AMMO BOX PC

[Angy]

Hey guys, 

 

I am currently planning to build a MINI ITX system into a 50 CAL ammo box. 

I have some prices on parts that are all under $1300

it is mostly going to be used for flight simulation; as I am in the Australian Air Force Cadets. 

 

I am buying parts of two different websites because of pricing, and the actual stocking of such a part. 

These are the specs as of today.

 

PCCG -

MSI B150I Gaming Pro AC Mini-ITX Motherboard

SilverStone SX600-G SFX Modular 600W Power Supply

$338

 

MSY 

Noctua NT-H1 Pro-Grade Thermal Compound

DeepCool DP-MAELSTROM120K Maelstrom 120K AIO Enclosed...

Kingston HyperX FURY 16GB Kit (8Gx2) DDR4 2133 Desktop RAM

Intel BX80662I56500 Core i5-6500 3.2GHz 

Gigabyte N960IXOC-4GD 4G GTX 960 (Mini ITX) PCI-E VGA Card

Intel 540 Series SSDSCKKW240H6X1 240GB M.2 SSD 

$833

 

total of $1170

Yes I am water-cooling the CPU, that is only because i have room for a radiator, and it will keep the temperatures down in the box. 

I have Bought the Ammo box already. It is a used one in good condition, I also spayed it with a can of rust guard. 

I have cut out some pieces of card board to size so i know everything fits. 

If you have any ideas or have built such a PC, pleasseee send photos and tips, or ask questions!

 

 

[SageOfSpice]

How were you planning on affixing the board to the box?

[LeapFrogMasterRace]

GTX 960? What is this 2005 

[Mohenjo]

1 minute ago, SageOfSpice said:

How were you planning on affixing the board to the box?

Bullet casing? kek. 

[MoonlightSylv]

You'll need holes for the rad and GPU fans, you'll also need a way to mount the motherboard.

3 minutes ago, LeapFrogMasterRace said:

GTX 960? What is this 2005 

He lives in Australia, the 960 is a lot cheaper than the 480.

[Angy]

I am planning of buying some L brackets to mount the rad to the bottom of the case. 

this is the same for the PSU. 

i am also thinking of building a small frame for the motherboard and buying some standoffs. 

I think i might buy some aluminium to afix to the top of the case so i can cut out a space for the IO shield, the graphics card slot and PSU slot.

the GTX 960 is the only card that will fit in that orientation. 

i might upgrade to the mini gtx 1070 if it ever gets released. 

 

[Angy]

And yes i do live in Australia, so pricing is extremely different from anywhere else 

[SageOfSpice]

4 minutes ago, Angy said:

I am planning of buying some L brackets to mount the rad to the bottom of the case. 

this is the same for the PSU. 

i am also thinking of building a small frame for the motherboard and buying some standoffs. 

I think i might buy some aluminium to afix to the top of the case so i can cut out a space for the IO shield, the graphics card slot and PSU slot.

the GTX 960 is the only card that will fit in that orientation. 

i might upgrade to the mini gtx 1070 if it ever gets released. 

 

Be sure to account for those brackets, the standoffs, and the GPU power connector. All the little bits add up.

[MoonlightSylv]

4 minutes ago, Angy said:

And yes i do live in Australia, so pricing is extremely different from anywhere else 

What I meant was you'll probably need to cut holes in the ammo box for the fans to breathe.

[Angy]

I am buying some case feet to raise it off the ground, i will drill some holes in a grid on the bottom of the case, and in the alu on the top of the case 

[Angy]

3 minutes ago, ShadowTechXTS said:

What I meant was you'll probably need to cut holes in the ammo box for the fans to breathe.

I am buying some case feet to raise it off the ground, i will drill some holes in a grid on the bottom of the case, and in the alu on the top of the case 

[Angy]

I do want to keep the outside of the case reasonably untouched to keep the look of it.

[Angy]

the motherboard has a M.2 slot, i have priced a 240gb M.2 ssd for $119.

I am unsure if i should spend $120 on 240gb, or a 1tb HDD for $70.

performance or storage?

[Mr Kips]

Hey man, Great Idea. I've done this case creation before. The Ammo Box I used was slightly bigger than yours so I could fit a normal ATX size board in it. i'll post some pics below so you can see what I ended up with.

 

1. get an old pc case of relatively same size. Get a drill / hacksaw and cut out some bits you're gonna need like the lower mount for the mobo, pcie slots etc.

 

2. model layout and drill and cut holes with whatever you have laying around. I had a jigsaw. It kinda worked ok.

3. I affixed my pieces using a rivet gun.

4. place in motherboard mounting tray. I used a rivet gun again to affix this.

5. I figured out where to mount the powersupply and cut appropriate holes.

6. cut a slot for a drive bay. This was when optical drives were still used. I used a strap system to hold it in place cause who needs proper mounting in a case such as this. Take note of the stubbie holder cut up for noise dampening

7. Used some angle style brackets for drive mounting solutions. A couple more straps and big ass bolts to go with the asthetic.

8. Wired some old electronic dials and lights for the power switch and HDD lights. Pretty dodgy

9. Very blurry shot showing the internals.

10. Added a vintage analogue voltage guage hooked up to the the motherboard power so it turns up when it's turned on.

11. Oh, also forgot to mention I cut a side panel out and used some backing plates to mount it back flush using thumb screws. you can probably see it in some of the pics. I used flyscreen rubbers to dull the sharp ends and add to the crappy asthetic of the whole build.

 

Overall I enjoyed hacking the crap out of the box. I learnt lots of what to do and what not to do. Execution 3/10, ending product 4/10.

Let me know if you want more details on my horrible attempt.

 

[Angy]

Hi, 

this looks really cool! a very clean build

as you can probably see, i'm mounting mine facing the top of the case.

I have seen these larger ammo boxes, this does look cool, but i wanted mine to still be extremely small and portable. 

but hey, we all have preferences!

 

what year did you build this?

 

When I'm cutting stuff i will try and keep it as straight as i can. ( good tip) 

 

[Mr Kips]

I built it in late 2010. I'm not using it anymore. It was my media pc so it was mainly scrap computer pieces I had laying around. I would hardly describe the build as "clean". I made many mistakes that I wrote off as it was always going to look like a rugged piece of kit. With your layout it looks like the pcie slots will be on the lid of the box is that right? how are you going to access the internals? is the lid still going to function as a handle?

[Angy]

the lid will still be a functioning lid. 

I am just going to buy some aluminium and mount it to the top of the case.

if that makes sense aha..

i might even put a hinge on it, or some wing nuts so it is removeable 

[Angy]

@Mr Kips 

Did you have any thermal problems?

[Mr Kips]

@Angy Not really. The box wasn't doing very much heavy lifting. just serving as a media server. I was going to cut more ventilation but temps rarely went above 60 deg in the case. The powersupply fan was exhausting air. If I was going to add better ventilation I would probably drill some small holes in the lid and mount a fan for exhaust. Also add a fan grill inlet behind the handle on the front of the case.

[Angy]

Thanks, that sounds good!

 

I am also thinking of changing the GPU to an EVGA Mini GTX 1060. 

I dont think spending $100 more will hurt

[Mr Kips]

If you're going to be running a mini 1060 i'd definitely be looking to add some extra ventilation.

[Angy]

yes, ventilation will be a priority when finalising the set-up

[Angy]

would there be any trouble with running an intel xeon on the ASUS Z170I Pro Gaming? 

 

[Angy]

Hello guys

 

I have ordered parts and will start building the pc in about a week or so!

this is the part list:

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/dFzLwV

[mapegl]

On 25.11.2016 at 7:07 AM, Angy said:

Hello guys

 

I have ordered parts and will start building the pc in about a week or so!

this is the part list:

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/dFzLwV

Did nothing ever happen?