[Now Building] Self made case: 90° rotated + large fans

[chimimoryo]

15 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

Not over 180mm penetrator fans, but over 3 120mm fans is quite common in the Lian Li 011D, which I used in Rainbow 2020. 

 

15 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

Result? Fantastic temperatures. The upward firing fans heavily overcome the "bottom" exhaust of the GPU

That's exactly what I thought. It would make next to no sense that fans pushing air directly through the fins acting as air canals wouldn't be a good cooling solution. 

[lpdevIT]

I did some testing about latest ideas...

 

Click here to VIEW and DOWNLOAD SketchUp project

 

I definitely don't like it! It'd bring me many problems (pci slot covered, cpu cooler rotation, pci riser cable, space between fan and gpu) and I'm not sure I'd gain any thermal benefits.

Check out this image to see my components right now:

 

Today I got some hardware to start my build!

[cachethrash]

On 4/8/2021 at 9:00 AM, lpdevIT said:

Hey, this looks really similar to what I'm building: can I ask you some more pics and details? Thank you

Here's one from the other side and the top. Things might look a little crooked, which is because they are. It's all custom cut out of acrylic, dimension is a 1 foot cube. In this and other cases I've made with the same basic design, I only have intake fans on the bottom and lift the bottom of the case 2 inches up off the floor. Never had issues with cooling, but I don't have anything runs all that hot.

 

 

[lpdevIT]

 

9 hours ago, cachethrash said:

Here's one from the other side and the top. Things might look a little crooked, which is because they are. It's all custom cut out of acrylic, dimension is a 1 foot cube. In this and other cases I've made with the same basic design, I only have intake fans on the bottom and lift the bottom of the case 2 inches up off the floor. Never had issues with cooling, but I don't have anything runs all that hot.

 

 

 

This looks nice  what are its size?

 

On 3/31/2021 at 1:52 AM, Blue4130 said:

Ouch, speaking from experience, 1mm side panels is thin... 

I have bad news: you were tremendously right! Yesterday I got the polypropylene black panels 1mm... as you can see, they're not good!!!

I think I should not use them to build the case... I'll use them to make a template for future materials.

 

So, what material do you suggest now? Thin (1mm) aluminium panels (I think they'll be gray, once it's build I should paint them in black) or thick (5mm) acrylic black panels?
I don't want to spend too much money...

 

Also, I posted on YouTube a video about this project

 

[Blue4130]

2 hours ago, lpdevIT said:

 

 

This looks nice  what are its size?

 

I have bad news: you were tremendously right! Yesterday I got the polypropylene black panels 1mm... as you can see, they're not good!!!

 

I think I should not use them to build the case... I'll use them to make a template for future materials.

 

So, what material do you suggest now? Thin (1mm) aluminium panels (I think they'll be gray, once it's build I should paint them in black) or thick (5mm) acrylic black panels?
I don't want to spend too much money...

 

Also, I posted on YouTube a video about this project

 

I ended up using 3mm stainless steel. Even it has a bit of flex (across a 350mm length) It's not excessive, but it will flex. 

[lpdevIT]

1 hour ago, Blue4130 said:

I ended up using 3mm stainless steel. Even it has a bit of flex (across a 350mm length) It's not excessive, but it will flex. 

Thank you! I just found 0.75mm stainless steel and I think it’d be ok. I’d use it just for mobo support and top+bottom of the case...

 

now i’m doing some research 

[Blue4130]

5 hours ago, lpdevIT said:

Thank you! I just found 0.75mm stainless steel and I think it’d be ok. I’d use it just for mobo support and top+bottom of the case...

 

now i’m doing some research 

0.75mm? You are setting yourself up for round two of disappointment. 

[lpdevIT]

1 hour ago, Blue4130 said:

0.75mm? You are setting yourself up for round two of disappointment. 

lol 3mm is too thick for my project...

Now I’m evaluating 1.2mm black steel sheet.

Today I had in my hands 0.75 stainless steel sheet and it looked ok.

I think I’ll decide tomorrow...

[Blue4130]

4 hours ago, lpdevIT said:

lol 3mm is too thick for my project...

Now I’m evaluating 1.2mm black steel sheet.

Today I had in my hands 0.75 stainless steel sheet and it looked ok.

I think I’ll decide tomorrow...

What are the dimensions of the panel? That will determine how thick you need to go. 

[lpdevIT]

6 hours ago, Blue4130 said:

What are the dimensions of the panel? That will determine how thick you need to go. 

50cm height x 40cm (about) width
It'll touch both the bottom and the top panels (so they will support it).

[cachethrash]

On 4/10/2021 at 7:27 AM, lpdevIT said:

 

 

This looks nice  what are its size?

 

I have bad news: you were tremendously right! Yesterday I got the polypropylene black panels 1mm... as you can see, they're not good!!!

I think I should not use them to build the case... I'll use them to make a template for future materials.

 

So, what material do you suggest now? Thin (1mm) aluminium panels (I think they'll be gray, once it's build I should paint them in black) or thick (5mm) acrylic black panels?
I don't want to spend too much money...

 

Also, I posted on YouTube a video about this project

 

I used 12 inch x 12 inch pieces for all the sides because it was cheaper than getting custom sizes, and 12 inches is the length of ATX motherboards so it seemed like a perfect fit.

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but one thing to consider is how rotating the motherboard changes cable runs, like power button and USB headers. The CPU power connector (the 8 pin EPS) especially can be annoying because it's right up against the front panel of the case. You might have to plug it in before the motherboard is in the case.

[lpdevIT]

55 minutes ago, cachethrash said:

I used 12 inch x 12 inch pieces for all the sides because it was cheaper than getting custom sizes, and 12 inches is the length of ATX motherboards so it seemed like a perfect fit.

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but one thing to consider is how rotating the motherboard changes cable runs, like power button and USB headers. The CPU power connector (the 8 pin EPS) especially can be annoying because it's right up against the front panel of the case. You might have to plug it in before the motherboard is in the case.

Power button and CPU power won't be a problem, I already thought about it (I hope so lol).

Now I'm about to buy a black iron sheet 1.5mm to build the motherboard support; also, it'll be used for top and bottom panels.
It's iron, not stainless steel... but it will be bettern than aluminium or acrylic

 

[lpdevIT]

Today I got everything I ordered from China
Yesterday I ordered stainless steel galvanized and painted (ral 7016) from Amazon

 

Two things I'm missing right now:

1. How to attach side panels (50cm x 50cm acrylic but very light) to the aluminium frame (which I just found it's not magnetic lol)?
2. How to attach a removable front dust filter (25cm x 50cm)?

Thank you for your help, if you need any other detail feel free to ask  

[lpdevIT]

I built something today!

      

 

In the next days I'll screw the aluminium frame (I already cut the pieces), while waiting the stainless steel panels

[lpdevIT]

Today I made the first step of the aluminium frame

 

 

It's not perfect but hey, it's ok

[lpdevIT]

Today was a nice day!

 

 

Next step: installing fans

 

I need a suggestion: which one will be better for the front? The one with spacers or the one with mesh directly screwed onto the frame? I won't probably install the dust filter...

 

[lpdevIT]

 

Another small update!

 

Below the black fans there'll be a small piece of black plastic to stop some dust
Below the other fans there'll be my psu; I will attach it only by the two bottom screws directly to the aluminium frame

 

 

In the next days, while I wait for the stainless steel plates, I'm building the top panel with a plastic piece... stay tuned!

[lpdevIT]

I got the stainless steel plates: they are very strong and they flex way less than those I had in my hands at the shop (even if they're less than 1mm thick).
They are not black but it's a very similar color (dark gray).

 

Now I am trying to make a cut template using plastic sheets for the I/O panel + gpu, but it's very hard to get the perfect size...

[chimimoryo]

On 4/19/2021 at 9:05 PM, lpdevIT said:

I got the stainless steel plates: they are very strong and they flex way less than those I had in my hands at the shop (even if they're less than 1mm thick).
They are not black but it's a very similar color (dark gray).

 

Now I am trying to make a cut template using plastic sheets for the I/O panel + gpu, but it's very hard to get the perfect size...

Any progress? 

[lpdevIT]

Hi everybody! Almost 1 month after... I had some problems, not modding related

 

I just got these pieces of art done from a friend... they're almost perfect, I just need to finish some things but it's fine, I'll work on them tomorrow

 

On 4/30/2021 at 7:43 AM, chimimoryo said:

Any progress? 

Thank you for you interest in this thread

[lpdevIT]

Update!

 

 

 

I attached the mobo to its back panel. Then I mounted that back panel to the one on the top of the case (the one with ports and video output)
Next I have to cut the stainless steel panel under the mobo (it's a bit too long). Then I'll mount it on the lower panel

[lpdevIT]

 

 

UPDATE!

I put an aluminium bar behind the mobo so that it won't flex too much
I put some screws to keep everything together

[cachethrash]

Have you figured out how to screw the graphics card/pcie bracket to the case? I've always found it very annoying that the bracket has that overhang, and the back panel of a case has two different depths.

[lpdevIT]

21 hours ago, cachethrash said:

Have you figured out how to screw the graphics card/pcie bracket to the case? I've always found it very annoying that the bracket has that overhang, and the back panel of a case has two different depths.

Hi, interesting question! It was impossibile for me to clone the two depths of a classic back panel. I'm just gonna put a small piece of aluminium profile (the same I used for the frame) and screw the gpu on it; than, it'll be screwed to the upper stainless steel panel

 

You can see it in the first post

[lpdevIT]

Some new useless images

 

             

 

Next steps:

 - power button

 - handle to get the cables through

 - aluminium support for gpu