Micro ATX Quiet Case Build

[jammin]

Yep, definitely enough room for the hard drives.

I know the dimensions for the TRUE, and I believe I won't have any problems with that either.

 

The side panels for the case won't be 'solid' right against the side of the frame at any rate, in order to make room for a thickness of acoustic foam.

 

This might make it clearer:

 

 

You can see the initial frame in red on the right hand side.

The side panels essentially give me another 18mm of air either side of that before the solid side material (whatever that ends up being).

That will mostly be filled with foam of course, but it does give me the option of expanding the clearance a bit if needed.

Edited May 25, 2011 by jammin

[bp9801]

Ah, so you get more clearance on the sides since the frame is smaller. That makes more sense now.

[hermes09]

Whoo! Can't wait to see the finished build:thumbsup:

[jammin]

Just noticed I already had some smaller nuts and bolts/screws, so I went ahead and used those instead.

 

Looks a bit neater.

 

[jammin]

OK, a little bit more progress today.

 

I had a bit of 6mm MDF around (yes, it's helpful to collect bits and pieces over time ), which was suitable for the panel that sits behind the motherboard tray.

So I cut it down to size, drilled some holes in the corners for the bolts to go through and test fitted it in the frame.

 

MDF isn't exactly my favourite material (though it is easy to work with), but anywhere I can save money on this I will. I am poor.

 

 

 

 

I am aware it doesn't look pretty at the moment.

 

I still need to finalise the places where I will cut some holes to route cables, and I will give it a lick of paint too so that it looks more respectable.

Remember that in the end it will be covered with acoustic foam anyway, so you probably won't be able to see it.

Edited May 25, 2011 by jammin

[bp9801]

Looks good with the MDF there. Should make it very easy to cut the routing holes, plus it'll be hidden pretty well so no one will be able to tell what it is.

[DanTheGamer11]

Pretty case! looks solid to me and thanks for advice!

[jammin]

Not a lot of progress over the weekend as I was busy doing other stuff mainly.

 

My motherboard tray should be on the way soon though, and I have done a bit more work on the case in the past couple of days, so it is time for another update.

 

 

Firstly making some brackets for the hard drives in my suspension mounting system.

 

I started off with a few strips of sheet metal (which is actually taken from the casing of a PowerBook G4 Titanium that I broke down for parts a while ago).

 

 

After marking them and drilling some holes, I used a small vice to bend the strips into shape

 

 

After initial bending:

 

 

A bit more

 

 

I then stuck a screwdriver into the vice to give me a rounded profile to bend around for the last stage

 

 

 

The result:

 

 

The metal is a little scrappy looking, so I will probably do some fine finishing (whether it be paint or otherwise) when I am doing the other finishing for the case.

 

 

 

Fitting the suspension system into the frame in the next post.

[jammin]

Top Panel and HDD suspension mounting

 

I decided to use a bit more of the MDF I have for the top panel of the case. I'm still undecided on whether to get some aluminium panels cut, but I may just end up doing that for the back panel only (cheaper).

 

So I cut a piece to size and then bolted it to the existing frame:

 

 

I then took the dummy HDDs I'm using and attached the brackets. I used those to get some measurements to mark drill holes for the bungee cord.

 

 

You get a better idea of how the brackets look too

 

 

 

I then drilled the holes (again making a pilot hole with the small drill bit before stepping up to the larger one).

 

 

Bungee cord was then threaded through the holes:

 

 

The HDDs were then hung from the cords, which was pretty straight forward, so I'm happy with that.

 

 

The mounting system should be pretty much invisible once the case is done (what with a layer of foam etc.).

 

 

 

So that's where I am now.

For the test fit the bungee cord is simply tied at the top of the case, but I will probably clip them together or staple them to the top panel to neaten things up.

 

I can now mark some cable routing holes for the HDDs, and with the motherboard tray due soon, I can mark the other holes too.

[jammin]

It looks like I got a parcel today

 

 

I wonder what it could be?

 

 

....

 

 

Ah yes, the Lian Li motherboard tray I ordered.

This should make the build feel a bit more like a case.

 

Cost: £21.44 - worth it for the finish I think. I was surprised how light it is (very).

 

Fitting it first required cutting a section from one of the frame uprights (I didn't want to do this until I could be certain of the dimensions).

 

 

I used one of the existing holes for the frame to test fit the tray and mark some drill holes in the frame for the other mounting points.

 

 

Once again, a small pilot hole

 

 

Followed by the large drill bit.

 

 

I then bolted it to the frame with the gold coloured bolts I was using earlier.

 

 

Note that bottom left mount point in this picture has a washer under it for now, to make up the width. I have now ordered an aluminium panel to cover the rest of the rear of the case.

 

 

Yep, definitely more case-like.

 

Next stage will be to mark out the cable routing holes and get those cut. Then the rear panel once the aluminium arrives for that.

 

I also have some switches and LEDs taken from an old case. Still deciding how best to implement these, or whether to ditch them and go with something else.

 

[bp9801]

Looking very good, lots of progress so far. Mounting system is certainly unique but it looks to do the job just fine. For the LEDs, maybe you could order some for a consistent color instead of the green and red.

[jammin]

Yep, green and red is a little old school.

 

The LEDs on my fan controller are also red though, so might keep that one.

 

Decisions decisions