Kuroikigani PC Build

Dellyjoughnut · July 23, 2023

Before posting my PC build, I have been working on this project since July 18, 2021. All of the content of my Kuroikigani build has been posted to the bit-tech forums under the scratch-build category under the same name of this post. I'm posting this to show my journey of building a scratch-build PC that floats and can turn on using any smartphone, wireless charger, and Arduino. The Arduino code for this project is open source. I will be copying and pasting from that site over here. This is also on Reddit because I need to preserve the information to prevent link rot if a website dies in the future.

https://github.com/Grounmpe/Power-Charger-PC-On

https://forums.bit-tech.net/index.php?threads/kuroikigani.383799/

Edited July 23, 2023 by Dellyjoughnut
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Dellyjoughnut · July 24, 2023

7/18/2021

The title of this build has no meaning. I gave it the most random name I came up with while sounding Japanese for this post. Like Häagen-Dazs. Sounds Dutch, but has no meaning.

The materials chosen will be limited to a budget of some sort and my abilities because the costs involved can blow past an estimate of $3000.

The main gist of this build:

Segregate GPU due to heat output compared to other components
Includes air filter of some sort with enough airflow instead of a mesh screen
Make it float
Wireless Qi Charger

The Build Itself Going Forward.

The whole case will use aluminum extrusions as the skeleton of the build. This is what I am starting with. Dimensions are 19" x 26" x 25" (Width x Depth x Height in inches) for the frame. Aluminum extrusions are 1" x 1". The dimension itself is large enough to house 2 computers in one frame. I made it this large to have adequate airflow through air filters I want to use but haven't decided which ones. I do not plan to use mesh-type filters on PCs.

I'm currently waiting for the corner brackets to come in.

Dellyjoughnut · July 24, 2023

8/4/2021

I got my corner brackets a few weeks ago and did some modifications to make them work with the screws I got from McMaster Carr. I've been working to complete the main structure due to my busy schedule

What you see in this photo is the main base of my PC. I'm using metal wire rope for this build to implement Tensegrity. This is the first inspiration going into this build. I'm doing this because of the Tensegrity posts from last year. It got me thinking to look into Kenneth Snelson's work to understand it.

One thing that irked me about the tensegrity structures posted recently was I think they were more like a suspension-based Tensegrity structure where the main and exterior links are flexible and in tension. I do not see what is recognized as a compression element when the links are in tension.

I plan with this build to utilize Snelson's definition of Tensegrity. A structure holding compressible and tensile members in separation.

Adding the parts for tensioning the wire rope to the base.

These are machined blocks for which I will be using to lift my PC after adding a stop to the wire rope in my desired location.

I was testing the turnbuckle function before proceeding further.

This photo shows I will be using a single aluminum rod in order to lift my PC case above the base. I figured that the property of Tensegrity can be exploited to use this effect. It's very unstable in its current state until I find a way to attach the wire rope to the main base. I can confirm the whole case is being lifted by that single aluminum rod on the base if I held it neutrally in my hand.

Dellyjoughnut · July 24, 2023

8/7/2021
After spending 3 days and fiddling with the wire rope, clamps, and using regular wire for a better way of stabilizing the whole structure. I present my finished tensegrity structure supporting the cube. I can confirm the base is attached to the cube through the metal wires which also stabilizes the tilting and sway of the whole thing. The base isn't in the middle as I wanted but I think it will work to my benefit.

Dellyjoughnut · July 24, 2023

8/26/2021

Small Update

I am using a motherboard tray from Mountain Mod because I need easy serviceability and grounding of the motherboard to the power supply.

This is a video of the case currently. It's hard to describe how I balanced the case. The base will be hidden once I figure out the theme of this case.

Dellyjoughnut · July 24, 2023

2/17/2022

I'm back after going through 24 weeks of full-time schooling. I've been working on this PC case whenever I can. Details below.

I used leftover aluminum sheet metal in the back to make the front panel. I used Fusion 360 to print out fan dimensions with some clearance built for placing the fans in the case.

This is the ri ght panel for the GPU, power supply, and HDDs.

This is for the panel for the CPU.

Here's what the finished result looks like. I'm using Artic P12 PWM fans on the right side and 140mm Noct ua Fans from my NH-D15 cooler.

For the inside. I'm reusing a bunch of plywood that came from the bunkbed my brother ordered. This plywood was stored in the garage. The plan is to join the plywood with dowel pins for ease of modding in the future. I will be painting these boards.

This is the finished panel for the side holding the motherboard.

This is what the motherboard looks like with the wood panel. As for the panel connecting to the motherboard. I made the measurement for the IO shield, but it didn't line up with the hole I cut. I'm still going to seal that area up. The 12V SLA battery is around 5lbs. I have determined that is the required weight to balance the case. The whole case weighs nearly 100lbs.

My current setup

ASRock Fafatal1ty x370 professional gaming motherbaord

Segfaulted 1700x

16 GB DDR4 2400mHz Ram

Ice Giant cooler

Gigabyte Aorus 1080ti

Corsair AX1200, that's the first version of the AX series

This is what it looks like on the other side. A 1080ti Aorus GPU sits above. HDD and PSU are below.

You can see from the photos there is plenty of space. People can say this is a waste and contributes to the size of the build. I did it because the GPU is the only component to generate more heat than the CPU, storage drives, and power supply combined at full load. By compartmentalizing components by heat generated, I feel I can get better thermals when the side panels are up. I will seal the interior from the outside to make sure airflow is directionally in and out in one way. I'm currently finding a solution to minimize the wires on the back of the case for the GPU. I'm 50/50 on the front IO ports. I might not include it in the final build.

The benefit of the ample space is the space alone. It's hard for me put the words down. It's unlimited freedom to create complex dioramas. It's difficult for me to decide what to do. I know what the top will look becuase I have to move the wifi antennas to the top. I am balancing the overall look because a bland exterior will work in any room and last a long time in looks compared to a complex interior. I have decided to turn the interior into a diorama of some sort.

I bought a Creality 3D printer to build this fan duct in one go. This will fit on top of the CPU cooler. This will get plaster and painted over.

Photos showing stackable Phanteks drive cages, Artic fans, and 6-pin Molex connector specific to the Corsair AX1200 PSU. I will be taping into my PSU to power accessories which can include lights. I currently have implemented 1 special feature in my build that is not seen in any PC cases sold on the market. I have been using it for the past few weeks and it works well. I will not be revealing this feature until the build is finished. I know how public forums work and any idea published here is free for taking and can be commercialized by those with the resources. The feature is also a good one and easily implemented. Expansion is almost limitless on features added because of the open-source solution.

Dellyjoughnut · July 24, 2023

6/10/2023 Update

The photo you see is of my current PC case. It has been long time since my last update. I am still alive. I have been working on my PC case while juggling schooling. I can say I am finally finished with grad school.

I’ll post a detail update within the next few days to show the changes I made to my build. My goals have changed for this project. I also did add aRGB fans and settled for a 1/24 scale diorama inside the case because there’s plenty of space.

I am also going to be posting this build in Reddit in a subreddit I made to protect this build journal from link rot in the future.

Dellyjoughnut · July 24, 2023

6/11/2023: Part 1

I'll start this post by posting the goals I had for this build when I started which are on the 1st post.

The main gist of this build:

Segregate GPU due to heat output compared to other components

Includes an air filter of some sort with enough airflow instead of a mesh screen

Make it float

Wireless Qi Charger

Goals 1, 2, and 3 have been completed, and confidently say are finalized and will not need to be revisited in the future.

Goal 2
I settled on using the foam-type PC dust filters bought on Amazon.

DustEND G3 Universal Dust filter

This type of filter can be cut using scissors. It does have an adhesive backing limiting the number of times the filter can be reused. The example below is how I have one of the pieces cut for the fans going to the CPU side on the left. I have to find an alternative to using adhesive back filters for the right side which holds my Artic P12 fans and a front 3D-printed plate to smooth the airflow intake for the fans.

Goal 3
I used the strength of tensegrity to make my PC "float". I made a post a year ago about using tensegrity for this build because I wanted to build it using Kenneth Snelson's definition of tensegrity which is different from the concept everyone has identified using Buckminster Fuller's definition of the integrity of the structure derived from the balance of tension members, not the compression struts. The example below this paragraph is tensegrity in Fuller's definition.

Initially, I did make my build use tensegrity. Unfortunately, my PC build is right-side heavy for holding the GPU, PSU, and HDDs. The photo below was what I thought would balance the entire case. I made that tension member using a tig welding wire for aluminum. This did not work well in practice when I thought of it in my mind. The case was still unbalanced with that modification.

After thinking about the forces to balance the case correctly and the direction of the tension member. I opted to buy miniature hooks. Those hooks were screwed into the plywood without drilling a pilot hole. Then I tied some nylon rope and looped it enough to secure it. You can notice in the photo I have springs on top of the aluminum block. That was an option I tried with good results on all 4 corners, but I needed another method without taking apart the PC. This modification only requires 3 corners to fully balance the whole case and works very well.

Goal 4
The wireless Qi charger modification and the most useful feature of this build. This modification was troublesome. In 2022, I bought a wireless charger which is the product in the photo below. I required to be able to use 5V and 12V on the wireless charger. I figured I could use the 5VSB rail from my Corsair AX1200 PSU (the first version of the AX1200) to power the Qi charger. It worked well for a time until I wanted to use the 12V supplied by the PSU. I learned this wireless charger is finicky to use if the voltage was below 6 volts. The electrical field produced by the coils would give off an error.

Here's what I made for my 1st version. I used an Arduino mini and probed the wireless charger to find solder pads I can use for the Arduino. The reason for using an Arduino in this build is that I can run other devices using power from the PSU and the Arduino can control them.

Here's a photo of a pocket chiseled out from a sheet of plywood serving as the top of my PC.

Here's a photo of the wireless charger all wired up.

A large flaw with this design was not using a diode and incorrect wiring when switching from 5VSB to 12V. A few weeks ago. I wired this wireless charger up to use 12V and thought the current from 12V will not flow to the 5VSB side when both the 12V and 5VSB wires are soldered up on the same solder pad. I did find out my AX1200 PSU fan and all the PC case fans will turn on when the PSU switch is flipped on. I didn't know what that meant. So I turned my PC on... poof... instantly fried my AM4 X370 motherboard. Learned the hard way. The X370 motherboard does not turn on and does flash white light indicating the motherboard is receiving power. Arduino mini was also fried.

I was sad and annoyed I had to go spend money to replace the stuff. I bought a Gigabyte X570S Aorus Elite AX motherboard and a 5800x3D CPU. I verified my GPU, HDDs, and M.2 SSD do work and have no data loss. I ran into issues with transferring my M.2 SSD to this motherboard. I lost my boot drive on my M.2 SSD after booting into Windows normally about 5 times on the new motherboard. I did nuke the M.2 SSD and reinstalled Windows. Currently, my 1080ti GPU will flash the white LED under heavy use. This did not happen when my X370 motherboard worked and will be addressed in the future. Then I learned a few days ago Gigabyte has a BIOS backdoor in these motherboards which has been reported in news articles.

Here's the second version using a different wireless Qi charger that still takes a 5V and 12V input and has better circuit protection using diodes on the 5VSB and 12V inputs to a 12V single pole double throw relay. I also added a voltage regulator for 5 volts. I tried adding Bluetooth. I could not get the Bluetooth module to work because I got garbled responses on the serial monitor in the Arduino program. I can confidently state this wireless charger gives me fewer errors. Current errors when in use are probably due to a large current draw from the GPU because this unit is placed on the same side as my 1080ti.

Dellyjoughnut · July 24, 2023

6/11/2023: Part 2

This post is about the things I've done to give the "finished" look. The photo below is to serve as a reference for the direction I am going forward. I have decided to do a diorama on the inside and possibly on the top. I am going with the direction that it's like my house.

Front and Rear Panels:
Currently, the back of my computer uses aluminum sheet metal to seal both sides. I chose to seal the side of the motherboard to force the incoming air to directly exhaust through the CPU cooler. For the side with the PSU and GPU, I will make changes once I choose the best way to allow the air to exhaust directly with a mesh panel. Part of this issue is because of the 1-inch gap I am leaving for this area for the cabling. I did plan to cut a hole for the PSU so all the air in that section exhaust straight through the PSU. You will notice the sheet metal is held on with "studs". I figured the use of setscrews for the aluminum extrusion nuts can be used to this advantage to add a plywood panel and some neodymium magnet.
Currently, the back of my computer uses aluminum sheet metal to seal both sides. I chose to seal the side of the motherboard to force the incoming air to directly exhaust through the CPU cooler. For the side with the PSU and GPU, I will make changes once I choose the best way to allow the air to exhaust directly with a mesh panel. Part of this issue is because of the 1-inch gap I am leaving for this area for the cabling. I did plan to cut a hole for the PSU so all the air in that section exhaust straight through the PSU. You will notice the sheet metal is held on with "studs". I figured the use of setscrews for the aluminum extrusion nuts can be used to this advantage to add a plywood panel and some neodymium magnet.

The photo here is a close-up of one of the "studs" that act like fasteners. These are 3D printed to be 1 inch tall. The depth of the magnets in the studs is set so the panels are flush with the case. Magnets are set in the studs with epoxy. Behind the magnets are holes for the 1/4"-20 set screw holding the studs. That 1 inch of space is to match the piece of aluminum extrusion jutting out from the case and the space I have for all the wiring.

Side panels:
I am using acrylic sheets. I took a craft cutter and a ruler to cut a portion of the protective tape so I can spray-paint the sides black. It's a 1-i nch border around it with some adjustments based on the things inside.

I had leftover window film from another project that I have been saving for this. I knew RGB lighting can be bright and annoying. My method of applying window film is using a spritzer bottle with water. The side of the film touches the acrylic and is sprayed with water. Then a squeegee is used to remove the water underneath the film for a smooth finish. I left it in a sunny area of my home to let any trapped moisture escape.

This is a photo showing light from a flashlight shining underneath. I was gauging how much light is reduced. Only this panel has overlapping pieces for the window film I had left after applying to the first panel. This finishes the side panels.

Inside "Wall"
I didn't like the texture of the wood when I test-painted a piece last year. It felt off from what I wanted. I also had leftover paint and spackling paste. The steps I took for this were to cover the inside plywood with spackling paste to act as a substrate emulating drywall. The surface was left to dry and sanded with a drywall sander.

The surface was coated with a layer of Spring White pain, but the color had a green tint to it which looks white in the photo.

Then I found my can of Igloo White paint and proceeded to cover up my mistake. The paint I used had a semi-gloss finish that was too bright for the "room". I took a scotch-brite pad to give it a dull finish once the paint dried.

RGB Fans:
My IceGiant cooler does use fans that came from the same factory as the Artic fans. The similar connectors were my best options even though these RGB fans do not output the same level of pressure as non-RGB fans. Personally, the current market for RGB fans in 2023 is overpriced when weighing the performance of the fan versus the performance of the LED diodes used. My choice here is to save money without spending on another ecosystem like Corsair or Lian Li.

Top Decorations/Diorama:
I went to Japan a few years ago and bought these ceramic foxes from the shops at the Fushimi Inari Taisha. I wanted to use these foxes for something and came up with this idea sitting in my head. I also knew my x370 motherboard had Wifi antennas. Using the 3D printer, I made pedestals for the foxes sized to perspective and scaled to something that looks good. The Torri gate was scaled to the diameter of the wifi antennas using the math formulas found in this website -- https://suikoushya.com/ja/2020/04/13/toriiproject3/. The poles of the Torii gate are mostly hollow so I can fit the wifi antennas inside for a snug fit. I do plan to drill holes into the top panel such that its press fit around the wifi antennas.

Current State of Project/Ideas In My Head:
I consider my PC "done" in the sense I can use it without completing his project. Percentage-wise, it's 60% to 75% done. The other 40% to 25% is the limbo/while I'm in there/long sage to completion. The side quests of the side quests of the side quests to the main quests. One of the things I learned about doing long projects without a plan is the longer it goes on the more I do not want to finish it. It becomes that car project that sits on the side. It's why at this point I wish to drop it completely so I can focus my time on other things.

Because of what I can do with the wireless charger. I did weigh the feasibility of adding some kind of electrical lighting to the exterior of the case like EL Tape for effect. It looks cool, but the concept clashes with my idea of turning the top of the PC case into something that works with the Torii gate and the vent hole for the CPU cooler. I feel too much is going on if I implement both. I know it's possible because I've seen this used in a product for clocks using sheets of wood veneer to achieve the desired effect as shown in the picture below for an example from this project: https://www.instructables.com/Wood-Block-LED-Clock/

I did weigh the option of the top panel having a thin OLED display to enable displaying video when PC starts up, but the way these are currently programmed is the video doesn't start playing until Windows loads into the desktop environment as seen in those JARVIS start-up modifications. The pause ruins the immersion if I wanted the video to play when the smartphone is placed directly on the wireless charger.

Dellyjoughnut · July 24, 2023

7/22/2023

That is a video of me showing my PC turn on using my iPhone placed on top of a wireless charger. An Arduino has been coded to sense the voltage from the PSU and the status LED from the wireless charger. Apologies for the potato quality as I was using my Canon Rebel T2i to take video.