Micro ATX Quiet Case Build

[bp9801]

So get another red LED and problem solved.

[jammin]

A quick update with what I managed to get done today.

 

It was time to get those cable routing holes cut. I want this to be a super neat build, so cables need to be easy to hide.

 

First stage was to mark where I wanted those holes (yep the pink highlighter is rather fetching )

 

 

 

After getting that all marked up I drilled some holes in the corners of the sections, to give me somewhere to stick a saw blade.

 

 

 

Eww, those cuts look ugly, better give them a bit of a clean up.

 

 

 

After some work with a file and some sandpaper they are looking much better.

 

 

 

This panel would look even better with a bit of paint on it though.

Let's see if some old grey matt paint and a sponge on a stick is up to the task.

 

 

 

Here it is after a single coat. Looking better already

 

 

 

After another coat I bolted everything back together.

 

There are routing holes for the hard drives, 24-pin ATX power connector, SATA ports, front panel and switch headers, the bottom fan, the PSU cables and the 8-pin CPU power connector.

The 8-pin CPU connector might be a tight squeeze and may require cutting away the frame little.

 

 

And from the back

 

 

 

Aluminium for the rear panel should get here in the next couple of days I hope. I'll give other areas some thought in the mean time.

Edited May 26, 2011 by jammin

[VaporX]

Was looking at your build and love what you are doing. Wish I had the skills needed to do this.

 

Was wondering if you might not consider a possible modification to your design? I would look at replacing the top 140 mm fan with dual 120 mm fans. My reasoning is the dual 120s would let you have the option of using at least one of them as a radiator system like the Antec 620,

 

Also would you have room to make the bottom intake fan bigger? If not a 200 mm, maybe a 170 mm or 180 mm?

[jammin]

Two 120mm fans up top is something I will give some thought to.

 

The Thermalright TY-140 fans that I will likely use have 120mm mounting holes anyway (though obviously larger blades.

 

Stepping up above 140mm makes things more tricky, if only because of fan choice more than anything. I know there are a good few decent quiet 140mm fans out there, but I'm not so sure once it gets bigger than that.

There would probably be just enough room for a 170mm fan, or maybe 180mm at a squeeze, so I could always come back to that at a later date.

[gotdamojo06]

design looks really nice and the progress is coming along as well!

[ccokeman]

Cant wait to see the final build

[jammin]

Yes, neither can I

 

Still quite a bit of work to go into this.

 

I ordered some acoustic foam for the inner panels, so now I am up to a total of:

 

Aluminium angle for the frame - £8.48

Lian Li Micro ATX Motherboard Tray - £21.44 (£28.58 inc shipping)

Aluminium sheet for the rear panel - £3.50 (£6.50 inc shipping)

30" Square Acoustic Tile - £6.65 (£9.15 in shipping)

 

So that's £40.07 so far (or £52.71 with shipping)

 

In to decent mid tower territory already, so this isn't really going to save me money.

Just need to keep it down below what I would spend on a nice case.

 

As a guide, an Antec P180 Mini is about £90 and a Lian Li PC-V354 is about £130.

Those are both cases I'd consider if I was going to buy something rather than build (but where would be the fun in that ).

[Locutus]

As long as it's less than 100 bucks and looks nice I think it shall be worth your time. :3

[bp9801]

With having a custom built case, even if it matches the price of something you'd consider, you have to think that the case fits exactly what you want. A pre-built case may have extra features you don't need or even lack something you want, so the custom built case is the best option no matter what.

 

Progress is looking good so far, though some of the routing holes look like they'll need to be cut a bit more. Like the bottom one for the front headers, mostly. Still, it's looking very good overall.

[SpeedCrazy]

Love it.

[jammin]

I'm still waiting for a few things to arrive (it's a bank holiday here, so no deliveries until tomorrow).

 

I also ordered some carbon fiber vinyl and an anti vandal switch for my main power switch.

The vinyl will be for the side panels and the front panel (but maybe not the top section with the fan controller).

I'm going to pick up some more 6mm MDF to make the panels with tomorrow too. Hopefully it won't make the case tooo heavy. Not that weight is bad really (I remember my 15kg Chieftec BX, that was hefty).

 

Anyway a small update today.

 

The motherboard tray as it was didn't come into contact with the panel behind it. It hung just above it, so I wanted to make up that gap so it had something to rest on.

 

An old mousemat (dense foam) looked like an ideal candidate:

 

 

I cut a few strips from that and applied some spray adhesive

 

 

I then stuck the strips to the panel behind the tray

 

 

So now the tray has something to rest on (which will also absorb any vibrations)

 

 

 

If everything goes well I should have some more substantial updates over the next few days.

[bp9801]

Nifty idea with the old mousepad. Should help to quiet it down some more.

 

Maybe I missed it, but will you move your current build into the new case once its finished or just wait for all new gear?