Project: PC 360

[biggoofy]

So I've been hanging around on this forum looking at all the cool projects going on, and trying to give out my best advice for people's problems. So finally I'm ready to start my own project and I'm pretty excited. So I love Xbox 360 and PC's so doesn't it seem right to combine the two? I bought a broken Xbox off eBay for $20. I have an old Dell system that isn't in use so I'm going to be using the hardware from that. When I'm done I will hopefully have a fully functioning PC inside an Xbox 360 case.


So I took the Xbox apart.....
Case pieces
http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/47652/2685210090105289102S425x425Q85.jpg

CD Drive
http://inlinethumb42.webshots.com/46057/2822709290105289102S425x425Q85.jpg

Motherboard
http://inlinethumb18.webshots.com/47249/2572794560105289102S425x425Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb60.webshots.com/47355/2544103070105289102S425x425Q85.jpg

And that's all for now folks. I should have some updates in the next couple of days.

[The_Crippler]

Hey, why not? Looking forward to seeing what you make of it.

[AmEv]

Take a look through here (http://dwl.xbox-scene.com/tutorial/Xbox_360-HandC-V1_4.pdf) for the pinouts.


I found it very useful for mine
(or rather will......)

[biggoofy]

Take a look through here (http://dwl.xbox-scene.com/tutorial/Xbox_360-HandC-V1_4.pdf) for the pinouts.


I found it very useful for mine
(or rather will......)

Thanks for the link.

[biggoofy]

Ok back for a small update...

This is the metal casing off the Xbox, I am basically finished cutting the back plate off, just need to touch it up.
http://inlinethumb41.webshots.com/47848/2175780870105289102S425x425Q85.jpg

Here is half of the shell, I also cut a piece out of the back of this for the I/O board.
http://inlinethumb60.webshots.com/47931/2239469600105289102S425x425Q85.jpg

Both of em put together.
http://inlinethumb32.webshots.com/46303/2668882790105289102S425x425Q85.jpg

And here is a PC CD drive that I fitted with the Xbox tray faceplate. Just had to dremel a little bit off the back to make it fit.
http://inlinethumb28.webshots.com/45531/2629122450105289102S425x425Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb64.webshots.com/46911/2585837510105289102S425x425Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb16.webshots.com/25295/2854146590105289102S425x425Q85.jpg

Have some items on order. Stay tuned, updates should be back on within the next week.

[TheMainMan]

My curiosity has been piqued. subbed

[Blkfxx]

Keen to see how this pans out, Subbed!

[biggoofy]

Sorry no pictures on this update. I am waiting on a hard drive and an Xbox 360 hard drive shell in the mail. I also realized that the old micro-atx P4 board I had laying around is going to be a tad to big. So with that I have been looking at some Mini-ITX boards. I will try and get some pictures up soon, hopefully my orders get here quickly.

[biggoofy]

OK my hard drive items finally arrived:

Hard Drive shell for Xbox 360, when I bought the broken system on eBay it didn't come with one of these.
http://inlinethumb02.webshots.com/44417/2626332190105289102S425x425Q85.jpg

WD Scorpio 5400 RPM 2.5", purchased from blaze15301 here on the forums. I needed some extra standoffs so he threw some in there for me.:up:
http://inlinethumb56.webshots.com/46839/2423749400105289102S425x425Q85.jpg

Turns out I'm going to need to buy alot more than I was thinking of. Going to post here on the forums, if I can't find what I'm looking for it's off to newegg.
Stay tuned! Should have more updates before Easter.

[AmEv]

One problem I forsee:

That's an IDE HDD.

360 is SATA.

Unless it's a permanent mount............

[xr4man]

i believe he is using the internals from a dell, not the original xbox mobo. so it may well need an ide hard drive.

[AmEv]

Thought he was going ITX route?

*yep.

I also realized that the old micro-atx P4 board I had laying around is going to be a tad to big.

So with that I have been looking at some Mini-ITX boards.

[xr4man]

good catch, i missed that part. however, there are still a bunch of mini-itx boards with ide ports available.

[biggoofy]

Just to clear some things up,
-I am going the ITX route
-Indeed it is an IDE drive. I have an IDE to SATA adapter around here somewhere.
-The mobo I am looking at does use SATA ports, but I'm not going to purchase another HD. I'm just going to use the adapter.

Hope this clears some things up. :)

[biggoofy]

Ok update here.
As of right now I have my RAM and CPU in the mail, and tomorrow my friend is coming home for Easter and he's going to hook me up with another 2.5" HD. This one is SATA so I might not need to find that adapter (or buy a new one). Also I've been looking at multiple ITX boards and Pico PSU's but I will not be able to purchase any more stuff for a week or 2. Pics will be up tomorrow for sure.
Stay tuned!

[biggoofy]

Updates, with pictures!!

This is 2x1gb sticks of DDR2 RAM, bought from diluzio91 here on the forums.
http://inlinethumb25.webshots.com/45976/2328898190105289102S425x425Q85.jpg

Here is Seagate 320gb 2.5" SATA HD that I got for free from my friend, he got it from his work, un-opened.
http://inlinethumb33.webshots.com/45600/2482863280105289102S425x425Q85.jpg

And this is the proc I chose to go with, it's a 2.7Ghz single core, it is possible to unlock the second. It only cost me $30 as well.
http://inlinethumb43.webshots.com/46186/2842216790105289102S425x425Q85.jpg

So because I got a SATA HD for free it cuts back on some costs which is awesome. I haven't had much time to work on the case, just been looking at different components. As for the Mobo and PSU I probably won't be ordering them for a week or two. I should be working on the case throughout the week, I'll post pics as I go.
Stay tuned!!

[AmEv]

The big question:

Are you going to have the HDD cage removable?

Or is it fixed in place?

[biggoofy]

Yes I believe I am going to (make it removable.), might be some minor cable/case modding to do so. Ya it shouldn't be to difficult, we'll see what happens.

[AmEv]

I did notice that the Xbox HDD SATA port had screws on it. So get a XBOX MoBo-sized piece of something, cut a SATA cable and a power cable (molex-fan adapter would probably be best), and solder it up.


Just remember to look at the link I found, and try not to revere anything ;)

[biggoofy]

Have a small update here,

Here I used the LEDs from an extra fan I had laying around to see what it would look like on the Xbox. The white plastic piece is from the front of the box where the controller and power lights are.
http://inlinethumb42.webshots.com/46057/2392142460105289102S600x600Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb29.webshots.com/47196/2229010720105289102S600x600Q85.jpg

Here I bought a 12"x12" piece of aluminum that I'm going to use as the motherboard tray. I taped it of so it's ready for cutting.
http://inlinethumb07.webshots.com/46534/2360536180105289102S600x600Q85.jpg

I sanded down any plastic that was stick up.
http://inlinethumb61.webshots.com/10428/2278990150105289102S600x600Q85.jpg

One of the LEDs broke that is why I only had 3 lit up so I'm going to have to find a fix for that, I will try and order the motherboard and PSU this week, and if not, definitely next week.
Stay tuned!

[Fuganater]

Good to see your getting all your parts together.

[xr4man]

looks like it's going to be a mean ass 360

[biggoofy]

Ok, so as of right now I have no money to put into this project. I will however be gathering the necessary funds once some of my items on eBay sell. After which I will be able to buy the motherboard and PSU that have been sitting in my shopping cart. I will have another update in the next couple of days.
Stay tuned!!