at it.

Well, it's going to be an advanture, I can guarantee that.

 

[SteveMcDerp]

If you can figure out which wire goes where and which one's + or - or ground, you can pretty much cut the wires and install your own connectors. You'd have to find those little buggers though. I guess you could find those black connectors on Ebay. Or go to a garbage site, find an abandoned case somewhere and savage the connectors that way.

I don't know about headers at this point. You'd have to take a look at it.

Well, it's going to be an advanture, I can guarantee that.

Ok so last night I opened her up and took out the old xenon mother board and cleared some room up and looking at it this thing has alot of real estate in it, and quite honestly I don't see me having very much of a problem besides maybe having to figure out how to locate the inputs on my I/O shield.
Which I already have a plan for that part, but this thing has fans and all that stuff in her already, I may be able to keep some of it original, if I locate my new motherboard correctly then I won't have much an issue with wire length.
So another thing I was hoping you may help me out with is finding a great open source GPU I was looking at a
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1080 AMP! Extreme with is a great card but its a NIVIDIA so its bound to be a closed source, any ideas on a great GPU that would work good with a
ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero Motherboard?