Project Mini ATX, completed !




25 x 26 x 7cm, try to beat that using mini ATX board !



please check the bottom of the page for the steps



gettin' itchy with 5mm polycarbonate boards.........



This post has been edited by AllnGap: Aug 28 2008, 09:26 PM

gigabyte AM2 mobo + AM2, 3000+ proc


thanks, should be completed by tomorrow


those are 1U server power supplies...thinner, more compacy.
i got lotsa power supply.....good ones actually....not cap ayam

http://pinouts.ru/Power/sata-power_pinout.shtml

this system will be used for BT and downloading purposes only, hence it must be small size and consume low power as well

spec of the system

Gigabyte AM2 6100 mini ATX mobo
AMD 3000+ AM2 proc
1gb DDR 2 PC533mhz
WD 160GB SATA HDD
1U PSU 250W (BRAND = ZIPPY)


objectives :

maintain small size
silent
simple
easy to open
wont break easily


the power supply you see in the picture is a 1U 250W pure power, active PFC PSU.
some modifications were made onto the PSU.

again, the layout of the hardware placement is a real headache, as not only space constraint, there are cables dangling around and airflow issues in small size PC as usual will cause a lot of headache.





this is the initial hardware placing, the HDD lies on top of the CPU heatsink which is not that effective.





the main material used is a darker 2.5mm acrylic.

basically, the base of the casing is 25*26cm, the size is just nice to fit in an mini ATX casing with very little space left (less than 1cm at the sides)

to hold the mobo, ATX holes are made on the base of the casing








since there are no motherboard stands used, the mobo lies some randomly placed sponge(strips) which are very effective at dampening vibration and noise





after some thinking, i thought this configuration should be the best as it is the most compact.
but in the other hand, poses a big problem which is the most heavy components must be supported by the case on the weakest part of it, so by solving one problem, the other problem pops out.....

initially, i had the idea of changing into a smaller CPU heatsink and then the HDD will be on top of it, but because of the thermal design is not that good, that plan cannot work out.






the front panel is simple, just with a Bulgin switch right in the middle




This post has been edited by AllnGap: Jul 24 2008, 10:41 PM

according to the standard size, mine is micro-atx size (245*245)

the one you mention is micro ITX, not ATX

---

Added on July 24, 2008, 10:43 pm


here is the view of the interior, the orange colour NB heatsink is super hot!! definitely need some cooling on it or else it will die very soon




as for the mounting of the power supply, the plan was to hook it up to the acrylic, but there was no screw holes for me to do so.

so, 4screw holes were made onto the power supply.
M3 tap was used to make the threads.




screws fits perfectly and tighyly








this is the PSU mounted onto the side panel
steady but not rigid, as the power supply is really heavy(true power server PSU)






this is the backshot,notice that the area of the PSU for the rear is only 4*10cm






this is the trickest part of this project
in order to mount the HDD behind the CPU heatsink, the space left beween the HDD and the PSU was like 5mm only, meaning the SATA cable and power cable cannot be plugged in !!!

so i had to come up with something which will definitely work.
90° cables arent thin enough as well......

so to the extreme side, i had to solder my own cable from the board





had to cut off the SATA cable and understand the wirings a bit.....else solder opposite way


This post has been edited by AllnGap: Jul 24 2008, 10:56 PM

for SATA it's only 7pins, 3 are common ground, 4 are for data

while for the power is 15pins !!!
had to rely on uncle google to find the pin out....4 cables branches into 15pins.....headache man !!





after understanding the pins, finally can perform some soldering, each patches are separate voltage lines,

from left

ground(black) +5V(red) ground(black) +12V(yellow)





then proceed to SATA common ground





then soldering the SATA cable








this is the completed cable mod on the HDD.
just imagine if you got the time and energy to do such mod, all of your drives could go stealth, no more messy wires crawling behind the drives....





this is what i planned for







proceeding to cooling the NB heatsink
decided to use a small size NMB silent blower, it fits just nice






This post has been edited by AllnGap: Jul 24 2008, 11:05 PM

haiya, i got deals for 2.5" SATA mer...but the speed potong stim la....3600rpm only

the 60mm fan is meant for the CPU heatsink, direct cool air from outside blow onto the heatsink, definitely be cool....and there is blue LEDs modded onto it...






prolonging the EPS 12V cable




how can a PC run without HDD activity lights ?
well, have to build one myself....red colour....






after installing the fan, problem arises as the fan is about 1mm thicker, which makes in incompatible as the PSU is taller than the top cover.





but never mind that, proceed to the rear design





top shot





now with the top acrylic ready with 60mm intake fan hole and 4x other holes to hold the PSU from the top.



This post has been edited by AllnGap: Jul 24 2008, 11:14 PM

other shots before removing the the acrylic paper protection




added 2 screw holes on the sides near the front for better support





love those Bulgin switch




the 60mm on top of the CPU heatsink





added another piece of acrylic support for the HDD





this plate is the exhaust fan plate which are meant for the rear because there is 60mm fan intake, but no proper exhaust(except for the PSU).
so must suck out the hot air as well.

will stick the 30mm COpal fan onto the plate which is directly below the PSU






so to solve the problem of the blower, had to improvise a bit by using these Copal 30mm fan, very useful and easy to mount (double sided tape settle d), about 3.12cfm already good enough and it's silent.....
the fans are directly soldered onto the 3pin




This post has been edited by AllnGap: Jul 24 2008, 11:23 PM

tiny fans, can put anywhere you like






added an L stand to make it stand upright





this is how the completed casing looks like (empty)




the fans installed at the back





hardware goes in





this is the top cover with the HDD already installed.
double sided tape were added to the side near the fan due to space limitation, the mounts were unable to be implemented on both sides.
so compact until cannot fit in 2.5mm plate




this is without the HDD installed....already very compact


This post has been edited by AllnGap: Jul 24 2008, 11:30 PM

in front of the PSU is very tight as well, luckily the fans were able to be added to cool the NB heatsink





the 12V EPS cable was long enough, and the rest of the space are occupied by wires




after everything was put back together, this is a up and running rig !!





front shot




side shot, notice that the 60mm fan does not touch the heatsink but it is very very close to it.




the other side shot, with the 4x screws holding the PSU





back shot, not even have enough space to put in a read panel, as it will be too thin and serve no purpose (easy to break)




the top cover couldnt cover properly because the PSU was too heavy, making the cover bent downwards.





pretty nasty setup at the back there



This post has been edited by AllnGap: Jul 24 2008, 11:39 PM

notice the space behind the HDD ?
impossible to anything with that kind of space left !





top shot




front shot again....





on my 2nd PC table.....thinner than a coke bottle !




final shot, with the HDD activity LED on.........



used a total of 8 fans,

5x 30mm fans
1x 60mm NMB
2x SUNON 40mm (PSU) wired at 6V


This post has been edited by AllnGap: Jul 24 2008, 11:44 PM

totally no space la bro....not that i dont want.....serves no purpose as well....

my mobo's form factor is micro ATX, 25*25cm

the super small form factor is mini ITX, 17*17cm

so this is the smallest i could go using this motherboard