Scratch build: wooden mini-itx

[GeekLlama]

 

With remote working, I got to bring my work computer home (3950x, 64gb of ram and a 2060 super (it might seem unbalance, but for what I do it's perfect)), and my personnal computer was sitting in a corner (ryzen 2600, 16gb of ram and a 2060) for 6 monts. So I decided to make a mini-itx HTPC/Vr gaming rig for my living room with parts from my personnal computer.

 

My old Thermaltake Armor being HUGE, I choose to shrink down a lot. I just needed to buy a new motherboard (I chose the Asus A320i-k, just because it was the cheapest one and I didn't need more) and a new PSU (I chose the Corsair SF450).

 

I wanted to use wood, make the computer less "computery" in the room. I chose red oak and maple (sentimental thing).

 

 

 

I decided to make the internal out of sheet metal (and by cutting the pannel of an old Lenovo). But first I made a prototype out of cardboard..

 

Afterward, it was "only" a question of glueing the wood, cutting, sanding, and putting a coat of Teak oil. It took me waayyy more time to do all of this than I anticipated (and I'm way over budget). The end result is far from perfect, it isn't perfectly even, the cutting isnt perfectly straight, the mounting holes for the fans aren't perfectly aligned... But. I love how it looks.

 

 

My internal AC cable being too shot, I had to flip it and cut a hole in the middle metal sheet so the PSU could breathe.

 

 

Last thing was to put something to seal the panels (so I wouldn't get cat hair everywhere on the computer). And do some cable management.

 

 

And here are pictures from the final product