Neuhausplatz 200NC
I've been wanting to do this since I saw it in 2002.

I have recently taken apart a Compaq iPAQ p3 866Mhz Computer.
Pics of the internals here
This thing is HEAVILY proprietary, it is gonna be a pita to mod this...
If you look at the pictures you'll notice that the IDE connector is on the back of the motherboard, also next to the IDE connector is a Compaq "MULTIBAY" connector port which connects the slim line cd-rom to the motherboard...
(if anyone knows of an expansion card for this, or cale that could extend this connector to a better location the shoot me a PM)


So my questions are:
Can this P3 be passively cooled with the stock heatsink (which did not have a fan to begin with) and/or with the PSU fan?

Or should I make ducts through the foam for intake/exhaust fans?

IMHO if done correctly this can/will be a VERY unique case mod...

What are your thoughts on this?

Passive cooled P3... hmmm, I dunno, Even my stock P3s with a 60mm fan over them get real hot. IMO, best thing to do is setup 2x120mm on either side of the case and form a "wind tunnel" over the cpu/mobo so you won't have to worry about super loud whiny fans (80mm and lower)

Of course, you can keep the HS already on the cpu

if you added pipes in the foam for like a wind tunnel, that would be awesome I think!

first thoughts, thats ugly.

next i'm thinking you'll want some sort of shell around the motherboard to get air to it. Could be like a wind tunnel for the cpu which, with the right hsf which could work well. Everything needs to be cooled though, hdd, graphics card, even certain parts of the motherboard.

Yep, vregs, nbs, sb, everything needs to have some sort of airlow

2x120mms will do all that + your CPU. Another plus is that there so large, so it doesn't have to spin as fast to get the air you want=quiet

Yeah I was thinking that ducts would work quite nice, although I have NO idea how to go about making them...
I was thinking wax paper around pvc pipe or even gutter downspout pipe?
I HOPE that the expanding foam doesn't adhere to the wax paper because if it does than I have no other choice but to leave the duct templates in-place...

This thing has built in video and ethernet too, so AFAIK the only real hot thing should be the CPU.


I understand that, but it will be hard considering the hdd and CD-rom are on the opposite side of the motherboard, which means this thing will have to be sttod vertically...

When it comes time to make the ducts just use a soldering iron with a junk tip to melt the foam. Do it outside as the fumes can be full of "methylethylbadshit"

Or take a Dremel tool with one of the routing bits in it and cut them out...

when i made my fibreglass duct, i constructed a card-ribbed papier-mache mold that i lacquered and then *greased* with some general purpose grease (like you'd use on a car/bike)

worked really well for me

Thanks for the tip!!



The only thing is that I need to make a shroud to direct air over the motherboard...
Ill probably just end up using cardboard and foaming around it or im just gonna bite the bullet and make ducts only to the CPU.


If anyone care here a picture of what the pc was:

I don't wish to sound unsupportive... but OMG [content deleted] that is way ugly and looks like it fell out of the back of a now long since extinct terrasaur!

However... if you were gonna' sculpt it to form something, it would have definite potential!

Expanding foam FTW!

Its not a bad idea, it does not look good but i think it would be strong and could cool good...the only thing I would worry about is using good parts to do it...that does not seem like such a good idea...

Thats the point though, noone would expect a computer to look like that.

You want people to be like DOUBLEU-TEE-EFFE is that? and then you spen 15 minutes showig them that its not a grease covered sheep, but a fully functioning pc!!

All of the part im going to use are aproximately 6 years old.

I have a bunch of PIII 600's that I aquired for free, and I'm currently setting them up as a diskless farm (worklog/how-to post coming soon). They all run on passive cooling with the only fan in the case (SFF) being the crappy PSU fan. They don't seem to have any trouble folding full-load like that.

This one is 866, but I would assume they put out roughly the same ammount of heat for the most part
The PSU im using has an 80MM (or 70?) fan in it and I think im still gonna add a 120 somewhere to cool it down...

3 new pictures added!
PICTURES
Since this mother board is designed to be stood upright, I mounted it on cardboard...
I'm gonna have one heck of a time keeping the HD and CD-ROM from getting pushed around from the expanding foam.

I'm gonna try and make a couple cardboard mounting brackets to hold the HD and CD-ROM...
Make sure you check out the schematic diagram thingamajig that I made up.


Im also not sure if im going to just spray the crap on there and leave it as is and ghetto rig the whole thing or if im gonna make it look "pretty" by sculpt/carving out everything...

I wanna spend the least amount of money to turn this into a functioning "FOAM PC".

so I guess, GHETTO is my choice!!...

keep your eye on the prize and make this bad boy work

I will

I wish this computer wasn't so proprietary, it would have been so much easier if I could have just laid the motherboard flat onto the cardboard or put a layer of foam underneath it.

that would make things easier, but who likes easy?

how big do you think the case is going to be?

I have no Idea to tell you the truth, right now with the cardboard mounts and everything its only about 10x10x10, I can only assume that it will grom by about 6"'s all the way around from the foam...

If anyone was wondering, I didn't abandon this project.

I wanted to wait for warmer weather because this expanding foam is NASTY stuff!

Plus in order for it to even be worthwhile I wanted to get some more sdram and a better hardrive for it before I make everything permanent.

Expect some updates within 5 years or umm 2 weeks...

what you could do is put the whole thing in a mould before filling with the foam and you can make the "case" a cool shape

For example make a skull like this one but put the pc inside the mould before filling it Here

That would be pretty cool, a little out of my skill level, but its something to consider...

I love these things there custom and fairly easy to do and the posiblitys are endless

if you use enough foam you can cut it/shave it/sculp it to something cool...that stuff's pretty solid

Yeah I've used the stuff as body filler on cars before...

I will attempt to sculpt something out of it whenever I get around to it.
My problem is even a simple skull would be past my abilities as a sculptor, so I have to think simpler and maybe just shape it rather than mould anything good out of it on my first try.

I DIDN"T ABANDON THIS!
More work has been done... I guess


I redid the ducting (with some redneck style):


I'm gonna have a filter on the PSU intake and I'm gonna use this grill on the exhaust:


I have to yank a 128 stick from my PC() because I seem to only have 64mb and lower sticks left in my stash...

Everything is pretty much ready to be foamed, I just have to devise a way to form cardboard or something around the (front and rear) ports to keep them free of foam.
Also I need to make a slot for the slimline CD drive because it sits behind the motherboard if you look at this picture:



I guess it will add some "flair" to the design, It is gonna be a pain in the arse to keep it from "FOAMING" all around the drive...

Maybe I'll pick up another 1GB USB stick for $15 and do away with the harddrive, anyone think I can do it?
What is the minimum size anyone has installed windows on?

WE SHALL SEE IN THE END...

(and yes I know how old this thread is, I just figured since it is somewhat kind of almost a sort of kind of worklog that I could update it as I went along)

i made one of these should i post it? btw: i will give you $20 for the adapter on your notebook cd drive.

YES

I believe it is a proprietary Compaq "multi-bay" adapter (they may all be the same, I have no idea), I kind of need it for this project though...
UNLESS, I decide to run Linux off of my 1GB USB stick I'll send you the adapter for $20...

I have to get those pics off my camera... here are my specs:
Intel P2
128 or 256 mb of ram (i forgot)
ISA: 56kmodem, audio
AGP: video
PCI: none?
fans: 2 case, 1 CPU
hdd: 10GB?
Drives: CD, FDD


You remind me of myself as you have a horrible "stash" (hehe) and a cheap (no offense) main rig (i did not too long ago use a 733 )