DIY PC case advice

[Zohan2000]

Hi all, thinking of making my own PC case but got no idea where to start, whats a good free model build program thats easy to use, am thinking about possibly using bits of cardboard for a really rough proof of concept but something on PC would be handy also if it had some sort of scaling option to scale it to PC parts would also be awesome, thanks in advance

[Brooksie359]

You can get Google sketchup for free. I don't particularly like the software but it's the only free 3d modeling software I can recall. 

[Radium_Angel]

26 minutes ago, Zohan2000 said:

good free model build program thats easy to use

Which one do you want?

Free, or easy to use?

[Zohan2000]

11 hours ago, Radium_Angel said:

Which one do you want?

Free, or easy to use?

any that are both? lol will watch a tutorial on something just to work out the scaling and working out thicknesses

[Radium_Angel]

9 minutes ago, Zohan2000 said:

any that are both?

Not that I have run across. If you are a student, you can get AutoCAD for free, but any sort of 3d modeling software is going to have a steep learning curve. And anything super easy, is going to be missing the features you are invariably going to need.

 

Having said that, the Google Sketchup someone else mentioned is probably going to be the best you can get on the "ease of use" side, but I can't guarantee it's accurate enough for what you want to do, as I only have experience with AutoCAD, which will do what you want, and then some...

[Zohan2000]

well guess ill give sketchup a try and see if i can figure it out

[Manderis]

Maybe try FreeCAD or google for 3D printing software

 

https://3dprinting.com/software/

[Zohan2000]

managed to make a rough mockup on sketchup just gotta workout dimensions and find a pc case i can cannibalize for the motherboard tray to possibly make a prototype

[Manderis]

You should be able to get the ATX, mATX or ITX mounting dimensions without any problem online. 

[Zohan2000]

18 hours ago, Manderis said:

You should be able to get the ATX, mATX or ITX mounting dimensions without any problem online. 

going to be having the motherboard lay flat and use a pcie riser cable to mount the gpu horizontally and be all water cooled but gonna try to make it so the backplate is facing the motherboard and have the waterblock facing up with some sort of colored fluid to show it moving through the loop

 

[Manderis]

Well that sounds interesting. 

What materials are you going to use? Coated steel/aluminum or some kind of plastics? 

 

I hope you keep us posted with some pictures

[Zohan2000]

6 hours ago, Manderis said:

Well that sounds interesting. 

What materials are you going to use? Coated steel/aluminum or some kind of plastics? 

 

I hope you keep us posted with some pictures

honestly got no idea what materials ill use, will have to either find a modified motherboard tray or make my own as i dont want the rear exhaust fan in that location and keeping it there will add unwanted height and change the orientation of the pcie brackets 

[Zohan2000]

anyone know of any companies or websites or groups that i could contact about making this and getting a rough price on how much it would cost?

[Kostas1232]

On 1/14/2019 at 10:45 PM, Manderis said:

You should be able to get the ATX, mATX or ITX mounting dimensions without any problem online. 

Found this website with dimensions of inches few days ago.

https://www.silverstonetek.com/techtalk_cont.php?area=usa&tid=wh11_008

 

I'm also planning to make my own scratch PC case (probably it will be aluminium or MDF material because I have full access to CNC machine) for mATX motherboard and full-size PS2/ATX PSU and 2 slots for 2,5" SSDs. Also I'm going to put new PC to this DIY case (already bought Saphirre Nitro+ RX 580 8GB for 160 bucks and waiting for good deal of Ryzen 2600).

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for my DIY cass, feel free to write me.

 

The highest-tier scratch DIY case: https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?33109-Scratch-Build-Model-01-by-Brodholm

4 videos about making case with basic techniques (link to 1st video): 

Also in 4th video price is mentioned.

DIY Perks is great channel of DIY videos as well as PC cases ones