Questions about a wooden case

[Saxmansam1992]

Hey guys!

 

I'm fairly new at this whole 'asking questions no forums' thing as I generally find them sufficient for general troubleshooting and problem solving.

 

HOWEVER, I've been intending to start a new project for my mATX rig that includes moving it over to an ammo crate. I'm far from an expert on electronics and so I find myself in need of answers that are specific to my case that haven't been covered (as far as I can see) in other topics.

 

The Lowdown:

 

I'll include an image of the crate below so you can see, but the basic gist of my questions are about any problems I may encounter when building.

 

The crate is wooden, but has a metal box on the interior (which is removable). I was intending on building in the metal box so that it would make for easy cleaning of the crate if necessary.

 

I haven't really the first clue about things like whether it'll be safe from ESD, whether it'll be grounded, whether it will be shielded sufficiently to stop any 'noise' etc. All I'd like to know is whether it'll be safe for me to put my components in without killing them off.

 

 

If anyone is able to help out, I would be very grateful

 

BTW, my PC specs (if anyone is interested):

 

Case - BitFenix Raider

CPU - Intel i7 3770K

Graphics Card - Asus DCUII GeForce GTX660Ti 3GB

Motherboard - Asus ROG Maximus V Gene

Storage - 250GB Samsung 840 EVO & 4TB Western Digital Green

PSU - 850W NZXT Hale82 

 

[Pooherino ツ]

Hey guys!

 

I'm fairly new at this whole 'asking questions no forums' thing as I generally find them sufficient for general troubleshooting and problem solving.

 

HOWEVER, I've been intending to start a new project for my mATX rig that includes moving it over to an ammo crate. I'm far from an expert on electronics and so I find myself in need of answers that are specific to my case that haven't been covered (as far as I can see) in other topics.

 

The Lowdown:

 

I'll include an image of the crate below so you can see, but the basic gist of my questions are about any problems I may encounter when building.

 

The crate is wooden, but has a metal box on the interior (which is removable). I was intending on building in the metal box so that it would make for easy cleaning of the crate if necessary.

 

I haven't really the first clue about things like whether it'll be safe from ESD, whether it'll be grounded, whether it will be shielded sufficiently to stop any 'noise' etc. All I'd like to know is whether it'll be safe for me to put my components in without killing them off.

 

Ammo Crate Outside.jpg

Ammo Crate Interior.jpg

Ammo Crate Interior Full.jpg

 

If anyone is able to help out, I would be very grateful

 

BTW, my PC specs (if anyone is interested):

 

Case - BitFenix Raider

CPU - Intel i7 3770K

Graphics Card - Asus DCUII GeForce GTX660Ti 3GB

Motherboard - Asus ROG Maximus V Gene

Storage - 250GB Samsung 840 EVO & 4TB Western Digital Green

PSU - 850W NZXT Hale82 

That thing is gonna choke ur pc of air. u might wanna put some ventilation in there. but why not just buy a normal case. or if ur trying to save money then just use ur computer without a case, thats what i did when i was saving money for a new case

[DannyRyu]

That thing is gonna choke ur pc of air. u might wanna put some ventilation in there. but why not just buy a normal case. or if ur trying to save money then just use ur computer without a case, thats what i did when i was saving money for a new case

thats not that fun though

[Pooherino ツ]

thats not that fun though

well u gonna have to cut out a lot of holes in that thing, mobo rear io, pcie slots, psu, fans. make sure theres good ventilation.

[Saxmansam1992]

In terms of ventilation, I've already marked out where to put fans in the bottom of the crate I'm going to have a set of 4 fans on the bottom of the case to pull air through and out the top. The PCIE Express isn't all that important seeing as the GPU is a fan style and not blower, so as long as it is kept clear of other components and it's getting enough air it should be fine.

[Pooherino ツ]

In terms of ventilation, I've already marked out where to put fans in the bottom of the crate I'm going to have a set of 4 fans on the bottom of the case to pull air through and out the top. The PCIE Express isn't all that important seeing as the GPU is a fan style and not blower, so as long as it is kept clear of other components and it's getting enough air it should be fine.

Fan Placement.jpg

well good luck!

[Scheer]

If both your motherboard standoffs and your PSU are mounted to the metal box I wouldn't have any concerns about lack of ground. The ground pin on your power cable with tie the PSU back to the main ground in your house, the four mount screws for the PSU will tie the PSU to the metal box and the standoffs will tie the motherboard ground points to the metal. ESD won't be a problem.

 

If for some reason you decide not to use the metal box, I would recommend running a couple ground straps from somewhere on the PSU over to a couple random motherboard standoff locations. Technically, the return pins of your PSU connectors to the motherboard SHOULD be enough to prevent issues from static, but electricity follows the path of least resistance so there is always a chance of shock traveling through something it can damage on its way to the grounds. The more grounds you have, the less of a chance it could happen.

 

Really ESD isn't an issue in modern electronics, and you'd likely be fine not even worrying about it, but for the small amount of extra work it would take I feel it is better to be safe than sorry.

[W-L]

In terms of ventilation, I've already marked out where to put fans in the bottom of the crate I'm going to have a set of 4 fans on the bottom of the case to pull air through and out the top. The PCIE Express isn't all that important seeing as the GPU is a fan style and not blower, so as long as it is kept clear of other components and it's getting enough air it should be fine.

Fan Placement.jpg

 

looks like you got the ventilation thing sorted but yeah there isn't much to worry about since it's a solid metal case inside not much different from a PC case. the PSU will ground everything in there but if you want for safe measure adding a connection to the casing of your PSU to the metal box will also work.

[Saxmansam1992]

Alright guys, thanks a bunch for the help. I suppose there's nothing else to do but crack on with the rest of the build

I'll probably keep track of it with some pics and post them here when I'm done. If not, I'll probably put it in the build log section

Thanks again