Wooden PC case made simple v1

[Dearouge]

Hi everyone,

I would just like to present you my pc case made out of wood. For inspiration and feedback purposes mainly - there aren't many guides on the internet. And hopefully with few advices for anyone that might want to to same thing. I made it as simple as possible because I don't have all the proper tools and room where I can make a mess - I was building this in our living room (my gf is really supprotive in this).

 

I decided to go for custom case a long time ago to make it really quite. Back then I was thinking about cutting and wielding some spare cases from aluminium. But we moved to a new apartment and I wanted the PC to look like part of the room. So I spent a lot of time thinking this thing through and I would recommend EVERYONE to spend a lot of time on design, trying out the components a bit around, thinking about the airflow etc. E.g. the top bended a bit after I put it together because of the heat coming from GPU+CPU and the top being too close - there you go for not thinking this through enough..

 

Tools I used:

drill, saw (circular for long edges, jigsaw for fans and similar), screws, paint, finish, rasper (? that thing with which you smooth the edges)

 

PC components (for general TDP/flow/arrangement idea):

620W PSU Bronze 80+

AMD Phenom II x6 1100T with Gelid tranquillo 2 with PWM fan (145W TDP)

MB Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3

Sapphire Radeon 380X OC

1 TB HDD

128 GB SSD

 

Additional stuff

4x Noctua NF-F12 >>PWM<< (important for low RPMs -> low noise)

4x dust filter

1x extension cable for 8pin CPU power cable

1x 1to5 PWM cable splitter

 

So few advices that I hope might help you:

• Think a lot about the airflow, it's more important than in aluminium case
• Think about the overall purpose and design. Few things you might consider/My intentions were
  • case to be as low as possible and with regular shapes if possible
  • to be really quite because it's in living room
  • to have heavy stuff (PSU) as low as possible 
  • to keep things separated if possible - disks and PSU separated from cpu to better manage the heat spread/flow
• Make sure you know how the wood behaves when aging and exposed to heat, moisture etc
• Make sure to know how to take care about the surface and how to colour the wood etc.
• Measure everything precisely and cut precisely 
• If possible - try the arrangement of components before you start all of this (make it from box or something) - again helps you to realize which components need most cooling etc
• How you will hold your GPU and extended cards in place (in version 2 I would go for monolitic backplate so it's held really sturdy)
• Think about any electricity/conductivity issues
• Think about the I/O (I don't need any, so I have only one button for Power On/off + back panel on MB)
• And you will definitely need to get in touch with SmartFan or any other tool coming with your MB/fan controller - it pays off a lot if you aim for efficient and quite PC, imho.
• Think about dust and anything I forgot to write here

 

It took me about 2 months (July+August)- working on it few hours a week. I struggled a bit with my imprecisive cutting, some design gaps etc. The case is still missing the back plate which should hold the GPU in place because I don't have time for this now.

 

I made the components into 2 levels:

. Bottom level - 2x vents, hdd on foam in frame + ssd, PSU with exhaust out. So the 2 vents pushing air (though dust filters) in from front with PSU as an exhaust - temps on disks are constantly sitting on 30°C and 33°C - if you would have one of the modern zero RPM PSU it might never need to spin. Top level - motherboard laying on aluminium support, laying on wood desk - supported by 3 legs and PSU in the bottom level. The MB is placed horizontally so the CPU cooler is just sitting there and you would be able to put there the heaviest towers without any issue. Also the GPU doesn't need any support in this arrangement. Again 2 vents pushing air through filter to CPU and GPU and out (without any exhaust fan).

 

Now the tricky part - airflow + quite fans:

I use PWM fans because it lets the fans the spin at 150 RPMs which is enough for idle and it'is amazingly quiet. 

I have it setup that every fan is connected via splitter to CPU PWM fan connector on MB. The primary fan from which I get back the RPMs readings is the one in the front of the box, not the CPU one. 

The Tranquilo on CPU has lowest RPMs set from factory to 750, ignoring any lower values coming through PWM, which is awesome because I don't have to be afraind about frying the CPU and the other fans can spin on lower RPMs. So the CPU fan runs 99% of the time on exactly 750RPMs while other fans go from 150 in idle to <350 when playing battlefield 1 with CPU that has 145TDP and GPU that uses 2x6pin power supply (I don't know the TDP). Just so you get the idea about what you can achieve if you would decide for similar box arrangement.

I've set very low/passive curve for the fans, so the CPU goes to ~58°C under load (limit for it back then was 61°C I think) and the GPU goes to <70°C when playing battlefield 1.

I haven't go for bottom-up flow because I have carpet under the box and this way it was easier for me to build it and separate the levels/"chambers" inside. Though I'm thinking about new version with 2 chambers and flow going bottom-up or having watercooling... Will see in few years.

 

Summary for temps:

Disks 30-33°C

CPU <58°C (with low/passive curve): CPU fan 750RPMs, intake fans 150-300RPMs

GPU <70°C

 

I hope you will like it, because I do like it a lot! :))) Feel free to provide any feedback and ideas how to improve it.

 

Cut and prepaired:

 

Put together to try it a bit:

 

Smooth edges:

 

First try to smooth gaps etc:

 

Drill guiding(?) holes for saw to cut the vent holes:

 

Almost there. Paint done, holes quite ok (though could be more straight)

 

Finishing (without dust filters yet, out of stock). Everything running alright and quiet. First fan setup tryout etc. Case next to it for size comparison:

 

Internals:

 

 

Button design - I took button with wires to MB from the old case and just placed it on support (brown) inside a case and made "rails" from nails for the actual wooden button (~white~) on case top:

 

 

 

Edited January 10, 2017 by Dearouge
Temps, Bold texts

[Dearouge]

Aaaaand the finished case (kind of):

 

I really hope there will be at least one person that will like it. :))

[Taswell]

how hot does it get?

 

[Dearouge]

1 minute ago, ITheSpazI said:

how hot does it get?

 

It's somewhere in the middle of the text:

disks 30-33°C

CPU <58°C (with low/passive curve): CPU fan 750RPMs, intake fans 150-300RPMs

GPU <70°C

[TheCamba]

Nice work.  Can't wait to see you do more wooden cases if you keep working on it.  Love the contrast of the white wood on dark wood.  Well done!

[DIY tech]

Without the filters it looks really nice with those fan visible but i think u dnt like dust

[RumSwift]

It looks really nice. I really like the color of the case. I also like how the Noctua fans actually suit the build (color wise (for once)) 

 

The only thing I would say is that it could do with some more venting. Under load that must get damn hot. 

[Dearouge]

23 hours ago, DIY tech said:

Without the filters it looks really nice with those fan visible but i think u dnt like dust

Thank you!

Exactly. I was thinking about filters being behind fans, but I don't wanna clean it often. Plus it's more subtle this way and less "techy". This way I just slide over with vacuum every week or so and it's fine and clean.

 

22 hours ago, Rhyss said:

It looks really nice. I really like the color of the case. I also like how the Noctua fans actually suit the build (color wise (for once)) 

 

The only thing I would say is that it could do with some more venting. Under load that must get damn hot. 

Thank you as well!

I see. It doesn't turn off or thermothrottles and the "hot" air is vented to the wall so for me this is enough. I could always set the fan curve higher.

Though I definitely plan to have different=more efficient arrangement of the vents and airflow. Maybe going for waterloop(s) in version 2/in distant future.  

EDIT: The ambient temperature in room is 20-23°C.

[RumSwift]

2 hours ago, Dearouge said:

Thank you as well!

I see. It doesn't turn off or thermothrottles and the "hot" air is vented to the wall so for me this is enough. I could always set the fan curve higher.

Though I definitely plan to have different arrangement of the vents and airflow. Maybe going for waterloop(s) in version 2/in distant future.  

You're welcome (: I've always wanted a wooden case but my woodwork is awful haha.

 

So there is only vents at the back? Maybe make a nice pattern out of small circles holes on the front for a little bit more breathing space  But I still can't argue with how cool it looks

 

[Dearouge]

I finally got the pictures for how the switch is placed (which I hope could help someone):

 

[jonnylaw13]

i like your power button solution, good thinking! a expansion card bracket could be very easy to make for that, IMO the fan filters are a bit um, moronic due to the back of the case being open, maybe some mesh to cover the back and you could cut the io out of it and use that as the expansion card mounting also. if you try again might i suggest finish plywood, it looks good, you could make it a little thinner and many choices of woods though im not sure how the glue would hold up to the internal temps for a long long time but in any case, great job and keep it up!

[Dearouge]

On 2. 2. 2017 at 3:33 AM, jonnylaw13 said:

i like your power button solution, good thinking! a expansion card bracket could be very easy to make for that, IMO the fan filters are a bit um, moronic due to the back of the case being open, maybe some mesh to cover the back and you could cut the io out of it and use that as the expansion card mounting also. if you try again might i suggest finish plywood, it looks good, you could make it a little thinner and many choices of woods though im not sure how the glue would hold up to the internal temps for a long long time but in any case, great job and keep it up!

There will be "bracket" for the expansion cards, with holes filled with filter texture; in the back.  I just don't really have time for it.