Project: PCXB

[biggoofy]

So I've been away from the forums for a while and finally got back into the modding scene. The main reason I left was just minimal funds and time. Now with a better job and some extra time I'm able to start up a project, so let's get started!!

PCXB (Personal Computer Xbox) I'm going to be using the original Xbox shell with computer components inside. I was going to use the Xbox 360 shell but that changed. So for the parts list.

Single Core AMD, for low wattage and heat.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7147/6650074143_e5e43b8228.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/73822082@N08/6650074143/)

Zotac Mini ITX mobo.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7143/6650084881_e38bfcff9a.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/73822082@N08/6650084881/)

Seagate 7200 160GB 2.5" from laptop
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7175/6650084445_ce5da3c1d9.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/73822082@N08/6650084445/)

G.SKill 2GB DDR2 RAM
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7016/6650079967_63cf3bbd23.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/73822082@N08/6650079967/)

Athena 300w TFX PSU
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7021/6650084937_e4431030d4.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/73822082@N08/6650084937/)


So that's just the hardware for now. I have to snap some pictures of the Xbox shell. I have all the parts just have to shape up and fit everything in. Stay tuned.

[biggoofy]

Ok so I have a first update here.

I wanted to use the original power button from the Xbox and just rewire it for PC use.

Here is the front board from the Xbox for the power and the eject. Also has 2 LED's, one for HDD activity and the other for power.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7021/6653767411_a616c1f50c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/biggoofy2010/6653767411/)

On the flip side I have already soldered for the power switch, and yes I know it's not pretty but it's tested and working.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6653778291_06e61dcfa8.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/biggoofy2010/6653778291/)

That's it for now, next I should be getting the LED's wired up. Also have been making some measurements on what I need to do to the case.
Stay tuned!!

[AmEv]

I remember posting a pic of the traces I did a while ago...

Here ya go ;)
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs458.ash2/73156_1675402572024_1446259447_1667901_7150631_n.j pg

Orange=Power
Red=Red LED power
Green=Green LED power
Blue=Eject.

I may have the Green and Red backwards; it's been a while.


Common ground Bi-color-LED.

[Fuganater]

Looking good so far.

[biggoofy]

AmEv that is beautiful, +rep.
Thanks.

[AmEv]

No problem ;)

[biggoofy]

Just a small update today, might have some more later, not sure yet.

Cable that runs from the USB header on the Mobo to a regular USB female connector. This is for turning the controller ports on the front panel of the Xbox into USB ports.
http://inlinethumb36.webshots.com/49827/2635697860105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2635697860105289102QQLHvV)

http://inlinethumb36.webshots.com/48675/2707111190105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2707111190105289102nlFrjC)

http://inlinethumb16.webshots.com/48527/2963135430105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2963135430105289102JILFOg)

I was hoping that they would be a bit longer but this should suffice. That's it for right now. I should be starting on the case this week so stay tuned!

[biggoofy]

So I decided to go with blue LEDs for the power and the HDD activity lights. I figured it would go well with my paint scheme, which is going to be a mix of black and white. Sounds lame I know, but I'm hoping it turns out. Here are just a couple of pics after I applied some heat shrink to cover the wiring.

http://inlinethumb18.webshots.com/50449/2645996140105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2645996140105289102ysBsZf)

http://inlinethumb58.webshots.com/49017/2577697730105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2577697730105289102Mimnbt)


I'm off work for a couple of days so I really want to start on the case modding. Thanks for looking and stay tuned.

[SchaibleTech]

I love modding with xbox cases and stuff. It's good fun. Will def. be following this one!

[biggoofy]

Didn't get as much done as I wanted to today, but have some pics of the progress.

Here is the bottom half of the Xbox shell before sanding.

http://inlinethumb22.webshots.com/46869/2802333590105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2802333590105289102dosmhb)

After

http://inlinethumb44.webshots.com/47851/2446201070105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2446201070105289102pxItGW)

Test fitting

http://inlinethumb38.webshots.com/47333/2819661470105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2819661470105289102YpzYwi)

http://inlinethumb19.webshots.com/1810/2046648820105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2046648820105289102xmJWSP)

Need to go out and buy some more sanding supplies. Also have a piece of aluminum that I have to cut for the base. I have been visualizing how I'm going to do the back panel, haven't come up with anything quite yet but I've got some time.
Thanks for looking and stay tuned!

[biggoofy]

No pics for this update :( . I trimmed up the piece of aluminum that I'm using as the base. I also put on order an external CD drive that I will hopfully be using as an internal unit. Not much else going on right now, school starts on the 25th so trying to get as much done before then.
Thanks for looking and stay tuned!

[SchaibleTech]

Looking good my man!

I have an old xbox lying around...this inspires me to try and do something with it.

[biggoofy]

Sorry it's been a couple of days, just been to busy. Just a small update here.
I cut out some of the back plastic to fit the I/O panel, its just a rough fit now will be more precise in the end. Also used some double sided 3M tape to stick down the USB port where the controllers usually are. It fits more nicely than I thought it would.

http://inlinethumb03.webshots.com/46978/2596801410105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2596801410105289102nzGSOO)

http://inlinethumb27.webshots.com/49690/2662084890105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2662084890105289102mRSHme)

That's it for now, I ordered some standoffs because apparently I lost all my extra ones. And I've decided there just isn't enough room for a CD drive on this build unless maybe I order a low profile fan for the CPU. I'm not looking to spend extra money but I am not 100% decided on this yet.

Thanks for looking and stay tuned!

[AmEv]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106358 ?


Just one possibility.

[SchaibleTech]

usb port fits perfect...hahahha. Nice work!

[biggoofy]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106358 ?


Just one possibility.

I have a laptop CD drive, and the main problem is finding a way to re-wire it so that I can use the front panel of the Xbox to eject the tray. If I figure this out I would take the extra time to put it in the build.

[AmEv]

Biggest problem with tray-loads is the eject button moves with the tray.
Probably the only thing you could do with a tray-load is follow the traces.

[biggoofy]

So I've decided just to scrap the CD idea and just glue on the Xbox tray cover so there's not just a hole in the front of the case. I started sanding some of the parts indoors to start paint. When I finished sanding and open up the door this is what I get...

http://inlinethumb34.webshots.com/48929/2615858290105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2615858290105289102NAlXLS)

So no painting anytime soon here. On a positive note though I found a blue piece of plexi that I ordered a while back but never used. Might find good use for it, not sure yet.

http://inlinethumb59.webshots.com/24762/2141628280105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2141628280105289102BaQGCg)

http://inlinethumb06.webshots.com/47109/2206065020105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2206065020105289102uTxiPQ)

Thanks for looking and stay tuned!!

[AmEv]

I'm all right with that.

Hey, if you need one, you've got USB ports on the back!

[biggoofy]

So I've got some nice weather here, might throw on some paint today and will have pics of that later. Also I contacted newegg in trying to get them to sponsor the project and they did email back saying that the marketing team will email me directly if interested, which I'm hoping they do.

Thanks for looking and stay tuned!

[biggoofy]

So I've started to paint a bit, I'm going black and white for it. Here is the front panel with the first coat of white paint and the power/HDD led's installed. The left half is power and the right half is HDD activity.

http://inlinethumb57.webshots.com/37048/2689842700105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2689842700105289102VvdzLr)

On the top half of the shell where the green Xbox logo is I think I'm going to cut it out and put a piece of the blue plexi that I have in it. I'm going away for the weekend so this is it for a couple of days.
Thanks for looking and stay tuned!

[Neodymium]

Is that blue or white LED for the eject button...either way...it's cool :) Are you using the stock AMD cooler with it?

Enjoy your weekend...

[biggoofy]

It's a bright blue, hard to tell in the picture I know. And yes i'm going to be using the stock cooler, it's small enough and keeps it at 30 C at like 40% speed. It's only a single core so I wasn't planning on getting anything after market.

[biggoofy]

So going to school full time gives about zero time to do any modding. However I have made a little bit of progress. I have started to paint the top half of the shell and I also have everything fitted into place.

Installing windows XP Pro

http://inlinethumb53.webshots.com/47732/2369618090105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2369618090105289102eRBQFm)

Top portion of the shell, painting the "X" white and the rest black.

http://inlinethumb15.webshots.com/47502/2220500930105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2220500930105289102NcuvaR)

And here is free LG monitor I got from a friend.

http://inlinethumb13.webshots.com/50060/2230920660105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2230920660105289102mEJdGZ)

Not sure how my weekend is going to be yet but I definitely want to come close to finishing this thing. All I have left is the front USB ports and to glue on the CD tray cover.
Thanks for looking and stay tuned!!

[Neodymium]

Nice, looking forward to seeing the paint done :)

[biggoofy]

So I haven't quit finished everything just yet, but it is together and working as of right now. It's a tight fit and it runs a lil toasty at about 45C. I didn't cut a whole where the green Xbox logo is yet, but I think once do that and install a fan the temps will drop nicely.

http://inlinethumb22.webshots.com/46741/2846707630105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2846707630105289102eZFdUH)

http://inlinethumb47.webshots.com/50542/2378314190105289102S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2378314190105289102kPcnTF)

That's it right now. I have to, put in the internal USB ports for the controller slots, paint the Xbox CD tray cover white to match the other side, cut out the green Xbox logo and install a fan, and post some other pictures!

Thanks for checking it out.

[Aldersan]

Looking good! The finished project should look great!

[Neodymium]

That looks awesome...clean and simple!!!! :up:

[SchaibleTech]

WOOHOO! Lookin good!