flibble
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| posted on 17/12/12 at 12:43 PM |
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O/T Any pitfalls to building a PC case?
Hi all 
I tend to change PC components/poke bits about/clean bits up fairly regularly and, with my current case, it becomes a pain in the bum being as most
everything has grown in size over the years (2 graphics cards at over 12" long etc)... exept the cases. Space in there is short and to remove
one thing others have to be disturbed and with wires & water cooling pipes/radiators that sprawl around everywhere.
I went looking for larger cases and was surprised at prices for anything 'roomy' and was wondering if there would be much to making my
own?
Looks are not important, neither is weight.
I was thinking of just an assortment of 20mm angle welded together for a frame, any old momentary push button for the on/reset switches, incorporating
some salvaged drive bays/back panel from spare cases I have and using some of the black perspex I have sitting around for the sides etc.?
Im assuming the Power supply has to be directly earthed to the chassis but is the motherboard earthed or isolated from the chassis? (I've been
googling but different people say different things).
Can anyone enlighten me to any problems with this basic plan?
Cheers!
KD
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Scotty
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| posted on 17/12/12 at 01:03 PM |
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Why not build your own, all it is is a metal box
the PSU screws to the case - sorted
the motherboard is on mounts, normally about 7mm - have loads if you want some. they used to be plastic but these days mostly metal, i think all
earthing is taken care buy the power supply cables
CPC/maplins can supply switches or rob from an old case
go for it!
PLEASE NOTE! All comments made by this person are to be considered "Tongue in Cheek" and are not meant to be taken seriously in any way - so there!
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mcerd1
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| posted on 17/12/12 at 01:14 PM |
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just use you old case as a donor for the fiddly bits 
or have a look for a second hand server case, some of them have plenty room and shouldn't cost much
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coyoteboy
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| posted on 17/12/12 at 01:18 PM |
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Not long thrown out an old server case, stood about 4ft high.
I'd like to make an acrylic case if I had the time, but you need ESD protected and it needs cleaning regularly.
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Benzine
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| posted on 17/12/12 at 01:29 PM |
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I've built a couple of my own cases in the past, ammo crates mostly. I mounted the mobos to the case via those metal extensions you get in some
cases and didn't have any problems. My next build will be something like
this
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chillis
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| posted on 17/12/12 at 02:16 PM |
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Main problem with building your own case or at least to your own design is to make sure you get the airflow around the CPU, memory and HDD right
otherwise they overheat - I found this out the hard way:-(
If you do a google search there are some good articles on how the air should flow. Most Important if you want a small case as I did.
Never under estimate the ingenuity of an idiot!
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gottabedone
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| posted on 17/12/12 at 02:29 PM |
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You could make the case out of whatever you are used to working with. If the cables are long enough then none of the main components need to be near
each other. I would use MDF because it's dense and wouldn't transmit noise/vibrate.....you would need to earth the component
mountings.
I'd like to give this a go as well 
Steve
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dhutch
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| posted on 17/12/12 at 03:16 PM |
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Would have thought it was easier just to BUY a large case?
My desktop has a slide out motherboard tray for instance, whole lot comes out the back
Daniel
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Bladerunner
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| posted on 17/12/12 at 04:20 PM |
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Computer Case
Super company online that will sell you everything from the case upwards try www.cclonline.com Look for barebones units
Adventure before Dementia
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jossey
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| posted on 17/12/12 at 04:40 PM |
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I had been running my own it company for many years and recently I wanted to put my pc in a smaller case as a media centre especially given my old
case was huge (cooler stacker case) so anti static band on. Turned pc off and off a socket left to cool down over night and as I unscrewed the board
you could see it miss shape as I unscrewed it. It was like a plate bowl shape in end.
Anyway the point in making is the components don't always work again after messing with then no matter how careful you are and how much you know
about pc rebuilds. At least if you build a new pc from components they are covered by warranty. Needless to say that motherboard didn't work
again. £200 later.....
Wish I'd left it alone and bought a htpc.
Also diagnostics on old pc bits is not easy at home......
Thanks
David Johnson
Building my tiger avon slowly but surely.
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mcerd1
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| posted on 17/12/12 at 05:03 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by jossey
...and as I unscrewed the board you could see it miss shape as I unscrewed it. It was like a plate bowl shape in end.
what kind of board was that ? 
I've never seen anything like that and I've had all kinds of old machines to re-build
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jossey
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| posted on 17/12/12 at 05:09 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mcerd1
quote:
Originally posted by jossey
...and as I unscrewed the board you could see it miss shape as I unscrewed it. It was like a plate bowl shape in end.
what kind of board was that ?
I've never seen anything like that and I've had all kinds of old machines to re-build
Not that much of an old pc it was a p5n 32 sli.
I've seen many pc's die whilst replacing parts etc but yes I know Ive never seen that either.
I have built over 300 pc's of which 1000 of then in 3 months at work.
I just wanted to explain it doesn't always go smoothly.
But I'm sure there will be people who have build 100 or so and never had an issue.
I bought all my components from ccl as mentioned above. Very good company.
Worked out cheaper than dell and much better.
Thanks
David Johnson
Building my tiger avon slowly but surely.
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Bare
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| posted on 17/12/12 at 05:21 PM |
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Original poster has bu**ered off :-)
I suggest: buying Current components ..and you won't need a dorky DIY Still for cooling an overclocked outdated CPU.
Fit SS drives and Fit recent design Video card(s) that are Not as big as an oilcooler.
Wayyy cheaper /simpler in the long run.
[Edited on 17/12/12 by Bare]
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flibble
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| posted on 17/12/12 at 05:45 PM |
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Cheers for the replies, and yes - bought my last laptop from CCL and they were very good and helpful.
As for buying a case being easier, I guess I can't deny that being true but have yet to find anything large for under £150, which I wont pay,
and after all this is LCB, the place where people make things they could easily buy
Not worried about component damage, have always made my PC's and never had a problem despite my lack of care so hopefully lucks on my side
(jinxed myself now!)
Ahh, and Bare turns up to offer his usual sarky, know it all comments, cheers and get lost.
If your comprehension was a little better you'd have worked out that I need a new case precisely because I keep buying new components, water
cooling is not particlarly old tech, should've given you a clue.. and I know crossfired HD6970's aren't top of the tree but
they're not too far off. Why do you come here?
Anyway, cheers all, was impressed by that link Benz, bit of inspiration for me
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jossey
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| posted on 17/12/12 at 07:20 PM |
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I have a big big case you can have for £20
Mine had 8 hard drives 2 x nvidia SLI cards.
Loads of cards.
Anyway it's in me garage it cost me £200 new n has a 650 cooler master psu
Thanks
David Johnson
Building my tiger avon slowly but surely.
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flibble
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| posted on 17/12/12 at 07:22 PM |
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U2U incoming
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mcerd1
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| posted on 17/12/12 at 07:35 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by jossey
Not that much of an old pc it was a p5n 32 sli.
I've still got the my old P5ND2 SLI deluxe, its been in a few different cases now and still going strong (and that was a bit of a dud MB to star
with)
guess it shows you can never tell
I actually thought about upgrading to the 32 but held off (for ages!) untill 2 years ago and got a P6T Deluxe V2 with an i7 920 instead - its old now
but still got nothing that slows it down much
so no need to buy the latest and greatest every 5min, just buy something decent and it'll last you a good few years
[Edited on 18/12/2012 by mcerd1]
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