cachethrash

You can get little rolling carts to put a tower case on https://www.amazon.com/Computer-Machine-Carts/b?node=1069116 and then you can move it around to clean much easier.

Maybe try heating up the outside/cooling down the slug to loosen things up? If you don't care about the slug maybe you could drill/cut into in and try to remove some material from it to loosen the fit. If you really just want better cooling maybe just try a bigger/faster fan on the heatsink and leave the slug?

Yeah I would think the inversely decreasing magnetic field strength would make it pretty infeasible, as well as the controllability and directionality of the magnetic fields. 3d printing or laser cutting/CNC routing can probably make terrain maps pretty good already.

Some day all these wood case haters are gonna learn they live in houses made of wood For acrylic cracking issues, sometimes you can help it by putting tape on the back of the plastic where the bit will emerge. Or if you're doing a lot of drilling it might be worth it to get special acrylic drill bits which are shaped differently and dont crack (as much).

I would be skeptical of their holding power, especially in the face of a bump to the system. If you really dont want screws, could use double sided tape, which could leave a residue, or suction tape.

Very cool. How are the sides connected to each other, rivets?

If you're using the laptop keyboard still, isnt there a function key/shortcut to toggle display modes?

It's not guaranteed that the motherboard and other sundry from an HP or Dell prebuilt will even fit in a standard ATX case, though. They often use proprietary motherboard designs and cable run lengths are very specific. The recent Gamers Nexus videos showcase OEM prebuilt madness quite nicely.

Same reason phones moved to glass and metal backs/bodies, I think, purely subjective aesthetic reasons like "premium feel". Tempered glass is heavier, more expensive, harder to manufacture (ie it's much harder to make side panel mounted fans), and has a spontaneous disintegration rate greater than 0. I think acrylic might scratch easier? And long term UV exposure might damage or discolor acrylic?

If cost is a major concern, building your own case is almost certainly not the best solution. You'll end up spending more in materials and tools and time. Otherwise, I'd start by finding templates for component form factors, like the outline of mini-itx motherboards which gives the dimensions and screw hole spacings.

Why not hard drives, and CPUs, too?

Or maybe submerge the whole system in some kind of mineral-based oil...

If it's such a cheap, crappy power supply, then unplugging it every day isn't so big a deal, eh?

They're out of stock in the Amazon link, but when I change the extension to "com" it shows as in stock. You could maybe just get a very long 6-32 or m3 standoff, or stack a few of them on top of each other if they don't come in the right size.

if you can find the make/model/ serial number on the fan, you might be able to search online for a data sheet or pinout for it.