[Build Log] Project Acebox - Ultra Low-Budget Portable Gaming Rig -aka "Frankenputer"

[MEC-777]

Acquired my mother-in-law's old Acer Veriton 6900Pro desktop unit after building her a new PC this past December. She said it was mine to "do what ever I want with it". Well the ideas started flowing...

 

First off, here are the specs as is:

 

Core 2 Duo E6320 1.86GHz

Some Acer/Foxconn 775 motherboard

1GB DDR2 RAM (2x512MB)

Seagate 250GB 7200rpm HDD

Some cheap 400w PSU that apparently "supports Pentium 4s" and "AMD Athlons!" ...lol

Surprisingly solid mATX chassis with tool-less HDD/OD bays

 

Pics:

 

The inside - after I dusted it out and cleaned it up:

 

The sketchy PSU:

 

One of the unhealthy caps:

 

The Core 2 Duo:

 

The fan on the stock CPU cooler was practically dead, was making a horrendous groaning noise and barely spinning resulting in higher CPU temps. Installed a cheap little $15 Deepcool CPU cooler to fix that for the time being. I installed Lubuntu Linux on it and played around with it for while just for kicks.

 

Wasn't until very recently that I finally decided on what to do with this; built a portable gaming rig with the best performance for the absolute lowest cost possible.

 

I have a spare Radeon HD7950 that could use a home, so that already saves a HUGE amount off the budget right there. But the E6320 just won't cut it for gaming these days - not the types of games the 7950 is meant for. Did some research on the motherboard to see if it was compatible with Core 2 Quads, but sadly it will only take dual cores.

 

This left me to begin searching for something better for just the right price. Stopped by several small local PC part stores where one guy tried to sell me an H61 motherboard with a Q6600... Derp. >_< Not only are they incompatible, but they wanted over $250 for the combo! I don't care if the parts were new, that's just ridiculous, lol. The other shops didn't have much better to offer except one who had a Core 2 Quad (unknown model) with a motherboard for $150 - not too bad. Then I started looking on Kijiji for local used parts and came across what I believe was a really nice deal and exactly what I was looking for:

 

AMD Phenom II x4 (quad core) 955 Black Edition + Asus M4A79T Deluxe Motherboard (one of the first with DDR3 RAM) and 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333 RAM - all for just $100!

 

Pics of the new hardware:

(Graphics card is the 7950)

 

For those that don't know, the Phenom II x4 955 BE will mop the floor with a Q6600 and even edged out the 1st gen Core i7's it was meant to compete with, especially in gaming. It didn't run with the big dogs, it was one of the big dogs at that time. From what I can tell by the research I've done thus far, it'll still hang with any of the fastest and latest quad-core CPUs from AMD when it comes to gaming, so I'm really curious to see how it performs.

 

The last part I need to move forward is a PSU with at least 600w or more and 80+ bronze. I may have already found one for a killer price, but will have to wait and see if that works out.

 

The next hurtle will be figuring out how to fit this full ATX motherboard in the Acer case which is only meant for mATX boards. More on that later...

 

Stay tuned.

 

MEC.

 

@dragoon20005 @tmcclellend455 @AlwaysFSX

[Interfectorem]

That stock heatsink is insanely loud.

[Kyuubixchidori]

I ran a I5 overclocked to 4.4 ghz and a Hd 7950 running at 1.2 volts on a not even bronze 600 watt. so you could get away with less

[AHaskin14]

I think your going to have an awesome build for what you did but i'm not liking the 1.86 GHz dual core. best of luck.

[Decon]

I think your going to have an awesome build for what you did but i'm not liking the 1.86 GHz dual core. best of luck.

read the whole post bro

[AHaskin14]

read the whole post bro

lol oops. I got bummed out when he said the one he had was incompatible, then even more bummed at the ridiculous prices he was finding on Q6600's. Then for some reason it didnt click that he had an AMD cooler on it....kudos to him.

[MEC-777]

I ran a I5 overclocked to 4.4 ghz and a Hd 7950 running at 1.2 volts on a not even bronze 600 watt. so you could get away with less

 

I had an 80+ bronze rated 650w PSU kill my 7950 and R9 290 (RMA'd them both and bought a new gold rated PSU). The Phenom II is going to pull more power than the i5 in my main rig, especially if I overclock, so no matter what PSU I go with I want to make sure it has the capacity and efficiency to at least last a while and not murder these components.

 

Also just because something works doesn't mean it's ideal.

[Kyuubixchidori]

I had an 80+ bronze rated 650w PSU kill my 7950 and R9 290 (RMA'd them both and bought a new gold rated PSU). The Phenom II is going to pull more power than the i5 in my main rig, especially if I overclock, so no matter what PSU I go with I want to make sure it has the capacity and efficiency to at least last a while and not murder these components.

 

Also just because something works doesn't mean it's ideal.

I know, but with ultra low budget, You dont always get ideal:P just wanted to throw in my experience. 

[MEC-777]

That stock heatsink is insanely loud.

 

It was also the best performing stock heatsink in Slick's recent CPU heatsink shootout video...

 

I have a Corsair H55 AIO I will most likely use instead.

[MEC-777]

I know, but with ultra low budget, You dont always get ideal:P just wanted to throw in my experience. 

 

Yeah, for sure. Appreciate it. Will have to see what I can find.

 

Already might have a decent 620w PSU lined up for about $30-40, from the same place I got the CPU, mobo and RAM from. Fingers crossed...

[MEC-777]

Using the old motherboard as a mockup, started trying to figure out how to fit and orient the new bigger board. Turning it 90 degrees so that the I/O is facing down could work, but would be a little inconvenient, unless I sit the tower down on it's side... Not exactly ideal since I'm planning to bolt a handle to the top of the case.

 

Will try some more configurations. Definitely will have to break out the dremel and start cutting. Would like to retain the tool-less HDD bays if possible...

 

Some mockup pics:

 

More pics and updates to come...

[Gilbert]

Move the power supply location?

[dragoon20005]

those old cases have the PSU positioned on the top above the mobo

 

you could cut the bottom part of the HDD bays if you dont intend to use that many HDDs

 

you could rig the PSU to be the front but you need to make holes for fitting the PSU and for a intake fan

 

and then the old place where the PSU sits can be for rear exhaust

[CtW]

those old cases have the PSU positioned on the top above the mobo

 

you could cut the bottom part of the HDD bays if you dont intend to use that many HDDs

 

you could rig the PSU to be the front but you need to make holes for fitting the PSU and for a intake fan

 

and then the old place where the PSU sits can be for rear exhaust

If you do this you should use the front of the case as an intake and have some sort of pass through. Also cut some holes in the top for some more ventilation. 

[Guest]

I actually did a PC build on an old desktop computer I had, and I put a Q6600 G0 Stepping in it. It's at stock 2.4 GHz. From the testing I've done with it and from friends who have had an AMD Phenom II x4 and the Q6600, I'm actually pretty impressed with the performance so far. They both have their strengths and weaknesses, but I would definitely say the Q6600 would give the Phenom a run for its money.

 

Edit: EPIC build by the way; that's really awesome for the price!

[MEC-777]

those old cases have the PSU positioned on the top above the mobo

 

Yes, I am aware. (Sorry I couldn't resist)

 

 

you could cut the bottom part of the HDD bays if you dont intend to use that many HDDs

 

you could rig the PSU to be the front but you need to make holes for fitting the PSU and for a intake fan

 

and then the old place where the PSU sits can be for rear exhaust

 

If you do this you should use the front of the case as an intake and have some sort of pass through. Also cut some holes in the top for some more ventilation.

After stripping the case down and exploring a few other options/layouts, I've decided to keep the motherboard in it's original location and relocate the PSU. It'll require some cutting and fabricating to make things line up, but that's what I love to do. One nice thing is I'll still be able to use the original GPU mounting location. Not sure where to position the PSU just yet, I'm still exploring those options. My intent is to cut as little as possible to maintain the structural rigidity of the chassis - which is why I wanted to keep the tool-less HDD bays intact if at all possible. Most likely I'll be modifying the optical drive bay area to house the PSU. 

 

Indeed, I'll need to keep in mind where fans will be mounted and how the airflow with move through the case. If I use the H55 AIO, I can easily mount the rad to the vented side panel for fresh air intake.

 

[MEC-777]

The case, stripped down to it's skeleton:

 

 

The front I/O:

 

Totally bare:

 

 

The new motherboard location/position:

 

Will still be able to use those first two expansion slots for the GPU as it lines up perfectly with the 2nd PCIe x16 slot on the board.

 

 

A shot of the Phenom II:

 

Love the look of all the bare copper heatsinks and beefy VRM bank.

[MEC-777]

Little update. Was "browsing" Canada Computers today (was only supposed to just pick up another 1TB HDD) and stumbled across a case that I might just have to buy for this project. The one down side is the only part from the original Acer I started with that will still be used is the 250GB HDD. lol. 

 

This case I found is a bit of a hidden gem. It's only carried by a few stores and is apparently made by Cooler Master. I present to you, the "Thermal Master TC-102":

 

http://www.microcenter.com/product/357902/Thermal_Master_Mid_Tower_ATX_Computer_Case_with_500W_Power_Supply

 

(It's actually $55 here in Canada at Canada Computers, but Microcenter's web page has much better pictures of it.) 

 

Before anyone says it, yes it has an included 500w PSU and yes I KNOW it's better suited for a door stop and NO I'm not going to use it.

 

At a glance it looks like just another simple cheap case, bare metal on the inside, nothing special. However it actually can fit a crap-ton of fans (6x 120mm I believe) and even will hold one or two 120mm AIO rads. not only that but it'll take up to 347mm graphics cards! After I mod the Acer case, it would still be a little bigger than I wanted it to be, but this Thermal Master case is quite a bit more shallow from front to back and only an inch or so taller. It's basically exactly the case I need for this project. At $55, that's $55 more than what I wanted to spend on a case lol, but I think I'm willing to pay it for it's small size and crazy cooling capabilities. It's really hard to find small cases that support full ATX boards and full-length GPUs, not only that but cheap cases that have good cooling support. 

 

If I jump on this case, the total project cost will be at about $160 and that's still without a PSU. Hopefully I can find a good one for $40 or less and keep everything under $200 in the end. 

 

Funny, the things you find when your "just browsing".

[dragoon20005]

yea looking at the barebones of the Acer chassis

 

not much mods you could do

 

and it only supports mATX while your board is ATX size.

 

as for me I will jump on the CM Stacker 935 and V8 GTS on the next pay check since i save a lot from buying a new mobo and RAM

[MEC-777]

yea looking at the barebones of the Acer chassis

 

not much mods you could do

 

and it only supports mATX while your board is ATX size.

 

as for me I will jump on the CM Stacker 935 and V8 GTS on the next pay check since i save a lot from buying a new mobo and RAM

 

Yeah, with the Acer chassis, I would have to do a lot of cutting and customizing to make everything fit and line up correctly. Not that I wouldn't enjoy doing that, but the Thermal Master case is already the right size and perfectly laid out for what I need, without having to do anything to it. Will probably pick up the new case either this week or next.

 

Still looking for a PSU. Found a few leads, just waiting to hear back from the sellers. Looking at an older Enermax Infinity 720w modular (reviewed and tested really well back in it's day) or a CS650M (much newer, but also more money ).

[MEC-777]

Found a PSU today.

 

Enermax Infiniti 720w 80+ semi-modular for $40. It's about 3 years old and the thing still looks brand new!

 

It's missing one of the 8-pin PCIe cables, but the guy thinks he knows where it is and will mail it to me when he finds it. Hooked it up to the rest of the components a little while ago and powered it up. All is good! The motherboard lit up like a christmas tree, the HDD spun up and started clicking away (loading the OS I assume) and that AMD CPU cooler began to howl. It's alive!

 

Pics:

 

 

The high-tech test-bed...

[MEC-777]

Picked up that Thermal Master case today. Build is coming together much quicker than expected. Was thinking it would take weeks to track down some of these parts. Turns out there there are actually quite a few good deals out there.

 

It's very light and a little flimsy, but it's a cheap case - you get what you pay for. Build quality is actually not bad but I still wouldn't trust that PSU. lol. Internal volume might actually be larger than the Acer case but the internal layout is better for what I'm trying to do. Also, to confirm, yes it does take up to 6 120mm fans and will hold up to 2 or 3 120mm AIO rads. It's deep enough to mount a rad to the side panel or at the bottom intake or rear exhaust. For such a small cheap case, that's pretty awesome, IMO.

 

One of my dogs, Zero, was check'n it out. (we have 4 chihuahuas)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It dwarfs my Node 304.

 

 

It's smaller in person than it looks in the pictures. Kinda tricky to get the real perspective through photos. Set it beside something like a corsair 200R and you can see just how small it really is.

 

More build/assembly pics coming soon...

[MEC-777]

Alright, build pics. Everything is ready except for the missing PCIe cable for the GPU, adding all the fans and finishing up the cable management. 

 

This case is VERY cramped to work in. Even worse than the Node 304. Everything fits no problem, it's just very time-consuming. 

 

Spring loaded optical drive bay door. Nice little touch to keep the front aesthetics clean:

 

The bare chassis:

 

3 different rad mounting options:

 

PSU is in. This was a bit tricky. Thing weighs a ton and the fit is a bit snug:

 

Like I said, working in this case is cramped, to say the least:

 

All the main stuff is in:

 

Lots of room between the GPU and front panel for fans and rads:

 

The single-screw expansion card clamp works quite well, the GPU is fastened in tight and not going anywhere:

 

Plenty of room for the PCIe power cables:

 

3.5" HDD mounting configuration works pretty good. Looking in the front, it's clear to see someone was thinking about the design of this case - mounted HDD's still leave enough clearance for front fans and rads:

 

Mounted a spare 120mm fan in the bottom to help cool the GPU:

 

Few more pics:

 

Hopefully will be able to pick up a PCIe cable in the next day or two and finally fire this sucker up.

[MEC-777]

IT'S ALIVE!!!!

 

...and I've already overclocked the Phenom 955 to 4GHz (stock is 3.2).

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, that's a Y-molex to 8-pin PCIe adapter. It's just temporary until I can get the proper modular PCIe cable.

 

Can't wait to throw a blank HDD in, install Linux and start gaming on it.

[MEC-777]

Installed Lubuntu 14.04 this past week, installed Steam and a couple games. Day of Defeat; Source, Trine 2 and Metro Last Light just to get a feel for how well it performs. In DoD Source, fsp should be at well over 100 but it's only around 40 for some reason. Trine 2 runs at about 30-40 and should also be higher. Metro is around 30 but the graphical settings for that game on Linux only gives a slider, so I can't tell if it's using AA or what, but it is playable.

 

I'm using the proprietary drivers from AMD but it may require a little more "tinkering" to get the performance it should be providing. Ah the joys of Linux. Everything else actually has been working perfectly out of the box. I'm surprised how quickly it boost up considering I'm using a slow 4-year old 5400rpm 2.5" 500GB laptop HDD. One of the benefits of a light-weight Linux distro I guess.

 

In-home streaming with Steam works REALLY well. The pic below is streaming Shadow of Mordor at 40-50fps with no noticeable input lag. Keep in mind; I'm running it on my main rig (R9-290) with VSR at 4K ultra/very high settings, down-scaled to 1080p (display on the right) and streaming to the Acebox (display on the left) which is running at 1440 x 900. I'm going to try this on the 40" 1080p TV (when ever my wife takes a break from watching Supernatural, lol) and see how it looks on the big screen.

 

 

So the build is almost done. Next is to install the H55 AIO cooler and see if I can OC the ol' Phenom II a little higher. 4.0GHz was a little too much as it wouldn't boot to the grub menu to install Linux but instead gave some CPU error message. Dialed it back to 3.6 for now (which is still +400MHz over stock) where it's sitting stable at about 38 degrees.

 

Total project cost: $200 - which was the max I wanted to spend on this. I did add some blue LED fans, but they were only a few dollars each.

 

Since none of the parts from the original Acer PC ended up being used, I can't really call this "project Acebox" anymore which warrants finding a new name for this. Any suggestions?

 

There will be a few more final build pics yet to come...